Random Thursday
Category: Random Thursday...
Posted Thursday, December 07, 2006 at 08:50 AM [GMT-6]

Sort of a mixed bag today, including idle curiosity about the origin of the term "mixed bag"...

• NASA claims to have discovered evidence that water flowed on Mars as recently as a few years ago. So, that apparently moves west Texas into the #1 spot as the driest place in the universe. [OK, it only seems that way, as we're getting close to two months without measurable precip.]


• So many blogs, so little time – Had a brief conversation with Gazette Blogathon prizewinner and soundman extraodinaire Jon Wheeler at church last Sunday, and he reminded me of a site I've had blogrolled for a while but hardly ever think to visit. Footnoted.org obsesses over the footnotes to corporate financial statements and brings to light interesting -- or outrageous -- details that we'd otherwise likely miss. For example, a recent entry calls attention to the agreement between Kohl's Department Store and former Chief Operating Officer Arlene Meier who retired from the company last September 1. The agreement calls for the company to pay Ms. Meier's a lump sum of $880,000, but the real value comes in the fact that she will continue to receive the employee discount at the company's store for the rest of her life. So she has that going for her.


• A Norman Rockwell moment - Last Monday morning, as Abbye and I made our way around the park in sub-freezing temperatures, my first notice of the young boy on the bike came in the form of sound, the unmistakable crunch of tires plowing over ice and slush. On his way to the local elementary school, the kid was taking obvious delight in riding slowly down the gutter, back wheel losing traction as he sought the line that offered the slipperiest section of ice. He wasn't making much progress, but he surely was enjoying the ride. Yeah, that's a lesson worth applying elsewhere, isn't it?


• Speaking of Abbye, she had a six month check-up on the status of her Cushing's Disease and the blood tests revealed that it's still well in control. So, what's her reward for being deemed reasonably healthy (for a sick dog)? She goes in tomorrow for teeth cleaning and annual shots, which we'd put off until her immune system was stronger. I'm sure she'll fail to see the irony in all of that.


• On a much more somber note, Janie Snelson emailed to say that local Halliburton employees are mourning the loss of one of their own, a man who was killed in a truck wreck Tuesday night, leaving behind a wife and young daughter. I noticed a short notice in this morning's newspaper, but not recognizing the name, didn't linger over it. It's fascinating how the mention of the name by someone else immediately transforms a dry factual description in newsprint into the story of a family, and a shared bond of humanity reveals itself.