Yes, your goofy e-mail address says something about you

I wonder what my rather bland email address says about me?

Yes, your goofy e-mail address says something about you:

"Scientists at the University of Leipzig have taken a close look at these questions, and yes, they say, people really do judge others based on the e-mail addresses they choose. What's more interesting, however, is that these judgments tend to be right."

PC World - 11 Things We Hate About iTunes

I have some of the same complaints that PCWorld points out in their article.

PC World - 11 Things We Hate About iTunes: "iPod and iPhone owners know that Apple's iTunes is the dominant software for managing digital media. But some aspects of iTunes drive us nuts."

Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows

This is pretty nerdy but I wanted to play with Linux without having to learn all that much about it. Ubuntu has a nice front end to Linux (that means that there is a desktop with icons instead of having to do everything with command lines). I tried downloading Ubuntu and then creating a start up disk but that was still pretty complicated. Then I read about Wubi and found that it really couldn't be any simpler. I don't see using Ubuntu exclusively on my home computer, but it is fun to play with. Since it comes standard with Firefox, I could start browsing and reading my webmail right off.

Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows: "Wubi is an officially supported Ubuntu installer for Windows users that can bring you to the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way. Are you curious about Linux and Ubuntu? Trying them out has never been easier!"

How To Tell People They Sound Racist

Something to think about. I used to think I was racist free, but growing up when and where I did, that was pretty much impossible.

30 Years

This week Barbara and I hit our 30 year mark here in Texas.

We moved here on our honeymoon. At the time I was working for EDS and was told at the time that the transfer from San Francisco was going to be temporary.

It was quite a shock to move from the SF bay area where to hot and sunny Texas. At the time I remember thinking to myself that I was very happy that our sojourn in Texas would be short. Little did I know.

Joke from my dad

As he said, been there, done that.

Once I worked as an operator on an old IBM 370/Model 138 mainframe at a local college. My position had been reclassified to fall into a new area outside of the I/S staff. One day, my new supervisor entered the room and stared at the air conditioning unit directly behind me. He studied the two flashing lights for a few moments and asked what job it was currently processing.



I killed my career by replying, "Actually, sir, it's cooling the room. The computer is over there."

Bar Exams

This is something that may never happen again. Today both Rachel and James are taking bar exams, Rachel in Utah and James in Idaho.

James of course passed the Texas bar a year ago and was sworn into the Texas bar shortly before moving to Idaho, so he is a licensed attorney, at least here in Texas.

This is Rachel's first experience taking a bar exam so she is not an attorney yet, so her title is law school graduate. Something that was pointed out to me time and time again before Barbara was sworn into the Texas bar years ago.

COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO Rick Perry is all wet: You can put hay in a Prius

My grandfather Murdock would be happy to know that I could haul hay in my Prius if I really needed to.

Time for Some Campaignin'

Very funny (IMHO).

No good deed

Goes unpunished.

The Onion: Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Class(ic) Insults

From my friend Irish!

• The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."



• A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."



• "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr



• "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill



• "A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill



• "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow



• "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).



• "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)



• "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas



• "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln



• "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain



• "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde



• "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill



• "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.



• "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop



• "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright



• "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb



• "He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson



• "He is simply a shiv ver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating



• "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E. Leonard



• "He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford



• "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed



• "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand



• "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker



• "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain



• "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West



• "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde



• "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)



• "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder



• "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

Autistic man found after week in woods

Boy, this is too scary - my worst fear come true. I don't think that John would be left alone at his camp though.

Postcards

Hard to understand how this guy didn't think anyone would be offended.

Postcards: "The Orlando, Fla. vendor of the Barack Obama/White House button that touched off a furor said today that he sold only four of the $2 buttons at last week’s Republican Party of Texas state convention, including one snapped up by a newspaper employee.

In the first interview he’s given on the flap, Jonathan Alcox said he came up with the button’s message — “If Obama is President… will we still call it the White House?”—based on a newspaper cartoon showing Obama in front of a sign for the White House, thinking to himself something like: “That’s the first thing I’ll change.”

“I’m not crazy,” Alcox said. “Why would I go out there and purposely put a button out there that’s going to offend people? We’re in this for business.”

“I thought what we were doing was clever and funny,” Alcox said. “We’ve never had a black president… It was just a mistake.”"

Kim Komando: My Generation

The Zimmers is a rock band unlike any other. This band has a whopping 50 members. And each one holds a distinguished title—elderly.

The name Zimmers comes from the British brand of metal-frame walkers. The lead singer, Alf, is 91. But he’s far from the oldest member. Buster (watch for the bushy beard) is a young-at-heart 100.

In this Video of the Day, The Zimmers perform a cover of The Who’s My Generation. The video was featured in a documentary about Britain’s elderly. It was released as a single, reaching No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. The Zimmers are recording a full-length rock album. It should go on sale in September.

Why you should vote Republican (parody)

This is part of my "Don't spam everyone you know" therapy.

Loyalty Oaths for Clinton Supporters Pledging their Votes to McCain

I was a Hillary supporter also, but somehow I don't see myself voting for McCain instead. Check out the link to see the various 'pledges.'

Sudoku-addled jurors prompt mistrial

I knew there was a good reason for me not to play Soduku.

AFTER 105 witnesses and three months of evidence, a drug trial costing $1 million was aborted yesterday when it emerged that jurors had been playing Sudoku since the trial's second week.

