Dear Stanky,
It's great that you've taken upon yourself the task of ridding our house of all the mice we've seen lately. I've been quite impressed with the results, too. You've caught more mice in the past week than in your past 14 years. I believe that this morning's mouse was the tenth notch on your scratching post.
I also appreciate how gently you've dispatched the mice. You cats sure know how to kill something softly. There was that one that looked a bit more like a 7th grade biology dissection project gone horribly wrong, but the rest have all looked like they're sleeping, albeit a bit more ruffled and comatose than usual.
Speaking of sleeping, let's try to keep the 'gifts' out of my bedroom. You know that mamma isn't too fond of mice, even when presented so lovingly by her slippers, so from now on, could you go back to depositing them near your food? Thanks.
Keep up the magnificent work!
Dad
PS: I'll get more of those treats today -- the soft chicken ones, right?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Mice in the Hice
I thought we had just one mouse in the house. Our cat caught it (yay, Stanky!), and that was it. Right?
OK, wishful thinking. There is probably a rubric somewhere that tells you how many mice you have for every one that you see. If there is such a calculation, I don't want to know, because I just saw two mouseys. Stanky is on the job.
One day last year, we came home to find two dead mice lined up (parallel!) in front of the television. On other occasions, we'd come home to find a mouse in the same spot. This meant that, for awhile, I had to be the one to check the living room first. Shirra could handle bugs of all sorts, but she used to hyperventilate when she saw long-tailed rodents under sub-optimal conditions (like: dead on her floor).
As I wrote most of this, there were two mice scurrying about. One ran from the kitchen into the laundry closet as another did a perimeter search of the living room (where I'm sitting). Stanky finished my yogurt and then crouched in his favorite hunting spot. I heard a brief tussle, and then in traipsed Stanky with half of a mouse in his mouth. We disposed of it quickly, and I gave him another reward. He's had a lot of them lately.
OK, wishful thinking. There is probably a rubric somewhere that tells you how many mice you have for every one that you see. If there is such a calculation, I don't want to know, because I just saw two mouseys. Stanky is on the job.
One day last year, we came home to find two dead mice lined up (parallel!) in front of the television. On other occasions, we'd come home to find a mouse in the same spot. This meant that, for awhile, I had to be the one to check the living room first. Shirra could handle bugs of all sorts, but she used to hyperventilate when she saw long-tailed rodents under sub-optimal conditions (like: dead on her floor).
As I wrote most of this, there were two mice scurrying about. One ran from the kitchen into the laundry closet as another did a perimeter search of the living room (where I'm sitting). Stanky finished my yogurt and then crouched in his favorite hunting spot. I heard a brief tussle, and then in traipsed Stanky with half of a mouse in his mouth. We disposed of it quickly, and I gave him another reward. He's had a lot of them lately.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Pitty, Our Road. Pity Us
I met with a man about our horribly pitted road. The drive has gotten so bad that my car bottoms out in a couple spots, which may have resulted in a broken brake fluid line and some busted bearing holders in both wheels. The road is currently soggy, pitty, and cratery. It's gotten so bad that I may have to make up a few more words for it, tho some popular scatological ones come to mind right away.
As for the repair, our man estimated the cost in the $4,800 range. Ouch. The last time we had some holes filled in, it cost us $300, or 12 times less. The repair should last 4 or 5 years, however, so that's not too bad, and luckily we share the road and can split the costs with our nabes. We'll see how that turns out....
As for the repair, our man estimated the cost in the $4,800 range. Ouch. The last time we had some holes filled in, it cost us $300, or 12 times less. The repair should last 4 or 5 years, however, so that's not too bad, and luckily we share the road and can split the costs with our nabes. We'll see how that turns out....
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Spring Flood 08
New Paltz was hit with a rain storm last week. The temperature surpassed 32, and the sun came out. All of the leftover snow melted. The fire department immediately went on alert.
It's not the flooded basements that put us on standby. Basements were looking pretty pond-like along certain roads like Ohioville (North and South). Instead, it's the threat of downed power lines that we fear. As the ground soaks up all that water, the Central Hudson poles tend to sag a bit. Sometimes these get hit by trucks, and sometimes they just snap under high winds.
