"That watch is much too nice to wear while working on this stuff."
So said a good friend and co-worker a couple weeks ago. I'd just received my very own Stauer Dashtronic watch, a present to myself after buying multitudes of stuff for Marilee; I wanted to get in on the action.
I'd just gotten her something from HSN or QVC - cannot remember which - and the total came to $100. Said I: "I guess it's time for me to get myself something for a hundred dollars."
Said she: "What?"
"THAT watch."
Reluctantly, she said OK. "Let's put it this way - do you want me to continue getting you stuff from HSN and QVC?"
Bob had made his point.
The Stauer Dashtronic is simplicity in action. Styled after the minimalistic dashboards of 1930's-era automobile dashboards, thus the name, it's not really fancy. It uses not a battery, but a mainspring. Yes, youngsters, it needs to be wound. And of not, it stops. It's not a drawback, mind you, but a traditional extra, in my humble opinion.
It is an analog watch, in the grandest style. And does just one thing: it tells time. There's no chronograph, there's no alarm. It doesn't know what day of the week it is. And while it has no battery, it also has no backlight. Similar to the workings of a Weather Rock, if it's too late to tell what time it is, it's probably after dark.
And it's also a wonderful conversation-starter.
I'd imagine some folks have noticed it on my wrist but didn't know what to say, or even ask. Where everyone's watch tends to look the same any more, this one stands out. Shiny in its stainless-steel top, the crystal is even rather minimal. Just large enough to see the hours and minutes; there's also no second hand.
But it really doesn't matter. I'd wanted an analog watch for some time, but could never settle on one I liked, and Marilee said she couldn't understand why I'd want one. After all, she said, I work on computers, so why wouldn't I want a digital watch?
It's the principle. Besides, consider the last time you asked someone what the time of day was. In the latter part of the hour. Did they say "three forty-five" or "a quarter-to-four"? I like the latter. With the Dashtronic, I can say the latter, too.
So I'm old. And remember a day when analog was all there was.
The Dashtronic gives you the best of both worlds - the minimal of a digital, and the time-honored stylishness of an analog.
So is it time you got one? Of course. Father's Day is just around the corner.
Monday, May 10
Sunday, May 9
Comfort... Sounds?
Comfort foods are those that bring back memories of times past when life was much easier, much simpler.
Even smells, or rather, aromas of Mom making yummy things in the kitchen.
But one sense I wish there were more, well, recordings of are those that conjure memories of those simpler times - and I think I found one:
Even smells, or rather, aromas of Mom making yummy things in the kitchen.
But one sense I wish there were more, well, recordings of are those that conjure memories of those simpler times - and I think I found one:
Space Hair
When I showed the following Fark Photoshop to Marilee - after asking her whether she remembered the scene, that is - she asked me "Just how many people do you think are going to get it?"
Oh, I think a few will know...
Photoshop this space hair:
And...
Do YOU get it?
Oh, I think a few will know...
Photoshop this space hair:
And...
Do YOU get it?
Friday, May 7
Why English Is So Hard To Learn
Found the following little ditty on a website recently. It brings to mind a conversation I had with a colleague today: What do the multitudes of French salutations mean?
Mademoiselle: courtesy title for an unmarried woman in France or a French-speaking country
Madame: a title or form of address for a woman
Monsieur: mister, sir (a title or form of address for a man)
...and that which presented a peculiar sense of consternation, "messieur" is normally in the plural form, a la "messieurs"
Anyway, here's the main part of this post, or:
Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (Surprise!). Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?
One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Not to mention that we drive on parkways and park in driveways.
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
P.S. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?
Mademoiselle: courtesy title for an unmarried woman in France or a French-speaking country
Madame: a title or form of address for a woman
Monsieur: mister, sir (a title or form of address for a man)
...and that which presented a peculiar sense of consternation, "messieur" is normally in the plural form, a la "messieurs"
Anyway, here's the main part of this post, or:
Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (Surprise!). Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?
One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Not to mention that we drive on parkways and park in driveways.
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
P.S. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?
Saturday, May 1
There's a Walmart in Ephraim?
Ephraim? Really?
I know this because I was there yesterday. Well, sort of. I was in town working on an [expletive deleted]. Or would have been, had the power been on in the building. Seems that a power line had gone out somewhere near Santaquin. No, it really did happen, though there's no report of it anywhere.
Really!
OK, so I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it happened.
Anyway.
