Slightly Mordant

Run boy run

Mik — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:47:32 +0000

Walking down the street with a friend, we are exchanging the usual pleasantries as we round the corner. He sees our bus sitting at the stop: “Bus!” he yells and takes off. One second he is next to me, the next, he is tearing down the street like a sprinter off the blocks. His legs are pumping and his backpack is slamming hard up and down, arms are flailing.

The blinkers on the bus change and the bus starts to pull away from the kerb. My friend tries to increase his speed, the arms start flailing even wilder and he is now yelling; “Stop!”

He is just at the end of the bus and about to slam his hands against the bus to try and get the drivers attention, but the bus pulls away.

With a loud yell my friend doubles over. He is like that when I walk up to him, his body is heaving as he tries to suck in huge lungfuls of air. He stands upright and his face is flushed and sweat is pouring off him.

“I…nearly…made…it.”

I place a hand on his shoulder: “and that my friend is why I never run for a bus,”

that and the mental image of tripping over my feet and falling under the bus!

“They’ll always be another bus along shortly.”

Post from: Slightly Mordant

Run boy run

Win a bathtub full of cereal

Mik — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:46:31 +0000

Ted Murphy in a bath full of cereal

Yes, you can win a bathtub full or cereal, a guy called Ted Murphy has a contest on his blog where you can do just that. Easy to enter and if he gets 500 comments on his blog he will also donate 52 boxes of cereal to a local food bank.

Click the picture above for details.Similar Posts:

Post from: Slightly Mordant

Win a bathtub full of cereal

I know I am short but…

Mik — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:24:04 +0000

Carolyn and I went out to the mall today, we decided we’d get out and do some shopping. For lunch I took her to Red Lobster, one of our favorite places although neither of us ordered lobster.

I had Carolyn laughing so hard when I came back from the restroom, No, my fly wasn’t undone!

“The guy who designed this restaurant must have been about six foot six!”

“Why?”

“Because I had to use the kids sized urinal that is low to the ground.”

“Really?”

“Yes, although I know I am short, I have never seen adult urinals fixed so high off the bloody ground. I’d need to stand on tiptoes to be able to adequately reach, even then, standing like that isn’t conducive to a good aim and not pissing down myself.”

“Well you could have asked our waitress for a box.”

ha bloody ha!Similar Posts:

Post from: Slightly Mordant

I know I am short but…

Guest Author: Dad, From The Lay of Arachne

Mik — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:27:55 +0000

Guest author time, another ditty from Dad, I just spoke to the folks on the phone and Dad is currently laid up. He tripped at work and broke a bone in his foot and has a cast up to his knee. He told the doctor; “70 years and this is the first bone I’ve ever broken.”

So I asked him to spend his time writing some new material, the following was previously published in the book: Echoes From An Inkwell by Anchor Books in 1993.

From The Lay of Arachne

by Mick.

When noon-day sun burned down upon the lines
and all the skylarks pierced high brassy skies.
When fresh faced boys moved up to take the front
and Sean, good Sean was fearful for his life.

When evening fell all cloaked in death and misery
and all the guns fell silent one by one.
When flares illuminated all the shattered landscape
and Private Sean, good Sean received his mortal knell.

When morning dawned all wreathed in mist and mystery
and spiders drank their way across the silvery webs.
When bird song echoed sad and so forlorn
and Sean, good Sean had quietly slipped away.

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Post from: Slightly Mordant

Guest Author: Dad, From The Lay of Arachne

Sunday Picture Post: Snot rags for the kids

Mik — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:18:00 +0000

Just a quick Sunday picture post this time, something useful for the kids in the family that I spotted in Fred Meyers, although even adults could use these. For those drippy noses and boogers hanging from the nostrils, I give you:

BoogieWipes

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Post from: Slightly Mordant

Sunday Picture Post: Snot rags for the kids

For Janna…

Mik — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:43:18 +0000

This post is especially for Janna, in her comment on one of my posts she mentioned showing a picture of me holding a fountain pen as she likes them a lot.

