Homographs M-W

A mat is a tangle or snarl in one’s hair.  But a mat is also a small rug.

          I saw Matt’s matted hair when he stood on the mat.

Mum is a type of flower.  Mum is a name I might call my mother.  When you are saying, “mum’s the word” to someone, you are asking to keep a secret.

          My mum is allergic to mums.  But mum’s the word.

A pool is a place to swim.  A pool table is a game table with cue sticks and balls.  A pool of money is generally a collection of money for a charity or a bet.

          Let’s pool our money together to purchase a pool table to use for the lifeguards to use when they are taking a break from the public pool.

To pry something means to use a crowbar or other device to assist in lifting something.  Pry can also mean eavesdropping or snooping.

          He was caught prying (or watching) someone trying to pry open a box.

A pupil is the black circle in the center of one’s eye.  Pupil is also another name for student.

          I heard the pupil had to have his pupils dilated.

Spring is a season that brings flowers, blossoms, pollen and new growth.  It also brings on many allergies for many people.  A spring is a coiled wire used to make a kind of bounce.

To steep tea means to let the bag sit in the water for a while in order to get more flavor.  A steep road is one that goes up on an angle.  Steep prices are the result of doctor bills among others.

To swab a deck means to mop or clean it.  A swab is a stick with two small cotton balls fastened at each end.  A swab is generally used to clean ears but can also be used to dab paint.

          To swab a deck with a cotton swab would take a very long time.

There are many trains.  1) a bunch of cars hooked up to a locomotive and use a rail for transportation; 2) teach; 3) a long (and unnecessary) extended part of a bridal gown that makes it somehow fancier.

Wind is a homophone with two pronunciations. The "i" is short when saying the word that means air blowing but "i" is long when referring to an action of turning a key in order to make something move (like this toy mouse)

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Word: Service

Roland has always told the boys that all businesses consist of product, knowledge or service. Services might include daycare, mowing lawns, yard work, and hotels working as maids, in reservations, waiters, chefs, bellhops, etc. There are also cleaning services and service providers like phone and internet.  Just about every product business has customer service.

Service: the action of helping or doing work for someone.

      We give service through the church or community.  Some of the service projects we have done through the Church include babysitting, painting, cleaning, and weeding to name a few.  We have also had community service projects that involve sprucing up the park and cleaning up Main Street.  There are community services sponsored by businesses that allow seniors to go to the movies once a month.  There is community service in which hygiene and medicine are taught to the poor.  There is also service given like the many who volunteer at the fire department or the library. The library offers Wi-Fi service.

Service: a ceremony of religious worship according to a prescribed form; the prescribed form for such a ceremony.

I know several man and woman who have dedicated their service by being in the military.  Another word for the military is the service.  I know many more who have given 2 years of service to fulfill a mission usually for the church, but I know someone who will be serving in the Peace Corp.

     We also have services such as funerals, baptisms, or sermons. These types of services are to show honor.

Service: a periodic routine inspection and maintenance of a vehicle or other machine.

      There is road service, car service, and service stations. Public transportation provides a service for those who wish to commute but do not wish to drive.  It is discouraging when a bus passes me because it is out of service.  It is discouraging to reroute my commute because the road is closed due to service.  It is also discouraging when my cell phone has no service. 

Service: a system supplying a public need such as transport, communications, or utilities such as electricity and water.

I remember being impressed with the service we received from Rocky Mountain Power.  We now use her sister company Pacific Power.  I also remember the service provided in both West Valley and Kearns with plumbing and controlling water flow.  I am grateful to have services such as utilities and the internet.

I am grateful to those who give of themselves willingly to serve others.  My mom, my dad, a pharmacist, Roland, Jenna, this community.  I made a mistake in this post saying I had “scratched the service” it should have said “surface” instead of service.  Or was it really a play on words?

Dash #36: Transportation

                I'm certain that I have over 80 posts in which I had used public transportation while living in Salt Lake City.  There is also a high volume mentioning driving or the car itself.  There is also an entire post dedicated to water transportation here.   Amusement rides may not count as transportation as they are thrills.  Riding trains at the park or the zoo takes passengers around - sort of a tour - in a circle back to where you started.

             

            My first experiencing with riding a passenger train (I'm assuming AMTrack) came when I was about seven or eight. My cousins had moved to Denver, Colorado for a couple of years and my mom and grandma had taken me and my brother, Patrick to visit for about a week I guess. I don't have many memories of the train itself, but I do remember going through tunnels.  

