Today ...

[Robert]

Doc told me today that my right knee is bone on bone. My left knee isn’t that far behind. We’re in the process of deciding how-when-where we want to do the replacements.
Prayers would be appreciated.

All that genuflection is catching up with you.

I had to look that one up When I first read it I thought what in the world does a mirror have to do with my knees? I thought it was some kind of fancy new kind of mirror.
Most likely my knees went out from climbing 3 flights of steps multiple times at work. That and everything around here is uphill both ways.

Few people know that term, that is why I used it.

When my oldest daughter was little, I used to come home every day with a new big word. After a few years, she would never shut up, so I learned to stop doing that with my others.

The boys seemed to have more trouble getting spoon to mouth though, so not sure it would have mattered.

There is a reason why I know so many words. When I was in the fifth grade we moved to Texas that had corporal punishment. I had been struck by lightning the year before and my system was still recovering and I was not allowed to be hit for any reason. I could not even play contact sports. The teacher said she knew how to discipline me as needed. She made me write a page out of the dictionary any time I misbehaved. By the end of the year, I knew a LOT of words.

My family hates to play Scrabble with me. I knew enough vague words and can make up new ones on the fly that sound real. If a word is not challenged in Scrabble it plays. So making up words is a strategy, not cheating. If challenged, you loose points. If the word is real, the challenger looses the points. My wife and kids never knew if some obscure word was real or not. If I created the word, I could create a definition since it is my word, so it could mean anything I wanted it to. They would ask me, and I would give a definition. I was ask if they wanted to challenge it. Sometimes they would be brave enough and seemed to only challenge real words. Could be because I could not make up the definition and had to think a bit to recall it. Yes, another strategy.

[temporal1]

lose

your teacher could have done even more damage by having you study Latin.
that might have given your made up word definitions even harder to spot.

[JohnL]

Well I think your vocabulary puts you way ahead of 90% of the population. What’s that scripture that says God builds us up with reproof? I’m glad you survived that lightning strike. I guess it also made you brighter

At least you didn’t have to grow up speaking hillbilly. I remember the first time I used si-gogglin with a high school teacher - she sent me to the principal’s office. I told him I was trying to explain my desk was si-gogglin and needed to be fixed. He was a local man so he walked me back to class and explained to this new teacher what the word meant. She was from Raleigh so she couldn’t help not knowing.

Few people know that term, that is why I used it.

When my oldest daughter was little, I used to come home every day with a new big word. After a few years, she would never shut up, so I learned to stop doing that with my others.

The boys seemed to have more trouble getting spoon to mouth though, so not sure it would have mattered.

There is a reason why I know so many words. When I was in the fifth grade we moved to Texas that had corporal punishment. I had been struck by lightning the year before and my system was still recovering and I was not allowed to be hit for any reason. I could not even play contact sports. The teacher said she knew how to discipline me as needed. She made me write a page out of the dictionary any time I misbehaved. By the end of the year, I knew a LOT of words.

My family hates to play Scrabble with me. I knew enough vague words and can make up new ones on the fly that sound real. If a word is not challenged in Scrabble it plays. So making up words is a strategy, not cheating. If challenged, you loose points. If the word is real, the challenger looses the points. My wife and kids never knew if some obscure word was real or not. If I created the word, I could create a definition since it is my word, so it could mean anything I wanted it to. They would ask me, and I would give a definition. I was ask if they wanted to challenge it. Sometimes they would be brave enough and seemed to only challenge real words. Could be because I could not make up the definition and had to think a bit to recall it. Yes, another strategy.

[temporal1]

i’ll venture to guess you just gave Robert a new word if not new vernacular to employ.

[temporal1]

AUGUST 1 .. cooler and drier.

i’ve been waiting for this. daylight shortening, tho.
June+July were messed up.

This happens. It’s not over, tho. Just a little weather from the north instead of south for a bit.

H78F L59F
NE breeze 8mph gusts 15mph
Humidity 67%

[Robert]

At least you didn’t have to grow up speaking hillbilly.

I lernt it when we lived in north Arkansas for 4 years.

[JohnL]

At least you didn’t have to grow up speaking hillbilly.

I lernt it when we lived in north Arkansas for 4 years.

Arkansas Hillbilly has differences from Appalachian Hillbilly but I knows you already knowd that because you’re not eat up with dumb.

