August 29
Best and Worst Exercises for Bad Knees
After spending 6 months of a 18 month period on crutches, I blame some of my reticence of getting back into more intense exercise on fear of messing up my knees again. I am to the point where I really feel like I need to get it moving again and have been investigating the best ways to get a good low-impact (for the knees) workout. Here is an excerpt from Prevention.com:
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Best and Worst Exercises for Bad Knees
Sidestep injury by perfecting your form
By Michele Stanten , Michele Stanten, Prevention's Fitness Director, is a certified group fitness instructor and counselor in the areas of weight control and stress management.
Exercise may be the best medicine for chronic achy knees. "Strengthening the muscles around the joint protects you from injury by decreasing stress on the knee," says Willibald Nagler, MD, chairman of rehabilitation medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Campus in New York City. But you must use good form and technique.
The First Commandment
Never bend your legs to a point where your knees stick out past your toes. That puts a lot of pressure under the kneecap. This not only applies to the following exercises but also when you're stretching or doing aerobic activities such as step aerobics.
Except where stated, do 10 to 12 repetitions of each of the following, two or three times a week.
Best Exercises to Do
Partial Squats Stand about 12 inches away from the front of a chair with your feet about hip width apart and your toes forward. Bending at the hips, slowly lower yourself halfway down to the chair. Keep your abs tight, and check that your knees stay behind your toes.
Stepups Using an aerobic step bench or a staircase, step up onto the step with your right foot. Tap your left foot on the top of the step, and then lower. As you step up, your knee should be directly over your ankle. Repeat with your left foot.
Side-lying Leg Lifts Wearing ankle weights above the knee, lie on your left side, legs straight and together, with your left arm supporting your head. Keeping your right foot flexed and your body straight, slowly lift your right leg to about shoulder height, then slowly lower. Repeat with your left leg.
Inner-thigh Leg Lifts Wearing ankle weights above the knee, lie on your left side, slightly back on your butt. Bend your right leg and place it behind your left leg with your right foot flat on the floor and your left leg straight. Support your head with your left arm. Slowly lift your left leg about 3 to 5 inches, then lower. Repeat with your right leg.
Calf Raises Using a chair or wall for balance, stand with your feet about hip width apart, toes straight ahead. Slowly lift your heels off the floor, rising up onto your toes. Hold, then slowly lower.
Straight-leg Raises Sit with your back against a wall, left leg straight and right leg bent with your foot flat on the floor. Slowly raise your left leg straight up about 12 inches off the floor. Hold, then slowly lower. Repeat with your right leg.
Short-arc Knee Extensions In the same starting position as the straight-leg raises, put a ball (about the size of a basketball) under your left knee so that your leg is bent. Slowly straighten your leg. Hold, then slowly lower. Repeat with your right leg.
Hamstring Stretch Lie on your back with your left leg flat on the floor. Loop a towel or rope around your right foot and pull your leg as far as comfortable toward your chest, while keeping a slight bend at the knee. Keep your back pressed to the floor throughout the stretch. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds and then release. Repeat three or four times with each leg. Do this stretch five or six times a week.
Worst Exercises--Avoid These
A few of the following exercises can be done safely if you have chronic knee problems; they're on this list because they're more likely to be done improperly. The exercises above are safer, while still giving you similar results.
Full-arc knee extensions
Lunges
Deep squats
Hurdler's stretches
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Best and Worst Exercises for Bad Knees
Sidestep injury by perfecting your form
By Michele Stanten , Michele Stanten, Prevention's Fitness Director, is a certified group fitness instructor and counselor in the areas of weight control and stress management.
Exercise may be the best medicine for chronic achy knees. "Strengthening the muscles around the joint protects you from injury by decreasing stress on the knee," says Willibald Nagler, MD, chairman of rehabilitation medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Campus in New York City. But you must use good form and technique.
The First Commandment
Never bend your legs to a point where your knees stick out past your toes. That puts a lot of pressure under the kneecap. This not only applies to the following exercises but also when you're stretching or doing aerobic activities such as step aerobics.
Except where stated, do 10 to 12 repetitions of each of the following, two or three times a week.
Best Exercises to Do
Partial Squats Stand about 12 inches away from the front of a chair with your feet about hip width apart and your toes forward. Bending at the hips, slowly lower yourself halfway down to the chair. Keep your abs tight, and check that your knees stay behind your toes.
Stepups Using an aerobic step bench or a staircase, step up onto the step with your right foot. Tap your left foot on the top of the step, and then lower. As you step up, your knee should be directly over your ankle. Repeat with your left foot.
Side-lying Leg Lifts Wearing ankle weights above the knee, lie on your left side, legs straight and together, with your left arm supporting your head. Keeping your right foot flexed and your body straight, slowly lift your right leg to about shoulder height, then slowly lower. Repeat with your left leg.
Inner-thigh Leg Lifts Wearing ankle weights above the knee, lie on your left side, slightly back on your butt. Bend your right leg and place it behind your left leg with your right foot flat on the floor and your left leg straight. Support your head with your left arm. Slowly lift your left leg about 3 to 5 inches, then lower. Repeat with your right leg.
Calf Raises Using a chair or wall for balance, stand with your feet about hip width apart, toes straight ahead. Slowly lift your heels off the floor, rising up onto your toes. Hold, then slowly lower.
Straight-leg Raises Sit with your back against a wall, left leg straight and right leg bent with your foot flat on the floor. Slowly raise your left leg straight up about 12 inches off the floor. Hold, then slowly lower. Repeat with your right leg.
Short-arc Knee Extensions In the same starting position as the straight-leg raises, put a ball (about the size of a basketball) under your left knee so that your leg is bent. Slowly straighten your leg. Hold, then slowly lower. Repeat with your right leg.
Hamstring Stretch Lie on your back with your left leg flat on the floor. Loop a towel or rope around your right foot and pull your leg as far as comfortable toward your chest, while keeping a slight bend at the knee. Keep your back pressed to the floor throughout the stretch. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds and then release. Repeat three or four times with each leg. Do this stretch five or six times a week.
Worst Exercises--Avoid These
A few of the following exercises can be done safely if you have chronic knee problems; they're on this list because they're more likely to be done improperly. The exercises above are safer, while still giving you similar results.
Miller Reunion 8/2008 Day 1
8/14/2008
With my new job in Starbucks IT, I still am not eligible for vacation pay, so I arranged to work 2 weeks of 10 hour days which enabled me to get a few days off for our family reunion. My family had left Wednesday morning to arrive in Seaside, OR that afternoon. I worked through Thursday afternoon and then had a train ticket on Amtrak from Seattle to Portland. My train left Seattle at 5:30. I havent been on a long train ride since I was in Japan, back in 1992, so I was quite looking forward to it. The ticket was $41 (I upgraded from coach price of $28 to get some more leg room), so given the price of gas, it was probably more economical than driving down. We left on time and then made a few stops on the way in Tukwila, Tacoma, Olympia, etc. The ride through Tacoma was particularly beautiful as the train rolled along the sound for a while and was very picturesque. I was enjoying the book I was reading, Stephenie Meyer's 'New Dawn', and had my MP3 player keeping me company. My seat was a single at the back of the car, so I didnt have any neighbors. The temperature was quite hot, and I was fanning myself for a while and wondering why the air conditioning wasnt on, when the conductor came on the P.A. and apologized that the air conditioning was not working. No wonder! About half way through the 3 1/2 hour trip I headed down to the dining car and stood in line for some dinner. I ordered 3 cheese macaroni which turned out to be quite good. Then someplace between Olympia and Centralia the train came to a dead stop. We sat there about 10 minutes wondering what in the world was going on before the conductor came on the P.A. again and said we were waiting for a northbound train to come by so we could go and switch tracks after they passed. About 10 minutes later it finally sped by us. We finally arrived in Portland at about 9:30. LeAnn had driven over from the coast to be me up and was accompanied by my dad. It was nice to see her again after a couple of days and to see my dad again after about 5 months. We had a nice visit and it took about 1 1/2 hours to get back to Seaside. Brandon, Rebecca and Calvin along with Brian, Emily and Brynley were in the same 3 BR condo as us. Our two girls, Autumn and Jaylin slept on the Murphy bed and Austin was on the couch. Mom was waiting for me to get in, so we chatted for about 20 minutes before she went down to bed. It is cool to be right on the beach at a beautiful resort where you can hear the surf on the beach.
