By BEN GRABOW, Scripps Howard News Service
Rules to play euchre by
It's not a card game so much as a cultural touchstone. A cultural touchstone that will invoke verbal abuse from your loved ones and make you look weak in the eyes of your in-laws, but a cultural touchstone nonetheless.
Home is where the stuff is
It's hard to put a price on our most cherished personal belongings. At least there's a calculator for the shipping.
A Kentuckian's apology
It's been four months since the first presidential contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Democratic campaigns continue. And it's entirely our fault.We, the people of Kentucky, sincerely apologize.
We're slowly but surely losing the album
It's been a long time since I bought a CD.It's been years since fresh cellophane has found the floor of my car, and ages since I last held liner notes in my hand. I can't remember the last time I gnawed the corner of a jewel case to free that obnoxious sticker. I don't even know if they're still sold that way.
Does anyone need interview advice?
Hi, I'm here for the three o'clock interview. Right, the one scheduled yesterday.Sorry to surprise you, I figured I'd just wait here in your office. In your chair. It's a pretty comfortable chair, I can understand that you'd want it back. And I see you have Minesweeper. Man, I stink at Minesweeper. You'd think I'd get it by now, with all the practice.
In spring, the classic cars come out of hibernation
Sun in your face, wind in your hair, burning oil in your nostrils. It's springtime, and the classic cars are out of hibernation.In these first warm weeks of the year, vintage-auto enthusiasts everywhere are visiting that neglected corner of the garage, jumper cables in hand, to see what has rotted, rusted or been gnawed by rodents through the long cold winter.
Food should be seen but not smelled in cubicle culture
Envy -- it's the cure for the common sandwich.Step into any modern cubicle, lure its occupant away with a blintz, and turn over the keyboard. After a good shake, you'll find the collected crumbs of several hundred sandwiches, all consumed within sight of a spreadsheet.
Advice for the hobby addicted
In his book "On Writing," Stephen King offers a ghoulish bit of advice that suits the king of horror. For the good of the finished product, he writes, sometimes you have to "kill your babies."
Opening doors and burning bridges
There comes a point in every young person's career when it's time to move on to the next opportunity.For most young employees, this point comes after approximately 2.7 years with a given employer. And this figure is, of course, entirely made up. There may be statistics available to support such a claim, but I'm not going to look them up. Because I'm out of here.
Men who shop...but never buy
It's an uncommon problem for a man, one that can't be cured with pharmaceuticals or a therapeutic fishing trip. It's a problem that few men ever discuss in public -- rare enough, in fact, that it takes a real man to admit it.No one wants to shop with me.
