Odd and Interesting Trivia

[Honeylioness]

IDIOMS


www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/



A chain is no stronger that it’s weakest link – and my weakest link would make even Darwin scratch his head

A day late and a dollar short – What you are after buying an early pregnancy test

A fool and his money are soon parted – usually soon after a fool and his “honey” are partnered

A lick and a promise –

A little bird told me – that if you are talking to avians you best up the meds.

A little learning is a dangerous thing, especially in a little mind

A long row to hoe –

A month of Sundays

A penny for your thoughts

A penny saved is a penny earned

A picture is worth a thousand words – especially when being described by an attorney.

A pretty penny

A rolling stone gathers no moss –

A watched pot never boils

About as useful as a screen door on a submarine

Above board

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Accident waiting to happen

Achilles heel

Acid test

Act of God

Actions speak louder than words

Add insult to injury

Ahead of the curve

All and sundry

All bark and no bite

[Honeylioness]

ANAGRAMS




All I can think of is someone has too much time on their hands.

I do not play Scrabble but I appreciate This man's talent!

This has got to be one of the cleverest E-mails I've received in a while. Someone out there Must be "deadly" at Scrabble.. Wait till you see the last one)!

PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters: BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the letters: >MOON STARER

DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS

DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS: When you rearrange the letters: LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS: When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: I'M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

MOTHER-IN-LAW: When you rearrange the letters: WOMAN HITLER

[Honeylioness]

The Long, Strange Trip of Lady Grange


NOTE: as you read this true tale, remember that the victors always write the history from their point of view....

The idea of being swept away to the Highlands, is a romantic notion that I've held for years, largely due to Diana Gabaldon's outstanding series of books in her Outlander series. Sometimes, however, the reality is not romantic at all, especially in the intriguing case of Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange.

Born in Edinburgh in 1679, Rachel was one of ten children born to John Chiesley of Dalry and Margaret Nicholson. The marriage was unhappy and Margaret took her husband to court for alimony. She was awarded 1,700 merks by Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath, the Lord President of the Court of Session.

Furious with the result, John Chiesley shot Lockhart dead on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh as he walked home from church on Easter Sunday, 31 March 1689. John confessed at his trial, and two days later he was taken from the Tolbooth to the Mercat Cross on the High Street. His right hand was cut off before he was hanged, and the pistol he had used for the murder was placed round his neck. Rachel was 10 years old at the time.

Rachel grew up to be a "wild beauty", but her father's scandal tainted her marriage hopes. James Erskine, younger son of the Earl of Mar, was a lawyer and lover of Rachel. Erskine's older brother, John, had a prominent role in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. As a result, he was stripped of his title, sent into exile, and never returned to Scotland. Evidence suggests that Rachel became pregnant by Erskine, who married her only at the point of a pistol, held by her. The year was 1707 – the same year as the Act of Union which brought Scotland under English rule.

Despite the shaky start, their marriage was relatively stable for many years, and they had nine children together. As the wife of the Lord Justice of Scotland, Rachel and her family lived a fashionable life in 18th century Edinburgh.

Their relationship soured after James Erskine set up his mistress – Fanny Lindsay – in London and probably entertained others at Preston House. Incidentally, Preston House (which no longer exists) played a key role in the Jacobite victory at Prestonpans in July 1745. When Lady Grange discovered that her husband had a mistress in London, she followed him about, abused him verbally in public, swore at his relations, drank excessively and allegedly threatened to reveal that he was a Jacobite. Trying to pacify her, he allowed her to manage his estate, but due to her extravagance he replaced her. In January 1732 she booked a stagecoach to London and James Erskine and his friends, afraid her presence there would cause them further trouble, decided it was time to take decisive action.

Lady Grange was abducted from her home on the night of 22 January by two Highland noblemen, Roderick MacLeod of Berneray and Macdonald of Morar and several of their men. After a bloody struggle, she was taken out of the city in a sedan chair and then on horseback to Wester Polmaise near Falkirk, where she was held until 15 August on the ground floor of an uninhabited tower. She was by now over fifty years old.

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, and chief of clan Fraser, was one of the organisers of Lady Grange's kidnapping--Gabaldon fans will recognize his name from the Outlander series. Lovat was eventually convicted of treason for his Jacobite sympathies and sentenced to death. He was the last man to be beheaded in England.

