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IN THIS ISSUE

VOL. XXIII, NO. 38, SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

IN THIS ISSUE

In this Heroic Story, neighbours help the victims of a fire Jean Sterling writes that they survived the onslaught of Hurricane Irma Catherine Nesbitt forwards a heartwarming story Here is the rest of the list of obscure three-letter words These are the winning quotes by business managers Sites are suggested by Catherine Nesbitt and Tom Telfer

Bruce McCormick of Mississippi describes the results of a

HOUSE FIRE

My wife, three young daughters and I were starting dinner at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2001, when I smelled a hint of smoke. As my wife´s candles had caused this before, I wasn´t alarmed, but started looking around. Coming back from the kitchen, the smell was stronger. Suddenly my wife and I both noticed a thin haze near the ceiling of the family room where we were eating.

Against everything I´ve been taught, I opened the laundry room door. Two feet of black smoke rolled from the ceiling with a roaring fire several feet away. (The fire could easily have been embedded in the smoke, I was fortunate..)

Our small kitchen fire extinguishers were worthless against the blaze; with a larger extinguisher we could have stopped it. I called 911 and cleared everyone out of the house.

Adrenaline flows and you feel like you´re not watching reality. You smell smoke. You hear the loud popping of things breaking inside as the fire grows. You watch firemen climb onto the roof and cut holes with chainsaws. As fire leaps from new holes it created in your roof, a sick feeling grows in the pit of your stomach. What should have been controllable is destroying your home.

In the midst of this surrealistic horror something incredible happened. I have no explanation for what happened, as I´m reclusive, not someone who associates easily with others. People from the neighborhood started showing up with clothing. One family took our daughters in. Another took in our two big Labrador dogs.

People we´d never seen brought us coats, a chair for my wife, food to eat, a sweater for me. One family gave us a piece of paper with a prepaid hotel reservation - something I´d not even thought of. Over several weeks more families - some we knew, most we didn´t know - prepared dinner and brought it over. They lent and donated furniture for our rental house, gave us clothing, provided toys for our children, and some included us in their prayers.

Unknown individuals and groups took up collections and sent us money. Though so very embarrassing to accept, it was so very welcome, for we were not in the best financial state, and our insurance firm wasn´t easy to work with. We had to bear implications that we could´ve started the fire ourselves from the insurance company investigators.

I learned what emotional shock means. Often I would cry just describing the situation to people. I had no comprehension of the kindness of friends and strangers until this happened. I had done nothing to deserve this kindness. Their outpouring was from their hearts, and at their expense - just to help. I can´t thank them all personally for some I never met, but I am so thankful for them. They were our angels.

I have learned a lesson of human spirit and what is in the hearts of mankind: a lesson to be remembered forever.

ED. NOTE: To comment on this story, or to get your own free subscription to the site, click on

http://www.heroicstories.org

CORRESPONDENCE

Jean Sterling writes: Well, Hurricane Irma came and went. We had no power for a week. I think what I missed most was air conditioning. We had quite a bit of tree damage, and I am attaching a pictures.

It looks as if Hurricane Maria is going to hit Puerto Rico and some of those little islands in the Caribbean. I sure feel sorry for those folks.

The shutters worked real well - they kept the noise level down!

Catherine Nesbitt forwards this

HEARTWARMING STORY

A husband and wife who worked for the circus went to an adoption agency. The social workers there raised doubts about their suitability.

The couple then produced photos of their 50-foot motor home, which was clean and well maintained and equipped with a beautiful nursery.

The social workers then raised concerns about the education a child would receive while in the couple´s care.

"We´ve arranged for a full-time tutor who will teach the child all the usual subjects along with French, Mandarin, and computer skills.

Then the social workers expressed concern about a child being raised in a circus environment.

"Our nanny will be a certified expert in pediatric care, welfare, and diet."

The social workers were finally satisfied.They asked, "What age child are you hoping to adopt?"

"It doesn´t really matter ... as long as the kid fits in the cannon.

