Differences of Opinion

1

He Tells Her

He tells her that that the earth is flat-
He knows the facts, and that is that.
In altercation fierce and long
She tries her best to prove him wrong.
But he has learned to argue well.
He calls her arguments unsound
And often asks her not to yell.
She cannot win. He stands his ground.

The Planet goes on being round.

Wendy Cope

Differences of Opinion

1

He Tells Her

He tells her that that the earth is flat-
He knows the facts, and that is that.
In altercation fierce and long
She tries her best to prove him wrong.
But he has learned to argue well.
He calls her arguments unsound
And often asks her not to yell.
She cannot win. He stands his ground.

The Planet goes on being round.

Wendy Cope

Click for larger view. Taken at Adam and Tricia’s house.

Tuesday morning Dr. Feldman removed the pin from my previously broken finger. To me, the movie’s a bust. I expected more drama, but then, maybe less is a good thing.

The surgeon is such a good sport he tries to direct my filming. It’s his voice asking that I pause, because he’s worried I’ll run out of film time. And it’s his scream at the end.

A Window’s friendly .AVI version

Dear Bill,

So, how are we coming? I’m assuming you’ve finished your downstairs bathroom, but still have to tile upstairs. The chopstick comes out of my finger tomorrow so I’m ready when you are.

Say, when are you going to write another story for the blog?

Michael

Dear Mike,

When the chopstick is out, and you can hit the right key on the billing data base, please send me the correct bill. Granted, the Christmas gift I gave John was pretty weak. But still and all, I don’t feel like paying his bill for his garage leveling and siding. I do owe you a sheckle or two, but even as you come from the John Joyce school of billing, I reject paying for someone else’s job. Ya know, 15 years ago, when we were trying out the name TGH, Inc, (Two Guys Hammering), I told you I could devise a computer program to do the billing. It might have been better, on the 256K, Lotus 123, DOS based program PC I had. Maybe not, but it would have been able to tell the difference between I lewis and B lewis. I figure I owe more like $75. Or maybe more. Let me know.

Our Xmas card delivery was pretty sketchy this year. And my best intentions, unrealized, were to visit or at least call you guys on Christmas morning, but it didn’t happen. I missed our annual visit; seeing your holiday house, trying to level the pool table, listening to a new CD, having a taste of whatever new single malt you were serving, and most of all, having a traditional time to catch up with you.

I got a chop box, home owners 10″ size, for Christmas, so I can now go back and refine the shaky angles I cut for the ceiling trim. Almost done. Seems like the oomph is gone, as the bath is functional and as I sit on the pot each morning, not bad to look at. Can’t seem to finish.

I’ll write the story, you tell me what to write about.

Bill

Dear Bill,

One year, many years ago, which wipes about the senior moment excuse, I sent a bill with a date like 1968. The customer saw it as more evidence of my incompetence and fired me. I trust you can differentiate between my window trim skill and my billing program and continue to hire me for your fun two man jobs. Especially those which require working in your attic on scorching summer days, or in the way-to-close confines of your bathroom where I’ll wonder why I can’t pick up a hammer until I realize I was trying to use your hand, not mine.

Mike

P.S. How about your yearly student story which begins, “Have I ever told you about the time I almost died?”

Dear Bill,

So, how are we coming? I’m assuming you’ve finished your downstairs bathroom, but still have to tile upstairs. The chopstick comes out of my finger tomorrow so I’m ready when you are.

Say, when are you going to write another story for the blog?

Michael

Dear Mike,

When the chopstick is out, and you can hit the right key on the billing data base, please send me the correct bill. Granted, the Christmas gift I gave John was pretty weak. But still and all, I don’t feel like paying his bill for his garage leveling and siding. I do owe you a sheckle or two, but even as you come from the John Joyce school of billing, I reject paying for someone else’s job. Ya know, 15 years ago, when we were trying out the name TGH, Inc, (Two Guys Hammering), I told you I could devise a computer program to do the billing. It might have been better, on the 256K, Lotus 123, DOS based program PC I had. Maybe not, but it would have been able to tell the difference between I lewis and B lewis. I figure I owe more like $75. Or maybe more. Let me know.

Our Xmas card delivery was pretty sketchy this year. And my best intentions, unrealized, were to visit or at least call you guys on Christmas morning, but it didn’t happen. I missed our annual visit; seeing your holiday house, trying to level the pool table, listening to a new CD, having a taste of whatever new single malt you were serving, and most of all, having a traditional time to catch up with you.

I got a chop box, home owners 10″ size, for Christmas, so I can now go back and refine the shaky angles I cut for the ceiling trim. Almost done. Seems like the oomph is gone, as the bath is functional and as I sit on the pot each morning, not bad to look at. Can’t seem to finish.

I’ll write the story, you tell me what to write about.

Bill

Dear Bill,

One year, many years ago, which wipes about the senior moment excuse, I sent a bill with a date like 1968. The customer saw it as more evidence of my incompetence and fired me. I trust you can differentiate between my window trim skill and my billing program and continue to hire me for your fun two man jobs. Especially those which require working in your attic on scorching summer days, or in the way-to-close confines of your bathroom where I’ll wonder why I can’t pick up a hammer until I realize I was trying to use your hand, not mine.