Luckily we didn't have to deal with one of those situations, but we did have lots of basements to pump out. Some had a foot of water; some had enough to get into the waders that the firemen were wearing. As it happened, I didn't go onto a basement until a day after the major flooding. For those who DID go in on the bad day, they often came out with a couple bootfuls of H20. One young guy new to the department came out of a basement with more water than was left in the basement after we'd finished, or so he claimed.
It's not the flooded basements that put us on standby. Basements were looking pretty pond-like along certain roads like Ohioville (North and South). Instead, it's the threat of downed power lines that we fear. As the ground soaks up all that water, the Central Hudson poles tend to sag a bit. Sometimes these get hit by trucks, and sometimes they just snap under high winds.
Luckily we didn't have to deal with one of those situations, but we did have lots of basements to pump out. Some had a foot of water; some had enough to get into the waders that the firemen were wearing. As it happened, I didn't go onto a basement until a day after the major flooding. For those who DID go in on the bad day, they often came out with a couple bootfuls of H20. One young guy new to the department came out of a basement with more water than was left in the basement after we'd finished, or so he claimed.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Worst Anniversary Ever
In the Spongebob movie that my kids were watching a few months ago, Spongebob and friend Patrick sing, "It's the best day, e-e-ever." I had that song running on a loop thru my head all day, only with the word 'best' replaced by 'worst' and 'day' replaced by 'anniversary.'
The day wasn't as bad as I'm sure some people's worst anniversary stories might attest. No one dies, no one gets arrested, there isn't a big blowout fight. I'm not comparing my lousy anniversary with some truly lousy days among the general public. But I've had 14 other anniversaries, and all of them were either more enjoyable or were truly nondescript. I remember having a lovely time on our first anniversary back in 1994. We got each other cute gifts and looked forward to finally sampling that last bite of wedding cake that we'd set aside 365 days earlier. Word to the unwise: Enjoy the cake while it's still fresh, because cake left in a freezer for one year tastes like soggy cardboard.
I don't recall the details of the next 13 anniversaries; they all blend together, and I can only try to remember them individually if I calculate the year and then try to conjure up a memory of what we were doing in our lives at that time. I just remember feeling a sense of relief and happiness last year when our marriage turned 14 because that meant that we'd stayed together longer than my parents, and that had always been a goal of mine.
Things didn't bode well when Shirra realized just a few days ago that our anniversary was approaching. Apparently it came to her when she was remembering that March 3 was the birthday of our first cat. I had completely forgotten that our big day was coming up, and I was even more chagrinned when I remembered that a few years ago, she'd hoped to celebrate #15 with a cruise on the Queen Mary 2. Well, that boat sailed on by.
According to some online research I just did, the 15th anniversary is traditionally marked with gifts of crystal (a huge improvement over the tin of year 10). I opted instead for a picnic theme. It wasn't like I'd given myself a lot of time to plan ahead, so I drove down to Kat the Cheese's shop in the Water Street Market and bought some cheeses, bread, crackers, jam, and a cool little picnic pack that looks like a large Fil-o-Fax I once had but actually holds some napkins, a cheese board, and two sets of cutlery. My plan was to surprise Shirra this morning with a late breakfast on our lawn after we'd taken the kids to school. But at about 9pm, it finally dawned on me that there was no way to pull this off. For one thing, the weather hadn't warmed up as much as I'd hoped, but more importantly, I was slated to be the parent-helper at Maeve's preschool, and Shirra had her usual early-morning knitting group as she does every Friday. Since it was too late to make any changes, we had our picnic after the kids went to sleep, and our anniversary-eve party, quiet and private, was lovely.
Today, however, got off to a lousy start. I usually get to spend nearly an hour hanging out with Fiona in the morning before school starts, but today she watched some Doctor Who as I ruined my first-ever egg poaching attempt before making her a subpar sunny-side-up egg instead. I spent just a few minutes with Emmett before taking Maeve to her preschool, and then I spent the next 150 minutes waiting for that half-day of madness to end. Normally I love going in as the parent-helper, but today I wasn't at my best, and while it ended nicely enough, I still had a bad taste in my mouth.
I took Maeve to Shirra's store in hopes of chatting with Shirra for awhile and just giving her a few snuggly hugs, but this was spoiled when Shirra spotted an injured dog that was wandering past her shop. Being a dog-lover, she had to tend to it, necessitating a variety of phone calls (owner, vet, animal rescue, and so on). I left, hoping that the dog's owner would soon show up (she did) and that the dog would be ok (it was) and frustrated that this had to happen on March 7.
