Monday  27 Sep 2021           comment?

The friend who lovingly lettered this notice on a shipping carton of course packaged the enclosed item so well that it would get to me intact no matter which side was up.

Wednesday  22 Sep 2021           comment?

A friend of mine thought it was curious that words for elevator in several languages all refer to lifting whereas elevators are used just about as much for descent as ascent.

I wonder why equinox has nox (night) in it but not day. German at least has the word Tagundnachtgleiche ("day and night equal").

Happy equinox (12:21 this afternoon PDT), everyone.

Tuesday  21 Sep 2021           comment?

I was talking with a friend on the phone today (yes we're both over 60) and we got on a subject that let me use the word ullage in conversation and that made my day.

Sunday  19 Sep 2021           comment?

Pre-Columbian petroglyph in the Coso Rock Art District and
spray paint on concrete (recent) at the dump east of town.

Wednesday  15 Sep 2021           comment?

By county: new COVID cases per 100,000 people in the past week (the darker the color, the more new cases) and votes to recall Governor Newsom (mustard means more voted for recall).

Sunday  12 Sep 2021           comment?

For the final exam in a high school math course I took in 1975, each student was allowed to have notes on a green 5"×8" index card. You handed in the card in advance and it was waiting for you at your seat when you took the exam.

The somewhat cryptic note here is from a friend's card. His notes also included e to 147 decimal places. (Mine had π to 84 decimal places.) He's a lawyer now.

Friday  10 Sep 2021           comment?

Thursday  09 Sep 2021           comment?

Wednesday  08 Sep 2021           1 comment

Andy Grote, a state senator in Hamburg, Germany, celebrated his 2020 reëlection with a private party (prohibited during the pandemic). He at first said it was a "stupid mistake" and claimed he didn't break any rules. He was fined €1000. His name entered the language: groten became a verb for partying during the pandemic.

More recently, Grote tweeted in support of the Hamburg police breaking up a mass gathering in the streets that was deemed a threat to public health. Among the responses was one from @pauli_zoo saying "Du bist so 1 Pimmel." (You are such a dick.)

Insulting someone is illegal in Germany. @pauli_zoo tweeted yesterday that six police officers had come to his/her house at 6:00 in the morning with a search warrant to confiscate electronic devices associated with posting the insulting tweet. German media (e.g., Welt, Spiegel) are calling the affair "Pimmelgate".

Hamburg police say this isn't an isolated case and they've conducted dozens of similar searches. They said Grote's prominence played no role in this case. According to Die Welt, the insult was first discovered by police who then went to Grote to see if he wanted to press charges.

(also: this cartoon)