Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

This is of some concern to me, since I'm hoping to get good advice
here. I just pulled out of a thread here where I posted a black and
white gov report. It was a written simply in plain English and had a
few simple numbers. That OT thread is over for me and I want to get
back to boating for a bit.
But the response I got from a boater showed he was unable to read it
clearly, and his math increased the costs shown by a factor of 6.
Not naming names here, but I was shocked.
What I'm afraid of is having somebody here recommend, say, a 240 hp
motor when he really means 40 hp, and then the dealer calls me and
says the boat is ready, but it sunk.
Please tell me that was an aberration, and there's nothing to worry
about, and that boaters have more of their senses working when they
talk about boats than they do when talking about other subjects.
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

--Vic

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
This is of some concern to me, since I'm hoping to get good advice
here. I just pulled out of a thread here where I posted a black and
white gov report. It was a written simply in plain English and had a
few simple numbers. That OT thread is over for me and I want to get
back to boating for a bit.
But the response I got from a boater showed he was unable to read it
clearly, and his math increased the costs shown by a factor of 6.
Not naming names here, but I was shocked.
What I'm afraid of is having somebody here recommend, say, a 240 hp
motor when he really means 40 hp, and then the dealer calls me and
says the boat is ready, but it sunk.
Please tell me that was an aberration, and there's nothing to worry
about, and that boaters have more of their senses working when they
talk about boats than they do when talking about other subjects.
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

--Vic


54% of the population is stupid. Do you have any other questions? Would you
like a recipe for chocolate-mascarpone mousse which works better than
whatever drug it was that men were putting in women's drinks a few years
back?

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:24:52 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:


What exactly is it you want to know?

I've asked some questions and will have plenty of questions as time
goes by.

BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

Yes they can, but no they don't. How's that for obfuscation?

Allow me to explain. Garmin makes general purpose handheld GPS units
that use audio prompts when you use the Mapsource auto software, but
as far as I know, no with the Bluechart marine software. In other
words, the hardware is there to do it, but the marine software doesn't
support it. As far as I know, and I must confess that I looked into
this a while ago so things may have changed, marine software doesn't
use a speech interface as auto software does.

The reason, as explained to me, is that marine mapping is different
than auto mapping because of how the units are used. Additionally,
marine use is generally different due to other factors like set/drift,
wind, wave and the fact that on open water, you can pretty much go
where you want as long as it's safe.

Now, can you use a chartplotter functions with an audio alarm? Yes.
Will it tell you you are at a waypoint or require some sort of course
correction? Yes. Will it talk to you - not that I know of.

Thanks SWS, you've given me some info to dig into.

--Vic

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Duke Nukem" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:37:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

Would you like a recipe for chocolate-mascarpone mousse

Pansy.. :)

You haven't tasted this stuff. This is better than whatever Keith Richard
pumps into his veins.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:50:36 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

This is of some concern to me, since I'm hoping to get good advice
here. I just pulled out of a thread here where I posted a black and
white gov report. It was a written simply in plain English and had a
few simple numbers. That OT thread is over for me and I want to get
back to boating for a bit.
But the response I got from a boater showed he was unable to read it
clearly, and his math increased the costs shown by a factor of 6.
Not naming names here, but I was shocked.
What I'm afraid of is having somebody here recommend, say, a 240 hp
motor when he really means 40 hp, and then the dealer calls me and
says the boat is ready, but it sunk.
Please tell me that was an aberration, and there's nothing to worry
about, and that boaters have more of their senses working when they
talk about boats than they do when talking about other subjects.

What exactly is it you want to know?
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

Yes they can, but no they don't. How's that for obfuscation?

Allow me to explain. Garmin makes general purpose handheld GPS units
that use audio prompts when you use the Mapsource auto software, but
as far as I know, no with the Bluechart marine software. In other
words, the hardware is there to do it, but the marine software doesn't
support it. As far as I know, and I must confess that I looked into
this a while ago so things may have changed, marine software doesn't
use a speech interface as auto software does.

The reason, as explained to me, is that marine mapping is different
than auto mapping because of how the units are used. Additionally,
marine use is generally different due to other factors like set/drift,
wind, wave and the fact that on open water, you can pretty much go
where you want as long as it's safe.

Now, can you use a chartplotter functions with an audio alarm? Yes.
Will it tell you you are at a waypoint or require some sort of course
correction? Yes. Will it talk to you - not that I know of.

This is crazy talk.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 21:46:46 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:24:52 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

Yes they can, but no they don't. How's that for obfuscation?

