Uh-oh.

Breaking news:

Earthquake of 8.2 reported in Indonesia. Check back for more details.

[link]

Oh dear. Like they didn't have enough trouble already.

The earthquake that produced the tsunami was 9.0. Since the Richter scale is logarithmic, then the tsunami quake was about 6.3 times more powerful than this one.

But IIRC, the strength of the tsunami quack was originally understimated.

eta: I'm gonna leave that typo in, as it amused me.

I think, if I lived in Indonesia, I would move away about now.

(Also, if I lived in California, because California is NEXT.)

Poor Indonesians. I am sure 60% of the population is 15 feet up a tree right now, just in case.

Is one half of a scissors a scissor?

Also, why do weird questions just pop into my brain like that.

It takes a very large duck to produce a tsunami quack.

I checked on CNN after reading about the quake here. I see the quake is getting second billing to the story "Schiavo receives drop of wine for Easter".

Never mind, I just refreshed the page and the quake now has top billing.

Timelies.

March continues to suck like (insert hooker or vacuum cleaner joke of choice here). It's as cold as it possibly can be and still be raining instead of sleeting/snowing. I can't honestly say I'd prefere snow, but this weather seems to get into my bones more than the warmer snow temperatures.

Frank, snow at least is pretty, and doesn't fall as hard, and doesn't find its way down the back of your neck as insistently. So, I grok the feeling.

Despite the fact today was the second day in a row I am out and about in something other than a winter coat (my "spring" raincoat). I figure, I first wore this raincoat in England in March; so this is perfect weather for it (with a sweater underneath).

one half of a scissors

Without the pin for a hinge, two halves of scissors are just long metal sticks with handle-shapes on one end. I think you cannot classify a thing as "scissors" until it has both halves, AND they are attached to each other in the standard manner. Therefore, I think it is reasonable to assume that, except for dialect use of the singular, there is no such thing as "a scissor".

And now that I have typed it ten times, "scissor" is the funniest, most wrong-headed word in the world.

there is no such thing as "a scissor".

So your'e saying that if you cut a pair of pants in half, you don't get a pant? What if you use half of a scissors to cut the pants in half?

But if you cut the leg off, you have a pant leg.

two halves of scissors are just long metal sticks with handle-shapes on one end.

For all values of stick that are reminscent of knives.