Ceteris Diversibus

For instance, as a child, it never occurred to me to ask where I came from.  From what I read now, that’s a question that every parent seems to expect and dread.  (Disclaimer: I am not a parent.) LOTS of kids apparently ask it.  For me, it just never came up.  On the other hand,…

Or Obvious Things That I Didn’t Have to Learn from the Internet. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/asia/mongolia-plague-death-scli-intl/index.html This is a July 15th story from CNN Asia reporting that a 15-year-old Mongolian boy died of bubonic plague after eating a dinner of marmot, “a local delicacy.”  It is also reported that in 2019, “a couple in Mongolia died after eating…

A few months ago, I received a notice that the Asia Heritage Foundation was having a big street fair on Pennsylvania Avenue in DC on May 16. Two things struck me about it. First, the Asia Heritage Foundation has a mission statement that has elements that seem like parodies of every overly broad, meandering, abstract…

My current consulting project site is, as Google reckons, 52 minutes from my home “without traffic.” Now this commute transits the flaming hell that is DC traffic and requires either a long route that may be congested, or a more direct route straight through the heart of the city (contemporary Mordor) which cuts miles off…

A current commercial for Len the Plumber opens in a spacious kitchen with a well-dressed woman wiping spots off her wine glasses, apparently finishing her after-party clean-up. She says that an earlier problem threatened her party, explaining, “I was expecting a houseful when my drain backed up. Then the plumber came right away, and the…

I entered a contest today for a signed copy of “Go Set a Watchman.” To enter, I had to swear that I had read the full terms and conditions. That’s how I discovered that if I won the prize, I would have to release and hold harmless Sponsor, HarperCollins Publishers LLC and their respective subsidiaries,…

Normally, I don’t feel sorry for spammers, but I received an e-mail today from “Asbestos Watch.” Right away, I knew the poor guy wasn’t going to sell very many of those.

There have recently been articles in the press about new findings regarding King Tut, which are being heavily promoted in advance of a BBC broadcast of a documentary about the research. (By the way, the research that led to the “new findings” in the documentary was actually published 4 years ago. However, now that someone…

Every so often, Siri goes to a very Zen place, which can be a little frustrating when you’re in a hurry. Last weekend, I needed to mail a letter to Canada. I wasn’t sure how much postage it needed, but Siri was within reach. So I asked. Me: What is first class postage from the…

I was admiring this sleek black very expensive German sports car in the grocery store parking lot last week. As I was growing aware of my rising envy, I noticed something that made my envy vanish and, I’m almost ashamed to admit, made me feel better about not being able to afford such luxury.