Allow me to explain.

explanation snipped

Thanks SWS, you've given me some info to dig into.

Short Wave, I've already come up with some info on the accuracy of
GPS, which I pasted below.
I still have more digging to do.

--Vic
************************************************** *******************************************
A woman in a hot air balloon realizes she is lost. She lowers her
altitude and spots a man fishing from a boat below.
She shouts to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I
would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consults his portable GPS and replies, "You're in a hot air
balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet
above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude
and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolls her eyes and says, "You must be a Democrat!"
"I am," replies the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answers the balloonist, "everything you tell me is technically
correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm
still lost. Frankly, you're not much help to me."
The man smiles and responds, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replies the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well," says the man, "You don't know where you are or where you're
going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot
air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and now you
expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position
you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it's my fault."

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:24:52 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

What exactly is it you want to know?
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

I don't need a talking GPS.

I have a wife.

When I ask her where the off button is, she gets sulky and rude.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 01:33:38 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:24:52 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

What exactly is it you want to know?
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

I don't need a talking GPS.

I have a wife.

When I ask her where the off button is, she gets sulky and rude.

ROTFL!!!!!


Once in a while, when required, I just point the TV clicker at Mrs.E. and
frantically push buttons.
Sometimes she gets the hint.

Eisboch

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:03:46 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 01:33:38 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:24:52 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

What exactly is it you want to know?
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

I don't need a talking GPS.

I have a wife.

When I ask her where the off button is, she gets sulky and rude.

ROTFL!!!!!

Once in a while, when required, I just point the TV clicker at Mrs.E. and
frantically push buttons.
Sometimes she gets the hint.

I've done that for years.

It never seems to work though.

Slight left turn: My statistical sample of two women says something's odd
with all of them. Two examples:

1) You're watching a movie. Someone is about to say something VERY important
to the plot of the movie, and it's plainly obvious to any regular person
that it's going to be whispered. At that precise moment, women will say
"pass the popcorn". It's always when you're watching something you can't
rewind.

2) This has happened multiple times, so I know it's an absolute thing. I'm
in the back of the boat, steering with the tiller on the outboard. We're in
a river known for lots of floating tree chunks, travelling at
log-appropriate speed. Woman's sitting up front, and claiming she will let
me know if she sees anything. When she does, she announces it in a voice
appropiate for the bedroom, not for a situation where there's 75 db of motor
noise. When I (with great respect) mention this discrepancy, I'm told I'm
grouchy.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...


Slight left turn: My statistical sample of two women says something's odd
with all of them. Two examples:

1) You're watching a movie. Someone is about to say something VERY
important to the plot of the movie, and it's plainly obvious to any
regular person that it's going to be whispered. At that precise moment,
women will say "pass the popcorn". It's always when you're watching
something you can't rewind.

2) This has happened multiple times, so I know it's an absolute thing. I'm
in the back of the boat, steering with the tiller on the outboard. We're
in a river known for lots of floating tree chunks, travelling at
log-appropriate speed. Woman's sitting up front, and claiming she will let
me know if she sees anything. When she does, she announces it in a voice
appropiate for the bedroom, not for a situation where there's 75 db of
motor noise. When I (with great respect) mention this discrepancy, I'm
told I'm grouchy.


I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:

A few years ago we had the RV bug, thinking of using it for winter trips to
Florida and other warms places.
So, I went out and bought a 36' Pace Arrow class A motorhome ... looks like
a bus.
I drove it home and was attempting to back it into a narrow, tree lined,
gravel parking spot that had a dog leg in it. The RV was equipped with a
rear facing camera on the back that I could monitor from the driver's seat.

So, I asked Mrs.E. to go behind the RV and make sure I wasn't going to hit
anything as I backed in.
As I started to back up, she gave me the "come on back" signal with her
hands, then suddenly started shaking her head from side to side. I jammed
on the brakes. She looked up at the camera, and started to give me the hand
signals to back up again. Started moving the rig backwards and she again
started shaking her head violently from side to side. Jam on the brakes
again.

This was repeated a couple of more times and I finally threw the RV in Park,
jumped out and asked her why she was shaking her head everytime I started
backing up. Her answer?

"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Eisboch

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...


Slight left turn: My statistical sample of two women says something's odd
with all of them. Two examples:

1) You're watching a movie. Someone is about to say something VERY
important to the plot of the movie, and it's plainly obvious to any
regular person that it's going to be whispered. At that precise moment,
women will say "pass the popcorn". It's always when you're watching
something you can't rewind.