Ephraim is one of those towns so far out of the way that in the almost twenty-five years of my existence in Utah that I'd never been there. And since my visit was less than a half-hour, and didn't even make it into town (the Walmart is on the outskirts), I'm pretty much certain I saw enough.
By the way, I think I may have solved one of the great mysteries of modern times:
The "E" in "BFE" stands for Ephraim.
I know this because I was there yesterday. Well, sort of. I was in town working on an [expletive deleted]. Or would have been, had the power been on in the building. Seems that a power line had gone out somewhere near Santaquin. No, it really did happen, though there's no report of it anywhere.
Really!
OK, so I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it happened.
Anyway.
Ephraim is one of those towns so far out of the way that in the almost twenty-five years of my existence in Utah that I'd never been there. And since my visit was less than a half-hour, and didn't even make it into town (the Walmart is on the outskirts), I'm pretty much certain I saw enough.
By the way, I think I may have solved one of the great mysteries of modern times:
The "E" in "BFE" stands for Ephraim.
Sunday, April 25
Two Years of BS
bob's bs, to be exact.
Yesterday I received an email from GoDaddy, telling me that my domain names had been re-registered. Jeez, I thought, has it been two years now?
April 25th, 2008, bob's bs went live. Well,the blog anyway. The domain name came a few days thereafter. But still.
This blog post is my 789th published entry - a bit more than one post per day. In that time, approximately 5,000 visitors have visited my blog's pages. From such far-off places as Canada, the UK, Belgium, Germany, Australia, and Morocco. And even Detroit.
Most are from Utah, and about the same amount from the San Francisco area, though I have no understanding of why that is. And quite a large contingent from Ohio. I shudder to think why that is.
And you might ask "why are all those people looking at my blog? What could I possibly have to offer here than can be found elsewhere?"
Enter Google. More searches find my blog through Google than any other search engine. A smattering comes from Yahoo; a few more from Bing. But the telling tale is what keyword searches reveal.
A few samples are: "Dashtronic", "word cloud generator", "armstrong11", "foxtrot", and "quantifying customer service." That last one was a real shocker: Last year I took a course during one of my [expletive deleted] training classes where the content had to do with being a better customer-oriented individual. And I blogged about it, with exactly the same title as the search keyword. Go figure; guess I'd chosen the right blog title for that one. But therein lies a caveat for choosing witty blog entry titles. Be the least bit arcane, and no-one will find your entry. Word to the wise.
Anyway.
Two years out, and this here blog hasn't - yet - brought me untold riches like some other bloggers have seemed to be able to do. My desire some day is to be as popular as dooce, but that hasn't happened yet. I've only "made" about twenty bucks with this endeavor, though I haven't yet seen a dime of it. And not for lack of trying. I provide brilliantly stimulating content when the opportunity arises, though usually not when I'm on call working on [expletive deleted]'s as I have been this week.
There's much more to write about and much more to share.
Please look forward to another years of bs from me, starting with blog post 790.
Yours,
bob's bs
Yesterday I received an email from GoDaddy, telling me that my domain names had been re-registered. Jeez, I thought, has it been two years now?
April 25th, 2008, bob's bs went live. Well,the blog anyway. The domain name came a few days thereafter. But still.
This blog post is my 789th published entry - a bit more than one post per day. In that time, approximately 5,000 visitors have visited my blog's pages. From such far-off places as Canada, the UK, Belgium, Germany, Australia, and Morocco. And even Detroit.
Most are from Utah, and about the same amount from the San Francisco area, though I have no understanding of why that is. And quite a large contingent from Ohio. I shudder to think why that is.
And you might ask "why are all those people looking at my blog? What could I possibly have to offer here than can be found elsewhere?"
Enter Google. More searches find my blog through Google than any other search engine. A smattering comes from Yahoo; a few more from Bing. But the telling tale is what keyword searches reveal.
A few samples are: "Dashtronic", "word cloud generator", "armstrong11", "foxtrot", and "quantifying customer service." That last one was a real shocker: Last year I took a course during one of my [expletive deleted] training classes where the content had to do with being a better customer-oriented individual. And I blogged about it, with exactly the same title as the search keyword. Go figure; guess I'd chosen the right blog title for that one. But therein lies a caveat for choosing witty blog entry titles. Be the least bit arcane, and no-one will find your entry. Word to the wise.
Anyway.
Two years out, and this here blog hasn't - yet - brought me untold riches like some other bloggers have seemed to be able to do. My desire some day is to be as popular as dooce, but that hasn't happened yet. I've only "made" about twenty bucks with this endeavor, though I haven't yet seen a dime of it. And not for lack of trying. I provide brilliantly stimulating content when the opportunity arises, though usually not when I'm on call working on [expletive deleted]'s as I have been this week.
