What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread) Showing 1,651-1,700 of 8,509

[Jim]

It does seem to be coming back into fashion, Joy. I need to find a good knitting supply store nearby. The only one in Shelbyville seems to be out of business. I'm sure there are some in Louisville, but I hate driving around there. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet. There's probably one up in Middletown which I can go through on my way home from work.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, perhaps you could check an arts and crafts store or a sewing goods store for knitting supplies.

[Jim]

I found that there is a good one in Middletown, as I suspected there would be. We went over to a friend's house for lunch & one of the other gals knits & crochet's. She said the Ben Franklin store there had a great selection. It's a bit out of my way, but not too bad on the way home.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, I'm glad you found what you wanted. I didn't realize that Ben Franklin stores were still around. There used to be one in Ticonderoga, NY, but I haven't gone there for a while.

I googled and found:
STORES HOME: http://find.mapmuse.com/brand/benfran...
LOCATION DIRECTORY: http://find.mapmuse.com/directory/ben...

I see that the Ben Franklin Craft stores are alive and well all around the country. According to the directory, there are 6 stores in NY State (but none in Ticonderoga) and 2 in KY (Flemingsburg & Middletown).
NY: http://find.mapmuse.com/directory/ben...
KY: http://find.mapmuse.com/directory/ben...

I didn't even realize that the Ben Franklin stores were specifically for crafts, but I see that they are. I used to go into the store to search for general items, as you would in the old Woolworth* 5&10 Cent stores.

The website says:
============================================================
"Ben Franklin Crafts stores are part of the nation's largest family of independently owned retail stores. We carry the creative products you need to add personal flair to your home or to create gifts for your family and friends - needlecrafts, florals, wicker, paints, fabrics, yarn, and much more."

"Our Ben Franklin Crafts map and directory currently have 325 Ben Franklin Crafts locations."
============================================================

I had no idea they were so widespread.

* BTW, in Glens Falls, the old Woolworth building downtown is now the Wood Theater where plays and live shows are performed.

[Jim]

We used to have one in Belair, MD, too.

[Earl]

Jim wrote: "It does seem to be coming back into fashion, Joy. I need to find a good knitting supply store nearby. The only one in Shelbyville seems to be out of business. I'm sure there are some in Louisvil..."

http://www.yarn.com/
Plenty of different yarn there, but you need to know the names, weight etc, or you come up with stuff you didn't anticipate.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks for the yarn link, Earl. Wow! It's a whole other world!

[Jim]

Thanks, Earl. Unfortunately, I'm a complete tyro at this so I don't have a clue. I will probably use it after I've figured out the details, though.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Hook rugging is a very easy craft for folks who like to keep their hands busy, but don't want to get into something too complicated. There are many hook rug kits available.

It's done by using short individual pieces of yarn which are "hooked", one at a time, into a rug backing which has the design stamped on it. So you know which colors to use when. I made a hook rug years ago.

Here are photos of the hooks used:
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-62008670...
http://www.iloverughooking.com/basicr...
(As you can see, they are very simple tools.)

Here's the backing:
http://www.iloverughooking.com/backin...

Below are some related web pages:
http://www.weekendkits.com/latch-hook...
http://spinayarn.com/Latchhook.htm
http://www.iloverughooking.com/patter...

They even come in Tartan plaid patterns:
http://www.tartanrugkits.com/
Sample plaids: http://www.tartanrugkits.com/samples.htm
How about that! :)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "Thanks, Earl. Unfortunately, I'm a complete tyro at this so I don't have a clue. ..."

Jim, you taught me a new word, "tyro". Thanks! :) I've never heard it before.

tyro: "a beginner in learning : novice"
"Origin: Medieval Latin, from Latin tiro young soldier, tyro"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio...
http://www.onelook.com/?w=tyro+&ls=a

[Jim]

I learned a new word the other day that I promptly forgot, but thought was cool. A guy named Mike wrote the following, "...a rhetorical scheme like polysyndeton is all about establishing a pace in reading (or listening) to create an effect..."

