textiplication.com

Not everyone can have a sterling phone voice, not everyone can easily organize a series of thoughts into a brief, but cogent message.  Many people grow nervous when they find a recording inside of a live person at the other end of the phone.

However, everyone can learn the following simple process for leaving a voicemail message that is easy for the recipient to return.

1. Clearly and slowly, say "Hi, my name is <name>, I can be reached at <phone number>."

2. State a simple, cogent statement of the issue requiring resolution. [The professional approach]

OR

2. Long, rambling discourse recapitulating a variety of irrelevancies, misstating conclusions reached in prior meetings, occasionally losing track entirely and not talking for a second or two.  [A less-desirable alternative, but still viable]

3. Clearly and slowly, say "And again, this is <name> calling, and my number is <phone number>.  One more time, <phone number>."  [The professional approach]

OR

3. Rapidly, while turning your head away from the phone, say "OK, you can reach me on my cell at <area code> buh ruh duh vuhvuh duh," and hang up. [Again, viable, but definitely your second choice.

Many people who leave voicemail, particularly building contractors, don’t seem to realize that the whole point of leaving the message is to get the person to call you back.  The contact info is the soul, the heart, the vital essence of the message, and the rest is dross.  The beauty of this approach is that when you’re starting the message, you’re not nervous about how long you’ve been talking, so you can concentrate on saying your name and phone number clearly and slowly. 

Then, even if you completely fuck up the rest of your message, the person you’re calling will be able to find out what your fucking question was, and give you your fucking answer. 

Damn it.

"…[the longbow] was six feet long and three inches in circumference, made of yew, and required a force of one hundred pounds to draw it.  (When the body of an archer was recovered from the dredged-up Mary Rose, lost in 1545, the bone of the left arm was noticeably thicker than that of the right, and his shoulder and spinal bones were noticeably deformed) …"

Think about that.  Longbowmen had thick, muscular left arms - I think we can assume that they were all shooting right-handed, since it would be difficult to arrange lefties and righties together in formation - so much so, you could probably tell by looking at them.  Longbowmen probably stood crooked, left shoulder high, spine twisted up between the scapulae. 

If they shot enough that their arm bones thickened on the left side, can you imagine what their right hands looked like from pulling back the string?  Probably, something like this guy’s hand:

  Imagine shooting a longbow for hours during a battle.  Could anyone do that, pull back a draw of a hundred pounds, over and over again, throughout a battle?

This from By the Sword, by Richard Cohen, who was selected to fence for the UK in the Olympics in 72, 76, 80, and 84.  He would have been hit by the boycott in 80, I suppose.  By the Sword is a fun read, and a fascinating history.  Highly recommended.