There's much more to write about and much more to share.
Please look forward to another years of bs from me, starting with blog post 790.
Yours,
bob's bs
Tuesday, April 20
Tern, Tern, Tern
Simple premise - Photoshop this trio of terns:
And...
OK, so I think I've got a winner here. What do you think?
And...
OK, so I think I've got a winner here. What do you think?
Monday, April 19
You Bet Your Ash There's A Reason
Had a driveway moment on Friday as NPR was conducting an interview of a pilot who, in 1982, had an inadvertent introduction into what it's like to fly through a volcanic ash cloud.
It pretty much makes it self-explanatory why air travel has come to a near standstill in Europe.
Here's the story on Youtube. Scary sh!t:
It pretty much makes it self-explanatory why air travel has come to a near standstill in Europe.
Here's the story on Youtube. Scary sh!t:
Saturday, April 17
Eyjafjallajökull
No, I can't pronounce the name of the Icelandic glacier, either.
Nor can many of the world's newscasters, as the following video explains:
OK, so I cannot make fun of this. THAT would be un-politically correct. Besides, there are probably enough people who cannot pronounce - correctly - the city in Southern Utah called Hurricane or the Northern Utah county called Weber (for you out-of-staters it's Hurri-KEN and WEEber).
And God forbid anyone from beyond the Zion curtain tries to wrap their tongues around Tooele.
Nor can many of the world's newscasters, as the following video explains:
OK, so I cannot make fun of this. THAT would be un-politically correct. Besides, there are probably enough people who cannot pronounce - correctly - the city in Southern Utah called Hurricane or the Northern Utah county called Weber (for you out-of-staters it's Hurri-KEN and WEEber).
And God forbid anyone from beyond the Zion curtain tries to wrap their tongues around Tooele.
Friday, April 16
Together, We Make One Person
What with my issues, and Marilee's issues, we've determined that if not for each other, we would not be complete.
Oh, how sweet.
But it's not like that. Rather, without each other, we'd spin off into the abyss, Maybe get swallowed up by the hole in the earth near Randolph from the earthquake yesterday. Taylor and I felt it, but not Marilee or Chris, who was over tending the front yard. She was actually bummed she didn't feel it. Such is the case here - something dramatic happens, and if you're not privy to it, you feel left out.
Anyway.
I was on vacation last week. Didn't do a damn thing. Oh, she and I had grandiose ideas; we'd go to Wendover, maybe Idaho for lottery tickets. Get the cars inspected and stickers. But did we actually do any of that? Not a damn thing.
Getting either of us to do the most mundane tasks requires a battle of epic proportions. Even if either of us do the dishes, we whoop and holler that we actually accomplished something. Productivity! Woo hoo!
Yeah, that whole "productivity" moniker leaves a bad taste in my mouth, a subject which I don't want to go into just now.
Wednesday, Marilee had said "I'm gonna do this" and "I'm gonna do that" this week. With the week waning as it was, and Thursday beginning with Marilee sleeping in far too long, I realized that the "this" and "that" wasn't going to happen. So, with a modicum of guilt, I called in sick, and went into assertive mode - maybe it was the new meds finally kicking in. Whatever.
First off was taking the Grand Am in to have the window fixed. The passenger-side window had dropped off its track and would neither rise nor fall electrically. It had been that way since before Halloween. Money, time, "insert lazy-ass reason for not doing it in the past six months reason here" was the usual response. Three-hundred bucks later, it's fixed.
On to the Rodeo. Check engine light's been on and off for the last few months - mostly on. Oxygen sensor? Hose plugged? I don't do cars. I do [expletive deleted]'s. Only ended up with an oil change for the Rodeo and a few other details. A hundred bucks there. Light's still on.
Now it was off to the bank; Marilee needed a Notary for a signature, off to the bank we were. THAT accomplished, we then went to Costco. Two hundred fifty.
Back home with the haul, an hour respite, then to Jiffy Lube for the Grand Am testing and stickers. Other than the requisite fees and a bit more maintenance including an oil change, that was about two hundred bucks.
WHY does productivity always cost so much?
The good news is that everything we set out to do early yesterday got done. The bad news is that I feel a tremendous amount of guilt for not going to work. Well, the work that I get paid for.
To help pay for all that productivity.
Oh, how sweet.