After Falkirk, Rachel was moved to Stirling, then some months later, she was taken through the Highlands and across the Minch, to the tiny island of Heisker, part of the Monach Islands, about 13 km west of North Uist, where she remained for two years. At the time, Heisker was owned by Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat, and Lady Grange was housed with his tacksman, another Alexander MacDonald, and his wife. When she complained about her condition, she was told by her host that he had no orders to provide her with either clothes, or food other than the normal fare he and his wife were used to. She lived in isolation for two years, not even being told the name of the island where she was living, and it took her some time to find out who her landlord was. She was there until June 1734, when John and Norman MacLeod from North Uist arrived to move her on. They told her they were taking her to Orkney, but instead set sail for the Atlantic outliers of St Kilda.

She spoke no Gaelic, the St Kildans no English. After seven years she smuggled messages to her solicitor in Edinburgh. They arrived two years after she wrote them and provoked a scandal. Her lawyer sent a ship, the Arabella, to rescue her - an early example of sending a gunboat. But Erskine (who had already held her funeral) had Rachel spirited away again. She was taken from island to island, and at last to Skye, where she died in 1745 - the very year when Prince Charlie landed.

That year James Erskine married his mistress Fanny Lindsay but his involvement in the Jacobite rising came to an abrupt end when Prince Charlie and his followers were defeated at Culloden on 17 April 1746.

The exact site of her grave seems unclear, since apparently two or three funerals were held. However, a marked grave at Trumpan, Skye, is generally thought to be her burial place.

Amazingly, one of Lady Grange's letters from St Kilda survives, describing in great detail the brutality of her abduction, and naming names. It is housed at the Edinburgh University Library Collection.

"Upon the 22d of Jan 1732, I lodged in Margaret M'Lean house and a little before twelve at night Mrs M'Lean being on the plot opened the door and there rush'd in to my room some servants of Lovats and his Couson Roderick Macleod he is a writer to the Signet they threw me down upon the floor in a Barbarous manner I cri'd murther murther then they stopp'd my mouth I puled out the cloth and told Rod: Macleod I knew him their hard rude hands bleed and abassed my face all below my eyes they dung out some of my teeth and toere the cloth of my head and toere out some of my hair I wrestled and defend'd -my self with my hands then Rod: order'd to tye down my hands and cover my face most pity- fully there was no skin left on my face with a cloath and stopp'd my mouth again they had wrestl'd so long with me that it was al that I could breath, then they carry'd me down stairs as a corps."

Letter written by Lady Grange on St Kilda, 1738

Of course, there are always two sides to every story, and Rachel's case raises many questions, such as

Why did her children not aid her?
Why were so many Scottish nobles willing to assist in her abduction and imprisonment?
Was Rachel truly as vituperative and alcoholic as claimed?

In her account of the affair,"The Prisoner of St Kilda", Margaret Macaulay explores 18th-century attitudes to women in general as a significant factor and notes that although numerous documents from the hands of Lord Grange's friends and supporters are still extant, not a single contemporary female view of the affair has survived, save that of Lady Grange herself. Divorces were complex and divorced mothers were rarely given custody of children. Furthermore, Lord Grange's powerful friends in both the church and the legal profession might have made this a risky endeavor. Something of James Erskine's attitude to these matters may perhaps be gleaned from the fact that for his first speech in the House of Commons he chose to oppose the repeal of various laws relating to witchcraft. Even in his day this appeared unduly conservative and his perorations were met with laughter, which effectively ended his political career before it had begun.

For more info on this story, try these links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Chiesley,_Lady_Grangetextline.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/the-story-of-lady-grange-told-by-margaret-macaulay/
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lstsf
womenofscotland.org.uk/
dailysirwalter.blogspot.com/


image: Rachel Chiesley at the time of her marriage, by Sir John Baptiste de Medina c. 1710

www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/M/5808/artist_name/Sir%20John%20Baptiste%20de%20Medina/record_id/22081
www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/LadyOfStKilda

[Honeylioness]

Helen Denton, 91, keeper of the world’s biggest secret, laid to rest on Pearl Harbor Day


The woman who typed General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s final orders authorizing the June 6, 1944 D-Day Normandy invasion in World War II died Dec. 3rd in Fayetteville.

Helen Kogel Denton, 91, who kept that secret even from her husband of nearly four decades, was buried in the Jonesboro City Cemetery on Dec. 7, 2013, Pearl Harbor Day.

