Pomatoceros triqueter

Pomatoceros triqueter

What kind of animal has such a name

Is it related to the rhinoceros

Does it have three horns

Perhaps a fearsome dinosaur

For those have not yet Googled the name

It is a small tube worm

Found on rocky english coasts  

A filter feeder with colored bristles

I  studied this creature at school

In a biology class

More than five decades ago

I am still trying to understand

Why I can recall the name of this creature

The class was not at all exciting

The teacher was not that memorable 

I do not even remember her name

I was never turned on by worms

Nobody feinted or self combusted in that class

Yet that little worm burrowed into my brain cells

Waiting for its moment of fame

I never quoted it during a job interview

I never used it as a dating pickup line

I never talked about it at a dinner party

I never scored a win at scrabble with it

It just sat there patiently for over fifty years

Waiting for its fifteen minutes of fame

Well now you got it mister

You are in a poem

That will be read by others

Who will each have your name

Burrowed deep into their memory cells 

Waiting patiently to be recalled

Sometime in the next half century

Far easier said than done

When you are in dire straits

Its tempting to paper over cracks

Ignore the signs of failure

Sweep things under the carpet

Gloss over everything

Perform a good whitewash

Conceal the evidence

Start grasping at straws

Get into a vicious cycle 

But it just delays the inevitable

Reality will come back to bite you

Its just the tip of the iceberg

So better bite the bullet

Take the bull by the horns

Face the music

Get to the crux of the matter

If it were only that simple

To solve your biggest problems

By finding the appropriate idiom

Just say it out loud

And all will be well

Hold on a minute

Idioms do not fix things

They only describe the situation

Putting a label on it will not change it

Its like putting lipstick on a pig

There is no such thing as a magic bullet

You have to make a conscious effort

To recognize the extent of the problem

Then find the proper solution

Make a plan and then execute it

Far easier said than done

Peter the peacock

Peter the peacock was roaming around

Dragging his long tail feathers behind him

Wondering what today would bring him

Hoping for some fun with the ladies

He pecked the ground in search of food

While keeping his eyes up and alert

Suddenly he spotted a group of five peahens

They were slowly walking down the other side of the street

Now is the moment declared Peter to himself

He rushed across the street towards the ladies

Pausing about six feet away from them

Lifting up his tail feathers into a magnificent display

Proudly shaking the huge fan of vibrant colors

Peter was convinced this sexy dance would yield results

He spun slowly left and right while keeping his fan high

Come join me ladies he said

Look how stunningly beautiful I am

We could party all night and have so much fun

The ladies were unimpressed  and continued to chat amongst themselves

Janet thought Peter was far too vain

Linda agreed and said lets just ignore him completely

Kate thought Peter was cute but agreed to show no interest

Christina boasted that she had once been with Peter

Saying she got tired of his constant displays and profound vanity

Peter kept shaking his fan and crept closer to the ladies

Pam led the ladies further down the street

Lets go find lunch in a quiet spot over there

Peter stood his ground and watched the ladies drift off

When they were far away he folded his tail feathers back down

Shrugging his shoulders after being rejected 

Whispering to himself while pecking for food

None of them were that cute anyway he muttered

Apart from Christina but she had too much of an attitude

Percy the peacock strutted up alongside Peter

How is it going Peter he enquired

Peter told him he was tired after displaying his feathers to the ladies

Percy said its best to play hard to get and let them chase you

Yea said Peter, who needs girls anyway

Lets go watch the football game instead, we can see the TV in that house from the front lawn

Peter displayed his tail feathers on the front lawn

Attracting the attention of the homeowners

Percy took advantage of the distraction and ran around the back to steal some beers

Percy and Peter watched the whole game

The ladies walked back down the street and paused near the guys

Janet said just look at them, totally engrossed in football and beer

They don’t even notice we are here at all said Kate

Lets see how long before they start lifting their tail feathers said Christina

The ladies preened them selves and applied fresh makeup

Peter and Percy chugged down more beer 

Keep ignoring them said Percy, it will drive them crazy

Percy and Peter fell asleep once the game ended

Kate suggested they try and wake up the boys

Hell no said Janet, they deserve to be ignored

The ladies wandered off giggling whilst swapping tales of past lovers

Percy and Peter snored loudly, dreaming of cute peahens

Are you a “user?”

There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: 

“Illegal drugs and software” said Edward Tufte, a computer scientist and a professor emeritus of computer science, political science and statistics at Yale University

