By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
After observing Memorial Day with mostly solemn and serious writings I will resume my Wramblings and offer several little tidbits of things that make me wonder and give me wonder. These are the types of things that fill the voids in my mind on a regular basis, some of which prompting getting back up after retiring, presumably for the night, as I know I won’t be able to get to, or back to, sleep if I don’t clear my mind. Or, heaven forbid, that I forget that I want to mention them herein.
**As I am writing this, I have to add this comment that I did a complete re-write of this article this morning due to ideas born to me last night.
¨ First topic will be a traffic law question. Who has the right of way between a driver turning onto a main street from a side street perpendicular to it, going in the same direction as a person pulling out of a parking spot?
¨ Are they still enforcing loud muffler laws? Are diesels subject to them? Why aren’t motorcycles?
¨Is an ambulance transporting a “non-emergent” passenger required to have all emergency lights flashing? Is an ambulance transporting a non-emergent passenger allowed to have its siren going?
¨ Grammar Groans: As I have said in the past, our language despite it being the easiest for me to understand 😏, is most likely the hardest to learn by non-english speaking people. Seeing the word “resume” used, unless the context understood, would cause confusion and delay as you resume work on your resume. Same goes for “patients vs patience”. If you get caught trying to sign the sign you could be in trouble. If you watch the watch too long, it may make you long for a way out of this long conversation. You may have enjoyed our May weather this year, but we had to bear with our visiting bear. Read vs read is/are special as they have a different sound, and different meaning as in present tense vs past tense.
When last I played around with the oddities of our language it was sharing homophones (Sound alike, different spelling, like patients/patience noted above). Words of the same spelling but different meaning, are homonyms.
¨ Does anyone else like the easy opening “pop up” milk carton pouring spout seals? By this I mean the “pour spout” seal with a ring attached, that must be removed before pouring. I like them until I don’t. In order to pop them open without tugging hard enough to spill the milk it’s best to pull them from the bottom or the top separating or breaking the seal (not the animal). Occasionally the ring tab pouring spout, inserted during the manufacturing process, is oriented such that it pulls sideways. Pulling the seal up or down works best as you can pull with a wrist roll using your finger as a pivot point. Pulling to the side is clumsy and doesn’t work as well.
Explaining this to my wife re-opened the conversation of how she puts things like the Half and Half container in the refrigerator a certain way every time. She denies repetitively doing things saying she doesn’t, but unwittingly, as do I, she, being a lefty, positions things in a certain way, opposite of what I do. I have learned how to accommodate her. Coffee stirring spoon, handle to the left. Milk carton (once opened) Pour spout facing into the shelf. The door opens to the right, so we open the door with our right hand, take container out with left hand. If the pour spout is facing the “wrong” direction she has to switch hands to get it into the pouring orientation. I make sure to put the milk in the fridge such that she doesn’t have to do that. This led to a remembrance of one lesson topic when I took a Psychology class from Professor Bliss in my college days. He explained that we do things repetitively a certain way even though we are not conscious of doing so. I thought he was nuts. He challenged us to start keeping track of which sock and/or shoe we put on first every time. I rose to the challenge. Despite my lack of belief, unless I was consciously trying to prove him wrong, I noticed that I always put my left sock on first, even to the tune of, laying the right one down, if I happen to pick it up first. Putting shoes on a little more haphazard, but still typically followed the pattern. To illustrate how habitual habits can be, I seem to go out of my way to be that. Due to arthritically deformed, long, toes, I wear a hole in the end of the right sock caused by the big toe veering to port (left). To compensate for this, hoping to prolong the life of a “pair” of socks, I try to alternate which foot I put the sock onto each day or wearing. It’s easy to tell the difference. I still put the left one on first though, after determining which way worn last.
I presume that by now you are shaking your head in denial. Here’s my challenge. Keep track of how you do this for a couple of weeks or so and see if Professor Bliss wasn’t right.
¨ I met with a couple of Friendship Central School Classmates of 1963 this past weekend and spent a couple of hours at the diner in Friendship reminiscing. By the way, that corner diner is still open mornings for breakfast and Fridays until later, serving their Fish Fry. Excellent breakfast! I spent more time listening to their recollections than giving mine as their memories of all things Friendship, past and present, make mine pale in comparison. Thanks Bill and Tom.
