Random Thoughts Anew

[AmLitHist]

Beware the ides of March.

[apl68]

Beware the ides of March.

Maybe that explains that awful headache I have today for no obvious reason.

[Juvenal]

I always took it as "Tides of March," and have stayed far from the ocean on this day, since.  Silly me!

[apl68]

On my walk to and from work in recent days I've been passing a place in the street that has been dug up to work on a water leak.  While returning from lunch today, I saw that there is now water running through the gutter again.  I also overheard one worker on the site saying to another, "You gotta use your head!"  Makes me wonder what just happened there.

[downer]

Looking up dentist ratings is scary. People are a lot more brutal than they are on ratemyprofessor. Of course, it's generally going to be a very skewed sample of people leaving feedback. But it is my dental insurance company that provides ratings. If someone has a 2/5 rating and people have responses of how terrible the dentist is, I'm not inclined to make that person my dentist.

You'd think some dental group would make more of an effort. My plumber works very hard to get me to give them a positive rating on Google. It may be harder to find a good plumber than a good dentist. Maybe both are in short supply.

[marshwiggle]

Looking up dentist ratings is scary. People are a lot more brutal than they are on ratemyprofessor. Of course, it's generally going to be a very skewed sample of people leaving feedback. But it is my dental insurance company that provides ratings. If someone has a 2/5 rating and people have responses of how terrible the dentist is, I'm not inclined to make that person my dentist.

You'd think some dental group would make more of an effort. My plumber works very hard to get me to give them a positive rating on Google. It may be harder to find a good plumber than a good dentist. Maybe both are in short supply.

The pipes don't get to give a rating.

[mamselle]

We all have crinkle-cut life paths.

M.

[mamselle]

When you hear a trumpet sound, it's useful to know the difference between reveille and taps....

M.

[lightning]

When you hear a trumpet sound, it's useful to know the difference between reveille and taps....

M.

reveille = usually already awake anyway for some reason, a few split seconds before the bugler plays it

taps (no sun shining) = indication that the people responsible for making sure you are asleep, are asleep themselves so you can sneak out

taps (sun is shining) = make sure you are not about to accidentally stumble upon a funeral event

[mamselle]

True.

I was thinking metaphorically, but those are also useful distinctions!

M.

[apl68]

taps (sun is shining) = make sure you are not about to accidentally stumble upon a funeral event

When my brother was in the Army he sometimes took part in funeral details at veterans' (mostly very aged World War II vets) funerals.  A shortage of trained buglers made it necessary to employ a bugle-shaped electronic gizmo that played "Taps" while one of the detail pretended to blow it.

[lightning]

taps (sun is shining) = make sure you are not about to accidentally stumble upon a funeral event

When my brother was in the Army he sometimes took part in funeral details at veterans' (mostly very aged World War II vets) funerals.  A shortage of trained buglers made it necessary to employ a bugle-shaped electronic gizmo that played "Taps" while one of the detail pretended to blow it.

I have a feeling that the only veterans who get a real bugler at their funeral are probably the ones buried in Arlington.

[mamselle]

Not always true.

I think my mom would have just about made it without breaking down at the graveside committal for my dad if they hadn't knelt in front of her to hand her the flag from the coffin and played taps. She'd been in control until then, but that gesture, and the bugler's notes, did it.

RIP, Mom (who died a week ago in 2017) and Dad (June, 2011).

M.

[lightning]

Not always true.

I think my mom would have just about made it without breaking down at the graveside committal for my dad if they hadn't knelt in front of her to hand her the flag from the coffin and played taps. She'd been in control until then, but that gesture, and the bugler's notes, did it.

RIP, Mom (who died a week ago in 2017) and Dad (June, 2011).

M.

I wish all vets would get a real & qualified bugler playing taps for their funeral, but a lot of times, it's just a matter of lack of availability of a real and qualified bugler.

I'm sure there are real buglers out there for some of the vets who will be buried in the hinterlands, but the elite military musicians, the one who can REALLY play the bugle well (especially the brass players whose main assignment is funeral duty), are stationed in or near Arlington.

[Clarino1]

As a professional trumpeter, I have sounded taps for a few veterans' funerals.  While most of the military bandsmen are snowed under with work, and cannot play for all veterans' burial ceremonies, there is an organization called Bugles Across America which is dedicated to providing buglers for just such occasions.  I personally think that the ersatz electronic "bugle" is a travesty and an insult to the veteran, but our local American Legion post seems to think it is preferable to a live bugler.