September Chit Chat

Where did piss poor come from ?

We older people need to learn something new every day...
Just to keep the grey matter tuned up..

Where did "Piss Poor" come from?

InterestingHistory.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot.
And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery...
if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...
They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature
Isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500's

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May,
And they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell,
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,
Then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.
Last of all the babies.
By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.
It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals
(mice, bugs) lived in the roof.
When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.
This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings
Could mess up your nice clean bed.
Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.
That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.
Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery
In the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing.
As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door,
It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a threshhold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.
Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables
And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers
In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.
Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.
Hence the rhyme:
Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

Sometimes they could obtain pork which made them feel quite special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.
It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests
And would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter.
Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death.
This happened most often with tomatoes,
so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status..
Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,
and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.
The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.
They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around
and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
Hence the custom; of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.
So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave..
When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.
So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was "considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth.

Now, whoever said History was boring!!!

So get out there and educate someone! ~~~

Share these facts with a friend.

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering,

'What the heck happened?'

We'll be friends until we are old and senile.

Then we'll be new friends.

Smile, it gives your face something to do!

Soon we'll all be Piss Poor.

Thanks so much patty for the interesting insights. Children reading this now would probably be bored but now that we've reached maturity we find these things which we probably should have known before completely fascinating.

Yes thanks Patty --- I love to find out where sayings come from...now I know. I hope you are feeling better too

You're welcome, silly. I'm feeling much better, thank you. Still healing, not much pain, sort of ache a bit, though. Not full weight bearing yet, but am doing the stairs quite well, now. So, I think I'm going to go up to my own bed real soon. Also take a shower in my shower stall instead of sitting on transfer chair in downstairs bathtub. It's annoying but better than nothing. Can't complain though at least I'm getting around. Can't wait till I don't have walker though, I'm killing my furniture with it. Easier to drive a car.

Hollywood Stars' Reaction to Clint Eastwood's Empty Chair Speech

Soon after, a slew of stars, such as Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and even the President himself, took to Twitter to respond to Eastwood’s unconventional address.

Check out what they had to say here:

President Obama wrote, “This seat’s taken,” along with a photo (below) of the Prez sitting in a chair marked “The President.”

Adam Levine: “Clint Eastwood has gone f**kin nutterbutters yo.”

Zachary Quinto: “Is clint eastwood meant to instill confidence in republicans?! I am legitimately scared of his talking to imaginary Obama.”

Blake Shelton: “I. Love. Clint Eastwood.”

Patton Oswalt: “‘If Clint Eastwood ever talks to a chair on national TV, people will need a way to reassure each other’ — inventor of Twitter, March 2006.”

Roger Ebert: “Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn’t need to do this to himself. It’s unworthy of him.”

Zach Braff: “Still can’t tell if Clint was hallucinating or President is really invisible now.”

Charlie Daniels: “Clint Eastwood made my day.”

Seth Myers: “When Clint woke up this morning he saw that Obama was gone from the chair…Or was he still there!?!?!”

Olivia Munn: “No, that’s not the set up to a joke. It’s not even a joke.”

Chris Rock: “Clint Eastwood on the phone with Obama now: ‘It all went according to plan, sir.’ #RNC #GOP2012.”

Roseanne Barr: “Clint eastwood is CRAY.”

Mia Farrow: “What WAS that thing Clint Eastwood just did? How could they let it happen?”

Simon Pegg: “Maybe Clint is a sleeper agent for the Democrats sent in under deep cover to make the Republicans look stupid. No wait, that’s Romney.”

Piers Morgan: “Still reeling from that #Clint performance – sooooooooo weird.”

Shannon Woodward: “From now on, every time I sit in a chair, I’ll know I’m really sitting in Obama’s lap #ourlittlesecret #getoffmylawn.”

THE O'BAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS REPORTEDLY CANCELLED A "MYSTERY GUEST" SPEAKER SLATED FOR THEIR CONVENTION! Smart move.

PattyGirl! Good to hear from you and glad you're "running" around!!

MMFlint
The Republican philosophy: America is a company, corporations are people, the president is a chair.

Although I'm sure Clint meant to be funny, it only came across as sad. Lucky for Clint he has enough money that he doesn't have to worry if someone cuts Medicare - he'll still be able to afford his meds -- but his buddy Mitt's plan will cost other seniors about $6,000 more!

An interesting interview from the Washington Post regarding the Romney/Ryan budget can be found at the link below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/18/rep-chris-van-hollen-the-romney-ryan-medicare-plan-would-have-immediate-cost-increases-for-seniors/

One comment that caught my eye was that the Romney/Ryan budget relies heavily on decreasing spending. And it says if they are not able to decrease spending that those hit the hardest will be the middle income earners.

So the rich are saying, "Hey, we can cut Medicare, the seniors will pay more and if we can't cut spending then all the 99% ers will pay more too - but we "the rich" will get our much needed job creating tax cuts!"