But it's not like that. Rather, without each other, we'd spin off into the abyss, Maybe get swallowed up by the hole in the earth near Randolph from the earthquake yesterday. Taylor and I felt it, but not Marilee or Chris, who was over tending the front yard. She was actually bummed she didn't feel it. Such is the case here - something dramatic happens, and if you're not privy to it, you feel left out.
Anyway.
I was on vacation last week. Didn't do a damn thing. Oh, she and I had grandiose ideas; we'd go to Wendover, maybe Idaho for lottery tickets. Get the cars inspected and stickers. But did we actually do any of that? Not a damn thing.
Getting either of us to do the most mundane tasks requires a battle of epic proportions. Even if either of us do the dishes, we whoop and holler that we actually accomplished something. Productivity! Woo hoo!
Yeah, that whole "productivity" moniker leaves a bad taste in my mouth, a subject which I don't want to go into just now.
Wednesday, Marilee had said "I'm gonna do this" and "I'm gonna do that" this week. With the week waning as it was, and Thursday beginning with Marilee sleeping in far too long, I realized that the "this" and "that" wasn't going to happen. So, with a modicum of guilt, I called in sick, and went into assertive mode - maybe it was the new meds finally kicking in. Whatever.
First off was taking the Grand Am in to have the window fixed. The passenger-side window had dropped off its track and would neither rise nor fall electrically. It had been that way since before Halloween. Money, time, "insert lazy-ass reason for not doing it in the past six months reason here" was the usual response. Three-hundred bucks later, it's fixed.
On to the Rodeo. Check engine light's been on and off for the last few months - mostly on. Oxygen sensor? Hose plugged? I don't do cars. I do [expletive deleted]'s. Only ended up with an oil change for the Rodeo and a few other details. A hundred bucks there. Light's still on.
Now it was off to the bank; Marilee needed a Notary for a signature, off to the bank we were. THAT accomplished, we then went to Costco. Two hundred fifty.
Back home with the haul, an hour respite, then to Jiffy Lube for the Grand Am testing and stickers. Other than the requisite fees and a bit more maintenance including an oil change, that was about two hundred bucks.
WHY does productivity always cost so much?
The good news is that everything we set out to do early yesterday got done. The bad news is that I feel a tremendous amount of guilt for not going to work. Well, the work that I get paid for.
To help pay for all that productivity.
Thursday, April 15
Tuesday, April 13
Otto
This is my current Fark Photoshop entry - so far, I'm in the lead:
Photoshop this decontaminator:
And...
I had originally wanted to do another "blow up doll" but ended up with Otto from "Airplane!" - I was rather pleased the inflation of the head matched the inflation of the decontamination suit.
BTW, the entry exemplifies one important reason to have a paid Fark membership; I actually did the 'shop three days ago!
Photoshop this decontaminator:
And...
I had originally wanted to do another "blow up doll" but ended up with Otto from "Airplane!" - I was rather pleased the inflation of the head matched the inflation of the decontamination suit.
BTW, the entry exemplifies one important reason to have a paid Fark membership; I actually did the 'shop three days ago!
Sunday, April 11
Some Things You Just Don't Talk About
Because those are the rules. Essentially unwritten.
But in the last week, whilst on vacation, I became a paying member of Fark.
Yes, folks, that free "news aggregator" - but so much more - that I've posted Photoshop contest entries from, has a pay service.
What exactly does one get for the privilege? For one thing, instead of getting twenty-some-odd "news" stories a day, you get to see the other 95% user-submitted links. Yes, only five percent of the links on Fark.com are available for the non-paying public. "Liters" as we call them.
And about those Photoshop contests? As a paying member, I get to see the 'O'riginal's for the contests before the rest of you. So I get to work on my entries a week or so before they go live to the main page. So much more satisfying to work on an entry without haste. Just a whole lot of fun.
Adjectives include total and ultra. Ask me some time what those particular words really mean in the world of Fark.
It's not news - it's Fark.com!
But in the last week, whilst on vacation, I became a paying member of Fark.
Yes, folks, that free "news aggregator" - but so much more - that I've posted Photoshop contest entries from, has a pay service.
What exactly does one get for the privilege? For one thing, instead of getting twenty-some-odd "news" stories a day, you get to see the other 95% user-submitted links. Yes, only five percent of the links on Fark.com are available for the non-paying public. "Liters" as we call them.
And about those Photoshop contests? As a paying member, I get to see the 'O'riginal's for the contests before the rest of you. So I get to work on my entries a week or so before they go live to the main page. So much more satisfying to work on an entry without haste. Just a whole lot of fun.
