Disk vs. Disc

I have always been confused by what the difference is between the two words, disk and disc. After an informal survey, I concluded that many people are as confused as I am. So, I went Googling to see if I could clear up this confusion. The first three hits included one from Wikipedia, one from Apple Computer, and one from the Grammarist.  Seemed like a good place to start. However after reading them, it's still about as clear as mud.

Here's my summary of what I read. Both words are derived from the Latin word discus, but throughout the centuries, the spelling of the word has changed between disk and disc. There are also some differences in usage between Britain and the US, and in most cases, you probably won't be confusing anyone if you use the words interchangeably.  However, if you are talking to someone at Apple or others in the computer world, disc is used for material that is read optically (CD-ROMs and DVDs) and disk is used for material that is read magnetically (hard drives, floppy disks).  Wham-O says that Frisbees are flying discs and car brakes are disc brakes. And the list goes on.

Got it? Quick. Tell me is the Milky Way a big spinning disk or disc.

Maybe the pictures below will help with Disk vs. Disc confusion.

First we have the disks--a floppy disk and a hard disk in an external drive. These use magnetic storage.

Next we have the discs--CD-ROM and DVD. These use optical storage.

But let's think about this a little more.

If disks have magnetic storage and can be square or rectangular shaped, does that mean a VHS tape that uses magnetic storage is a disk?

Or because VHS tapes contain movies, does that mean they are discs like DVDs that have movies?

Then there's the flying disc.

Let's think some more.

If flat round things are called discs like the (generic) Frisbee, then are other flat round things called discs like a disc of peppermint candy?

And if a peppermint candy is a disc, does that mean that other sweet round things are discs? Or if they are square (i.e. Jolly Ranchers) like a floppy disk are they disks?

In conclusion, I am so confused.

A Second Look--May 30, 2012

After being away for a few days, I did my Second Look where I found astilbe and coneflowers with their first blooms of the season. However, I had to cut my exploration short as the wind picked up and the sky darkened. I made it inside just before heavy rain started.

Here's what I found this week.

The first coneflower

As the spirea is fading, the astilbe are coming out in full force.

As the wind kicked up, I rushed inside.

Food Waste Friday--May 25, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. 

Here it goes for this week.

This week we didn't have any waste, but I had to work at it a bit for that to happen. Below are some of the saves.

Apparently, no one likes this brand of raisin bread, so I put it in the freezer before it molded. The plan is to make French toast out of it later.

Look! Cilantro that isn't slimy. I bought it for one recipe where I used it, but I also added it to another that didn't call for it. Hopefully, you won't be seeing this next week as I find other places to sneak it in.

We usually have a hard time using up the rice that comes with our Chinese takeout. This time it went into a stew before the mad dash to freeze it happened. Also, this is actually where I hid used the cilantro.

We had a big watermelon that we weren't going to finish in a timely manor, so I gave some to a friend. However, I didn't take any pictures before it left, so here's a picture of the other fruit we have in the house.

Baby birds

It was a year ago that Ward got a bird feeder for his birthday and we started watching the birds around our yard. As part of this new found interest, we also have been watching our bluebird nesting box this spring. The birds have used it before, but we paid little attention to them.

This year, we watched as bluebirds flew around it making a nest. Later we checked it occasionally to watch the successful brood that was raised there. Wally and I took a few pictures of the process as you'll see below.

Let me mention a couple of things before you look at the pictures. Baby birds inside dark boxes don't take "cute" photos. I think the phrase, " They look like something only a mother could love," applies here.

February 23--Our bluebird nesting box that Wally built as part of his Boy Scout Eagle project.

                           March 23                                 March 27                                                    April 3

It took a couple of weeks for the nest to be built and then it sat empty for a couple more weeks.

This nest is made out of pine needles. Bluebirds usually use only one material to build their nests.

April 26--They hatch.
I don't know exactly when the babies hatched, but I think it was just before this picture was taken.
The four babies are mostly pink skin with tufts of gray down on their heads.

April 30--five days old
The down is increasing and the beak is a lot more prominent.
The eyes aren't open yet, but they should be opening in a couple of days.

May 11--sixteen days old
They have visible tail feathers and are starting to develop wing feathers. 
There's still a fair amount of down.

May 19, 2012--twenty-four days old
The nest is empty. They've probably been gone for a couple of days.

Note:  If you want to see a good photo and informational presentation of baby bluebirds visit Bluebird Nut.  

A Second Look--May 23, 2012

We've had a lot of rain over the past couple of days, so I went out between showers for my Second Look this week. The ants and bees were out in full force especially around the sage and spirea.

See what I found this week during my Second Look.