          As a child I thought it was really cool to be moving through a tunnel - particularly when it was a long one.  I also remember meeting two elderly ladies on the return.  They had each given me a carnation.  One was white and one was blue.  I had them for about two months before they withered.

            I have also ridden in carrier bus lines such as Trailways and Greyhound.  In fact, In 1987 I had taken one of the last Trailways bus back to where I had served my mission.  When I returned, it was on Greyhound as Greyhound Lines had bought out Trailways.  I remember my feeling of uncertainty as my ticket was for Trailways.

            I've ridden guided horses but have never used one as a method of transportation from getting from point A. to point B.

            My first time in an airplane (or at least that I know of) was either one summer during high school or shortly after I graduated.  PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines, apparently a subsidiary of American Airlines; I learned that as I created this post;  I honestly did not know that PSA is still in operation) had a special for a round trip ticket to San Francisco and back.  It was only fifty dollars.  If I had waited a month, I would have gone on Delta which offered the same deal the following month.  

            Of course there have been several times I have San Franciso when I have used the cable cars or B.A.R.T (Bay Area Rapid Transit).  I remember two riding the BART two specific times.  Both times I had gone to another city to attend church.  The first time was in Martinez where my uncle (one of mom's brothers) and his family lived. The second time I went with a group of students to Lafeyette.   

            I have also been in a hot air balloon.  My brother, Corey and I paid our own way to have a ride.  We both thought it had been a waste of our money.

            I don't think I've been on a helicopter before.  Never ridden in an ambulance or fire truck or police car.  I've ridden in a cargo elevator.  It's not that thrilling.  I've been on the tram at Bridal Veil Falls outside of Provo, Utah. I don't remember if I took it up or down.  It seems like we had Grandma Mary with us and she took it both ways.  I think I took the Tram up and walked back down.  Hard to say.

            I've ridden on a ski lift located somewhere in park city.  It was during the summer months.  I think it is clever of them to utilize the lifts for another season.  I went with my family to ride the Alpine slide which I mention in this post

note: that is NOT my family though there are photos that exist.  I just don't happen to know where they are at the moment.

            I've ridden in a limousine once. It was on the day of my father's funeral.  I think that was the only time.  Roland rented a U-Haul - not quite a semi, but definitely larger than a pick-up truck.  I was a passenger in that.  I've been a passenger on a dirt bike, motorcycle, tractor pull - oh, I did ride on a flatbed truck.  It had been used in a parade at Ricks college.  I was sitting on a bale of hay and when the parade was over (and the rig was moving a little faster and uphill, I might add) I could feel the bale of hay slipping beneath me and thrust myself forward onto my stomach and the bale of hay went flying off the truck. I was grateful that it wasn't me.

It Was on my Agenda

            Even though I knew I had two classes coming up, I had agreed to fill in for one of the aides during the last two weeks of February.  Technically, my two classes started on President’s Day which I had off.  Still, I struggled through that first week and did not make the best grades compared to the other ones I have been getting.

            It snowed on the last Sunday in February.  The next morning I had three messages on my phone:  “Buses will be delayed for two hours on Monday morning”  “Buses will be delayed for two hours on Monday morning”  and “School has been canceled for Monday."  I thought I'd take advantage of having the time off and get a better jump start on my classes than I had the week before.  I was able to listen to the live lecture and had completed one discussion post before taking what I thought would be a short break

            When I lived in Salt Lake City,  it was rare when anything closed due to snow - even with several feet on the ground.  I appreciated the many times UDOT worked around the clock trying to clear the main roads and eventually get to the side streets.  It is safer to have dry roads.

       Roads were still busy with cars regardless of the weather - some drivers had experience driving in the snow, but there were several behind the wheel who should have been taking public transportation which was my preferred method of transportation to use on those wicked snowy days.  UDOT had the equipment for dealing with the snow.

       The roads in Oregon are very different from the ones in Salt Lake.  Schools close when there are less than two inches on the ground.  Even though they call it a "snow day" it is really about the conditions of the road which are windy, only two lanes (one lane per direction) no guard rails and major drops - thus if a vehicle slides due to the ice or moisture, it may go off the road and over the edge - not a good thing for anybody but really not in favor with a busload of children.

            Aside from the roads and lack of equipment, this part of Oregon also has many wimpy plants that are also not conducive to even a light snow.  Anything more than two inches seems to be too heavy.  The plants take on a new shape if they don't topple over.  We had lost power in Utah due to trees or other items falling over power lines, but not like this. The snow in Oregon is a slushy snow.  Heavy wetness.  Nobody who lives here has ever recalled snowfall like what came down the last week of February.

