Replies

1. 
   BoxLunch | May 25, 2002 11:01am | #1

   How funny! In a proposal I wrote this morning, I used the terms "sister joists." And as I wrote it, I was sure I would be explaining this to the customer. It can't be the same as "sister cities."....These sistered joists are thick as theives! Hmmmm....doesn't work.

2. 
   OneofmanyBobs | May 25, 2002 02:05pm | #2

   You toe nail because you use your toe to keep the

   stud from kicking sideways. Try not to nail yourself to the floor.

   As far as sistering, I expect any close relative would

   be OK. But, to be sure you'd need to tell us what she looks

   like, whether she's single or not and her current bank balance.

1. 
   jimblodgett | May 25, 2002 10:45pm | #3

   You ever see how two sisters sleep? They snuggle right up, kind of like sistering joists. Females are a lot more comfortable touching other females than males are touching males.

1. 
   r_ignacki | May 25, 2002 10:59pm | #4

   some  old structures have something called a "summer beam" in them. Look closely, and it looks like it took all summer to make it.

   butt hinges: put your butt against the hinge side of the door, to determine the hand. That's why you call them butt hingesno turn left unstoned  

1. 
   rjw | May 26, 2002 12:30am | #5

   Summer:  from French, sommier, rafter, beast of burden

   Sister:  one of the same kind, of the same condition

   Merrium Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1949 ed.

1. 
   jimblodgett | May 26, 2002 02:18am | #6

   "Sister: one of the same kind, of the same condition"

   So Bob, are you suggesting we should use another undersized, or broken framing member when we sister in a joist or rafter? <g>

   Besides, I kind of like the idea of the Thompson twins, all snuggled up, waiting for...never mind.

2. 
   JeffBuck | May 26, 2002 05:28am | #7

   That's a bunch of bologna!

   Learned that one on a local radio commercial. Years ago...some deli packed mystery lunches for worker guys. Made sandwiches up....put into lunch bags...and sealed them. Sold them with no labeling......lunchtime suprise. Then...they decided to put in more bologna than ham or turkey...to save money...and the worker guys would get pissed when they opened the bag to find.......a load..or bunch...of bologna!

   Paul Harvey would be proud! Jeff                             "That's like hypnotizing chickens........."

                                                     

3. 
   4Lorn1 | May 26, 2002 12:55pm | #8

   So your saying that sistering joist is works.

   But if you brothered joists it just wouldn't come out ... straight?

   Edited 5/26/2002 5:57:50 AM ET by 4LORN1

4. 
   BossHog | May 26, 2002 02:55pm | #9

   "the Thompson twins, all snuggled up, waiting for...."

   The Barbi twins occured to me first. Same reason, probably.

   Edited 5/26/2002 8:00:41 AM ET by Boss Hog

5. 
   junkhound | May 26, 2002 04:35pm | #10

   It seemed a good idea at the time.

   Tried to find the original source for this on the net, no luck  --  anyone know the originator of this saying??

6. 
   Sancho | May 26, 2002 06:42pm | #11

   One of my favorites....Anahiem Ties"  Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"

7. 
   deblacksmith | May 26, 2002 08:27pm | #12

   "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

   The first time I heard it was -- guy with a light bulb tatoo'd on his balled head.  Said "it was new years eve and seemed like a good idea at the time." :)

   Dave Smucker

8. 
   Piffin | May 27, 2002 03:46am | #13

   "That's what she said"

   Excellence is its own reward!

9. 
   Sancho | May 27, 2002 10:31pm | #14

   "Make hay while the sun shines" and "God willin and the river dont rise"... Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"

10. 
    Piffin | May 28, 2002 01:01am | #15

    nuthin' unknown about those two ron, if you've been raised down on the farm.

    What's a Donneybrook?

    Excellence is its own reward!

11. 
    viverra | May 28, 2002 02:06am | #16

    According to Bartleby.com

    The writer was Rebecca West, in the NY Times 2 Oct 1977:

    If the whole human race lay in one grave, the epitaph on its headstone might well be: “It seemed a good idea at the time.”

    - Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations. 1988.

    Then in 1986 Bill Cosby used the phrase in one of his routines, and it's my guess that this is where it entered the popular lexicon:

    "I guess the real reason that my wife and I had children is the same reason that Napoleon had for invading Russia: it seemed like a good idea at the time".

    - The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996.

    Hope this helps.

12. 
    junkhound | May 28, 2002 05:59am | #19

    Thanks, I'd seen those also.  Methinks barlett's is getting lazy also. I recall hearing the saying in the '50s.  There were some references in the 1920's also, but were quotes from some unknown source, have not found anything earlier. Probably one of the "anon" quotations.

    Likewise the "bunch of baloney" quote. I've seen a reference (Hays' history text from 1927) that it was first because one of the first schools specifically for LAWYERS was the early (1500's??) university at Balonga Italy.  What came out was a bunch of "Balonga".  

13. 
    rjw | May 28, 2002 02:22pm | #20

    quote

    Likewise the "bunch of baloney" quote. I've seen a reference (Hays' history text from 1927) that it was first because one of the first schools specifically for LAWYERS was the early (1500's??) university at Balonga Italy.  What came out was a bunch of "Balonga".  