With my new job in Starbucks IT, I still am not eligible for vacation pay, so I arranged to work 2 weeks of 10 hour days which enabled me to get a few days off for our family reunion. My family had left Wednesday morning to arrive in Seaside, OR that afternoon. I worked through Thursday afternoon and then had a train ticket on Amtrak from Seattle to Portland. My train left Seattle at 5:30. I havent been on a long train ride since I was in Japan, back in 1992, so I was quite looking forward to it. The ticket was $41 (I upgraded from coach price of $28 to get some more leg room), so given the price of gas, it was probably more economical than driving down. We left on time and then made a few stops on the way in Tukwila, Tacoma, Olympia, etc. The ride through Tacoma was particularly beautiful as the train rolled along the sound for a while and was very picturesque. I was enjoying the book I was reading, Stephenie Meyer's 'New Dawn', and had my MP3 player keeping me company. My seat was a single at the back of the car, so I didnt have any neighbors. The temperature was quite hot, and I was fanning myself for a while and wondering why the air conditioning wasnt on, when the conductor came on the P.A. and apologized that the air conditioning was not working. No wonder! About half way through the 3 1/2 hour trip I headed down to the dining car and stood in line for some dinner. I ordered 3 cheese macaroni which turned out to be quite good. Then someplace between Olympia and Centralia the train came to a dead stop. We sat there about 10 minutes wondering what in the world was going on before the conductor came on the P.A. again and said we were waiting for a northbound train to come by so we could go and switch tracks after they passed. About 10 minutes later it finally sped by us. We finally arrived in Portland at about 9:30. LeAnn had driven over from the coast to be me up and was accompanied by my dad. It was nice to see her again after a couple of days and to see my dad again after about 5 months. We had a nice visit and it took about 1 1/2 hours to get back to Seaside. Brandon, Rebecca and Calvin along with Brian, Emily and Brynley were in the same 3 BR condo as us. Our two girls, Autumn and Jaylin slept on the Murphy bed and Austin was on the couch. Mom was waiting for me to get in, so we chatted for about 20 minutes before she went down to bed. It is cool to be right on the beach at a beautiful resort where you can hear the surf on the beach.
August 19
Bad Hard Drive. BAD! BAD!
Last month our reliable XP machine had a HD go bad after 2 1/2 years. It started with a couple of blue screens, then escalated to not even booting at all! Ahh, but we were prepared (so I thought), as I had set up an External Hard Drive as a back up a couple of months earlier. Unfortunately, everything had not been backed up properly and only our Pictures and Videos had been successfully backed up. :( I figured after having worked at Microsoft on the Windows team for 8 years I could figure out how to recover the data off of the bad drive. I tried System Restore. It ran for about 10 minutes then blue screened. I tried 'Last Known Good Configuration' from the boot menu-- Blue screen. All types of Safe Mode - Blue Screen. Boot to the XP CD, it told me I needed to format the disk. Ran the OEM Recovery console from the BIOS. Nope. I tried everything I could think of. No dice. I ended up buying a new Hard Drive (A nice, fat 750 GB) and installing a new version of Windows on that, then mounting my bad drive as the slave. It still couldnt read it after exploring to the bad drive from Windows. I think that was about strike 27. LeAnn was a bit distraught thinking of all the files she would lose, so I was about to look into some Drive Recovery Services. I found they were quite expensive, and wanted to exhaust all other options. I heard one trick was to actually put the drive in the freezer - and I was almost desperate enough to try it! I ended up doing some more research this week and found this site: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1139&page=8 I had tried another couple of utilities that didnt work, but this one was the 'Holy Grail'. Using this tool called 'TestDisk', I was able to find my bad partition through its console application that enabled me to see and copy over the files to my new HD from the corrupt one. It literally felt like a miracle! I was so stoked when something actually worked. And it was FREE! Amazing. LeAnn was so happy she would have done cartwheels (if she hadn't been so tired at that hour of the night. :)) It definitely paid off to do a little research and get it figured out
Dance Like No One Is Watching
Following is a quote from an 'Unknown' Author, but well worth thinking about. ~ Todd
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We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza.
He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy...
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Thought for the day: "Work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And dance like no one's watching."
Author Unknown
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We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza.
He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy...
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Thought for the day: "Work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And dance like no one's watching."
Author Unknown
H.O.R.S.E.
Austin has become increasingly interested in playing horse on our hoop in the front yard. Over the last few weeks we have played a number of times. He is doing a great job and has a better shot than I did when I was eight years old. He is consitently hitting bankshots from about 8 feet out. Now that Grandma and Grandpa Miller are in town for a few days, I invited dad out to play with us the other night. I remember growing up always having a hard time beating dad at horse-- even though he was much older than me, he could always knock down the long threes to put you in the hole. So we got the three generations out there- Austin, 8, Todd (me), 37, and grandpa, 69. Now, dad had double knee replacement surgery eight months ago, so he is still hobbling a bit, but seems to be doing better than pre-surgery. After warming up, he was not too shabby! It was neat to be out there playing the sport I love with the people I love. Austin got knocked out by me the first game, then dad wanted to go before me to try and get me out. I used his old tricks against him this time and started hitting the long shots. He was coming up a bit short on those, so I went on to take all three games we played. Yes, total domination! I know I shouldnt gloat since dad is 30 years older than me and Austin is 30 years younger, but it sure was fun. ;)
August 15
Seattle Scottish Highland Games
I have a number of family lines which track back to Scotland. The initial line I have been studying is that of the 'Todd Clan' as that is my namesake. I also have found through research that we are related to Robert de Brus, (I am the 23rd great grandson) who was the father of Robert de Bruce, King of Scotland. Our line comes through his daughter, Christina and then through my mother's side (Linda Hellewell). So I did have a vested interest in attending. Im not sure the kids were as excited about it as I was initially, but once we got there, they seemed to enjoy it. We saw all sorts of guys dressed up in kilts and ladies in similar Scottish attire. It was almost like leaving the country. :) There were literally hundreds of bagpipe players, and tons of Clan booths set up all over the grounds. We looked through a bunch of the merchandise stands and I came to one where they could look up your Coat of Arms and Family Crest. I ended up getting a cool copy of the Todd coat of arms and had it laminated. I would like to frame it and hang it up in the house.
From there we went and watched some lovely Scottish dancers who were engaged in a competition. Sort of like 'So You Think You Can Dance" for youth. We wandered around a bit more and heard some great bands playing Scottish music, and I ended up getting a CD of a band called "Tempest". We went over to the games competitions where I was hoping to see the Caber Toss. They werent running that then, but rather saw the "Stone" and "Hammer" throws. These guys were as thick as trees and immensely strong.
Before we left they started a big parade with the Bag Pipers and Drummers. The music was very cool to hear in that setting with at least 500 pipers playing together at once. It was a nice day and neat to be able to learn more about my Scottish heritage along with having the kids learn a bit about theirs.
August 14
Miller Times - July 2008
We went with the Rice family to celebrate the 4th of July at a park in Federal Way called 'Celebration Park'. How fitting. The Rice's have two girls, Haley and Leah, who are 7 and 5 years old. They get along great with our kids and we had a wonderful time. The park was packed with people, and there was a band playing and a number of other activities going on. The fireworks were spectacular and the weather was beautiful. It was a perfect night!
On the 8th of July, LeAnn and I celebrated our 14th anniversary! She met me after work and we went to a restaurant on the Seattle waterfront called 'Cutters Bayhouse'. Since I had made the reservation and mentioned that it was our anniversary, the server there mentioned that they were fixing our table with a waterfront view. Woot! They then seated us and had added a nice touch by having a card and some decorations to congratulate us on our anniversary. It was such a nice touch. Our waiter was great and we had an excellent meal. We had a wonderful conversation as we reminisced on our years together. The view was gorgeous as we were up at the Market level and looking out over Elliot Bay. We could see the ferries crossing the Sound and the Olympic Mountains off in the distance. Then as we neared the end of our dining experience, we were contemplating on whether we should order dessert or not. As LeAnns meal had been a bit spicy, she mentioned that she might enjoy a nice creme brulée to cool it down. Not 15 seconds later our waiter came over with, what else? Creme Brulée! He said they wanted to congratulate us on our anniversary and gave it to us gratis! I told him he had read LeAnn's mind. It was quite funny. It was a nice touch. Kudos to the staff at Cutters!
On July 11th, LeAnn and I drove down to Vancouver, WA to go to the Police Concert. It totally rocked dude! We met our good friend, Dave Jones and a friend of his from Oregon there. It was quite a thrill to be there listening to one of my favorite bands of all time. We couldnt see much detail from where we were sitting, but it sure sounded like Sting! A bit later, (as the sun went down, and the glare got off the screen) we were able to see the huge display screen which magnified the band on the stage. Sting had grown out his beard, which was gray and mottled. He sure looks a bit older, but his voice is as rich and strong as ever. It was such a blast as it took me back 25 years (yikes, did I just say that?) to many of the songs I grew up with. That was the interesting thing about the crowd. Definitely no teeny boppers that I could see. Mostly those in their 30's and 40's were there to see this concert. About 1 hour in, we decided to move out to a spot where the music was a bit louder and we could see a bit better (The people were actually sitting down in this other spot). Dave and I went out to get a t-shirt before the lines got too long after the concert. I got a cool one with the Synchronicity logo and all of the concert dates listed on it. It was nice to see Dave again after about a year, and he seems to be doing well considering the divorce he just went through.
The following week LeAnn went down to Oregon again to help Erica (above mentioned Dave's ex-wife) move into a new place. LeAnn really demonstrated what an incredible friend she is by driving down to help a friend in need. She had a great time with her and tells me they were laughing it up just like old times. (The Jones' were our good friends for about 5 years when they lived in our ward in Washington-- we even went to Disneyland with both of our families a few years ago). She got there and back safely, for which I am grateful.
On the 23rd of July, Austin had a Pack Meeting down at Camp Kilworth on the Puget Sound. It was such a beautiful setting. The firebowl is located up on a cliff overlooking the Sound and out onto Vashon Island. It is stunningly beautiful. We were very excited as Austin has been working very hard on completing his requirements. He brought in quite a haul this month. Following are the awards he received: his Wolf Badge - 1 gold, 6 silver arrow points - 15 beltloops - Conservation badge. He was very excited, and it was great to have Grandma Thorne there supporting him.
On the 24th, LeAnn spent third week in a row down in Oregon (if Vancouver, WA counts) She headed down to Fort Stevens, OR where Youth Conference was being held. They chartered a bunch of school buses to save money on gas. It sounded like they had a great time, although the weather was quite cold. Then, the following week, for the Miller family reunion, we also went to Oregon! That was week number four for LeAnn. I told her she should apply for residency while she is down there. Then maybe we could get some of that sweet 'No sales tax' action! ;)
Todd worked A LOT of overtime during the month of July. I probably averaged about 60 hours a week and hit 78 once. It was crazy busy as we were trying to get a special website (www.starbucks.com/gold) out the door. It turned out quite nice and has proved to be quite successful. It is a pilot program that was released to Denver and Vancouver, BC markets where Loyal customers get a special card which entitles them to get occasional rewards or free drinks.
The kids all finished swimming lessons and are making great progress. They love going to the pool and getting in the water. They have been outside playing with friends, going to sleepovers, jumping on the trampoline, hiking down in the woods by our house, playing basketball, and even getting a bit of yardwork in on the side this summer. They have been having a blast being kids and doing all of those fun summer activities.
On the 8th of July, LeAnn and I celebrated our 14th anniversary! She met me after work and we went to a restaurant on the Seattle waterfront called 'Cutters Bayhouse'. Since I had made the reservation and mentioned that it was our anniversary, the server there mentioned that they were fixing our table with a waterfront view. Woot! They then seated us and had added a nice touch by having a card and some decorations to congratulate us on our anniversary. It was such a nice touch. Our waiter was great and we had an excellent meal. We had a wonderful conversation as we reminisced on our years together. The view was gorgeous as we were up at the Market level and looking out over Elliot Bay. We could see the ferries crossing the Sound and the Olympic Mountains off in the distance. Then as we neared the end of our dining experience, we were contemplating on whether we should order dessert or not. As LeAnns meal had been a bit spicy, she mentioned that she might enjoy a nice creme brulée to cool it down. Not 15 seconds later our waiter came over with, what else? Creme Brulée! He said they wanted to congratulate us on our anniversary and gave it to us gratis! I told him he had read LeAnn's mind. It was quite funny. It was a nice touch. Kudos to the staff at Cutters!
On July 11th, LeAnn and I drove down to Vancouver, WA to go to the Police Concert. It totally rocked dude! We met our good friend, Dave Jones and a friend of his from Oregon there. It was quite a thrill to be there listening to one of my favorite bands of all time. We couldnt see much detail from where we were sitting, but it sure sounded like Sting! A bit later, (as the sun went down, and the glare got off the screen) we were able to see the huge display screen which magnified the band on the stage. Sting had grown out his beard, which was gray and mottled. He sure looks a bit older, but his voice is as rich and strong as ever. It was such a blast as it took me back 25 years (yikes, did I just say that?) to many of the songs I grew up with. That was the interesting thing about the crowd. Definitely no teeny boppers that I could see. Mostly those in their 30's and 40's were there to see this concert. About 1 hour in, we decided to move out to a spot where the music was a bit louder and we could see a bit better (The people were actually sitting down in this other spot). Dave and I went out to get a t-shirt before the lines got too long after the concert. I got a cool one with the Synchronicity logo and all of the concert dates listed on it. It was nice to see Dave again after about a year, and he seems to be doing well considering the divorce he just went through.
The following week LeAnn went down to Oregon again to help Erica (above mentioned Dave's ex-wife) move into a new place. LeAnn really demonstrated what an incredible friend she is by driving down to help a friend in need. She had a great time with her and tells me they were laughing it up just like old times. (The Jones' were our good friends for about 5 years when they lived in our ward in Washington-- we even went to Disneyland with both of our families a few years ago). She got there and back safely, for which I am grateful.