I guess my question is this. If we had already cut taxes for the rich during the Bush era, where were all the jobs they said they were going to create then? Oh wait, my bad I misunderstood. They were creating jobs overseas - in the banking industry! Hey, they never said they were going to create jobs HERE in the US! Silly me I just assumed that's what they meant!

really intertesting Patty
thaaaaanksss!

The Online-Voting in the Excellence in Bear Artistry Awards has started and I would be very happy if some of you could take a few minutes to vote for little Dodge.
http://www.bearartistry.com/entries

About Clint Eastwood: He finally made in on the first page of Germany's biggest tabloid, with the headline: Eastwood offendinf Obama.

I voted Natascha!!!! Dodge is sooooooooo cute and the best one of the whole bunch!!

Thank you melbert!!!!

I did Natascha. Dodge is certainly the most beautiful

Thank you lux!

I voted Natascha and he's just about perfect.
Good luck to you

I voted tooo!!!

Joanna, it's me, thank you sooo much for your support.

prego!

Voted too. Love the bears.

I voted for Dodge . So cute .

Damn, I got a "bandwidth limit exceeded" way to go GOH's guess too many went on today! Geesh! Will try to vote tomorrow.

This might be worth a chuckle:

HEALTH MESSAGE

As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world, I rapidly realized that I don't really give a rat's hiney.
It's the tortoise life for me!

1. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, and is fat.
3. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years.
4. A tortoise doesn't run and does nothing, yet it lives for 450 years.

And you tell me to exercise?? I don't think so.
I'm retired. Go around me.

Does this sound familiar to any one ??

to Cindi and Joanna.... Both of those are great!

Dodge was the cutest in his category. Some of those other categories were hard to choose. I now know I am a sucker for the fuzziest bears with the sweetest eyes.

inettocrazia.... WTF!

I live in a "nice" part of New Jersey but NJ has such a bad reputation for not-so-nice, tough and tumble kind of people I thought I'd impart this funny anecdote:

Jersey people will understand!

I was in Florida....and I saw a bumper sticker on a parked car that
read 'I miss Newark, New Jersey.'

So I broke the window, stole the radio and left a note that read, "I
hope this helps."

Cindi I love it!!! I am from NJ too and that was funny....(my area is very nice also), I may need to steal it for my NJ friends....

Silly girl, glad you liked it. My girlfriend who lives in Dallas, Texas sent me this. I think she's busting on me. We may live in NJ but remember "Jersey Girls Don't Pump Gas." LOL

RIP Michael Clark Duncan. So sudden, he was planning on marrying his fiance in December. Attached TMZ article.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/09/04/michael-clarke-duncan-dead-omarosa-wedding-january-engaged/?icid=maing-grid7%7Ccompaq-desktop%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D200723

Such a sad thing for one so young.
He was just wonderful in Green Mile.

and almost ready to wed

Cindigirl, thanks so much for suggesting "view post since last visit" option. Use it every visit, can't believe it took me so long to try it out.

U R welcome lucy. I discovered it out of desperation and frustration from scrolling down the games threads on the latest topics.

As I said before here, you can miss an awful lot by just depending on the scrolling list on the left as all the new posts aren't always there.
It's always beast to click on "View posts since last visit" which is what I've always done.

and I never have. I just scroll down the front page and everything that's lit up, I click.

Same here...

cindigirl wrote:U R welcome lucy. I discovered it out of desperation and frustration from scrolling down the games threads on the latest topics.

Hi Cindigirl... I just received a Victoria Secrets catalog, on page 111, there's a girl that looks a lot like you. Is that you or the model you spoke about earlier? Either way, I think you're pretty, too! FYI- I'm into guys but I have no problem telling another woman they are pretty... Just saying.

Hi Cindy - that model you saw in the VS catalog is not me but my former Avatar. I don't think I'm NEARLY as pretty as her. Her name is Lindsay Ellingson and not only is she pretty, but she's sweet and nice. She doesn't pose nude like some of the other models. She's modest.

My current picture is me when I was younger (and prettier). lol

Oh... well, I bet you're just as pretty now as you were back then... Most people don't lose their facial features even when they get older. AND it's nice to hear that Lindsay Ellingson is a good girl! Kudos to her!

Here's some advice (maybe long and unwanted) but good to know.

WHO KNEW PUTTING GAS IN YOUR CAR COULD BE SO DANGEROUS!

Please send this information to ALL your family & friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas.
Here are some reasons why we don't allow cell phones in operating areas, propylene oxide handling and storage area, propane, gas and diesel refueling areas.

The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes during fueling operations

In the first case, the phone was placed on the car's trunk lid during fueling; it rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the gasoline pump.

In the second, an individual suffered severe burns to their face when fumes ignited as they answered a call while refueling their car!

And in the third, an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when the phone, which was in their pocket, rang while they were fueling their car.