In the District Court in Sydney, Judge Peter Zahra discharged the jury after hearing evidence from two accused men, one of their solicitors and the jury forewoman, who admitted that she and four other jurors had been diverting themselves in the jury box by playing the popular numbers game.

More than 20 police gave evidence in the case, in which the two accused faced a common charge of conspiracy to manufacture a commercial quantity of amphetamines. One faced further firearms and drug possession indictments. The prosecution and defence were due to deliver final addresses to the jury this week.

A browser for autistic children

From Kim Komando

John LeSieur has created a special Web browser for his grandson. The autistic boy is confused by many browser options. But the free Zac Browser eliminates many distractions. Do you know an autistic child who has tried it? Visit my Message Board to comment on the experience.

If I Only Spoke Spanish

Deeply weird live action Spanish version of "The Simpsons," called "Los Simpson," from the comedy show "Cruz y Raya":

Wires 24/7 Dutch man injures posterior in mooning accident

Hard to feel to0 sorry for this guy.

Jun 3rd, 2008 | UTRECHT, Netherlands -- Utrecht police say a 21-year-old Dutch man is recovering after a "mooning" that went horribly wrong.

A police statement says the man and two others had run down a street in Utrecht with their pants pulled down in the back "for a joke."

It says that at one point the 21-year-old "pushed his behind against the window of a restaurant" that broke and resulted in "deep wounds to his derriere."

The statement released Tuesday says police detained the three men after the incident Sunday morning. But the cafe owner decided not to press charges after the men agreed to pay for the broken window.

The injured man was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Ice Cream Prayer

I heard the story of the "Ice Cream Prayer" for the first time in church today and was touched by it. Click the link to read it if you like. One of the nice things about the web is that I could find references to the story just by typing the words prayer and ice cream into a search engine and there were several references.

I saw a reference to the story on snopes.com and was kind of surprised to read some of the negative comments about the story. I guess it is one of those things like birds and angels that sound good at first until you give it some thought. I think I was happier before I read and agreed with some of the cynical comments to the story.

Gmaps Pedometer

My newest time waster.

I used to jog but now I walk because my knees give out otherwise. Being the obsessive compulsive computer geek that I am, I was delighted to find a website that would calculate the number of miles I walked by using a hack to Google Maps. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but once I got started it was pretty easy. I chose the hybrid option so I could see the street names along with an aerial view of the route I usually take on my Saturday walks (click here to see an example). I was delighted to see that I walked about 4.3679 miles.

The cool thing is that you can save the URL and send it to someone else or keep in in a spreadsheet.

Here is the what it says in the FAQ section:

What is this?

This is a little hack that uses Google's superb mapping application to help record distances traveled during a running or walking workout.

Why?

As a runner training for a marathon for the first time, I found myself wishing I had an easy way to know the exact distance a certain course is, without having to drag a GPS or pedometer around on my runs. Looking at Google Maps, and knowing there was a vibrant community of geeks hacking it, I knew there had to be a way. So here it is.
Note that there's a reason this is called a pedometer. Considering that you have to choose all the points in your route individually yourself, it's probably not suitable for driving trips and the like. But I've found it suits my purposes pretty well for getting running distances.

Something I hadn't thought of either but makes a lot of sense.
What McClellan's revelations tells us about McCain's judgment

At first blush, Scott McClellan's criticism of the Bush White House wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with the 2008 presidential race. McClellan hasn't had anything to do with John McCain, and most of the people McClellan calls out are not part of McCain's campaign.

But perhaps that's an unimaginative approach. McClellan's book apparently has quite a bit to say about the war in Iraq - clearly, a key campaign issue this year - including charges that Bush relied on "propaganda" to sell the war. The former White House press secretary added that the president failed to be "open and forthright on Iraq" and worse, "rushed to war" with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath.

What does this have to do with McCain? Chief Obama strategist David Axelrod knows:

"What does all his experience get us?" asked Obama's strategic guru. "What do all those visits [to Iraq] get us?"

He continued: "The fact that he goes to Iraq and gets a tour apparently does little to provoke the kinds of questions that should be asked, and what Sen. Obama has been asking since the beginning. So it is not a question of longevity in government. It is a question of judgment, it is a question of a willingness to challenge policies that have failed. And he seems just dug in." […]

"We are talking on a day where the president's press secretary released a book where they frankly acknowledged that they engaged in deception and propaganda to essentially lead America to war. Senator Obama saw through that and raised the appropriate questions. Sen. McCain didn't," he said.

In this sense, the timing of the McClellan book is pretty helpful - it offers the Obama campaign a chance to reinforce the fact that when the White House was making a bogus argument, McCain bought it and Obama didn't. McClellan was, to borrow a phrase, catapulting the propaganda. McCain embraced it from the outset, and never let go.

McClellan helps put all of this on the front page, right where McCain doesn't want it.

Garrison Keillor, Mutterings over the graves of soldiers | Salon

Great quote.

"The Current Occupant tossed Nazis into a speech last week, something he rarely does since it only reminds people of Dick Cheney."

Here is another from the same piece. Less humorous though more true.

"On Memorial Day we'll hear about men who gave their lives for their country, but many lives were not given, they were taken, and taken stupidly and carelessly. And there has been great public piety about those men and their "sacrifice" on the part of politicians who blithely sacrificed them."

Great Cartoon

One of those things that make me realize I am getting older, I am just not into text messaging, especially with a cell phone. I guess my fingers are too fat.

