"This is unparalyzed in the state's history." Gib Lewis, Former Texas Speaker of the House

Hello folks and welcome to a round up of all that's fit to mention, at least from my little corner, right here sitting in my little typist chair with my now lumpy Jeff Gordon pillow for my back, made for me by my granddaughter Brittany many years ago, and I am hitting mostly the right keys and hopefully they will end up producing words and sentences that will inform and enlighten. Hey, it's a plan. Okay? It's Friday, March 22, 2013, and I am always amazed when the best of the best technologies end up being no match for the most simple of nature's children. Recently, there has been a very frightening loss of power at some nuclear power plants in Japan. This is of great concern because of the need for cooling at these plants. There are all kinds of computer systems backing up computer systems backing up even more computer systems. However, the folks in charge now believe the cause behind these most recent failures is likely a rat-like creature who chewed the wiring and created a series of short circuits. An entire nation was left sitting on the proverbial edge of their chair with nationwide hand wringing becoming the norm. Sometimes it just knocks me down when you consider just how vulnerable we really are. Sadly, we often think ourselves so smart that we fail to pay attention to the smallest among us that might do us harm. Now that my friend is an amazing story.

I suppose I can be like Uncle Si, on Duck Dynasty. I can spend my time thinking about things the way he does: "I may not use any of this stuff but hey look I can sell it on Greg's List!" I enjoy how he get's it almost right. For those who don't watch or keep up, it's Craig's List, one of the most prolific internet based classified advertisement databases. I suppose I enjoy those near misses because I have been privileged to be around some folks who were so good at it. It doesn't work unless the person getting it nearly right doesn't know how very wrong they are. Technically, they are called a malapropism. Archie Bunker, the fictional TV character from the show 'All In the Family' was known for his famous mangles. Like: "I got bigger fish to fly." Unfortunately, President George W., as well as Vice President Dan Quayle did a pretty good job of adding their names to the list of those distinguished nearly-the-right-word users. President Bush: "Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions will be caught and persecuted." Vice President Quayle: "The global importance of the Middle East is that it keeps the Far East and the Near East from encroaching on each other."

All of these tell us one thing: They and we are human. I remember a time or two that when I was speaking and I used a wrong word and everyone did their best not to burst out laughing. Talk about embarrassing. No. I do not remember exactly what happened. Well, not in each case. I do remember one where I used a correct word but it happened to be one that would have been more appropriate in the 1800's, therefore, I was greeted with the blank stare. Bottom line: I enjoy it much more when it is the other fellow and not me. But, it is Friday and as they say, all good things must come to an end. I'll leave you with some excellent advice from Uncle Si, "America, everybody is in too big of a rush. Lay back, take a sip of tea, mow a little grass. Then if you get tired, take you a nap." Maybe I can work on that while I am at home this weekend. Maybe you can also. Not bad advice. Not bad at all. Have a great Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday, and I'll see if I can come up with something for next Monday. May God bless. Amen.   ....More later.