Cuckoo Clock Puzzle

Three members of the Boston Horology Society have just returned from a holiday

in Switzerland where they each purchased a handmade cuckoo clock. Can you

work out where each person bought their clock, the name of the clockmaker and

how much each clock cost, $100, $120, $150?

1. John Jones didn't buy the cheapest clock and it wasn't the one manufactured by Franz Geisser.

2. The clock bought in Geneva was manufactured by Hans Bruckner and was cheaper than the one bought by Wendy Wilson.

3. Betty Barner didn't buy her cuckoo clock in Zurich.

4. The most expensive clock was purchased in Zermatt but wasn't the one manufactured by Herman Finkel.

What is the name of the clockmaker, the cost, and the place where John bought his clock?
How about Wendy Wilson? And Betty Barner?

Have fun exercising your mind!

Project at the Halthen House

Yes, that was paint in my hair. I was standing on the kitchen counter in order to reach the soffit. And of course, I put the top of my head right on the wet paint!You won't see pictures of me, but I did take a few pictures of the hired help! ha ha

You ask, "So what did it look like before?"

Well, we have lived in this house for 25 years. We need a change. Look below to see the "before" picture.

Bye-bye blue wall paper!

Can vs. Could

“I always have trouble using ‘can’ and ‘could’ in a sentence. Could you please help?”

Well, not only could I help, but I can. And I will!

The word “can” expresses power or ability.

Example
I can provide the answer to your question.
I can finish the book by Friday.

Years ago “could” was the past tense of “can.” However, it is no longer used in this sense. “Could” now implies a probability factor – usually about 50 per cent.

Example
I could provide you with an answer (But I may not).

I could finish the book by Friday. (The activity is possible but not guaranteed.)

And for the sake of politeness, we also use “could.”
Example
Could you please set the table? (more polite)
Can you please set the table? (more direct)


Conclusion: When you say “I can” you are just establishing that you have the ability to do so. When you say “I could” you establish that, yes you have the ability, but it’s only a possibility that you will go.

Nouns of Character

honesty

Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.

integrity

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." -- Samuel Johnson

reliability

"The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends." -- Cicero

determination

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination."

Winston Churchill Famous Determination Quote:

"Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

common sense

"Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

trustworthiness

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." --Booker T. Washington

confidence

"Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too."

--David Storey

ambition

"Ambition is not what man does... but what man would do." -- Robert Browning

"Ambition can creep as well as soar." -- Edmund Burke

Too many prepositional phrases?

One of the goals in the policy statement of the workers of our company is that of the importance of fairness in the treatment of employees.

We have taken note of your concern with reference to the procedures used in the market for second-hand cars in the Netherlands.

Down inside the tunnel under Richmond, Margaret ran along beside a wall, among a group of boys without whom she would run indefinitely, without anything that she could climb up onto to escape from inside the tunnel she had been dropped down into.

"What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of up for?"
(This is a very famous sentence that is considered by many the most natural sounding sentence with the most prepositions together and at the end of the sentence.
You will notice that this sentence has five prepositions in a row and sounds fairly natural to many native speakers.)

Do you know what the sentence is asking?