And Rachel did not reference any text messages when she spoke at her graduation last month.

Rachel gets a job

Way to go Rachel!

Click on the link above to get to Rachel's blog and read all the details.

One of the nice things that I hadn't thought of before is that James, Rachel and Russell can all network information about opportunities that they may not have otherwise known about. Russell found out about the Presidential Management Fellowship at UT where he goes to school, and passed that information along to Rachel.

Recently someone at work told me (and I hope he was joking) that some of my co-workers hate me because all of my children have turned out so well. I took that as a great compliment to my wonderful children.

Slate V- How To Spend Your Tax Rebate

Finally, a test I answered correctly.

1 in 5 US Households Never Used Email - I4U

Fox51

1 in 5 US Households Never Used Email I4U - 3 hours ago According to a new study from Parks Associates 1 in 5 US households have never used email. That is pretty hard to fathom for technophiles out there. Survey: 20% in US have never sent an e-mail Computerworld Digital divide in US closing slowly but still 'significant' Bizjournals.com VNUNet.com - WebProNews - TG Daily - TMCnet all 68 news articles

Interesting article that points out what is the same and what is different between Mormons and born-agains.
Who's that knocking on the door? Research examines Mormons and ... - Church Executive Magazine

Who's that knocking on the door? Research examines Mormons and ... Church Executive Magazine, AZ - 2 hours ago The Mormon faith perspective parallels the prevailing born again view in various ways. For instance, more than nine out of ten Mormons have made a personal ...

What a horrible nightmare for the family. A parent's worst fear is to lose their child. When Russell was two, I took him to the mall with Rachel and he decided it would be great fun to hide in a rack of skirts. I was not as amused as he was.
Forgotten tot left behind at Vancouver airport
(AP)



AP - An immigrant family left a 23-month-old boy in the Vancouver airport and learned he was missing only when contacted during the next leg of the trip.

Colbert imitates O'Reilly's vintage meltdown

Instead of sending this to everyone....

Not for the easily offended: Rev. Grampa Simpson

Spot Award

At work today in our weekly status meeting I was surprised to be presented with what is called a 'Spot Award.' Carla, our technical writer (and anyone who reads my posts know that she earns her money) had nominated me for this award for helping her out on a project.

I was happy to receive the award and the Traveler's check. It is kind of funny, one can do all sorts of things that go above and beyond, but then get rewarded for doing something that is pretty easy.

Craig Ferguson

Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson hosted the White House Correspondents Association annual dinner Saturday night.

Rachel's Graduation - The Day After

It was kind of weird staying at Barbara's mother's house this time around since Barbara's mother had passed away a few months back. A lot of things were still the same, but a lot of other things were different, for instance, the phone and cable had been turned off.

One of the things that stayed the same is that a lot of people gathered at the house last Saturday. Barbara met with her other six siblings to divide up some of the books and the jewelry. Being of sound mind, I met up with an old friend and went out to breakfast. My friend afterwards took me around downtown to show me what was new since my last trip. The Union Pacific Depot is now part of a downtown shopping district. I explained to my friend that I had a lot of memories about the depot, since I had gone on a number of train trips as a child to Milford and points west.

I got back in time to see all of the in-laws busy at work deciding who got what. James, Emily and the boys had stayed over at the house also. Rachel drove up from Provo to spend the day with us. My brother Richard came in with my mother around noon for lunch and visiting. He helped his son and daughter-in-law move things to Idaho Falls, where of course James and Emily currently reside, and then Richard came down on the bus to visit for a couple of days. I believe he flew back up to Portland Sunday evening, after Barbara and I flew back to Austin. It was nice to visit and to show off my beautiful grandchildren.

That evening all of the Murdocks present went to dinner at the local Sizzler Steakhouse. Grandpa was pleased that the boys were on their very best behavior, and great-uncle Richard was very impressed. A good time was had by all.

Rachel stayed over on Saturday night, and the next morning before we had to go to our separate locations, Helen and Joan came over and treated us to a nice brunch. Emily was surprised to discover that one of her brothers was going to be in town, so he came over for a short visit also.

There is something about that house where people seem to connect. I am going to miss visiting there. It is fun to fantasize about Barbara and me buying the house and moving to Salt Lake City to be closer to family, but from a practical point of view it doesn't make a lot of sense. To modernize and 'John proof' the house would require a substantial amount of time, effort and money. I joked with James and told him that if we bought the house he could could come down every weekend from Idaho Falls and help us remodel. The joke is of course that I would have no clue what to do to remodel a home except write the checks to pay for someone else to do it.

Rachel's Graduation - The Trip Up

Barbara was able to get us a good deal on the airlines going up to SLC. On the trip up, we flew up on Continental Airlines from Austin to Houston to SLC. The plane from Houston was very small, two seats on one side of the aisle and then one seat on the other side. It kind of reminded me of being in an MRI. I didn't used to be so claustrophobic, but as I get older I am getting more and more so.

We have lost several pieces of luggage through the years as the luggage has gone off to college without us, and some of the pieces have fallen apart. For this trip Barbara selected an old hard sided Samsonite suitcase .

When we picked up the luggage, Barbara's piece had been smashed so badly that there is no way it could be used again. She took it over to the Continental Airlines baggage booth. The agent took one look and exchanged the battered suitcase with a brand new piece. Granted, it did not look like it could have been used as a prop in the movie Airport, but it was pretty darn nice.

