"Verbosity leads to unclear, matriculate things." Remember J. Danforth Quayle?

The Good Ol' Days

As I get "older" I find myself talking more about the good ol' days.  You know, like the 60s and 70s.  Well, here's some facts about the real ol' days, the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-th ick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood wa s placed in the entranceway.
Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show it off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 cof fins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell... Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

And that's the truth..... Now, whoever said that the good ol' days were really that good!

Heart Attacks and Drinking Warm Water

This is a very good article.  Not only about the warm water after your meal, but aboutHeart Attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt theirdrinking habit while eating. 
                                                     
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.  Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food.  It will line the intestine.  Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. 
It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. 

Common Symptoms Of Heart Attack... 
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. 

You may never have the first chest painduring the course of a heart attack. Nauseaand intense sweating are also common symptoms.  Sixty percent of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up.  Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware.  The more we know, the better chance we could survive. 

A Cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send to a friend. It could save a life.  So, please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about. 
  
I  JUST DID -  -   
  

Bar Codes

If you want to know where that piece of junk you just bought was manufactured, take a look at the first few digits of the bar code.  Some countries are no longer placing the words "Made in ....." on their products due to problems inside their country, along with consumer fear of products coming from that location to the US.  You can get that information by looking at the bar code as follows:

00    ~ 13     USA & CANADA  
30    ~ 37     FRANCE  
40    ~ 44     GERMANY  
49    ~          JAPAN  
50    ~          UK  
57    ~          Denmark  
64    ~          Finland  
76    ~          Switzerland  and Liechtenstein  
471  ~         Taiwan
480  ~         Philippines         
628  ~         Saudi-Arabia  
629  ~         United Arab Emirates  
690 ~ 695   China
740 ~ 745   Central  America 

Black or Red?

My daughter and I did a bit of shopping this afternoon, aka Black Friday.  We drove north to Melbourne, Florida, about 25 miles from home.  From the looks of things this may well be a black day in quite another way.  The origin of the name comes from retailers going from the red to the black, from loss to profit.  Though the mall was busy, it didn't appear to be any more so than any other weekend.  We stopped in Circuit City to pick up an item I had ordered on line.  I had expected a huge line, but I walked right up to the register.  We went to Best Buy to get a couple of DS games for her, and again I was surprised by the lack of people in line.  We were fourth.  

Now both CC and BB did have lots of customers in the store, but compared to recent years it was obvious that business was off.  Much to my delight, one very hot item was the eeePC, on sale for $279 with linux os.  Lots of people seemed interested, and smiles were evident when they got there hands on one.  They went quickly, too.

So this recession may be deepening, but not unexpectedly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Parrot

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity.
John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music, and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.
Finally, John was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird, and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.
Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt t he parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.
The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."
John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"
HAPPY EARLY THANKSGIVING�!!