On the 23rd of July, Austin had a Pack Meeting down at Camp Kilworth on the Puget Sound. It was such a beautiful setting. The firebowl is located up on a cliff overlooking the Sound and out onto Vashon Island. It is stunningly beautiful. We were very excited as Austin has been working very hard on completing his requirements. He brought in quite a haul this month. Following are the awards he received: his Wolf Badge - 1 gold, 6 silver arrow points - 15 beltloops - Conservation badge. He was very excited, and it was great to have Grandma Thorne there supporting him.
On the 24th, LeAnn spent third week in a row down in Oregon (if Vancouver, WA counts) She headed down to Fort Stevens, OR where Youth Conference was being held. They chartered a bunch of school buses to save money on gas. It sounded like they had a great time, although the weather was quite cold. Then, the following week, for the Miller family reunion, we also went to Oregon! That was week number four for LeAnn. I told her she should apply for residency while she is down there. Then maybe we could get some of that sweet 'No sales tax' action! ;)
Todd worked A LOT of overtime during the month of July. I probably averaged about 60 hours a week and hit 78 once. It was crazy busy as we were trying to get a special website (www.starbucks.com/gold) out the door. It turned out quite nice and has proved to be quite successful. It is a pilot program that was released to Denver and Vancouver, BC markets where Loyal customers get a special card which entitles them to get occasional rewards or free drinks.
The kids all finished swimming lessons and are making great progress. They love going to the pool and getting in the water. They have been outside playing with friends, going to sleepovers, jumping on the trampoline, hiking down in the woods by our house, playing basketball, and even getting a bit of yardwork in on the side this summer. They have been having a blast being kids and doing all of those fun summer activities.
August 07
Origins of Familiar Phrases
The following is reprinted from The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
FLY OFF THE HANDLE
Meaning: Get very angry, very quickly.
Origin: Refers to axe heads, which, in the days before mass merchandising, were sometimes fastened poorly to their handles. If one flew off while being used, it was a dangerous situation ... with unpredictable results.
HIGH ON THE HOG
Meaning: Luxurious, prosperous.
Origin: The tastiest parts of a hog are its upper parts. If you're living high on the hog, you've got the best it has to offer.
PULL THE WOOL OVER SOMEONE'S EYES
Meaning: Fool someone.
Origin: "Goes back to the days when all gentlemen wore powdered wigs like the ones still worn by the judges in British courts. The word wool was then a popular, joking term for hair ... The expression 'pull the wool over his eyes' came from the practice of tilting a man's wig over his eyes, so he couldn't see what was going on."
HOOKER
Meaning: Prostitute.
Origin: Although occasionally used before the Civil War, its widespread popularity can probably be traced to General Joseph Hooker, a Union soldier who was well-known for the liquor and whores in his camp. He was ultimately demoted, and Washington prostitutes were jokingly referred to as "Hooker's Division."
LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG
Meaning: Reveal the truth.
Origin: Refers to a con game practiced at country fairs in old England. A trickster tried to sell a cat in burlap bag to an unwary bumpkin, saying it was a pig. If the victim figured out the trick and insisted on seeing the animal, the cat had to be let out of the bag.
STEAL SOMEONE'S THUNDER
Meaning: To preempt; to draw attention away from someone else's achievement in favor of your own.
Origin: English dramatist John Dennis invented a gadget for imitating the sound of thunder and introduced it in a play in the early 1700s. The play flopped. Soon after, Dennis noted that another play in the same theater was using his sound-effects device. He angrily exclaimed, "That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play." The story got around London, and the phrase grew out of it.
PAY THROUGH THE NOSE
Meaning: To pay a high price; to pay dearly.
Origin: Comes from the ninth-century Ireland. When the Danes conquered the Irish, they imposed an exorbitant Nose Tax on the island's inhabitants. They took a census (by counting noses) and levied oppressive sums on their victims, forcing them to pay by threatening to have their noses actually slit. Paying the tax was "paying trough the nose."
CHARLEY HORSE
Meaning: A muscle cramp.
Origin: In 1640, Charles I of England expanded the London police force. The new recruits were nicknamed "Charleys." There wasn't enough money to provide the new police with horses so they patrolled on foot. They joked that their sore feet and legs came from riding "Charley's horse."
NOT UP TO SCRATCH
Meaning: Inadequate, subpar.
Origin: In the early days of boxing, there was no bell to signal the beginning of a round. Instead, the referee would scratch a line on the ground between fighters, and the round began when both men stepped over it. When a boxer couldn't cross the line to keep a match going, people said that he was not "up to the scratch."
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Meaning: Caught in the act.
Origin: For hundreds of years, stealing and butchering another person's livestock was a common crime. But it was hard to prove unless the thief was caught with a dead animal ... and blood on his hands.
GIVE SOMEONE "THE BIRD"
Meaning: Make a nasty gesture at someone (usually with the middle finger uplifted).
Origin: There are many versions. The "cleanest": Originally "the bird" referred to the hissing sound that audiences made when they didn't like a performance. Hissing is the sound that a goose makes when it's threatened or angry.
LAY AN EGG
Meaning: Fail.
Origin: From the British sport of cricket. When you fail to score, you get a zero - which looks like an egg. The term is also taken from baseball, where a zero is a "goose egg."
BURY THE HATCHET
Meaning: Make peace with an enemy.
Origin: Some Native American tribes declare peace by literally burying a tomahawk in the ground.
CHEW THE FAT
Meaning: Chat; engage in idle conversation.
Origin: Originally a sailor's term. Before refrigeration, ships carried food that wouldn't spoil. One of them was salted pork skin, a practically inedible morsel that consisted largely of fat. Sailors would only eat it if all other food was gone... and they often complained as they did. This (and other) idle chatter eventually became known as "chewing the fat."
TO THE BITTER END
Meaning: To the very end - often an unpleasant one.
Origin: Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with bitterness. It's a sailing term that refers to the end of a mooring line or anchor line that is attached to the bitts, sturdy wooden or metal posts that are mounted on the ship's deck.
HAVE A SCREW LOOSE
Meaning: Something is wrong with the person or mechanism.
Origin: The phrase comes from the cotton industry and dates back as far as the 1780s, when the industrial revolution made mass production of textiles possible for the first time. Huge mills sprang up to take advantage of the new technology (and the cheap labor), but it was difficult to keep all the machines running properly; any machine that broke down or produced defective cloth was said to have "a screw loose" somewhere.
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
Meaning: Someone appears after you mention them.
Origin: People once believed that you could actually summon the Devil by saying his name.
BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN YOUR MOUTH
Meaning: Pampered; lucky; born into wealth or prosperous circumstances.
Origin: At one time, it was customary for godparents to give their godchild a silver spoon at the christening. These people were usually well-off so the spoon came to represent the child's good fortune.
TO CLOSE RANKS
Meaning: To present a united front.
Origin: "In the old-time European armies, the soldiers were aligned side by side, in neat rows, or ranks, on the battlefield. When the enemy attacked, officers would order the troops to close ranks; that is, to move the rows close together, so that the enemy faced a seemingly impregnable mass of men." (From Fighting Words, by Christine Ammer)
FOR THE BIRDS
Meaning: Worthless.
Origin: According to Robert claiborne in Loose Cannons and Red Herrings, it refers to city streets as they were before cars. "When I was a youngster on the streets of New York, one could both see and smell the emissions of horse-drawn wagons. Since there was no way of controlling these emissions, they, or the undigested oats in them, served to nourish a large population of English sparrows. If you say something's for the birds, you're politely saying it's horseshit."
