One Fine Day

Hello World, Well, we've managed to make it to the half-way point of August, a month that is all full of days, and not a single thing in the world going on, from one end of the month to the other. Just more of the same old, same old, no matter where you look, and plenty of it - which is not to say that's a bad thing, because for most people, having too much summer would not be considered a disadvantage in any way. But now that the month is about half over already, let's face it, we're all going to have to step lively if we want to cram all of the seasonal treats that summer has to offer, into the ever-more dwindling time that's remaining to us. So get busy on that suntan-watermelon-hammock-lemonade-surfboard-ice cream-sand castles-corn on the cob-fireworks-picnic-flip flops-campfire, because the hard, cold reality of September is right around the corner, and will be here on our very doorstep before we know it, believe me. Speaking of doorsteps, Truffle has been enjoying his new friends that have been visiting him in the guest bathroom, and is gracious about sharing his toys with them in a catnip-fueled romp that turns the whole room topsy-turvy. It must be said that he would probably be happier if they wouldn't come in and eat his food or use his litter box, but Max and Rusty both outweigh this pipsqueak newcomer to a sizable degree, and Truffle is not one to stand up for his rights in the face of ponderous opposition. It may be different someday if he grows taller, but right now, he's still the low man on the totem pole, kemo sabe. Oddly enough, that reminds me of when we were driving out to Wildwood together in both cars, and with the expectation that the Aveo would be better at keeping up to speed, even fully loaded with camping supplies, compared to the Escort - although in actuality, I said to Bill that the new car would be a lot peppier if my legs were longer. Seat adjustments, anyone? Meanwhile at work, all of us lucky minions at the Employer of Last Resort had been treated to the following invitation in a broadcast email recently: ====================== You're invited to join the Chief of Robotic Surgery, Dr. Murray Fieldenstream, in the main lobby today between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM for a Robot Demonstration. ***While enjoying the demo, enter the “name the robot” contest.*** ======================= Now, I can assure you that it's not all fun and games here at the ol' House O' Quacks, but we do have our moments. It wasn't long after all of this hullabaloo in the lobby that we all received a follow-up message, guaranteed to warm the cockles of anyone's heart, that is, as long as they're not a robot - ======================= Congratulations to the robot naming contest winner Ron Belasco Director of Security The Winning Name: SURGIO! ========================= Ya gotta love it! I'm not going to go all out on a limb and claim that this is the absolute latest and greatest medical device in the world, with all the newest bells and whistles that modern technology has to offer, but there's no denying that it's got one heck of a name to beat the band, and that has to count for something, by golly. Of course, it's no surprise that they're playing pre-season football on television already, but you may be surprised, if like me, you don't expect to find Monday Night Football in the Best Bets section of the local TV listings for Thursday, August 15, as I did this week. Frankly, I don't know why they go to the trouble to call it Monday Night Football to start with, if they're going to play the game on Thursday anyway, they may as well just call a spade a spade, and say that it's Thursday Night Football, right out of the gate. In baseball, they always say, "You can't tell the players without a scorecard," and I can see that the NFL's new motto is going to be: "You can't tell the games without a calendar," and that's not just a lot of Gatorade and goalposts, Vince Lombardi. Mind you, this goes right along with a circular that I spotted in yesterday's paper, from our friends at the venerable Macy's department store, with its giant screaming type that announced their ONE DAY SALE - which they assured me that I could take advantage of, at my convenience, on both Friday 8/16 and Saturday 8/17. Well, I don't mind saying that the dinosaurs and I can remember a time that a one-day sale didn't last for two days, or if it did, they wouldn't have bothered to call it a one-day sale in the first place. At this point, I can't help but feel that it's certainly a sad state of affairs when even such fundamental words as "Monday" and "one" have lost all their meaning. And speaking of words with no meaning, also in the TV listings Best Bets was the following movie review: ========================== "The Apparition" After strange events start to occur in their home, a young couple is plaggued with the presence of an evil spirit =========================== Inasmuch as "plaggued" is not even a word, at least in this solar system that I know of, one can only assume that they must have meant some actual other word altogether. The sad thing is, this same movie was also being shown on television in May, and also made the listing of Best Bets then too - and incredibly, the exact same typo was in that description as well. Of course, there are no standards anymore, heaven knows, and it's all too easy to decry the sorry state of journalism nowadays, where anything goes, and editors are unheard of, and more's the pity, alas. But in this day and age, you'd think that at least you could count on the spell-checkers to catch such obvious errors as this, which is not using a similar but wrong word in the place of the right word, but instead substituted something that doesn't even qualify as a word, by any definition of the term. Now, we can't rule out the possibility that the spell-checker has been plaggued with an evil spirit, or perhaps, simply had the day off - and by that, I mean an actual day, not a Macy's day, which can apparently mean any random amount of time at all. Or as they say in the NFL, "If this is Thursday, it must be Monday." Elle