Mike

P.S. How about your yearly student story which begins, “Have I ever told you about the time I almost died?”

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

I cleaned out my attachments folder and found these two which should have been posted with their entries.

From birdbrain’s trip to Morocco. Incidentally, her next destination – Botswana.
Full Photo

And one that makes me laugh everytime I look at it. Rakkity in Japan.
Full Photo

Taken during our (Adam, Mark S and Dan) last lunch at La Provence in Concord. The glass table provides the reflective surface.
View image

I received my latest lab tests, from a previous physical, on Saturday and that carried us into a conversation on diet, health, and longevity. To which Matthew offered, “Dad, you’re not dying from high cholesterol or disease. You gonna bleed out someday. That’s a fact. Just accept it. I have.”

And this is a perfect segue into my plea for anecdotes. I’ve gotten a few but not as many as I’d hoped for. It’s not too late to send me yours. I’m going to post the ones I’ve collected early this week (see how smart I am not to give an actual date?). And since Diane stole the one I was going to use, maybe I should have saved the one above, but they are so easy to collect.

And one more thing. The blog is changing addresses and design. I hope to have the new one up on or before Friday.

Patrick and I met at the gym entrance for our 5-oclock game on the dot of 4:59, and were tapping on the glass of court no. 1 at 5:02. The couple who were playing there couldn’t be serious players, after all, it was a boy-girl match, which couldn’t be as important as a father-son tournament, could it? They gave up the court gracefully (more gracefully than we had at the end of our unfinished sudden-death match last week).

Patrick scored the first point, and my adrenaline levels notched up a tad, but I got the serve back with a modest kill shot. As I racked up a few points, I relaxed my serves a little, and Patrick got the ball back. He scored 2 more points with wall grazers, and I got more serious, and returned his serve with a wall grazer on the wall opposite to his position. If I had been given that shot, I wouldn’t have even tried, but with his impressive speed, Patrick dove for it. The ball hit the corner and bounced back along the wall without a millimeter of air between rubber and plaster. Patrick gave it a terrific smash, but the ball just blooped towards the front wall, missing it by a yard, and he lost the serve. From that point on, it was all downhill for him.

So after winning the continued sudden-death game 15-10, I went on for the kill in the next game. Patrick served and scored twice. I was already behind 2-0, and the adrenaline surged. I began with a series of alternating shots to the left and right corners. We volleyed about a dozen times, with Patrick steaming to the right wall to return, steaming to the left wall, then the right, then the left. On and on, he returned shots that I would have missed 2 out of 3 times. I could have made a kill, but I wanted to see if he would tire. Impossible. He was sweating a little, but moving just as fast after 10 minutes of sprinting, swinging, reversing, sprinting, swinging,.. I ended the game with a final kill to the depths of the lower right corner. Patrick dove for it, as he always does, but to no avail.

So Patrick was down 0-2 after losing 10-15 and 12-15. I was getting a little tired myself, but P was as sprightly and eager as at the beginning. He served first, and scored twice, as in the 2nd game. This game I was determined to think of new shots that he might not even attempt to return, but it was hard to do that. Two passing players outside the glass stopped to watch his patented back-hand reverse bounces off the glass. No one I’ve ever seen can do that back-hand reverse as well. But a couple of serves later, I got balls deep into the left corner, and his back-hand reverse bounced off his chest—one of his few failures.

For my first several points, I was bearing down hard on my serves, but after getting a margin of 5 points, I relaxed and made easy serves. Patrick surged on, and was within two points, so I bore down again, restoring my 5-point lead. Then I relaxed, serving to Patrick’s right hand, and he picked up 3 points. My right arm was sore, but I went back to the old reliable underarm left-corner smash. Surprise, surprise. I found that I could return a few shots over P’s head, high enough that he couldn’t reach them, and crept ahead to 14-8. Then Patrick gained 3 straight points on front kills that I didn’t bother to chase, and I began to worry. Regaining the serve, and, panting, I banged one that even The Dominator wouldn’t have returned, but P blooped it to the front. I was so surprised that I didn’t even go for the ball, and P had the serve again. Then he scored twice, and was within one point of tying. After regaining the serve when P swung wildly and missed an easy shot, I changed tactics. I served a Z-shot, which Patrick fielded easily, but I moved into a position for a Dominator front-z shot that ended up moving parallel to the front wall, grazing it gently. P. dove to the front for the ball, returning it, but left himself vulnerable to my return that came off the front wall behind him, and headed towards the back glass just two feet off the floor. P sprinted and dove, but he was 10 milliseconds late. So I won 15-14.

It was now 6:00, and new players were now advancing on the court, so we had to quit. As we walked together towards the exit, Patrick pointed out that he had come closer to winning in each successive game. I agreed, and smiled, saying, “If we had played several more games, you would have won them all.” But privately, I said to myself, that I would have worn my right arm off, and wouldn’t have relaxed, if I had thought there was a possibility. But, bravado aside, Patrick was probably right.

• rakkity
jan 14, 2005

Mike,

In about an hour, rakitty & son will have their sudden-death match continued from last week. Somewhat repaired after the Dom match two days ago, I’m ready & raring for this one, and the adrenaline is
already coursing through my veins.

To be continued…

rakkity

More wild and crazy people from Ginger’s sister’s wedding.
View the whole kit’n’kaboodle