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Example 1: High School, 1968. Trigonometry test. I walked by the desk of a girl I liked – not romantically, but a nice friend. I looked at her test sheet, and quietly said words to the effect: “problem 12 – divide by two.” She did, thereby earning 5 more points. My rationale: She obviously understood…
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The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal is reputed to have written words to the effect that “This letter would have been shorter if I’d had more time to write it.” Perhaps if he’d had a reliable watch, a relatively modern invention, what short time he had wouldn’t have gotten away from him. For years,…
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The problem is not the assembly. It’s the document purporting to be assembly instructions that makes the process maddening. Originally written in an obscure language, it’s been clumsily translated into English, rendering it completely opaque. The consumer vents her frustration by throwing the directions away and pursuing an intuitive approach, based on a no-doubt misleading…
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Scouting was a big part of my younger years. I enjoyed the camaraderie with other Scouts, had a great time camping, and learned a number of skills that I carry to this day.
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What was the first British song to be number one on the American charts? Hint: It predates the Beatles by two years.
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Mean, malicious, or mendacious? Just plain fun? To advance a personal agenda? What qualifies? Some rumors serve a noble end. In an unnamed presidential administration, White House staffers discovered to their dismay that only truly important people were invited to the annual Christas party, with invitees limited to high level, close to the Oval Office…
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Two children’s books — one from the middle of the 19th Century, the other from the end of the 20th, have a special place in my heart, for different reasons. One was a gift to my grandmother from her mother; the other I read to my daughter almost a hundred years later. My favorite children’s…
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My first serious hobby was philately . . . I didn't know it as "philately" until Tom Lehrer rhymed it with Lady Chatterley.
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A picture, a mirror, and a copper plate attest to my grandparents’ anniversary. They were married 101 years ago June 2. I know this because I have a picture of my grandmother in her wedding dress. There’s a mirror behind her, now hanging in our bedroom, although a bit worse for wear. The copper plate,…
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Guns were always around our family while I was growing up. My father, having grown up in Wyoming, would go hunting rabbits and snakes in his youth, and when his father died, several rifles and shotguns came with the estate. My grandfather had a rifle from his service in WW I that he’d outfitted with…
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<< Older posts
Four Morally Ambiguous Cheating Vignettes
Prompted By Cheating
/ Stories

Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
Prompted By Time
/ Stories

Assembly Isn’t the Problem
Prompted By Some Assembly Required
/ Stories

Be Prepared
Prompted By Scouting
/ Stories

Stranger from the British Isles
Prompted By One Song That Moves Me
/ Stories

From the Horse’s Mouth
Prompted By Gossip
/ Stories

About Amphibians and Small People
Prompted By Children's Books
/ Stories

Of Stamps and Notes
Prompted By Hobbies
/ Stories

A picture, a mirror, and a copper plate
Prompted By Anniversaries
/ Stories

The Rifleman
Prompted By Guns Then and Now
/ Stories