BEYOND THE PALE
Meaning: Socially unacceptable.
Origin: "The pale in this expression has nothing to do with the whitish color, but comes originally from the Latin palus, meaning a pole, or stake. Since stakes are often used to mark boundaries, a pale was a particular area within certain limits." The pale that inspired this expression was the area around Dublin in Ireland. Until the 1500s, that area was subject to British law. "Those who lived beyond the pale were outside English jurisdiction and were thought to be uncivilized." (From Getting to the Roots, by Martin Manser)
I'VE GOT A FROG IN MY THROAT
Meaning: I'm hoarse from a cold.
Origin: Surprisingly, this wasn't inspired by the croaking sound of a cold-sufferer's voice, but by a weird medical practice. "In the Middle Ages," says Christine Ammer in It's Raining Cats and Dogs, "infections such as thrush were sometimes treated by putting a live frog head first into the patient's mouth; by inhaling, the frog was believed to draw the patient's infection into its own body. The treatment is happily obsolete, but its memory survives in the 19th century term frog in one's throat."
SOMETHING FITS TO A "T"
Meaning: It fits perfectly.
Origin: Commonly thought of as a reference to the T-square, which is used to draw parallel lines and angles. But this phrase was used in the 1600s, before anyone called it a T-square. "A more likely explanation is that the expression was originally 'to a tittle.' A tittle was the dot over the 'i,' so the phrase meant 'to a dot' or 'fine point.'" (From Why Do We Say It, by Nigel Rees)
X X X
Meaning: A kiss, at the end of a letter.
Origin: In medieval times, when most people were illiterate, "contracts were not considered legal until each signer included St. Andrew's cross after their name." (Or instead of a signature, if the signer couldn't write.) To prove their sincerity, signers were then required to kiss the X. "Throughout the centuries this custom faded out, but the letter X [became associated] with a kiss." This is also probably where the phrase "sealed with a kiss" comes from. (From I've Got Goose Pimples, by Martin Vanoni)
READ BETWEEN THE LINES
Meaning: To perceive or understand a hidden meaning.
Origin: In the 16th century it became common for politicians, soldiers, and businesspeople to write in code. To ordinary folks, this writing was unintelligible. They concluded that the meaning was not in the lines of gibberish, but in the space between them.
YOU'RE NO SPRING CHICKEN
Meaning: You're not young anymore; you're past your prime.
Origin: Until recent generations, there were no incubators and few warm hen houses. That meant chicks couldn't be raised during winter. New England growers found that those born in the spring brought premium prices in the summer market places. When these Yankee traders tried to pass off old birds as part of the spring crop, smart buyers would protest that the bird was "no spring chicken."
SON OF A GUN
Meaning: An epithet.
Origin: In the 1800s, British sailors took women along on extended voyages. When babies were born at sea, the mothers delivered them in a partitioned section of the gundeck. Because no one could be sure who the true fathers were, each of these "gunnery" babies was jokingly called a "son of a gun."
PUT UP YOUR DUKES
Meaning: Raise your fists and get ready to fight.
Origin: In the early 1800s, the Duke of York, Frederick Augustus, shocked English society by taking up boxing. He gained such admiration from boxers that many started referring to their fists as the "Dukes of York," and later "dukes."
HAVE AN AXE TO GRIND
Meaning: Having a hidden agenda.
Origin: The expression comes from a story told by Benjamin Franklin. A man once praised Franklin's father's grindstone and asked young Benjamin to demonstrate how the grindstone worked. As Franklin complied, the stranger placed his own axe upon the grindstone, praising the young boy for his cleverness and vigor. When the axe was sharpened, the man laughed at Franklin and walked away, giving the boy a valuable lesson about people with "an axe to grind."
UPPER CRUST
Meaning: Elite.
Origin: In the Middle Ages, the highest-level nobility and royal were served the choice part of a loaf of bread, the "upper crust," before it was offered to other diners.
MEET A DEADLINE
Meaning: Finish a project by an appointed time.
Origin: The phrase was born in prisoner-of-war camps during the Civil War. Because resources were scarce, the prison camps were sometimes nothing more than a plot of land surrounded by a marked line. If a prisoner tried to cross the line, he would be shot. So it became known as the "deadline."
TOE THE LINE
Meaning: Behave or act in accordance with the rules.
Origin: In the early days of the British Parliament, members wore swords in the House of Commons. To keep the members from fighting during heated debates, the Speaker of the House of Commons forced the Government and Opposition parties to sit on opposite sides of the chamber. Lines, two sword-lengths plus one foot apart, were drawn in the carpet. Members were required to stand behind the lines when the House was in session. To this day, when a member steps over the line during a debate, the speaker yells: "Toe the line!"
SECOND STRING
Meaning: Replacement or backup.
Origin: You might have caught William Tell without an apple, but not without a second string. In medieval times, an archer always carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke.
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Meaning: At the center of attention.
Origin: In 1826, Thomas Drummond invented the limelight, an amazingly bright white light, by running an intense oxygen-hydrogen flame through a lime cylinder. At first, the bright light was used in lighthouses to direct ships. Later, theater began using the limelight like a spotlight - to direct the audience's attention to a certain actor. If an actor was to be the focal point of a particular scene, he was thrust "into the limelight."
FLASH IN THE PAN
Meaning: Short-lived success.
Origin: In the 1700s, the pan of a flintlock musket was a part that held the gunpowder. If all went well, sparks from the flint would ignite the charge, which would then propel the bullet out of the barrel. However, sometimes the gun powder would burn without igniting a main charge. The flash would burn brightly but only briefly, with no lasting effect.
HAM ACTOR (HAM)
Meaning: Someone who enjoys putting on a show, or who plays rather obviously to an audience (though not necessarily on stage).
Origin: An American phrase originating in the 1880s. Minstrel shows, the mass entertainment of the time, often featured less-than-talented performers who overacted. They frequently appeared in blackface, and used ham fat to remove their makeup. Thus, they were referred to as "ham-fat men," later shortened to "hams."
WHIPPING BOY
Meaning: A scapegoat, or something who is habitually picked on.
Origin: Hundreds of years ago, it was normal practice for a European prince to be raised with a commoner of the same age. Since princes couldn't be disciplined like ordinary kids, the commoner would be beaten whenever the prince did something wrong. The commoner was called the prince's "whipping boy."
GO BERSERK
Meaning: Go crazy or to act with reckless abandon.
Origin: Viking warriors were incredibly wild and ferocious in battle, probably because they ate hallucinogenic mushrooms in prebattle ceremonies. They charged their enemies recklessly, wearing nothing more than bearskin, which in Old Norse was pronounced "berserkr" or "bear-sark."
PULL SOMEONE'S LEG
Meaning: Fool someone.
Origin: Years ago back-alley thieves worked in pairs. One thief, known as a "tripper up," would use a cane, rope, or piece of wire to trip a pedestrian, knocking them to the ground. While the victim was down, the second thief would rob them. Pulling your leg originally referred to the way the "tripper up" tried to make someone stumble. Today it only refers to tripping someone figuratively.
RAINING CATS AND DOGS
Meaning: Torrential rain.
Origin: In the days before garbage collection, people tossed their trash in the gutter - including deceased housepets - and it just lay there. When it rained really hard, the garbage, including the bodies of dead cats and dogs, went floating down the street.
PIE IN THE SKY
Meaning: An illusion, a dream, a fantasy, an unrealistic goal.