So Janna, a quick photo jigged in Photoshop CS3.

This is my Parker pen set from High School, fountain pen, ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil, I use them at work a lot. When we went to the UK to visit the folks in 2005 I saw them sitting on my Dad’s desk, so I whisked them away. I do have other Parker fountain pens that I’ve had a long time somewhere, okay, Janna you can drool now.

Parker pen set

Post from: Slightly Mordant

For Janna…

You ladies have mad skillz

Mik — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:20:11 +0000

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition

I am always amazed as the bus bounces along the freeway when I see women sit there applying their make-up, despite the motion of the bus they juggle the little mirror, their lipstick, mascara and other make-up supplies and do their faces.

A young lady a few days ago at the front of the bus, applied her blusher, lipstick and eye-liner, she then takes what looks like a medieval torture device, aka an eyelash curler, from her bag and proceeds to curl her lashes as the bus sped along.

Now that is mad skillz indeed.

If I tried that I’d end up looking like The Joker from Batman with a medieval torture implement jammed into my eye socket.

Why so serious?

Hat tip to the ladies.

Post from: Slightly Mordant

You ladies have mad skillz

For Mary…

Mik — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:56:58 +0000

My friend Mary told me today that she recently got home after having a few drinks, went online to one of her favorite sites, got her credit card out and placed an order. She has no recollection of doing this at all, but now she has two pairs of sneakers at home, they are in two different men’s sizes, neither of which will fit her!

Mary told me that she has several “As Seen on TV products” also for the same reason. I suggested maybe I should place an “As Seen on TV” link on my site and she readily agreed.

So Mary, check out my sidebar in a short while

This post approved by Mary.

Post from: Slightly Mordant

For Mary…

This post is dedicated to an impressive man

Mik — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:25:43 +0000

This post is dedicated to an impressive man alright, in the latest Ventura County Star there is a story about Tony Radonski, a Vietnam veteran who after 41 years is finally getting the medals and citations he deserves.

Ventura County Star article.

Tony fought in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and was seriously wounded, it is only now thanks to the effort of his wife that the army is finally presenting him with the Purple Heart and other medals he earned, hopefully, he gets VA benefits also as he is fighting cancer and has huge medical bills building up.

Tony has faced death head-on and fought it and tore it a new one on several occasions.

When he was wounded in Vietnam he was zipped up into a body bag and thrown onto a helicopter. Luckily someone heard him making a noise and realized he wasn’t dead and he was revived on the operating table and saved.

Later in his life the tire shop where he worked caught fire with him inside the building and he suffered severe burns, again, he was resuscitated in surgery.

He was brought back to life after a heart attack a few years ago.

All in all Tony has had an eventful life and has battled for most of it.

When he was 2 years old his father upped and took him and dumped his family and they both lived under a different surname for quite a while. His Mom and siblings had no idea where he was until 1997 when his lil’ sister used the Internet and located him. He was reunited with his Mom his brother and his sisters shortly after.

He found out that when he joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade his younger brother had also joined the 173rd Airborne. They both went though basic around the same time and because of their different surnames probably were in close proximity to each other on several occasions and never knew it.

Seeing a man go through the stuff Tony has makes all those niggly little whinges and groans about things like late buses and the like, seem very insignificant.

So this post is dedicated to Tony, an awesome big brother to his lil’ sis, my wife and a great brother-in-law.

Post from: Slightly Mordant

This post is dedicated to an impressive man

Lest we forget

Mik — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:59:59 +0000

Today is Veterans Day, Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, call it what you will. A day to remember the veterans and the fallen.

As long as I can remember I always make a point to say “thank you” to any veteran I come in contact with today. More importantly I take some time out from my day whatever I am doing and observe a moments silence for those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. I certainly don’t take my liberties and freedoms for granted.

So wherever you are, take some time to remember those veterans who served and those who gave it all for our way of life.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

excerpt from: For The Fallen
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Full poem here: For the Fallen

Post from: Slightly Mordant

Lest we forget