2) This has happened multiple times, so I know it's an absolute thing.
I'm in the back of the boat, steering with the tiller on the outboard.
We're in a river known for lots of floating tree chunks, travelling at
log-appropriate speed. Woman's sitting up front, and claiming she will
let me know if she sees anything. When she does, she announces it in a
voice appropiate for the bedroom, not for a situation where there's 75 db
of motor noise. When I (with great respect) mention this discrepancy, I'm
told I'm grouchy.


I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:

A few years ago we had the RV bug, thinking of using it for winter trips
to Florida and other warms places.
So, I went out and bought a 36' Pace Arrow class A motorhome ... looks
like a bus.
I drove it home and was attempting to back it into a narrow, tree lined,
gravel parking spot that had a dog leg in it. The RV was equipped with a
rear facing camera on the back that I could monitor from the driver's
seat.

So, I asked Mrs.E. to go behind the RV and make sure I wasn't going to hit
anything as I backed in.
As I started to back up, she gave me the "come on back" signal with her
hands, then suddenly started shaking her head from side to side. I jammed
on the brakes. She looked up at the camera, and started to give me the
hand signals to back up again. Started moving the rig backwards and she
again started shaking her head violently from side to side. Jam on the
brakes again.

This was repeated a couple of more times and I finally threw the RV in
Park, jumped out and asked her why she was shaking her head everytime I
started backing up. Her answer?

"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Eisboch

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close to
the open window and yell.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...


Slight left turn: My statistical sample of two women says something's odd
with all of them. Two examples:

1) You're watching a movie. Someone is about to say something VERY
important to the plot of the movie, and it's plainly obvious to any
regular person that it's going to be whispered. At that precise moment,
women will say "pass the popcorn". It's always when you're watching
something you can't rewind.

2) This has happened multiple times, so I know it's an absolute thing.
I'm in the back of the boat, steering with the tiller on the outboard.
We're in a river known for lots of floating tree chunks, travelling at
log-appropriate speed. Woman's sitting up front, and claiming she will
let me know if she sees anything. When she does, she announces it in a
voice appropiate for the bedroom, not for a situation where there's 75 db
of motor noise. When I (with great respect) mention this discrepancy, I'm
told I'm grouchy.


I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:

A few years ago we had the RV bug, thinking of using it for winter trips
to Florida and other warms places.
So, I went out and bought a 36' Pace Arrow class A motorhome ... looks
like a bus.
I drove it home and was attempting to back it into a narrow, tree lined,
gravel parking spot that had a dog leg in it. The RV was equipped with a
rear facing camera on the back that I could monitor from the driver's
seat.

So, I asked Mrs.E. to go behind the RV and make sure I wasn't going to hit
anything as I backed in.
As I started to back up, she gave me the "come on back" signal with her
hands, then suddenly started shaking her head from side to side. I jammed
on the brakes. She looked up at the camera, and started to give me the
hand signals to back up again. Started moving the rig backwards and she
again started shaking her head violently from side to side. Jam on the
brakes again.

This was repeated a couple of more times and I finally threw the RV in
Park, jumped out and asked her why she was shaking her head everytime I
started backing up. Her answer?

"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Eisboch


I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close to
the open window and yell.



My wife likes to find my blind spot when she's 'helping' me back up our
sailboat down a 10' wide driveway.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:57:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close to
the open window and yell.

You need help backing up a 16 foot Lund?

Pansy. :)

The boat's easy. It's the empty trailer. The hard tonneau cover means zero
visibility. And, at night, it's invisible in the mirrors.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:34:10 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:57:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close
to
the open window and yell.

You need help backing up a 16 foot Lund?

Pansy. :)

The boat's easy. It's the empty trailer. The hard tonneau cover means zero
visibility. And, at night, it's invisible in the mirrors.

You don't have side markers on the trailer?

Side markers are for fags.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:57:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close to
the open window and yell.

You need help backing up a 16 foot Lund?

Pansy. :)

Them little boats are a pain to back up. Short wheelbase trailer, long
wheelbase tow vehicle. And he should have side guides on the trailer. Both
so he can see the trailer backing up and when there is wind or current at
the retrieval ramp.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

Eisboch wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 01:33:38 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:24:52 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

What exactly is it you want to know?
BTW, do they have GPS units that talk?

Good question.

I don't need a talking GPS.

I have a wife.

When I ask her where the off button is, she gets sulky and rude.

ROTFL!!!!!


Once in a while, when required, I just point the TV clicker at Mrs.E. and
frantically push buttons.
Sometimes she gets the hint.

I do that too! At first it ****ed her off, now she realizes that I'm
not being rude, I just really, really want her to shut up!!!