My drive to Manhattan was uneventful and my tutoring sessions were great, but the drive back was made difficult and unpleasant by the incessant rain. When I finally got home, Shirra gave me a present of a pair of slippers that, despite being my size, didn't feel right (too small? too narrow?). It was a fitting end to the day, I suppose. Or should that be 'unfitting'? Either way, I'm glad that this anniversary is finally over so that we can start saving for that QM2 trip in a few years.
The day wasn't as bad as I'm sure some people's worst anniversary stories might attest. No one dies, no one gets arrested, there isn't a big blowout fight. I'm not comparing my lousy anniversary with some truly lousy days among the general public. But I've had 14 other anniversaries, and all of them were either more enjoyable or were truly nondescript. I remember having a lovely time on our first anniversary back in 1994. We got each other cute gifts and looked forward to finally sampling that last bite of wedding cake that we'd set aside 365 days earlier. Word to the unwise: Enjoy the cake while it's still fresh, because cake left in a freezer for one year tastes like soggy cardboard.
I don't recall the details of the next 13 anniversaries; they all blend together, and I can only try to remember them individually if I calculate the year and then try to conjure up a memory of what we were doing in our lives at that time. I just remember feeling a sense of relief and happiness last year when our marriage turned 14 because that meant that we'd stayed together longer than my parents, and that had always been a goal of mine.
Things didn't bode well when Shirra realized just a few days ago that our anniversary was approaching. Apparently it came to her when she was remembering that March 3 was the birthday of our first cat. I had completely forgotten that our big day was coming up, and I was even more chagrinned when I remembered that a few years ago, she'd hoped to celebrate #15 with a cruise on the Queen Mary 2. Well, that boat sailed on by.
According to some online research I just did, the 15th anniversary is traditionally marked with gifts of crystal (a huge improvement over the tin of year 10). I opted instead for a picnic theme. It wasn't like I'd given myself a lot of time to plan ahead, so I drove down to Kat the Cheese's shop in the Water Street Market and bought some cheeses, bread, crackers, jam, and a cool little picnic pack that looks like a large Fil-o-Fax I once had but actually holds some napkins, a cheese board, and two sets of cutlery. My plan was to surprise Shirra this morning with a late breakfast on our lawn after we'd taken the kids to school. But at about 9pm, it finally dawned on me that there was no way to pull this off. For one thing, the weather hadn't warmed up as much as I'd hoped, but more importantly, I was slated to be the parent-helper at Maeve's preschool, and Shirra had her usual early-morning knitting group as she does every Friday. Since it was too late to make any changes, we had our picnic after the kids went to sleep, and our anniversary-eve party, quiet and private, was lovely.
Today, however, got off to a lousy start. I usually get to spend nearly an hour hanging out with Fiona in the morning before school starts, but today she watched some Doctor Who as I ruined my first-ever egg poaching attempt before making her a subpar sunny-side-up egg instead. I spent just a few minutes with Emmett before taking Maeve to her preschool, and then I spent the next 150 minutes waiting for that half-day of madness to end. Normally I love going in as the parent-helper, but today I wasn't at my best, and while it ended nicely enough, I still had a bad taste in my mouth.
I took Maeve to Shirra's store in hopes of chatting with Shirra for awhile and just giving her a few snuggly hugs, but this was spoiled when Shirra spotted an injured dog that was wandering past her shop. Being a dog-lover, she had to tend to it, necessitating a variety of phone calls (owner, vet, animal rescue, and so on). I left, hoping that the dog's owner would soon show up (she did) and that the dog would be ok (it was) and frustrated that this had to happen on March 7.
My drive to Manhattan was uneventful and my tutoring sessions were great, but the drive back was made difficult and unpleasant by the incessant rain. When I finally got home, Shirra gave me a present of a pair of slippers that, despite being my size, didn't feel right (too small? too narrow?). It was a fitting end to the day, I suppose. Or should that be 'unfitting'? Either way, I'm glad that this anniversary is finally over so that we can start saving for that QM2 trip in a few years.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Scarf Update
I finally updated a photo of my scarf. Here it is again. My next project is to learn how to purl (this week). On Sunday I'm leading my first men's knit (oops -- I meant to write "Men's Night") at Shirra's store. Should be fun!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Mirror Mirror on the Car
While looking for a parking spot in Manhattan this past Saturday, I knocked the mirror off my car. Actually, to be exact, it was my wife's car; I'd borrowed it for the weekend because I needed its capacity for the dozen unicycles I was taking into the Big City for the bi-monthly uniclub meeting. Her car is the Honda Odyssey, and it's a bit wider than my Aztek. When I tried to pass by a double-parked car, I heard a thunk, and the next thing my son heard was me yelling 'Firetruck' minus the "iretr" part.
