Monthly Archives: July 2014

The World’s Dirtiest Joke

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Roger Walck

Many years ago, probably on an HBO special, a black comedian told what he claimed to be the world’s dirtiest joke. He dragged it out through his entire performance with many digressions, but when he finally delivered the punch line … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Delaware Politics and Bloom Energy

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Roger Walck

All else being equal, my monthly electric bill is $6 more than yours. That is the average subsidy Delmarva Power customers are paying to Bloom Energy for supplying electricity from renewable resources and as an incentive to build a manufacturing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Roger Walck

Warning!  The following post describes scenes that are sure to be disturbing to everyone.  Readers are urged to use discretion. I raved on in a past blog about my satisfaction with my two new low-flush toilets (9/20/2011).   After all this … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Kumbaya

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Roger Walck

I recently came across an article that used the word “Kumbaya” in a way I did not understand. I only knew it as the spiritual song that became popular in the 1960s and is now a staple of campfire sing-alongs … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Thought Experiments on Death

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Roger Walck

The 16th century French writer Michel de Montaigne said, “I want death to find me planting my cabbages, but careless of death, and still more of my unfinished garden.” Supposing . . . just supposing . . . one afternoon … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | Tagged | Leave a comment

App Directions

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Roger Walck

Many times I have given the advice, “When all else fails, try reading the directions.” Perhaps I have done this too many times because humanity seems to be divided into two unchangeable groups: those who always read directions and those … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Delaware’s I-95 and I-495 Debacle

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Roger Walck

Interstate I-95 that runs along America’s East Coast from Maine to Florida cuts right through the center of Wilmington where motorists passing through once got bogged down in local traffic.   They did not want to be there, and neither did … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Political Power in a Transient Society

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Roger Walck

Is politics becoming more corrupt?  Or perhaps “incompetent” is a better, less inflammatory word.  Nothing the government does, from local to national, seems to work, regardless of the party in power. Here is a quintessential local example from Delaware.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular culture | Leave a comment

The British Roundel Takeover

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Roger Walck

In 1912, DuPont was declared a monopoly in the production of explosives and was forced to spin off Atlas Powder and Hercules Power companies. What I had always thought had been a traumatic breakup was barely a blip on the … Continue reading →

Posted in du Pont History, Longwood Gardens, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Office Work: The Rise and Fall of the Clerk

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Roger Walck

1922, my aunt, first job, location unknown. “Away From My Desk: The Office From Beginning to End” by Jill Lepore. The New Yorker, 5/12/2014. At the Hagley Museum, the restored gunpowder works of the fledgling DuPont company along the Brandywine … Continue reading →

Posted in du Pont History, Longwood Gardens, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment