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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 11, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit. - Harry S. Truman Source: Molly's Quotes of the Day, mailto:molly.rhea@gmail.com?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: While teaching a group of leaders about goals, I suggested that they write specific, measurable goals and hold each other accountable to them. Before I could finish, one of the newer guys—let's call him Mr. Helpful—said, "Great! What's one of your goals?" Being on the spot, I said, "To lose 20 pounds." "Terrific," Mr. Helpful said. "I'll bring a scale every week. You can stand on it, and we'll see how well you're doing." I tried without luck to slip out of the arrangement. So every week Mr. Helpful brought the scale. I did all right for a while, but then one week I just pigged out. I knew I had not only not lost weight but gained some. Fearing the meeting that week, I was relieved when Mr. Helpful showed up without his scale. It was no problem, I told the group. I'd go upstairs to my scale, weigh myself, and then tell them the results. Well, Mr. Helpful would have none of that: he made me go up, get the scale, and bring it down to the meeting. Holding yourself and others accountable in doing what you say you're going to do may seem hard. But it's a key element in bringing about real, lasting change in our lives. Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine. Don't let me refuse it (Psalm 141:5) Ron Jenson in Fathers and Sons, Adapted from Fathers and Sons (Broadman & Holman, 1998) Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. May/June 2006, Vol. 9, No. 3 Source: Men of Integrity, http://tinyurl.com/jsmyw ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: English Language Part 2 of 3 [Aug 1, 11, 21] Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. PS: Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"? Submitted by Sharon Hamel ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: My husband and I, both active-duty Navy officers, were married by a notary public in Jacksonville, Fla., where I was stationed. Our wedding took place the day the Operation Desert Storm cease-fire was announced. We had gone to the courthouse on my lunch hour, so I was still in uniform. After the notary pronounced us husband and wife, he smiled and shook his head. "One war ends," he said, "and another begins." Contributed to "Humor In Uniform" by Lt. Stephanie Gainer Source: America In Uniform, http://www.beliefnet.com/user/newsletter_choose.asp ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Jonathan Heimberg writes in: I e-mailed X computer support the following request... I need a system restore CD for a X # purchased in 2003. Thanks! ...and they wrote back the following note: X’s e-mail software interprets your message as a request for help with buying an auto/air AC adapter for your X notebook computer. To purchase an adapter to charge your portable computer from your car or while in an airplane go to: http://accessories.X.X.com/sna/default.aspx?cs=19&c=us&l=en Click Notebook Accessories in the Browse For Products list Click Power Adapters and then choose Auto/Air Click the company name to see more details If you have other battery questions please check our general battery and AC adapter troubleshooting guide at: ftp://ftp1.X.X.com/diags/R66243.htm Where in my "problem" do you see the keyword "adapter", "car", or "airplane"? Source: This Is Broken, http://www.thisisbroken.com/