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IN DEFENSE OF BUTTONS
It is possible but unlikely that there are men and women around the world whose memory is so long that they can remember a time when the existence of zippers was completely unknown. Zippers today appear in a multiplicity of places. They are on our clothes as well as on some of our plastic bags…
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ANOTHER DOSE OF THEM RANDOM THOUGHTS
All things considered, my mother spoke less than perfect English. Her rural background often seeped through in her manner of speaking. While she may have made grammatical mistakes and mispronunciations, the burden of her message was always clear. If she were alive today, there is some doubt that she would read my essays. But perhaps…
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A FEW MORE COMPLETELY RANDOM THOUGHTS
Perhaps I should stay out of my water closet because random thoughts often occur to me there. As the lawyers would say, in the instant case these thoughts include such diverse characters as George Steinbrenner and the Roman Catholic Pope who visited here recently. These are not monumentally important thoughts, but they will not go…
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JUST WORDS
A good many years ago, Will Rogers, the noted American humorist, said of himself, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” Judging by the time it has taken to nominate the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, it appears that Will Rogers probably had it right. At this point, we…
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COMPLETELY RANDOM THOUGHTS
Those of you who have long memories may recall that there were a series of essays three or four years ago that were entitled “Random Thoughts While Shaving.” Now similar random thoughts continue to occupy my alleged mind. I had hoped that they would be transient in nature, but unless I record them, they will…
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USA! USA! USA! ETC.
As my career with the Bell System neared its end, AT&T decided that it could be served best by my spending the final seven or eight years being involved in Correspondent Relations. The term Correspondent Relations is an anachronism and an antiquated description of my duties. When the various telephone companies around the world began…
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A MAMMOGRAM FOR JOHN MCCAIN’S BRAIN
This is not a political essay but rather it is a call for neurological help or even psychiatric help for Mr. McCain’s brain. Mr. McCain’s brain needs at least a mammogram before he sets off to encounter the Democratic presidential contender in an effort not to make a fool of himself. There is a bit…