That's one of the nice things about GR, I'm always learning something.

[Nina]

I once belonged to a group that collected odd words and polysyndeton would have been a good one.

Here's a quote: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

Grocho Marx

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I learned a new word the other day that I promptly forgot, but thought was cool. A guy named Mike wrote the following, "...a rhetorical scheme like polysyndeton is all about establishing a pace in..."

Interesting word! New to me too.

polysyndeton:
"The repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect, as in the phrase here and there and everywhere."
FROM: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/...

Definition: "repetition of conjunctions: the use of multiple conjunctions or coordinate clauses in close succession, as in "The bad news caused him to weep and cry and wail"
FROM: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feature...

[Earl]

Jim wrote: "I learned a new word the other day that I promptly forgot, but thought was cool. A guy named Mike wrote the following, "...a rhetorical scheme like polysyndeton is all about establishing a pace in..."

The talking heads on tv are always doing this: taking a little known word and popularizing it. Or changing the generally accepted pronunciation. I find that annoying. But what I REALLY find annoying is when they take a word or phrase and change the meaning: for instance, 'aggressive driving' used to be taking advantage of your car's capabilities and using every legal advantage to make your way rapidly thru traffic. They changed it to mean 'road rage'. I no longer have a word to describe the former.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Earl and all, speaking about annoying ways of speaking, it always irks me when people say or write the words "different than". Instead, the expression should usually be "different from". For example: "Your style is different from mine."

Below is link to an explanation of the grammatical rules:
http://federalist.wordpress.com/2009/...

Also see:
http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/adje...
http://gmat-grammar.blogspot.com/2007...
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/r...
(The article is called: "Is "different than" bad grammar?")

PS-The simplest way to remember the rule is:
"Than is used after a comparative adjective, e.g. taller than, whiter than. The word different isn't a comparative adjective, unless used in more different than."
FROM: http://english.stackexchange.com/ques...

OR

"When different is followed by a prepositional phrase, the preposition should be from. When it's followed by a dependent clause introduced by a conjunction (even if much of the clause is elliptical), the conjunction should be than."
FROM: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/r...

PPS-I realize that the explanations are sometimes hard to follow in this case, but it seems to me that we can simplify things by remembering that it all depends on whether the word "than" is being used as conjunction, and not a preposition. The word "than" is NOT a preposition; it's a conjunction. The word "from" is a preposition and the noun following it is the object of the preposition. When a conjunction is used, it's followed by a clause.
FOR EXAMPLE:

SENTENCE: John's house is different from my house.
(The noun, "house", is the object of the preposition from.)

SENTENCE: John's house is different than I expected it to be.
(The clause, "I expected it to be", follows the conjunction than

RULE: Never use the word "than" as a preposition.

[Jim]

I hear you, Earl. One of my pet peeves is the change in the word 'decimate' to mean 'wipe out'. It has an obvious root word starting it 'deci' meaning 1/10th of. It's origins aren't obscure either. The Romans would punish rebelling towns by lining all the men up & killing every tenth man - fairly common knowledge.

There are a lot of other words for killing everyone off or inflicting horrific casualties, but very few as precise as 'decimate'. So why do folks have to turn it into one more vapid word?

I'd answer, but it would probably be unprintable. Let's just say it's a rhetorical question.
;-)

[Katherine]

A pet peeve of mine is when newscasters say "went missing", instead just saying "missing". What's the "went' doing in there anyways"?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Katherine wrote: "A pet peeve of mine is when newscasters say "went missing", instead just saying "missing". What's the "went' doing in there anyways"?"

Katherine, see the following link for an explanation:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/General-Wr...
"... the phrase IS relatively new -- 50 years for the British and about 10 years for America."
"... the earliest entry was in the book, "Bang to Rights," written by F. Norman in 1958. 'The snout had gone missing.'"

There's more here:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/...
"The reason went missing sounds strange to Americans is that it's a British idiom."