Origin: Joe Hill, a famous labor organizer of the early 20th century, wrote a tune called "The Preacher and the Slave," in which he accused the clergy of promising a better life in Heaven while people starved on Earth. A few of the lines: "Work and pray, live on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die (That's a lie!)."
HACK WRITER
Meaning: Writer who churns out words for money.
Origin: In Victorian England, a hackney, or "hack," was a carriage for hire. (The term is still used in reference to taxi drivers, who need their "hack's licenses" to work.) Hack became a description of anyone who plies their trade strictly for cash.
LONG IN THE TOOTH
Meaning: Old.
Origin: Originally used to describe old horses. As horses age, their gums recede, giving the impression that their teeth are growing. The longer the teeth look, the older the horse.
STOOL PIGEON
Meaning: Informer, traitor.
Origin: To catch passenger pigeons (now extinct), hunters would nail a pigeon to a stool. Its alarmed cries would attract other birds, and the hunters would shoot them by the thousands. The poor creature that played the traitor was called a "stool pigeon."
BEAT AROUND THE BUSH
Meaning: Go about things in a circuitous manner, go around an issue rather than deal with it directly.
Origin: In the Middle Ages, people caught birds by dropping a net over a bush and clubbing the ground around it to scare the birds into flying into the net. Once a bird was caught, you could stop beating around the bush and start eating.
FLY OFF THE HANDLE
Meaning: Get very angry, very quickly.
Origin: Refers to axe heads, which, in the days before mass merchandising, were sometimes fastened poorly to their handles. If one flew off while being used, it was a dangerous situation ... with unpredictable results.
HIGH ON THE HOG
Meaning: Luxurious, prosperous.
Origin: The tastiest parts of a hog are its upper parts. If you're living high on the hog, you've got the best it has to offer.
PULL THE WOOL OVER SOMEONE'S EYES
Meaning: Fool someone.
Origin: "Goes back to the days when all gentlemen wore powdered wigs like the ones still worn by the judges in British courts. The word wool was then a popular, joking term for hair ... The expression 'pull the wool over his eyes' came from the practice of tilting a man's wig over his eyes, so he couldn't see what was going on."
HOOKER
Meaning: Prostitute.
Origin: Although occasionally used before the Civil War, its widespread popularity can probably be traced to General Joseph Hooker, a Union soldier who was well-known for the liquor and whores in his camp. He was ultimately demoted, and Washington prostitutes were jokingly referred to as "Hooker's Division."
LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG
Meaning: Reveal the truth.
Origin: Refers to a con game practiced at country fairs in old England. A trickster tried to sell a cat in burlap bag to an unwary bumpkin, saying it was a pig. If the victim figured out the trick and insisted on seeing the animal, the cat had to be let out of the bag.
STEAL SOMEONE'S THUNDER
Meaning: To preempt; to draw attention away from someone else's achievement in favor of your own.
Origin: English dramatist John Dennis invented a gadget for imitating the sound of thunder and introduced it in a play in the early 1700s. The play flopped. Soon after, Dennis noted that another play in the same theater was using his sound-effects device. He angrily exclaimed, "That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play." The story got around London, and the phrase grew out of it.
PAY THROUGH THE NOSE
Meaning: To pay a high price; to pay dearly.
Origin: Comes from the ninth-century Ireland. When the Danes conquered the Irish, they imposed an exorbitant Nose Tax on the island's inhabitants. They took a census (by counting noses) and levied oppressive sums on their victims, forcing them to pay by threatening to have their noses actually slit. Paying the tax was "paying trough the nose."
CHARLEY HORSE
Meaning: A muscle cramp.
Origin: In 1640, Charles I of England expanded the London police force. The new recruits were nicknamed "Charleys." There wasn't enough money to provide the new police with horses so they patrolled on foot. They joked that their sore feet and legs came from riding "Charley's horse."
NOT UP TO SCRATCH
Meaning: Inadequate, subpar.
Origin: In the early days of boxing, there was no bell to signal the beginning of a round. Instead, the referee would scratch a line on the ground between fighters, and the round began when both men stepped over it. When a boxer couldn't cross the line to keep a match going, people said that he was not "up to the scratch."
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Meaning: Caught in the act.
Origin: For hundreds of years, stealing and butchering another person's livestock was a common crime. But it was hard to prove unless the thief was caught with a dead animal ... and blood on his hands.
GIVE SOMEONE "THE BIRD"
Meaning: Make a nasty gesture at someone (usually with the middle finger uplifted).
Origin: There are many versions. The "cleanest": Originally "the bird" referred to the hissing sound that audiences made when they didn't like a performance. Hissing is the sound that a goose makes when it's threatened or angry.
LAY AN EGG
Meaning: Fail.
Origin: From the British sport of cricket. When you fail to score, you get a zero - which looks like an egg. The term is also taken from baseball, where a zero is a "goose egg."
BURY THE HATCHET
Meaning: Make peace with an enemy.
Origin: Some Native American tribes declare peace by literally burying a tomahawk in the ground.
CHEW THE FAT
Meaning: Chat; engage in idle conversation.
Origin: Originally a sailor's term. Before refrigeration, ships carried food that wouldn't spoil. One of them was salted pork skin, a practically inedible morsel that consisted largely of fat. Sailors would only eat it if all other food was gone... and they often complained as they did. This (and other) idle chatter eventually became known as "chewing the fat."
TO THE BITTER END
Meaning: To the very end - often an unpleasant one.
Origin: Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with bitterness. It's a sailing term that refers to the end of a mooring line or anchor line that is attached to the bitts, sturdy wooden or metal posts that are mounted on the ship's deck.
HAVE A SCREW LOOSE
Meaning: Something is wrong with the person or mechanism.
Origin: The phrase comes from the cotton industry and dates back as far as the 1780s, when the industrial revolution made mass production of textiles possible for the first time. Huge mills sprang up to take advantage of the new technology (and the cheap labor), but it was difficult to keep all the machines running properly; any machine that broke down or produced defective cloth was said to have "a screw loose" somewhere.
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
Meaning: Someone appears after you mention them.
Origin: People once believed that you could actually summon the Devil by saying his name.
BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN YOUR MOUTH
Meaning: Pampered; lucky; born into wealth or prosperous circumstances.
Origin: At one time, it was customary for godparents to give their godchild a silver spoon at the christening. These people were usually well-off so the spoon came to represent the child's good fortune.
TO CLOSE RANKS
Meaning: To present a united front.
Origin: "In the old-time European armies, the soldiers were aligned side by side, in neat rows, or ranks, on the battlefield. When the enemy attacked, officers would order the troops to close ranks; that is, to move the rows close together, so that the enemy faced a seemingly impregnable mass of men." (From Fighting Words, by Christine Ammer)
FOR THE BIRDS
Meaning: Worthless.
Origin: According to Robert claiborne in Loose Cannons and Red Herrings, it refers to city streets as they were before cars. "When I was a youngster on the streets of New York, one could both see and smell the emissions of horse-drawn wagons. Since there was no way of controlling these emissions, they, or the undigested oats in them, served to nourish a large population of English sparrows. If you say something's for the birds, you're politely saying it's horseshit."
BEYOND THE PALE
Meaning: Socially unacceptable.
Origin: "The pale in this expression has nothing to do with the whitish color, but comes originally from the Latin palus, meaning a pole, or stake. Since stakes are often used to mark boundaries, a pale was a particular area within certain limits." The pale that inspired this expression was the area around Dublin in Ireland. Until the 1500s, that area was subject to British law. "Those who lived beyond the pale were outside English jurisdiction and were thought to be uncivilized." (From Getting to the Roots, by Martin Manser)
I'VE GOT A FROG IN MY THROAT
Meaning: I'm hoarse from a cold.