Here is the rest of the list suggested by Margaret Manning:

OBSCURE THREE-LETTER WORDS

kit - a small pocket violin
kop - bank of terracing at a football field
lac - dark red transparent resin used to make shellac
lar - local god of a house
lea - arable land left fallow or used for pasture
ley - mystical straight line between features of landscape
lux - unit of illumination equal to one lumen per square meter
mel - honey
mew - to shed, moult or change
mho - unit of electrical conductance
mil - unit of 1/1000 inch used for measuring thickness of wire
mon - Japanese family crest
mor - humus layer formed by slow decomposition
aci - dic soil
mow - to make a grimace
nef - ornamental stand in shape of ship for holding
nim - to steal; to pilfer
obi - broad sash worn with a kimono
ord - point of a weapon; a beginning
orf - viral infection of sheep
ort - scrap of food; morsel
pam - card game in which jack of club has highest value
pax - tablet decorated with sacred figure and kissed by
par - ticipants in mass
ped - naturally formed mass or aggregate of soil
per - through; according to; by means or agency of
pro - in favour of; for
pug - ground clay mixed with water
puy - small volcanic cone
pyx - box or vessel in which coins are kept
qat - leaves chewed or brewed in tea as a stimulant
qua - in the capacity of
ras - headland
rep - plain-woven fabric with crosswise ribs
ret - to expose to moisture; to soak; to soften by soaking
ria - normal drowned valley; long wide creek
roc - enormous legendary Arabian bird
rom - a gypsy man
rya - colourful Scandinavian knotted-pile rug
sal - a salt
saw - saying or proverb
say - delicate woollen fabric
seg - stud or metal plate in sole of a shoe to prevent wear
sic - thus
taw - to prepare skins by soaking, salting, stretching and paring
ted - to spread grass for drying
teg - a sheep in its second year; the fleece of such a sheep
tod - old unit of weight of wool equal to 28 pounds
tog - unit of measurement for insulation properties of fabric
ton - unit of cooling power equal to 12,000 BTU per hour
tot - bone or other object retrieved from garbage pile
tow - bundle of untwisted natural fibres
tup - ram; pile-driver; striking face of steam hammer or jackhammer
tye - inclined trough for washing ore
ure - use; custom
vis - force; power
vug - small cavity in a rock
wen - enormously congested city
wis - to know, to believe
yad - rod used by readers of the Torah as a pointer for following text
yex - to hiccup, belch or spit
yon - yonder
zek - inmate of prison labour camp
zel - form of Oriental cymbal
zho - cross between a yak and a cow
zug - waterproof leather used for boots

Ed.: I´m going to print these out and use them in Scrabble!

This is the life we gave up when we retired:

REAL-LIFE DILBERT QUOTES

A magazine ran a Dilbert quotes contest. These are actual quotes from managers out there:

- As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks. (This was the winning quote from Charles Hurst at Sun Microsystems.)

- What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter.

- How long is this Beta guy going to keep testing our stuff?

- E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business.

- Turnover is good for the company, as it proves that we are doing a good job in training people.

- This project is so important, we can´t let things that are more important interfere with it.

- Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule.

- No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We´ve been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I´ll let you know when it´s time to tell them.

SUGGESTED SITES

Catherine Nesbitt sends the URL for beautiful photos from around the world. After you have looked at each photo, click on the screen and it will automatically move on to the next:

Tom Telfer forwards this link to a video of comedy illusionists Scott and Muriel performing at the 32nd Monte Carlo International Circus Festival:

Tom also shares the URL for a video of dogs trying to be friends with cats:

September is Arthritis Awareness Month. This CARP site debunks some common myths and misconceptions about the disease:

This Russian boy does awesome acrobatics on a rope:

This video is about the geothermal energy which Iceland uses to power their energy system, which is the cornerstone of a national consciousness that it is a blueprint for the world´s future:

In this TED talk, architect Grace Kim suggests that cohousing can make us happier and live longer: