I’ve used this space to talk about someone close to me… someone who suffers from mental illness. I’ve alluded to hospitalization… and it’s been about 7 weeks now. They’ve tried medication, counseling, and until Friday – ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) as a kind of last – or next to last – resort. Since none of it has worked they’ve begun to look into some kind of longer term…
So I’m sitting in court, and I see something I haven’t seen since the third grade. You know how children have this innate ability to flash a disingenuous smile on demand? Picture two eight year olds having a heated debate… over who is most deserving of the last popsicle in the freezer, and one says, “well, at least I don’t pee my pants at night.”
Can you picture that smile?
Now imagine…
Some of you may know my daughter. Of you lucky few, some of you may know about her affinity for the art of inquisition. Is it any wonder that her father has been known to throw down with a Q or two in his day?
All of this leads us to a few weeks ago. I was walking the hallowed halls of state government, and a conversation ensued with a fellow civil servant who was known among his kind to be a…
“Yo, body! What do you make of this time change?”
“Not much; and that’s ‘Mr. Body’ to you.”
“That’s awfully formal for someone you can’t live without. What’s wrong, you can’t handle the time difference? It’s not like you didn’t know it was coming. I’ve been telling you for months it was coming.”
“Yeah, yeah. You keep talking, pretending someone is listening. I’m…
Earlier this evening I was sitting in a room on a psychiatric ward during visiting hours, when a few other visitors arrived (to see another patient, assigned to the other bed in the room). A middle aged man looked into the room from the doorway, and at the person I was visiting. He said to his companion, “oh look, the wacko is in here.” His companion gave him a shush and shoved him out the…
We here at the Kauffman Household (v. 2.2.2) dislike the Spring Forward phenomenon, more popularly referred to as “Daylight Savings Time.” Accordingly, we’ve decided to pull an Arizona and opt-out. That’s right friends, the Kauffman Household will be on standard time year round!
There are a few kinks I’ve yet to work out (soliciting special considerations from my boss, the school system…
When folks in government talk about our reliance on oil, why does it seem like there’s constant chatter about fuel cells? Why are we waiting on hydrogen fuel cells when we can do something now? Here’s the cynic/realist perspective (you get to choose which one): fuel cells are twenty years from production/wide spread use, and that’s a lot of time to put off tough economic decisions (like…
Phlegm is one of my favorite words in the english language. It has so much going for it, besides the obvious comedic value. Its got the “f” sounding “ph.” It has the unpronounced consonants that the francophile in all of us adore. It rolls of the tongue as smooth as a choice obscenity.
What’s not to like about phlegm? Did you know that phlegm is tied to “humor” in more ways than…