Shirra had knocked mirrors off my car in the past -- in fact, she knocked BOTH off during her worst 5 minutes of driving back in 2005 -- so she was quite understanding about my mistake when I told her about it. The good news was that the only damage to either car was my missing mirror, but I assumed that the repair would cost hundreds of dollars. Enter Rick from Main Street Auto.
Rick, whose given name is Farooge, has been our mechanic since we moved to New Paltz. We've given him a lot of business since we moved here -- most recently a re-repair of one of my wheels, whose bearing keep breaking from driving on my pock-marked road. I brought the car in just in case he had some ideas about a cheap fix, and immediately he suggested I get screws from the hardware store and we'd take it from there. When I came back, he took one of my 18-cent screws and twisted it thru the base of the mirror and into the mirror itself. Voila! Farooge wouldn't even take a tip. A temporary solution to a dangerous problem, and all for under a quarter! Gotta love life in the Big Village.
Shirra had knocked mirrors off my car in the past -- in fact, she knocked BOTH off during her worst 5 minutes of driving back in 2005 -- so she was quite understanding about my mistake when I told her about it. The good news was that the only damage to either car was my missing mirror, but I assumed that the repair would cost hundreds of dollars. Enter Rick from Main Street Auto.
Rick, whose given name is Farooge, has been our mechanic since we moved to New Paltz. We've given him a lot of business since we moved here -- most recently a re-repair of one of my wheels, whose bearing keep breaking from driving on my pock-marked road. I brought the car in just in case he had some ideas about a cheap fix, and immediately he suggested I get screws from the hardware store and we'd take it from there. When I came back, he took one of my 18-cent screws and twisted it thru the base of the mirror and into the mirror itself. Voila! Farooge wouldn't even take a tip. A temporary solution to a dangerous problem, and all for under a quarter! Gotta love life in the Big Village.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
iPhone, uPhone, We All Phone for....
Two days after I got the Tilt phone, I happened to be typing away on it at the bank when one of the tellers asked me about it. He showed me his iPhone. The next day, I had one too.
Most cellular phone companies will allow you to take a phone back within the first two weeks. I didn't hesitate. I needed to return the Tilt, but unfortunately, the mall kiosk where I got the Tilt doesn't carry iPhones. This meant I had an extra trip ahead of me, and even tho Emmett's half-birthday party was in full swing, I left Shirra with the kids (traipsing thru the snowy woods) and zoomed thruout Poughkeepsie taking care of these errands. I have turned into a laconic driver since moving to New Paltz, but suddenly I reverted to my formerly aggressive habits (the ones that made me the scourge of Israeli taxi drivers back when we rented a car in Tel Aviv for two weeks). As soon as I got home, I connected the phone to my computer, only to discover that our iBook G4 -- a brand new computer when we plunked down nearly $2,000 for it just 4 years ago -- isn't compatible with the even schmancier iPhone.
About 5 years ago, Apple switched from its truly pokey operating system called OS9 to the much more artificial-intelligency OSX. It never occurred to me that our particular brand of OSX would be unable to play with the iPhone -- after all, this computer can still download songs from iTunes and surf the web, so why would compatibility be an issue? And our OSX was the most advanced version of OSX available that could run pretty much any programs made for Apple: OS 10.3.9.
Alas, an iPhone needs to run on OS 10.4.10 or higher. But it turns out that there is a huge gulf between point-3 and point-4. The newer operating systems all have names like Tiger, Panther, and Leopard, but ours is apparently so archaic in comparison that we should be referring to the 10.3s as Mammoth, Mastodon, and Mitt "Bling Bling" Romney.
Happily, there were some temporary solutions. The day after I got the iPhone, I synched it with the computer of one of Shirra's employees. Then two days later, I connected it with my mom's computer. All is well in iPhoneland at last.
