I'm not sure if I like this new blogger format. When I hit the I for italics, it gives me a highlighted (fade to nothingness) look that is not italics. Other then that, it works just fine. I'm the one at a loss at times what to write. Heck! I write anyway. I could babble on saying nothing for days.
Yesterday was a stellar day. I got to talk to all three of my children...OK....I only actually talked to two of them..I got an email from the oldest. Huzzah! No really. I mean it. I'd been complaining that I hadn't heard from anyone and lo and behold the phone rings. My youngest daughter. She's off to join the circus....not really. She couldn't find one so she's creating her own. My oldest daughter may be coming to visit this weekend. It's possible that she may have tried to call me too but we don't have call-waiting here in our rural residence. My oldest daughter invariably calls at the same time as my youngest daughter. I think it's a psychic type thing which I've never been able to figure out.
I was the one who called my son. My son is back at the Arizona front from camp. Of course things wouldn't be normal if he hadn't by accident tripped the burglar alarm upon his return. Since I've done the same myself (triggered the alarm), I can only shudder and hold my twitching ears in sympathy. That alarm is loud enough to make a person's ears bleed. I understand why he forgot about the alarm. I'm not too fond of security alarms myself but when I'm paying a monthly fee for the stupid thing, I expect the stupid thing to be used. He never remembered to set it when he went to camp. An understanding neighbor went in after he left and reset the alarm for me. An understanding Mom knows her children. He doesn't function too well in the mornings and I was fairly confident that he'd forgotten to set it before he headed off to camp. This is where it is really nice to have understanding neighbors who are willing to help you out. I imagine he was fairly surprised when an alarm that he didn't set went off. Good thing he remembered the password for the security people. Bleeding ears may serve as a reminder for the future. One can only hope.
Cliche of the Day
Does My Heart Good. Pleases me; relieves a worry. This is "heart" in its meaning as the seat of the emotions. A forerunner of the modern expression, and really a better way of putting the thought, appeared in 1413 in The Pylgremage of the Sowle: "The syght...gladyd moche my harte."
Monday, June 30, 2003
Sunday, June 29, 2003
It's just too beautiful a day to spent more then a moment of it on this computer. I thought I'd share the following "funny" before I run out the door and enjoy this bit of sun before the next cloud burst. Hurry, hurry....it might go away.
Signs Found in Kitchens:
I clean house every other day. Today is the other day!
So this isn't Home Sweet Home... Adjust!
Ring bell for Maid Service. If no answer, do it yourself!
If you write in the dust, please don't date it!
I would cook dinner but I can't find the can opener!
My house was clean last week. Too bad you missed it!
A clean kitchen is the sign of a wasted life.
I came. I saw. I decided to order take out.
If you don't like my standards of cooking...lower your standards.
Apology. Although you'll find our house a mess, come in, sit down,converse. It doesn't always look like this. Some days it's even worse.
A messy kitchen is a happy kitchen, and this kitchen is delirious.
Martha Stewart doesn't live here!!
If we are what we eat, then I'm easy, fast, and cheap.
A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
Help keep the kitchen clean. Eat out.
My next house will have no kitchen --- just vending machines.
Cliche of the Day
Cakes and Ale. The good life; pleasure. Shakespeare's keen ear for the common phrases of his time caught this one. In Twelfth Night Sir Toby Belch, a roistering type, says to the sour and puritanical Malvolio, who comes to calm down a loud party late at night, "Dost thou think, because thou are virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"
Signs Found in Kitchens:
I clean house every other day. Today is the other day!
So this isn't Home Sweet Home... Adjust!
Ring bell for Maid Service. If no answer, do it yourself!
If you write in the dust, please don't date it!
I would cook dinner but I can't find the can opener!
My house was clean last week. Too bad you missed it!
A clean kitchen is the sign of a wasted life.
I came. I saw. I decided to order take out.
If you don't like my standards of cooking...lower your standards.
Apology. Although you'll find our house a mess, come in, sit down,converse. It doesn't always look like this. Some days it's even worse.
A messy kitchen is a happy kitchen, and this kitchen is delirious.
Martha Stewart doesn't live here!!
If we are what we eat, then I'm easy, fast, and cheap.
A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
Help keep the kitchen clean. Eat out.
My next house will have no kitchen --- just vending machines.
Cliche of the Day
Cakes and Ale. The good life; pleasure. Shakespeare's keen ear for the common phrases of his time caught this one. In Twelfth Night Sir Toby Belch, a roistering type, says to the sour and puritanical Malvolio, who comes to calm down a loud party late at night, "Dost thou think, because thou are virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"
Saturday, June 28, 2003
They're Back
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Could it be superman? Or is it a really big mosquito? No. It's a bird. I put out my hummingbird feeders this week and they're back. The mosquitoes are back too but I try not to feed them. It is really fun to watch the hummingbirds in action. They actually post a lookout watch to guard their feeders. Every day I've been watching the aerial battles. The lookout comes swooping in to chase off all intruders with a kind of supersonic whine. The year I had my gutters put in, the poor workmen thought they were being attacked by wasps. It does sound a bit like that when they buzz past you on their way to and from the feeder. Thankfully, I've never seen a bee quite that large. The mosquito, on the other hand, is the undeclared Wisconsin State Bird. With all the rain we've been getting lately, the little vampires have been breeding like mad. Yes, it's raining again today. Oh well, at least it doesn't seem to stop the hummingbirds. Oh...and the lake is really quiet because only the most avid fishermen are out fishing in the rain. Apparently, water-skiers and jet-skiers don't like getting wet?
Cliche of the Day
Ball Bounces, That's the Way the. You have to be fatalistic; this is how things happen. A variant with the same meaning is "That's the way the cookie crumbles." Both expressions seem to have originated in the United States some 30 years ago. The bouncing ball in many games, particularly football, is notably unpredictable; the player has to deal with whatever bounce he gets.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Could it be superman? Or is it a really big mosquito? No. It's a bird. I put out my hummingbird feeders this week and they're back. The mosquitoes are back too but I try not to feed them. It is really fun to watch the hummingbirds in action. They actually post a lookout watch to guard their feeders. Every day I've been watching the aerial battles. The lookout comes swooping in to chase off all intruders with a kind of supersonic whine. The year I had my gutters put in, the poor workmen thought they were being attacked by wasps. It does sound a bit like that when they buzz past you on their way to and from the feeder. Thankfully, I've never seen a bee quite that large. The mosquito, on the other hand, is the undeclared Wisconsin State Bird. With all the rain we've been getting lately, the little vampires have been breeding like mad. Yes, it's raining again today. Oh well, at least it doesn't seem to stop the hummingbirds. Oh...and the lake is really quiet because only the most avid fishermen are out fishing in the rain. Apparently, water-skiers and jet-skiers don't like getting wet?
Cliche of the Day
Ball Bounces, That's the Way the. You have to be fatalistic; this is how things happen. A variant with the same meaning is "That's the way the cookie crumbles." Both expressions seem to have originated in the United States some 30 years ago. The bouncing ball in many games, particularly football, is notably unpredictable; the player has to deal with whatever bounce he gets.
Friday, June 27, 2003
I've got my computer back! Triple back flips! And the sun is shining. How appropriate! The weekenders haven't arrived yet and I can go out and enjoy the peace and serenity of the lake....until they get here. Then I'll join the loons and the rest if the wildlife who go into hiding. I hate jet ski's, people who live on pontoon boats moored right off my dock with radio's blaring and kids screaming, idiots on ski's who race from one end of the lake to the other creating huge wake that erodes the shore, and more idiots who race their boats back and forth for no apparent reason. They all pour into our little lake through the channel from the larger connecting lake because...get this....our lake is so peaceful and quiet. It almost makes one wish for rain. Almost. Below you should note that I've had to return to the "A"s in my Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers. Apparently, I completed the alphabet with the "Y"s because Mr. Rogers had no entries starting with "Z". I really think that there have to be some cliches that start with "Z" but there were not listed. What about Zippity Do, Da, Day? or Zip Your Lip? or Zap! You're an Orange Crate? OK. I made that last one up when I was young and mad at my brother. Swearing wasn't allowed in my family when I was growing up. You had to get creative.
Cliche of the Day
Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here. You're going to a dismal, unpromising, no-win situation. The expression comes from Dante's Inferno (1300), where it appears as, "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." "Here" was the Inferno, or Hell.
Cliche of the Day
Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here. You're going to a dismal, unpromising, no-win situation. The expression comes from Dante's Inferno (1300), where it appears as, "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." "Here" was the Inferno, or Hell.
Thursday, June 26, 2003
So the whole day today is being spent doing a reformat on my computer. I'm still waiting for completion on that little trick. That's OK. During the whole process (which I have played little to no part in), I have spent my idle, non-computer, time, planting peppers into pots to go on my deck, experimenting with a new keylime pie recipe, and happily avoiding anything resembling housework by reading a few new chapters in that mystery novel I keep on my nightstand. And now,I'm doing a quick blog on my husband's computer. Apparently, my computer had contracted a virus sometime late last summer or fall. I'm going to blame this virus on one of my children...either my son, who has escaped back to Arizona...or my youngest daughter whose greatest dream is to join the circus. They always used to bring home various and sundrie illnesses from school to share with the family. Why should anyone think that this would be any different? Anyway, the long (I repeat LONG) and short of it is that my computer is being wiped clean and is going to be recreated from scratch. I don't have the expertise to do any of this and am thankful to be married to my own tech support.
Cliche of the Day
You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks. Old people or people with long experience in a task find it difficult to learn new ways. I wonder if it's really true about the dog. Probably an old dog that has been learning tricks all his life could keep right on in old age. The same with people. Still, the perception of the oldster as unable or unwilling to change is prevalent enough for versions of today's cliche to be very old. In 1523, John Fitzherbert told the readers of his Newe Tracte of Treatyse Moost Profytable for Husbande Men: "The dogge must lerne when he is a whelpe, or els it wyl not be; for it is harde to make an olde dogge to stoupe." In 1670, John Ray recorded this version in his collection of proverbs: "An old dog will learn no tricks. It's all one to physick the dead, as to instruct old men."
