Driver’s education

Youngest daughter turned 15 last month. She now has a learner’s permit to drive. Of course, that means dad is a driver’s ed teacher for the next 12 months. So far, no accidents. Just some frayed nerves. Like when she was taking a turn on a gravel road with the rear tires spinning and the nose headed for the ditch. Or when she made a left turn onto a highway and we both forgot to look the second time. There was suddenly a car in the rear-view mirror with one unhappy looking driver.

Thank the Lord for traveling mercies.

Kudos and "Whatever"

First, I want to publicly (at least as publicly as this blog is) express  “kudos” to the junior senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill (Dem).  Most of the time I do not agree with her.  But she, along with several other senators “called for greater transparency as the health insurance reform debate moves to the Senate floor.”   Basically, they want “legislative text and complete budget scores from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to be posted on a public website at least 72 hours prior to the first vote...”  Sounds like a great idea for any legislation.


Now for something light.  The other day, the AP (Associated Press) reported that “Whatever”, especially when pronounced “WHAT-ehv-errr”, is the most annoying slang in American conversation.  About twice as annoying as “you know”.

It got me to thinking about other annoying speech habits we have.  One I have heard a lot recently that drives me batty is “long story short”.  It is a shortrened version of  “to make a long story short”, which usually is said after the speaker has rambled on and on, telling too much minutiae of the story already.