Can't think of a title for this post

Retired guy hitting keys at random in Google search, just a few and ENTER. Then again. And repeat. I think no matter what keys you hit, Goo can find a match. My brain, too, can inexplicably find matches: After half a dozen randoms I had half a thought and typed old information. No idea what my thought was.

Second (among 12.01 billion results) was

Old Information before New - MIT

MIT? I couldn't resist! Here's what I got:

Not earth-shaking. Obvious, if you ever thought about it before. Helpful if you didn't. Probably useful either way.

That little tidbit is part of The Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing. Maybe I'll see you there.

"Biggest Member" Event of the Year

Alternatively:

Biggest
Member Event
of the Year

Mollifying America

I'm in the middle of something important here -- drinking coffee and making graphs -- but I have to interrupt myself because Old Mother Google is at it again. "It’s almost Drug Take Back Day":

They offer social insights like that, far too often. If they're gonna do that, they need a button on their search page so you can send them a message: WHAT ARE YOU, MY MOTHER? And if it's so damned important, why do we have to wait four days to take the stuff back? It's all nonsense and gibberish dressed up like little red riding hood.

They seem to want to play the Walter Cronkite role, mollifying America with their little one-liners.

I'm not mollified. I'm horrified. And I think it's creepy.

You'll probably focus on today's creepy message and say It's good they're concerned about drugs. Sure. Whatever. But shouldn't it be "It’s almost Drug Take-Back Day", with a hyphen in there? You know, a dash...?

I'm not complaining that they're concerned about drugs. I'm complaining that they are wearing it on their sleeve. Uh, excuse me a moment, I have to check something...

Yeah, that. "On the sleeve".

And yes, it was google I checked with, the one I'm complaining about, about the "on the sleeve" thing. That's part of the irony of what's going on here.

The other part of the irony is that the google search page DOES NOT HAVE beliefs, values, emotions, or sentiments. I'm just dealing with the search page, not with the people who work at google. Yes, I'm sure the people who work there have beliefs and values and emotions and all that shit. That's not the point.

I'm sure there is a whole department at google where it's their job to deal with Beliefs and Emotions and Values and Sentiments -- the BEVS department.  But what that means is, it's their job. The shit we see on our screen, those one-line BEVS, it's not from the heart. It's just their job.

Sure: Lots of those people care about lots of those issues. But not ALL of them care about ALL of those issues. So why do they expect ME to care about all of those issues? And why do you object so strongly when I happen to complain about one of their one-liners?

Me? I don't even use the word "issues". STOP PUTTING THAT SHIT ON MY SCREEN. Go to church and pray about it. Or donate money. Or volunteer your time. Do what the fuck you want, but stop putting that shit on my screen.

//

See? It wasn't about drugs, was it.

Keyword: "since"

Old cop: "I haven't laughed since my wife died."

New partner: "Why did you laugh when your wife died?"


From A Touch of Cloth (copshow parody) Season 1 Episode 1.
On Britbox or Acorn TV maybe, on Amazon Prime.

A gardening tip

They say "it prefers partial to full shade". Do they mean "it prefers partial shade to full shade", or do they mean "it prefers partial *or* full shade (as opposed to full sun)" ??

To me the words mean the first of those, but I think they mean the second.

To me, it's still not really a word

Again with the soaker hoses

Apparently, you need or may need lots of special fittings for a soaker hose installation: backflow preventer, pressure regulator, filter, maybe more. I've been reading up. At one site they say

Always ensure that the hose is kink free as this will block water flow.

Yeah, I know what they mean. They mean that a kink will block the water flow. But what they say is that a kink-free hose will block the water flow.

I like careless writing like that because it is often funny. But I pay attention to careless writing like that because I want my writing to be most careful.