Rain drops on Lady's Mantle leaves along with Dead nettle (Lamium m. Aureum) 

The Blanket Flowers went from only two blooms last week to many.

Ant on Sage foraging for nectar.

Annie giving me a second look through the screen door as I do a Second Look.

Bee on Spirea blossoms.

Presently, my favorite garden tools: soil knife, sun hat, and leaf scoops.

School Days--Eddie

 School Days is a reoccurring feature in which I ask people about their early memories of school. Everyone has a story to tell about this and I hope to give them a voice here. 

Here is Today's Story

Eddie started kindergarten in 1988 when he was almost five years old. His school was in suburban Maryland.

What do you remember about starting school?

I remember that Mrs.Gnu was my teacher for kindergarten. She was nice enough, but she acted like she didn't want to deal with kids, especially me.

Why do you say that?

Maybe because we were hard to deal with.

We had a coloring book on dinosaurs to color and I didn't want to do it. Coloring was not my thing. I colored all of the pictures gray and didn't worry that I was outside the lines. She asked me why I did that because the dinosaurs were different colors. I replied, “You should know. You are old enough to have been there.”

Another time I watched one kid dump an entire bottle of Elmer's glue on another kid's head.

Were you one of those kids?

No, but the two kids involved later lived together.

What do you remember about first grade?

Mrs. Bee was my teacher and was frustrated with me. I wasn't catching onto spelling and although I could read, I didn't want to read what they had at school. One day, she was exasperated with me and said, “Why aren't you getting it? Are you stupid?”

That's awful.

Yes it was. It was the first time I wanted to hit an adult. The interesting thing is that she was my mentor in middle school to help me be organized.

Can you tell me a good memory from elementary school?

My second grade teacher, Mrs. Jackson was very nice, but I really enjoyed fifth grade. I don't remember what I learned, so there must not have been too many problems in that area. Mr. Shraffe was my teacher and he was a lot of fun. He was a good story teller and sometimes he would end the day with a game or a magic trick. He brought his laser disc player to school and showed us Billy Joel's music video of We Didn't Start the Fire. We studied history that way.

Thanks for sharing your memories. I hope we can hear more stories another time.

Soil Knife

Ward's new soil knife

I have a new favorite garden tool.  It cuts, it digs, it measures, it saws, it makes coffee. Well, actually I'm not sure about the coffee part, but it might. What is it? A soil knife also known as a hori hori knife.  The miracle tool is the shape of narrow trowel with a sharp knife edge on one side and a saw-tooth edge on the other. The one we have is also marked off in inches for measuring.

Apparently, it's been around for a long time. It was first implemented in Japan to dig mountain vegetables. (Thus the original name of hori hori which means "to dig" in Japanese.) However, I only heard of it recently when Aunt Martha suggested that Ward might like one for his birthday. I got it for him, but I kind of felt like when I was a kid and for my sister's birthday bought what I really wanted. Ward has gotten to use it a few times, but I have had it out almost every day.

Each time I use it, I find another thing it does better than any tool I've used before. It makes digging very easy. Its sharp blade cuts into hard soil almost effortlessly. And if you run into roots while you're digging--no problem. You can saw right through them. You can measure the depth of your hole when you are planting, and it cuts better than any razor blade I've ever used when opening a bag of mulch. I love it. The only problem is that Theodore has discovered it too. Maybe Ward needs another one for Father's Day.

Food Waste Friday--May 18, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. 

Here it goes for this week.

Cilantro past its prime.

I should have known. When I looked up the definition for cilantro, here's what I found:

  cilantro  (sɪˈlæntrəʊ): an herb, also called coriander, that is sold in big bunches and rots rapidly.  :)

No wonder that cilantro is a common occurrence on my Food Waste Friday posts. However, this time, I used more than usual before it started to turn to slime.

Marshmallows

Even though I love sweets, marshmallows aren't on the top of my list. Unless, of course, they are on s'mores. Then they are an all time favorite.  I was reminded of this last weekend when we had s'mores at Miss Landers' house. During the course of roasting our marshmallows, someone mentioned that they now made flat marshmallows to go between graham crackers. I thought that idea sounded very gimmicky, but I guess "Build it and they will come," or "Make it and they will impulse buy it," applies here.

Anyway, I wondered what else I didn't know about the world of marshmallows, so I did a little Googling. I learned that first the marshmallows were actually made from the root of the marshmallow plant and were used to treat sore throats. I also learned that along with the flat marshmallows, there are mini ones, fruity ones, chocolate ones, and just about every other size and shape you can imagine. In addition, I discovered that the world record for stacking regular size marshmallows with chopsticks is five and I found a recipe for making marshmallow peeps.

Despite all of this new found knowledge, I continue to hold onto the one thing I know for sure. Marshmallows are one of the best highly processed foods out there--as long as they are used on s'mores.