Cliche of the Day
You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks. Old people or people with long experience in a task find it difficult to learn new ways. I wonder if it's really true about the dog. Probably an old dog that has been learning tricks all his life could keep right on in old age. The same with people. Still, the perception of the oldster as unable or unwilling to change is prevalent enough for versions of today's cliche to be very old. In 1523, John Fitzherbert told the readers of his Newe Tracte of Treatyse Moost Profytable for Husbande Men: "The dogge must lerne when he is a whelpe, or els it wyl not be; for it is harde to make an olde dogge to stoupe." In 1670, John Ray recorded this version in his collection of proverbs: "An old dog will learn no tricks. It's all one to physick the dead, as to instruct old men."
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
It's raining today though I really would prefer a good thunderstorm. I keep telling you all that I like the rain. Good thing. I keep grinning because I don't have to go out and water the lawn or the garden or the potted plants. I keep grinning because I can read a book without feeling guilty about all those weeds that still need pulling. I keep grinning because there is nothing sweeter then the smell of the outdoor air after it rains. I keep grinning because I know that I'm here for another two months and the sun will come out to shine at least a few more times between now and then. Right now, I'll just write in my blog, answer my e-mails and then go get another cup of coffee to enjoy while admiring the sight and sound of the rain dripping off the leaves of the trees.
**Zen wisdom sayings about using your mouth:**
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving.
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
**Zen wisdom thoughts about self:**
No one is listening to you until you make a mistake.
Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
Cliche of the Day
When It Rains, It Pours. If something happens at all, it is likely to show up in excess, to be too much of a good thing (as a heavy rain can be). The phrase was once the advertising slogan of a company in the United States that makes table salt, which has a tendency to coagulate in humid conditions; the company claimed its salt would continue to flow freely in those conditions. But the phrase is old enough to have served as a part of the title of a work by John Arbuthnot in 1726: It Cannot Rain but It Pours; or London Strow'd with Rarities.
**Zen wisdom sayings about using your mouth:**
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving.
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
**Zen wisdom thoughts about self:**
No one is listening to you until you make a mistake.
Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
Cliche of the Day
When It Rains, It Pours. If something happens at all, it is likely to show up in excess, to be too much of a good thing (as a heavy rain can be). The phrase was once the advertising slogan of a company in the United States that makes table salt, which has a tendency to coagulate in humid conditions; the company claimed its salt would continue to flow freely in those conditions. But the phrase is old enough to have served as a part of the title of a work by John Arbuthnot in 1726: It Cannot Rain but It Pours; or London Strow'd with Rarities.
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
As I sit and watch the rain, I remind myself of all the reasons that I left Arizona.
You might live in Arizona if....
You no longer associate bridges with water.
You can say "115 degrees" without fainting.
You have made instant sun tea.
You have learned that a seat belt makes a good branding iron.
The temperature drops below 85, and you feel a bit chilled.
You have learned that, in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
You have discovered you can get a sunburn through your car window.
You notice the best parking place is determined by shade, not distance.
It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is on the streets.
Hot water comes out of both taps.
You do not own an umbrella and would not know where to go to get one.
You are comfortable at 102 degrees.
You actually burned your hand opening the car door.
No one you know would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
If the local weather service records 0.02 inches they call it rain.
You don't know anyone who owns a raincoat.
You have cooked a dozen eggs in the trunk of your car between the grocery store and your home.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
Half of your neighbors are from California and the other half are from Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan.
You think snow on the ground is an abstract concept.
You have forgotten how to drive on wet roads.
The local cows have been known to give powdered milk.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
You can say, "but it's dry heat" without laughing.
The water in your pool has been too hot to swim in and you don't even have a heater.
You have cooked outside without lighting the grill.
Your power bill in the summer is more than your mortgage payment.
You have had to take out a loan to pay your water bill.
You have even golfed when it was 117 degrees.
The song "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" has no real meaning.
You think it is autumn when the temperature drops to 99 degrees.
You've golfed in December in a short sleeved shirt.
You've tried to work on your car in the summertime and burned your hand picking up a wrench left laying in the sun.
You've never had an auto battery last more than three years.
Cliche of the Day
Unvarnished Truth. The plain facts; told like it is. Is truth an absolute? Philosphicallly it may be, but in the minds and words of many people it receives embellishment, so much so that truth in the absence of embellishment has come to be noted by this cliche. Matilda Betham-Edwards recorded a typical progression in Disarmed (1883): "Valerian...had set out with the intention of adhering to the unvarnished truth, but finally ended in romancing." Shakespeare had a somewhat different version in Othello, showing that the thought itself is quite old. Othello says to the Duke and others in the council chamber:
I will a round, unvarnish'd tale deliver
Of my whole course of love...
You might live in Arizona if....
You no longer associate bridges with water.
You can say "115 degrees" without fainting.
You have made instant sun tea.
You have learned that a seat belt makes a good branding iron.
The temperature drops below 85, and you feel a bit chilled.
You have learned that, in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
You have discovered you can get a sunburn through your car window.
You notice the best parking place is determined by shade, not distance.
It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is on the streets.
Hot water comes out of both taps.
You do not own an umbrella and would not know where to go to get one.
You are comfortable at 102 degrees.
You actually burned your hand opening the car door.
No one you know would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
If the local weather service records 0.02 inches they call it rain.
You don't know anyone who owns a raincoat.
You have cooked a dozen eggs in the trunk of your car between the grocery store and your home.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
Half of your neighbors are from California and the other half are from Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan.
You think snow on the ground is an abstract concept.
You have forgotten how to drive on wet roads.
The local cows have been known to give powdered milk.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
You can say, "but it's dry heat" without laughing.
The water in your pool has been too hot to swim in and you don't even have a heater.
You have cooked outside without lighting the grill.
Your power bill in the summer is more than your mortgage payment.
You have had to take out a loan to pay your water bill.
You have even golfed when it was 117 degrees.
The song "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" has no real meaning.
You think it is autumn when the temperature drops to 99 degrees.
You've golfed in December in a short sleeved shirt.
You've tried to work on your car in the summertime and burned your hand picking up a wrench left laying in the sun.
You've never had an auto battery last more than three years.
Cliche of the Day
Unvarnished Truth. The plain facts; told like it is. Is truth an absolute? Philosphicallly it may be, but in the minds and words of many people it receives embellishment, so much so that truth in the absence of embellishment has come to be noted by this cliche. Matilda Betham-Edwards recorded a typical progression in Disarmed (1883): "Valerian...had set out with the intention of adhering to the unvarnished truth, but finally ended in romancing." Shakespeare had a somewhat different version in Othello, showing that the thought itself is quite old. Othello says to the Duke and others in the council chamber:
I will a round, unvarnish'd tale deliver
Of my whole course of love...
Monday, June 23, 2003
It's raining here in Wisconsin today. Nothing unusual. I'm actually glad that it's raining today. The lawn and gardens were really getting dry. If it hadn't rained today, I would have had to get out the sprinklers to water everything. I spent the day yesterday planting 100's of plants which I'm sure are reveling in this rain. Now I just have to figure out an indoor activity for today. I could organize the drawers in the kitchen. I could clean. Or I could read. Or I could decide on a new crocheting project. I think I'll read....at least for a while. My husband can't understand how I could possibly waste even a moment of my time reading or crocheting but I love both activities. After a long hectic weekend, doing absolutely nothing sounds remarkably good.
Cliche of the Day
Time to Kill. A period when one is unable to do what one had planned and must look for a diversion. The thought of killing time usually carries with it eh notion that one will spend the time doing something frivolous or entertaining. That thought is reflected in The Provok'd Husband, a play by Sir John Vanbrugh and Colley Cibber (1728): "What think you, if we three sat soberly down to kill an hour at ombre?" (Ombre was a three-person card game that was quite popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.)
Cliche of the Day
Time to Kill. A period when one is unable to do what one had planned and must look for a diversion. The thought of killing time usually carries with it eh notion that one will spend the time doing something frivolous or entertaining. That thought is reflected in The Provok'd Husband, a play by Sir John Vanbrugh and Colley Cibber (1728): "What think you, if we three sat soberly down to kill an hour at ombre?" (Ombre was a three-person card game that was quite popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.)
Sunday, June 22, 2003
I was reading Falling Up by Shel Silverstein this morning and found a couple of poems to fit my day and my mood. Some think that these books are for kids. I have read the poems to my kids who fail to dig beyond their surface but I tend to dig sometimes and sometimes I just like to enjoy. And right after I write this blog, I fully intend to plant some plants so I can experience the did that silenced the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas.
Writer Waiting
Oh this shiny new computer--
There just isn't nothin' cuter.
It knows everything the world ever knew.
And with this great computer
I don't need no writin' tutor,
'Cause there ain't a single thing that it can't do.
It can sort and it can spell,
It can punctuate as well.
It can find and file and underline and type.
It can edit and select,
It can copy and correct,
So I'll have a whole book written by tonight
(Just as soon as it can think of what to write).
Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda
All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done...
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little did.
Cliche of the Day
Spirit is Willing but the Flesh is Weak, The. I can't do this even though I would like to. The saying is from the Bible (Matthew 26:41), where Jesus says to his disciples, "Watch, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Writer Waiting
Oh this shiny new computer--
There just isn't nothin' cuter.
It knows everything the world ever knew.
And with this great computer
I don't need no writin' tutor,
'Cause there ain't a single thing that it can't do.
It can sort and it can spell,
It can punctuate as well.
It can find and file and underline and type.
It can edit and select,
It can copy and correct,
So I'll have a whole book written by tonight
(Just as soon as it can think of what to write).
Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda
All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done...
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little did.
