The word from across the pond is that MG Rover, heir to the British Leyland automotive lineage, is heading for bankruptcy and may go out of business altogether. An industry analyst noted that the car manufacturer, the last British-owned, would likely be remembered for poor quality and poorly designed cars.

My friend, Don, liked to work on the cars in this family. His first order of business was to replace the Lucas electrical system. (One Internet commentator calls Lucas, the Prince of Darkness.)

In the 70s, my father owned a couple of old Land Rovers. He used one when he needed to get railroad ties from an old railroad bed near the camp. (The railroad company already removed the rails.) The ties were so long and heavy, however, that they broke the rear axle. The second Land Rover was for parts.

I had an Austin-Healey Sprite during this same period. A real fun car to drive, but so very useless in New England winters. You couldn't see over a tall dog, let alone a snow bank. In cold weather, I had to park it where the morning sun would shine on it. The springs were bad and, during the night, the car body would settle on the tires and the car wouldn't move. Once the sun had warmed the car, including the springs, the body would rise up again and I could drive away.

This little book is essential for anyone who writes. It's also a good resource for those who read; it shows us what is good writing and why it's good. I've known of instructors who would put Strunk & White 14 next to an offending sentence. The book is necessary, but not sufficient. For example, in its list of commonly misspelled words, floccinaucinihilipilification is conspicuously absent.

Some Ontario hospitals have significantly better wait times for various surgical procedures. It's almost like have a FastPass® ticket or Fast Lane transponder for your health care.

Most days I work right up to the end of the day. It's rare that I take the time, particularly at the end of the day, to wrap things up, to review what's been accomplished and not. As a result, the days can tumble over one another, the last one not completed before the next one starts. This article, You can do anything - but not everything, was very helpful when it was first published five years ago. It still makes sense.

[Blogger.com was off the air for most of the day yesterday, so I was unable to post the day's journal entry. I'm not the only one affected. (The piece includes a link to a Wired article with a PG-13 comment.) ]