Since I titled a recent post “Office Snacks of Mass Destruction,” I thought I’d investigate the use of the term “X of mass destruction.” A Google search for the phrase “of mass destruction” excluding the words “weapons” and “weapon” returns 41K+ results. Guess it’s an official cliche now. Glad to see I’m such a cutting edge trendsetter.

Some highlights of the search results:

• Sales strategy article: Presentations of Mass Destruction
• A recipe for Chicken satay of mass destruction
• Infrequently updated Weblog of mass destruction (gee, that’s a surprise)
• An eWeek article on patents of mass destruction

Tonight I used three types of toxic insecticides: aerosol spray that shoots the Jet Of Death© 20 feet to kill the wasps that have built nests around the eaves of our house and some stuff that mixes with water from the garden hose to kill bugs that have attacked some shrubs in our yard. In the course of putting up the extension ladder in order to reach the wasps, I discovered–the painful way–a new fire ant bed and used the third chemical to wage the next battle in that unending war.

For the second time this week, someone has burned popcorn in the microwave at work. To my knowledge no corporate drone in America has ever succeeded in popping microwave popcorn at work without, at best, sickening their coworkers with the smell, and at worst causing the building to be evacuated. At least the fire alarm makes a nice break.

If I were very articulate about my faith, this is pretty much how I would sum up my view on faith. Or, in bumper-sticker form: it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.

One of the shortcuts on my drive to work is on a street that runs next to a residential area. This street doesn’t get a lot of traffic and I often see the residents of the neighborhood out walking and jogging along the street. But there’s one man who always brings a smile to my face when I occasionally see him.

I call him, without much creativity, ‘waving man.’ As he takes his morning walk through the neighborhood, he waves heartily at every passing car, and if you wave back he waves more vigorously and bows. Based on the bowing I saw the other day when I followed a couple of other cars down the street, it looks like other drivers are as familiar with him as I am. He’s always a refreshing site on my otherwise boring commute.

One of the issues on the local ballot this coming weekend is a proposal to create a new county hospital district [PDF link]. This morning, the local TV news played a short report about a group that opposes the district. The group’s sole argument against it, at least according to the very short report, is that they oppose having to pay more taxes. I have no patience for this argument as it has little or no intellectual basis. Give me an argument that you think the current system works well enough, that you oppose paying for public health care, anything besides simply the fact that you don’t want a new tax.