Saturday, March 18, 2017

When Little Things Mean A Lot.

This week a Maine dairy company was ordered to compensate its truck drivers $10,000,000.00 in back pay. You might ask what was so bad about that.
Well, it all emerged from a PUNCTUATION error. In the union contract  Oakhurst Dairy had failed to put a COMMA in between the words '"Shipping" and "Distribution" which failed to differentiate between the people who loaded the milk cartons and the drivers who delivered the product. Thus the drivers qualified for overtime pay that they had not formerly received.
A single comma in the contract made all the difference.
In life, itself, little things can mean a lot. Finding the right word, for example, can turn the whole meaning of a conversation into something different.
In a public lecture  someone was asked to explain the difference between the words "Complete " "Finished."
Here's how he replied.
"In marriage, when a man finds the right woman he feels COMPLETE. However, if his wife later finds him with the wrong woman, we could say that he is FINISHED."
Yes indeed, little things do a mean a lot, in marriage and in all other areas of life. Be careful where you put your commas.
Jubilate.
Ian

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Forgotten Pharaoh Emerges.

Big excitement among the archaeologists this week. Parts of a massive figure have been uncovered at an Egyptian construction site.
Wow, this could be the Pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid.
We only have his head and part of his upper body so far but the pieces are on a mega scale.
Who could it be?
 The same question was asked by the Brits in 1836 when similar parts of a massive statue were discovered in the desert outside Cairo.
This is the poem that Horace Smith wrote about the relic which he named Ozymandias.

IN EGYPT'S SANDY SILENCE, ALL ALONE,
STANDS A GIGANTIC LEG, WHICH FAR OFF THROWS
THE ONLY SHADOW THAT THE DESERT KNOWS:
"I AM GREAT OZYMANDIAS" SAITH THE STONE
'THE KING OF KINGS, THIS MIGHTY CITY SHOWS
THE WONDERS OF MY HAND"

THE CITY'S GONE,
NOUGHT BUT THE LEG REMAINING TO DISCLOSE
THE SITE OF THIS FORGOTTEN BABYLON.

WE WONDER, - AND SOME MIGHTY HUNTER MAY EXPRESS.
WONDER LIKE OURS, WHEN THRU THE WILDERNESS
WHERE LONDON STOOD, HOLDING WOLF IN CHACE.
HE MEETS SOME FRAGMENT HUGE, AND STOPS TO GUESS
WHAT POWERFUL BUT UNRECORDED RACE
ONCE DWELT IN THAT ANNIHILATED PLACE
Don't get too excited about the present world events folks.
It has all happened before. There is only one "king of kings" and it is not Ozymandias. It is Jesus Christ and He didn't leave a leg in the desert, He left an empty tomb in Jerusalem.
Jubilate .
Ian