Hi everybody! It’s me, Lightning!
Did you know that dogs are descended from wolves? Wolves aren’t as big or strong as lions or tigers or bears but on the other hand you never see a wolf in the circus, do you?
— Lightning 
A Wing and a Prayer
I noticed walking to Starbucks this morning that my right knee was making a snapping noise every time I took a step. No pain, just a snapping noise. So I prayed to God to make the snapping noise stop — and it did!
But then it started up again a few minutes later. 🙁
It turns out that the noise wasn’t coming from my right knee, it was coming from the right pocket of my sweatpants, where my house key was bouncing against my phone.
Apple Employee Found Dead at Company Headquarters
Apple employee found dead at company headquarters — CNN Money
I have never known anyone who died at work, although I’ve seen a couple of close calls.
My dad died of a heart attack at home on a Monday morning when he normally would have gone to work. If he’d been able to hang in there a few more hours, he could have died at the office.
I also worked with a fellow quite a few years ago who was in the office on Friday and died over the weekend. We heard about it on Monday. It wasn’t super shocking because he was an older man and not in the peak of health. He looked like John Huston with one day to live.
That was a terrible company. I remember thinking, “Well, at least he doesn’t have to come to work today.”
So Long, Clippers!
The only enjoyment I’ve had as a Lakers fan the past few years is watching the Clippers’ annual playoff debacles . . .
Who Says Creativity is Dead in Tinseltown?
Keep reaching for the stars, thespians.
We Are Not Making Any Progress on Cellos
Yo-Yo Ma’s principal instrument is a Montagnana cello built in 1733. – Strings Magazine
He plays a cello built in 1733!? In 300 years, we’ve learned nothing about making cellos?!
Overheard
“I hate to use stereotypes but . . .”
“For someone who hates to use stereotypes, you seem to have a stereotype for absolutely everyone.”
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
Males over the age of 10 who lower their pants at public urinals . . .
Ted Cruz: Lucifer in the Flesh?
I think this comparison is terribly unfair — to Lucifer.
One Day Closer to Doom
Sad to say but every day is one day closer to doom for all of us . . .
Pain is Nothing
Pain means nothing to a man, as Hemingway used to say. Before he shot himself . . .
The Consequences of Shenanigans
According to a Fox poll, Trump leads nationally with Republican “men, women, every age group, every income group, and among those with a college degree and those without.”
So, if somehow the GOP nominates a candidate other than Trump, the only Republicans who will be angry about it are …“men, women, every age group, every income group, and among those with a college degree and those without.”
Patience
Aside
I wonder what the world would be like if we all took responsibility for what we were contributing or not contributing to it.
EppsNet Restaurant Reviews: Pea Soup Andersen’s
I’ve driven past Pea Soup Andersen’s many times in my journeys from SoCal to NorCal and back . . . finally decided to give the split pea soup its day in court.
The waitress seemed to be always teetering on the edge of exasperation, at my table and at others as well. She said things like “Let’s do this” instead of “Are you ready to order?” I don’t know if surly waitresses are part of the Andersen ambiance or whether that was just the luck of the draw.
The soup was delicious though, served with bacon bits, croutons, diced ham, scallions and grated cheddar cheese, all on the side so you can customize the soup any way you like it.
Rating: 
. . . no deductions for the waitress as I feel she was within the normal bounds of surly coffee shop waitress comportment.
Ayatollah So
In Iran you can vote for anyone for President so long as that person has been approved by the Ayatollah Khameini. We Americans call that system a dictatorship.
Voters in America recently discovered that they live under an Iranian type of system and didn’t know it. In the primaries, voters participate in some sort of ritualistic placebo voting while party leaders select the candidates. . . .
Thanks to social media, and Trump, America will get its first taste of real democracy. If it doesn’t work out, we can always go back to the Iranian model and hope for our self-awareness to diminish over time.
Gutsy Winds
“Gutsy performance by the winds today.”
“The sign said Gusty Winds.”
Chillin’ With the Chancellor
I was walking west on Durant crossing Telegraph a block south of the UC Berkeley campus (see map below) when I saw a couple of good-looking yellow labs, probably less than a year old, crossing in the other direction.
I was so focused on the dogs that I didn’t notice until I had passed them that they were being walked by none other than the chancellor of the university, Nicholas B. Dirks, and his wife.
Gee, I wish I had gotten a photo with him but rather than run back across the street after him like a nut, I walked north to Bancroft and turned right to parallel the way he was walking on Durant. At the next street, Bowditch, I turned right again toward Durant to see if I could intercept him, which I did.
I’m staying at the Berkeley Lab Guest House, a university facility . . . when I got back to the place, I showed my Dirks photo to the guy at the front desk.
“Recognize this guy?” I asked. “Not me, the other guy.”
“No.”
“It’s Chancellor Dirks.”
“I’ll have to Google him.”
He reminded me of the guys asking Jack Nicklaus for his security badge at the Masters.
Dad vs. Stupidity
I overheard one of my colleagues saying to another, “My dad is really opposed to any kind of stupidity.”
I passed that along to my own son: “If you want to describe me in that way — ‘My dad is opposed to stupidity in all forms’ — it’s okay with me. I mean, you don’t have to if you’re not feeling it but I can think of worse ways to be remembered.”
Watching Kobe’s Last Game
