Potpourri

Visitors to the Vail Valley should be aware that even if you’re in great physical shape, it’s no guarantee against developing altitude sickness.  Even if you’ve been here without symptoms in the past, it’s no guarantee against getting sick now.  The reality is that there is no way to predict who is susceptible to hypoxia.

Like many people, I struggle with my weight at times.  But last week my wife gave me a clue as to why when she pithily opined that I needed learn how to distinguish that fine line between boredom and hunger.

And speaking of “fine lines”—as Jimmy Buffet once said, “There’s a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.”

If you were to spell out numbers, you would get to a thousand before you would find the letter A.

Have you ever been at a loss for words?  If you speak English you needn’t be, just take a look at the word Licentious, which means “sexually immoral.”  There are at least 17 synonyms for the word licentious.  Interestingly, 9 of them begin with the letter “L,” e.g., Lewd, Loose, Lustful, Lecherous, Lascivious, Libertine, Lubricious, Lickerish and Libidinous. The balance includes Bawdy, Wonton, Ribald, Prurient, Debauched, Dissolute, Salacious, and Concupiscent as close cousins.  English is a magnificent language, so keep pressing #1

After returning from our most recent trip to Africa I asked myself how many travelers would bother to take trips if they were bound to a vow of silence about their adventure upon their return?

When a garden is “seeded,’ seeds are planted in it.  When a fruit is “seeded,” seeds are taken out of it.  Oversight can mean “watchful and responsible care” or “an inadvertent omission or error.”  When stars are out, they can be seen; when lights are out, things are dark.  Sanction can mean either “approbation” or “disapprobation,” and shank which, when used temporally, names the early, main, or latter part of a period of time.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mind, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny  iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.  Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.  Amzanig huh?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it can’t be very good to pump a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere.  But too often those who presume to know exactly how all the disparate facets of climate meld into a cohesive whole have never attended a lecture or symposium on the subject, nor taken a science class since high school.

Nothing is worse than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

Whether a man winds up with a nest egg or a goose egg, depends a lot on the kind of chick he marries.

If you didn’t know how old you were, how old would you be?

A free market economic system is sometimes called a profit system—but that’s grossly inaccurate.  It’s actually a system of profit & losses because losses tell manufacturers what to stop producing.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.  Yet it’s a pretty safe bet that someone reading this will try.

An acquaintance once told me he wanted to ask God for a new pair of skis, but he knew God didn’t work that way.  So he stole a pair and asked for forgiveness.

When discussing energy issues, it’s far more effective to say, “Exploring for energy” than “Drilling for oil.”  The latter conjures images of old-fashioned Texas oil wells gushing barrels of black goop, while the former suggests 21^st century technology and innovation. Likewise, “Free Market Economy,” is a phrase with a positive connotation while the word “Capitalism” evokes a far less positive response.  Use the term “foreign trade” and one risks turning people off, but say “international trade” and it summons a mental image of cooperation and shared prosperity.

Wouldn’t it be nice is there were a “sarcasm” font on your computer?

Some words to live by: Life is simpler when you plow around the stump; words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled; it doesn’t take a very big person to carry a grudge; you cannot unsay a cruel word; the best sermons are lived, not preached, and if you live a good, honorable life, when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

Quote of the day: “
If a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred; she’ll never turn into an old nag.”—Wisdom from Grandpa