Randy Cassingham's Blog

Randy, you're going to hell for this one :-) and you're gonna need a stack of goohf cards to get out. The issue was great. I fell out laughing and woke up my wife. Considering it's 1:40am, she wasn't too happy with me or you. Keep up the excellent work and don't let the superstitious zealots get you down. Just throw salt over your shoulder, turn in place and spit three times to ward them off.

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Give your wife a GOOHF card -- and tell her it's from me. -rc

Coincidence? Having just read my copy of the Premium edition, I exited my (text-mode) emailer to be greeted with this:

Pine finished -- Closed "INBOX". Kept 666 messages and removed 1.

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It's a sign. Be sure you have plenty of GOOHF cards, and follow Luqman's procedure. -rc

I am 54 years old and have lived in what can reasonably be called Christian countries (England and New Zealand) all my life. I have visited Canada, USA, most countries in Europe and other nations with a strong Christian tradition but before reading this article I had not been aware of any significance attached to the number 666, beyond it being a multiple of 111. 111 is known as "Nelson" and is traditionally an unlucky score for the England cricket team.

I conclude that the Devil would be well advised to avoid playing cricket.

GREAT ISSUE! I first got the issue on my cell phone email, where only the first 1k is downloaded. When I saw the first two stories, I couldn't wait to get to my PC to see if you could pull it off. Fantastic job! Though it was tougher for you to do, I'm sure you got an extra dose of satisfaction getting this issue done.

Love the 666 issue! My daughter is in Girl Scout troop 667! I assume they skipped 666 -- a web search turned up no GS troops 666 (one Cub Scout troop 666, though!).

Thanks for the item on Congressman Pete Stark... a tiny glint of sanity in government is always welcome!

I greatly enjoyed the "666" issue. I have a certain fondness for the number as that was my mailbox number in college. I was rather proud of it, despite those that thought I was the devil child. I guess they didn't realize that had nothing to do with the box number!

Last week I was in the checkout line at Walgreens. The cashier had just finished ringing up the woman in front of me when she gasped and stepped back from the register. She asked the woman if she didn't need some gum or something. The woman asked why and the cashier said that her total was $6.66 and she didn't want to leave it that way. The woman agreed. The six of us in line waited while the woman picked out her gum and paid.

I was next and, as i stepped up to the register, I muttered disgustedly that that business was ridiculous. Unabashed, the cashier replied that it was better to be safe than sorry. I thought to myself that it would be even better to be smart than stupid.

Also, Randy, thank you for fitting in the article on Congressman Stark. I think it is important that as many people as possible hear about his declaration. I also hope that it does not affect his future activities negatively. So far, so good.

Since you wrote about Hell, Michigan I thought you might be amused by my near-encounter with it. This happened back in about 1971-72. I was a student at Michigan State University in East Lansing working on my undergrad degree. I'd gone to my parents home in Cleveland, Ohio and was on my way home. It was winter and, you'll pardon my saying, colder'n hell.

Part way back to school the exhaust manifold on my car broke. Again. This made the car very noisy and very smelly but I could still drive. Because of the fumes, however, I had to drive with the windows down. There was no way I could cope with freeway speed wind chill(!!!) so I tried to route myself on slower state and county roads.

Looking at the map, I realized I'd be going near Hell and thought it would be fun to see what it looked like. At least then I could say I'd been. I got near it, but never did find it. As near as I could guess most of the signs pointing the way had been stolen, or maybe the highway crew was just too embarrased to put any up in the first place. Anyway, as I now tell it, I tried to go to Hell and couldn't get there. I guess that means I'm saved. :)

Regarding your 666 issue: As a committed Lutheran, I simply have to say -- (waiting for the sound of the other shoe to drop) -- that I LOVED it!!! I always enjoy your puncturing of pomposity of ALL stripes. I really have no profound wisdom to contribute, just a strong keep the faith! :-)

A couple points on the 666 business -

The changing of the name of U.S. Highway 666 might just have been a matter of economics. As the earlier reader wrote about missing Hell, MI, signs, I think the Highway 666 signs would be very popular around the college fraternity house or dorm room.

As a teacher in a public school in NY, I know many teachers who anxiously await "55/25" (55 years old with 25 years of service) when they are eligible for retirement. A former colleague chose to work an extra year when she learned that her pension would be 66 2/3% of her final average salary. 66 2/3% is, of course, 0.666 .