I had a photo agency in Manhattan with about 120 employees, mostly office staff.  One floor was a photo shooting studio.  OSHA guy comes in.  He asks (repeatedly), "Would you say you manufacture photos?" 

Next thing we know we are designated a "Manufacturer" with sky-high OSHA rates as if all our folks were doing jobs as dangerous as driving a forklift. 

Appeal, appeal, appeal, endlessly. 

Finally get to a close aide to the governor.  Can't help us, because, as he says, "They're going to do it to you for two reasons:  One, because they need the money, and, two, because they can."

EJ-- Okay, I'm going to tell you the only computer joke I know.  (Now, stop me if you've heard this...)

Four engineers-- a chemical engineer, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer and a computer engineer-- are riding along in a car.  The car sputters to a halt and pulls to the side.

"We've got some bad gas in this thing," says the chemical engineer.

"It's a wiring problem," says the electrical engineer.

"No way," says the mechanical engineer.  "It's the cam shaft..."

At which point the computer engineer pipes up:  "I've got an idea," he says.  "Let's all get out of the car, then we'll all get back in-- and we'll see if it works."

I totally agree with Leslie.  If at least part of this is a battle for "hearts and minds", Cruz needs to remember that if the Liberal loses big, the media will find a way to present it as a "stand-off"; if the Liberal loses by a bit, the media will present it as a big win for them, and if they actually win the debate, well, Katie bar the door...

Nifty piece. A good read. Thanks.

"Party Down", a Starz original series about a catering crew whose outsize individual aspirations struggle incessantly against the ferocious gravitational pull of their depressing reality. Just flat-out funny, and you can't help rooting for them. Two seasons: I wish they would make more episodes...

Stephen-- What a lovely little film!  Thanks for the heads-up!

Thanks for the heads-up on this. One's heart fills with compassion and admiration for this sweet, fine, impressive young woman...

When you've finished Downton (and, yes, it's TV's version of crack cocaine), give Foyle's War a go...

Nice idea.  Count me in.

Very cool, Aaron.  Well done.

Troy-- I couldn't agree with you more about "The Way You Look Tonight".  It's usually done sort of up-tempo, but I've heard it done as a slow, wistful ballad and it is exquisite and heart-rending, the lyrics sublime.  Those guys back then really knew how to write a song...

I always like it when people ask me if English is my (European) wife's second language so I can say, "No, it's her fifth..."  She grew up speaking French, German and Luxembourgish interchangeably and is also fluent in English and Dutch.

The question becomes: Which is her  "native" or "primary" language?-- and there's an interesting and surprising way to figure that out.  Is it the language you think in?

Not necessarily.  My wife reports that she finds herself thinking in various languages at various times.

Is it the language you dream in?  Again, with her, it varies.

So if you are that fluent in that many languages, how do you know which one is, ultimately, your go-to language?

Give up?

It's the language you count in.

(In her case, that would be French...)

I had a summer job waiting tables at an extremely expensive restaurant in East Hampton, Long Island.  It catered to the local blue-blood crowd who where very rich with old money and terrible tippers.

 One night a boisterous Texan came in with a party of six. The rest of the crowd looked down there noses at them the whole evening, while I did my best to take care of them and enjoyed the liveliness and bon homie that was so rare in that establishment.

I noticed the man hosting the party drank a lot of water, so I made a point of keeping his glass full.

The mandatory 15% (at that time) tip was included on the bill-- and even that would be pooled with the other waiters.

Leaving, he turned to me and said he appreciated my keeping his glass full- and for helping make it an enjoyable evening.  He shook my hand and in it was a crisply folded $100 bill. 

I learned something that night.  I was grateful to him then, and I've never forgotten it, and I can remember his face and his smile today.

It was thirty years ago.

Thanks, Flownover.  (You were killin' me with your comments on the Sex thing...)

The following was told to me by a member of the Teamsters, so I guess it's okay to repeat it:

Question:  Why do the Teamsters have a horse in their logo?

Answer:  Because it's the only other mammal that can sleep standing up.

(Unfair to a lot of hardworking folk, of course, but, well, he thought it was funny and so do I.  Maybe that's a start...)

Doc-- You are exactly right-- and I mean exactly.  I ran into him the next day and began to describe how factcheck.org was  being misleading.  His eyes glazed over and he said, "They're totally objective; I don't know what your problem is..." and changed the subject...

I love this.   What a delightful divertissement...

Thanks.