Rachel's Graduation - Thanks to Russell and Sarah Jane

for watching John while we were gone. Taking John to the graduation would have been counter productive, I don't think he was going to sit quietly during the ceremony so Barbara and I were very glad that Russell and Sarah Jane agreed to move in for a few days and be there with John.

Rachel's Graduation - One very proud dad

Barbara and I got back last night from an action, fun packed four days in Utah. The main purpose of the trip was to motor down to Provo, Utah and see Rachel graduate. Not only did she graduate from the BYU law school, but she was also one of the two student speakers, and she participated in the law school choir. Her talk of course was wonderful.

Besides Barbara and myself, many friends and family came to the ceremony to honor Rachel. My niece Lucinda was kind enough to drive my mother down for the ceremony. We were joined by my son James, his lovely wife Emily, and my youngest grandson Will. My other two grandsons, Harry and Jack (ages 4 and 2) were left with some friends of James and Emily.

Barbara's two sisters Helen and Joan drove down to Provo with us from Salt Lake City. We were joined by Barbara's brother Jim and his wife Sharon, and Barbara's brother (Elder) Bill and his wife Vickie. Since Bill is a member of the First Quorum of 70, he had front row seats, so Barbara, Helen and Joan sat with him while the rest of us enjoyed the view from the balcony.

It seemed half of the audience was there to see Rachel, she has so many friends and admirers. I didn't get to see them, but there were folks who previously lived in our ward here in Austin that had moved to Utah who also came to the convocation.

There is so much to say about this trip so I will break it up into smaller posts. In closing, I just would like to say how proud I am of Rachel. She not only managed to make it through law school, she also was able to make a lot of friends and have a good time.

Stupidity

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

Stupidity

via LiberalLand by Alan on 4/21/08

Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God put this sign up outside his South Carolina Church. He says:

"His name is so close to Osama I have a feeling he might be Islamic therefore he doesn't recognize Christ."

His congregation voted to keep the sign up. None of the members are African-American.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to LiberalLand using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Anything worth doing....

I had to smile, Jack and Harry spent so much time at our house playing with marbles.

Inspirational work meeting

This was supposed to jazz us up today. It didn't.

One of my co-workers asked me how I liked the meeting, and I decided the best thing to do was to use a quote from Bambi.

Quote from George Burns

You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there.
- George Burns

Google Maps

I have been having some fun (which is the same as saying I have been wasting time) with the new street maps feature of Google Maps.

Perhaps it is more dangerous than one would think at first.

Nebraska Technology

After having dug to a depth of 10 yards last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their New York ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, California scientists dug to a depth of 20 yards, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: 'California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.'

One week later, the 'Hemingford Ledger,' a local news paper in Hemingford, NE reported the following:

"After digging as deep as 30 yards in corn fields near Berea, NE, Larry the Cable Guy, a self-taught archaeologist and dyed-in-the-wool Husker fan, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Larry has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Nebraska had already gone wireless."

The Job: A little too close for comfort

Daily Affirmations

From my dad.

• I no longer need to punish, deceive or compromise myself. Unless, of course, I want to stay employed.



• A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to the problem.



• As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I can get in touch with my Inner Sociopath.



• I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.



• Today, I will gladly share my experience and advice, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so."



• I need not suffer in silence while I can still moan, whimper and complain.



• As I learn the innermost secrets of the people around me, they reward me in many ways to keep me quiet.



• I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else's fault.



• I honor my personality flaws, for without them I would have no personality at all.



• Joan of Arc heard voices too.



• When someone hurts me, forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit. But not nearly as gratifying.



• The first step is to say nice things about myself. The second, to do nice things for myself. The third, to find someone to buy me nice things.



• As I learn to trust the universe, I no longer need to carry a gun.



• Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day watching TV. Instead I will move my TV into the bedroom.



• Who can I blame for my own problems? Give me just a minute... I'll find someone.



• Why should I waste my time reliving the past when I can spend it worrying about the future?



• I will find humor in my everyday life by looking for people I can laugh at.



• I am willing to make the mistakes if someone else is willing to learn from them.

Cruel and unusual punishment?

LAURA BRANIGAN: The Filipino prisoners are back, performing "Gloria".

Lawyer joke: When Grandma Goes To Court

I am so proud of myself, I did not forward this to everyone.

Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'

The defense attorney nearly died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said, 'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'

Even if you don't speak Dutch, this is funny

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA's product page . You can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

Aspiring Pol Changes Name To Pro-Life

Now why didn't I think of this?

A Senate candidate has legally changed his name to Pro-Life and will appear on the ballot that way this year, state election officials say.

As Marvin Pro-Life Richardson, the organic strawberry farmer from Letha, 30 miles northwest of Boise, was denied the use of his middle name when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 because the state's policy bars the use of slogans on the ballot.

Now, though, officials in the Idaho secretary of state's office say they have no choice because Pro-Life is his full and only name.

Priceless

This is of course is why I have a blog - it keeps me from forwarding jokes to the world.

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper Sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally...I assumed you had stolen the car."

TGI Friday

It has been a long week.

Last night I came home and found a big Styrofoam box on my doorstep from Omaha Steaks. There was a greeting offering condolences to Barbara for the loss of her mother. I unpacked the box and put the steaks in the freezer, after Barbara comes home we can thaw some out and see what they taste like.

Yesterday I went to John's school for to discuss his transition from high school in a year. I left the meeting feeling more positive about the future than I have from similar meetings in the past. At the end I mentioned that I had probably spoke more than I had ever in all the previous meetings since Barbara was not there to answer all the questions. She certainly is more up on the answers to those questions than I am.

