I was curious about the origin of the expression buying a pig in a poke. It turns out that it dates from at least 1555: I wyll neuer bye the pyg in the pokeThers many a foule pyg in a feyre cloke Or in modern English: I will never buy the pig in the pokeThere's … Continue reading Two Birds, One Stone
Gallimaufry
Happy Fourth of July!
I made burger buns, shaping some of them for hot dogs. The yeast was past its expiration date so I used a bit extra and the buns rose more than expected. Never trust those expiration dates. I would have called this post “Happy Independence Day!”, but I’ve learned that “Fourth of July” actually is an … Continue reading Happy Fourth of July!
Saving Energy?
I decided to try to save energy this summer and also save on my electric bill by not running the air conditioner in the whole house during the day. I’d just keep it on in my den, which is where I spend most of my time during the day, and then turn it on downstairs … Continue reading Saving Energy?
America’s Best Decade
John Gruber quotes from a WaPo article: So, we looked at the data another way, measuring the gap between each person’s birth year and their ideal decade. The consistency of the resulting pattern delighted us: It shows that Americans feel nostalgia not for a specific era, but for a specific age. The good old days … Continue reading America’s Best Decade
Final Words
On Sundays the Electoral-Vote.com site publishes readers’ letters and concludes with a reader-submitted last words quotation. This was yesterday’s submission. I got a chuckle out of it.
The Mid-Atlantic Accent
I found this Mid-Atlantic Accent on the Language Log awhile back and thought I’d pass it along. Timeline 00:00 What is the Mid-Atlantic accent? 00:55 A look at classic American movies 03:30 History of the Transatlantic accent 08:12 What happened to the Transatlantic accent? 09:21 Did Cary Grant have a Transatlantic accent? 10:38 How … Continue reading The Mid-Atlantic Accent
Alcohol in One’s System
There it was in imdb. A piece of trivia attached to a TV episode. The episode involved an alcoholic who had fallen off the wagon and had to take periodic random breath tests, and the anonymous contributor very confidently wrote that this was a goof, that once one sobers up, alcohol is no longer in … Continue reading Alcohol in One’s System
PECO
My electrical usage breakdown from Peco tells me that in the last month my usage was as follows: $16 Electronics $3 Refrigeration$2 Lighting$58 All Other I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with that information or even if I believe it. Take Refrigeration, for example. My Refrigeration usage has been $3 pretty reliably for months … Continue reading PECO
Arlene
Here’s a collage that I made of images of my mother a few years ago. I used to make calendars for my parents when they were both still alive and I think this was for one of those calendars.
In the Middle of the Night
The other night I woke up and looked at the clock. It said 2:00 AM. Which meant I had two and a half hours to go before getting up at my usual time. But for some reason I couldn’t fall back to sleep, I just kept tossing and turning. I keep the bedroom door closed … Continue reading In the Middle of the Night