The sound of one finger snapping...

(An attempt to vary the theme of "one hand clapping," except that "one finger snapping" sounds more like an encounter with a loan shark's enforcer, but I digress...)

Today was another day babysitting Huntür, resulting in - among other things - the making of pancakes in the middle of the afternoon, which turns out to be not a bad thing at all.

As a great believer in flash cards for learning new material - especially vocabulary - I was lucky enough to stumble across Flashcard Exchange, which already has some collections of French vocabulary, but also offers the capability of creating my own file if those turn out to be unsuitable for whatever reason.

More work came in today, which delays the paper chase, but I plan to cut way down on translations after Memorial Day so as to devote myself more fully to clinching the chase before my Houston trip, so the more work now, the better. Then again, Drew will be leaving tomorrow night with Huntür for California, so that Galina and I will be running the store (with Brady's help) until he gets back around the 6th, so maybe I ought to take it particularly easy in the work department this coming weekend.

Cheers...

A 4K kind of day...

I've left 2700 source words for tomorrow.

Sustained efforts are starting to expose portions of carpet on the floor and trays on my desk. Although this is not the result of real paper-chasing, it will do until the real thing comes along.

In the meantime, a couple of nits to pick:

The other day, I was watching some program on the tube about the new F-22 "Raptor," and how it flies the pants off of everything that's in the sky, including our own F-18s. One phrase that kept popping up in the voiceover was how this fighter was going to be an essential part of the US inventory "well into this millennium." This grated on my nerves, since even if we posit that 10% is a fairly conservative definition of being "well into" something (I'd be more comfortable with, say, 33%), were talking about being around for 100 years.

One hundred years? Why, that's an eternity in airplane design terms!

If we consider that aircraft in general have only been around for 100 years and that only one significant military airframe has lasted somewhere around half that figure (the B-52), you'll pardon me if I'd like to reserve judgment until we see how the thing behaves "in real life" before having someone spout off like like that (despite what test flights tell you). The audio laid it on so thick, however, it was like watching a commercial.

Then this morning, a Denver news station reported a BB-gun attack at a private school somewhere in town. Two teachers were injured, the kids were evacuated inside, and no doubt the persons responsible ought to be horsewhipped. However, the flack at the station who caused some idiot parent's remark to be aired (to the effect that "this is the worst thing that could have happened") ought to be next in line for whipping. A moment's thought ought to have made it clear that the parent wasn't thinking straight (or worse, really has led an insulated life), although I suppose the flack was only doing his/her job, as stampeding the public into a panic is always good for ratings, the facts be damned.

Time to go relax.

Cheers...