Appalachian 101
Appalachia is the kind of place where somebody can look you dead in the eye, say “Well I swan,” and mean about six different things depending on the tone, time of day, and position of the moon.
We don’t always talk straight, but we talk true.
And for those of you not raised in a holler by people who used butter as medicine and wore house shoes to town, allow me to explain a few things, so you don’t get your feelings hurt or wind up married to someone you didn’t mean to court.
1. “He ain't got the sense God gave a goose.”
Translation: This man is not smart. He may be sweet. He may be strong. But if his brain were a biscuit, it wouldn’t rise.
2. “Well bless it.”
This one’s tricky. “Bless it” can mean:
“That’s a real shame.”
“That baby looks like it’s got your Uncle Dale’s ears.”
Or, “I’m not allowed to cuss in public, but I am deeply displeased.”
3. “Don’t go gettin’ above your raisin’.”
This doesn’t mean you’re levitating over a dried grape. It means you forgot where you came from. Usually said by an aunt when you start ordering lattes instead of sweet tea.
4. “He’s slicker than a hound's tooth.”
This is not a compliment.
It means someone is untrustworthy, likely to sell you a busted riding mower, or dating your cousin and your cousin’s neighbor.
5. “She’s meaner than a striped-tail snake.” *Bonus points for pronouncing it "stripe-id."
Also sometimes phrased as “meaner than two possums in a pillowcase.”
Either way, we’re talking about a woman who could cut you with a look and file her nails with your ego.
6. “I’ll be there, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”
Translation: “I’ll be there... unless nature or the Almighty intervenes.”
Used primarily to avoid committing to anything, especially before 10 a.m. or during football season.
7. “That dog won’t hunt.”
Literal if you're talkin’ about a beagle.
Figurative if you're talkin’ about someone’s excuse, idea, or attempt to justify buying a hot tub with their tax return.
8. “You look rode hard and put up wet.”
This does not mean you’ve been horseback riding. It means you look like you’ve had a long night, a short nap, and maybe lost a fight with a hair dryer.
9. “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”
This one sounds wrong, but it’s right. It means “We’ll deal with that problem later, and probably make it worse when we do.”
10. “He’s eat up with the dumb.” *Actually it usually includes the alternate word for "donkey" added to the end making it "dumba**" but I don't cuss on here...
You’re not just dumb, you’re consumed by it. The dumb has taken root, spread like kudzu, and now you’re out here tryin’ to grill ribs with lighter fluid and an open flame under a pine tree.
Folks outside the mountains don’t always get us. They think we’re backward just because we measure distance in hollers and how far it is to the old gas station that burned down in ’03.
But Appalachian sayings carry weight. They’re history wrapped in humor, wrapped in a warning. You just gotta know how to listen.
So next time an old woman tells you, “That boy’s not quite right, he’s two bricks shy of a load,” trust her.
Because in Appalachia, we may not always speak proper, but we always speak plain.

[Robert]

At least you didn’t have to grow up speaking hillbilly.

I lernt it when we lived in north Arkansas for 4 years.

Arkansas Hillbilly has differences from Appalachian Hillbilly but I knows you already knowd that because you’re not eat up with dumb.

Appalachian 101
Appalachia is the kind of place where somebody can look you dead in the eye, say “Well I swan,” and mean about six different things depending on the tone, time of day, and position of the moon.
We don’t always talk straight, but we talk true.
And for those of you not raised in a holler by people who used butter as medicine and wore house shoes to town, allow me to explain a few things, so you don’t get your feelings hurt or wind up married to someone you didn’t mean to court.
1. “He ain't got the sense God gave a goose.”
Translation: This man is not smart. He may be sweet. He may be strong. But if his brain were a biscuit, it wouldn’t rise.
2. “Well bless it.”
This one’s tricky. “Bless it” can mean:
“That’s a real shame.”
“That baby looks like it’s got your Uncle Dale’s ears.”
Or, “I’m not allowed to cuss in public, but I am deeply displeased.”
3. “Don’t go gettin’ above your raisin’.”
This doesn’t mean you’re levitating over a dried grape. It means you forgot where you came from. Usually said by an aunt when you start ordering lattes instead of sweet tea.
4. “He’s slicker than a hound's tooth.”
This is not a compliment.
It means someone is untrustworthy, likely to sell you a busted riding mower, or dating your cousin and your cousin’s neighbor.
5. “She’s meaner than a striped-tail snake.” *Bonus points for pronouncing it "stripe-id."
Also sometimes phrased as “meaner than two possums in a pillowcase.”
Either way, we’re talking about a woman who could cut you with a look and file her nails with your ego.
6. “I’ll be there, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”
Translation: “I’ll be there... unless nature or the Almighty intervenes.”
Used primarily to avoid committing to anything, especially before 10 a.m. or during football season.
7. “That dog won’t hunt.”
Literal if you're talkin’ about a beagle.
Figurative if you're talkin’ about someone’s excuse, idea, or attempt to justify buying a hot tub with their tax return.
8. “You look rode hard and put up wet.”
This does not mean you’ve been horseback riding. It means you look like you’ve had a long night, a short nap, and maybe lost a fight with a hair dryer.
9. “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”
This one sounds wrong, but it’s right. It means “We’ll deal with that problem later, and probably make it worse when we do.”
10. “He’s eat up with the dumb.” *Actually it usually includes the alternate word for "donkey" added to the end making it "dumba**" but I don't cuss on here...
You’re not just dumb, you’re consumed by it. The dumb has taken root, spread like kudzu, and now you’re out here tryin’ to grill ribs with lighter fluid and an open flame under a pine tree.
Folks outside the mountains don’t always get us. They think we’re backward just because we measure distance in hollers and how far it is to the old gas station that burned down in ’03.
But Appalachian sayings carry weight. They’re history wrapped in humor, wrapped in a warning. You just gotta know how to listen.
So next time an old woman tells you, “That boy’s not quite right, he’s two bricks shy of a load,” trust her.
Because in Appalachia, we may not always speak proper, but we always speak plain.

Ain't no hill for a stepper.

[JohnL]

Well we’ve decided that this stepper will replace one knee in January and see how it goes. If it goes well we’ll do the other knee later in 2026 or 7.
I’m young at heart but ancient in joints.

[Robert]

Well we’ve decided that this stepper will replace one knee in January and see how it goes. If it goes well we’ll do the other knee later in 2026 or 7.
I’m young at heart but ancient in joints.

One of the Texas A and M advisers were on campus yesterday. He had a tee shirt that said "The Paleontologist" on the back. I almost walked over and asked if he came to se me since I have old bones. If he wears it again today, I will do that.