Delay Jose

A gentleman bought me a sandwich in the airport ... an older gentleman, born in Honduras, raised in New Orleans ... who shined shoes and slept on the streets ... who served four years in Vietnam and came back a wreck in every way ... who had a three-year courtship of correspondence with his wife of 44 years ("whatever you believe of heaven, she is going to be there" says he) ... who loves to go out dancing, who can't stand to be idle or indoors, who has had three bypasses and now has prostate cancer and can't drink water comfortably, who will work until the day he dies ...

"I've never met a stranger," he said.

Sorry again.

Yesterday on the freeway, I drove behind a car pulling a small horse trailer.  And upon the doors of the horse trailer were painted two horses' behinds.  And I thought of all the times I have been one of those.

Laws of Badminton

Life is a game of rules; Badminton is a tournament of laws.  A part of its credo follows, concerning the "shuttle," casually referred to as the "birdie" or the "daisy" by individuals who are now in prison.

SHUTTLE

2.1 The shuttle shall be made of natural and / or synthetic materials. From whatever material the shuttle is made, the flight characteristics generally shall be similar to those produced by a natural feathered shuttle with a cork base covered by a thin layer of leather.

2.2 Feathered Shuttle

2.2.1 The shuttle shall have 16 feathers fixed in the base.

2.2.2 The feathers shall have a uniform length between 62 mm to 70 mm when measured from the tip to the top of the base.

2.2.3 The tips of the feathers shall lie on a circle with a diameter from 58 mm to 68 mm.

2.2.4 The feathers shall be fastened firmly with thread or other suitable material.

2.2.5 The base shall be 25 mm to 28 mm in diameter and rounded on the bottom.

2.2.6 The shuttle shall weigh from 4.74 to 5.50 grams.

2.3 Non-Feathered Shuttle

2.3.1 The skirt, or simulation of feathers in synthetic materials, shall replace natural feathers.

2.3.2 The base shall be as described in Law 2.2.5.

2.3.3 Measurements and weight shall be as in Laws 2.2.2, 2.2.3 and 2.2.6. However, because of the difference in the specific gravity and other properties of synthetic materials in comparison with feathers, a variation of up to 10 per cent shall be acceptable.

2.4 Subject to there being no variation in the general design, speed and flight of the shuttle, modifications in the above specifications may be made with the approval of the Member Association concerned, in places where atmospheric conditions due to either altitude or climate make the standard shuttle unsuitable.

http://www.worldbadminton.com/rules/#1

Out With the New

Back to the old layout.  Obama's got a lock on Change and won't let me have any.

I Am Forced to Have Depth, Due to My Limitations.

Just Be Yourself!

Das ist aber schade.

Know what I do on days off? Stuff like, reteach myself a passable German accent by nightfall.   But I may have an undiagnosed LD -- Tower of Babel Syndrome (http://www.tbs.com). 

Here are all the other accents coming out of my mouth instead of anything near German:

1. British (Standard) 
2. British (Keira Knightley)

3. French

4. Russian

5. Swedish Chef

6. East Indian

7. %*$#*&@#$%*#! (that might be getting closer ... ja?  Nein.)