V is for Vote

Today is election day here and I'm faced with some difficult choices. However, I may just vote for Jon Rogers--for all offices. At least we know that Jon has a good sense of humor--not a bad qualification to start with.

This is a sign I saw last time I visited my mother. It was in the middle of several signs for various candidates.  

U is for Under or Over

U is for Under or Over

or How does your toilet paper roll?

I've spoken about this issue before--how do you install a roll of toilet paper?  Do you put it on so it unrolls from the bottom or unrolls from the top? This seems to be an issue that generates much argument.

Google patents

Recently "new" data has surfaced* that some claim has important bearing on this under/over argument. The information comes from the original patent application for a roll of  perforated toilet paper by Seth Wheeler in 1891. The perforations were seen as an inexpensive way to help prevent the waste of paper. Before this, waste prevention was done by expensive holders that were awkward to use.

But it seems that no one these days is much interested in Wheeler's clever use of perforations to tear toilet paper. Everyone seems to be interested in the pictures that went with the patent. In those pictures, the paper is rolled from the top. The proponents of the over method say that this is definitive evidence that over is the correct way for a roll to flow.

However, the under proponents are holding fast to their beliefs. They are making arguments that the way the pictures were oriented was only to demonstrate the points of the invention and aren't necessarily an endorsement by Wheeler.

So the debate continues. Which side are you on ?


*Recently, I have seen this picture on several social media sites. This also happened last year at this time. Of course, it's not new data since it's been around since 1891.

Two posts do not make a trend, but if I keep this up, I may have one going. That is, a trend of posts about unimportant things that people care about. Yesterday was about pedicures and today is about toilet paper.

T is for Toes

Photo source

I was talking with Miss Landers recently about the royal visit of William and Kate to India and Bhutan, and she filled me in on the hoopla about Kate's toes. Apparently, Kate took her shoes off at one point and the photographers zoomed in on her feet. Now the world is abuzz because Kate did not have a pedicure. I'm guessing that her plain toes generated so much talk because, let's face it, just about everything else is perfect with her.

Photo source

And all of this toe talk reminded me of something I was wondering about last summer. Does every other woman but me get a pedicure in the summer? I painted my toenails a few times in my younger days, but haven't for years. It's just not something that makes it to the top of my list of things to do. While I do wear sandals in the summer, I mostly wear running shoes which work best for my feet.

At some point last summer, I noticed that everyone around me had a pedicure. I was surprised about this, so I spent the next several weeks making a note about how many women had pedicures. I looked at people's feet everywhere I went. (Sounds a little strange, now that I write that.) And the result of that was I saw only one person that had unadorned toes. However, there were many that did not have a manicure.

So is this a regional thing? Do most people have a pedicure in the summer where you live? Do you always have a pedicure when your feet emerge from winter wear? And do you think that this should be the year that I join the rest of the world with a pedicure, or do I march to my own drummer and remain with Kate and her plain toes?

S is for Swamps

S is for Swamps I have known

or S is for School Days

Well, today was going to be about swamps with an Earth Day theme, but I've run out of time to develop that post properly--meaning I haven't written it and I can't find my pictures to go with it. The earlier parts of my day were spent either at work or the dentist. (Still biting my tongue at this point. Can't wait for the numbness to wear off.)  And, I have to leave for my book club meeting in a few minutes. So I've decided to go into the files and revisit something from the past.

Below is a post that I did during the School Days series and this one happens to be about my dad. When I did this interview, he was was in the early to mid stages of Alzheimer's. However, since older memories are often the last to go, everything he told me was right on and I had a very nice time talking with him. I am so happy I did this.

_________________________________________________________________________________

School Days--Earl

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.

Earl started school in 1932 when he was six years old. His school was in rural West Virginia. 

Tell me about when you started school.

I had just turned six. I started with my older sister. They held her back so we could start school at the same time. We went to a one room school a mile or less from our farm house. I used to run all of the way there and all of the way home.

What was your school like?

It was a one room school with one teacher. It had a gas heater and had no pump for water. We had to carry our water.  On the playground there were teeter-totters and the big kids would try to knock the little kids off.

Did you like school?

No, I couldn't wait to get away from there. There were too many restrictions.

Did you get in trouble because you weren't used to so many restrictions?

No, they just ignored me. I didn't do much including applying myself to my studies. I wasn't much interested in what they were teaching although I could hold my own in most areas. My sister applied herself and did well in school. My favorite subject was freedom when school let out.

What did you do for lunch?

We took our lunch. I made my own because my mother was too busy with the rest of my brothers and sisters. We usually had biscuits and sandwich spread. I've had enough sandwich spread to do me for a long time.

Another time, I would like to hear more about your school days.

R is for Rainbow

Today... I am going to remember

 that after a storm, there can be a rainbow.