The "art" in term of art is not art as in "artist" but art as in "artisan." A term of art, therefore, refers not to the fine arts, but to any specialized field of endeavor. As defined in Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law a term of art is "a word or phrase having a special meaning in a particular field, different from or more precise than its customary meaning." The phrase has been in use since at least 1628.
So enough of Webster for now… My Dad has been in the construction biz forever, and has taken the family to his different job sites many times. Heck, I even worked for him on a few occasions, mostly helping to tear down burned down houses for him to rebuild. Anyway, he apparently was not sharing everything he could have with us girls back at home. You see, as in most professions, the construction trade has it’s own language, it’s own lingo, it’s own terms of art shall we say.
So the other day I was upstairs in our loft bedroom assembling the nightstands and dressers we purchased while David and Doug were sweating over the stairs. (The stairs are beautiful by the way... we decided not to go for the stair in a box thing and David and Doug made them themselves.. stringers, risers, spindles, posts and all.)
During an unguarded moment, after hearing several of those construction terms that I had not heard before, one phrase in particular caught my... ears.
David was telling Doug that we were going to be moving that night despite still having finishing work to do… and Doug said… “well hell yeah. You have a rack and a shitter… what else do you need?”
I blinked.
A rack and a shitter? In my past life, as a Deputy Probation Officer I spent more than enough time in the men’s side at the jail interviewing folks and pretending that I did not hear the other inmates talking as I walked down the rows trying to find the interview rooms. With that kind of experience it only took me a second or two to decipher what those things might be… one was a bit more obvious than the other… I am sure you may have figured it out already… but if not here is some translation help:
I think… or maybe I hope… that Doug forgot I was upstairs and would normally have acted to protect my lady-like pristine ears…
However, being rather UN-ladylike I could not help myself... just could not let it go. So I said loudly with a wink to David, “oh boy… that is it! That is my next blog title! A rack and a shitter!” Doug was a tad embarrassed but David just chuckled. He chuckled because not only does he know that my ears are not pristine, he also knows I cuss well enough to make Edward Teach blush when properly provoked.
(Edward Teach = Blackbeard the pirate.)
Well, we moved into our home. Mostly anyway. We are still collecting stuff from Jerry and Karen’s and still doing finishing work but we are living here now. We will even get a phone soon! The computer is on… of course… one must have their priorities you know.
Being in the house is wonderful…
I love the kitchen... here is a couple before and after shots:
The kitchen is almost done... sorta.. just have the painting of walls, staining of floors, decorating of room, and filling of pantry to do.
Oh and of course the clearing of the dust bunnies:
Well, that is not a dust bunny that is Delta the moose wanting to go out onto her deck (i.e. perch) to watch over the yard and lake.
The lake is so pretty and the colors are changing fast. Every day it seems they change significantly from the previous day. I looked out one of my kitchen windows the other morning and the sun was falling on different sections of leaves on the maples across the street. I noticed that where the sun was falling the color seems to be changing the quickest. Those areas get sunshine longer than the others and it must make enough of a difference to make the color change quicker. I dunno... David thinks the sunshine just might be illuminating those particular leaves so that it seems like they are turning faster. Either way... I will post some pictures when it gets real fiery looking.
One of the many chores we have on our lists now is to move the woodpiles closer to the house. If we don't we will have to tie ropes to ourselves when we go out to get wood to make sure we make it back to the house… heh… we can reel each other in after getting an armful!
Just kidding… it won’t be that bad.
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