Beta thought he found a loophole. He started asking us questions, but he would quietly and quickly slip the word “not” in the question, so what we heard was the opposite of what he asked (in his mind). Stuff like “Do I (not) have to finish my dinner?”
Well, his brothers caught on and they found it equally amusing as he did. Pretty soon, I had 4 boys asking me a variety of inverted questions. Then they added the wrinkle of saying the “not” out loud, but saying many of them. “Dad, can I not not not not not not have dessert?” So I had to not only understand the question but count whether the number of nots was odd or even.
Around that point, Beta gave up. Shortly after, I gave up. I told the boys I would not answer any more yes/no questions because I couldn’t trust what they were asking.
Beta, though, helped me out: “Dad, just answer them with a full sentence.”
Oh.
That was simple.
“You do have finish your dinner.”
“You may not have dessert.”
Just because it’s phrased as a yes/no question does not obligate you to respond with only yes or no.
Unless you’re playing 20 Questions. (Which Gamma has changed to Unlimited Questions).
Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.
Proverbs 26:5
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Here are some juice boxes that we bought. I think they are mislabeled.
They say they are juice boxes, made with fruit juice. But part of the package reveals otherwise.
That’s not a drink made from concentrated apple juice – it’s made from concentrated turkeys.
and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
Matthew 13:4
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I’ve mentioned before that CBC’s coverage of the Olympics is better than NBC’s. These last few days of watching the Olympics makes me glad I live in an area where I get CBC over the air and can choose non-NBC coverage.
Even the boys have caught on that CBC is the way to go. When hockey is on, it’s all hockey – no studio interviews, no special-interest stories between events, no social or political commentary. We’ll be watching the Olympics on CBC and during a break in the action we’ll flip over to NBC. Half the time, NBC has people talking about the Olympics, so we’ll flip right back to CBC, where they’re actually showing the Olympics.
He rules by His might forever;
His eyes keep watch on the nations;
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves.
Psalm 66:7
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‘Tis the season for flower catalogs. We’ve been getting a bunch of them lately, and most of them are in the traditional catalog format.
But one enterprising company decided to saved money on staples and binding work, and instead has mailed out loose pages.
Maybe some people like flower catalogs that fall apart when you open them, or that get scattered by the wind, but I find them annoying. These go promptly in the trash.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:19
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Psst! Hey buddy, I got this here, but I’m going to let you buy it as a box and not as a package. Don’t tell anyone.
I don’t know the story behind it, but I noticed that printing on the bottom of a box of something from the fireworks store. I wonder what the charge/penalty is for selling it as not-a-package.
Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price.
Genesis 31:15
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Wandering through a nearby Menard’s store, I saw some gloves that promised to be warm.
The problem with these is that my wife is allergic to cats, so having cat fur in the house (and on my hands) would not be good.
Normally, fur-lined gloves and hats and stuff are made of rabbit. Cat would be a new one, but there certainly is no shortage of cat-fur supply in this country.
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21
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I thought maybe the football game winner prediction metrics might be useful to gain insight into who should win the Super Bowl.
But I could find no correlation between those metrics and the NFL champions in previous years. I went back over the last 7 years. I could have gone back farther, but after the first seven there was nothing to go off.
In 2012 and 2014, the NFC didn’t win any of the 4 categories I was checking, but they won the Super Bowl. Other years, it was mixed among the categories.
For what it’s worth, the Eagles won all 4 of the categories this year. Which means the Patriots should win.
And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and prefects.
Jeremiah 51:23
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This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