Most cellular phone companies will allow you to take a phone back within the first two weeks. I didn't hesitate. I needed to return the Tilt, but unfortunately, the mall kiosk where I got the Tilt doesn't carry iPhones. This meant I had an extra trip ahead of me, and even tho Emmett's half-birthday party was in full swing, I left Shirra with the kids (traipsing thru the snowy woods) and zoomed thruout Poughkeepsie taking care of these errands. I have turned into a laconic driver since moving to New Paltz, but suddenly I reverted to my formerly aggressive habits (the ones that made me the scourge of Israeli taxi drivers back when we rented a car in Tel Aviv for two weeks). As soon as I got home, I connected the phone to my computer, only to discover that our iBook G4 -- a brand new computer when we plunked down nearly $2,000 for it just 4 years ago -- isn't compatible with the even schmancier iPhone.
About 5 years ago, Apple switched from its truly pokey operating system called OS9 to the much more artificial-intelligency OSX. It never occurred to me that our particular brand of OSX would be unable to play with the iPhone -- after all, this computer can still download songs from iTunes and surf the web, so why would compatibility be an issue? And our OSX was the most advanced version of OSX available that could run pretty much any programs made for Apple: OS 10.3.9.
Alas, an iPhone needs to run on OS 10.4.10 or higher. But it turns out that there is a huge gulf between point-3 and point-4. The newer operating systems all have names like Tiger, Panther, and Leopard, but ours is apparently so archaic in comparison that we should be referring to the 10.3s as Mammoth, Mastodon, and Mitt "Bling Bling" Romney.
Happily, there were some temporary solutions. The day after I got the iPhone, I synched it with the computer of one of Shirra's employees. Then two days later, I connected it with my mom's computer. All is well in iPhoneland at last.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
It's AT&T for Me (for Now)
T*Mobile had to go -- the coverage in our house and on the road was terrible, and just as bad was the terrible spam filter: I had to delete over 30 penis and investment messages a day. I was about to get Verizon, which everyone knows has the best reception in the area, but the service is more expensive than AT&T even tho we have Verizon for our home and the store.
Initially I went with the AT&T "Tilt." This phone is similar to my old Sidekick in that it has a small keyboard beneath a screen, but the big difference was that it had a touch screen. This was actually a minus, however, because the screen worrked better with a stylus, but I hated using the stylus. Using fingers was nearly impossible, however, even tho my fingernails are intact, because the screen wasn't sensitive enough. It was like trying to use a push-button phone while wearing gloves. I also had trouble using what should have been the easiest feature: the phone. Without going into boring detail, suffice it to say that there was nothing about the phone that one could call intuitive.
This link has a positive review of the Tilt, but it mentions something that clarifies why that phone didn't work well for me -- it's based on the Windows system, but we're Mac people. Years ago, I used a PDA that could sync with my one and only PC (bought in 1998), but I don't feel like getting another PC just so that I can use my phone effectively.
Initially I went with the AT&T "Tilt." This phone is similar to my old Sidekick in that it has a small keyboard beneath a screen, but the big difference was that it had a touch screen. This was actually a minus, however, because the screen worrked better with a stylus, but I hated using the stylus. Using fingers was nearly impossible, however, even tho my fingernails are intact, because the screen wasn't sensitive enough. It was like trying to use a push-button phone while wearing gloves. I also had trouble using what should have been the easiest feature: the phone. Without going into boring detail, suffice it to say that there was nothing about the phone that one could call intuitive.
This link has a positive review of the Tilt, but it mentions something that clarifies why that phone didn't work well for me -- it's based on the Windows system, but we're Mac people. Years ago, I used a PDA that could sync with my one and only PC (bought in 1998), but I don't feel like getting another PC just so that I can use my phone effectively.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Yes, It Floods Here Too
The weather has been odd here lately. We've had fog, rain, hail, and snow. The temperature has fluctuated between 15 and 50, causing massive flooding, freezing, and then a potent combination of the two. School was canceled for two-and-a-half days last week on account of the weather.
The worst of all the conditions lately has undoubtedly been the flooding. While we don't experience this problem where we live, the other side of the Wallkill Bridge was so bad that some people were trapped in their homes. One of Fiona's friends was stuck indoors for two days, and a friend of Shirra's reported that the family had barely been able to get outside for a week! This woman's husband apparently had to hike out the back door and thru their woods to a road nearby in order to get to work.
