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I am very impressed with my 1996 Nissan 200-sx.  It’s really just slightly souped up version of the Sentra.  It’s got about 130,000 miles and the interior looks as good as the day I drove it off the lot back in 1996; no broken knobs, no torn upholstery (although the headliner has started to sag), no flaking this or that like I’ve seen in countless American made cars.  And the exterior never ceases to amaze me; it’s so glossy – no oxidation. Except for a few scratches, I think it looks brand new!  It’s had maybe two waxings in it’s entire life and not many more washings and the car just glistens.  It runs great to!  About 6 years ago I changed the fuel injectors myself; it wasn’t nearly as complicated as the manual made it out to be.  The car has run like a champ ever since.  We use it every day; it’s a very reliable workhorse.

Our other car is a white 1994 GMC Suburban.  Unfortunately the paint for 1994 Suburbans was defective and is chipping off so it looks like hell – I’ve taken to applying cans of spraypaint every so often so you can imagine what that looks like…  Also, it used to chug and jerk going fast up hills because of an oil fowled plug (because the previous owner let the engine run low of oil which damaged a valve stem) but the mechanics must have put in some new kind of plugs because it hasn’t jerked in a few years.  But I like the car.  It runs smooth.  It starts every time.  And the blue cloth seats are impeccable even though, as with the Nissan, it’s held dogs, bicycles, sporting equipment, bags of cement, lumber, etc… 

We haven’t had a car payment in at least 8 years.  Whenever I get tempted to buy a newer car I simply have to think of all the other things I could buy with the money; guitars, boats,  video games, and a thousand things for the kids, etc….. and the urge is staved off for a few more months.  Some day we’ll get a newer car – a Nissan something-or-other; I want to stay loyal to Nissan.

What actually is the most over used word in the English language?  You actually guessed it:   Actually.

Actually is everywhere.  I was just reading a technical document and found it several times in one paragraph.  It reads:  

“This product will actually use a number of these properties…, … you can actually define many items….”.     

Next paragraph:

“….. you can actually define…. Our connection is actually made up of a number of properties….. SharePoint will actually use a number of these properties….

Are all those actuallys necessary?  To me the sentences read much better without them:

“This product will use a number of these properties…., … you can define many items…
“…. you can define many items…. Our connection is made up of a number of properties….. SharePoint will use a number of these properties….”

Why such overuse of the word?  I belive there are two reasons.

First, marketers, especially in technical fields, in an attempt to bolster the credibility of their product, often cram far more words than necessary into instructions and product documentation, and, by far, the word most commonly used to emphasise the obvious, and to add length (which is often misconstrued as substance), is the word “actually”.   We, as a society, are gullible to quanity over quality, we mistake more for better and mistake substance for quality.

The second reason, I belive, stems from the fact that the lines between reality (actual reality) and virtual reality are are becoming blured. Therefore the following conversation may ensue:

“I went to Spain.”  Jane says.
Tom, with a puzzled look on his face thinks “Did she actually go to Spain or virtually, such as in a video game?”  
Jane, seeing Tom’s confusion, feels the need clarify by saying  “I actually went to Spain!”. 
Tom now knows she is not referring to the virtual word but to the actual world.

The pervasive use of actually seems to precede verbs.  He ran to the store becomes He actually ran to the store.  She won the game becomes She actually won the game.

So keep an eye out for the most overused word in the english language; you’ll actually be amazed by how many times you actually find it!

We Catholics know about the Virgin Mary but the Virgin Joseph is someone we hear little of.  Virgin Joseph?  The Virgin Joseph is Jesus’s father; married to the Virgin Mary.  Since, as Catholics believe, Mary was celebate her whole life, it follows that Joseph, being the faithful husband we all know he must have been, was a virgin as well.  And I’m sure that, since the father and mother were virgins, the child, Jesus was a virgin as well.  Which leaves us with the Virgin Mary, the Virgin Joseph and the Virgin Jesus.

Has anyone else ever experienced this?

You’re online and you post a reply to a video or something and get attacked for you views?  This has happened to me on several occasions; my comments have drawn vicious hate filled rebuttals.  Funny thing is, I find, that after the initial shock (and if I can restrain myself from firing a likewise hate filled message back) a calmness flows over me and I begin to look deeper at the replies and I begin to see a second message (sort of like a hidden message) appearing behind the hatred. I see the weak, vulnerable human; scared and confused.   Anyone who attacks you online (and I suppose in person – although it’d be much harder to do what I’m saying) with hatred and disrespect can always and immediately be silenced with love and respect. 

When you hold the moral high ground, as revealed and tested for centuries, nothing can shake you.

For instance recently I posted a critical reply to a video on a very popular video website.  I immediately was attacked; one person said I was nothing but a whiper in the middle of an ocean!  Very poetic!  To which I replied “An ocean of people yes, and the right whimper can foment that ocean”.   Another told me to “shut the f**k up, it’s the internet, get over it”, to which I pulled the old “I will never get over evil.” And “We should treat others as we would have them treat us”  lines.  (And never quote the bible, if so they just pigeon hole you as a jesus freak).  And the best one is when they say to “shut up”.  No matter how rude (or polite) they say it, it practically means you’ve won. It’s as if they’re asking you for help because they cannot deal with your retort so they’re asking you to take it away.

I’m playing with these guys.  They get so worked up.  But as long as they reply, with their hate filled comments they leave themselves vulnerable and that’s exactly, EXACTLY the key.  When they fire shots at you they’re looking to see how you’re going to handle what they’ve said.  They’re waiting to see how you’re going to reply.  They’re waiting to see how you’re going to treat them!  And they are VERY, VERY, VERY sensitive to how they are treated (as we all are).  So even if they dish out hatred, if you dish back love you win!  If you serve back time tested noble, peaceful, lovefilled comments such as from Jesus, Ghandi, etc…) they are dumbfounded and pleased because you have treated them well. 

But it can be hard.   The vicious attacks, even over the internet, DO HURT and the instinct is to hit back, but then you just fall into a vicious cycle and no one wins.   If you can restrain yourself from striking back, get over the pain and find the scared human cowering behind the hate, and treat that person with respect, kindess and truthfullness (think Jesus, think Ghandi, think MLK), not only will you win them over to your side but you’ll do the world a whole lot of good.

Of course like Jesus, Ghandi, MLK, etc…… you could get killed doing this.  But look on the bright side; you’re sure to have many followers (friends) and, after you’re gone, you may even be labeled a saint.