Why I Called My Blog "Life in Merlin"

Some folks around here live in Merlin, a state adjacent to the District of Columbia. Myself, I used to reside in Maryland. A few years ago I ventured down to DC, as we call it, for lunch with a friend. I parked on Wisconsin Avenue without noticing a small sign waaaay down the street warning anyone congratulating herself on finding a parking spot so close to the restaurant that all parked cars had to be off the street by rush hour. Well, it was a long lunch. When I came out at 4 PM, my battered red Toyota was gone. A taxi cab driver waited nearby, like the spider in the parlor, ready to cart the flies off to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. A Personage in a Suit, who shared our cab, fumed that he "would see about this!" I merely mentioned that I hadn't noticed the sign. The driver replied, "Jes' 'cause you from Merlin don't mean you can pay no-never-mind to them signs." I had to pay $150 to get that old car back.