Cliche of the Day
Spirit is Willing but the Flesh is Weak, The. I can't do this even though I would like to. The saying is from the Bible (Matthew 26:41), where Jesus says to his disciples, "Watch, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Yesterday, I didn't think I'd be able to blog. Today, I probably shouldn't blog. We had the family reunion today. I've been up and down stairs and down and up stairs and there are a lot of stairs. More then I ever knew we had. Just as I got upstairs, I was sure to need something downstairs. Just as I got downstairs, someone needed something upstairs....and of course the thing they needed was downstairs. Who needs a health club membership. I must have spent at least a couple of hours today on the stair machine and a couple more on the treadmill. Then there were all those squats I did getting things out of the refrigerator and putting stuff back in the refrigerator. Taking stuff out of the cooler.....well....just taking stuff out of the cooler. The beer was in the cooler. They've all gone home now. I've done most of the clean-up. But I still have that adrenaline rush one gets after doing a heavy workout. Another beer may cure that.
Cliche of the Day
Sixes and Sevens, To Be At. In disarray; uncertain how to proceed; indifferent to the consequence. Long ago it was "set all on six and seven, " apparently from a kind of dice game played in the 15th century. By 1631 it was "at six and at sevens," and by 1712 it was "sixes and sevens." A passage in the Bible (Job 5:19) may have been the origin: "He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee."
Cliche of the Day
Sixes and Sevens, To Be At. In disarray; uncertain how to proceed; indifferent to the consequence. Long ago it was "set all on six and seven, " apparently from a kind of dice game played in the 15th century. By 1631 it was "at six and at sevens," and by 1712 it was "sixes and sevens." A passage in the Bible (Job 5:19) may have been the origin: "He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee."
Friday, June 20, 2003
I didn't think I'd be able to blog today. So much to cram into so few hours, days, weeks, and months. Wash the windows. Finish the laundry....I know....it's not Tuesday but this is an emergency. My son needed to pack CLEAN clothes. He's going back to Arizona today. So little time. He only had two weeks. We've tried to cram so much into those two few weeks. Next year he'll have more time. I think he'll have the whole summer next year. Maybe not. He's one of those fledgling birds getting ready to fly the nest. We're making another run into Minneapolis to take him to the airport. Then we have to stay at least two hours to make sure that his flight actually does take off. Might as well go shopping during that time. My husband really should have a new shirt and those kitchen towels are looking pretty bad. Too stained for company. Tomorrow is the family reunion (my husband's side of the family) but none of my children will be attending. So much to do and so little time left in which to do it.
Sands of Time. The passing of the hours or years. It wasn't too many centuries ago tht the main means of measuring periods of time was a sandglass or and hourglass, in which grains of sand flowed through a narrow aperture into a receptacle at a predetermined rate, so that all of them would have passed from top to bottom in, say, an hour. These are the "sands of time,' which are recorded in Tottel's Miscellany (1557) in this way: "I saw, my tyme how it did runne, as sand out of the glasse."
Sands of Time. The passing of the hours or years. It wasn't too many centuries ago tht the main means of measuring periods of time was a sandglass or and hourglass, in which grains of sand flowed through a narrow aperture into a receptacle at a predetermined rate, so that all of them would have passed from top to bottom in, say, an hour. These are the "sands of time,' which are recorded in Tottel's Miscellany (1557) in this way: "I saw, my tyme how it did runne, as sand out of the glasse."
Thursday, June 19, 2003
I woke up this morning, went into the kitchen to make coffee and was horrified to discover that the fish that I'd carefully cleaned and prepared for freezing the previous night were still sitting on the counter by the sink. I had forgotten to slip them into the freezer. Ahhh! Idiot! A while back, a friend sent me the following "funny" which I thought would make me feel a bit better. It didn't but maybe it'll make someone out there feel better. Oh well.....I froze the fish this morning and will use the frozen blocks as crayfish bait. Waste not, want not, but I still feel like I must have had rocks in my head last night.
IDIOTS IN SERVICE:
This week, all our office phones went dead and I had to contact the telephone repair people. They promised to be out between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. When I asked if they could give me a smaller time window, the pleasant gentleman asked, "Would you like us to call you before we come?" I replied that I didn't see how he would be able to do that, since our phones weren't working. He also requested that we report future outages by email (Does YOUR email work without a telephone line?).
IDIOTS AT WORK:
I was signing the receipt for my credit card purchase when the clerk noticed I had never signed my name on the back of the credit card. She informed me that she could not complete the transaction unless the card was signed. When I asked why, she explained that it was necessary to compare the signature I had just signed on the receipt. So I signed the credit card in front of her. She carefully compared the signature to the one I had just signed on the receipt. As luck would have it, they matched.
IDIOTS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason: too many deer were being hit by cars and he didn't want them to cross there anymore.
IDIOTS IN FOOD SERVICE:
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for "minimal lettuce." He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
IDIOT SIGHTING #1:
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."
IDIOT SIGHTING #2:
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine when she asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, "What on earth are blind people doing driving?"
IDIOT SIGHTING #3:
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker who is leaving the company due to "Downsizing," our manager commented cheerfully, "this is fun. We should do this more often." Not a word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.
IDIOT SIGHTING #4:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the life of her couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.
IDIOT SIGHTING #5:
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "it's open!" To which he replied, "I know - I already got that side."
NOW, DON'T YOU FEEL BETTER
Cliche of the Day
Rocks in His Head, He Has. He is acting stupidly or bizarrely; what he is doing or proposing doesn't make sense. Rocks in the head would certainly make you dense, and that is probably the thought that gave rise to the figure. It seems to be a 20th century creation. Here is Max Shulman, in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis(1951): "Kid, you got rocks in your head?"
IDIOTS IN SERVICE:
This week, all our office phones went dead and I had to contact the telephone repair people. They promised to be out between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. When I asked if they could give me a smaller time window, the pleasant gentleman asked, "Would you like us to call you before we come?" I replied that I didn't see how he would be able to do that, since our phones weren't working. He also requested that we report future outages by email (Does YOUR email work without a telephone line?).
IDIOTS AT WORK:
I was signing the receipt for my credit card purchase when the clerk noticed I had never signed my name on the back of the credit card. She informed me that she could not complete the transaction unless the card was signed. When I asked why, she explained that it was necessary to compare the signature I had just signed on the receipt. So I signed the credit card in front of her. She carefully compared the signature to the one I had just signed on the receipt. As luck would have it, they matched.
IDIOTS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason: too many deer were being hit by cars and he didn't want them to cross there anymore.
IDIOTS IN FOOD SERVICE:
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for "minimal lettuce." He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
IDIOT SIGHTING #1:
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."
IDIOT SIGHTING #2:
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine when she asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, "What on earth are blind people doing driving?"
IDIOT SIGHTING #3:
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker who is leaving the company due to "Downsizing," our manager commented cheerfully, "this is fun. We should do this more often." Not a word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.
IDIOT SIGHTING #4:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the life of her couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.
IDIOT SIGHTING #5:
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "it's open!" To which he replied, "I know - I already got that side."
NOW, DON'T YOU FEEL BETTER
Cliche of the Day
Rocks in His Head, He Has. He is acting stupidly or bizarrely; what he is doing or proposing doesn't make sense. Rocks in the head would certainly make you dense, and that is probably the thought that gave rise to the figure. It seems to be a 20th century creation. Here is Max Shulman, in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis(1951): "Kid, you got rocks in your head?"
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
20 Excuses for Why I Didn't Write in My Blog
1. I caught a whale and it took a few days to clean it.
2. I set half the clocks in my house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour Saturday and spent 18 hours in some kind of space-time continuum loop, re-living Sunday (right up until the explosion). I was able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source exactly, resetting the clocks in the house, while simultaneously rapping my dog on the snout with a rolled up Early Bird. Accordingly, I was late in writing my blog, or early.
3. The mosquitoes drained so much blood from my hapless body that I had to drive into town to get a transfusion.
4. I couldn't write in my blog because my car's suspension broke and I had to spend one more day in Minneapolis while it was being fixed, shopping at the Mall of America
5. I had a rare case of 48-hour leprosy and I was afraid that my fingers would all fall off if I did any typing.
6. I was stuck in the blood pressure machine down at the supermarket.
7. Yes, I seem to have contracted some attention-deficit disorder and, hey, how about them Cornhuskers, huh? So, I won't be able to, yes, can I help you? No, no, I'll be sticking with MCI, but thank you for calling. Ooh! Shiny object!
8. I was preparing myself for Wednesday Night Wing Dings.
9. I just found out that I might have been switched at birth. Legally, I couldn't write in this blog because my blog records may have contained false information.
10. The psychiatrist said we had an excellent session. He even gave me this jaw restraint so I won't bite things when I am startled.
11. When I got up this morning I took two Ex-Lax in addition to my Prozac. Now I can't get off the john, but I feel good about it.
12. The dog ate my computer keyboard and I had to drive into Minneapolis to buy a new one at The Mall of America.
13. I'd prefer to remain an enigma.
14. I couldn't write in my blog because the EPA has determined that my house is completely surrounded by wetlands and writing in my blog is disturbing the balance of nature.
15. I couldn't write in my blog because I was converting my calendar from Julian to Gregorian.
16. I am extremely sensitive to a rise in the interest rates.
17. I refuse to write in my blog until there is a writer's tax. I insist on paying my fair share.
18. I was being chased through the woods by a black bear.
19. My stigmata's acting up.
20. If it's all the same to you I won't be writing in my blog today. The voices told me to clean all the guns today.
One or more of the above reasons for why I didn't write in my blog for the last two days is true. One or more of the above could become true in the coming months or years.
Cliche of the Day
Put a Good Face On It. Make the best of a bad situation. It is what one does when one keeps a stiff upper lip or smiles in a period of sadness or adversity. People have been doing it for centuries, long enough for Higden's Polychronicon to refer in 1387 to someone who "made good face."
