Ahoy from Wyoming!

I've been a terribly negligent blogger the last couple of weeks, but in my defense it's been a busy time. So I thought I'd pass along a quick post o' updating for those who are interested.

Monique departed for Wyoming last Saturday. Why Wyoming? Because that's where the action is. To be specific, the action is the impending arrival of a new niece, and Monique and I are lending a hand by watching our already-here niece Zoe while my brother Mike and his wife Cathy took on the slightly more demanding task of actually having a baby. Monique got a headstart on me because I needed to stay around Wolverine Lake last week for our village council's budget work session.

Before Monique left I picked up a bag of oranges, four pounds of hot peppers, and a minikeg of Bell's Two-Hearted Ale to prepare dietetically for my bachelor week. Saturday morning I shipped Monique off to Wyoming, and then -- aside from work and village stuff -- I spent the rest of my week eating things with too many hot peppers, then cooling the fire with a tasty Bell's Two-Hearted Ale.

I had planned to finish prepping the pontoon boat for launch upon our return, but it rained nearly all week. So instead I watched nearly the entire 2nd season of "Archer" on the DVR. As you can see, it was a week filled with giant accomplishments.

Saturday morning I flew out to Wyoming to join everybody in the excitement of the new niece. Except ... there isn't a new niece yet. The due date has come and gone, but as of this evening, little Zoe is still a single sibling. We're just about out of May, so it looks like it'll be a June baby. Words like "induce" are being bandied about, so I suspect we'll have niece news to pass along soon.

And now ... well, I'm updating the blog and watching a Tigers game. (Thank you, Mike, for subscribing to the baseball Extra Innings package.) Yesterday we took a nice long drive over Casper Mountain and down a bumpy dirt road. I can only assume it was an attempt to shake the baby out of Cathy.

And that's about it from Wyoming. Mike and Cathy are out having dinner, taking advantage of what might be their final opportunity for a while to dine like adults. Monique is giving Zoe a bath. I'm typing.

We'll let you know when there's news. In the meantime, no news is no news.

Putting the "Doggin' Around" in Doggerel

It started the way these sort of Friday-afternoon doggerel threads usually do. An inciter who shall remain nameless noted a recent incident of the financial sector acting the way that ... well, sadly the way that we've come to expect the financial sector to act.

Except that in this case the screwing wasn't figurative.


Subject: indications that I am in the wrong line of work number 17

German insurer Munich Re held orgy for salesmen

By Stephen Evans
BBC News, Berlin

One of the biggest insurance companies in the world held a party for salesmen where they were rewarded with the services of prostitutes. The gathering was held at a thermal baths in the Hungarian capital Budapest as a reward to particularly successful salesmen....

--------- Reply from MC-D ----------

Even though they're both in sales,
Insurance men and hos, they differ:
Insurance men sell mainly hope
While hos typically deliver.

------ Reply from Patioboater -------

True Story from Detroit. More's the Pity.

I doubt this effort's scan and rhyme
But this seems like a darned good time
To tell 'bout Motown's recent case
When crooked postmen lost some face.

Here are the shocking lurid facts.
Millions for fleet repair contracts
Were swapped for nights with local strippers.
(These schlubs were quick to drop their zippers.)

Hookers galore with this disgrace.
How could these crooks keep up the pace?
Well, here's the detail that'll grab ya.
That dirty bribe came with Viagra.

--------- Reply from MC-D ----------

We know your schedule's awful busy,
So we cheer your return to the world of poesy!

------ Reply from Patioboater -------

When time to dust off my skills of poesy
What better topic than lurid idiocy?

Eleven things I'd like to say about the death of Osama Bin Laden

I was going to post a truly eloquent, well-thought-out post about the death of Osama Bin Laden and what it means. But it's late and I'm tired. So instead, here are eleven fairly random items:

1) I'm glad he's gone.

2) Yes, I really think he's dead.

3) I don't think the Pakistani government was keeping him under house arrest. But, yes, I think some members of the ISI may have had an inkling of his whereabouts. I doubt we'll ever know the truth of just how much Pakistan knew.

4) I don't particularly care one way or the other about the pictures.

5) Yes, I do think Barack Obama's changes in Afghanistan and counterterrorism policies led to his capture. And yes, I think we would have captured him much sooner if we had concentrated on Afghanistan and counterterrorism after 9/11 instead of choosing to invade Iraq.

6) I flipped around the various news channels late Sunday night to try to find out more, and there was a lot of genuine reporting going on for the first hour or two after the announcement. In addition to channels with news, I also turned on Fox "News" three times. This is what I saw on those three occasions:

--Former Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card trying to explain how George W. Bush was really the guy responsible for this.

--Some guy in the crowd in front of the White House waving a Bush/Cheney sign.

--Geraldo Rivera at what appeared to be a frat party, with some very drunk college students.

7) No, I did not make up any of the items in number six. More's the pity.

8) I don't intend to follow much more that the blogosphere has to say on the topic. It's pretty clear that the silly season has started up again already.

9) I don't think this is the end of the "War on Terror" but maybe it's the beginning of the end. I don't think terrorism will ever go away altogether. It never has. But I think that between this and the successful protest-driven regime changes in the Middle East this Spring, we might just see a long, steady decline in Middle Eastern terrorism. That would be a welcome development for the whole world.

10) None of those guys on Navy Seal Team Six on Sunday ever have to buy a drink if I'm in the bar.

11) I was only going to list ten items, but I wanted to use the phrase "Osama Bin Laden sleeps with the fishes." So here it is. I like it. It may not be a mature, reasoned response, but it makes me happy.