Cry havoc...

...and let slip the dolphins of war.

For context: I'm Canadian.

Last week, my co-workers and I were discussing the US Navy's use of trained dolphins to find underwater mines. (National Geographic | Globe and Mail) The dolphins swim around, find the mines, and mark them with floats. Apparently, the Navy has been training dolphins and other marine mammals -- sea lions, beluga whales, killer whales -- for 30 or 40 years. (I read a couple different figures.)

Our first reaction to this was quite negative: oh, the poor dolphins, how can they do this? It's not right, etc. Then someone raised the question of dogs, working in similar situations. That didn't bother us much at all.

( So, now I wonder why... )

Stuff

People leave stuff in our laundry room. And not just their pubic hair. There's a place on the counter where you can put things that you don't want that might be useful to someone else.

Or that's the theory. The reality is that it's quite a good way of getting rid of things without throwing them out. It seems helpful and, in the end, the manager has to clear it away, not you.

The problem is I keep picking the stuff up. Well, not the old ugly sweaters or the salt and pepper shakers. But other stuff.

For example, I now own a stack of old science fiction magazines -- mostly Analog and Galaxy from the 60s and 70s. But I haven't read them. I'll never put them on eBay. They just sit in my already over-cluttered living room, taking up space that could be used for a pile of video tapes.

Another time, I grabbed a bunch of AD&D books. Which is cool and maybe -- just maybe -- they'll be useful some day. But we're playing 3rd Edition now and, again, I'll never put them on eBay. Just more used-up closet space.

Today someone has left a small stack of 8-track tapes with titles like "The Best of Conway Twitty" and "Country Harmonica". I do not own an 8-track tape deck. But every time I go into the room, I'm tempted. Country Harmonica! How can I resist?

The problem is: I can't. All I can do is hope that next week, they'll get rid of the tape deck too.