New member of the staff

The anemometer has been turning a bit slowly here at The Divine Afflatus, so management thought perhaps adding another worker might help catch the wind. The boss was looking through numerous resumes but not quite finding all of the desired qualifications in a single applicant.

Then this guy walked through the door, brushed all the resumes off the desk, and declared "Woof." Unable to find any flaws in that argument, management hired him immediately. His first assignment is a summary of the Bush Administration, which we expect to be posted soon.

Did I mention I received an award?

No, of course I didn't mention it; I was out to lunch for a few months. Every time I thought I would be able to sit down and write a post, something came up. Not that I actually accomplished much over all that time.

A comment in my last post informed me this blog was considered worthy of the "E for Excellence Award," a tag that was making the rounds a few months ago. Well, a belated thanks, Ian--I do appreciate a complement when it comes from someone whose blog I respect and enjoy. And I will try to get back to blogging more frequently.

How the Internet increases productivity

A person can spend a lot of time diddling around the Intertoobs. How does this allow for greater productivity? For me, it's pretty simple--I have a dialup connection, which means a maximum connection speed of about 44 kbps. However, lately I get connected at about half that. The Cable did not make it this far down the road, and DSL is not available here.

So here's why I can be more productive. First, while waiting for the dialup to connect, I can go wash the dishes or vacuum the living room. Then, while waiting to connect to some site of interest, I can mow the grass or change my oil. Best of all is if I wish to view an offering from YouTube; I can go downtown for dinner and watch an opera.

Where have I been?

Yikes, I was not planning a blog hiatus, I just went looking for some scientific references supporting Creationism, and I fell into a black hole--utter Nothingness. I finally escaped when I realized that a Black Hole of Creationism, like anything else having a Creationist origin, has nothing to do with reality and I should just get back to business.

Just before I disappeared, I was "tagged," so I'll take care of this issue first. Even then (end of June) I thought tagging had run its course, but I've seen a couple other tag posts since. Surely by now the fad has faded, but I'll go ahead anyway.

This tag came as a reward for my last post (way back in mid-June), discussing an awful example of misapplication of the tagger's research results in anti-evolutionist arguments. Thanks to CAD of VWXYNot for the tag.

Okay, so first we list the rules:

• We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
• Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are some things about me:

1. I tend to procrastinate. I suppose I must be an optimist, because I figure I can do it all tomorrow.
2. Snakes live in my attic; I don't mind.
3. I just picked up some reading material: Coyne and Orr, Speciation; Isaak, The Counter-Creationism Handbook; Norell, Unearthing the Dragon, and Currie &al., Feathered Dragons.
4. As a geology major in college, I was a very big frog in a very little pond. Later, as a graduate student, I discovered how very much more there was to learn. Much later, I'm still learning.
5. My neighbor frequently calls with questions about animals, the moon, the weather, and various other subjects. They're mostly easy questions, but he's impressed and thinks I'm a genius. Other people ask me tougher questions and are less impressed.
6. I enjoy bluegrass music. I used to listen to some every day on the radio, but that station decided to replace the music with the same talk shows that I can hear more clearly on another station.
7. I like old monster, horror, and science fiction movies.
8. The key to my filing system is floor space.

I'll put the tag on blogs I have enjoyed and are worth further notice. I don't think I've noticed these bloggers have been tagged before, but in case I missed it, or if you feel this nonsense has got to stop, please don't feel under any obligation to pass it along. But remember, it's bad luck to break the chain.
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