Grand Slam

The term Grand Slam has been used in many games including baseball, tennis, golf and bridge.  

To my knowledge, it has not been used in Pickleball.  Until today: I had my first and undoubtedly my last Grand Slam: I served 11 times in a row, got a point 11 times in a row, won the game.  My partner helped, of course.

Everyone was amazed, including me.  I'd never seen this done.  Never thought I would.  Never thought about it at all.

It only took 50+ years of playing the game to do the GS.  Not bad for an 81 year old, all modesty aside.

Doggerel

 It's been a while since I've inflicted a doggerel on my readers.  So here are a couple.

DREAM QUEST

 The salad years held dreams exotic,

Varied, weird, sometimes erotic.

But now I wander endless halls,

Seeking little rooms with stalls.

Don’t laugh you young guys, for it’s coming:

Your own nocturnal quest for plumbing.

 Mike Delaney

6-28-05

All rights reserved.

SMOTE

In the bible folks were smited

For acts that could not be abided.

 

A word of caution, please take note

And reduce the risk of getting smote:

 

To temptation, don’t be submittin’

Lest we be hearin’ that you were smitten.

 

Mike Delaney

7-19-09

Lighten Up

 We're lightening up: Getting rid of stuff we haven't used for many years and will never use again.  Stuff in the top shelves that we haven't used since we moved here years ago.

Me: Woodworking and mechanical tools; plumbing, electrical and automotive gadgets; suit ties, clothing - and on and on.

Trish: Boxes of 'good stuff' going to Goodwill: dishes, glasses, fondue sets, candles and holders (now she has battery candles all over the place).

If you're near my age - lighten up!  Don't leave it up to those who outlive you.  They will toss it if you don't; give them a break.

 

Smell

 Women smell better than men - but you already knew that.  They also have a better sense of smell than men.

So, what has the best sense of smell?  Did you guess dogs?  Wrong!  Would you believe elephants?  Yup.

Next up are black bears, who can smell food from a mile away (watch your picnic baskets).

Male silk-moths: they can smell a single female pheromone from miles away.  Horny little buggers!  Wouldn't you guys have liked to have that when you were young?

Then comes African giant pouched rats.

Finally, yes, a dog: The bloodhound.  Their sense of smell is 10,000 times more acute than humans.  Other dogs aren't far behind.

If I woke up one day and found my olfactory sense was 10K times more sensitive than the day prior, I'm quite sure I'd need to be placed in a rubber room.  Or, maybe I could just put corks in my nose and duct tape them in place.

Small Stuff

 Everyone's heard the expression 'don't sweat the small stuff'.  Probably said it yourself a few times.

As I 'mature', the amount of small stuff becomes increasingly larger in quantity.  Frequently, I'm saying things like 'who cares?' and 'so what'.

Trish, however, seems to be increasingly concerned about small stuff.  She is a self-expressed perfectionist.  Always has been, I guess.  I am not.  Never was.

I wonder: is it nature or nurture?  Growing up on a farm may have contributed to my non-perfectionist attitude.  Don't have the right part to fix it up like new?  We're wasting daylight!  Make it work any way you can!  Bailing wire, duct tape, jerryrig with whatever is available.  

This dichotomy inevitably leads to conflicts twixt Trish and I.

Another thought: are women, more than men, inherently more concerned about small stuff?  I'm guessing that may be the case.  

Sickoes

 Sickoes.  I can't stand 'em!  But lots of folks must like them.

I define sickoes as those who get a kick out of people doing nasty things to other people.  Torture, incest, rape, murder - and on and on.  What the hell is wrong with these people?

Watched an episode of Law and Order last night.  A guy repeatedly beat his wife and abused his young daughter; and his wife was okay with it!

What's the attraction to this type of book, TV, movie, video, whatever?  Is the 'Human Race' really that inhuman?  Or, is it a small minority?  If so, why is there so much of it?  

I don't know.  It disturbs me.  Deeply.

1950s TV Shows

 Remember when your dad brought home that first TV with a 13" screen in a console?  If you were lucky and had a rotor for the antenna, you could get 3 stations - on a good day.  For the younger crowd: the rotor turned the rooftop antenna so you could receive station signals from different directions.  Sometimes a vacuum tube would burn out, so you'd go to the store and replace it.

Westerns were the most plentiful type of series:

The Rifleman

Wagon Train

Bonanza

Have Gun, Will Travel

The Lone Ranger

Others, I liked:

Ozzie and Harriet

Sea Hunt

Sky King

Lassie

Dragnet

Victory at Sea

Wild Kingdom

There were many others but that's a long enough walk down memory lane.