Repairs

I did something today which I have never done before; I repaired a bathtub. I know, I know, big excitement. *rolls eyes* Still, it was something I'd not done before, at least in this life-time. The epoxy-fiberglass compound (by Syon) used is nasty as far as fumes, but it sets up in 20 minutes and it's done. Hopefully it will hold for a while but only time will tell that story.

Yesterday, well, make that Thursday, now, was filled with fun and prophet. Class was good...I made it on time, thankfully, unlike Tuesday morning when I awoke at 7:55 AM. Class starts at 7:45 AM. GWAR! Oh well. Fortunately, the professor was understanding. I think I'm really getting a fair amount out of it. I even tried some of the new "business" techniques he recommends in a recent email to some of my fellow staff members. The only down side is, they're all used to my old style of writing in which I sneak up on the subject and imply my request rather than actually state it. I'm concerned that they'll think I'm hopping mad when in fact I'm simply attempting to be efficient. Oh well. Time will tell on that one, too.

I now own a million dollar car...well, okay, so I don't own a real one but I managed to win enough races on Test Drive 6 to acquire this highly sought-after vehicle. As far as I can tell, it's great on pavement, but put it on sand or ice and you might as well walk. I was better off with my class 1 car (a souped up Ford Mustang) than this beast. Oh well. Maybe I just need practice. ;-)

There is nothing like a question to get the mind moving. Corollary: There is nothing like an answer to get the mind to stop, unless you're an obsessive compulsive, in which case you just go on thinking about the problem until either you find the most efficient/best answer or a new question of more relevance presents itself.

And finally, something from my class which I found most enlightening: As literate individuals, most English writers have been taught not to end sentences with prepositions. We have been taught this "rule" and those who taught us were taught this rule and those who taught those who taught us were taught this rule, etc. But from whence did the rule arise? According to my sources, one John Dryden created this rule in the late 17th century. Why did he create this rule? He created this rule because he noted that the word "preposition" was derived from two LATIN words which meant, "to put before". He also noted that those who wrote in LATIN always put prepositions before nouns and pronouns. Dryden then jumped to the conclusion that English writers should do likewise. (Paraphrased from Resources for Business Writers, 2002 Edition, authors available upon request.) So, because of some schmuck in the 17th century, hundreds upon thousands of school children have received poor grades on their essays for writing in a natural speech method. Gee, Dryden, it's English, NOT Latin we're writing and speaking in. Jeez! It's not like English is even based on Latin. Yes, we borrowed a heck of a lot of words from that dead language, but English is primarily Germanic. Oh, and if after posing a question which ends in a preposition, someone has the audacity to say to you something to the effect that you shouldn't end sentences with prepositions, simply re-ask the question but at the end, add a comma and the correct term for a female dog. ;-)

Well, I think my laundry's done. Hopefully more soon.