The short obituary said this: She retired from Delta Air Lines where she was a secretary in the Maintenance Department. She was preceded in death by her husband Noel Denton and her son Jon Denton. She is survived by numerous extended family members and many loving friends. She was an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #3650. She also served for many years as a volunteer for the American Red Cross.

The Citizen’s sister publication, Fayette Woman, in October 2005 featured the story of this remarkable woman, who knew how to keep a secret for a time, the biggest secret in the world. That story is reprinted below.


By Sherri Smith Brown

Helen Kogel Denton has led a rich and rewarding life. But she has one regret.

“I wish that I had told Noel,” she says. “It just never seemed important at the time. Our life was so full. And, I had been so conditioned to NOT tell what I had done. To forget it. And I guess that’s what I did. But, you know, I’ll see him someday, him and Jon both, and the first thing I’m going to tell them .. is my story.”

The room was small, about 10 x 10 with one long, black curtained window drawn to keep any light from filtering out to the bomb plagued streets. In front of the window sat a long table, used by various officers: two Americans, a Canadian, a Brit, and an Australian. A door was on one wall; a fireplace on another, usually lit during those late winter English months.

Corporal Helen Kogel sat in the center of the room at a desk just large enough for her Royal manual typewriter and the stack of papers that were her duty to type. There was little talking except for the dictation she would
take from the officers in the mornings. No one discussed with her what she was doing. But she knew.

Usually, her brown, curly head was bent over the typewriter; her hazel eyes intent on the words she typed meticulously in order not to make a mistake. She had three carbon copies to make with every page of type. Mistakes were a nuisance, just something to slow the process down even more.

For nearly eight weeks, five days a week, eight hours a day, the routine was the same. She would type from the dictation and from the stack of papers that were brought to her as the various officers came in and out. Each
newly typed page was stamped TOP SECRET.

At the end of the day, the original and the three copies would be placed into four different notebooks; and
the MP, who kept constant watch outside the door, would take her three sheets of carbon paper and the typewriter
ribbon she had used that day and put it in the fire. After they watched it burn, the MP escorted the corporal back to her hotel on Barclay Square and she would join the rest of her fellow WACs for dinner.

She told no one of her assignment and no one asked where she spent her days. After all, they were all part of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff, it was 1944 during World War II, German bombs were falling on London, and
their work was top secret.

One day in late April, Corp. Kogel typed the last page of her assignment. One of the officers placed the pages into their respective notebooks, which were several inches thick by now, and said, "Would you like to go with us to take this to Gen. Eisenhower?"

The corporal had worked as a secretary on the General's staff for nearly a year, but had never spoken to him, only saluted from a distance. She was honored to go to his office.

"Corporal, do you know what you've typed?" asked Gen. Eisenhower. Corp. Kogel said, "Yes, sir. These are the
battle plans that you will use for the invasion of France."

Corp. Helen Kogel, a 23-year-old from South Dakota, had just become a part of history. She had typed the complete battle plans for the invasion of the Normandy Coast and the liberation of Europe "Operation Overload", D-Day. And she was unable to confide in anyone.

She knew the number of ships, aircraft and men, what units would be deployed, where each army involved would land. She knew ship movements, people movements. Where planes would drop bombs. She knew that the 101st Airborne
where two hometown friends served would go in first to cut railroad lines, blow up bridges, and seize landing strips. She knew everything except the date it would begin. But she guessed it would be soon. And she could not discuss with it with anyone, in fact, she was told to forget what she had typed.

When hundreds of Allied planes began flying over London day and night toward the coast, she suspected that the invasion might be beginning but said nothing. Even when she heard Sir Winston Churchill speak on the radio on
June 6, and realized that Gen. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the United States Army, was setting in motion the Allied Invasion of Europe, the greatest military operation the world has ever known, she did not confide her knowledge to anyone.

As the Allied troops stormed the Normandy beaches, Corp. Kogel and the rest of Gen. Eisenhower's staff made
preparations for going to France themselves. General Eisenhower would need his office staff as soon as possible
after the Allied forces got to Paris.

German V-2 bombs were making life in London hellish, and the 30-girl staff was sleeping three floors underground
in bunkers at night. It would be safer to get to France.

A few days before her departure, Corp. Kogel arrived at a telegraph office to wire her parents not to send any more mail to her until she contacted them again with a new address.

Suddenly, a V-2 bomb whistled overhead, the sound stopped suddenly. an indication that the bomb was on top of you and about to drop. and the office where she stood blew up. The force knocked her down and out. She awoke
screaming with shattered glass covering her entire body and someone shaking her, telling her she was going to be OK.

A few days later, Corp. Kogel's WAC unit left London for Southampton, where they boarded a Navy transport ship and crossed the English Channel in the dark of night with lights out. When the ship was within a few miles of Utah Beach, Corp. Kogel's unit was told to put on their knapsacks, climb over the ship's rail and down the gigantic ship's rope ladder to a smaller landing craft on the water that would take them as close to the beach as possible.

Like the troops just a few weeks before them, the women walked out of the landing craft into waist high water
toward the flatness of Utah Beach. This time, however, there were no bombs blowing up around them. only the red
glow and sound of gunfire in the distance.

Told not to move once they reached the beach, Corp. Kogel and her group sat until daybreak when a truck came from the base camp. Standing in line for mess and still wet from their landing, she remarked to a friend that she would be happy to get some dry clothes and wondered how soon they would be able to get their personal bags that had been floated to shore. A young sergeant standing behind her offered to get a jeep and take them to find the bags. His name was Noel Denton.

For the next six weeks, Corp. Kogel and the other 29 women lived on Utah Beach in two-person tents in a special holding area. During that time, she listened for daily news from the front line, which was just a few miles away, ate meals with the troops, watched Bing Crosby and Bob Hope from the back of a pickup truck for hundreds of troops at Utah Beach, walked on the beach around her area, heard that Paris had been liberated ... and fell in love.

*******

A diminutive, silver-haired Helen Kogel Denton sits on the couch in her Fayetteville home. Noel was a staff sergeant in the Signal Corps. He and his men would go into towns after they had been taken by the Allied forces and set up telephone wires then come back to the base camp at night. They were also waiting to go to Paris to set up lines in Gen. Eisenhower's office so they could talk to London and Washington.

Dating on a Normandy Beach during the invasion of France was not easy, but the couple found a way. "We would walk out to a little farm that had apple juice and Cognac," reminisces Helen, "and we would sit on a log and drink and talk...."

Gen. Eisenhower's staff was flown into Paris as soon as it was liberated on August 25, 1944. The tall, handsome Sgt. Denton was there, too for about three weeks. Then the romance was confined to telephone calls from the front lines and weekend passes to Paris.

Liberated Paris was a wonderful experience for Corp. Kogel who loved to dance at the USO, visit museums and
travel the countryside. She witnessed the lights coming back on in Paris from the rooftop of her hotel as well as the V-Day Celebration. "The day after the lights were turned on, we marched in a parade down the Champs
Elysees," said Helen, proudly showing a photo of her unit marching as throngs of Parisians cheered. "We polished our shoes and our buttons and pressed our uniforms. It was thrilling."

With a story like that, Helen, who was raised on a South Dakota farm, says she knew when she returned home in October of 1945 after the war was over, that she was not going to be a farmer's wife. So did Noel Denton.

He had grown up in College Park and returned to the job he had with Southern Bell in Atlanta before the war. A few months later, Noel traveled to South Dakota to ask for Helen's hand in marriage, a marriage that would
continue the love that had begun on a beach in Normandy during the D-Day invasion.

Helen and Noel spent 36 wonderful years together, living in Clayton County where they raised show Collies, a passion of Noel's. In 1954, the couple adopted a 5-month-old baby, Noel Jonathan Junior, who became the center
of their life.

With Jon in tow, the Dentons traveled the country showing Collies they had raised at their Deep South Kennel in
Clayton County. In 1967, with Jon in junior high school, Helen went to work for Delta Air Lines where she was
employed until she retired 15 years later.

As an employee of Delta, Helen took the opportunity to travel with Noel and Jon, going back often to London and Paris as well as Germany, Belgium and other parts of France, including Normandy and Utah Beach.

But in all their years together, and their trips abroad, Helen never told Noel nor anyone else about the role she had played in history.

In 1982, Helen and Noel lost Jon in an accident and a few months later, Helen's beloved Noel died from a heart
attack.

"You know, they are gone, but they're still with me," says Helen, pointing to the wall of photos next to her bed. "I see them first thing every morning and the last thing every night," she smiles. "And I have a lot of
memories."

After his retirement from Southern Bell, Noel had become the treasurer of the Collie Club of America and an accredited AKC judge, traveling around the country and the world. Helen carried on his dream by fulfilling his
position as treasurer of the club and, later, being elected president of the club's foundation.

