“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”

            Went to the chiropractor for the first time in years.  Yikes!  It sounded like a string of firecrackers being shot off.  But I feel much better. 

            I’ve been in one of my moods lately.  The captain cancelled one of the tours so he could change the fuel filters on the Kate.  When a customer asked why we weren’t going out, I told them “because the captain is working on the boat.”  The captain scolded me for telling them this, because he felt that people would think that there was something wrong with it.  “You’d rather I lied about it?” I asked.  “I don’t care what you tell them, just don’t tell them that anything might be wrong with the boat.”  So the next time someone asked why the boat wasn’t going out, I responded “Because the captain is on the sauce again.”  After a few moments of being torn between amusement and anger, the captain decided that it would be best just to tell people that he was changing the filters.  I agreed.

            When the boat comes in, I stand on the edge of the quay and throw a line to the mate who lashes it to a belaying pin.  The forward motion of the boat and the resistance of the line pull the boat against the quay.  Well, I threw the line to the mate, and jerked it back at the last second as he was reaching for it.  He stretched to grab it, and reached a bit too far, and *plop!*  Into the bay.  Once again the conflict between amusement and anger managed to keep me out of trouble.

            I went to the bookstore the other day, and someone was walking out just as I was walking in.  Their bag set off the alarm while I was still in the doorway.  I started waving my arms and shrieking “Wait a minute!  Wait a minute!  I haven’t had a chance to steal anything yet!”  And then I ran screaming into non-fiction.

This is a really good essay on social taboos.

As always, cool stuff under the “reviews” link.

“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”
            - Michel de Montaigne

And now, for your moment of zen: