My blogger pal Scott is thinking about taking up the guitar. I’ve lent him some advice based on my extensive experience as a perpetual beginning guitarist. However, my experience is probably not applicable to anyone else in the world, as I am undoubtedly the strangest guitar player wannabe in the history of plucked instruments. First,… Continue reading Pickin’ and Grinnin’
Abby Goes Geek
I don’t usually read “Dear Abby” unless a headline like “Woman who loves two losers can’t decide who to choose” catches my eye, but My Lovely Bride never misses the column, and she pointed out a letter in today’s edition that hits me where I live: DEAR ABBY: I have an old acquaintance, “Ralph,” whom… Continue reading Abby Goes Geek
Mars…or Barsoom?
I wonder what Edgar Rice Burroughs would have made of the news that Mars is now violating our personal space. Burroughs, who died in 1950, is best known as the creator of “Tarzan,” and, indeed, even his official domain name is tarzan.com. But this prolific author first captured my attention as a mere yout’ with… Continue reading Mars…or Barsoom?
Don’t go getting the big head…
Before you bloggers get all puffed up over the word “blog” being added to the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English, consider this other new addition: bootylicious.
Ha! Told you so…
I finally heard from the doc this afternoon, and while they aren’t exactly sure what it is, my little lung-dwelling friend is not cancer or even a tumor. We’ll do another CAT scan in six months to make sure it’s not changing, but I’ve basically been given a clean bill of health. Listen, folks…you don’t… Continue reading Ha! Told you so…
Handyman Hell
[Note: As you read the following, consider this question: what is the worst household chore that you refuse to hire someone else to do?] I spent five hours this afternoon replacing the valve diaphragms on my lawn sprinkler system. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being take-out-the-trash easy, this job rates a 12 in… Continue reading Handyman Hell
A $4,000 Nap
Just got back from getting a PET scan, which sounds like something leading up to a flea dip, but was actually done in an attempt to identify the little alien lifeform in my chest. The process is the stuff of bad sci-fi movies. We don’t have a permanent scanner in the Permian Basin, so one… Continue reading A $4,000 Nap
In praise of Zero
I have a new vice. Well, to be accurate, I’ve rediscovered an old vice: the Zero candy bar. Ever had one? Zeros (Zeroes?) are, according to the wrapper, “caramel, peanut and almond nougat covered with white fudge.” That’s technically correct, but for me, anyway, they’re little edible time machines. My hometown of Fort Stockton, Texas,… Continue reading In praise of Zero
Medical Update (Don’t buy your veil just yet!)
The cat scan confirmed the presence of…something…in my right lung, something about the size of a dime. The radiologist said that it could be one of three things: scar tissue from a previous infection, a sort of harmless cyst that’s not uncommon among residents of desert climates who inhale a lot of dust, or, you… Continue reading Medical Update (Don’t buy your veil just yet!)
A little scary
I had a physical last week, the first in a number of years, although I’ve had a complete blood work-up annually for at least the last decade. Part of the physical was a chest x-ray. The doctor’s office called today to tell me that the x-ray revealed a spot on one lung, and they want… Continue reading A little scary