The bluebird of bitterness will be heading south for a few days to visit friends and family. Blogging will resume sometime next week.
Bluebird flies the coop
July 20, 2017
11 Comments | 
circus of life | 
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Summertime classic: Keeping cool
July 18, 2017The temperature in Detroit was 98 degrees and rising on July 8, 1946, when the Goldberg brothers — Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Maxwell — walked into Henry Ford’s office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.
Ford was curious and invited them into his office. They asked him to come out to the parking lot where their car was parked.
They asked him to get into the car, where the temperature was at least 120 degrees. Then they turned on the air conditioner and cooled the car off.
Ford was very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3,000,000 for the patent.
The brothers replied that they would settle for $2,000,000, but they wanted to have a label that said “The Goldberg Air Conditioner” on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.
Now old man Ford was proud of the Ford name, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldbergs’ name on his cars. They haggled back and forth for a while, and the Goldbergs finally agreed that Ford could use just their first names on the label.
That is why, to this day, the control on every Ford air conditioner says Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max.
11 Comments | circus of life | Tagged: chuckles, summer, wordplay | Permalink
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Happy birthday, Isaac
July 17, 2017It’s the birthday of the Father of English hymnody, Isaac Watts (1674-1748). Isaac began writing poetry at a very young age, and when he complained about the lackluster music he heard at church, his father challenged him to come up with something better. Isaac accepted the challenge, and he went on to write hundreds of hymns — including “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “Jesus Shall Reign,” “Come, Ye That Love the Lord,” and “Joy to the World.” Here is one of my favorites.
When I can read my title clear
to mansions in the skies,
I’ll bid farewell to every fear,
and wipe my weeping eyes.
Should earth against my soul engage
and hellish darts be hurled,
then I can smile at Satan’s rage,
and face a frowning world.
Let cares like a wild deluge come,
and storms of sorrow fall;
May I but safely reach my home,
my God, my heaven, my all.
There I shall bathe my weary soul
in seas of heavenly rest,
and not a wave of trouble roll
across my peaceful breast.
2 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Alice Parker, Isaac Watts, North Dakota State University Concert Choir | Permalink
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Face time: botanical edition
July 17, 2017
6 Comments | simple pleasures | Tagged: faces | Permalink
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Sunday funnies
July 16, 2017
3 Comments | circus of life | Tagged: Sunday funnies | Permalink
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Sunday musical offering
July 16, 2017
2 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Mack Wilberg, Mormon Tabernacle Choir | Permalink
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I can’t brain today, I have the dumb — let’s-hope-their-life-insurance-is-paid-up edition
July 19, 2017Share this:
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