knitesable

Anti-Suckage Proclamations - by request

2009-07-30T21:38:48Z

no particular order

#1 - not all things that suck are bad
#2 - seamus the shameless' public house of ilrepute (my wicked awesome house)
#3 - keg in the cooler, wine on the rack, and scotch on the shelf
#4 - boobs: making sure there are at least two nice things i can say about every women i meet
#5 - having a calendar full of events that include my friends and family
#6 - traveling the world
#7 - super hot girl friend
#8 - occasionally working from home
#9 - punching people that say the book was better
#0 - using a zero to keep my lines even

Fun Historical Reading

2009-02-12T20:42:12Z

Sleep in the Middle Ages
How people got through the night

By Gael Stirler
If you were middle class or wealthy in the Middle Ages you would have enjoyed a comfortable night's sleep in a bed with warm bed clothes and curtains. But if you worked as a servant, you may have had no more than your cloak to keep you warm.
We take sleeping in a bedroom for granted now, but in the middle ages, a separate room for sleeping was a luxury that only the wealthiest could afford. Cottagers slept on stone slabs covered with a thin mattress of hay or peat moss. Their one-room cottages were kept warm by an open fire in the middle of the room. In the winter, when all the windows were shuttered, the air was thick was smoke. Dew collected on the thatched roof would drip from the rafters in the morning and when it rained no one could sleep. Small birds, mice, and insects living in the roof would scatter debris down on those sleeping below. And if that wasn't enough, the wind would whistle and moan through the chinks in the walls all night long.
A wealthy landowner or town merchant could afford better accommodations for sleeping. A bed with a mattress, sheets, blankets, canopy, curtains, etc. was the most expensive piece of furniture in most homes and they were often mentioned in wills. Some were so sumptuous and impressive that they occupied a prominent position in the area we would call a living room. This room was the family gathering place, where the master and mistress slept, ate, and worked during the winter. The beds were often very large and the whole family could sleep together. Guests were sometimes offered a spot in the communal bed by the fire. It was not uncommon to visit with your friends while sitting, fully clothed in bed.

Queen Elizabeth had a large bed but her ladies in waiting slept on straw pallets on the floor of her chamber. Many of these ladies had fine beds in their own homes with featherbeds (a kind of down filled coverlet) laid over heavy canvas-covered mattresses filled with wool, straw, or moss. Henry VIII had a straw mattress that was changed every day, however most mattresses were only changed once a year.
Lice, fleas, and bed bugs made themselves at home in beds and most people just accepted it as a part of life. Tightly woven mattress covers called ticking helped to prevent the spread of insects as did keeping bedding in cedar chests. But other customs like using fur coverlets and feather pillows attracted pests. Even the King's chamber was plagued with these tiny guests.
Getting up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse or privy was not always convenient, so most people kept a chamber pot under the bed. Some even had a special chair near the bed with a hole in the seat over a chamberpot. If they were lucky they had a lid for the pot to trap some of the fumes.
Not all beds were large, some were quite small by our standards and were designed with a slope for the back and support for the knees. To sleep in this kind of bed was akin to sleeping in a recliner chair. The Vikings made collapsible bed frames that could be folded into a trunk and stored during the day. The Scandinavians slept on beds in wooden closets that maintained the heat of their bodies.
A well appointed bed included a canopy, suspended from the ceiling until the 15th century when four-post beds became fashionable. The canopy was an upholstered frame with a top and curtains that could be closed around the bed for warmth and privacy. These curtains were very expensive and sometimes embroidered with the owner's arms, initials, and mottos. When not in use the curtains were bundled and tucked up to keep them out of the way. They looked like bags hanging above the corners of the bed. Some beds had headboards but footboards were rare. The purpose of a head board was to provide support when sitting in bed, to keep pillows from falling and most important, to insulate the head from the cold stone walls. If there was no headboard, then a heavy curtain or tapestry wall hanging called a dosser served that purpose. Since cold floors can suck all the heat out of your body, beds were usually placed on platforms that created an airspace between the floor and the bed. Raising the bed on legs and adding a very long bedspread or or bed skirts, called costers, also helped keep drafts from chilling the underside of the bed.
Most beds had one long pillow placed at the head called a bolster that was covered with a head sheet. Additional pillows were propped on the bolster for each sleeper. Sometimes the head sheet was draped over these pillows at bedtime to protect them from oils and sweat. Nearly everyone wore a cap or kerchief to bed to keep their heads warm. Women would braid their hair and tie it up to keep it from tangling. Most Medieval pictures show people sleeping in the nude, but there is evidence that by the 16th century, night shirts and night gowns were common.
On cold nights heated stones could be put into the beds. Smooth brass pans called bedwarmers with hinged lids and long handles were used to heat the sheets. A small amount of hot coals and ashes were scooped into the bedwarmer, then a servant would slide it between the sheets just before the master went to bed. If there was a fireplace in the room, the covers were "turned down" to allow the inside of the bed to warm up before retiring.
Napping during the day was common, especially in warmer climates. Soldiers and servants were expected to pull duties at night when the rest of the household slept and then they had to grab naps the next day. There are many pictures of people sleeping sitting up so it must have been a common way to nap. Waiting until needed was a large part of some jobs, so napping was a way to pass the time without getting in trouble.
Historian Roger Ekirch explains in At Day's Close: Night in Times Past that a straight 8 hours of sleep is a modern invention. He cites sources from Homer to Thomas Aquinas who wrote of sleeping in two segments with a wakeful break in between. They used this time to pray, make love, do security checks on the house, or just reflect. Then they would go back to sleep until morning. This was considered normal. In the monasteries and cloisters, rising for prayers in the middle of the night were part of the cycle of prayer and thought to protect not only the religious community from demonic attacks but also protect the surrounding parish.
We tend to think that night time was completely dark before electricity but that was not always so. Since a fire was needed all night to keep the room warm, there was a soft orange glow in the room. If you needed to move around the house, you could light a candle or rushlight for portable illumination. Some towns had street lamps that gave a little light. The moon also shed light that streamed in open windows.
But when the fire went out and the windows were shuttered, darkness was complete and scary for our Medieval ancestors. Creaky timbers and muttering voices from the streets conjured up fears of demons and other imaginary dangers. Concerns about real dangers like thieves, fire, bad weather, war, famine, and plague also made sleep difficult at times. To allay their fears they turned to prayer for comfort and protection. To people of the Middle Ages, the words "if I should die before I wake," held real meaning.
Nowadays we tend to take having a warm bed for granted. Tonight when you slip between the covers, count your blessings starting with a private room, a comfortable mattress, indoor plumbing, a secure home, pest-free bedding, and no birds in the rafters.

