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Word of the Day -Caitiff

  • Noun/Adjective:  Caitiff  (Archaic)
    1.  noun
      • A despicable coward; a wretch.
      • A mean villain; a despicable knave; one who is both wicked and mean.
    2. adjective
      • Despicable and cowardly.
  • Synonyms:
    1. villain
    2. brute
    3. savage
    4. monster
    5. devil
    6. wretch
    7. offender
    8. criminal
    9. knave
    10. beast
  • Usage:
    1. “I think you mean caitiff. You just misspelled it.”
  • Encountered: In the following text exchange with a superannuated golfing buddy that lives in the Magnolia State.  I had passed along the following cartoon with the comment that I had found the epitaph for my tombstone —  never mind that I want to be cremated.

To which he replied, “This is something I don’t have to worry about. Niceness is not in my vocabulary.”

I responded with, “I am a saint, myself.”

Parrying he said, “I think you mean caitiff. You just misspelled it”

With a feint and lunge, I remarked, “I see that doctorate paid off.”

In response, I received, “Told you I had no niceness in me.”

“No true,” I riposted, “You gifted me a new word!”

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Priest for Dinner

Our friends, Harry and Susie, were in town for some fun with Susie’s family that lives here, her sister who came in from West Virginia, Susie’s niece’s family, and one of Harry and Susie’s daughter and her family who also came down from Chicago.  Susie and Harry spent Sunday night with us.

We are sitting on the patio Monday morning, drinking coffee, listening to the birds, watching the chipmunks and squirrels,  enjoying the cool, breezy morning, and chatting.  Harry was relating how his father had been very active in the church and the Catholic parish where they lived in Chicago. Susie added that Harry’s family frequently had priests for dinner.

So I asked, “Are they better rare or well done?” I suppose I could have asked, “grilled, blackened or fried?”

Sometimes I just crack myself up, nobody else, but I find me to be very entertaining at times.

And so it goes.

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Another Opening Sentence

Another opening sentence for a larger story or possibly a story in itself.

Rising from the bed, stretching, he began wading through the archipelago of scattered, hastily discarded clothing on his way to the bathroom, glancing back towards the bed before he closed the door, a wry smile crossed his face as he remembered the activities of the previous night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know… from time to time these musings pop into the labyrinth that passes for my mind.  I need to do something with them, so here it sets. Don’t worry, I’ve become very adept at dodging rotten tomatoes, thank you very much.

“Blissful smile” was my first choice, but I went with”wry smile” as it puts a completely different spin on the sentence, leaving questions unanswered.

For another article along this same vein: 2 One sentence short stories

And so it goes.

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Not a Weak One in the Bunch

Click to see picture bigger
Click to see picture bigger

One of my family members put together this pictorial  essay of the “Carr Sisters” to pass out at the inaugural reunion of sailors who served on the USS Carr, FFG-52.  Their first reunion was in the hometown of Paul Henry Carr, Checotah, Oklahoma, and the descendants of my mother’s parents were very involved and part of the reunion also.

The top picture includes Continue reading “Not a Weak One in the Bunch”

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Uncle Johnny – POW

I am going to pull this story out separately as the 3.141592 early readers of my posting: YouTube Playlists: USS Carr and Paul Henry Carr probably missed the addendum I made after a comment from my cousin Perry.

As related earlier, I was digitizing VCRs that another cousin had that relate to my uncle Paul Henry Carr and his namesake ship, the missile frigate USS Carr, FFG-52.

One of the videos I had not seen Continue reading “Uncle Johnny – POW”

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Why Granddads Take Grandchildren Fishing

I figured out why some grandfathers take their grandchildren fishing.

While I have rods of various types rigged with fishing line of different  strengths, I sometimes like to fish with ultralight equipment.  This is especially true if I am targeting smaller species like sunfish, bream or crappie.  If I happen to entice a larger fish on to my hook, like a bass, this has the added bonus of forcing me to finesse the fish rather than muscle it into the boat.

I was sitting in the middle of a small lake/large pond the other evening in my fishing kayak. I was endeavoring to tie a lure on to six pound test fishing line.  My eyes have gotten so bad I was having trouble seeing the thin, light line. I gave up on using anything less than that strength a long time ago. While I do not have arthritis in my hands very bad, it does make my fingers a little stiff from time to time. With the fineness of the six pound test line, with the difficulty in seeing that line,  I was struggling engineering the line into a good knot.

They do make fishing glasses with powerful magnification, probably exactly for this reason, or maybe for fly fishing fly makers. I could buy a pair of those glasses, soak my hands in WD40, and then go fishing.

Cynical me is betting, though, generations of grandfathers, under the pretext of teaching junior’s offspring the art of fishing, have manipulated their grandchildren into tying lures onto fishing line… just for the reason detailed above. Not really, but it was a passing random thought as the small diameter line was kicking my butt.

And so it goes.

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YouTube Playlists: USS Carr and Paul Henry Carr

USS Samuel B Roberts DE-413 in October 1944 before being lost in the Battle of Leyete Gulf

My cousin Nancy of WWND fame… WWND being What Would Nancy Do...  One of my brothers and I were on a backpacking trip and having a discussion about a hypothetical moral dilemma.  We were of differing opinions, but I resolved it to both our satisfactions by asking, “What would Nancy Milam do?”

Anyway, I wander…  Nancy had a box of VCRs related to the USS Carr and Paul Henry Carr.  Two subjects which the 3.141592 regular readers of my blog will know about.  I took her videos and digitized them.  After all, VCRs have gone the way of 8-track tape players.  “What,” I can hear the younger generations asking, “are 8-track tapes?”  Future generations may well find all our digital files are  unreadable  also.   Ultimately, you need the right technology to access them.

Anyway, I wander again… Once I had them digitized I uploaded them to YouTube and placed them in a playlist Continue reading “YouTube Playlists: USS Carr and Paul Henry Carr”

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Word of the Day -Puissant

  • Adjective: Puissant
    1. having puissance : powerful
  • Synonyms:
    1. able
    2. capable
    3. enduring
    4. forceful
    5. hearty
    6. muscular
    7. potent
    8. robust
    9. rugged
    10. strapping
    11. substantial
    12. tough
    13. vigorous
  • Usage:
    1. “No, the 2024 Toyota Tacoma will be propelled by either a 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder base motor or a more puissant, hybridized version of the same engine.”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the article: 10 Ways The 2024 Toyota Tacoma Could Outshine The GMC Canyon

Seems like a strange word to throw at readers of automotive articles on pickup trucks…

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Rush Boys 1957 – 1967

I was digging through some of my old VCRs and found one I forgot that I had.  It was entitled Rush Boys 1957 – 1967.  It will most likely be of interests only to me and my brothers… and possibly their families.  But what the heck, I can post it for free on YouTube and link to it from here… so why not.

My father had a home movie camera that I really do not remember him pulling it out all that often. To be honest the quality on this video is very poor and the videography leaves a lot to be desired. The really bad videography is a bit surprising as my father was Continue reading “Rush Boys 1957 – 1967”