You Can Say That Again
Hello World,
Happy Summer! Two days ago on Wednesday was the summer solstice, so now we are officially in the summer season here in this hemisphere, and no buts about it. In fact, not to be an alarmist, but next week at this time, it will be the last day in June, and any number of lucky individuals will be looking at a long four-day holiday weekend, with July 4th on a Tuesday this year. So if you don't want the parade to pass you by, it's time to hurry up and get busy with that lemonade and watermelon, set up the hammock and fire up the grill, because after all, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer aren't just going to stand around and wait in the wings, chew the fat, shoot the breeze or any of those other idiomatic expressions, and I'm not just whistling Dixie.
Last weekend was Father's Day, of course, a time to honor dear old dad and all the men who have shaped, guided or supported us through the years. At home, the cats were on board with the idea of their "Daddy Cat" having breakfast in bed, although they would have preferred their menu choices of Seafood Supreme or Tender Mini Chunks, rather than the Pecan Danish Ring that Bill favors. They found his gifts to be an uninspired collection of apparel and entertainment options, compared to the catnip mice and bat-a-birds that they would have selected instead. If Bill really wanted catnip mice and bat-a-birds, he managed to hide his disappointment remarkably well, and seemed to have a good time on his special day. So three cheers for dear old dads everywhere, whether biological, hypothetical, or purely imaginary. Or as the cats so eloquently put it, "Hip, Hip, Meow!"
I actually had a nice long weekend for Father's Day, because I realized that with our co-worker about to retire, I would not have many opportunities to take a day off before she left, so I took off that Friday and glad of it. Of course, we all know that those short weeks usually have nothing to recommend them, and the week she was retiring probably even less so, but it all worked out in the end, and I was able to take a breather when I really needed one. This week turned out to be not as bad as I feared, holding down the fort by myself, owing to a notable lack of attacking savages shooting flaming arrows over the stockade walls. I figure if I can keep the barbarians from the gates for the next couple of weeks, after that I'll be on vacation (HOORAY!!!) so I can come back relaxed and refreshed to face the challenges ahead. For everyone who believes that this is purely delusional thinking on my part, please don't let me know, because my delusions are about all I have left to keep me going, and here again, I can assure you that I'm not just whistling Dixie.
The tech person responsible for maintaining the hospital computer system is a somber young man who always appears as if he has just lost his best friend, and would be inconsolable in spite of your best efforts to cheer him up. He would not appreciate the many ways in which I find the email service at work to be inadvertently funny, especially lately as I seem to be getting a wide variety of bogus emails purporting to be "hot stock tips," with the kind of enticing subject lines such as "Today's Winner," "This is going to explode," "As sure as it gets," and so forth, designed to really get my attention. It would utterly fail to do that, except that I couldn't help but notice that after the "red hot news" and supposed market-related gibberish on the messages, each one of these dissolved into a series of proverbs, colloquialisms and well-known sayings that were as diverse as they were unexpected. You're welcome to have a look over my shoulder from the previous week --
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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day. Spring forward fall back. Stone cold sober. To rule the mountains is to rule the river. Timber! Slow as molasses in January. Were you born in a barn? Turn over a new leaf. Speak softly and carry a big stick. Through the grapevine. Spill the beans. You throw filth on the living and flowers on the dead. Pin a rose on your nose. Raking in the dough. You have to separate the chaff from the wheat. Plant kindness and gather love. Read the tea leaves. Sweating blood. Weed 'em and reap. The season of goodwill. Weed it out. Short end of the stick. Which came first, the chicken or the egg. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Red as a beet. When the cows come home. Rain, rain go away; come again some other day. Strong as an ox. What goes down usually comes up. Put off the scent. A place in the sun. Up one side and down the other. Slow as a snail. Say it with flowers. Putting the cart before the horse. Worked night and day. Raking in the dough. Take time to smell the roses. Sweet as apple pie. When it rains it pours. Sitting on the fence. Your name is mud.
