Wiser’s Wramblings- Psuper “P” Words and Cold Water

Language, Bear damage, polar plunges, vision correction in hindsight

By Chuck Wiser, I Write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels

As I started composing todays Wrambling in my head a couple of hours ago, for some reason the first topic that came to mind started with a word starting with the letters “PS”, as in Psoriasis. As often is the case that triggered the recollection of other words that also started with “Ps” such as psychosis (that figures), psychiatry, psalm and pseudonym. As usual that piqued my curiosity and hunger for learning, so I started my typical Google search. The first site or “link” suggested had an odd reply that read as if written by a 10-year-old, and that discredits one of that intelligence level.

The first example was:

“However, ps can also appear before consonants in certain contexts:

• psst – an interjection used to get attention
• pseud (as in pseudoscience) – here “ps” is followed by “s,” a consonant
• psal in some proper nouns or technical terms

In some loanwords, “ps” may be part of a consonant cluster before a vowel later in t

words such as However, ps can also appear before consonants in certain contexts:

• What confuses me is that starting with the 2nd example “pseud” it says that “”ps” is followed by a consonant.” My recollection is that the letters “eu..” are both vowels. I’m scratching my head again but maybe that’s just the “psoriasis” kicking in. 

Going back to what started this writing; That start was a diversion to what I had at first contemplated. I was recently asked, or it was suggested for me to write a full Wrambling describing my youth and growing up in Friendship, and more specifically, Nile, its suburb. I’ve just spent the whole past hour trying to align the spacings and paragraph format, Somehow, I made the wrong menu item selection. No wonder it takes half a day to write my Wrambling, sometimes. Oh well, that’s what I get for being an engineer instead of being a secretary or teacher of the English language.

I am plagued by some settings that wormed their way into my computer or at least into my MS Word app. I’ve tried to start the next paragraph three times and there is something hidden in the layout settings that keeps changing screens and options. Perhaps the lower right-hand side of my right-side typing hand is coming into contact with a key that makes that happen. I could easily do without that extraneous number pad that resides to the right of the main keyboard.

There’s something there that triggers a whole series of other menu selections, or functions. I guess that’s the price I pay for doing my writing while sitting in the comfort of my recliner chair or even in this case on a sofa in the living room. I enjoy sharing this time sitting in the same room with my wife. I just discovered that the settings of the inserted previous segment carried over to more than a paragraph, and text settings, as I continued. On a positive note, I did figure out how to reload the “Undo and Redo” menu selection links. I miss those inserts.  

Now going on…In the near future I am planning to write a Wrambling with a topic suggested by, and requested by two readers who, are both readers of these writings, and who also write.

They would like to see a complete biographical essay of my history in Friendship, and more specifically in the outlying burg of Nile. I had sent them a link to a former writing describing and discussing the “Town of Nile” but they were interested in my time there. I was very pleased and flattered that they would take and especially share that interest. If those who normally read this have any suggestions similar to, or contingent on that request, please pass them along as noted or invited at the end of each Wrambling article.

It would appear that my golfing season has pretty much ended for this season. This past weekend my golf team representing the Wellsville Sun. played in the Mickey Donahue Irish Scramble at the Golf Country Club in Bath, New York. We didn’t win this year, and for the first time failed to finish in the top three as we have done each year of its 12-year existence, but we did well and enjoyed ourselves. My team consisted of my son Todd, Chase Robbins, and his dad Gary. Chase is a second cousin of mine, so it was kind of a family team.

Once again, we have been invaded by our “Ursidae” friends. If you are unaware of that term so, was I until doing a Google search for the scientific name for Bears. Now I’ve learned something new, but likely won’t remember it. The front item in the view is “fake” for illustrative purposes as the bear destroyed the real feeder which was significantly larger than this one. I have shared “whole” pictures of the real one previously. Based on the presence of multiple “scat” piles the bear was apparently here on two occasions that night.

The wire cage was initially designed and built to try and keep squirrels and other larger critters out whilst leaving openings for the birds to access. We didn’t expect Mourning Doves to get in but they can, as well as squirrels as well. I guess the bears could have done more damage due to their size. But they are hungry, and likely bulking up for their upcoming winters-long nap. Although, one would think that there are more tasty things than sunflower seeds for them to eat. They didn’t bother my vegetable gardens. They must not like Zucchini or Butternut Squash.

October is a special month in this family, and I will share how and why next week. There are several very significant birthdays.

I’m pretty sure that most of you share the discouraging but desperate goal or mission of finding something that you lost or misplaced. Last week I couldn’t find my back-up/reading glasses. Years ago, I was too damned cheap to spend $3600 to have both vision distance options so I chose to have the far distance correction made so that I wouldn’t have to wear glasses full time. It worked…kind of. They didn’t get the vision 100% corrected but it’s close. In hindsight (ironically speaking) I should have made that investment. I don’t need to always wear them, but I do need them with me when I’m going to be reading anything. For some reason my eyes have now shifted so that I can see almost well enough for reading without glasses, but my long-distance vision ability seems to have decreased somewhat.

Anyway, out of habit I always take my glasses with me. They are actually two-fold functionally, as they do correct for some long distance sighting a little better, while also making reading more friendly. At a Wellsville golf tournament recently, I stored my glasses to have with me if needed. I didn’t need them. A day or so later I couldn’t find the glasses when I did need them. I searched high and low (almost) and even contacted the Wellsville Golf Club to ask the “Pro” if any glasses had turned up, or had been turned in. They hadn’t.

The other day I wanted my small “travel cooler” and remembered that I had left it in the truck after the golf tournament. So, I retrieved the carry case from the truck and upon opening one of the pockets on the end, lo and behold there were my glasses. 🎶I can see clearly now…🎶    as the old song goes.

Just now looking through last week’s Wrambling to make sure I haven’t duplicated any things; I noticed that it mentioned a thunder storm the previous night. Ironically, as my wife and I laid in bed prior to going to sleep, we could see lightning and hear thunder out of our North facing bedroom window. I’m not sure if the rain ever started as I fell asleep.

I will end with a couple of comments, and thanks to Sun publisher Andrew Harris for allowing me to share what I write. In the beginning the thought was to share some of my poetry. That expanded to this Column, and I am blessed to be able to share with you. Andrew and I had lunch at the Wellsville Country Club recently and while chatting I mentioned that I had always wanted to be a writer despite having pursued a career in Mechanical and Manufacturing Technologies fields. In my youth I had done some writing, but I had always wanted to “be a writer” full time.

Andrew’s reply was; “You are a writer.”   That filled me with pride and appreciation much stronger than you can imagine.

And so, I will write my way out of here one more time and look forward to the next time. If you have any comments, cares or concerns please feel free to share them to me at my email; im.wiserdad@gmail.com. Many thanks to Bill Doerler and Charles van Heck for their ideas.