Monday, August 11, 2008

There was an old drummer who swallowed a gnat...


It wasn't this big obviously but I thought I should find out exactly what it is I am currently digesting. I've discovered that the unseasonably cool but still humid air is quite agreeable to gnats, who like to swarm particularly at long stop lights around the heads of passing cyclists. Also the swarms seem interested in keeping in touch because they follow you across the street and until you hit about 10 mph they continue following you. Ironically the gnat in question, which is to say the gnat in my stomach, was not part of one of the afore mentioned swarms but rather he seemed to be on a solo reconnoissance [holy crap I spelled that right on the first try!] mission.

His mission ended abruptly when a sudden vacuum formed in front of him and he was sucked into his final resting place. The vacuum was created by the sharp and repeated intake of air as a result of the steepness of the angle of the hill up which I was forcing my bike, and by extension myself, and the as of yet lack of good physical shape in which I find myself. Mission Hills is an aptly named bit of real estate.

Anyway, I followed that little snack with about a liter of Kiwi/Stawberry Poweraid and then continued on the last 1/2 mile to the office. The gnat provided little protein but it did give me something to blog about so I am grateful.

16 comments:

The Unabashed Blogger said...

Now, are you sure about that "final resting place"?

Percussivity said...

Well I am pretty sure it won't be a gnat when it comes out... or anything resembling a gnat... so in that sense it IS the gnat's final resting place.

SQLFunkateer said...

I must sadly inform you, you'll need a second try on reconnaissance. Think of it as being spelled like renaissance, with a "con" stuck in there.

"Recon" is a lot easier and quicker, probably used more by the military for that reason. You don't want to be under mortar fire from the enemy, and having to Morse-code out nine more letters after you just sent R-E-C-O-N.

I've probably eaten more fruit flies than I would care to think about. Hmmm.

Unknown said...

Reconnoissance can be ALSO be spelled reconnaissance, the ai being the more prominent, but the oi being the older. Either is acceptable.

Percussivity said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SQLFunkateer said...

Ahh, I've been chastened. Reconnoissance does indeed appear to be a valid older spelling. Interesting that Googling it pulls up old US Army documents from 1853!

The Angry Coder said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

These deleted responses always interest me. i am curious about what words may have once existed there but were for some mysterious reason deemed inappropriate.

Percussivity said...

I shall reveal the mystery shall I?

As you discovered when you first posted on your new blog, the little community we have here prefers to keep their annonymity and sometimes I get too comfortable when posting comments. Well Ta... I mean the Angry Coder enjoys calling me on those mistakes. So I typically delete my comments when I mistakenly include real names.

The Angry Coder said...

nice...

Anonymous said...

nice...

grk said...

Mike, you know you are going to have to wait and dig through your harvest to find the corpse... We are supposed to believe this just because it's on the worldwideweb? Oh no, we want proof...

At least you should have some tests done to find out if it was rabid.

Sorry, another crappy thing of me to say.

grk said...

I mean, Chris...

SQLFunkateer said...

Oh no! Darth Wallpaper!

Percussivity said...

"Blogs evolve"

-Chris Vader

Anonymous said...

What is the angry coder afraid of that he doesn't want his real name to be mentioned? Oh, wait, he's a city worker. I understand now. Great wallpaper. Darth upside down scared me a little bit.

This is Jack Burton signing off.