When you get lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you scraps make quilts. Stuck in a rut. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. She has a green thumb. We'll hang you out to dry. When we love, we grow. Run to seed. Ugly as a mud fence. The stronger the breeze the stronger the trees. That's a whole new can of worms. Spring rain, Fall gold. A rose is a rose is a rose. Up a tree. The silly season. She's a nut. Two peas in a pod. Where man is not, nature is barren. Top of the morning. Put to bed with a shovel. Sturdy as an oak. Water it down. Throw pearls before swine. Timing is everything. A place in the sun. That's a real stem winder. You're barking up the wrong tree. Plain as water. Scraping the bottom of the barrel. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Stir up an ant's nest. Run to seed. The sharper is the berry, the sweeter is the wine. Up a tree. Wrinkled as a prune. Stop, look and listen. School's out for summer. Walking on water. Shake like a leaf. Stubborn as a mule. A tree does not move unless there is wind.
You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip. Seed money. You're in hot water. The scythe ran into a stone. A weed is no more than a flower in disguise. Watch and wait. Too little too late. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. You feel like a fish out of water. You reap what you sow. Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. Some like carrots others like cabbage. Root it out. Raking it in. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. You're all washed up. The shoe's on the other foot now. Thick as a brick.
==============================================
Well, there's certainly nothing like your daily dose of aphorisms to go along with your hot stock tip of the moment, is there? Speaking of things going along, last week I bummed a ride to work with Bill, and on the way to drop me off at the hospital, we heard the unmistakable sound of screaming sirens that is a common feature to that neighborhood, as emergency vehicles pull into the Emergency Room from all over. This turned out to be an ambulance, and we let it go speeding past on its mission of mercy with no interference from us. At the intersection ahead of us, we were more surprised than anybody to see it go right past the hospital, and continue on its merry way with all of its lights flashing and sirens blaring, honking its horn and intent on getting to wherever it was going as fast as it could possibly get there. Since it was apparently not on its way with an emergency for the hospital as we originally supposed, we were left to wonder where it was off to in such an all-fired hurry, and we figured it must be bound for some place like the Mom & Pop House o' Docs across town, down by the sewage treatment plant, or some other even less likely destination. Of course, Bill said they were just out on an errand to pick up donuts for the rest of the ambulance crew, and he may be on to something there, but that would be purely speculation on our part and would never stand up in a court of law. And that's really not just whistling Dixie, and with powdered sugar on top, to boot!
Happy Summer! Two days ago on Wednesday was the summer solstice, so now we are officially in the summer season here in this hemisphere, and no buts about it. In fact, not to be an alarmist, but next week at this time, it will be the last day in June, and any number of lucky individuals will be looking at a long four-day holiday weekend, with July 4th on a Tuesday this year. So if you don't want the parade to pass you by, it's time to hurry up and get busy with that lemonade and watermelon, set up the hammock and fire up the grill, because after all, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer aren't just going to stand around and wait in the wings, chew the fat, shoot the breeze or any of those other idiomatic expressions, and I'm not just whistling Dixie.
Last weekend was Father's Day, of course, a time to honor dear old dad and all the men who have shaped, guided or supported us through the years. At home, the cats were on board with the idea of their "Daddy Cat" having breakfast in bed, although they would have preferred their menu choices of Seafood Supreme or Tender Mini Chunks, rather than the Pecan Danish Ring that Bill favors. They found his gifts to be an uninspired collection of apparel and entertainment options, compared to the catnip mice and bat-a-birds that they would have selected instead. If Bill really wanted catnip mice and bat-a-birds, he managed to hide his disappointment remarkably well, and seemed to have a good time on his special day. So three cheers for dear old dads everywhere, whether biological, hypothetical, or purely imaginary. Or as the cats so eloquently put it, "Hip, Hip, Meow!"
I actually had a nice long weekend for Father's Day, because I realized that with our co-worker about to retire, I would not have many opportunities to take a day off before she left, so I took off that Friday and glad of it. Of course, we all know that those short weeks usually have nothing to recommend them, and the week she was retiring probably even less so, but it all worked out in the end, and I was able to take a breather when I really needed one. This week turned out to be not as bad as I feared, holding down the fort by myself, owing to a notable lack of attacking savages shooting flaming arrows over the stockade walls. I figure if I can keep the barbarians from the gates for the next couple of weeks, after that I'll be on vacation (HOORAY!!!) so I can come back relaxed and refreshed to face the challenges ahead. For everyone who believes that this is purely delusional thinking on my part, please don't let me know, because my delusions are about all I have left to keep me going, and here again, I can assure you that I'm not just whistling Dixie.