Origin: Surprisingly, this wasn't inspired by the croaking sound of a cold-sufferer's voice, but by a weird medical practice. "In the Middle Ages," says Christine Ammer in It's Raining Cats and Dogs, "infections such as thrush were sometimes treated by putting a live frog head first into the patient's mouth; by inhaling, the frog was believed to draw the patient's infection into its own body. The treatment is happily obsolete, but its memory survives in the 19th century term frog in one's throat."
SOMETHING FITS TO A "T"
Meaning: It fits perfectly.
Origin: Commonly thought of as a reference to the T-square, which is used to draw parallel lines and angles. But this phrase was used in the 1600s, before anyone called it a T-square. "A more likely explanation is that the expression was originally 'to a tittle.' A tittle was the dot over the 'i,' so the phrase meant 'to a dot' or 'fine point.'" (From Why Do We Say It, by Nigel Rees)
X X X
Meaning: A kiss, at the end of a letter.
Origin: In medieval times, when most people were illiterate, "contracts were not considered legal until each signer included St. Andrew's cross after their name." (Or instead of a signature, if the signer couldn't write.) To prove their sincerity, signers were then required to kiss the X. "Throughout the centuries this custom faded out, but the letter X [became associated] with a kiss." This is also probably where the phrase "sealed with a kiss" comes from. (From I've Got Goose Pimples, by Martin Vanoni)
READ BETWEEN THE LINES
Meaning: To perceive or understand a hidden meaning.
Origin: In the 16th century it became common for politicians, soldiers, and businesspeople to write in code. To ordinary folks, this writing was unintelligible. They concluded that the meaning was not in the lines of gibberish, but in the space between them.
YOU'RE NO SPRING CHICKEN
Meaning: You're not young anymore; you're past your prime.
Origin: Until recent generations, there were no incubators and few warm hen houses. That meant chicks couldn't be raised during winter. New England growers found that those born in the spring brought premium prices in the summer market places. When these Yankee traders tried to pass off old birds as part of the spring crop, smart buyers would protest that the bird was "no spring chicken."
SON OF A GUN
Meaning: An epithet.
Origin: In the 1800s, British sailors took women along on extended voyages. When babies were born at sea, the mothers delivered them in a partitioned section of the gundeck. Because no one could be sure who the true fathers were, each of these "gunnery" babies was jokingly called a "son of a gun."
PUT UP YOUR DUKES
Meaning: Raise your fists and get ready to fight.
Origin: In the early 1800s, the Duke of York, Frederick Augustus, shocked English society by taking up boxing. He gained such admiration from boxers that many started referring to their fists as the "Dukes of York," and later "dukes."
HAVE AN AXE TO GRIND
Meaning: Having a hidden agenda.
Origin: The expression comes from a story told by Benjamin Franklin. A man once praised Franklin's father's grindstone and asked young Benjamin to demonstrate how the grindstone worked. As Franklin complied, the stranger placed his own axe upon the grindstone, praising the young boy for his cleverness and vigor. When the axe was sharpened, the man laughed at Franklin and walked away, giving the boy a valuable lesson about people with "an axe to grind."
UPPER CRUST
Meaning: Elite.
Origin: In the Middle Ages, the highest-level nobility and royal were served the choice part of a loaf of bread, the "upper crust," before it was offered to other diners.
MEET A DEADLINE
Meaning: Finish a project by an appointed time.
Origin: The phrase was born in prisoner-of-war camps during the Civil War. Because resources were scarce, the prison camps were sometimes nothing more than a plot of land surrounded by a marked line. If a prisoner tried to cross the line, he would be shot. So it became known as the "deadline."
TOE THE LINE
Meaning: Behave or act in accordance with the rules.
Origin: In the early days of the British Parliament, members wore swords in the House of Commons. To keep the members from fighting during heated debates, the Speaker of the House of Commons forced the Government and Opposition parties to sit on opposite sides of the chamber. Lines, two sword-lengths plus one foot apart, were drawn in the carpet. Members were required to stand behind the lines when the House was in session. To this day, when a member steps over the line during a debate, the speaker yells: "Toe the line!"
SECOND STRING
Meaning: Replacement or backup.
Origin: You might have caught William Tell without an apple, but not without a second string. In medieval times, an archer always carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke.
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Meaning: At the center of attention.
Origin: In 1826, Thomas Drummond invented the limelight, an amazingly bright white light, by running an intense oxygen-hydrogen flame through a lime cylinder. At first, the bright light was used in lighthouses to direct ships. Later, theater began using the limelight like a spotlight - to direct the audience's attention to a certain actor. If an actor was to be the focal point of a particular scene, he was thrust "into the limelight."
FLASH IN THE PAN
Meaning: Short-lived success.
Origin: In the 1700s, the pan of a flintlock musket was a part that held the gunpowder. If all went well, sparks from the flint would ignite the charge, which would then propel the bullet out of the barrel. However, sometimes the gun powder would burn without igniting a main charge. The flash would burn brightly but only briefly, with no lasting effect.
HAM ACTOR (HAM)
Meaning: Someone who enjoys putting on a show, or who plays rather obviously to an audience (though not necessarily on stage).
Origin: An American phrase originating in the 1880s. Minstrel shows, the mass entertainment of the time, often featured less-than-talented performers who overacted. They frequently appeared in blackface, and used ham fat to remove their makeup. Thus, they were referred to as "ham-fat men," later shortened to "hams."
WHIPPING BOY
Meaning: A scapegoat, or something who is habitually picked on.
Origin: Hundreds of years ago, it was normal practice for a European prince to be raised with a commoner of the same age. Since princes couldn't be disciplined like ordinary kids, the commoner would be beaten whenever the prince did something wrong. The commoner was called the prince's "whipping boy."
GO BERSERK
Meaning: Go crazy or to act with reckless abandon.
Origin: Viking warriors were incredibly wild and ferocious in battle, probably because they ate hallucinogenic mushrooms in prebattle ceremonies. They charged their enemies recklessly, wearing nothing more than bearskin, which in Old Norse was pronounced "berserkr" or "bear-sark."
PULL SOMEONE'S LEG
Meaning: Fool someone.
Origin: Years ago back-alley thieves worked in pairs. One thief, known as a "tripper up," would use a cane, rope, or piece of wire to trip a pedestrian, knocking them to the ground. While the victim was down, the second thief would rob them. Pulling your leg originally referred to the way the "tripper up" tried to make someone stumble. Today it only refers to tripping someone figuratively.
RAINING CATS AND DOGS
Meaning: Torrential rain.
Origin: In the days before garbage collection, people tossed their trash in the gutter - including deceased housepets - and it just lay there. When it rained really hard, the garbage, including the bodies of dead cats and dogs, went floating down the street.
PIE IN THE SKY
Meaning: An illusion, a dream, a fantasy, an unrealistic goal.
Origin: Joe Hill, a famous labor organizer of the early 20th century, wrote a tune called "The Preacher and the Slave," in which he accused the clergy of promising a better life in Heaven while people starved on Earth. A few of the lines: "Work and pray, live on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die (That's a lie!)."
HACK WRITER
Meaning: Writer who churns out words for money.
Origin: In Victorian England, a hackney, or "hack," was a carriage for hire. (The term is still used in reference to taxi drivers, who need their "hack's licenses" to work.) Hack became a description of anyone who plies their trade strictly for cash.