From all reports the funeral last Monday was a success. Barbara has close to 100 first cousins and is one of seven children so it makes sense that the church would be packed. Barbara gave the closing prayer at the service, and James and Rachel participated in a grand children's chorus. I wish I could have been there of course but it just wasn't feasible.

John has been spending a lot of quality time with his attendant this week and will spend more this weekend. Should be fun.

Just Found a Red Sock in the Laundry

Found this on the way to something else. If you need a laugh.

LA Rally: Oprah Winfrey

What a great speech. I am almost convinced.

Sonny and Cher

I have to say this made me tear up a little bit. This was (is still really) one of my favorite songs. Made me think of old friends that sometimes I get reunited with.

The Onion does Romney

Mitt Romney Defends Himself Against Allegations Of Tolerance

Red State Update: A proper send-off for Chris Dodd and Joe Biden

Language warning:

Back to normal

Rachel flew back to Utah yesterday for her last semester in law school. Time flies whether or not you are having fun, but it is always fun having Rachel around. Barbara goes back to work on Monday and if I can get John up Tuesday morning he will be heading back to school also.

Red State Update on the Iowa Caucuses

A redneck satire on the elections.

Slate V- Explainer: How to Caucus

From my dad on his birthday: Wise Old Saying

Don't sweat the petty things,
Don't pet the sweaty things.

Club says winning essay in Hannah Montana contest was a fake

If I wasn't already cynical enough, I read this in today's newspaper. Apparently the girl's mother helped with the winning essay. She did admit that the information was false though.

Club says winning essay in Hannah Montana contest was a fake: "GARLAND — A 6-year-old girl who won four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert with an essay that falsely claimed that her father had died in Iraq won't be going to the show after all....

"We did the essay, and that's what we did to win. We did whatever we could do to win," Ceballos told Dallas TV station KDFW on Friday. "But when (Caulfield) asked me if this essay is true, I said, 'No, this essay is not true.' "

*'Twas The Day After Christmas*

From my dad....

Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house, Every creature was hurting-- even the mouse.

The toys were all broken, their batteries dead; Santa passed out, with some ice on his head.

Wrapping and ribbons just covered the floor, while Upstairs the family continued to snore.

And I in my T-shirt, new Reeboks and jeans, Went into the kitchen and started to clean.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the sink to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the curtains, and threw up the sash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a little white truck, with an oversized mirror.

The driver was smiling, so lively and grand; The patch on his jacket said "U.S. POSTMAN."

With a handful of bills, he grinned like a fox Then quickly he stuffed them into our mailbox.

Bill after bill, after bill, they still came. Whistling and shouting he called them by name:

"Now Dillard's, now Broadway's, now Penney's and Sears Here's Levitz's and Target's and Mervyn's--all here!!

To the tip or your limit, every store, every mall, Now chargeaway-chargeaway-chargeaway all!"

He whooped and he whistled as he finished his work. He filled up the box, and then turned with a jerk.

He sprang to his truck and he drove down the road, Driving much faster with just half a load.

Then I heard him exclaim with great holiday cheer, "ENJOY WHAT YOU GOT ... YOU'LL BE PAYING ALL YEAR!"

Author Unknown

Bad Santas

From Slate...

The End of the World

All is well....

How the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to keep its members from becoming Mormons. - By Neil J. Young - Slate Magazine

I listened to the podcast version of this article this morning and thought I would pass it on. I thought there were more than a couple of interesting insights. Click on the link to see the entire article.

How the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to keep its members from becoming Mormons. - By Neil J. Young - Slate Magazine: "As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, the competing theologies of the front-runners are getting as much attention as their differing policy proposals. Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon and the former governor of Massachusetts, faces a tough challenge from Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister and one-time governor of Arkansas. Huckabee's surge in Iowa owes itself in part to the strength of evangelical voters there who like his values and dislike his competitor's faith. He has catered occasionally to those supporters with sly references to their belief that Mormonism is a cult, such as his recent musing—which he later apologized for—in a New York Times Magazine cover piece: 'Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"

Twas the Night Before Caucus: The Democrats

Kind of funny

Mitt whopper fib: he didn't see his dad march with Dr. King

Interesting development. So much for a family legend. As I recall a lot of Mormons thought that MLK was a communist because that is what J. Edgar Hoover told then apostle Benson.

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

Mitt whopper fib: he didn't see his dad march with Dr. King

Great Caesar's Ghost, I knew folks say Mitt Romney will say or do anything to get into the White House, but cripe -- there's a whole lot of bearing false witness going on...

The Phoenix's David Bernstein decided to dig into the GOP Clown Car occupant about Mitt's assertion that he watched his father march with Dr. Martin Luther King during the civil rights era in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He recounted this fable not once, but twice -- first in his Faith in America speech ("I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."), and again on Meet the Press, where he said:

"My dad marched with Martin Luther King. My mom was a tireless crusader for civil rights."

From "Was It All a Dream?"

[W]hile the late George W. Romney, a four-term governor of Michigan, can lay claim to a strong record on civil rights, the Phoenix can find no evidence that the senior Romney actually marched with King, nor anything in the public record suggesting that he ever claimed to do so.

Nor did Mitt Romney ever previously claim that this took place, until long after his father passed away in 1995 - not even when defending accusations of the Mormon church's discriminatory past during his 1994 Senate campaign.