1. I caught a whale and it took a few days to clean it.
2. I set half the clocks in my house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour Saturday and spent 18 hours in some kind of space-time continuum loop, re-living Sunday (right up until the explosion). I was able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source exactly, resetting the clocks in the house, while simultaneously rapping my dog on the snout with a rolled up Early Bird. Accordingly, I was late in writing my blog, or early.
3. The mosquitoes drained so much blood from my hapless body that I had to drive into town to get a transfusion.
4. I couldn't write in my blog because my car's suspension broke and I had to spend one more day in Minneapolis while it was being fixed, shopping at the Mall of America
5. I had a rare case of 48-hour leprosy and I was afraid that my fingers would all fall off if I did any typing.
6. I was stuck in the blood pressure machine down at the supermarket.
7. Yes, I seem to have contracted some attention-deficit disorder and, hey, how about them Cornhuskers, huh? So, I won't be able to, yes, can I help you? No, no, I'll be sticking with MCI, but thank you for calling. Ooh! Shiny object!
8. I was preparing myself for Wednesday Night Wing Dings.
9. I just found out that I might have been switched at birth. Legally, I couldn't write in this blog because my blog records may have contained false information.
10. The psychiatrist said we had an excellent session. He even gave me this jaw restraint so I won't bite things when I am startled.
11. When I got up this morning I took two Ex-Lax in addition to my Prozac. Now I can't get off the john, but I feel good about it.
12. The dog ate my computer keyboard and I had to drive into Minneapolis to buy a new one at The Mall of America.
13. I'd prefer to remain an enigma.
14. I couldn't write in my blog because the EPA has determined that my house is completely surrounded by wetlands and writing in my blog is disturbing the balance of nature.
15. I couldn't write in my blog because I was converting my calendar from Julian to Gregorian.
16. I am extremely sensitive to a rise in the interest rates.
17. I refuse to write in my blog until there is a writer's tax. I insist on paying my fair share.
18. I was being chased through the woods by a black bear.
19. My stigmata's acting up.
20. If it's all the same to you I won't be writing in my blog today. The voices told me to clean all the guns today.
One or more of the above reasons for why I didn't write in my blog for the last two days is true. One or more of the above could become true in the coming months or years.
Cliche of the Day
Put a Good Face On It. Make the best of a bad situation. It is what one does when one keeps a stiff upper lip or smiles in a period of sadness or adversity. People have been doing it for centuries, long enough for Higden's Polychronicon to refer in 1387 to someone who "made good face."
Sunday, June 15, 2003
In honor of Father's Day, I thought I'd forfeit my usual time on the computer to my husband. Happy Father's Day! We're going to chuck the diet for today. Below I'm pasting a "funny" that a friend sent. Happy Father's Day to all an to all a good day!
ACTUAL T-SHIRT SLOGANS.
1. Frankly, Scallop, I Don't Give a Clam. (seen on Cape Cod)
2. That's It! I'm Calling Grandma! (seen on an 8 year old)
3. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew Up.
4. Procrastinate Now.
5. Rehab Is for Quitters.
6. My Dog Can Lick Anyone.
7. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts - Do You Want Fries With That?
8. Party - My Crib - Two A.M. (on a baby-size shirt)
9. Finally 21, and Legally Able to Do Everything I've Been Doing Since 15.
10. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. It comes bundled with the software.
11. I'M OUT OF ESTROGEN AND I'VE GOT A GUN.
12. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
13. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
14. STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!
15. DISCOURAGE INBREEDING - Ban Country Music.
16. MOOSEHEAD - A great beer and a new experience for a moose.
17. They call it PMS because MadCow Disease was already taken.
18. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
19. Time's fun when you're having flies.......Kermit the Frog.
20. POLICE STATION TOILET STOLEN .... Cops have nothing to go on.
21. FOR SALE: Iraqi rifle. Never fired. Dropped once.
22. HECK IS WHERE PEOPLE GO WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN GOSH.
23. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, but it uses up a thousand times the memory.
24. The Meek shall inherit the earth....after we're through with it.
25. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
26. HAM AND EGGS - A day's work for a chicken; A lifetime commitment for a pig.
27. WELCOME TO KENTUCKY - Set your watch back 20 years.
28. The trouble with life is there's no background
This is where I would have put the Cliche of the Day if I'd taken the time to put it here. I didn't but Happy Father's Day!
ACTUAL T-SHIRT SLOGANS.
1. Frankly, Scallop, I Don't Give a Clam. (seen on Cape Cod)
2. That's It! I'm Calling Grandma! (seen on an 8 year old)
3. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew Up.
4. Procrastinate Now.
5. Rehab Is for Quitters.
6. My Dog Can Lick Anyone.
7. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts - Do You Want Fries With That?
8. Party - My Crib - Two A.M. (on a baby-size shirt)
9. Finally 21, and Legally Able to Do Everything I've Been Doing Since 15.
10. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. It comes bundled with the software.
11. I'M OUT OF ESTROGEN AND I'VE GOT A GUN.
12. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
13. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
14. STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!
15. DISCOURAGE INBREEDING - Ban Country Music.
16. MOOSEHEAD - A great beer and a new experience for a moose.
17. They call it PMS because MadCow Disease was already taken.
18. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
19. Time's fun when you're having flies.......Kermit the Frog.
20. POLICE STATION TOILET STOLEN .... Cops have nothing to go on.
21. FOR SALE: Iraqi rifle. Never fired. Dropped once.
22. HECK IS WHERE PEOPLE GO WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN GOSH.
23. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, but it uses up a thousand times the memory.
24. The Meek shall inherit the earth....after we're through with it.
25. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
26. HAM AND EGGS - A day's work for a chicken; A lifetime commitment for a pig.
27. WELCOME TO KENTUCKY - Set your watch back 20 years.
28. The trouble with life is there's no background
This is where I would have put the Cliche of the Day if I'd taken the time to put it here. I didn't but Happy Father's Day!
Saturday, June 14, 2003
I've had a long day today. It was a beautiful day but tiring. We saw a Civil War re-enactment. We had a picnic lunch and dinner. I'm too tired to create a blog tonight. Maybe tomorrow. The following is a poem by Shel Silverstein. I bought his book, Falling Up and have been enjoying it. I have enjoyed other books that he has written but hadn't ever read this one that came out in 1996.
Diving Board
You've been up on that diving board
Making sure that it's nice and straight.
You've made sure that it's not too slick.
You've made sure it can stand the weight.
You've made sure that the spring is tight.
You've made sure that the cloth won't slip.
You've made sure that it bounces right,
And that your toes can get a grip--
And you've been up there since half past five
Doin' everything....but DIVE.
Cliche of the Day
Off the Deep End. Rashly or emotionally. It is the "deep end" of the swimming pool or the dock, and the impliction is that it is rash and impulsive to jump or dive there unless you are sure of your swimming ability and can clearly see what is in the water. Here is Christopher Morley in Kitty Foyle (1939): "I wish there was some man she'd go off the deep end about."
Diving Board
You've been up on that diving board
Making sure that it's nice and straight.
You've made sure that it's not too slick.
You've made sure it can stand the weight.
You've made sure that the spring is tight.
You've made sure that the cloth won't slip.
You've made sure that it bounces right,
And that your toes can get a grip--
And you've been up there since half past five
Doin' everything....but DIVE.
Cliche of the Day
Off the Deep End. Rashly or emotionally. It is the "deep end" of the swimming pool or the dock, and the impliction is that it is rash and impulsive to jump or dive there unless you are sure of your swimming ability and can clearly see what is in the water. Here is Christopher Morley in Kitty Foyle (1939): "I wish there was some man she'd go off the deep end about."
Friday, June 13, 2003
I was reading my Dictionary of Cliches last night and I realized that since my daughters have left home, they don't really keep in touch on a regular basis. I'm not complaining (OK. So I was complaining.). I usually get emails from them. My oldest daughter helped me set up this blog. I just wish I'd hear more from them more often. If I haven't heard from them in a week, I start imagining all kinds of catastrophies. Excuses range from, "There wasn't anything new to write you about." to "I'd rather call you but I need to go out and buy a new phone card." to "I've just been so busy." to "Insert whatever excuse you've heard here" Then I realize, I sound just like my mother. It used to be, "Why don't you write us more often or call?" and now it's "Why haven't you emailed? Are you OK?" I sound like my mother-in-law too. She's a novice at the computer we got her a few years ago but I still get emails with, "I haven't gotten any emails from you lately. Is this thing working? Did you get this email? I bet this stupid thing isn't working. I'm going to unplug it and get rid of it." My father transcribed some family letters written by my great-grandmother. You guessed it. "Why haven't you written? Are you OK?" This seems to be a recurring problem back through time. I wonder if Pliny the Younger got complaints from Pliny the Elder. I bet it all started as soon as man developed writing or did it start even before that and writing was the new invention that was supposed to solve the communication gaps?
Cliche of the Day
Nothing to Write Home About. Ordinary, unexciting. The thought was put by Pliny the Younger in one of his letters almost 2,000 years ago: "There is nothing to write about, you say. Well then, write and let me know just this---that there is nothing to write about...." The current version dates from the 19th century.
Cliche of the Day
Nothing to Write Home About. Ordinary, unexciting. The thought was put by Pliny the Younger in one of his letters almost 2,000 years ago: "There is nothing to write about, you say. Well then, write and let me know just this---that there is nothing to write about...." The current version dates from the 19th century.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
I'm going to quick run out and dig my garden bed and plant my seeds and seedlings. I was minding my own business, watching the news, and I saw the weather for the Twin Cities. The weather from the Twin Cities almost always ends up in our neck of the woods and it's raining in parts of the Twin Cities right now. Actually, it's a pretty safe bet that it will rain here in Wisconsin in the summer...usually on weekends. The weathermen of the midwest pretty much just have to get up in the morning and tell everyone that rain in one form or another will be falling somewhere in the midwest. Come to think of it, Arizona weathermen find themselves in a similar rut. The Arizona weathermen get up in the morning and tell everyone that it's going to be hot and sunny. At least the weathermen of the midwest get to enjoy that nifty Doppler radar. Anyway, I'd better be quick and get the garden planted before it rains. I found two cliches which don't necessarily fit my blog but seem to fit the news.
