Tuesday Tidbits

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This is the time of year when I decide whether or not to keep this blog going.  It's been going for 10 years.  Everything has an expiration date.

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I'm not sure if I have ever posted this or not.  It is one of those posed Christmas pics Marj would take for her cards. This one I like particularly because in the expressions of the three of us you can just about see what we would end up like, personality-wise.  Mark, eager to please and willing, but don't push it.  Phil, self-assured and confidant, I could do this all day.  Me, awkward and shy, and get me the Hell out of here.  Yep, that's us, then and now.

Here are some goldy (moldy) oldies that should be in the Flashback section, but I have run out of Fridays.

Now see description of top pic and see if it holds true with these.
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Dear Santa,

This is what I want for Christmas:  Brat Burgers, Whitey's Shake, and an escape route from Kitschland. 

I don't know how good I've been, but I haven't been that bad.

Your longtime admirer Mike

P.S.  If I can't have any of those I'd love this 1960 Aermacchi Chimera motorcycle in any condition.

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It is my sad duty to relay to you that Attila the Hen has not been seen since just before Thanksgiving.  Attila, We Hardly Stewed Ye.

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A young semi-nude artist.

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We will be taking our usual Holiday break after this week.  I want our hardworking staff to get out of the news and editorial rooms to be with their families.  

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My single Papa's Daycare client proud of her new earrings.  She fashioned them from two magnets and a couple baubles.  

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Found in an empty flower pot here this week after a good rain.

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I heard snoring as I was getting this post ready.  I wasn't sure if it was from another room, then discovered it was Whizzbang, aka dumbstruck the Wonder Pup.  We went for an early morning walk and I guess she needed a nap.  

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This is to the turtle like my last ride on the Octopus was.

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I bought this candle from one of those artsy-craftsy places downtown in St. Pete.  It caught my eye and thought it was pretty clever.

It is entitled "Ghost Stories By the Fire".  One of a kind, and original.  And mine.

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And finally.

GREAT SEA STORY

The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought Captain John DS. Phillips, the result. The Warrimoo’s position was LAT 0º 31’ N and LONG 179 30’ W. The date was 31 December 1899. “Know what this means?” First Mate Payton broke in, “We’re only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line”. Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime.

He called his navigators to the bridge to check & double check the ship’s position. He changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark. Then he adjusted the engine speed. The calm weather & clear night worked in his favor. At mid-night the SS Warrimoo lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line! The consequences of this bizarre position were many:

The forward part (bow) of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere & in the middle of summer.  The rear (stern) was in the Northern Hemisphere & in the middle of winter.  The date in the aft part of the ship was 31 December 1899. In the bow (forward) part it was 1 January 1900.


This ship was therefore not only in:

Two different days,
Two different months,
Two different years,
Two different seasons
But in two different centuries - all at the same time!