Archive for March 2022

Where is the line between frugal and cheap?

A restaurant check showed a $7 upcharge for substituting fruit for meat. The server had said that we could substitute anything, not mentioning a charge.  Although irritated, I wondered whether begrudging a few dollars when restaurants are hurting crosses the line from frugal into cheap. (I’m sidestepping the issue of feeling deceived.) But if it... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
March 28, 2022 at 7:33 am
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Reading the book after watching the adaptation

All Creatures Great and Small topped WTTW’s viewers poll this year. No surprise there. Everyone I know who watched the series loved it. We’re looking forward to two more seasons on Masterpiece — it has been renewed through 2024 — and maybe more.  The series is the latest adaptation of James Herriot’s eight books about... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
March 21, 2022 at 8:56 am
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Shed the mask, get a cold

Illinois lifted its mask mandate on February 28. On March 9 I came down with a cold. Guess I’m being punished for support of lifting the mandate — although masks were intended as protection against COVID-19, not a cold. (A COVID test was negative.) Although scientists have not come to a consensus about masks’ effectiveness... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
March 14, 2022 at 2:50 pm
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Making sense of “shocked but not surprised”

If you look up “surprised” in a thesaurus, you’ll find “shocked” is a synonym. During my time working as an editor, I don’t remember distinguishing between the two words. In the last few years, however, I’ve often come upon “I was shocked but not surprised” — or is it “surprised but not shocked”?   In... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
March 7, 2022 at 8:15 am
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