...And, Mitt Romney would not have known about the event, let alone had a chance to "see" it. He was at that time in the middle of his two-year mission for the Mormon church in Le Havre, France. By his own description and others', he was cut off from virtually all contact with his family; and at the time, King's Grosse Pointe appearance was no more than local news.

Oh my -- and it gets worse. You have to read the response from the campaign. It's after the jump.
Mitt was also aided and abetted by David Broder in perpetuating this falsehood, and the Detroit Free Press took a look at its archives and there's no Romney to be found at the march, for religious reasons:

Romney's campaign cited various historical articles, as well as a 1967 book written by Stephen Hess and Washington Post political columnist David Broder, as confirmation that George Romney marched with King in Grosse Pointe in 1963.

"He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb," Hess and Broder wrote in "The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the GOP."

Free Press archives, however, showed no record of King marching in Grosse Pointe in 1963 or of then-Gov. Romney taking part in King's historic march down Woodward Avenue in June of that year. George Romney told the Free Press at the time that he didn't take part because it was on a Sunday and he avoided public appearances on the Sabbath because of his religion.

Broder could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

What was camp Romney's response to the charge that Mitt had his facts wrong about his daddy marching with Dr. King? (protect your keyboards):

"He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.

Hat tip goes to David at Blue Mass Group, who said:

Faced with the unfortunate reality that Mitt was making things up, his campaign has retreated into a hilarious Humpty-Dumptyism about what it means to "march with" someone. You see, it doesn't mean that you were actually there. It means that, well, you participated in a march about a related topic on a different day, and maybe you thought about the guy while you were doing it.

a deterrent to holiday spending

Emily sent out a link to an interesting and sober web presentation. Below is a teaser from YouTube. Click on the link above to see the entire presentation.

Quick Change Artists on America's Got Talent

Now this is why I have a blog, so I don't end up sending stuff like this to everyone I know. Someone at work sent me this video, luckily I found the same thing on Youtube. It is pretty darn amazing (the video clip that is).

Wrong Gift?

It's that time of year again....

Rest in peace Dan Fogelberg

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, famed for the soaring vocals and elegant instrumentation of tunes such as "Longer" and "A Love Like This," died on Sunday, three years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was 56.

"He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," said a posting on his Web site (http://www.danfogelberg.com).



"His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."



Fogelberg, a native of Peoria, Illinois, broke into the music industry in the early 1970s, at a time when it was embracing introspective songwriting, or "soft rock," by such acts as the Eagles and America.



Fogelberg, who distinguished himself with his angelic vocals and lyrics that celebrated beauty and romance, hit his commercial and creative peak in 1981 with "The Innocent Age," which yielded three top-10 singles, "Hard to Say," "Same Old Lang Syne" and "Leader of the Band."



His most recent release, "Full Circle," came out in 2003. The following year, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, and urged men over the age of 50 to get tested for the disease.

The Worst Christmas Movies Ever

Cream of the crop from Slate.com

globeandmail.com: Cellphone user rings up $85,000 bill

A 22-year-old Canadian learned about cell phone bills the hard way. He racked up $85,000 on his cellular phone. He used the phone as a modem for his computer. That wasn't covered under his plan. The cellular company reduced the bill to $3,243 as a good will gesture.

A little Christmas spirit, George W. Bush style

Great parody by Alec Sokolow. Click on the link to see it all.

On the first day of Christmas my president gave to me a preemptive war without an exit strategy.

I can remember a few years back when a lot of folks would think that something like this amounted to treason. At least here in Texas :)

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I am listening to Christmas music as I type this. I just heard the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and it brought back some memories.

When I was a teenager I went with my family to the church for a Christmas party. As part of the entertainment one man dressed up in what I remember as a WWII military uniform and he sang this song. At the end I noticed that most of the adults had tears in their eyes. I thought it was because to me it sounded like the guy had butchered the song, but then again I was just a teenager, what did I know.

A few years later I was sitting in the cafeteria in a department store in Tokyo having lunch with the other missionaries I was working with and I heard this song. For the first time I really got it, since I knew that for the first time in my life I would not be home for Christmas. The second Christmas in Japan I had been reassigned to the same area that I had spent my first Christmas in what was at the time called the Tokyo 2nd Ward aka North Branch, so for me it was kind of like being home for Christmas all over again.

Since getting married and having children I now realize that home for me is where I am. This year James and Emily with presumably be having their very first Christmas with just their three boys (I miss them already) and Russell and Sarah Jane will be visiting her folks outside of Pittsburgh so it will be a different Christmas for Barbara, Rachel, John and myself. There will of course be more than enough love to share and send no matter where everyone else in our extended families may be.

Below is a clip from Josh Groban. Enjoy!

Changes

I just dropped Barbara, Emily, Harris, Jack and Will off at the airport. They are flying through Denver to Salt Lake City today and will stay with Barbara's mother this evening. Rachel will drive Emily and the boys to Idaho Falls tomorrow (Thursday) to meet up with James and start the next chapter of their lives.

I am of course happy that James was able to find a job that he likes but at the same time I am feeling some sadness having his family leave. It is has been a true joy and a blessing in my life to have them here. With every hello there is a built in good-bye, at least good-bye for the time being.

I also said good-bye to my manager of eight years this morning. We had a big reorganization at work last week and he no longer fit in, according to upper management. My work group is still recovering from the death of a beloved team member a few months ago. Nothing is forever except maybe change.

