Today In History

I took the air conditioner out of my window one year ago today. Today I will again take the air conditioner out of the window. Some people call my timing a simple coincidence, but I call it a poignant indication of my general fortitude and fierce commitment to tradition. While I do not vote or speak Esperanto or recycle household glass and newspaper, I feel that I am an asset to the public weal and deserving of earthly paradise. At any rate, which maritime disaster song do you prefer, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald or Sloop John B? I can't decide - they're both at least as good as The Downeaster Alexa:

I've got bills to pay and fish who need some clothes
I know there's children out there, but where God only knows
They say these people aren't what they used to be
But I've got waters back on land who count on me...
Something something something
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfighting here
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone
Tell my wife I'm a troll on Atlantis
And I still have my fang on the meal
~from "The Downeaster Alexa"

Haunting, isn't it? An incredibly potent testament to life and death at sea. I, for one, cannot imagine life at sea without swordfighting or trolls selling stripers to Billy Joel on Atlantis. Perhaps this is why I work in an office. While the office does not openly encourage swordfighting, it is not specifically proscribed in the employee handbook. Trolls, on the other hand, are forbidden. As is Billy Joel.