Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Another Hot Day In Texas Trying To Be Informed Instead Of Just Opinionated About Oxford Commas

At almost 4 in the afternoon it is only 101 degrees at my location. I think that is colder than it was at this time yesterday.

It is windier today than the past couple dead calm days, with that wind blowing slightly counteracting the 31% humidity, making the Real Feel of the temperature only 105.

I don't know what has happened to me this year. I've somehow become a temperature wimp. Where years previous I enjoyed get HOT under the noonday sun, acclimating to the HEAT. This year, so far, that is just not working for me.

This could be yet one more age related malady.

Speaking of which, I'd not read Gar the Texan's blog in awhile, so I'd not been updated on Gar's latest bloggings about Gar and his interesting opinions about religion and politics. Or his many medical maladies. I visited Gar the Texan's blog after seeing the following amusing slogan on Facebook, which made me think of Gar the Texan.


So, after being reminded of Gar the Texan's obfuscated opinionizing by a slogan on Facebook, I went to Gar the Texan's blog to learn that he is finally getting one of his many ailments operated on. That and in a blogging following the medical update he opined some of his religious and political opinionizing that has the effect of making me wince and feel slightly embarrassed for the boy. Then I remember from whence he came, that being the dusty little West Texas town of Wink, where history was taught by the football coach, if at all.

Reading Gar the Texan's fractured prose reminded me of something else I was amused by today on Facebook, courtesy of CatsPaw.

CatsPaw is a real stickler for grammar. Make the mistake of improperly using a word like "who's" and you will learn this first hand if you are on Miss CatsPaw's radar screen.

I've been perplexed times previous by how not having a comma in front of an 'and' can change the meaning of what's being said.

I don't think I've heard of the Oxford Comma before today, which really is a sad indicator of how ignorant I really am.

Now when someone like Gar the Texan commits this sort of communicative grammar confusion, saying that he invited Washington and Lincoln, who are a pair of Rhinos, when he meant to say he was inviting a pair of Rhinos, plus Washington and Lincoln, well, Gar the Texan chronically claims the reader has a reading comprehension problem, never considering that his bad grammar might be the actual problem.

And now back to our main subject.

The temperature.

Earlier today I blogged about Rosie the Rat Dog getting cold in an Ice Museum somewhere by the North Pole area of Fairbanks, Alaska.

A couple days ago Rosie blogged about having to run the RV's a/c because the temperature was in the sweltering low 80s.

Checking the current temperature in Fairbanks, I don't think Rosie is needing to run the RV's a/c at this point in time.

Actually I don't think Rosie the Rat Dog is currently in her RV. I believe that at this point in time the Rosie the Rat Dog entourage has left the Mother Ship, somewhere in the Fairbanks zone, and is heading north in the SUV to the Arctic Circle.

Did I just use an Oxford Comma? I don't know. I've already admitted I'm ignorant.

This morning it crossed my mind how amazing modern communication is. Daily tracking someone's roadtrip, via email and blogging. Daily getting photos of the ongoing trip.

Is this societal progress? Or not? I'm not sure. But I am enjoying the virtual Roadtrip to Alaska.

1 comment:

Gar said...

I don't understand commas and thanks. :-b