MikeL

Hey! Don't say that! Amphibian assassin.

Thanks, John. You are a saint.

Pretty sure I am. Congratulations, BTW, on your 4,500th post.

I've now had the pleasure of beta reading "Queen's Gambit Accepted". (Others are still editing and proofreading.) It almost didn't happen. CJ's SWS was still in play when he "sent" me the e-mail. He forgot to attach the file I was to read. You should ignore any response he makes to this revelation. I have to be careful how I say this so I won't spoil the chapter for anyone, but there was a big surprise in it for me and I think everyone will be surprised when they read it. At least, none of the speculation posted in the story thread comes close. Cliffhangers aren't the goat's only forte.

Happy Birthday, Yang!

NO! You wouldn't!

You guys have a lot of patience. It's your call. It doesn't sound like you are going to give in. Good for you. For a baby's growth, love is as important as food.

I have not yet proofread (or even seen) the next chapter, so it's totally a guess on my part that the cartel people are coming to take care of their own unfinished business...finishing off Basingstoke himself once he's fulfilled his contract. He agreed to kill and behead Trevor and they agreed to pay his fee, but they never agreed that it would end there.

Just be sure you are not disappointed in yourself, Edward. The performance of the corporate types is what's disappointing. It's not that they are better than anyone else, but they should meet a higher standard of professionalism in their work. It's part of their leadership responsibility. When they are unprofessional, they are a big disappointment. When they fail to meet a time commitment, they are a big disappointment. When they communicate such an important decision in such an impersonal way, they are a big disappointment. Get out from under that rock; make room for someone who belongs there.

That's not OCD...just good security and personal hygiene.

I'm with you on the dishwasher. My wife hasn't a clue. She's content for me to do that job (fair enough since she does most of the cooking), so there's no argument about the right way. Organized pantry? Nah. Life's too short. No OCD here.

Pajamas (or pyjamas, if you will )...long pajama pants - except in the warmest weather - and a tee shirt top. Wondering why Michael says pajamas in his reply, but voted underwear.

A sidelight: The current issue of Smithsonian Magazine reports that "Titanic" is the third most widely recognized word in the world. The first two? "God" and "Coca-Cola".

Toads? Yuck!

Judgment is a very powerful tool. It's one that humans - Christians included - can use with great impunity. There's no downside for us and it helps us bring some order to our own lives, helps us build fences which keep the evil that is in the world away. But judgment builds very poor fences. Love builds stronger fences. We all make judgments all the time, but Christians, more than anyone else, should understand that "the judgment", where another will spend eternity, is not our judgment to make. We are specifically prohibited from making this judgment by the Christian scriptures. More emphasis on love and less on judgment would benefit us Christians most of all.

Thanks for your list of benefits, Bob...very humorous and so very true. The first thing I do every morning is go out and get the newspaper. I check the obituaries and, if my name's not there, I know it's going to be a good day.

CRT? Just kidding, CJ. I had one of those monsters until switching to a flatscreen a couple of years ago (an LG 23.5" HD monitor which looks just like the TV in our guest room). There's a world of difference. Go ahead; treat yourself.

Happy Birthday, Lughcifer! (I trust this is no April Fool's joke.)

You youngsters don't know it yet, but you will revisit this issue later in life. It doesn't matter what your sexuality is. If you have children, the issue is the same. Not long after our youngest son married, he and his wife were visiting and he asked what they should call us. I know that he was asking permission to call us by our first names. My response was, "Mom and Dad will be fine". That's what he had called us most of his life. I can't imagine ever having called my father by his first name. It would have been disrespectful. So, my sons and their wives all call us Mom and Dad. There's never any confusion about whom they are addressing.

Ah. Loving feedback. The best kind.

Facebook is fraught with problems. I've long been concerned about the lack of privacy and kicked the social network out of my life several years ago after a picture of one of my grandchildren appeared on a totally unrelated web site. It had been lifted from my Facebook profile and was presented for all the world to see on a for profit site as if it were a picture of me. I've not regretted leaving Facebook for a single minute. I'm much happier spending my time cultivating real friendships with real people. You previously blogged about Facebook friends versus Facebook freaks. Today you were subjected to the insensitivity of one of those freaks. Do you really need "friends" like that? You have Westie. And you are certainly no loser. Anyone who thinks that is no friend.

Trevor's Sports Bar is fine, too. Or Trevor's joint. Nah...maybe not joint.

"Sports Bar" sounds good.

No need to apologize, Zombie. It appears you have the "touch". I can't do it today, so I'll have to rest on the laurels demonstrated in my pictures. No trumpets? TADA That egg is not very fresh now, is it?