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Thinking Aloud
Thinking Aloud


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History? Boring? Nah
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

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 1500s:

These are interesting. ..

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so 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 m an 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 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 entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(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 porridg 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 ! ! !

Educate someone. Share these facts with a friend (I just did! --sandy)

April 30, 2008 | 11:08 PM Comments  0 comments

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Goodbye Rodz
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Just this morning, I received a text message. A friend of mine just died.

He was just in his mid-20's.

He apparently had an attack due to hypertension.

His name is Rodriner. I met him during a Civil Engineering Student's Conference a couple of years ago. His classmates were placed in the same hotel room I was in and so, we got to share a few stories together. He was an over-all friendly guy, and I saw the way he took care of his female classmates. He was like the dad of the group.

Anyway, we met again on the conferences that followed and of course, we treated each other as if we were old friends. During one of the conferences, I brought a cd which contained my favorite disco songs just in case the music wouldn't be dance-worthy during the fellowship night. He thought it was hilarious and even expressed his sympathy for me (in a joking manner) when the fellowship night turned out be a major bore with only dinner and a raffle draw. Our groups ended up satisfying our cravings for dance at a nearby disco and amidst the dance steps and the sweat, we all had a good time.

I didnt know it at first, but he was the president of his student chapter. He was also a nominee to the Most Outstanding Civil Engineering Student award and judging from his personality, I knew he had the makings of a good leader.

We weren't really close but the sadness I feel for his loss is unimaginable. I feel sad for the things that he has yet to do, for his family that never got to see him during his defining moments, and for his friends, classmates, and teachers who have shared small but memorable moments with him. It is hard to lose someone instantly and pain from that loss is more difficult to bear, if not impossible to ease.

This brings me to reflecting on my own life, to the opportunities that I let pass me by, to the words I leave unsaid, to the gestures I fail to acknowledge. Again, as much as a surprise Rodz death was to all of us, we cannot deny that the possibility of our own deaths cannot be predicted.

As Randy Pausch said, "We cannot choose the cards we are dealt, we can only choose how to play them." So I hope we all play our cards well. I pray for Rodz and I hope that his memory lives on in the hearts of the people he touched.

April 24, 2008 | 3:13 PM Comments  1 comments

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Growing up in a week
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I have realized many things this week.

Yes, just this week. And i believe I have matured a lot because of it.

Allow me to share:

First, I realized that I am very talented. All this time, I guess I have been comparing myself with other people and somehow, I became depressed at the thought that I do not possess certain skills, or am not better at some things.

For a while, I forgot that we were all created differently, and that we have our own strengths. So it wasnt until I really embraced this fact that I was able to decide what is best for me, and that I should live by my own standards.

Second, you should never put off work, no matter how small it is. One of my struggles as a student was laziness. Oftentimes, I wanted to postpone the small things that I had to o. Because they werent important anyway. I realize now that even if things are becoming easier for me, I am not teaching myself to become a disciplined person.

Third, be patient with other people. I realize now that we live in this world also for others. So we should try to help each other as much as we can. Humility is very important. "It is not thing less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less."

Fourth, really have faith in God. I am a Catholic and I know all about faith and God's overwhelming power. But why do I succumb myself to worrying? Has he ever let me down before?

Fifth, whatever you are, be a good one. Abraham Lincoln said that. Sometimes, we may have given our best and yet we still fail. Nevertheless, if we try to think of our mistakes and failures as valuable lessons, then we will become better people. I realize now that excellence should reflect in all aspects of ourselves. Whether we are just doing the laundry or even washing dishes.

I just graduated and now, Im a bit anxious about the future that lies ahead of me. But I know that this is a journey to self-discovery which I should take and with proper guidance and lots of prayers, God will lead me to the path which is right for me.

By the way,if you have read my previous blog entries, I am a bit closer to achieving my lifelong passion to teach. For now, I am teaching Japanese to speak English. Not bad, eh? =)