¨ Reading and listening to news accounts, I often wonder why the writers/announcers sound so incredulous that the sales tax revenues are so high. I don’t need my three years of College Calculus to realize that if prices have skyrocketed then sales tax revenues would likely follow suit. I wonder if local politicians will lower sales tax rates, especially here in Allegany County. I guess we are getting a little relief with some relaxation of gas taxes. On a related note, I marvel over the influence this administration has on the global economy. Our President is being blamed by some factions, solely, for the record high inflation, of which he has no, or limited, control. Oddly, he must be causing the record high inflation rates in Great Britain as well.
¨ I recently purchased a “name brand” package of Green Bean seeds at a local establishment. Upon opening the package ready for planting, I wasn’t sure there was enough room in the garden for all 16 of the seeds. I then made a trip out to the former Simon’s Farm Market on Rte 19 South, now I guess known as “Bob’s”, to get some more bean seeds. Initially it took my breath away seeing the per pound price of seeds. But, after ringing up the cost of the “good sized” handful of seeds that I had purchased, the $1.15 I paid was a bargain compared to $1.78 for 16 seeds.
¨ You have to love these country road detours in our area this time of year. Last summer I encountered a long detour around the southern end of County Rte. 15 (aka The Short Tract Road) via 15A, as they were cleaning out the ditch in one stretch on 15. I’m not sure why the detour, rather than just traffic control was needed. This year returning from Rochester exiting I-390 to Mt. Morris the south bound route was detoured, with poor signage I might add, to route 63. No problem, I had my Garmin onboard and figured it wouldn’t be too bad. Had I known the roads better, it might not have been as bad as it turned out to be. Rte. 63 took me all the way south to Dansville where I then had to connect with Rte. 36 toward Hornell. Garmin didn’t know any alternate route either. I should have been a little more adventuresome and tried a “cut over” as I could see the somewhat parallel route that I wanted on the other hillside to the west.
¨ Does anyone like the Velcro closures used lately on the back pockets of trousers and shorts? Me neither. I can’t remember the last time someone tried to pick my back pocket which is the only logic I can see in adding the Velcro closures. I would gladly sacrifice them for the re-addition of the couple of belt loops they removed as a cost reduction scheme.
¨ Add the slovenliness of inconsiderate golfers to my list of head shaking wonderment of the laziness and inconsideration of golfers that discard beverage cans, papers and bottles from their carts, mere feet away from a trash receptacle. If being called a pig, hits too close to home, then quit being one.
¨ Despite my subliminal “partisan” inflation comment above I try to avoid political statements or views in my articles. I guess mentioning one unbelievable politician isn’t being partisan, unless I stray into implicating the other party members or supporters that accept or embrace the actions of one particular Republican lady, and I use that term loosely.
Ignorance is defined as: “Lacking knowledge or comprehension”. This I can accept, as an ignorant person can be taught or educated. Stupidity is defined as: Having or showing, a great lack of intelligence or common sense. As I digress momentarily; Intelligence, Knowledge, Ignorance, Dumbness, and Smartness while being similar don’t mean exactly the same thing. I got in trouble a few months ago when making a family comment regarding “Intelligence” and “Smartness”. That comment didn’t include my wife at the time, but I possess far more knowledge (from education) than my wife, but she is far more “smarter” than I am. “Immeasurably”!
Marjorie Taylor Greene, and her “Conspiracy Theories”, and/or endorsements, should be an insult to all humanity. If you are ignorant don’t prove it with your stupidity. President Biden does not have a “Gazpacho” or Gestapo. Bacterial meat cultures in the manufacture of “Fake Meat” are not being cultured by Bill Gates in “Peach Tree Dishes”. If made at all they are in Petri dishes.
One thing that can be said about her is that she is feeding late night Television hosts with tons of material and sadly, is distracting the nation from much more serious issues and concerns.
Given my attention to, and passion for, our language I often cringe when I see social media “marketing” posts advertising vehicles with “new breaks”; or “it needs a little cleening”; or “For Sail”. Ok if selling a boat, I guess.
Comments, concerns, criticisms, or suggestions for topics of interest to be researched and discussed by me herein, can be emailed to the editor@wellsvillesun.com
