Baldur

My thumbs are quite large already, and my ancestors never texted
Actually of my 4 grandparents, 3 were the first in there famiies to learn to read and write.
The fourth, my Father's mother remained almost illiterate throughout her entire life.
The only thing she could read or write was her own name

polenta

You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT but that's like CLEANING and after this I was taught how to clean it. In fact, the fact was really not working any more because of another technical reason. Thanks Baldur, you always seem to know everything.

Baldur

flusg - g + h = flush
there - re +ir = their

Baldur

You are welcome polenta, but actually I know very little

marius

My daughter-in-law does not wear watches for the same reason: she uses her cell phone to know the time and her kids do that too. I can't imagine!


Now about big thumbs! Oh no Polenta! Not big thumbs, please not that!

Your idea made me laugh because you see ... it brings to mind some ridiculous and painful Missouri Moments.

A few days ago I took a nap and it seems I might have slept with the right-hand thumb in a weird position. At least, the thumb kind of hurt when I awoke so that is my guess about what happened. The next day the thumb had swollen so much, gotten so big, that it could no longer bend and the slightest touch hurt ferociously. I called my husband and he came home to drive me to the doctor.

The doctor said, "I think the end of the thumb-nail INSIDE your thumb cut into tissues. It's called paronychia." He then wrote a prescription for antibiotics, put on a splint, told me to take Ibuprofen to reduce inflammation and sent me home. By Wednesday morning the thumb hurt so badly I was in tears. And, the no longer diminutive thumb had suddenly acquired a bright-red zesty coloring and little things that looked like miniature boils were starting to form. It was positively scary-looking!

So back to the doctor. He started talking about "the kinds of pain" and he said, " ... then you have pain like a toothache ..." I said, "YES! That's what it feels like - a gigantic toothache on the thumb!"

The doctor laughed at that but when I told him the pain had awakened me twice during the previous night, he wrote a prescription for pain pills. Thank goodness! I finally got some relief, not to mention some much-needed sleep.

It is now six days since the injury and I've not needed a single pain pill today and the thumb is oh so slowly shrinking in size. Also, all the old miracles are slowly returning. (Am calling them miracles because that seems to fit in with the philosophical talk here and I'm telling you, if these aren't miracles then I don't know what miracles are!)

What miracles, you ask? THUMB MIRACLES!!!

For most of the past week I've not been able to do any of these things: dress myself, tie my shoes, brush my hair (the brush refused to obey my left hand), turn a key, drive a car, clean anything (although I did manage an odd shower or two), type on the computer (except for slow hunt and peck with left hand), write with a pen, pick up a cat, open a jar, open a can, use dental-floss, eat normally with spoon or fork, cut with a knife, use scissors, put in hair clips, hold a book and the list goes on and on.

I'm telling you, I have never thought about thumbs so much in all my life! From now on I'm going to begin each day thanking the Universe that I have two thumbs, and hopefully two that are SMALL and fully functional! : )

marius

Oh ... and how did it happen, Baldur, that your father's mother was illiterate? Didn't she go to school? Ever? Most curious.

Baldur

She was born in Lithuania in 1895, nobody in her family had ever gone to school, they were farmers.
Upon turning 17 she got on a boat and came to America.
Imagine being what it must have been like getting off the boat in New York, not knowing a word of English.
She ended up in RI and took a job in a textile mill. There was never time for school.
She needed to work to support herself

polenta

So sorry Marius for your thumb problem. The coincidence of my joke and your pain is unbelievable! Thank God the thumb miracle ( or the antibiotics ) worked!
Yes, Baldur when circunstances are favorable it happens that people who can have an education can have a better and freeer life.... and it only took one or two generations.

marius

Polenta, I thought that was quite a coincidence too! And, yes, antibiotics are also miraculous! As for the thumbs, it's very strange to realize how much work they have been doing, each and every day, all day long, year after year! Haha, if they were getting paid for their work I'd have to give them a raise because there is no doubt they'd deserve it! : )

Baldur, that seems sad about your grandma. Do you know if it bothered her that she could not read and write? Did she learn to speak English even if she couldn't read and write it?

Baldur

She never discussed her illiteracy and I was at least 10 years old before I realized it myself.
Her English was fairly good, not perfect but certainly understandable.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Armstrong, James Gandolfini, Dee Dee Ramone, Frankie Avalon, Jimmie Rodgers, Robert Blake, Greta Garbo and Samuel Johnson.

Normal

I'm happy for Marius' Missouri Miracle. You never appreciate what you've got until it goes missing. I've learned that repeatedly in my senior years. So now I try to remember to thank the various body parts for doing such a good job and even talk to my cells. I also have a few robotic parts by now and that inspires gratitude for those that still function well!

polenta

Baldur and listeners. This is a website where there is a game. It is said the "magician" of the game always discovers your character. IT WORKED WITH ME. It's in many languages including English. Try it and let me know if it worked please.

http://en.akinator.com/

Baldur

That was very interesting polenta.
He guessed the first character I chose (Bilbo Baggins) after 14 questions.
I won the second round by choosing 'Wilford Brimley' , The game first chose Chevy Chase and then Burt Reynolds before I left the game at more than 30 questions

marius

It did work, Polenta! I enjoyed it. Also it is funny when the "magician" cannot guess your character: he asks you for the name and then adds it to his list! : )

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Jimmy Fallon, Trisha Yearwood, Nile Rogers, Twiggy, Jeremy Irons, Freda Payne, Mama Cass Eliott, Paul Williams, Brian Epstein, David McCallum, Brook Benton, Adam West, Leon Jaworski and King Henry III of France.

Baldur

Time for a new topic.

I suggest undergarments.
Why you might ask is this today's focus...
Well Baldur has been conversing with his British and Australian counterparts on another social network and the term 'vest' caused considerable confusion.
I took it upon myself to construct a syllabus on men's undergarment's as described in the United States.
Here is my entry:

In the mid-North American colonies the undergarment worn beneath the shirt is an undershirt, a t-shirt and occasionally a wifebeater.
The garment beneath ones pants (sadly Mr Bear is one of a dying breed that wears trousers) can be called shorts, underpants, briefs (not brieves oddly enough) or boxers.
Many Americans would look askance at the word 'Waistcoat' assuming it to be a type of British formal jacket. What one considers a waistcoat is here referred to as a vest.
Vests may or may not have lapels depending on the current fashion, currently they are being shown with lapels again.
The word singlet is used exclusively for the type of 'step-in' one piece garment worn by wrestlers which combines the 'Speedo' type brief with an abbreviated wifebeater top.
In the colder weather one could encounter a more insulated type of undergarment generically referred to as 'long underwear'. The version sold separately as a pullover shirt and elasticized trousers are oft-times referred to as longjohns. The variant that is one piece, often red (though sometimes white or grey) is usually called a 'Union Suit'. This particular article of clothing is stepped into and buttoned up in the front. There is an access panel in the rear so that one can visit the loo without disrobing entirely.

polenta

I took note of this in my English vocabulary file. I usually say underwear instead of undergarments. Do you find this awkward?

Baldur

polenta, underwear is actually more current a phrase than my own.
Undergarments sounds a bit Victorian, but I like that.

Dragon

I just got back from camping so I had a lot of catching up to do. Enjoyed the conversation about text messaging and thumb miracles. I must add in that I've heard a lot of young people now can't tell time on a regular old clock (the kind with hands that point to numbers) because they all have digital watches and iPods and cell phones that tell the time so they don't have to learn the analog version anymore. Cute story in the same vein, my sister was recently sitting with my 8 or 9 year old neice watching TV and someone in the ad they were watching said they were talking on a pay phone. My neice turned to my sister and asked her what a pay phone was. Those little things that make you feel old.

Loved the character guessing site, he got all three of mine in a fair minimum of questions. My first 2 were both characters who have been played by several different actors (James Bond and Dr.Who) so some of the questions about hair colour and whether they wear a hat were a little difficult to answer.

As for the undergarment topic, I'd never thought of vests as an undergarment though it does make sense as they are typically worn under a coat. I suppose the term undergarment works better here than underwear. I think of underwear as clothing worn under your clothing next to your skin which it's distasteful to show off in public. Undergarment sounds much more refined and inclusive of clothes which you can show off to people without worrying about getting arrested for lewd conduct.