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WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 17, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Every job has its problems. A key consideration in choosing a career is determining what type of problems you enjoy solving. - Steve Elledge Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) December 1998 http://www.readersdigest.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: In the 1850s, the tribes of the Sumatra interior were fierce enemies of the first missionaries. Von Asselt, of the Rhineland mission, pioneered the way among the Battaks. (I abbreviate the story printed in a religious paper in Germany.) There was a darkness that could be sensed round about. More than once the missionary and his wife rose in the night to pray God to send His angels to be with them; so keenly they felt the presence of peril. Then they moved inland, where a tribe was more kindly. One day a chief came to see the missionary from the place where he had first settled. At last the chief said to Von Asselt: "I have yet one request." "And what is that?" "I want to see your watchmen." "But I have no watchmen." "I mean the watchmen that you station round your house at night." "But I have none. I have only a herdboy and a little cook." The man looked unbelievingly at the missionary. "May I look through your house?" he asked. "Yes, certainly," said the missionary laughing. The chief searched everywhere in vain, then he finally explained: "When you first came to us, we resolved to kill you and your wife. Night after night we went to your house to do it. But when we came, there always stood round about watchmen with glittering weapons. Then we hired an assassin, and he laughed at us. 'I fear no God and no devil,' he said. 'I will get through those watchmen easily.' So we all came together in the evening, and the assassin, swinging his weapon about his head, went on before us. As we neared your house we remained behind. The assassin went on alone. But in a short time he came running back hastily, and said, 'No, I dare not risk it to go through alone; two rows of big strong men stand there, and their weapons shine like fire.' So we gave it up to kill you. Now, tell me, teacher, who are those watchmen?"--By W. A. Spicer, Signs of the Times, January 28, 1941. Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) January 28, 1941, Pacific Press, http://www.pacificpress.com/signs Submitted by Dale Galusha ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: RULES FOR DOGS Part 2 of 3 [May 7, 17, 28] DOORS: The area directly in front of a door is always reserved for the family dog to sleep. THE ART OF SNIFFING: Humans like to be sniffed. Everywhere. It is your duty, as the family dog, to accommodate them. DINING ETIQUETTE: Always sit under the table at dinner, especially when there are guests, so you can clean up any food that falls on the floor. It's also a good time to practice your sniffing. HOUSEBREAKING: Housebreaking is very important to humans, so break as much of the house as possible. GOING FOR WALKS: Rules of the road: When out for a walk with your master or mistress, never go to the bathroom on your own lawn. COUCHES: It is perfectly permissible to lie on the new couch after all your humans have gone to bed. PLAYING: If you lose your footing while chasing a ball or stick, use the flower bed to absorb your fall so you don't injure yourself. CHASING CATS: When chasing cats, make sure you never - quite - catch them. It spoils all the fun. >^,,^< CHEWING: Make a contribution to the fashion industry. ...Eat a shoe. Source: Kitty's Daily Mews, Copyright (c) 1997-2001 All rights reserved worldwide, kittysubs@katscratch.co m?subject=Sub_KDM ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Lissette Barrios of Brooklyn, N.Y. was watching the Phoenix Suns play the Chicago Bulls in the NBA finals. Lissette was cheering for the Suns and complaining how the Bulls were stealing the ball from the Suns. This went on until her 4-year-old turned to her with a sad face and asked, "Mommy, why don't they want to share the ball?" Source: Kitty's Daily Mews, Copyright (c) 1997-2001 All rights reserved worldwide, kittysubs@katscratch.co m?subject=Sub_KDM ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Why do they measure diamonds in carats? Simply put, when measuring something as small as a diamond or other precious stone, you've got to use something equally tiny and, more importantly, easy to come by in a uniform size, to measure it against. In days gone diamonds were measured against the seeds of a coral tree, which the Arabs called quirrat, or against a carob bean , which the Greeks called keration. From there, it's not difficult to see how the word carat evolved. Traditionally the carat was equal to 4 grains. The definition of the grain differed from one country to another, but typically it was about 50 milligrams and thus the carat was about 200 milligrams. In the U. S. and Britian, the diamond carat was formerly defined by law to be 3.2 troy grains, which is about 207 milligrams. Jewelers everywhere now use a metric carat defined in 1907 to be exactly 200 milligrams. Source: ArcaMax Trivia http://www.arcamax.com |