"I had to do something. I had to keep going," she says. Volunteering became a priority in Helen's life. She
has served as Post Commander of the Riverdale Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for the past eight years and District Commander of that same organization.

She is an active member of the Delta Pioneers, an organization of retired Delta employees, raising funds for The March of Dimes, United Way, CARE and Cancer drives. She has served on the Red Cross Speakers Bureau, on the South Metro Advisory Committee and is a member of the Office of Volunteer Administration.

Plaques and proclamations attest to the time she has spent helping others: recipient of the DAR Community Service
Award, the Clara Barton Award of Meritorious Service, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change Award. A letter from President Bill Clinton congratulates her on being nominated for the Golden Rule
Award for community service.

But not until 1994 and the 50th anniversary of D-Day did Helen tell anyone that she had typed the battle plans for the invasion.

"A friend asked what women had done during WWII and if any women were involved in the invasion and I mentioned it," remembers Helen. The next thing she knew, the friend had called a local TV station and from that she was
asked to speak about her experiences at Fort Gillem.

And as Helen says, "I've been telling my story ever since."

Helen says the more she speaks about her experience, the more she realizes how much she wants people to know that
women served in WWII and played a significant part. She frequently speaks at civic functions and at area schools where she takes her medals and dog tags to show students. She is often the topic for media coverage, most recently interviewed by NBC. In 2004, she traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the World
War II Memorial dedication.

She says one of her biggest thrills was speaking before a couple hundred people at Fort McPherson this past June. On Nov. 5, 2005, the city of Riverdale will name a street in her honor followed by her participation in the city's Veteran's Day Parade.

"I'm a very lucky woman. A very lucky woman," she says.

[This story originally appeared in the October 2005 Fayette Woman, the cover of which is shown below.]

[Honeylioness]

30 Things Only Introverted People Will Understand

An introvert is a person who usually prefers their own company to that of others. They will often avoid social situations as they don’t find them enjoyable and sometimes even uncomfortable. Sometimes introverts lack the social skills that seem to come to extraverts naturally.

Don’t feel the need to be surrounded by other people to feel good. The ability to enjoy your own company is something many extroverts lack which is why sometimes they can’t be alone for a moment.

If you ever feel awkward in social situations, you will probably find you have experienced most of the problems in the list below.



1. Practicing conversations with people you'll never talk to.

2. When you want to cut all ties to civilization but still be on the internet.

3. When your friend wants to invite more people over, and you don't want to sound like a bad person by saying "No".

4. When spending a heavenly weekend alone means that you're missing out on time with friends.

5. And you fear that by doing so, you are nearing "hermit" status.

6. When your ride at a party doesn't want to leave early, and no one seems to understand your distress.

7. Trying to be extra outgoing when you flirt so your crush doesn't think you hate them.

8. That feeling of dread that washes over you when the phone rings and you're not mentally prepared to chat.

9. When you have an awesome night out, but have to deal with feeling exhausted for days after the fact.

10. People saying "Just be more social".

11. When you're able to enjoy parties and meetings, but after a short amount of time wish you were home in your pajamas.

12. Staying up late every night because it's the only time that you can actually be alone.

13. People making you feel weird for wanting to do things by yourself.

14. Having more conversations in your head than you do in real life.

15. The need to recharge after social situations.

16. People calling you out for day dreaming too much.

17. Carrying a book to a public place so no one will bug you, but other people take that as a conversation starter.

18. People interrupting your thoughts, and you get irrationally angry.

19. Having to say "I kind of want to spend some time by myself" when you have to deal with that friend that always wants to hang out.

20. When you're asked to do a group project, and know that you're going to hate every minute of it.

21. When you hear the question "Wanna hang out?", and your palms start to sweat with anxiety.

22. When you hear "Are you OK?" or "why are you so quiet?" for the umpteenth time.

23. Having visitors stay with you is a nightmare, because it means you have to be ON at ALL TIMES.

24. When people stop inviting you places because you're the one that keeps canceling plans.

25. Being horrified of small talk, but enjoying deep discussions.

26. When you need to take breaks and recharge after socializing for too long.

27. The requirement to think introspectively rather than go to someone else with your problems.

28. Not wanting to be alone, just wanting to be left alone. And people not understanding that.

29. When people mistake your thoughtful look for being shy, or worse, moody.

30. That people need to know that you aren't mad, depressed, or anti-social. You just need to not talk to anyone for a while. And that's okay.