I've heard rumors that the Village is thinking about raising Springtown Road a few feet higher in order to combat the annual floodwaters. I'm not sure how feasible that plan is -- and how soon they're planning to do this -- but I remember feeling a great sense of relief when the floods came last spring and we WEREN'T affected. We'd almost bought a house there, but luckily we'd decided on a different house. I'm not sure how conscious we were about the flooding, but I do recall that the real estate agents had mentioned that a certain road did flood badly from time to time, and later we realized that they were talking about Springtown Road. Woe unto anyone who buys a house along that swampland. Shirra reports that when she drove Fiona back from riding yesterday, the road was finally open but there were lakes on either side of it, rippling in the wind.
The worst of all the conditions lately has undoubtedly been the flooding. While we don't experience this problem where we live, the other side of the Wallkill Bridge was so bad that some people were trapped in their homes. One of Fiona's friends was stuck indoors for two days, and a friend of Shirra's reported that the family had barely been able to get outside for a week! This woman's husband apparently had to hike out the back door and thru their woods to a road nearby in order to get to work.
I've heard rumors that the Village is thinking about raising Springtown Road a few feet higher in order to combat the annual floodwaters. I'm not sure how feasible that plan is -- and how soon they're planning to do this -- but I remember feeling a great sense of relief when the floods came last spring and we WEREN'T affected. We'd almost bought a house there, but luckily we'd decided on a different house. I'm not sure how conscious we were about the flooding, but I do recall that the real estate agents had mentioned that a certain road did flood badly from time to time, and later we realized that they were talking about Springtown Road. Woe unto anyone who buys a house along that swampland. Shirra reports that when she drove Fiona back from riding yesterday, the road was finally open but there were lakes on either side of it, rippling in the wind.
Fog as Thick as Sea Poop
This past Monday, we woke to find ourselves in the clouds. Looking outside the kitchen windows gave us the impression that we lived in a castle in the sky, rather than a house in the woods. But as romantic as aerial castles might seem, they're hell to drive in. Shirra called me from her store to report that she'd barely been able to make it there safely: Route 32 was so white that it appeared that cars were driving out of nearby marshmallows. She'd had to honk while making the left turn across the 55-mph road, hoping that she hadn't misjudged the traffic. Later, when I tried to take the kids to the Galleria, I got to that same point on our road and realized that a drive to the mall wasn't worth the risk. We went back home and waited an hour until the sun suddenly came out long enough to melt some of the fog.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
3-D Word Hunt Final: OK, 65 It Is
I just got a few more emails from z. He first acknowledged that my list was perfect except for two words: PLENA, which he acknowledged is a bit more common than some of the 'acceptable' words on the final list, and KIKES. He then went on to note that he tried to get the Times to include KIKES but was rebuffed. The answers published this coming Sunday will be missing that word.
I wrote him back to ask if he minded if I wrote a letter to the editor about the exclusion of the word, and he wrote back giving his approval. I think it's safe to say that he has a similar take on words: They only have power to offend if we bestow that power upon them artificially. A word's a word.
Shirra pointed out that the negative powers of 'vagina' were greatly diminished as a result of the Vagina Monologues. The more people heard the word spoken, the less its shock value. I often point out to my students that 'idiot' and 'retard' are much meaner words than 'shit' or 'fuck.' The former are directed at people in an effort to sting, while the latter group is merely a scatalogical or sexual reference to ideas that our puritanical ancestors had difficulties with.
I wrote him back to ask if he minded if I wrote a letter to the editor about the exclusion of the word, and he wrote back giving his approval. I think it's safe to say that he has a similar take on words: They only have power to offend if we bestow that power upon them artificially. A word's a word.
Shirra pointed out that the negative powers of 'vagina' were greatly diminished as a result of the Vagina Monologues. The more people heard the word spoken, the less its shock value. I often point out to my students that 'idiot' and 'retard' are much meaner words than 'shit' or 'fuck.' The former are directed at people in an effort to sting, while the latter group is merely a scatalogical or sexual reference to ideas that our puritanical ancestors had difficulties with.
3-D Boggle: Letter from the Editor
After finding all of the words listed in my previous post, I wrote a note to the creator of my favorite puzzles. Will Shortz is quite an accomplished puzzler. He was actually the first (and thus far, only) person to achieve a college degree in the study of word puzzles. I met him a decade ago at a Scrabble function that was organized with a literacy group to help raise money and awareness in the name of adult literacy. Each Scrabble expert present was paired with a celebrity in a game against another expert/celeb pair. I was paired with Tina Louise, who had finally been rescued from Gilligan's Island. Although she was putting her back into helping illiterate adults, she wasn't especially gifted (or interested) in Scrabble. Our pairing was mostly about me playing a few odd words and the still-beautiful desert castaway oohing and ahing about them. It wasn't as bad as it sounds.
