I wrote a website yesterday, and taught a class, and had various bits of correspondence with clients, and then had bells and choir. Today I have papers to grade, and another website to write, and two articles. I’m also hoping to get that book proposal in. Oh, and rehearsal tonight.
Yesterday in class I was talking with the students about the importance of background information. For some reason, I didn’t feel like using the laundromat example (in fact, I am so sure that you already know and are sick of the laundromat example that I’m not even going to describe it), so I told them about the time my former son-in-law described in hilarious detail an event on his submarine involving duct tape dresses. They’re all men there on the sub, so we had some trouble grasping the story. However, it turns out that when a boat crosses the International Dateline (or the equator, or something), it’s customary to party like Mardi Gras. Once we had that essential bit of information, I said, the whole story made sense and our experience of it was completely changed.
I have a military man in the class. I appealed to him to help us on the question of whether it was the equator or some other imaginary line. He didn’t know, not being a sailor. However, he put his finger on an entirely different point which I hadn’t previously considered:
“Why’d they have that much duct tape? Oh, we’ve sprung a leak, grab the duct tape?”
Why, indeed. What is it about duct tape that makes people think it’s magic?
ha ha!
But hang on a minute, I don’t know the laundromat thingie.
I don’t know the laundromat thingie, either. And just last night one of my boys was prowling around searching for duct tape. I have no idea what he intended to use it for. And…you’re still at bells? I was thinking you were going to give that up. 😉
I don’t know the laundromat story, either.
My sister sent me an email, and it had several things on it, but one was about duct tape.
It said that all you need for a toolkit is WD-40 and duct tape.
The instructions are: if it’s supposed to move and doesn’t, use the WD-40. If it moves and shouldn’t, use the duct tape.
I still don’t see why you’d need more than a roll of it. But then, I see workmen with two to four rolls of it fastened to their belts, presumably for easy access. I could understand two rolls if one of them only had a little left on it, but four? My imagination fails.
Maybe it’s a male thing, and that’s why I don’t understand it.
I used to keep a roll of masking tape next to my spinning wheel to fasten the beginning of the yarn to the bobbin for easy starting of a new bobbin.
Then, I got married, and could never find the masking tape. Eventually, I found out that my new husband (for some inexplicable reason) felt that all masking tape should be kept in one place, so he put it in with his model kit. He amassed 5 rolls of tape before I figured it out, and insisted that he NOT TOUCH the roll next to the spinning wheel.
I, on the other hand, feel that consumables or useful things should be spread around. I have Kleenex in the living room, kitchen, and next to the computer. You never know where a runny nose will strike. I also have small scissors next to the chair where I usually knit, paper shears and deckle-edge scissors next to the computer, heavy shears for package opening and general large scissors in the kitchen, and mid-sized scissors in the bedroom. You never know when you’ll need to cut something. And it’s convenient.
I
duct tape. Duct tape dresses sound potentially painful, though… ~x~
@pink_hebe –
They were Navy men. They’d think painful was good.
It’s the equator I think. I vaguely remember reading about the ceremony. I seem to remember that it was something to do with a tribute to Poseidon/Neptune. Which makes sense. IF I were in ther middle of an ocean in a floating wooden of steel box, I’d give tribute to the God of the Sea just in case too, regardless of my official religion.
@sighkey – Thanks for the clarification. And I guess duct tape dresses are as good a way to placate Poseidon as anything else.