            I had made plans.  Lots of plans.  There were clothes on the bed which I needed to put away.  I had only posted one discussion and would need to post for my other class.  Plus I needed to set up a Linkedin account as part of my grade. Right before the power went out, I had headed toward the closet where we keep the vacuum cleaner.  I never made it to the door. I had accomplished only one thing that was on my to-do list.  I still haven't put all the clothes away. How ironic, as that was the only chore I have had that hasn't required electric power.

            So what's the first thing we do when the power goes out?  Wait a few minutes to see if it will come back on.  Run out to the shed and make sure the lamps, batteries, propane, cords, and gasoline are where they are supposed to be. We thought we were prepared.  We had those things.  We have food storage, water, a snow shovel.

            Roland dragged out the generator as we didn't know how long we'd be without power and needed the outside light to hook up the generator before nightfall.  It wouldn't start, however.  We had to look for an alternate.

            Several years ago Roland had purchased a portable heater called Big Buddy.  We had it first in the Kearns house and moved it with us to West Valley and then out to Oregon.  We had never even used it before.  It was still in the box. 

           

            We had several batteries including D batteries.  In addition to what was in Roland's office, we kept exactly eight D batteries in a bag tied around our lantern as that is how many it took.  We hadn't stored any batteries with the Big Buddy.  Roland found enough to get it going but was short two which we borrowed from the lantern supply.

             

            On Tuesday morning Roland had suggested we drive to Eugene. He thought we could go to the library to hang and get warm.  We also needed to purchase some items.  As we passed Winston and Roseburg, there were signs of power – but not all of Roseburg.  Not all of Winston.

            Walmart was open in Roseburg.  We ended up picking up items there and at Costco.  It’s just as well that we didn’t go to Eugene.  We would not have arrived as I5 was closed from Cottage Grove to further up in Lane County.  It sounds like it was closed for quite a while.

            I took the opportunity to use the wifi on Roland's phone and looked up the phone numbers for my instructor's so that I could call the following day if our power was restored.  Even without the wifi, I believed I had a way of retrieving the numbers without wifi. I did have to call on Wednesday morning.

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word: TRANS

The word "trans" all by itself means "denoting or relating to a molecular structure in which two particular atoms or groups lie on opposite sides".  The word "trance" means "a half-conscious state characterized by an absence of response"  I have used the word "trans" in a couple of posts when I meant "trance"  Whoops!

Truth is, I didn't know that "trans" was a word all by itself and so when spell-check accepted the spelling, I did not bother to look for a definition, but just assumed it meant "a half-absent state of mind"

The prefix "trans" means “across”, “beyond” or “through”  I have "transferred" many pictures from my camera onto my computer.  I have watched Roland transfer food from the stove top into the oven in order to keep it warm.  Jenna's school records have transferred from one state to another.  I had transferred to five different areas during my mission

My blog posts are full of examples of transportation including the bus, the train, water and feet.

Translation is the ability to communicate one language into another - weather verbally or written words.  Accounting is a language I haven't fully been able to translate.

A Transgender is a person who was born one sex but typically feels trapped when he/she has the desire or the instinct to believe he/she is the other and will make that change.  Jenna has many friends who are transgender.

To transform is to change into something else - such as a caterpillar into a butterfly,  a sawmill factory into Millsite park - and even the park itself has gone through changes or transformations since we arrived in Oregon to what it is right now. I remember having the opportunity of having reels of film to film transformed or converted to VHS.  Now we are transferring things to CD rom and flash drives. Beautiful (because they're possible) transformations!  We have also transformed t-shirts into book bags.

I've had problems with the transmission on various cars.  It's always a transition to adjust to our way of living after a loved one has passed.

Weeding Out the Thorns - both Literally and Figuratively

        Recently I posted to facebook that I really LOVE Oregon - but did not give details. One friend who lives in Oregon asked for details.  I answered her in a private message. I have many friends and family in Utah who may not share my feelings about the hoop-jumping that so many have to deal with in the state of Utah that I did not want to post my number one reason why I like living in Oregon.  I love being in Oregon because it isn't Utah - or more specifically Salt Lake City. I guess it's wrong of me to judge the entire state by just one county.