Will was kind enough to send me the note that follows. I guess he means that the 65 words he alluded to when the puzzle appeared were a 'complete' list. I know that my list has at least two words not on his; altho he didn't include his words, there is no way to account for the fact that my list has 67 words (including KIKES) or 66 words (without it).
z writes:
Hi David,
Congratulations on your fine list of 3-D Word Hunt answers!
One of my puzzle testers was able to check my solution against an
electronic edition of Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate, so I'm
basically certain that my list, which will be published next Sunday, is
complete.
Please let me know if this is not the case!
--Will
It's only Wednesday, so I'm itchy to find out what words from my list are missing from his. At this point I'm guessing that KIKES is one of them, which would necessitate a letter from me to the editor of the magazine. After all, a word's a word (and that one is DEFINITELY in Merriam-Webster's.
Here are the 67 words that I'm sure of: AIRER *AIRTS ALACK ALIVE *ANENT ATONE ATRIA *ATRIP *CAIRD CANAL CANON CANTO DIVOT ENACT EVENT KIKES LAIRD *LANAI LENTO LEVEL LILAC *LITAI LITRE LIVEN LIVID *NATAL NOOSE NOVEL *OOTID PIANO PIKER PIKES PLANE PLANT *PLATS *PLENA RESTS *RIANT RIATA SCALE SCALP SCANT SCATS *SERER *SERES SOOTS STACK STAIR STALE *STANE STATS STILE STONE *STOTS STOVE *STRIA STRIP TITAN TITRE TONAL TOOTS TOTAL TRIAL TRIKE VENAL VITAL VIVID (*= uncommon, of which there are 16)
Removed from my earlier list: ALANE ALANT ANELE DREST NOTAL PLACK *TANTO *TRIAC.
These last words are NOT in the abridged MW that appears online. I was under the assumption that the dictionary was just not working when I tried a few of these (like ALANE) that I knew from Scrabble. I'll have to be more careful next time. Still, I did beat the number that z had set as the maximum -- now I just have to wait till Sunday!
Will was kind enough to send me the note that follows. I guess he means that the 65 words he alluded to when the puzzle appeared were a 'complete' list. I know that my list has at least two words not on his; altho he didn't include his words, there is no way to account for the fact that my list has 67 words (including KIKES) or 66 words (without it).
z writes:
Hi David,
Congratulations on your fine list of 3-D Word Hunt answers!
One of my puzzle testers was able to check my solution against an
electronic edition of Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate, so I'm
basically certain that my list, which will be published next Sunday, is
complete.
Please let me know if this is not the case!
--Will
It's only Wednesday, so I'm itchy to find out what words from my list are missing from his. At this point I'm guessing that KIKES is one of them, which would necessitate a letter from me to the editor of the magazine. After all, a word's a word (and that one is DEFINITELY in Merriam-Webster's.
Here are the 67 words that I'm sure of: AIRER *AIRTS ALACK ALIVE *ANENT ATONE ATRIA *ATRIP *CAIRD CANAL CANON CANTO DIVOT ENACT EVENT KIKES LAIRD *LANAI LENTO LEVEL LILAC *LITAI LITRE LIVEN LIVID *NATAL NOOSE NOVEL *OOTID PIANO PIKER PIKES PLANE PLANT *PLATS *PLENA RESTS *RIANT RIATA SCALE SCALP SCANT SCATS *SERER *SERES SOOTS STACK STAIR STALE *STANE STATS STILE STONE *STOTS STOVE *STRIA STRIP TITAN TITRE TONAL TOOTS TOTAL TRIAL TRIKE VENAL VITAL VIVID (*= uncommon, of which there are 16)
Removed from my earlier list: ALANE ALANT ANELE DREST NOTAL PLACK *TANTO *TRIAC.
These last words are NOT in the abridged MW that appears online. I was under the assumption that the dictionary was just not working when I tried a few of these (like ALANE) that I knew from Scrabble. I'll have to be more careful next time. Still, I did beat the number that z had set as the maximum -- now I just have to wait till Sunday!