"A couple of other idioms that use the word go include go begging to mean “unfilled” or “available,” as in "Jobs went begging"; and go over to mean “to gain acceptance,” as in "They hope the play goes over well."

[Mary JL]

A bad day today in Omaha, Nebraska, my friends.

Yesterday, at 1 pm, a disturbed young man oepned fire. He critically wounded principal Dr. Curtis Case, who is still fighting for his life.

His second victim, Dr. Vicki Kaspar, vice-principal, died of her injuries last night.

The young man, Robert Burke, drove a few blocks away and killed himself He was only 17.

I think I will stay in today and pray. I know no-one at Millard South high school, but this has rattled me.

Three familes greiving.

[Werner]

Mary JL, I'll be saying a prayer with you!

[Jim]

Oh yuck! So sorry to hear that Mary.

It was a bad night. Harley (our oldest JRT now that Munchkin is gone) upset Cutter (Marg's young horse) & got stomped. Erin just called & she's still alive. We'll know more later today.

Harley wound up with 2 crushed or compressed vertebrate about where her front shoulders meet. That's an inoperable location - too far up the spine. She may also have broken her elbow. They ran her into the vet's last night very quickly (under 1 hour) & got steroids in her to keep the swelling down, so that gave her a better chance at recovery. The biggest danger of immediate death was shock, but she got through that, too.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Mary JL, that is so sad. A terrible tragedy.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, I feel so bad for Harley. How is she doing?

[Jim]

I don't know, Joy. All I know now is she didn't die last night. Marg might have a tough decision later today, we'll see.

She was paralyzed at first, but apparently regained some use in all extremities before they left the vet's office. She couldn't stand, though.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

How old is Harley?

[Jim]

She's 11. I think she was from Munchkin & Gypsy's first litter - our very first litter of JRT's. Gypsy died some years ago - she & Casey (Erin's JRT) took on two big dogs & lost. They should have known better, but JRT's think they're Pit Bull sized. We had to put Munchkin down in August. He was 19, so had a good life. This will be very tough on Marg, if we have to put her down. Harley is her shadow, just like Munchkin was.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I know how upsetting it is when your pet is in trouble. After all, they are BIG part of the family.

[Werner]

Jim, I join Joy in my concern about Harley. Keep us posted!

[Jim]

Still iffy. I've got to stop at the feed store & get timothy hay pellets for the goats on the way home, so I'll be going by the vet's office to visit her. I'll let you know more tonight.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Who's Timothy? :)

[Jim]

You were joking right? Timothy rather than Alfalfa - types of hay. The goats are fat enough. They look pregnant.
;-)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

LOL - No, Jim. Actually, I wasn't joking. I had thought you were getting hay for timothy to feed to the goats. I've never heard of "timothy hay". Remember, I'm a city-girl. :)
Re timothy hay: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-timot...

[Jim]

Oh. Sorry. LOL. Marg feeds the horses an alfalfa/meadow grass mix out in the field. It's very rich, which is why Speedy can no longer have it. Speedy, gets just meadow grass hay. During the day, the goats eat both because they go right through the electric fence that keeps Speedy in.

At night, since they've pretty well eaten everything up in their pen, we installed one of those big dog food feeders & fill it with hay pellets. They waste loose hay picking at it otherwise. I don't think they make a meadow grass hay pellet, just the alfalfa or timothy. They look like the pellets you feed to rabbits.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Sounds delicious! :)

[Jim]

The Harley update is pretty grim. The vet thinks she may have torn all the nerves out of her left shoulder. Her front left leg is completely paralyzed & numb. If that is the case, it probably won't get better. He thinks her hind end is going to be OK & she'll regain most, if not all strength in it, so I left her there for another night to get IV steroids to keep the swelling down. Marg or I will be bringing her home tomorrow.

She'll need to be kept completely quiet for 2 - 4 weeks & then we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the swelling in the spine will continue to come down & everything will be well - an outside chance. Likely, she'll regain most everything except the front leg.