        Thus far I have not had to jump any hoops - not even to get a driver's license or state plates.  Nor did I have to wait.  I have been treated like a person and not just a number.  I count!  I may have counted in Utah, but I didn't feel like I did.  Especially when it came to voting.  Seriously.  Utah's a Republican state.  Overall I am not.  I vote for the man, not the party.  Often I actually vote against someone. 

        I grew up on the east side of Salt Lake.  I never questioned the government or political issues or even the PTA.  I suppose I just didn't know any better.  I grew up quite naive and though I knew about existing situations - I didn't think I knew any of those circumstances personally.  And then I married Roland and was introduced to deceit and corruption - not by him, necessarily - but by poorly run systems that failed us.  The systems, quite frankly, fail many.  And I know it's everywhere and not just in Utah. That still doesn't make it right.

        I didn't have to deal with thorns on the east side, but the west side was full of thorns - or perhaps it was just in those neglected neighborhoods that we could actually afford.  While the flower itself seems harmless, it has to be mowed or weeded immediately in its yellow stage - otherwise it becomes a vine of thorns which attach themselves to footwear and thus gets tracked in the house.  And it doesn't seem to matter how much I sweep or vacuum, the thorns are always there - on the floor, in the carpet, on the furniture . . . I've had them attach themselves to my socks.  I didn't dare to go barefoot indoors - let alone outdoors. 

        Our grass has always been dry - no matter how much we tend to water it.  Even when it has been green, there are always patches of brown - except for the green stems that bring the thorns.  Our lawn has always been ugly.  Even here.  It is dry.  The cost of water has gone up.  Only a few of our neighbors have green grass.  Most lawns are dry and ugly.  But I can still go outside in my bare feet.  I don't have to wear shoes to take the garbage to the curb or run out to the garage or pick the mail up across the street.  For the most part, I do.  For the most part I wear some kind of footwear because I'm in the habit.  But I don't have to anymore.  The yellow weed flowers in Oregon don't turn into thorns.  This is a good thing.

        I miss the Salt Lake County library system.  I miss having access to public transportation - though it was not always reliable, it was better than whatever may be offered in this county.  There are some things I miss about Utah.  But overall I am happy that I am no longer a resident of Salt Lake.  I really do like it here in Oregon.     

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Beautiful

Jenna does NOT deal with change well.  She is horrible at it.  Horrible.  I don’t even remember what it was she was complaining about last night.  I told her that whatever we do, wherever we live, no matter what, there are going to be some things that we like about our current situation and some things that we don’t. 

I told her to write a list of pros and cons with living in West Valley and with living in Myrtle Creek.  I didn’t suggest for her to include Kearns – after all she was only five when we had moved. There was probably more drama about that move than there was with this last one.

After reviewing her lists, I decided to make some lists of my own.  Thus for this post, I have decided to share each list that was created (or started at least)

Jenna’s pro list for living in West Valley

1)           school friends

2)           church friends

3)           good principal (Mrs. Randolf is truly amazing)

4)           FAMILY

5)           More time with dad (they had actually eaten breakfast together)

Jenna’s con list for living in West Valley

1)           a certain individual from school

2)           church friends live in apartments

Jenna’s pro list for living in Myrtle Creek

1)           same answer as number one on last list

2)           swim lessons (pool in general)

3)           friends made

4)           a library

5)           a bike

6)           good people

7)           Netflix

 Jenna’s Con list for living in Myrtle Creek

1)              mom forced me to be in band before school even started

2)             have to practice the clarinet

3)             missing friends from West Valley

4)             Barely anything to do (EVERYTHING IS IN ROSEBURG)

5)             Missing family

6)             Less time with dad [who’s still working according to mountain time and eats breakfast at his desk or long before Jenna gets out of bed]

My pro list for living in West Valley

1)           public transportation

2)           conveniences (driving locations)

3)           playing games with family members

4)           dual immersion

My con list for living in West Valley

1)           dry air

2)           traffic

3)           construction

4)           small house

5)           no sidewalks

My pro list for living in Myrtle Creek

1)           I can more easily breathe

2)           Low crime

3)           Best house

4)           Strong ward

5)           Opportunities that Jenna will have in this school as opposed to Salt Lake (such as low income rental on instrument and swim lessons that didn’t get cancelled due to a lack of numbers)

6)           Overall friendliness of people

7)           Low key traffic

8)           New Friendships

            9)         that Roland was able to bring his job with us

My con list for Myrtle Creek

1)           windy roads without guard rails

2)           family members live so far away

3)           outrageous water bills

4)           lack of public transportation

5)           library hours

6)           variety