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

Calif Bill wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:57:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close to
the open window and yell.

You need help backing up a 16 foot Lund?

Pansy. :)

Them little boats are a pain to back up. Short wheelbase trailer, long
wheelbase tow vehicle. And he should have side guides on the trailer. Both
so he can see the trailer backing up and when there is wind or current at
the retrieval ramp.

I've got a cart to pull behind my lawn tractor. From tongue to axle is
probably three feet. Tractor wheelbase is about 4 feet maybe. That is
the hardest thing I've ever backed up in my life.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:57:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close
to
the open window and yell.

You need help backing up a 16 foot Lund?

Pansy. :)

Them little boats are a pain to back up. Short wheelbase trailer, long
wheelbase tow vehicle. And he should have side guides on the trailer.
Both so he can see the trailer backing up and when there is wind or
current at the retrieval ramp.

I have yet to find guides that work. Part of this is due to the way my
trailer's constructed. The frame beams are not closed boxes. They're sort of
C-shaped. I tried a set of guides from Cabela's which were beautifully made,
but they were a clamp-on affair. The clamps began to crush the frame. Not
good.

My son suggested attaching driveway markers to big magnets, and just
slapping them on the trailer when backing it in (without the boat). Then, he
noticed that the water at most boat ramps is not something you want to wade
in, but that's the only way to remove the markers before pulling the boat
onto the trailer.

So, I just deal with it.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:03:21 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:57:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I get that at the boat ramp, sort of. She'll be 50 feet behind me on
the
dock, whispering advice. I'm finally getting her trained to stand close
to
the open window and yell.

You need help backing up a 16 foot Lund?

Pansy. :)

Them little boats are a pain to back up. Short wheelbase trailer, long
wheelbase tow vehicle. And he should have side guides on the trailer.
Both so he can see the trailer backing up and when there is wind or
current at the retrieval ramp.

I have yet to find guides that work. Part of this is due to the way my
trailer's constructed. The frame beams are not closed boxes. They're sort
of
C-shaped. I tried a set of guides from Cabela's which were beautifully
made,
but they were a clamp-on affair. The clamps began to crush the frame. Not
good.

My son suggested attaching driveway markers to big magnets, and just
slapping them on the trailer when backing it in (without the boat). Then,
he
noticed that the water at most boat ramps is not something you want to
wade
in, but that's the only way to remove the markers before pulling the boat
onto the trailer.

So, I just deal with it.

I bought a set of side quides for my Princecraft - I just drop the
tail gate, back 'er in. Pull the boat up and the guides center the
boat smack dab in the middle.

And we have some tough state ramps up here on the small ponds. Never
had a problem on or off.

I have seen, and I can't find a reference to them now, fiberglass rods
with springs on them (almost like CB antenna springs, but smaller)
that attach to the trailer with a side mount. I wish I could find them
- I looked in Bass Pro, but they didn't have them.

Actually, now that I think about it, you could probably make up a set
without much trouble and for a few bucks.

I thought about that, but somebody would have to wade into the water to
remove them before pulling the boat onto the trailer. I'll be fishing into
December. Putting on chest waders to retrieve two spring mounted sticks is
nuts. Way too much of a production, unless you're thinking of leaving them
in place, and having the boat sort of just bend them down as I load it.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

Eisboch wrote:

I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:
[trimmed]
"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Just for fun I asked my (art major) wife a physics question.

There is an airtight car with a helium balloon on a string
attached to the center of the floor. There is absolutely no
air movement in the car. The car is moving straight ahead
at a constant speed and then makes a hard left turn. Which
way does the balloon move relative to the car?

After about 1 second of thought she confidently answered "It
moves to the left."

Being surprised that she got it right at all, let alone that
quickly, I asked "how did you know that?".

"...Well, that's the way I'd lean..."

-rick-

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"-rick-" wrote in message
. ..
Eisboch wrote:

I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:
[trimmed]
"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Just for fun I asked my (art major) wife a physics question.

There is an airtight car with a helium balloon on a string attached to the
center of the floor. There is absolutely no air movement in the car. The
car is moving straight ahead at a constant speed and then makes a hard
left turn. Which way does the balloon move relative to the car?

After about 1 second of thought she confidently answered "It moves to the
left."

Being surprised that she got it right at all, let alone that quickly, I
asked "how did you know that?".

"...Well, that's the way I'd lean..."

As the car turns left, the ballon keeps going straight...which means it
moves to the right relative to the car. Your wife got the answer wrong.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

NOYB wrote:
"-rick-" wrote in message
. ..
Eisboch wrote:
I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:
[trimmed]
"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".
Just for fun I asked my (art major) wife a physics question.

