I have questions
I have a real post, with photos, words, stories, etc. I've been trying to post it for days, but things just keep tripping me up.
So here's another quick post, with some questions that I want answers to...
- Why does a new shovel handle cost more than a new shovel? Same goes for axes and other tools. Insanity.
- Why does drinking tea make me thirsty? How is that possible? The more I drink, the thirstier I get.
- Why does ginger, a noted stomach soother, give me terrible heartburn? Ginger ale, gingerbread cookies, certain ethnic foods... I drank a ginger beer at a Sri Lankan restaurant when we lived in Cincinnati, and I thought I was going to die like Kane in Alien.
- How can my five-year-old out-smart me from time to time? Am I dumber than a five-year-old? Wait, don't answer that.
- What will be the next farm-oriented cliche that comes to life at our house? We've already experienced the literal versions of such classics as playing chicken, kick the bucket, and no use crying over spilled milk.
Now just to balance things out a tiny bit... wait, can you balance something a tiny bit? Isn't it kind of all or nothing? Sorry. Just to change things up a bit, I'll give you an answer to a question I'm sure you've been losing sleep over:
What is the collective noun for skunks? You know, like a pod of whales or a pride of lions. I thought a passel of skunks sounded good, but that's not the answer.
I'll give you a second....
There are actually two correct answers....
And both are surprisingly appropriate....
Well, you can either have a surfeit of skunks, or a stench of skunks. Possibly both.
Ask me how I know...
Okay, now you can sleep soundly tonight, secure in the knowledge that you can talk about a group of skunks properly. I think those same two collective nouns apply to attorneys too, so there you go.
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Labels: ramblings
posted by e4 @ 6/26/2008 10:28:00 PM
9
comments
9 Comments:
Thanks Crunchy. And thank you for not answering Question #4.
A skank of skunks. I like it.
I dunno about skunks...never met one :) I still like a parliament of owls specially after I found out that owls are really pretty dumb. So much for politicians,,he he. As for your 5 year old...try my 11 year old, and he's been like that seemingly forever!
What ARE skunks really like? They look cute and furry in the photos.
viv in nz
knutty - Skunks are odd compared to most other animals in my experience. They have very little fear, and never seem to be in any particular hurry. Sometimes they walk within a few feet of me because they know no predator with half a brain will bother them. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and think it's just a cat, but no, it's a skunk ambling about its business.
I'd never seen them walk in a group before, and it was strange. It was just this tightly packed confusion of wobbling tails and waddling bodies. When I cranked open the kitchen window to get a better look, the noise startled them and five wispy, fluffy tails sprang up around the outside of the group, cocked and ready.
I always thought of them as reclusive animals, because you rarely see them, but I think mostly they're just not very active during the day.
They have no smell under normal circumstances. They only spray when they feel very threatened (or when they get hit by a car).
The smell of the spray is almost unbearable at very close range, but it's not that offensive to me from a distance. To me it smells distinctly fermented. In fact, you'll sometimes hear of certain beers being "skunky," especially European beers that haven't been handled well. (Grolsch comes to mind.)
That's about all I can tell you off the top of my head.
Personally, I don't mind having them around. I figure they're a good predator deterrent...
"Why does drinking tea make me thirsty? How is that possible? The more I drink, the thirstier I get." Tea has caffeine and caffeine is a diuretic - you pee more, you get thirstier quicker!
We had a surfiet of skunks who used to forage in our front yard and lived under our house. They're pretty amazing, I think.
My dog begs to differ ;).
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginger warms the stomach and nourishes stomach fire—good things if you're having nausea; bad things if you're prone to heartburn. (Note: I do not have a license in anything.)
The thing about the tea is that I feel thirsty as I'm drinking it. At the end of my glass, I want more to drink. So it doesn't seem like there's time for its diuretic properties to kick in. Just one of those weird things I guess.
Plus it's decaffeinated tea.... Is decaf tea still diuretic?
Man, I thought my neighborhood was bad but at least there aren't gangs of skunks roaming around. We do have a couple of skanks though.
Skunks are very cute looking but ferocious. Think weasels - they are in that family. The mountain ranges in my neck of the woods have four different species of skunks, one of which does handstands in order to spray you more effectively. And they love to have litters under your house. Like any youngster, it takes a while for the little 'uns to learn control....
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