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QOTD

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things." -Henry David Thoreau

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From the mouths of babes

My eldest son: "Dad, the mower won’t start."

Me: "I’ll take a look at it."

Cranks on first pull. I report back to my son, "Started on the first try."

My son with holier-than-thou indignity with a touch of anger and a dash of annoyance, "Well I’d sure like to know what you are doing different than me because I pulled that string for 10 minutes and it didn’t start."

Me: "I put gas in it."

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Getting ahead

Occasionally I play the lottery. Typically, I’ll buy a ticket then not look at it for several days after the numbers have been drawn. It’s Schrodinger’s lottery ticket. For those few days, I’m a millionaire! And the dreams are glorious.

On this occasion, I paid $2 for a MegaMillions ticket and I won $25. A smart man would have pocketed the money but I was having fun, so I spent $2 on another MegaMillions, $3 on a Powerball, and $20 on a scratch-off. The scratch-off was a $30 winner! (Now up, $28 dollars) Again, a smart man would take the money and run but I have never purchased a $30 scratch-off before so I decide to let it ride. I ask the man behind the counter, “How do those $30 tickets do?” He replies, “Once you get ahead, you stay ahead with those.” I buy one. He extends the ticket toward me and I grab one end while he continues to hold the other end, narrows his eyes, and speaks deliberately to me, “You ain’t ahead yet.”