It’s been a while since we had a word for the day.

caviler — n : a disputant who quibbles; someone who raises annoying petty objections.

I bet you know one of these. I do.

In recent advertisments, AOL claim that spyware can slow your computer’s performance by up to 500%. If anyone can figure out how to slow a thing down by 500%, please send me the explanation.

For the record, I’ve come out recently as pro-WALMART. In short, most of the people barking at WALMART claim to be sticking up for the little guy. As usual, things are not as they seem. What about the people who are shopping at WALMART and enjoy the low prices? Those are the real little guys, and I’m sticking up for them (as if anybody cares, heh heh).

Anyway, I understand that small businesses are hurt by WALMART, and I’m more pro-small business than pro-WALMART, but I don’t think they’ll have any problem surviving if they provide what WALMART can’t — to wit, personalised, expert service. The point is, always trust the free market.

Miss Manners has expressed some of my recent thoughts on the cellular phone (or PCS for those who are ahead of the curve).

A key paragraph:

“Thanks to the cellular telephone, your friends are now able to reach you wherever they happen to be. But thanks to the little button on your telephone, you can turn yours off and let it take their ‘Thinking of you, oops dropped my deposit slip’ messages.”

So if you get my voice mail, don’t be offended. It’s not because I don’t love you. It’s because I do love you and I want to take the time to have a real conversation with you.

Since the Christmas season is coming up quickly, it’s time for our annual reminder.

“Merry Christmas” is the decent, fitting, felicitous greeting for the season. Use it joyfully. Use it often.