It's been a heavy couple of days, so...

if

Hillary Clinton, love her or hate her...

Hillary Clinton, love her or hate her…

Whether on television or the blogosphere or in social media, her every utterance seems to bring out the inner-oracle in growing numbers of people. Along with all the “I said way back when” and “I told you then” comments, there are the more oblique “if you couldn’t see that” shots peppering the commentary.

To be sure, the battalions of crystal ballers are nothing new, and their accuracy always tends to the murky until hindsight can be filtered for comfortable adjustment. That said, there’s just something about Hillary that has them racing to sputter their backward-prognostications with amusing and very real predictability.

I just turned down $1000.

Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd utter. But chances are I wouldn't have turned it down if I hadn't just seen a news story on this particular scam.

Phone rings, I answer. It's a recording, male voice that sounds like a game show announcer. He's congratulating me because "someone" referred me to receive a free medical alert device (as in I've fallen and I can't get up) AND $1000 in groceries!!! Uh huh. Then he directs me to press a certain key to 'accept' this largesse. Instead of responding or pressing any keys I just let the phone sit there; after a minute it clicks a few times, then disconnects.

Too bad, he just sounded sooooo happy! But I'll bet there are enough seniors who bite on this. Let them know not to bite, because this one bites back. Scary.

A question for our legal pros:

For the trial of Bush/Cheney et al (were it to happen), how would voir dire be handled? Or would a jury even be impaneled?

(Question just came up in conversation, thought this would be a good place to ask.)

Good heavens...!

Root canal

"Gentlemen"

I knocked on the boss’s office door and stuck my head in to announce, “These gentlemen would like a word with you.” He invited them to take a seat and thanked me as he closed the door. An hour later they emerged from the office and left the building. The boss was leaning against the door frame, his hands in his pockets.

With a tired smile and a shake of his head he said, “Care to step outside for a minute?” That was code for a conversation that needed to be away from “official” ears. Nothing nefarious, to be sure, but the place was a non-profit and we needed always to conduct ourselves in a manner that would avoid casting it in any negative light.

Out in the parking lot he leaned back against his car and lit a cigarette. Then came that tired smile again as he asked, “Gentlemen??” I chuckled and waited to see where he was going with this. “I saw the look on your face ,” he continued, “ it was obvious what you were really thinking.” And in truth, at that moment I’d been glad they were behind me.

The boss and I had each been raised by fathers given to, shall we say, salty language. We knew how to apply colorfully accurate descriptions, and as we relaxed outside we put that ability to good use regarding the "gentlemen” who had just left. Having thus vented, we went back inside to finish the day by conducting ourselves appropriately. We really didn’t have to do that very often, but some folks just seem to make it necessary.

"Gentlemen"

I knocked on the boss’s office door and stuck my head in to announce, “These gentlemen would like a word with you.” He invited them to take a seat and thanked me as he closed the door. An hour later they emerged from the office and left the building. The boss was leaning against the door frame, his hands in his pockets.

With a tired smile and a shake of his head he said, “Care to step outside for a minute?” That was code for a conversation that needed to be away from “official” ears. Nothing nefarious, to be sure, but the place was a non-profit and we needed always to conduct ourselves in a manner that would avoid casting it in any negative light.

Out in the parking lot he leaned back against his car and lit a cigarette. Then came that tired smile again as he asked, “Gentlemen??” I chuckled and waited to see where he was going with this. “I saw the look on your face ,” he continued, “ it was obvious what you were really thinking.” And in truth, at that moment I’d been glad they were behind me.

The boss and I had each been raised by fathers given to, shall we say, salty language. We knew how to apply colorfully accurate descriptions, and as we relaxed outside we put that ability to good use regarding the "gentlemen” who had just left. Having thus vented, we went back inside to finish the day by conducting ourselves appropriately. We really didn’t have to do that very often, but some folks just seem to make it necessary.

more buck-ing