Archives in Category: Personal Pleas

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Bad Idea

Posted on August 1, 2011

“You don’t have to sign; it’s under twenty-five dollars,” the supermarket check-out clerk said chirpily. It was as if she were waving me through a border check-point because I looked honest, so she didn’t ask for my passport. Believe me,

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Uncle Sam Wants Your Gift Cards

Posted on July 23, 2010

You can’t help knowing that many states in this country are verging on bankruptcy and are searching relentlessly for creative ways to offset their red ink. What you might not know is that there are rules on many states’ books

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Y2K Meets DST 2007

Posted on February 17, 2007

Remember the hue and cry over New Year’s Eve 1999, when government and corporations went to great lengths to make sure their computers could make the switch from 1999 to 2000 without crashing and burning? People everywhere spent hours and

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Get A Life

Posted on December 21, 2005

Bill O’Reilly is still haranguing merchants and others who choose to say “Happy Holidays” over “Merry Christmas.” He believes that substituting the former for the latter is a slap in the face for Christians everywhere. He feels it demeans not

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Salve on a Wound

Posted on November 17, 2004

There is a wonderful web site out there for Democrats in withdrawal. It’s called www.sorryeverybody.com. Basically, it is a collection of photographs sent in by people like you and me, and each photo shows an apology to the rest of

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Ten Thousand Dollars

Posted on November 12, 2004

We have an appointment this afternoon with a real estate agent. No, we’re not selling. Rather, the agent has a client who claims to be willing to pay ten thousand dollars a month for a home on water for June,

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Talking Heads

Posted on November 6, 2004

Maybe I’m just a sore loser, but I’ve grown weary of talk show hosts who have used the recent election as grist for their conversation mills. Granted, during the spring primaries, the summer conventions, and the fall race to the

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Getting Started

Posted on November 5, 2004

The hardest thing I do every day is sit down and begin. And since this activity occurs several times throughout the day, it is always a challenge.

Sit down and begin means to focus on the task at hand and move

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Grammar Grief

Posted on October 23, 2004

I’m pretty liberal about most things, but I take a conservative view of what’s happening to the English language as it is spoken and written in the United States today. Frankly I am surprised at how many people do not

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Cleaning Persons

Posted on October 21, 2004

I have had numerous services to clean my various homes over the past 25 years. Some were women who were independents; others were sent by agencies. And once, a man showed up, so I guess the title “cleaning lady” could

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