For whatever reason, I recalled vividly today a late eighties wedding I attended in the early ’80’s. I was unattached, and a friend of the bride’s older sister.
Here’s a lesson, bride-and-grooms-to-be: be damn careful who you invite. Even more importantly, be extra careful about who’s NOT invited.
I was on the “bride’s side” (midwest slang, sit on whatever side of the person, bride or groom, you know best), about halfway back. (more…)
At some point in life, we all sit across our kitchen table from an insurance salesman to purchase, or at least contemplate purchasing a life insurance policy. Though I don’t have the slightest inclination to talk anybody into doing that, I thought I’d quickly share how the somewhat-still-Mob-controlled industry works here, or at least is supposed to.
In MO, and as far as I know, ONLY in Missouri, there’s still a 19th-century law still in effect that mandates insurance carriers to pay out the term amount to the insured’s beneficiary in the event that the insured commits suicide. Further, the agent’s required to explain this to the insured before he signs a policy application and pulls out his checkbook. (more…)
In the late 1980s I worked at a then-dominant check printing company’s distribution and web press operation a bit west of St Louis, in St Chuck county.
In t hose days, everybody had to order checks and use them across counters at grocery stores, retail, and to pay bills. On-line billing in the Midwest, usually the last locale in the country to get new stuff, hadn’t yet been invented.
George, my 13-yr-old kitty, was running around. He’s been neutered since he was about 9 months old, but the now-older-gentleman cat occasionally goes out for a bender. I guess this occurs every few months or so; I don’t panic anymore. He and I have been together for a long time, and quite often he was my most (and only) companion during anguish, crisis, celebration, and pain.
Anyway, when this happens, somebody simply must feed him while he’s away…
..because 8 days away from his dish is a mighty long time.
Welcome home, George!
(I wrote a post about my boss’s recount of the Charter Media party his daughter took him to. ‘Cable Guy’ wrote a reply correcting my use of ‘Charter Cable’ instead of ‘Charter Media’. He further went on to cost-justify cables rates, and finally pointed out that Charter creates jobs. Since this site’s ‘trackback’ feature woundn’t work, due to a filter screen that went to a (sort of) web page for Charter, I’ll just post ‘my reply to his reply’ here:)
Dear Cable Guy,
I guess you had to be there. My boss, whose daughter took him to the Charter party, is an older gentleman and normally isn’t animated in any sense of the word. His narration of the party, though, to those of us with him at the time, can only be described as lively. He had a terrific time at the Charter party/reception.. (more…)
…and that means ‘yes’.
Nod your head, and that means ‘no’.
Second behind learning the bewildering, exception-packed English language, our head nods are THE HARDEST aspect of American culture that our new friends have had to learn.