Cliche of the Day
Movers And Shakers. Influential people; decision-makers. Used separately, mover and shaker (of heaven and earth) were words that alluded to God. George Chapman's translation of Homer's Iliad (1611) says: "Thou mightie shaker of the earth." Shakespeare, in King Henry VI (Part II) puts the king at the side of Cardinal Beaufort's deathbed. The king says: "O thou eternal mover of the heavens, look with a gentle eye upon this wretch!" When the two words were joined to intensify the thought is hard to say, but the term was known to the poet Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy in the 19th century:
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams...
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams.
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.
Moving Finger Writes. Time is passing; the record of your life is accumulating; your destiny is taking shape. It is from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a translation by Edward Fitzgerald (in 1859) of the 12th-century Persian:
The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on: Nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
Cliche of the Day
Movers And Shakers. Influential people; decision-makers. Used separately, mover and shaker (of heaven and earth) were words that alluded to God. George Chapman's translation of Homer's Iliad (1611) says: "Thou mightie shaker of the earth." Shakespeare, in King Henry VI (Part II) puts the king at the side of Cardinal Beaufort's deathbed. The king says: "O thou eternal mover of the heavens, look with a gentle eye upon this wretch!" When the two words were joined to intensify the thought is hard to say, but the term was known to the poet Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy in the 19th century:
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams...
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams.
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.
Moving Finger Writes. Time is passing; the record of your life is accumulating; your destiny is taking shape. It is from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a translation by Edward Fitzgerald (in 1859) of the 12th-century Persian:
The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on: Nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
It's Not Raining
It's not raining today. I was going to start my garden today but the ground is still too wet. I did run out and pulled a few of the gizillion weeds that have sprouted out in my yard. I figure that if I pull at least 20 weeds a day, I may catch up with them. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that 25 new weeds sprout out there everyday. I am not spending my summer weeding! I'm told that I should let them grow and tell everyone that I'm trying to preserve the native flora and fauna. Thankfully, there is no HOA (Homeowner's Association, aka...Lake Gestapo) here at "The Lake" to worry about my bid for Nature Preservationist of the Year. My garden will get planted as soon as the soil dries out enough to spade it without making mudpies. Oh....the sun just came out! It's so pretty! I'm going to see if I can run out and pull out another 20 weeds and convince the dogs to join me in a walk.
Cliche of the Day
Make Hay While the Sun Shines. Act while conditions are favorable. The grass that is going to be used as hay needs to be dried after it is cut; rain is likey to spoil it. The farmer, therefore, sought to cut hay on a day when it seemed likely that the sun would be around for that day and one or two more. John Heywood listed the advice as proverbial in 1546: "When the sunne shyneth make hay."
It's not raining today. I was going to start my garden today but the ground is still too wet. I did run out and pulled a few of the gizillion weeds that have sprouted out in my yard. I figure that if I pull at least 20 weeds a day, I may catch up with them. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that 25 new weeds sprout out there everyday. I am not spending my summer weeding! I'm told that I should let them grow and tell everyone that I'm trying to preserve the native flora and fauna. Thankfully, there is no HOA (Homeowner's Association, aka...Lake Gestapo) here at "The Lake" to worry about my bid for Nature Preservationist of the Year. My garden will get planted as soon as the soil dries out enough to spade it without making mudpies. Oh....the sun just came out! It's so pretty! I'm going to see if I can run out and pull out another 20 weeds and convince the dogs to join me in a walk.
Cliche of the Day
Make Hay While the Sun Shines. Act while conditions are favorable. The grass that is going to be used as hay needs to be dried after it is cut; rain is likey to spoil it. The farmer, therefore, sought to cut hay on a day when it seemed likely that the sun would be around for that day and one or two more. John Heywood listed the advice as proverbial in 1546: "When the sunne shyneth make hay."
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
It's Raining and it's a Tuesday
It's raining. My fault I suppose. I opened the window last night before I went to bed despite the fact that it was only 55°....so it started raining about an hour after I finally fell asleep. It woke me up. There was no storm. No lightening. No thunder. Just rain. One of those rains that remind me of Oregon. Rain never woke me up in Oregon. We got a lot of it. We don't get much of it at all in Arizona especially during the drought that we've been having lately. Anyway, the rain wasn't coming down very hard. I'm a light sleeper. Any unusual sound will wake me up. I think that's a mother thing. You develop that habit when you have babies and young children. If it's too quiet, you know for a fact that someone is getting into mischief or something's wrong. If you hear a tiny little noise in the night, you hit the ground running. My babies have grown. I have no young children and no grandchildren either but I can't seem to break the habit of waking at unusual sounds no matter how slight. Rain is an unusual sound for me. As I stated before, we just don't get that much rain in Arizona, at the best of times. It's nice to see...but I had to get up to close the window. That's OK. I was going to go out and dig and plant the garden today but it'll wait. I'll just soak up the sight of rain for a while. You tend to do that when you come from drought ridden Arizona. According to a song by Noel Coward, only "Madmen and Englishmen go out into the midday sun" (something that I've seen exemplified many times when winter visitors come to Arizona), I wonder what he would have said about me? "Only madwomen and Arizonans don't know when to come in out of the rain."
Cliche of the Day
In His Element. In his most comfortable or favorable environment or situation. Hugh Broughton was close to the modern phrase in his letters (1599): "You are in for all day.....it is your element."
It's raining. My fault I suppose. I opened the window last night before I went to bed despite the fact that it was only 55°....so it started raining about an hour after I finally fell asleep. It woke me up. There was no storm. No lightening. No thunder. Just rain. One of those rains that remind me of Oregon. Rain never woke me up in Oregon. We got a lot of it. We don't get much of it at all in Arizona especially during the drought that we've been having lately. Anyway, the rain wasn't coming down very hard. I'm a light sleeper. Any unusual sound will wake me up. I think that's a mother thing. You develop that habit when you have babies and young children. If it's too quiet, you know for a fact that someone is getting into mischief or something's wrong. If you hear a tiny little noise in the night, you hit the ground running. My babies have grown. I have no young children and no grandchildren either but I can't seem to break the habit of waking at unusual sounds no matter how slight. Rain is an unusual sound for me. As I stated before, we just don't get that much rain in Arizona, at the best of times. It's nice to see...but I had to get up to close the window. That's OK. I was going to go out and dig and plant the garden today but it'll wait. I'll just soak up the sight of rain for a while. You tend to do that when you come from drought ridden Arizona. According to a song by Noel Coward, only "Madmen and Englishmen go out into the midday sun" (something that I've seen exemplified many times when winter visitors come to Arizona), I wonder what he would have said about me? "Only madwomen and Arizonans don't know when to come in out of the rain."
Cliche of the Day
In His Element. In his most comfortable or favorable environment or situation. Hugh Broughton was close to the modern phrase in his letters (1599): "You are in for all day.....it is your element."
Monday, June 09, 2003
Skipping right along to.....
We're at the Lake
Handsprings! OK...I'm just too old for handsprings but I'm doing them mentally. I did unpack most of our stuff. It's amazing how quickly one can remove the three carloads of stuff that is crammed into one car. It took so long to cram it all in properly on that day we left Arizona. Watching my husband and my son unpack the car was kind of like watching Mary Poppins with her famous carpetbag. If you never saw Mary Poppins, you'll just have to go rent it so you can understand that last statement. It's a Disney movie. I own it. I own a lot of old movies.
I was going to post a blog when we got here to "The Lake" but no-one would let me near a computer. I spent my evening UNPACKING and rediscovering the place. Every year it's the same. I have to remember where I put things before I can unpack and put things away. If you don't know where to put things away it takes a lot longer to unpack. It's hard to put away the silverware if you can't remember where the silverware is kept. I label the lightswitches because every year I'd forget which light switches turned on which lights. Labeling the lightswitches was my Dad's idea. I picked it up from him. It came about because the electrician that wired his place was amazingly creative. The lightswitches don't always make a whole lot of sense. The same guy wired my place. There is no way that I could possibly remember which switch belonged to which light if I didn't label them. I've labeled the switches in Arizona too. I like my little Casio label maker. We've become good friends. I don't label my drawers. While I figured that people would politely ignore my light switch labels, I think I would have gotten a few strange looks if I labeled the drawers. I did label the wastebaskets in the wastebasket cabinet but people still ask me which wastebasket is for recycling and which on is for garbage. I kindly tell them that the one in the back is for recycling and the one in the front is for garbage. Then I (trying not to sound superior and smug) tell them that the wastebaskets are labeled. "Oh, What a good idea!", they exclaim. I've discovered that not many people read labels. That's OK. I do. The labels are for me. There's enough confusion created when I'm unpacking . Someone asked me recently if I was obsessive, compulsive by any chance. Yup! Sure am! It's better then telling everyone that I'm getting old and forgetful. Labeling is my way of removing just a little bit of the confusion which inhabits my world.
Cliche of the Day
Hunky Dory. All right, safe, cozy. You can find several explanations for this one, inclucing the fact that a major street in Yokohama, often frequented by American sailors, was Hunchodori. "Hunk", however, is an old word, derived from the Dutch honk, meaning goal. Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms defined it in 1860: "To be all hunk is to have reached the goal...to be all safe." John Farmer's Americanisms(1889) had the whole expression, saying "Both these strange words stand for superlatively good."
We're at the Lake
Handsprings! OK...I'm just too old for handsprings but I'm doing them mentally. I did unpack most of our stuff. It's amazing how quickly one can remove the three carloads of stuff that is crammed into one car. It took so long to cram it all in properly on that day we left Arizona. Watching my husband and my son unpack the car was kind of like watching Mary Poppins with her famous carpetbag. If you never saw Mary Poppins, you'll just have to go rent it so you can understand that last statement. It's a Disney movie. I own it. I own a lot of old movies.
