a hot pan spitting droplets of fat

We impotents are great collectors of objets de vertu, snuffboxes, musical boxes, knick-knacks.

Grumping to himself as he made up his own bed, Bradly thought, Have to wash that blanket; young blighter going to bed with all that mud on his feet.

The Compugraphics Corporation, a company that once drew fire for its income‐augmenting accounting practices, is making an impression in Wall Street these days with a solid record of quality earnings gains.