Adjectives include total and ultra. Ask me some time what those particular words really mean in the world of Fark.
It's not news - it's Fark.com!
Edie Just Needed A Hug
Folks, there are far too many "Edie's" out there. Please make a difference and adopt the seemingly unadoptable. While the following video is difficult to watch at first, believe me, you'll be glad you watched at all:
Friday, April 9
Wednesday, April 7
Homer
Thankfully, if you Google "Homer", the first "find" is Homer of the Iliad and Odyssey. Second is the other Homer of syndicated cartoon fame. But this is about Homer. THE Homer.
Sunday last, I went to the movies with Jenn, Chris, and Taylor. "Clash of the Titans" was the movie. The story was, well, a remake of "Clash of the Titans". Was it the Iliad? Or the Odyssey? Hardly.
I've read both stories, though it was thirty-five or so years ago. Medusa, Sirens, and scorpions were all there.
And even this thing:
Looking back in the dark recesses of my mind, I don't recall a mechanical owl to be in either the Iliad or Odyssey, but it was in the original Clash. And thankfully only for a moment in the remake. Perseus, rummaging around in a chest of swords and shields, comes across the infamous owl. The dialog went something like this:
"What's this?"
"Never mind."
Best part of the movie.
Seriously.
OK, so it was in 3D replete with funky glasses. That the movie projector puked up a third of the way through, and we got free passes for any movie in the future was payment enough. For sitting through the movie.
Sorry - I'd rather sit through the original, even with the damn owl.
Sunday last, I went to the movies with Jenn, Chris, and Taylor. "Clash of the Titans" was the movie. The story was, well, a remake of "Clash of the Titans". Was it the Iliad? Or the Odyssey? Hardly.
I've read both stories, though it was thirty-five or so years ago. Medusa, Sirens, and scorpions were all there.
And even this thing:
Looking back in the dark recesses of my mind, I don't recall a mechanical owl to be in either the Iliad or Odyssey, but it was in the original Clash. And thankfully only for a moment in the remake. Perseus, rummaging around in a chest of swords and shields, comes across the infamous owl. The dialog went something like this:
"What's this?"
"Never mind."
Best part of the movie.
Seriously.
OK, so it was in 3D replete with funky glasses. That the movie projector puked up a third of the way through, and we got free passes for any movie in the future was payment enough. For sitting through the movie.
Sorry - I'd rather sit through the original, even with the damn owl.
Saturday, April 3
Hyundai Equus
Says here the Hyundai Equus will come with an iPad "as a manual", via the Consumerist.
Says I: "Will it come with a PC if you want an automatic?"
Says I: "Will it come with a PC if you want an automatic?"
Friday, April 2
Thursday, April 1
Like the Dickens
I try SO hard not to write about work. Everyone who reads this here blog pretty much can tell I'm in some sort of computer industry job, but for those of you who don't know the specifics, well, so much the better. That I mention on occasion that I work on [expletive deleted]'s, or that some nights I'm out til all hours - let your mind run free.
I'm getting better at it - at least I think I am - but from time to time we think all we need do is get the nasty, dirty thing running and...
We pause a moment for the witticism of the day: this blog post's title has nothing to do with Charles Dickens; rather, "the dickens" predates Charles by at least 200 years, as this explanation shows from an online edition of an Australian newspaper:
"Dickens is a euphemism for the Devil. The expression has been in the language for centuries and predates the birth of Charles Dickens by at least 200 years. Mistress Page utters it in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act 3, Scene 2): 'I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of'."
So if we apply the historical fact that "dickens" means the devil, and thus alliterates to "hell", then "running like the dickens" therefore means "running like hell".
And that's just what we do when we're pretty sure we've completed the impossible repair job.
"Run Like Hell" = R L H
I'm getting better at it - at least I think I am - but from time to time we think all we need do is get the nasty, dirty thing running and...
We pause a moment for the witticism of the day: this blog post's title has nothing to do with Charles Dickens; rather, "the dickens" predates Charles by at least 200 years, as this explanation shows from an online edition of an Australian newspaper:
"Dickens is a euphemism for the Devil. The expression has been in the language for centuries and predates the birth of Charles Dickens by at least 200 years. Mistress Page utters it in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act 3, Scene 2): 'I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of'."
So if we apply the historical fact that "dickens" means the devil, and thus alliterates to "hell", then "running like the dickens" therefore means "running like hell".
And that's just what we do when we're pretty sure we've completed the impossible repair job.
"Run Like Hell" = R L H
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