IS VERBAL JIU-JITSU IN STYLE? - Just a Minute Radio for Monday 100712

            IT’s MONDAY – and due to be a hot one in the Southeast…

 

            Well, we had a bit of rain – but not enough to wet a dishrag where we are… can’t even do a good job wiping the windshield and if I decide to wash the car (it’s too hot I feel) I may trigger a car-washing or lawn-watering restriction… and I don’t want to be responsible for that.

 

            Yesterday we had a wonderful show of ‘almost rain’ in the local vicinity – lots of thunder and visible lightning – but the amount of rain was hardly disturbed by occasional wind… and ended up giving us all the show … but no go!

 

            Now I did have a neighbor who lives a few miles to the east call and say they were without electricity – which I imagine was the result of a local lightning strike that either blew out a transformer… or hit so many times it tripped the auto cutout circuit which only allows a certain number of lightning surges in a fixed period before the automaton takes over and says “that’s enough for now” – which generally means you have to await the energy provider sends out a crew check things out… make repairs as needed and then start things up again.  You may need to go out to eat.

 

            Such are the vagaries of living in an automated age.  

 

            My brain is getting similar ideas. If it has too many overloads in a certain time period… well, it just up an shuts down or pretends not to remember that ‘old’ stuff and pushes it out of the mental file cabinet – and you’re left searching around for a pad and pencil to write down whatever it was you were trying to remember in the first place.

 

            We’ve also got a recalcitrant microwave on our hands. A while back it decided not to warm a casserole for a picnic… we finally cajoled compliance… but after another episode I became convinced the ‘magnetron’ [I don’t know what it is other than a glorified power tube] that produces the little wavy things that warm up your coffee or defrosts the frozen green beans.  I tried giving the unit away to my favorite charity… but they only take stuff that’s working.  Sort of a non-starter for charitable work I think.

 

            So I decided to try getting it fixed – economically I hoped – and giving it to someone who needed a microwave.  So far… no luck.  Sears … who manufactured it offered to send out a repair technician for $149.95 who might not be able to fix it on the spot… I figured I could buy a new one for a little less… and so gave that up…   I did, however find a low cost small appliance repair shop in a less than elegant part of town.  For a non-refundable deposit of $40 they would “Take a look at it” and apply the $40 to whatever repair it needed. I didn’t know if that was a good deal or not… but decided it was better than throwing a less than two year old microwave out on the junk heap.  Now two weeks and two repair calls later – plus another $15 bucks of throwing good money after bad… we still don’t have a working microwave as a result of my casting about. 

 

            Meantime I followed my first instinct … and purchased one … not from Sears… but couldn’t get the proper color (black) to satisfy my wife.  But, for me and my frustration index,, she made an exception.  I decided not to buy the aerosol of black paint.  (I couldn’t figure out how to make the labeling work right… and I’d have covered up the buttons with black sticky stuff.)

 

            Ah well… tomorrow’s another day… we’ll see what develops on the home cooking front.  I think we can get along without a kitchen stove… but not a microwave. (L)

 

            Cordially, IN HIM

 

            Jack

 

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“JUST A MINUTE”

IS VERBAL JIU-JITSU IN STYLE?

Just a Minute: --  Seasoned political campaigners agree good campaigning technique causes your opponent to commit a faux-pas and hopefully paint himself into a corner.  Tennis coaches emphasize learning to stay inside the white lines – outside means defeat.

Which means in the run up to November Tea  Party coaches need to teach firm-control.  Charles Krauthammer points out it’s easy to dig a hole too deep to readily get out.  Often an inexperienced crew spends limited campaign resources, (mainly energy, time and money ) repeating what you “meant” to say the first time.  It’s the sure mark of an amateur.

Republicans it seems are well positioned for a winning season if they can skillfully keep the opposition off balance but not hit the ball outside the lines. Campaigning is a skill to be learned which takes practice.

Our cool Senator Jim DeMint is an excellent candidate. He’s followed Ronald Reagan’s style. Be strong and determined but no need to ‘chew the scenery’ and scare off new and independent voters on the move.

It’ll be a close call – It’ll require lots of prayer.  Let’s start now!

<> I’m Jack Buttram. (END)

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