I have been working on our taxes for the past couple of days. Thankfully, I’ve gotten through the federal forms, just the state left to do. Taxes sap my mental energy such that I have difficulty contemplating the following conundrum: Why is an off-brand (in this case Food Club) of gelatin called gelatin, but the Knox brand (which is synonymous for gelatin) called gelatine? I would assume the extra ‘e’ on gelatin is Knox’s way…
This morning, a little after 8 a.m., the power went out in our little hamlet. Flicker of the lights, beep of the smoke detectors, thought it might come back right away, but no. Time to call the power company. Ah, but the home phone has an electric base, so there was no way to call out from it. Naturally, the internet and television were inoperable as well. Good thing we get a paper bill…
When the Robin Williams movie “Dead Poets Society” came out in 1989, the phrase “Carpe diem” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec8FOZvcPVM] became all the rage. It means, “Seize the day,” as in none of us is getting out of this world alive – we don’t know when our time is going to be up – it may well be as early as the next instant or tomorrow – and we’d better enjoy it while we can. I often see…