I was going to post a blog when we got here to "The Lake" but no-one would let me near a computer. I spent my evening UNPACKING and rediscovering the place. Every year it's the same. I have to remember where I put things before I can unpack and put things away. If you don't know where to put things away it takes a lot longer to unpack. It's hard to put away the silverware if you can't remember where the silverware is kept. I label the lightswitches because every year I'd forget which light switches turned on which lights. Labeling the lightswitches was my Dad's idea. I picked it up from him. It came about because the electrician that wired his place was amazingly creative. The lightswitches don't always make a whole lot of sense. The same guy wired my place. There is no way that I could possibly remember which switch belonged to which light if I didn't label them. I've labeled the switches in Arizona too. I like my little Casio label maker. We've become good friends. I don't label my drawers. While I figured that people would politely ignore my light switch labels, I think I would have gotten a few strange looks if I labeled the drawers. I did label the wastebaskets in the wastebasket cabinet but people still ask me which wastebasket is for recycling and which on is for garbage. I kindly tell them that the one in the back is for recycling and the one in the front is for garbage. Then I (trying not to sound superior and smug) tell them that the wastebaskets are labeled. "Oh, What a good idea!", they exclaim. I've discovered that not many people read labels. That's OK. I do. The labels are for me. There's enough confusion created when I'm unpacking . Someone asked me recently if I was obsessive, compulsive by any chance. Yup! Sure am! It's better then telling everyone that I'm getting old and forgetful. Labeling is my way of removing just a little bit of the confusion which inhabits my world.
Cliche of the Day
Hunky Dory. All right, safe, cozy. You can find several explanations for this one, inclucing the fact that a major street in Yokohama, often frequented by American sailors, was Hunchodori. "Hunk", however, is an old word, derived from the Dutch honk, meaning goal. Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms defined it in 1860: "To be all hunk is to have reached the goal...to be all safe." John Farmer's Americanisms(1889) had the whole expression, saying "Both these strange words stand for superlatively good."
Saturday, June 07, 2003
2 Days of Driving before I get to Wisconsin and "The Lake"
Highlights of the Drive...So Far
Las Vegas has no casinos. Las Vegas, New Mexico. I saw many casinos as we traveled through New Mexico but there were no casinos in Las Vegas. There are, I'm sure, all the same casinos that were in Las Vegas, Nevada as were the last time I visited Las Vegas, Nevada. A few more may have sprung up like weeds since my last visit. Las Vegas, New Mexico has none. Las Vegas, New Mexico is noted as a former rough and ready Old West town along the old Santa Fe Trail where such desperados as Billy the Kid and Doc Holiday added to their legends. Las Vegas, New Mexico has no casinos.
While driving cross country depend upon the fact that you will encounter road construction. If you don't encounter road construction, quietly count your blessings. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone. Another given is that the parade going through a road construction zone will be lead by either a person driving a large RV, a person towing or driving a U-Haul, or a person driving a yellow Penske rental truck.
Weather is always a factor while traveling. Expect the unexpected. Denver is expecting a June snowstorm. We missed that but were hit by slush balls and dime-size hail. It could have been worse. There is always the possibility that things could have been worse. While traveling there will always be someone, somewhere, who will be experiencing worse weather conditions then you. Be thankful. Tomorrow could be better but don't count your chickens. On the otherhand, be thankful for the rain which washed off the "spray" from that cattle truck that you were following.
Traveling can open up a whole new world of entertainment. Sit back and enjoy it. I am always fasinated by what I call, Dueling Big Rigs when one big rig driver thinks that his rig can travel at least 5 mph faster then the big rig he's following. Now you can be entertained watching two big rigs drag racing at 45 mph down the interstate while you and that Corvette from New Mexico are trapped behind....going 45 mph in a 75 mph zone. It's fun to see how long it'll take for the driver of the Corvette to lose what's left of his mind. Entertainment is where one finds it and traveling opens up many such opportunities. Who knows what else will be discovered tomorrow but I'm ready for it. I think.
PS. I just discovered that I aged another hour in a second today near the town of Ogalalla when I crossed from the Mountain Time Zone to the Central Time Zone. No new wrinkles.
Highlights of the Drive...So Far
Las Vegas has no casinos. Las Vegas, New Mexico. I saw many casinos as we traveled through New Mexico but there were no casinos in Las Vegas. There are, I'm sure, all the same casinos that were in Las Vegas, Nevada as were the last time I visited Las Vegas, Nevada. A few more may have sprung up like weeds since my last visit. Las Vegas, New Mexico has none. Las Vegas, New Mexico is noted as a former rough and ready Old West town along the old Santa Fe Trail where such desperados as Billy the Kid and Doc Holiday added to their legends. Las Vegas, New Mexico has no casinos.
While driving cross country depend upon the fact that you will encounter road construction. If you don't encounter road construction, quietly count your blessings. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone. Another given is that the parade going through a road construction zone will be lead by either a person driving a large RV, a person towing or driving a U-Haul, or a person driving a yellow Penske rental truck.
Weather is always a factor while traveling. Expect the unexpected. Denver is expecting a June snowstorm. We missed that but were hit by slush balls and dime-size hail. It could have been worse. There is always the possibility that things could have been worse. While traveling there will always be someone, somewhere, who will be experiencing worse weather conditions then you. Be thankful. Tomorrow could be better but don't count your chickens. On the otherhand, be thankful for the rain which washed off the "spray" from that cattle truck that you were following.
Traveling can open up a whole new world of entertainment. Sit back and enjoy it. I am always fasinated by what I call, Dueling Big Rigs when one big rig driver thinks that his rig can travel at least 5 mph faster then the big rig he's following. Now you can be entertained watching two big rigs drag racing at 45 mph down the interstate while you and that Corvette from New Mexico are trapped behind....going 45 mph in a 75 mph zone. It's fun to see how long it'll take for the driver of the Corvette to lose what's left of his mind. Entertainment is where one finds it and traveling opens up many such opportunities. Who knows what else will be discovered tomorrow but I'm ready for it. I think.
PS. I just discovered that I aged another hour in a second today near the town of Ogalalla when I crossed from the Mountain Time Zone to the Central Time Zone. No new wrinkles.
Friday, June 06, 2003
3 Days of Driving before I get to Wisconsin and "The Lake"
In the second that it took to cross the border between Arizona and New Mexico, I aged one hour. Good old Day Light Savings Time. Thank you very much whoever invented the concept. Because of your wonderful invention, I must now live with the fact that I'm one whole hour older then I would have been if I'd remained in Arizona. Oh well. Wisconsin is worth it. My only consulation is that I will magically rejuvenate one hour the mere second that it'll take me to cross that same border in September. I wonder what would happen if I stood on the border and jumped from Arizona to New Mexico to Arizona to New Mexico to Arizona to New Mexico. Age exercises. Oh well, in the meantime I'll just have to live with my older age. Anyway, when I checked the makeup mirror in the car and I didn't see any new grey hairs.
No Cliche of the Day until further notice. My book is packed and I can't get at it until I reach "The Lake" and find it again. 3 More Days until I reach "The Lake".
In the second that it took to cross the border between Arizona and New Mexico, I aged one hour. Good old Day Light Savings Time. Thank you very much whoever invented the concept. Because of your wonderful invention, I must now live with the fact that I'm one whole hour older then I would have been if I'd remained in Arizona. Oh well. Wisconsin is worth it. My only consulation is that I will magically rejuvenate one hour the mere second that it'll take me to cross that same border in September. I wonder what would happen if I stood on the border and jumped from Arizona to New Mexico to Arizona to New Mexico to Arizona to New Mexico. Age exercises. Oh well, in the meantime I'll just have to live with my older age. Anyway, when I checked the makeup mirror in the car and I didn't see any new grey hairs.
No Cliche of the Day until further notice. My book is packed and I can't get at it until I reach "The Lake" and find it again. 3 More Days until I reach "The Lake".
Thursday, June 05, 2003
0 Days before I leave for Wisconsin and "The Lake"
I suppose I should change that header.
4 Days of driving before I get to Wisconsin and "The Lake"
I heard that there's a new highway outside of Gallup. Actually, it's the same old highway but they've renamed it. The old name was supposed to be "evil" and bad luck. I've never been all that superstitious. I suppose that's why I let my youngest daughter talk me into going out of our way to photograph the highway sign on one of our cross-country treks to Wisconsin. Bad move. We lost our transmission 40 miles beyond Albuquerque, near a small town called Moriarity. It was Memorial Day. I was able to find a phone however and AAA sent someone out to tow us back to Albuquerque...to a hotel. Nothing was open on Memorial Day. The next day we had to find a transmission place where we could have our car towed. We did but it took another night before they could take care of our poor car. Albuquerque isn't all that easy to explore without a car and with three kids and two dogs but we tried. The next day we attempted to leave Albuquerque. The car overheated. This time it was the water pump. We limped into a Pep Boys and we (three kids and two dogs) spent the day and into the night there while they kindly fixed our car. I made my daughter destroy the film with the picture of that "evil", cursed highway sign. Our repairman, after charging us only an arm and not a leg to fix our water pump (it was 10 PM and he'd stayed late to help us out), asked us if we were going to spend another night in Albuquerque. We all decided that we'd (NO WAY, NO HOW, FORGET THAT) continue on our way for as long as we could. I'm not too superstitious. I'm glad that they renamed that highway though. I heard that my Uncle Bill lost his transmission the very next year at the same spot.
I won't name the highway. I didn't name the highway the first time I wrote this blog either. The first time? Yup. My entire computer froze up and I lost my blog (Side note to my daughter and my husband: I know I should have written my blog the first time as a seperate email or word document and copy and pasted). I ended up having to rewrite this whole thing. I'm not superstitious but we're traveling that way today and I'm really glad that they renamed that highway. Cliche of the Day will be postponed due to "blog delay".
I suppose I should change that header.