Making s'mores at Miss Landers

Second Look--May 16, 2012

I thought it was still spring with new iris and wild cherry trees blooming. Then when I looked outside today for a Second Look, I found blanket flowers along with the first day lilies--both things I associate with summer.  I guess only the plants know when the time is right for them to bloom.

Also, I have seen a couple of new calves in the field behind us. After talking to the farmer, I found out that most of the calves go to kids for 4H projects. Some are kept for breeding. Anyway, it's fun to watch them chase each other. The birds remain active and the deer visit every day. And the squirrels... they ate entire cake of suet this week.

See what I found this week.

Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia)

Tulip poplar. This actually is not a poplar tree. It's a member of the the magnolia family.

Calf

Yellow iris

Gray squirrel

Geranium-Rozanne

 Wild Cherry in full bloom

Watchful deer

Stella Dora Day Lily

Cardinal and downy woodpecker

Happy Mother's Day

When I think about my mother and what she taught me, my head spins because the list seems endless. She taught me how to measure a cup of flour with the straight edge of a butter knife and the dying art of ironing a shirt. I know how to treat a fever and plan a menu thanks to her tutoring.

A table I helped lash at Girl Scout camp.

And when she didn't know how to do something herself, she made sure that I learned in other ways. She took me to swimming lessons and clarinet lessons. That says a lot for someone who was afraid of the water and wanted to wear earplugs during my early music instruction. Thanks to her, I know how to lash a table out of branches and I don't think that's something she learned in nursing school. I think the 23 years she dedicated to being a Girl Scout leader had something to do with that.

However if I have to pick one thing that she taught me, I think the most important is respect for others and especially the elderly. When I was growing up, we had several older people in our neighborhood.

Mrs. Craft, one of the neighbors I visited growing up.

We regularly took food to them and just visited—sitting on the couch and talking. It wasn't always easy for me, but I learned how important it was over time. I hope that I have taught this respect to my children as well.

So, Mother, when I can't be there to take you some food and just sit on the couch and visit, I want you to know that you've got one* grateful daughter wishing you a Happy Mother's Day.

*Actually, I've got three sisters, so my mother has four grateful daughters this Mother's Day.

A Day in the Life of...

A Day in the Life of..
or The Good, Bad, and the Mundane.


I'd like to say that my blog readers have been asking me what a typical day in my life is like, but they haven't. I'd like to say that I had a very interesting day yesterday that I'd like to share, but I didn't. What I will say, here is an experiment I did. I documented a day of mine, so when someone asks me what I've been up to, I might have an answer instead of a blank.

Did the experiment help me understand how I spend my time on a typical day? Well, sort of.  Did I learn anything else? Yes, I learned that I don't need an exciting day to go to bed happy.

With no further ado, here is a day in the life of me.

Dawn broke and the cats' stomach alarms went off.  And the only way to turn them off was to feed them. So I fed them.

Next, I fed myself. I had my usual bowl of cereal (and some cookies.) But you won't see those. I like to present the illusion that I eat well.

After breakfast, Wally and I chased down Annie to give her her medicine. And after we caught her, we had to catch Leo for the same thing. The whole process was exhausting.

I was cutting it a little close, but on the way to work, but I stopped at the post office to mail a letter. Everything worked out just right and I made it to work on time. Hurray!

Work was fairly routine. Book, book, everywhere a book. I won't mention the piece of birthday cake I had because as you know I eat well.

After work, I went home for a healthful lunch of salad and cottage cheese. Fortunately, you can't see the three cookies I also had. And if you ask me about them, I will deny I know anything about them. I usually always have a good diet.

Then I was off to see the eye doctor. (Get the pun. "See" the eye doctor. I amuse myself sometimes.) All was well and I got some free samples of eye drops.

I decided that I should pick up a few groceries on the way home. Can't live without skim milk and Cheerios. Part of a good diet you know.

After I got home, I did a little weeding. The rain we've had made the weeds fairly easy to dig and pull.

While I was out, I thought I had better take the recycling down to the curb for tomorrow's pickup. It seems like we only remember to do this about half of the time, so I was pleased with myself.

Then for some work on my blog. Joining me, with a little lap time, were the cats. All of them took a turn but Annie. She was still a little leery of me because the this morning's medicine chase.

It was soon time to start supper. We had baked potatoes, green beans, and pork. And no cookies. (Ward got to them before I had a chance.)

After supper we had a little relaxing time in front of the TV watching the Big Bang. We all love that show (except Wally).

Soon it was time for bed.

And a little reading. (And a few cookies that Ward didn't get to. Darn, they were good, but I had to brush my teeth again.)

The End.

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