Maggie's Farm

OT, but with travel season upon us, here's ''How not to Pack a Laptop'':

http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/how-not-to-pack-a-laptop/200098

REDE THE ARTICLE!

*note: ''rede'' is an informal spelling used to differentiate between ''read'' (''I will read it'') and "read" ("I have read it").

Altho in the speaking, the 'reed' vs 'red' distinction is to-the-ear clear, in writing it is not so clear at all. For example, the above, where I wanted to suggest that you ''reed'' the article, I could easily have been shorthanding that I have already ''red'' the article. See ?

So, spread the word on ''rede''.

Next, we should repair the "Washington" problem wherein both the upper northwestern state and the capitol city are both called ''Washington".

I'd like to suggest always using the ''DC'' appellation, and to further differentiate via spelling the capitol city as "Washing Tundy Sea".

But that will not solve the spoken problem, you might say, as it is precisely the need to add the "DC" (or the "Sea" in the improved version) that, by virtue of its strung-out-ness, creates the problem in the first place. Au contraire, reply I, for in time, "Washing Tundy Sea" will surely be shortened in the vernacular to "Tundy" and as such will not be further confused with the rainy-and-picturesque state up there in that corner by Canada. Also, as "Tundy" (rather than as the namesake of the father of the country) it will be easier, when the time comes, to boot the place out of the union and let it be the minor foreign duchy (the "Duchy of Tundy")it so richly deserves to be.

So, ''rede'' and ''Tundy'' for today. Thank you that is all.

Yeh, as in, Dan Rather claims he got tundied. CBS says no, he's just nuts, he didn't get tundied, no one was trying to tundy him.