There are two issues with that. She broke her left hind leg badly one time & has a pin in it. Cold weather especially bothers it & it is weaker than the other leg, so if she doesn't regain use of her front leg, she might be in trouble. A 3 legged, small dog isn't a big deal, but one with other impairments might have a bad time. The other is that if she doesn't regain feeling in that leg, it will likely have to be amputated.

To top it off, she's 11.5 years old & is probably over 2/3 of the way through her life - late middle age or early old age. How much will her age & this accident come together to screw up the rest of her life is anyone's guess.

Are we being cruel keeping her alive or should we give her a chance? We're opting for the chance right now. Neither of us are sure if we're right, though.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, it's a tough decision. Can you tell if she's in bad pain? Does she wag her tail when she sees you? I'm sure that, no matter what, she will feel a bit better when she's home with the family.

[Werner]

Jim, I don't have any words of wisdom for the dilemma, and there's not much I can say that's comforting; but we all feel for Harley, and for you and Marg, too! I'm not there to give you an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder in person, but count this as a virtual one.

[Jim]

Thanks, Werner.

Yes, Joy, Harley is in a lot of pain now, but that should pass soon. She's bruised up badly. The big question is, when that goes away, will she have any quality of life? Unfortunately, we just don't know.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, please keep us posted on Harley's progress. Hope she'll improve soon.

[Jim]

I got Harley back home. Only cost me $332 to get her out of hock. Very cool for an after hours emergency & 2 nights at the vet's. She seems happy to be home & much better, although her front leg is still just a lump.

[Nina]

This is a bad time for you and the ones who love Harley. But, I think deep down he knows his loved ones will take care of him the very best they can. Good luck and I will keep Harley in my evening prayers tonight. nina

[Jim]

Thanks, Nina. Harley is a girl - her face was half black & half white as a pup, so my wife named her Harlequin for that acting masks. The kids & I called her Harley Quinn for the Joker's girl friend in the Batman cartoon.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, I love the way Harley got her name! Glad she seems happier now that she's home, even though her leg is bad. Poor thing. Please keep us posted.

[Nina]

Jim, Clever name, Harley. Why did I think she was named for a motorcycle? nina

[Jim]

Harley ate this morning, so she's doing better. The front leg is still dead & she is bruised all over, but moving well otherwise. I tried to be very careful as I carried her in & out to go to the bathroom. 16 F with 1/2" of snow.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Can Harley stand now? The fact that she's eating is a good sign.

We have a foot of snow here. It came down yesterday and last night. Temp is 27.7.

[Nina]

I know you must be pleased to have the patient at HOME. Good luck with the leg problem. nina

[Jim]

Thanks. She is miserable. It's about time for another trip outside & her afternoon pain pill. She is eating & drinking pretty well, so that's a good sign. She just lays there shivering in pain too often, though. We have a dog crate heating pad under her to make sure she's warm enough.

[Nina]

There was a comparison article about the older, "True Grit," movie and the newer one. the newer one won the "contest" but having not seen the older one for many years and never seen the newer version I felt I was no one to judge; with the exception that I agreed with the suggestion that the setting in the earlier one was totally wrong compared to the later version. In the first one which I do remember thinking how crazy it was to have the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop for Arkansas. That reminds me that we watched, "Support Your Local Sheriff," staring James Garner last night and I have never in the many times I have travelled through St. Louis seen mountains but they were there in the movie setting in St. Louis. nina

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Trivia for "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969)"
"The film's title is a parody of a bumper sticker popular around the time it was made, 'Support Your Local Police' part of the 'law and order' movement led by such contemporary politicians as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Wallace."
FROM: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065051/t...

Trivia for "True Grit" (1969):
"John Wayne was disappointed by the casting of Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, and the two hardly spoke at all off camera. He later said, "... talk about having no chemistry with your leading lady! She was the ... lousiest actress I ever worked with."
"Sally Field was also up for the part of Mattie Ross."
FROM: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065126/t...

I recently watched and enjoyed both movies via Netflix. I would have preferred Sally Field in the part of Mattie Ross.