I came across the above quote while watching the 2020 documentary Social Dilemma

It reminded me why I quit FaceBook in 2017

And why our society has become so polarized

The film explains why so many people believe in conspiracy theories

Why fake news is more entertaining than the truth

How the big tech companies lull you into on-line addiction

So they can sell your usage to advertisers 

I just noticed I used the word quit to describe my parting with FaceBook

Just like a junkie or an alcoholic would quit an addiction

If you can spare a few hours away from the internet

If you are concerned about your own social media addiction

Or that of your family and friends

Please watch the documentary

Calm leaders outshine whackamole arsonists

Have you ever been amazed

How well some people deal with a crisis

Great leaders remain calm in adversity

Assessing the situation carefully

Making measured decisions based on facts and data

Methodically turning chaos back into order

Great leadership starts with building a great team

Anticipating the skills needed to deal with uncertainty

Great leaders are usually well trained individuals

Dedicated to training and developing others

Earning the trust of their team

By delegating authority to those they trust

Have you ever been disappointed

In the poor performance of a really bad leader

One who adopts the whack-a-mole technique to solve problems

Not listening to good advice from his or her team

Throwing all resources at one big exploding problem

While other brewing problems are neglected until they too explode

Bad leaders heap out blame and punishment

To distract from their lack of ownership

When they cannot extinguish the fire quickly

They will light a bigger fire somewhere else 

Claiming victory when the first fire burns itself out

While denying all responsibility for the second fire

Expand your vision behind infinity

Take the time to teach yourself something new

 Reach deep into your inner soul

  You will find something hidden there

   To inspire you

    Once you have found it

     Be careful not to lose it

      Examine it carefully from different angles

       Challenge yourself to see something new in it

        Rub it gently until is shines brightly

         Enjoy the whole process

          Accomplishments taste sweeter when the work was hard

           Transform it into something unique

            Invest your best time in it

             Venture into uncharted territory

              Expand your vision beyond infinity

Sad eyes smile after passing shower

Suddenly overcast

Rain clouds

Sunshine suspended

Gloomy skies

Sad eyes

Eerie stillness

Light sprinkling

Large drops

Advance party

Warning spots

Sudden gust

Howling wind

Sideways rain

Heavy torrent

Plantpots topple

Ground soaked

Puddles appear

Pedestrians scatter

Roadway flooded

Cars slowing

Trees swaying

Rain hisses

Foliage swishes

Traveling shower

Soon passes

Wind drops

Rain stops

Clouds drift

Blue skies

Sun shines

Road dries

Plantpots restored

Nature attacks

Nature resists

Nature survives

Step outside

Bright skies

Splashing puddles

Smiling eyes

Satisfying sounds

Certain sounds are really satisfying

The clunk of a luxury car door closing

The chink of ice dropped into a cocktail glass

Children laughing while playing

The hiss of a cold beer can opening

A crackling fire

Closing the breech of a vintage side by side shotgun

The sizzle of stir fried food

A tennis ball hit by a racket

A cash register bell

Firing up a race car engine

Church bells at a wedding

The whistle of a boiling kettle

When an axe chops wood

Rain hitting a tin roof

A friendly phone ring

A golf ball dropping in the hole

A jet engine starting

A knife chopping vegetables

The pop of a champagne cork

The boom of the fireworks finale

A doorbell

The fridge door closing softly

The gurgling when the bathwater empties

The final tap of a hammer on a nail

A waterfall

Bagpipes at a funeral

High heels clicking over a cobbled floor

Water slapping against a rocking boat

The woosh of a bottle rocket

A broom sweeping a dusty floor

The clunk of a safe opening

Willow on leather during a cricket match

The ding of a hotel reception bell

The silence when a leaf blower stops

The Kop singing You’ll Never Walk Alone

Haley was a light sleeper

Haley was a light sleeper

Often waking in the dead of night

Holding her breath in the darkness

Listening intensely for activity outside

Wondering if she really heard a noise

Or was it just a dream that had woken her

Although she lived alone

There had never been anything to worry about so far

Other than the wind rustling the trees

Or the cry of a wild animal

She kept listening for a few minutes

Then decided to go back to sleep

Suddenly a loud thud from downstairs startled her

She sat up in bed and froze

Fearing somebody was trying to break in

Opening the bedroom door quietly

Tiptoeing to the top of the stairs

She listed hard in the darkness

Another thud with a rattle of the back door bolt

Racing back into her bedroom and closing the door

She picked up the phone to call 911 in the dark

The landline was dead presumably it was cut

Her cellphone was downstairs in the kitchen

Another thud mixed with breaking timber sounds

Somebody had smashed down the back door

Her heart was racing as she imagined an intruder roaming downstairs

She put into action her well rehearsed drill

Setting the alarm clock to go off in two minutes

Grabbing the baseball bat from under the bed

Meanwhile the intruder was searching for valuables downstairs

He was confused when the alarm clock played loud music upstairs

He crept up the stairs and stood outside her bedroom door

Slowly opening it and scanning his flashlight into the darkness

He could make out a motionless figure under the covers of the bed

As he stepped inside he felt something brush against his leg

The trip wire toppled a bucket of cold water on him from above

As he froze in shock the bedroom light blinded him

Haley swung the bat firmly into his skull

He fell to the ground and lay there motionless

Haley standing over him ready to strike another blow

Her pillows and wig had fooled him into thinking she was in bed

After a few minutes she prodded him in the back with the bat

There was no response at all so she went downstairs and called 911

The police arrived quickly and examined the blood stained bat

Haley explained how she had struck the intruder after dowsing him in water

Two officers went upstairs with weapons drawn shouting warnings

They found no intruder but a trail of blood through the bedroom window

A search outside revealed nothing

After two hours the police gave up searching and left

Haley had the back door fixed and bought herself a shotgun

She rehearsed her intruder response plan every week

Keeping the multiple booby traps primed

Hoping that he would dare to break in again

Next time she would not be taking any prisoners

Haley was a light sleeper

Fridays are special

There is something special about Fridays

Thankfully the end of the working week for most folks

With a whole weekend to follow

Friday nights are usually fun nights

Time to relax and unwind 

You can stay up really late if you do not work Saturdays

It could be a night out with friends

Exploring a new bar or restaurant

Or an exciting date night

Perhaps a relaxing evening at home with your partner

A nice meal with wine then a Netflix movie

The possibilities are endless

Some people call it Friday Funday

Some say TGIF

Many cultures embrace Friday as a day for fun

I have enjoyed many Fridays in my lifetime

2014 brought retirement from my full time employment

So in theory all days should be the same for me now

But I still get excited on Fridays

Weekends are fun filled with social activities

Especially with our friends who still work

I used to get depressed on Sundays

Knowing that the work week was looming

Not any more

Monday morning blues are a thing of the past for me

I wake up cheerful on Mondays

In fact I wake up consistently cheerful virtually every day of the week

Except on Fridays

When I wake up ecstatic

Go figure?