The Competition

I enjoy listening to episodes of ‘This American Life’ on my Ipod. I am about halfway through the following episode and I had the reflect that my work situation could be much worse.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1220

Stories of the unintended consequences of market forces.

Prologue.

Host Ira Glass talks to reporter John Bowe about the story of John Nash Pickle, who ran a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma that made steel tanks used in the oil industry. According to 52 Indian men whom Pickle hired and brought to America, Pickle was trying to compete with foreign companies, doing something most companies never try. Instead of simply opening a factory overseas with cheap labor, the men say, Pickle decided to run an overseas factory with cheap labor...on American soil...inside his own Tulsa Oklahoma plant. (3 minutes)

Act One. Cowboys and Indians.

We continue the story of John Pickle. He hires skilled, experienced welders in India and brings them to the United States. He takes their passports, barely feeds them, pays them half the minimum wage. And when the men protest, Pickle insists he's helping them—doing them a favor in fact.

John Bowe's book, in which this story appears, is called Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. (32 minutes)

Dog Driver

From my dad:

As I drove into a parking lot, I noticed that a pickup truck with a dog sitting behind the wheel was rolling toward a female pedestrian. She seemed oblivious, so I hit my horn to get her attention. She looked up just in time to jump out of the way of the truck's path, and the vehicle bumped harmlessly into the curb and stopped.

I rushed to the woman's side to see if she was all right. "I'm fine," she assured me, "but I hate to think what could have happened to me if that dog hadn't honked."

James starts work today

James started out bright and early Monday morning and drove to Idaho Falls. Barbara will fly up next Wednesday with Emily and the boys to Salt Lake City. Rachel will drive Emily and the boys from there to Idaho Falls.

James has already found them a place to live. Last weekend he flew to Pittsburgh to get their belongings out of storage and on to a truck to have it delivered to Idaho Falls. I already miss having James around the house and I am not looking forward to the rest of his family leaving. On the other hand, I am delighted that James has found a good job. Apparently Idaho Falls is not far from where James and Emily went to school at BYU Idaho.

For fun I went to Google maps and plotted the drive from our house to their new place.

View Larger Map

From my dad: Origin Of Liquids

The Kansas Board of Education voted today to eliminate mandatory teaching of the theory of evaporation from schools across the state. Most scientists believe that water and other liquids are spontaneously converted by so-called evaporation into the form of a gas, and carried off into the atmosphere. This, they say, is the explanation behind sudden disappearances of water all across the state.

Many non-scientists, however, stand by the widely accepted theory that a lovable invisible thirsty blue giraffe named Clarence is responsible for the disappearances. The two theories, evaporation and Giraffism, will now be taught on a more equal footing to school-children across Kansas. Parents are pleased, saying that Giraffism is easier to understand and far more comforting to small children. "There's nothing happy about evaporation," says Frank Nubbins, father of Jason, 6, and Sue Ellen, 4. "Clarence the giraffe is blue, and he's lovable. You can't say that about evaporation, that's for sure. I love my children."

"Nobody has ever adequately explained evaporation," says Dr. Harold Thumper, of the Kansas Board of Education. "With evaporation, we're expected to imagine that water just disappears, all by itself, with no rhyme or reason. That's ridiculous."

Clarence the lovable invisible blue giraffe, on the other hand, is always thirsty, an explanation which is simple and obvious. He has a well-established presence in children's literature. "Every culture on the planet," says Dr. Thumper, "has a story about giraffes, or thirstiness, or lovable blue things. Most of these have happy, happy endings. My children just love these stories. But I challenge you to find a single good story about evaporation."

The theory of evaporation is getting a dry reception in academia these days. At leading universities including Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, it's impossible to find a single professor of Evaporation on the faculty. "What's the point?" says Gwen O'Malley, dean of the Harvard Medical School. "It's not exactly a good career move to spend your life trying to explain evaporation to people."

Why Do They Hate Us?

Granted I would guess they don't pick the brightest bulbs to be contestants but really...

Faking it

Rachel wrote an interesting post in her blog Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten.... She probably picked up some of those feelings from me, I feel the same way at times. I often have the feeling that I missed an important day in first grade where everyone learned some basic key to understanding life that was so obvious that no one ever brings it up. I had hoped that my kids would come home from school and let me in on the secret.

Rachel is one of the smartest and most capable people I know. I know my telling her that is not going to change the way she sees herself anymore than when I hear someone say the same of me. I had a roommate in college who told me that I all but called someone a liar when they paid me a compliment so I have learned to be a lot more gracious when someone says something nice about me. And I will say that now I do let some of it sink in. As they say "Progress, not perfection."

I wrote the following comments on Rachel's post:

It is interesting that most people see us differently than we see ourselves. One of the things that I have learned as I get older (or is that wiser?) is that most people feel like they are faking it to some degree or other. In my world of computer programming there are things that I barely understand, somethings I can bluff my way through, and then there are the things that I know so well that I am an absolute expert (no one knows as much as I do about it).

When I was a young adult I was surprised to hear my father-in-law (a plastic surgeon) tell one of his children that they needed to take on of the grandkids to a pediatrician pronto. I figured since my father-in-law was an M.D. he would know everything there was to know about medicine when of course there is too much for any one person to know.

Live and learn.

The Onion: Poll: Mitt Romney Is Candidate Most Voters Want To Get Into Bar Fight With

Poll: Mitt Romney Is Candidate Most Voters Want To Get Into Bar Fight With

The Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all..