The tech person responsible for maintaining the hospital computer system is a somber young man who always appears as if he has just lost his best friend, and would be inconsolable in spite of your best efforts to cheer him up. He would not appreciate the many ways in which I find the email service at work to be inadvertently funny, especially lately as I seem to be getting a wide variety of bogus emails purporting to be "hot stock tips," with the kind of enticing subject lines such as "Today's Winner," "This is going to explode," "As sure as it gets," and so forth, designed to really get my attention. It would utterly fail to do that, except that I couldn't help but notice that after the "red hot news" and supposed market-related gibberish on the messages, each one of these dissolved into a series of proverbs, colloquialisms and well-known sayings that were as diverse as they were unexpected. You're welcome to have a look over my shoulder from the previous week --
==============================================
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day. Spring forward fall back. Stone cold sober. To rule the mountains is to rule the river. Timber! Slow as molasses in January. Were you born in a barn? Turn over a new leaf. Speak softly and carry a big stick. Through the grapevine. Spill the beans. You throw filth on the living and flowers on the dead. Pin a rose on your nose. Raking in the dough. You have to separate the chaff from the wheat. Plant kindness and gather love. Read the tea leaves. Sweating blood. Weed 'em and reap. The season of goodwill. Weed it out. Short end of the stick. Which came first, the chicken or the egg. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Red as a beet. When the cows come home. Rain, rain go away; come again some other day. Strong as an ox. What goes down usually comes up. Put off the scent. A place in the sun. Up one side and down the other. Slow as a snail. Say it with flowers. Putting the cart before the horse. Worked night and day. Raking in the dough. Take time to smell the roses. Sweet as apple pie. When it rains it pours. Sitting on the fence. Your name is mud.
When you get lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you scraps make quilts. Stuck in a rut. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. She has a green thumb. We'll hang you out to dry. When we love, we grow. Run to seed. Ugly as a mud fence. The stronger the breeze the stronger the trees. That's a whole new can of worms. Spring rain, Fall gold. A rose is a rose is a rose. Up a tree. The silly season. She's a nut. Two peas in a pod. Where man is not, nature is barren. Top of the morning. Put to bed with a shovel. Sturdy as an oak. Water it down. Throw pearls before swine. Timing is everything. A place in the sun. That's a real stem winder. You're barking up the wrong tree. Plain as water. Scraping the bottom of the barrel. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Stir up an ant's nest. Run to seed. The sharper is the berry, the sweeter is the wine. Up a tree. Wrinkled as a prune. Stop, look and listen. School's out for summer. Walking on water. Shake like a leaf. Stubborn as a mule. A tree does not move unless there is wind.
You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip. Seed money. You're in hot water. The scythe ran into a stone. A weed is no more than a flower in disguise. Watch and wait. Too little too late. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. You feel like a fish out of water. You reap what you sow. Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. Some like carrots others like cabbage. Root it out. Raking it in. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. You're all washed up. The shoe's on the other foot now. Thick as a brick.
==============================================
Well, there's certainly nothing like your daily dose of aphorisms to go along with your hot stock tip of the moment, is there? Speaking of things going along, last week I bummed a ride to work with Bill, and on the way to drop me off at the hospital, we heard the unmistakable sound of screaming sirens that is a common feature to that neighborhood, as emergency vehicles pull into the Emergency Room from all over. This turned out to be an ambulance, and we let it go speeding past on its mission of mercy with no interference from us. At the intersection ahead of us, we were more surprised than anybody to see it go right past the hospital, and continue on its merry way with all of its lights flashing and sirens blaring, honking its horn and intent on getting to wherever it was going as fast as it could possibly get there. Since it was apparently not on its way with an emergency for the hospital as we originally supposed, we were left to wonder where it was off to in such an all-fired hurry, and we figured it must be bound for some place like the Mom & Pop House o' Docs across town, down by the sewage treatment plant, or some other even less likely destination. Of course, Bill said they were just out on an errand to pick up donuts for the rest of the ambulance crew, and he may be on to something there, but that would be purely speculation on our part and would never stand up in a court of law. And that's really not just whistling Dixie, and with powdered sugar on top, to boot!
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 9:02 PM
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