    ENDQUOTE

    Well, it's like they say, watching laws being made is like watching sausage being made: you have to have a strong stomach for both!

14. 
    tjcarcht | May 28, 2002 04:36pm | #21

    "Sistering" joists -

    According to a recent news release, you can now "cousin" joists without fear of defects.  Did I hear that right?   ;o)T. Jeffery Clarke

    Quidvis Recte Factum Quamvis Humile Praeclarum

15. 
    NormKerr | May 28, 2002 07:35pm | #22

    "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

    I was thinking that I heard it in the background voices on the "Dark Side of the Moon", which came out in '72.

    But on re-listening it was, "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time."

    A funny thing about those voices. They add a kind of subliminal creepyness to the album, and make you think that there is a story being told just out of earshot. But in Pink Floyd's biography, "Saucer Full of Secrets" they explained that it was just a bunch of random speaking by their roadies. They recorded whatever popped into their heads and faded it in and out on a few of the tracks for texture. What a great album, when you listen to it its hard to believe its 30 years old...

    Here's a saying that's on that album (those voices again):

    "It'll be a short, sharp shock, and that'll be the game, dig it, eh?."

    I wonder where "Short, sharp shock" originated?

16. 
    JohnSprung | May 29, 2002 03:13am | #23

    > wonder where "Short, sharp shock" originated?

    Gilbert and Sullivan -- the executioner's song in the Mikado.

    -- J.S.

17. 
    junkhound | May 29, 2002 06:09am | #24

    John, you've got the "paramount" show biz know-how.  Maybe you can help.

    The earlier ?? I posted about "it seemed a good idea at the time" may definetly have show biz writer connections.  I know the J. Candy movie of '75 has that title, and that Fibber McKee radio writers have also been credited. Did either of those sources give credit to earlier sources??  <G> maybe it was a key grip who lost his "grip"?

    Thanks.

    PS: I'm on a technical panel at a symposium in July with that quote as it's inspriation for electrical power system foulups (e.g. greyout davis et. al), so was trying to find THE ORIGINAL source. One source I saw was guessing that it is a rough translation from greek for what Alexander said when asked how he figured to cut the knot rather than untie it.

18. 
    JerraldHayes | May 29, 2002 06:37am | #25

    Way back in I think 97 I asked the question in the old Remodeling Online forums:"What's

    a dutchman?" What I posted way back then read

    "Now I know what a dutchman is as far as what we as carpenters are using

    them for and the term even crosses over into theatrical scenery and sculptural

    arts where it has similar meaning but for 24 years since I've first learned

    what the term meant no one has even given me an explanation as to where does

    the word "dutchman" come from. I've speculated & guessed that

    it has something to do with the "Hans Brinker-finger in-the-dyke"

    folk tale but I've never heard a satisfactory explanation from anyone else

    about the derivation of the term. Any help out there??"

    My on-line friend and CT based builder Mike Heslin replied:

    In the days before painters came up with the expression "Putty and paint,

    make a carpenter what he ain't", there was the expression, "A funny

    shaped piece of wood, makes a bad carpenter look good." This is credited

    to a Dutch house painter of the early 17th century named Rembrandt. (He must

    have been good because everyone wanted him to do their work). He later gained

    some recognition as a fine artist. Apparently, the career change was prompted

    by his frustration of having to cover up others poor craftsmanship by cutting

    those little odd shaped pieces of wood.

    A couple of hundred years later, another dutch house painter, Van Gogh, was

    so tormented by what had come to be known as "Rem'nants" that he

    eventually lost his mind and committed suicide. (See what a punchlist can

    do to you?!?!) History also tells us that he was pretty ticked off that nobody

    thought he was as good as Rembrandt at this "trick of the trade".

    Anyway, the local builders association at the time felt pretty badly about

    this whole thing and thought something should be done. Carpentry apprenticeships

    were more closely monitored in an effort to improve quality. And "Rem'nants"

    came to be known as "Dutchman" in honor of all the dutch housepainters

    that had toiled so long and hard to cover up shoddy workmanship.

    Van Gogh however, did not fade anonymously into history (much like a poor

    quality oil-based paint). You see, he carried his painting supplies around

    in a covered horse-drawn cart, an innovative design for the time. And, you

    guessed it, to this day, many people carry there tools around in a "Van".

    Of course, there is my other theory that the shape of a Dutchmans-breeches

    leaf inspired the name, but that story isn't nearly as interesting.

    "Do not go where the path may lead, go

    instead where there is no path and

    leave a trail."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. 
    JohnSprung | Jun 01, 2002 02:23am | #26

    I don't know how you'd trace authorship of a specific line like "It seemed like a good idea at the time".  I doubt even the WGA would have formal records for anything but entire works. 

    As for things that seemed like a good idea at the time, this may be one of the first:

    http://www.crystalinks.com/bentpyr.html

    -- J.S.

2. 
   PhilEves | May 28, 2002 03:18am | #17

   ...and whether she needs nailing in the first place?....If it is to be, 'twil be done by me..

1. 
   OneofmanyBobs | May 28, 2002 04:17am | #18

   Why would she be fooling with a carpenter if she didn't?

   The important thing is whether she can support me in the

   style to which I've become accustomed.