There is an airtight car with a helium balloon on a string attached to the
center of the floor. There is absolutely no air movement in the car. The
car is moving straight ahead at a constant speed and then makes a hard
left turn. Which way does the balloon move relative to the car?

After about 1 second of thought she confidently answered "It moves to the
left."

Being surprised that she got it right at all, let alone that quickly, I
asked "how did you know that?".

"...Well, that's the way I'd lean..."

As the car turns left, the ballon keeps going straight...which means it
moves to the right relative to the car. Your wife got the answer wrong.




The helium balloon is lighter than the air in the car and is
displaced to the left as the air pressure on the right
increases.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

some reading issues

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in
eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France.
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted But if we explore its paradoxes, we find
that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea
pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't
groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't
the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?
One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends
but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of
all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats
vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the
English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally
insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a
recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and
feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man
and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in
which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes
off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the
lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any
other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the
list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a
meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the
officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP
a report?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP
the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock
UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the
little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP
for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed
is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is
stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at
night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the
proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized
dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to
about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building
UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your
time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun
comes out we say it is clearingUP

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP ,
so........... it is time to shut UP.....!

Oh . one more thing:


What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do
at night? U-P

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

"-rick-" wrote in message
. ..
NOYB wrote:
"-rick-" wrote in message
. ..
Eisboch wrote:
I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not
so forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:
[trimmed]
"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".
Just for fun I asked my (art major) wife a physics question.

There is an airtight car with a helium balloon on a string attached to
the center of the floor. There is absolutely no air movement in the
car. The car is moving straight ahead at a constant speed and then
makes a hard left turn. Which way does the balloon move relative to the
car?

After about 1 second of thought she confidently answered "It moves to
the left."

Being surprised that she got it right at all, let alone that quickly, I
asked "how did you know that?".

"...Well, that's the way I'd lean..."

As the car turns left, the ballon keeps going straight...which means it
moves to the right relative to the car. Your wife got the answer wrong.




The helium balloon is lighter than the air in the car and is displaced to
the left as the air pressure on the right increases.


But you said that "there's no air movement in the car". That's not true.
The air molecules have inertia too. ;-)

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

-rick- wrote:
NOYB wrote:

"-rick-" wrote in message
. ..

Eisboch wrote:

I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or
not so forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:

[trimmed]

"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Just for fun I asked my (art major) wife a physics question.

There is an airtight car with a helium balloon on a string attached
to the center of the floor. There is absolutely no air movement in
the car. The car is moving straight ahead at a constant speed and
then makes a hard left turn. Which way does the balloon move
relative to the car?

After about 1 second of thought she confidently answered "It moves to
the left."

Being surprised that she got it right at all, let alone that quickly,
I asked "how did you know that?".

"...Well, that's the way I'd lean..."


As the car turns left, the ballon keeps going straight...which means
it moves to the right relative to the car. Your wife got the answer
wrong.




The helium balloon is lighter than the air in the car and is displaced
to the left as the air pressure on the right increases.


Would it not move to the right first until the inertia of the weight of
the balloon and string and the movement of the air was overcome by the
displacement? Sounds like a good experiment to try the next time I have
a helium balloon, of course real cars are not completely air tight.

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:42:42 -0800, -rick- wrote:

Eisboch wrote:

I've posted this story before .... can't remember if on this NG or not so
forgive if it's a repeat, but here goes:
[trimmed]
"I was saying, "No .... you are not going to hit anything"".

Just for fun I asked my (art major) wife a physics question.

There is an airtight car with a helium balloon on a string
attached to the center of the floor. There is absolutely no
air movement in the car. The car is moving straight ahead
at a constant speed and then makes a hard left turn. Which
way does the balloon move relative to the car?

After about 1 second of thought she confidently answered "It
moves to the left."

Being surprised that she got it right at all, let alone that
quickly, I asked "how did you know that?".

"...Well, that's the way I'd lean..."

Is your wife a sculptor?

I was surprised to learn that most of the Mythbusters team, including
one of the stars, are artists and sculptors. Which shouldn't have
surprised me on second thought - there is a spatial component to being
an artist that some engineers I've met never seem to quite grasp.

Such as?

Boating: Are reading and arithmetic skills required?
 

NOYB wrote:

But you said that "there's no air movement in the car". That's not true.
The air molecules have inertia too. ;-)

You're right, I don't remember the original wording but I
overstated that part. Nice recovery... ;-)