4 Days of driving before I get to Wisconsin and "The Lake"
I heard that there's a new highway outside of Gallup. Actually, it's the same old highway but they've renamed it. The old name was supposed to be "evil" and bad luck. I've never been all that superstitious. I suppose that's why I let my youngest daughter talk me into going out of our way to photograph the highway sign on one of our cross-country treks to Wisconsin. Bad move. We lost our transmission 40 miles beyond Albuquerque, near a small town called Moriarity. It was Memorial Day. I was able to find a phone however and AAA sent someone out to tow us back to Albuquerque...to a hotel. Nothing was open on Memorial Day. The next day we had to find a transmission place where we could have our car towed. We did but it took another night before they could take care of our poor car. Albuquerque isn't all that easy to explore without a car and with three kids and two dogs but we tried. The next day we attempted to leave Albuquerque. The car overheated. This time it was the water pump. We limped into a Pep Boys and we (three kids and two dogs) spent the day and into the night there while they kindly fixed our car. I made my daughter destroy the film with the picture of that "evil", cursed highway sign. Our repairman, after charging us only an arm and not a leg to fix our water pump (it was 10 PM and he'd stayed late to help us out), asked us if we were going to spend another night in Albuquerque. We all decided that we'd (NO WAY, NO HOW, FORGET THAT) continue on our way for as long as we could. I'm not too superstitious. I'm glad that they renamed that highway though. I heard that my Uncle Bill lost his transmission the very next year at the same spot.
I won't name the highway. I didn't name the highway the first time I wrote this blog either. The first time? Yup. My entire computer froze up and I lost my blog (Side note to my daughter and my husband: I know I should have written my blog the first time as a seperate email or word document and copy and pasted). I ended up having to rewrite this whole thing. I'm not superstitious but we're traveling that way today and I'm really glad that they renamed that highway. Cliche of the Day will be postponed due to "blog delay".
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
1 More Day before I leave for Wisconsin and "The Lake"
I'm leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow. I'm going to try and blog along the way but I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to get near our laptop computer enroute. I'll be traveling with two male techies and I may end up "low man (woman) on the totem pole". That's a cliche but I'm not up to the L's yet so it'll have to wait for another day.
We're not going to try to make the trip in one day. It has been done. Once...well almost. My daughter and I team drove the return, Wisconsin to Arizona, route in 28 hours. Since my daughter was a novice driver, when I was supposed to be sleeping...I wasn't. We got as far as Gallup before we had to stop because Mom really needed a nap. I don't do naps well....but the coffee wasn't working and my stomach was on strike and my eyelids were trying to glue themselves to my lower lashes. I napped...for 1/2 hour while the kids went into a restaurant to eat. I don't think I'm all that anxious to try the 28 hour trick again....especially with a novice driver.
One of the tricks of cross-country driving is to always start looking for a viable gas station when your gauge is reading a little under 1/2 full. This actually means that your tank is 1/2 empty and you need to find gas because you're probably in the middle of nowhere and it may take a while to find a viable gas station. Ever try to find a viable gas station at 2 AM when you don't know where you are exactly but you're either in Texas or Oklahoma? I have. When I took over driving from my novice driver (ever the optimist...the glass 1/2 full), I was left with less then a 1/4 tank of gas. I'll never forget the one gas station I was finally able to find that was open. Actually, it's the guy who ran the gas station that I'll never forget. Amazing! I didn't think that this stereotypical, overall and plaid shirt wearing, "Cleetus"-type person existed outside of the covers of some book titled "You know You're a Red-Neck When....". I know that I had a heck of a time understanding what he was saying but I'm pretty sure he was speaking Texan because we were in a narrow strip of the pan-handle of Texas. Have you ever had to stop yourself from staring at someone and you can because you're an adult and you have that kind of control? Have you ever tried to stop your young children from staring at someone with their mouths agape and you know for a fact that they just don't have that kind of control....and you don't have that kind of control over them at the best of times and 2 AM just isn't the best of times? Oh well. Someday they may let me visit Texas again. Maybe.
Cliche of the Day
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Transient; unreliable. This way of saying that things are fleeting was well known in the 16th century, when John Clavin wrote of the "prouerbe that man is here to-day and gone to morow."
I'm leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow. I'm going to try and blog along the way but I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to get near our laptop computer enroute. I'll be traveling with two male techies and I may end up "low man (woman) on the totem pole". That's a cliche but I'm not up to the L's yet so it'll have to wait for another day.
We're not going to try to make the trip in one day. It has been done. Once...well almost. My daughter and I team drove the return, Wisconsin to Arizona, route in 28 hours. Since my daughter was a novice driver, when I was supposed to be sleeping...I wasn't. We got as far as Gallup before we had to stop because Mom really needed a nap. I don't do naps well....but the coffee wasn't working and my stomach was on strike and my eyelids were trying to glue themselves to my lower lashes. I napped...for 1/2 hour while the kids went into a restaurant to eat. I don't think I'm all that anxious to try the 28 hour trick again....especially with a novice driver.
One of the tricks of cross-country driving is to always start looking for a viable gas station when your gauge is reading a little under 1/2 full. This actually means that your tank is 1/2 empty and you need to find gas because you're probably in the middle of nowhere and it may take a while to find a viable gas station. Ever try to find a viable gas station at 2 AM when you don't know where you are exactly but you're either in Texas or Oklahoma? I have. When I took over driving from my novice driver (ever the optimist...the glass 1/2 full), I was left with less then a 1/4 tank of gas. I'll never forget the one gas station I was finally able to find that was open. Actually, it's the guy who ran the gas station that I'll never forget. Amazing! I didn't think that this stereotypical, overall and plaid shirt wearing, "Cleetus"-type person existed outside of the covers of some book titled "You know You're a Red-Neck When....". I know that I had a heck of a time understanding what he was saying but I'm pretty sure he was speaking Texan because we were in a narrow strip of the pan-handle of Texas. Have you ever had to stop yourself from staring at someone and you can because you're an adult and you have that kind of control? Have you ever tried to stop your young children from staring at someone with their mouths agape and you know for a fact that they just don't have that kind of control....and you don't have that kind of control over them at the best of times and 2 AM just isn't the best of times? Oh well. Someday they may let me visit Texas again. Maybe.
Cliche of the Day
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Transient; unreliable. This way of saying that things are fleeting was well known in the 16th century, when John Clavin wrote of the "prouerbe that man is here to-day and gone to morow."
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
2 More Days before I leave for Wisconsin and "The Lake"
Laundry Day. This is the last laundry day here in Arizona until I get back in September. My next laundry day will be in Wisconsin. I hope I have some Yellow Out at "The Lake". I made the mistake of washing a load of whites in Wisconsin before the rust had a chance of clearing the system. Yellow, this will never come out YELLOW and I've ruined my husband's one and only white dress shirt YELLOW! I desperately ran the whole incredibly yellow-stained load over to the one and only laundromat in Birchwood. Fortunately, I found this neat product at Hank's Hardware Store (apparently I'm not the only person with rusty pipes in the universe) which I was able to add to the load at the laundromat and all the yellow magically disappeared, leaving sparkling whites. I now have another exception to the rule. Tuesday is the one and only day I do laundry unless I'm at "The Lake" and the rust hasn't cleared the pipes yet. In this case, laundry will either have to be taken to a laundromat (emergency situations only) or it will have to wait until the next Tuesday rolls around and I've stocked up on Yellow Out.
Cliche of the Day will be temporarily shelved due to extreme packing stress. Besides, I couldn't find an appropriate one in the H's and I didn't want to proceed to the I's. Wait a minute! I found one!
Hard and Fast (Rule). Rigid; fixed. Another nautical term, originally referring to a ship that had run aground or was otherwise on land (as in drydock). In this sense it is found in Admiral William Henry Smyth's The Sailor's Word-Book (1867): "Said of a ship on shore." In the sense of something rigid it was around at the same time, being used by J. W. Henley in the House of Commons: "The House has deliberately, after long concideration, determined to have no 'hard and fast line'."
Laundry Day. This is the last laundry day here in Arizona until I get back in September. My next laundry day will be in Wisconsin. I hope I have some Yellow Out at "The Lake". I made the mistake of washing a load of whites in Wisconsin before the rust had a chance of clearing the system. Yellow, this will never come out YELLOW and I've ruined my husband's one and only white dress shirt YELLOW! I desperately ran the whole incredibly yellow-stained load over to the one and only laundromat in Birchwood. Fortunately, I found this neat product at Hank's Hardware Store (apparently I'm not the only person with rusty pipes in the universe) which I was able to add to the load at the laundromat and all the yellow magically disappeared, leaving sparkling whites. I now have another exception to the rule. Tuesday is the one and only day I do laundry unless I'm at "The Lake" and the rust hasn't cleared the pipes yet. In this case, laundry will either have to be taken to a laundromat (emergency situations only) or it will have to wait until the next Tuesday rolls around and I've stocked up on Yellow Out.
Cliche of the Day will be temporarily shelved due to extreme packing stress. Besides, I couldn't find an appropriate one in the H's and I didn't want to proceed to the I's. Wait a minute! I found one!
Hard and Fast (Rule). Rigid; fixed. Another nautical term, originally referring to a ship that had run aground or was otherwise on land (as in drydock). In this sense it is found in Admiral William Henry Smyth's The Sailor's Word-Book (1867): "Said of a ship on shore." In the sense of something rigid it was around at the same time, being used by J. W. Henley in the House of Commons: "The House has deliberately, after long concideration, determined to have no 'hard and fast line'."