LONG IN THE TOOTH
Meaning: Old.
Origin: Originally used to describe old horses. As horses age, their gums recede, giving the impression that their teeth are growing. The longer the teeth look, the older the horse.
STOOL PIGEON
Meaning: Informer, traitor.
Origin: To catch passenger pigeons (now extinct), hunters would nail a pigeon to a stool. Its alarmed cries would attract other birds, and the hunters would shoot them by the thousands. The poor creature that played the traitor was called a "stool pigeon."
BEAT AROUND THE BUSH
Meaning: Go about things in a circuitous manner, go around an issue rather than deal with it directly.
Origin: In the Middle Ages, people caught birds by dropping a net over a bush and clubbing the ground around it to scare the birds into flying into the net. Once a bird was caught, you could stop beating around the bush and start eating.
August 06
'Redneck Stonehenge'
A new State Monument for the Utahns to visit. :)
ksl.com - Hooper farmer builds 'Redneck Stonehenge'
ksl.com - Hooper farmer builds 'Redneck Stonehenge'
August 04
Police Reunion Tour
This year LeAnn and I tried a different approach for Mothers/Fathers day gifts to each other. For Mothers Day, LeAnn found a nice new DSLR camera, which she has loved, and for Fathers Day, I found tickets to The Police Reunion Tour. The perfect presents for both of us-- nothing like shopping for yourself! ;)
The concert we went to was down in Vancouver, WA on July 11th. I was so excited to go see one of my favorite bands from my youth play live. I had actually bought 4 tickets as I found a promotion where if you buy three, you get one free. So I purchased four tickets for lawn seating at the Clark County Ampitheater. I invited Dave Jones, a good friend who is living in Oregon to come up and meet LeAnn and I at the concert. Initially, he was looking at bringing a date, but that fell through, so he brought his friend Eric from Portland.
LeAnn dropped the kids off at her parents and met me at work at 3:30. We figured that four hours to travel 140 miles would be sufficient to get us there in time. We. Were. Wrong. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to go 40 miles south of Seattle. It was absolutely ridiculous! At 6:00 we were still over 100 miles away and hit another couple of nasty spots. We were hoping to get there around 6 and check into our hotel, but that plan went right out the window. We ended up dragging in around 7:45. The warm up band, Elvis Costello, had already begun. We parked and got up to the gate and found that Dave and Eric were still 20 minutes or so away. We went up to the gate and had a couple of stadium seat chairs that we had brought along. It was then that the ticket takers decided to get tough with us! They told us that since our seats had metal frame in them, that we could not take them in since they could be "used as a weapon". WHAT!!! Too bad they didnt tell me that on the phone when they said that stadium cushions could be taken in. The irony of that was that after we got in, we saw at least 10 other 'stadium seats' with aluminum legs on them. *grrrrrrr* We ended up stashing these in the bushes a bit out while we waited for Dave and Eric.
By the time we worked our way in there, the opening band had moved out. We walked a bit out on the hillside and found a decent spot about 100 yards away from the stage. A few minutes later, out came the Police! It was quite a thrill to be there listening to one of my favorite bands of all time. We couldnt see much detail from where we were sitting, but it sure sounded like Sting! A bit later, we were able to see the huge display screen which magnified the band on the stage. Sting had grown out his beard, which was gray and mottled. He sure looks a bit older, but his voice is as rich and strong as ever. It was such a blast as it took me back 25 years (yikes, did I just say that?) to many of the songs I grew up with. That was the interesting thing about the crowd. Definitely no teeny boppers that I could see. Mostly those in their 30's and 40's were there to see this concert. About 1 hour in, we decided to move out to a spot where the music was a bit louder and we could see a bit better (The people were actually sitting down in this other spot). Dave and I went out to get a t-shirt before the lines got too long after the concert. I got a cool one with the logo shown above and all of the concert dates listed on it. It was nice to see Dave again after about a year, and he seems to be doing well considering the divorce he just went through.
All things considered, it was well worth the horrible drive down. We worked our way out after the concert and stayed in a hotel there in Vancouver. The next day, we got up and then drove back toward Seattle. We stopped at the factory outlets in Centrailia, and picked up some clothes for LeAnn and I. We had an amazing time.
What makes your mouth very happy?
A couple of weeks ago I had some Twizzlers and offered some to Austin after picking him up from Cub Scouts. I recited the old jingle by telling him "Twizzlers make my mouth very happy!" He looked at me confusedly. So I explained how the old commercial went as he tried the Twizzler. He didnt seem to like it as much as the Red Vine type and didnt finish it.
Then this past weekend, we were in the car after picking up a gift for LeAnn's birthday. As we were riding home, Austin asked Autumn if she knew "What makes dad's mouth very happy? To that, in rare form, Autumn responded, "Mom's lips?"
That totally cracked me up and I laughed all the way home. :)
Then this past weekend, we were in the car after picking up a gift for LeAnn's birthday. As we were riding home, Austin asked Autumn if she knew "What makes dad's mouth very happy? To that, in rare form, Autumn responded, "Mom's lips?"
That totally cracked me up and I laughed all the way home. :)
One Upped
I thought I was supposed to be the funny one in our family-- (though Austin is making his move now)
Yesterday I decided to go up to the stand during Testimony meeting. I started off with a quote by Ben Franklin, which goes as follows: "Fish and Visitors stink after three days". This is talking about visitors that overstay their welcome at your home. I noticed at that time that people were looking up at me with blank looks in their eyes as they tried to figure out where I was going with this. From there, I went on and related how my wife had been gone to youth conference for three days. I said how that experience of "Having her gone for three days also 'stank'". Then I found that they were onto me. ;) I talked about how much I missed her while she was gone and that having the kids up at their grandma's left me "a lone man in my home". Granted, Flash was there to keep me company, but it wasnt quite the same. Another saying is "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". I definitely realized more how much I love each of them and appreciate them more after being apart from them for a few days. After tearfully closing my testimony with how grateful I am for eternal families, I was excited to see that LeAnn got up right after me. (Unfortunately, I had made her start to cry, so she was off to a teary beginning) It was then that she started off with the following comment that drew more laughter than my 'having her gone for three days stank' comment-- She said, "When Todd mentioned that 'Fish and Visitors stink after three days', I thought he was going to say he thought I really stunk after three days!" Oh, how the congregation loved that. It was great to see her zing one out there like that!
Yesterday I decided to go up to the stand during Testimony meeting. I started off with a quote by Ben Franklin, which goes as follows: "Fish and Visitors stink after three days". This is talking about visitors that overstay their welcome at your home. I noticed at that time that people were looking up at me with blank looks in their eyes as they tried to figure out where I was going with this. From there, I went on and related how my wife had been gone to youth conference for three days. I said how that experience of "Having her gone for three days also 'stank'". Then I found that they were onto me. ;) I talked about how much I missed her while she was gone and that having the kids up at their grandma's left me "a lone man in my home". Granted, Flash was there to keep me company, but it wasnt quite the same. Another saying is "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". I definitely realized more how much I love each of them and appreciate them more after being apart from them for a few days. After tearfully closing my testimony with how grateful I am for eternal families, I was excited to see that LeAnn got up right after me. (Unfortunately, I had made her start to cry, so she was off to a teary beginning) It was then that she started off with the following comment that drew more laughter than my 'having her gone for three days stank' comment-- She said, "When Todd mentioned that 'Fish and Visitors stink after three days', I thought he was going to say he thought I really stunk after three days!" Oh, how the congregation loved that. It was great to see her zing one out there like that!
