Have Mercy on Us All Review

Have Mercy on Us All, Vargas. Yes. This was an enjoyable, briskly moving read. The only item I found truly remarkable was the perfect use of the objective case:

Up and walked with my little boy (whom because of my wife’s making him idle, I dare not leave at home) … to excuse my not being at home at dinner to Mrs T; who I perceive is vexed because I do not serve her in something against the great feasting for her husband’s reading in helping her to some good penn’orths, but I care not.

Turns out it was not Vargas (or her translator), but Pepys who understood the language (though I don’t think Vargas or her translator got it wrong anywhere, either). I haven’t chosen to read any more Vargas, but I have nothing against the idea in principle.

Theme park notes

So we went to Anaheim recently to visit the mouse (this entry has been in draft state for almost exactly two years—and here I thought I was behind on my book reviews!—so some of it was written while the trip was fresh in my mind, but most of it was thrown together based on some scribbled notes). Here are a variety of observations:

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Watching movies while prostrate

So I’m watching At the Circus, starring the Marx Brothers. Groucho makes a joke about not having seen Chico since he stopped taking Scott’s Emulsion. Wondering what that is, I look in up on the intertubes. Well, it’s a brand of cod liver oil, still available, but not in the US, made by GlaxoSmithkline. And browsing through the list of their various worldwide brands, I also find Granufink, a German pill made from pumpkin seeds, “used to strengthen the function of the bladder and help treat prostrate disorders.” Hey! I’m prostrate right now, but I just thought it was related to watching movies on a Saturday afternoon!

Who'll get fired?

Read it before it vanishes forever: the TSA blog with open comments! Someone read an article about Web 2.0, and somebody’s bum will be canned when they realize that being open with complaints may mean having to actually be accountable for them rather than just restating policy (or “policy”, you must read the comments, you absolutely must!).

Some favorites so far: the elderly couple with replacement joints who are made to sit in a low chair with no arms (and no help in getting up from said chairs) to be repeatedly wanded despite having documentation about their replacement joints, the several military people who get searched on every flight, the person complaining about having their wallets searched (!!), the flight attendant with a background check to have the job in the first place who gets searched every time at a particular airport… and those were just comments on one post!

Your Peril Sensitive Sunglasses Just Went Dark

You don’t need to know what happened, but it was unpleasant. You don’t need to know where it happened, but it was nowhere near here. All you need to know is:
“The child’s mother was working on a computer in another part of the library.”

Like Pop-Tarts says, children should be supervised.