Investment tips for 2008

2008-10-29T19:57:48Z

With all the turmoil in the market today and the collapse of Lehman Bros and Acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America this might be some good advice . Fo r all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make s ome BIG bucks.

Watch for these consolidations in later this year:

1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W R. Grace Co. Will merge and become:

Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.

2.) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become:

Poly, Warner Cracker.

3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become:

MMMGood.

4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become:

ZipAudiDoDa .

5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become:

FedUP.

6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become:

Fairwell Honeychild.

7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become:

PouponPants.

8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become:

Knott NOW!

9. Victoria 's Secret and Smith &Wesson will merge under the new name:

TittyTittyBangBang

A point to ponder………………

2008-08-22T14:53:13Z

A president's pension currently is $191,300 per year.
Now let's assume on average a former president lives to age 80.

Sen. McCain would receive ZERO pension as he would reach 80 at the end of two terms as president.

Sen. Obama would be retired for 26 years after two terms and would receive $4,973,800 in pension.

Therefore it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in November.

How's that for non partisan thinking?

BIRTHDAY WISHES

2008-08-01T19:36:14Z

Happy Birthday to all my August friends!!!

We should have a party.

Id vs. Ego (I hate trying to answer these damn things.)

2008-07-17T21:47:25Z

Your result for Which Chess Piece are You Test?...

The King's Knight

The King’s Knight is spontaneous and active. They get great satisfaction from acting on impulse. This usually means thrill and risk can be quite exciting. If they are stifled by rules, they may end up feeling ‘dead’ inside. They look for the ‘tick’ behind the clock without the need for verbal cues. Oddly enough, this Knight deeply respects and admires anyone who can best them.

The King's Knight is a 'do-er', naturally impatient with discussion. They seek to live in the moment and are great improvisers. Because of this they are quite capable at bringing ideas or concepts to fruition. They often prefer practical organizational issues. Because they seek to make things happen, they may act too quickly with the appearance of not thinking things through.

They are the best at manipulating others. This usually means that they can convince others to a like-minded position and thus the King would love to have this Knight by their side. They are concrete with their form and speech and are seen as smooth operators. They could be seen as self-promoters and great salesmen of ideas. They are gifted at earning trust. But they are also gifted at applying common sense to any issue. They will maintain acute awareness of factual information during discussions and will guide tangents back on course. The King's Knight is outgoing, charming and fun. They know the 'who's who' and where the socially sophisticated reside and play. They are action oriented and deplore unnecessary diplomacy. They want life to be simple, but realize it isn't.

Take Which Chess Piece are You Test? at HelloQuizzy

A belated birthday wish and greeting to my brethren.

2007-11-12T14:42:02Z

NOVEMBER 10, 1775 - NOVEMBER 10, 2007

232 years of HONOR and COURAGE

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/commandant232

A BIRTHDAY MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

Since the birth of our Nation, our liberty has been purchased by valiant men and women of deep conviction, great courage, and bold action; the cost has often been in blood and tremendous sacrifice. As America's sentinels of freedom, United States Maries are counted among the finest legions in the chronicles of war. Since 1775, Marines have marched boldly to the sounds of guns and have fought fiercely and honorably to defeat the scourge of tyranny and terror. We are Marines—that is what we do.

In the words of President John F. Kennedy: "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger." Magnificent heroes fought in the wheat fields of Belleau Wood, in the snows of the Chosin, and on the streets of Hue City. Your generation bears this obligation now, and it is borne on mighty and capable shoulders, Just like the Marines at Belleau Wood—we are once again engaged in sustained operations ashore. Just like Belleau Wood—Marines have been given the toughest sector and have prevailed over a resilient and determined enemy—who has made us pay for our gains. Once again, as in any struggle, the road ahead is far from certain, but as Marines, we are not dissuaded by the challenges of war or the tough conditions of a warrior's life. Indeed, we don't just accept our destiny—we shape it.

On our 232nd birthday, to every Marine—those still in uniform and those who have served honorable in the past—be proud of who you are and what you do. Know that your citizenship dues have been paid in full; you are part of this Nation's elite warrior class. Cherish our families who offer marvelous support, abiding resolve, and steadfast patience. Remember those who have served and those who have fallen—their names are chiseled on the roll call of America's heroes. Those who have carried the battle colors of our Corps have forged our heritage, and today's generation of leathernecks chart our future. Carry the colors with pride; carry them with honor.

Happy Birthday Marines!

Semper Fidelis,
James T Conway
General, U.S. Marine Corps

To the rest of you...
Happy Veteran's Day
Semper Fi