Monday, June 02, 2003
3 More Days before I leave for Wisconsin and "The Lake"
It finally dawned on my husband that we have very little time between now and the time that we must have everything packed into our car ready to go to "The Lake". It never ceases to amaze me when I see this happen. I don't know why because it happens every year. It'll happen next year too. He waits until the last day or so and then complains he's running out of time to get things done. I think next year may be even worse because our son, God willing, will be graduating from high school and that along with all the resultant mania will add to the To Do lists. My husband prefers to wait until the last possible moment to worry about things. I, on the other hand, start my worrying (I actually prefer the word, planning to worrying) process months in advance (as evidenced above, I'm already starting to think about next year but I haven't gone so far as to start a new list yet). I'm sure my husband will live a lot longer then me (worry and stress are supposed to shorten one's live) but at least I'll be prepared (I wonder if I should choose a brass casket or a cookie tin). Almost all of my To Do list items have been checked off. I'm going to go out today and finish my "hunting". What I don't bag today will have to be removed from the packing list. Not to worry.
I've planned my "hunt" and I'll head out in the car. First stop will be to get some gas. Then off to my second stop. I always start with the hunting grounds farthest away from our house and work my way home. (Note to self: Last stop before home. Top off gas tank in preparation for trip.) I try to avoid "running around like a chicken with my head cut off " and thus "going around Patty's (Paddy's?)barn". I couldn't find that first cliche in my Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers, but I did find something close to the second cliche. My family often used both. I'll have to do more research on that first cliche (I seem to remember my mother..or it could have been my grandmother telling me about seeing a chicken beheaded at a farm but I could be wrong....it was a graphic tale) and I don't know how the following Cliche of the Day evolved from Robin Hood to Patty or Paddy. You'd have to ask my parents but even they probably wouldn't be able to tell you.
Go Around Robin Hood's Barn. Take (often unnecessarily) a circuitous route; proceed by indirection. Robin Hood, a perhaps legendary figure, has represented since the 14th century the free spirit who robs from the rich to pay the poor. He had no barn, since all his activities were outdoors, and so to go aound Robin Hood's barn is a labored effort. The phrase is more recent than the legend, having turned up in print in J.F. Kelley's Humors of Falkenbridge(1854): "The way some folks have of going around 'Robin Hood's barn' to come at a thing."
It finally dawned on my husband that we have very little time between now and the time that we must have everything packed into our car ready to go to "The Lake". It never ceases to amaze me when I see this happen. I don't know why because it happens every year. It'll happen next year too. He waits until the last day or so and then complains he's running out of time to get things done. I think next year may be even worse because our son, God willing, will be graduating from high school and that along with all the resultant mania will add to the To Do lists. My husband prefers to wait until the last possible moment to worry about things. I, on the other hand, start my worrying (I actually prefer the word, planning to worrying) process months in advance (as evidenced above, I'm already starting to think about next year but I haven't gone so far as to start a new list yet). I'm sure my husband will live a lot longer then me (worry and stress are supposed to shorten one's live) but at least I'll be prepared (I wonder if I should choose a brass casket or a cookie tin). Almost all of my To Do list items have been checked off. I'm going to go out today and finish my "hunting". What I don't bag today will have to be removed from the packing list. Not to worry.
I've planned my "hunt" and I'll head out in the car. First stop will be to get some gas. Then off to my second stop. I always start with the hunting grounds farthest away from our house and work my way home. (Note to self: Last stop before home. Top off gas tank in preparation for trip.) I try to avoid "running around like a chicken with my head cut off " and thus "going around Patty's (Paddy's?)barn". I couldn't find that first cliche in my Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers, but I did find something close to the second cliche. My family often used both. I'll have to do more research on that first cliche (I seem to remember my mother..or it could have been my grandmother telling me about seeing a chicken beheaded at a farm but I could be wrong....it was a graphic tale) and I don't know how the following Cliche of the Day evolved from Robin Hood to Patty or Paddy. You'd have to ask my parents but even they probably wouldn't be able to tell you.
Go Around Robin Hood's Barn. Take (often unnecessarily) a circuitous route; proceed by indirection. Robin Hood, a perhaps legendary figure, has represented since the 14th century the free spirit who robs from the rich to pay the poor. He had no barn, since all his activities were outdoors, and so to go aound Robin Hood's barn is a labored effort. The phrase is more recent than the legend, having turned up in print in J.F. Kelley's Humors of Falkenbridge(1854): "The way some folks have of going around 'Robin Hood's barn' to come at a thing."
Sunday, June 01, 2003
I only just now ran across the Cliche of the Day.
Dirt Cheap. Extremely low priced. Dirt doesn't always carry a well-known price, and nowadays it isn't always cheap, but the expression is old enough to suggest a time when it may have been free for the taking. "Dirt-cheap, indeed, it was, as well it might." That line appeared in Blackwell's Magazine in 1821.
Dirt Cheap. Extremely low priced. Dirt doesn't always carry a well-known price, and nowadays it isn't always cheap, but the expression is old enough to suggest a time when it may have been free for the taking. "Dirt-cheap, indeed, it was, as well it might." That line appeared in Blackwell's Magazine in 1821.
4 More Days before I leave for Wisconsin and "The Lake"
I'm going "hunting" today and tomorrow. I went "hunting" yesterday too. I love "hunting". Actually, when I say I'm "hunting", I mean that I'm going shopping. I know what I'm going to buy and I carry a list to keep me focused but I need to "hunt" for the very best place to buy the things on that list. Sometimes I may actually encounter a "target of opportunity" along the way. This is a bonus. This "target of opportunity" is something that I didn't know I wanted or needed before I started the hunt. "Targets of opportunity" are items that are just too good to pass up. I mean who can pass up Northern bathroom tissue at $3.99 for 24 rolls. And if it's $2.99 for 24 rolls? It's not like it's going to go bad. Might as well stock up on it. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding the purchase of cute frogs but sometimes I really can't help myself, especially if that frog is on the Clearance rack at 75% off the original price.
My husband won't let me go "hunting" at Costco anymore unless he "rides shotgun". On a side note: "Riding Shotgun" in this case doesn't mean that he gets to sit in the front seat of the car. It means that he gets to run interference for prey, divert the attention of the hunter or even go so far as shoot the hunter if the hunter loses focus when a "target of opportunity" arises. He started riding shotgun when I brought home that 5 gallon jar of Vlasik pickle relish which I couldn't resist because it cost the same amount that we'd been paying for the 1/2 pint jars at the grocery store (my husband's love of pickle relish was threatening us with bankruptcy). I'll have you know that I recanned that pickle relish into pint jars. We just finished the last jar that I recanned. I went out and bought another 5 gallon jar and recanned that too. There is a method to my madness.
My husband doesn't always see the big picture. I think men, in general, don't always see the big picture. I learned my "hunting" skills from my mother. One of my favorite stories is when my mother bought the ice auger. She was at a garage sale....in Arizona. My father couldn't see any possible use for an ice auger (essencial tool for ice fishermen) in the hot desert of Arizona. They only wanted $5 for it. My mother bought it for $2 that she borrowed from my aunt (sometimes it's nice to go "hunting" with fellow "hunters") because my father, riding shotgun, had refused to finance such lunacy. My father watched this all in shock. Guess what? Ice augers work really great when planting things in the hard desert soil of the Arizona garden. This ice auger became my father's favorite gardening tool. I'm told that my parents' neighbors all come by wanting to borrow it.
"Hunting" takes on various forms, garage saleing and thrift saleing are perfectly acceptable forms of "hunting". When women get together we often like to discuss the "hunt". I was wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt the other day at lunch and one of my friends admired it and asked me where I got it. I smiled. $1.50 at Savers. I've been known to email friends about especially good "hunting" opportunities. So...I'm going "hunting" today. When I get to Wisconsin....I'll go fishing.
I'm going "hunting" today and tomorrow. I went "hunting" yesterday too. I love "hunting". Actually, when I say I'm "hunting", I mean that I'm going shopping. I know what I'm going to buy and I carry a list to keep me focused but I need to "hunt" for the very best place to buy the things on that list. Sometimes I may actually encounter a "target of opportunity" along the way. This is a bonus. This "target of opportunity" is something that I didn't know I wanted or needed before I started the hunt. "Targets of opportunity" are items that are just too good to pass up. I mean who can pass up Northern bathroom tissue at $3.99 for 24 rolls. And if it's $2.99 for 24 rolls? It's not like it's going to go bad. Might as well stock up on it. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding the purchase of cute frogs but sometimes I really can't help myself, especially if that frog is on the Clearance rack at 75% off the original price.
My husband won't let me go "hunting" at Costco anymore unless he "rides shotgun". On a side note: "Riding Shotgun" in this case doesn't mean that he gets to sit in the front seat of the car. It means that he gets to run interference for prey, divert the attention of the hunter or even go so far as shoot the hunter if the hunter loses focus when a "target of opportunity" arises. He started riding shotgun when I brought home that 5 gallon jar of Vlasik pickle relish which I couldn't resist because it cost the same amount that we'd been paying for the 1/2 pint jars at the grocery store (my husband's love of pickle relish was threatening us with bankruptcy). I'll have you know that I recanned that pickle relish into pint jars. We just finished the last jar that I recanned. I went out and bought another 5 gallon jar and recanned that too. There is a method to my madness.
My husband doesn't always see the big picture. I think men, in general, don't always see the big picture. I learned my "hunting" skills from my mother. One of my favorite stories is when my mother bought the ice auger. She was at a garage sale....in Arizona. My father couldn't see any possible use for an ice auger (essencial tool for ice fishermen) in the hot desert of Arizona. They only wanted $5 for it. My mother bought it for $2 that she borrowed from my aunt (sometimes it's nice to go "hunting" with fellow "hunters") because my father, riding shotgun, had refused to finance such lunacy. My father watched this all in shock. Guess what? Ice augers work really great when planting things in the hard desert soil of the Arizona garden. This ice auger became my father's favorite gardening tool. I'm told that my parents' neighbors all come by wanting to borrow it.
"Hunting" takes on various forms, garage saleing and thrift saleing are perfectly acceptable forms of "hunting". When women get together we often like to discuss the "hunt". I was wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt the other day at lunch and one of my friends admired it and asked me where I got it. I smiled. $1.50 at Savers. I've been known to email friends about especially good "hunting" opportunities. So...I'm going "hunting" today. When I get to Wisconsin....I'll go fishing.