Monday, February 11, 2008
3-D Word Hunt of Feb 11, 2008
Will Shortz is the editor of the NY Times Crosswords page (and now a millionaire thanks in part to his Sudoku books). About a year ago, he came out with his first 3-D Word Hunt, a sort of high-tech Boggle. The challenge is to find the most 5-letter-words. Because of my love of Boggle and the Scrabble skills that I've honed over the past 15 years, I've been able to find most of the words that later appear in his Answers page the following week... and then some. For each of the three puzzles he's published so far, I've found many more words than he's indicated. I'm not sure where the sloppiness comes in: Doesn't he have some experts who vet his puzzles for him? Actually, I offered that assistance last time (when I had found about 15 words he'd missed), but he didn't take me up on it. He published my extra words in an addendum a few weeks later, but he didn't thank me or the other solvers who'd found words missing from his Answers list. It turns out I'd found more than anyone who'd sent in answers. Ah well.
Here is my unofficial list for the most recent puzzle. I may still be missing a word or two, and there may be a word on my list that's not in the dictionary source that he's using, but all of these words are good in Scrabble, as they say, which means that they're most likely ok in this puzzle (Scrabble and this puzzle use almost the same word source).
KIKES in the PUZZLE
Here is a sign that his puzzle-vetters aren't up to the task when it comes to hallucinatory Boggle: They missed KIKES. I'm fairly sure that this one was NOT meant for entry in the puzzle and that, had Shortz noticed it, he would have altered the puzzle. It's not like I'm bothered by the word, but there are plenty of oversensitive types who would complain that this puzzle offended them to the quick. I look forward to a Letter to the Editor complaining about the puzzle.
Shortz divided his list among common words (50) and *uncommon words (he'd found 15, but I list 25).
AIRER *AIRTS ALACK *ALANE *ALANT ALIVE *ANELE *ANENT ATONE ATRIA *ATRIP
*CAIRD CANAL CANON CANTO
DIVOT *DREST
ENACT EVENT
*KIKES
*LAIRD *LANAI LENTO LEVEL LILAC *LITAI LITRE LIVEN LIVID
*NATAL NOOSE *NOTAL NOVEL
*OOTID
PIANO PIKER PIKES PLACK PLANE PLANT *PLATS *PLENA
RESTS *RIANT RIATA
SCALE SCALP SCANT SCATS *SERER *SERES SOOTS STACK STAIR STALE *STANE STATS STILE STONE *STOTS STOVE *STRIA STRIP
*TANTO TITAN TITRE TONAL TOOTS TOTAL *TRIAC TRIAL TRIKE
VENAL VITAL VIVID
Here is my unofficial list for the most recent puzzle. I may still be missing a word or two, and there may be a word on my list that's not in the dictionary source that he's using, but all of these words are good in Scrabble, as they say, which means that they're most likely ok in this puzzle (Scrabble and this puzzle use almost the same word source).
KIKES in the PUZZLE
Here is a sign that his puzzle-vetters aren't up to the task when it comes to hallucinatory Boggle: They missed KIKES. I'm fairly sure that this one was NOT meant for entry in the puzzle and that, had Shortz noticed it, he would have altered the puzzle. It's not like I'm bothered by the word, but there are plenty of oversensitive types who would complain that this puzzle offended them to the quick. I look forward to a Letter to the Editor complaining about the puzzle.
Shortz divided his list among common words (50) and *uncommon words (he'd found 15, but I list 25).
AIRER *AIRTS ALACK *ALANE *ALANT ALIVE *ANELE *ANENT ATONE ATRIA *ATRIP
*CAIRD CANAL CANON CANTO
DIVOT *DREST
ENACT EVENT
*KIKES
*LAIRD *LANAI LENTO LEVEL LILAC *LITAI LITRE LIVEN LIVID
*NATAL NOOSE *NOTAL NOVEL
*OOTID
PIANO PIKER PIKES PLACK PLANE PLANT *PLATS *PLENA
RESTS *RIANT RIATA
SCALE SCALP SCANT SCATS *SERER *SERES SOOTS STACK STAIR STALE *STANE STATS STILE STONE *STOTS STOVE *STRIA STRIP
*TANTO TITAN TITRE TONAL TOOTS TOTAL *TRIAC TRIAL TRIKE
VENAL VITAL VIVID
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