The Bachmann Debacle
How The Pilot got left holding the bag on a big story.
Happy Ending for Collie
A week ago, I wrote about stopping near Cameron and trying without success to rescue a beautiful collie wandering dangerously along busy U.S. 1. I managed to get ahold of his collar, but he pulled out of it, crawled under a fence and disappeared. Turns out I wasn't the only ...
Made My Day
A lunch date fell through on Thursday, by which time the office had pretty much cleared out. So I headed out to dine alone, feeling — as usual in such cases — a little bit sorry for myself. After considering several options, I ended up at Chic-fil-A. As I walked ...
Was That Your Collie?
If you live north of Vass and west of U.S. 1 and your collie dog showed up Saturday afternoon minus his collar, allow me to explain. ... While driving back to Southern Pines from fellow Pilot employee Mechelle Wood's wedding near Cameron, my wife, Brenda, and I noticed a magnificent ...
Breath of Fresh Air
“It’s been brisk,” campaign worker Ellen Stewart remarked as I headed in to vote at the Boys and Girls Club at 8 this morning — “not only the weather, but the turnout.” Also like a breath of fresh, clean air was the human atmosphere at the polling place. Lord knows ...
Leaving 'Em Dangling
My wife Brenda (a former newspaperwoman) and I may be the only couple in town who routinely call each other with dangling modifiers and other amusing grammatical boo-boos we hear or read in the media. Yeah, I know — we need to get a life. But I can't resist sharing ...
Finally, an End to Hell Week(s)
The only good thing about banging your knee on a table leg, said a fellow Rotarian who did just that at our luncheon meeting last week, is that it feels so good when it stops hurting. That's about the best that can be said for the annual Fall Fundraiser that ...
Remember: Ride MegaDrop, THEN Eat the Fried Alligator
For less than the price of a movie ticket, you can have a heck of a day's fun at the N.C. State Fair. There's still time, since this amazing extravaganza doesn't close its gates until midnight tonight (Sunday). I recommend it. I hadn't been to the fair for years. My ...
Rough Road
A couple of weeks ago, when I first noticed that they were preparing to repave part of Connecticut Avenue, on which I travel to work and back most days, I rejoiced, because Lord knows it needed it. For a couple of days, I gladly detoured around the stretch being redone, ...
Look What They've Done to Your Song, Dean
My nominee for the clunkiest and most tone-deaf TV commercial campaign of the season would have to be the newly introduced series of ads for UPS. They show various parcel handlers rushing around efficiently while a feminine voice-over sings a jingle which, though maddeningly familiar to anyone of my age ...
Thanks a Lot, Spellcheck
Computers are so smart. And so dumb. Consider the spellcheck feature on NewsEdit Pro, our publishing system at The Pilot, and just a few of the "corrections" it came up on this day alone. For one thing, Mr. Spellcheck doesn't know about the terrorist group al-Quida. As I was editing ...
Wascally Wabbits!
Earlier this summer, as I used a string trimmer to get rid of some weeds and sprouts that had poked up through the pinestraw in my side yard, I noticed something odd. A couple of the pieces of greenery I was preparing to zap were clearly not your average weeds. ...
Another Jam Session
For what I guess is the fifth straight year, I just finished putting up five or six dozen eight-ounce jars of my patented and now world-famous "Bouser's Peach Jam What Am." The completion of this annual ritual signals that summer, for me at least, is over. Other signs are the ...
An Anniversary, Personal and Public
We're approaching the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Look for a lot of publicity this week in the media. A somewhat more personal anniversary takes place a few days later, as I remember the unforgettable post-midnight long-distance phone call I received from a guy who was then a total stranger, ...
What Was Obama Thinking?
Sheesh. President Obama could have gone all week without wading into the Manhattan mosque firestorm. Or perhaps the better term is "blundering" into it. And then trying to blunder back out. The irony is that Obama didn't even have a dog in that fight. He had a free pass. He ...
It's not autumn yet, but . . .
My own personal autumnal early warning signal is the dogwood tree in our side yard. When a few of its leaves first start displaying just a hint of blush here and there, I take it as an announcement that summer will soon be drawing to a close and autumn, about ...
This kind of pressure I can handle
Tired of yelling, "Turn off the washer, honey — I need to take a shower"? If so, chances are you live in Weymouth Heights in Southern Pines, or in some other elevated area that has municipal water but is cursed with anemic water pressure. My wife and I put up ...