You should know that: Mobile Phones can ignite fuel or fumes

Mobile phones that light up when switched on or when they ring release enough energy to provide a spark for ignition

Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations, or when fueling lawn mowers, boat, etc.

Mobile phones should not be used, or should be turned off, around other materials that generate flammable or explosive fumes or dust, (I.e., solvents, chemicals, gases, grain dust, etc...)

TO sum it up, here are the Four Rules for Safe Refueling:

1) Turn off engine
2) Don't smoke
3) Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off
4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling.

Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of 'static electricity' at gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires.

His results were very surprising:

1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.

2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while the nozzle was still pumping gas. When finished, they went back to pull the nozzle out and the fire started, as a result of static.

3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.

4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished. This is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires. (Now who knew that men were smarter?) LOL

5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas

6) It is the vapors that come out of the gas that cause the fire, when connected with static charges.

7) There were 29 fires where the vehicle was re-entered and the nozzle was touched during refueling from a variety of makes and models. Some resulted in extensive damage to the vehicle, to the station, and to the customer.

Seventeen fires occurred before, during or immediately after the gas cap was removed and before fueling began.

Mr. Renkes stresses to NEVER get back into your vehicle while filling it with gas. If you absolutely HAVE to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping, make sure you get out, close the door TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull the nozzle out. This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever remove the nozzle.

As I mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with several other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware of this danger.

I ask you to please send this information to ALL your family and friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas. If this were to happen to them, they may not be able to get the children out in time.Thanks for passing this along.

Thanks Cindi for that life saving information.

Cindi...has that been checked on Snopes do you know ?


Just done that...

Mobile phone...False....been doing the rounds since 1999.

Static...a mixture of true and false.

Worth having a look on both.

This was sent to me from an email buddy. Thought it best to pass on to COH friends. Better safe than sorry....

JURY DUTY

Pass this on to your grown children and anyone else you can think of. This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury DUTY coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the Scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado , AZ and more. This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system.

The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud. Check it out here:
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm
And here:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp
Yep! It's true

Well, it's something to think about even if some of it is false. Alhough I can't imagine someone putting their phone on the car trunk. it's sad some people are so attached to their cell phones they can't put it down even while filling gas.

I don't really have an axe to grind because I'm a Jersey girl and Jersey girls don't pump gas. Beware of gas station attendants though.

Thanks Lakin for the jury duty fraud article. With identity theft so prevalent today it's wise to NEVER give out your SS No. or any bank information. I once got a call from someone who said I won one million dollars and all they needed was my bank information so they can forward the check. Now I didn't come from the pumpkin patch today and I told him I'm reporting him to the FCC. He never called again.

Well not to change the subject from static gasoline explosions and identity theft but... :-)

WARNING - NOT SO MUCH SPOILERS AS THEMES I WILL DISCUSS ARE PART OF THE FILM...

I went to see "The Words" this morning.

Here is the movie trailer in case some of you haven't see it...




So my first thoughts when the film was over... "Oh my, what an awesome film!" I don't want to give anything away, but I have some thoughts about it I want to share:

1. I didn't realize there were two directors - but after seeing the movie I understand why. You can see from the trailer that there are scenes in present day New York City and also scenes from after WWII in Paris. Duh, I thought to myself when I read about the two directors, it certainly would make sense for filming expediency to have two directors working on the two different time periods and set of actors in the film!

2. I left the film feeling a bit pensive. The performers and also some discussion on entertainment shows have said that this film will make you think - and it certainly does.

Questions I asked myself: "Did I fulfill my dreams or did I let me life slip away?" After watching Bradley Cooper's character struggle with the truth of what he had done I asked myself, "Have I lived my life with full integrity?"

3. Other thoughts I had revolved around my "one day when I have time" dream to write a book. And as I watched Bradley's character struggle with the process and finding someone else's more moving and awe-inspiring manuscript that made him question his choice of career, I just wonder if I'll ever take up the task that keeps swirling in the back of my mind as I go to and from my "job" to keep the bills paid.

4. There are two powerful stories in this film, but three time periods. I won't give anything away but let me just say the the scenes with Dennis Quaid, although important to the film, were the least satisfying for me because of the two actors in those scenes. Or maybe by the time they got to those scenes the acting in the two other time periods were so stellar that his scenes just fell flat for me. I think they picked an actress for her looks and not for her talent. It might have been more powerful if they had found a more talented thespian with whom Dennis could have interacted! JMO

But finally, all in all, I can do nothing but highly recommend this film.

I cried WITH the characters during some scenes because their stories had pulled me in and swept me away with them. Go see this film that's all I can say about it. And when you do come back and let me know what you think!

Thanks Lorna for your review!

what did he say?
reality and fiction
are really near
but never meet?

Yes it's me but I won't comment on that statement. Wait till you see the film and you'll understand his meaning of the comment.