One is Evil.

It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good.


It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity,truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:

"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

A Hillbilly Love Poem

from a friend in Tennessee

Susie Lee Done Fell In Love;
She Planned To Marry Joe .
She Was So Happy ' Bout It All
She Told Her Pappy So.

Pappy Told Her, Susie Gal,
You'll Have To Find Another.
I'd Just As Soon Yo' Ma Don 'T Know,
But Joe Is Yo' Half Brother.

So Susie Put Aside Her Joe
And Planned To Marry Will,
But After Telling Pappy This,
He Said, "There's Trouble Still.

You Can't Marry Will, My Gal,
And Please Don 'T Tell You' Mother,
But Will And Joe , And Several Mo'
I Know Is Yo' Half Brother.

But Mama Knew And Said, My Child,
Just Do What Makes Yo' Happy.
Marry Will Or Marry Joe .
You Ain 'T No Kin To Pappy

Murdocks And Sons: Ok, So A Mormon, A Democrat, and A Lawyer Walk Into Idaho Falls...

Murdocks And Sons: Ok, So A Mormon, A Democrat, and A Lawyer Walk Into Idaho Falls...

A blog link!

Quest for the Nintendo Wii leaves many empty-handed

Interesting (at least to me) article in the paper this morning about the Nintendo Wii. Barbara was lucky enough to run across one recently and John was delighted to get one (plus the Mario Galaxy game from Harry and Jack, thank you James). With a little help John was up and running for several hours right after he got it.

I got all geeky and connected it to our wireless router so I could update the console and see the weather from the Wii.

My friend Andy bought John another game for the Playstation 3 console that my friend has at his house. John sat down with it last night and had a much longer learning curve. After an hour or so he was finished so he came into the other room with us as we finished watching the Hairspray DVD. Luckily John thought the movie was funny and laughed along with it.

Quiet Sunday

My friend Andy and I took John to dinner last night at a Chinese restaurant called BO Asian Bistro that I like and is fairly cheap. After we were seated the server asked John if he missed bowling. It turns out the server is a senior at a nearby high school and she was a volunteer for the Special Olympics bowling team. They finished their season a couple of weeks ago.

Needless to say the service was great (as was the tip).

Thanksgiving list

Here is a list in no particular order of things I am thankful for this year. I don't think with the small kids and John at the table tomorrow (and I am very grateful they will all be there) that there will be a lot of time for reflection.

• John has made so much improvement in the last year with his med changes. He went into the doctor's last week and it was obvious how much he had improved. Plus the fact he has dropped a lot of weight is a real bonus also.
• Russell got engaged to and married a wonderful woman. Sarah Jane is a great addition to the family.
  
• Russell got into law school here in Austin. This is purely a selfish thing, I am glad that we get to see him and Sarah Jane on a regular basis.
• James graduated from law school.
• James passed the bar exam! He was sworn in to the Texas bar a few weeks ago. Way to go James!
  
• James, Emily, Harris, Jack and Will have come to live with us while James is looking for employment. I am not sure James and Emily would count this as a blessing or not but from another purely selfish point of view, it has been wonderful having them here with us.
• Rachel! It was great seeing her this summer when she came to Texas from Pittsburgh with Emily and the boys. She stayed through Russell's wedding. I don't get to see enough of Rachel (how much would be enough) but I am incredibly proud of her.
  
• Barbara! She does so much for me and the rest of the family.
• Extended family members. We don't hear much from my side of the family so I assume that they are doing well in their lives.
  
• Good friends.
• A job. With all the layoffs at my company the last several years I am very happy to still have a job at my company that I enjoy.
• I am lucky that I get along with all of my co-workers. One of our beloved team members passed away a few months ago from breast cancer and it reminded me to appreciate the people around me while I can.
• Good health. I went out walking today before it turned cold and I took a few moments while I was huffing and puffing up one of the hills that I am fortunate to still be able to get out and about.

I am sure more things will come to mind!

So let your light shine

Heard an interesting sermon Sunday. What stuck with me was the question "What kind of a light am I? A night light or a spot light?"

funny

From my dad:

---------- Forwarded message ----------

This just in, and it is funny.

Joe

 

A cantor, the man who sings the prayers at a synagogue, brags before his congregation in a booming, bellowing voice: "Two years ago I insured my voice with Lloyds of London for $750,000." There is a hushed and awed silence in the crowded room. Suddenly, from the back of the room, the quiet, nasal voice of an elderly woman is heard, "So what did you do with the money?

Grandpa Joke

An old man was grocery shopping with his grandson. The toddler was crying and at times screaming at the top of his lungs.

As the old gentleman walked up and down the aisles, people could hear him speaking in a soft voice...

"We are almost done, Albert..Try not to cry, Albert...
Life will get better, Albert..."

As he approched the checkout stand, he carefully brushed the toddler's tears from his eyes and said again,

"Try not to cry, Albert...We will be home soon, Albert..."

As he was paying the cashier, the toddler continued to cry as a young woman in line behind him said, "Sir, I think it is wonderful how sweet you are being to your little Albert."

The old gentleman blinked his eyes a couple of times before saying, "Miss, my grandson's name is John...
I 'm Albert.....................................

Quote of the Day

I can relate to this one. I work with a lot of people at the office who are roughly my age and I find myself telling and hearing the same stories over and over again. I would stop them from telling me but I don't always remember how the stories end.

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld