Author Archives: Greg Hlatky

… if I ever catch up with the person who invented the screw-type-vending-machine-delivery-system-that-always-stops-one-erg-short-of-releasing-my-purchased-item I’m going to beat them to a blood-soaked pulp.

The great and good Derek Lowe is properly scathing about the attempts to make “alternative medicine” mainstream. Just think, 80 years ago it would have been considered a gross insult to call someone a “root-and-herb” doctor. Now it the next … Continue reading →

A. C. Douglas, in praising the recording of Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, conducted by the composer, makes a point I’ve frequently agreed with: We’ve never been much drawn to Leonard Bernstein’s “serious” compositions as despite their admirable … Continue reading →

It looks like New York Governor David Patterson is going to give in and make America’s Princess the next Senator of the state. Mrs. Schlossberg, whose résumé makes that of the present occupant of the Office of the President-Elect look … Continue reading →

A 40-year-old woman couldn’t buy beer because she looked too young: Despite her best efforts, youthful Karen Hamilton could not convince supermarket workers she was older than 18, the legal age for purchasing alcohol. Maintaining she was a teenager, staff … Continue reading →

… my former company seems to be in more than a little spot of trouble and, as one possible outcome, may declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2007, Lyondell Chemical Company, a publically-traded U.S.-based company, was purchased by Basell Industries, part … Continue reading →

Anyone who may have strolled by this poor little blog sometime ago may have remembered that in April I was informed that my position with my former company (about which more later) was to be eliminated. Despite my efforts to … Continue reading →

The Dallas Cowboys (“Satan’s Team”) are utterly annihilated by the Philadelphia Iggles, 44-6 to get knocked out of a playoff spot.

A Merry Christmas from all the Hounds of Soyara Lacey (MBIS, MBISS Ch. Soyara’s Chantilly Lace JC) Silver (Ch. Soyara’s Silver Angel JC) Titan (Ch. Soyara’s Titan of Blackmoor JC) Fred (Ch. Bokhara Soyara Fjor) Diva (BISS Ch. Soyara’s Beautiful … Continue reading →

… but this is ridiculous. Note that the traders on the bottom of the screen never put down their phones.

Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr, used the following classification system: I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are … Continue reading →

To our enormous delight and relief, Miss Tess (Ch. Soyara’s Cunning Little Vixen) picked up her second major last month at the McKinley KC shows to finish her championship. Tess was a handful to show. After some early come-to-Jesus meetings … Continue reading →

Today marks the 92nd anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Some 20,000 British soldiers were killed that day and nearly 40,000 more wounded. The 1st Newfoundland Regiment went into action at Beaumont Hamel. Of the … Continue reading →

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat. It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit! God, look at the time! My wife will kill me! Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est. The designated hitter … Continue reading →

In December, my company was purchased by a private European concern. Otherworldly as I am, I knew that mergers are rarely good news for the employees of the mergee. Still, hoping against hope, I hedged my fears: they’re technology oriented… … Continue reading →