Show 2C Saturday August 1 1 Home & Family 2001 Standard-Examine- Earth berm helps improve comfort thought about QI an earth on the comer of house to stive energy It would fit in well with our landscaping design Are stones or retaining wall blocks better to use? A Incoi'porating an earth berm into your landscaping is a great idea Using a retaining wall kit instead of stones makes this a simple project In all but the warmest climates a northwest house corner is the best earth berm location In hot climates a southwest corner is better earth berm is basically a just raised area of ground against your house It will cut your utility bills and improve your comfort in three ways: 1) by providing an insulating An barrier 2) James reducing air leakage into your home and 3) providing thermal mass to moderate rapid temperature changes The comfort improvement from the heavy thermal mass of the ground and the retaining wall will be most noticeable in the summer Dulley Cut Your Utility Bills Also the foliage of the plants near your house wall will help keep your house cooler Unless you are an experienced stone mason using a mortarless retaining wall kit is the easiest and least expensive method to build your earth berm If you want the appearance of real stones select one of the kits that use random-sizeblocks to simulate stones There tire more than 100 shapes sizes and weights of retaining wall kit blocks to choose front Many of them have a trapezoidal shape with slightly tapered sides so they can be easily arranged to form various curves inside and outside corners and built-isteps The blocks weigh from 18 pounds up to 110 pounds d n Names From 1C Sometimes children just drop their first name Case in point W Roy Van Orman (Roy: " Means 'king' A throwback to a time when uneducated peons could be fooled into subservience by any vulgarian clever enough to call himself 'king' ") a professor of social work at WSU "I still uSe the ‘VVMn my name as an honor to my dad” Van Orman said "I was named after my father’s best friend and I consider it a real honor loiter when we were looking at names and I found out my name meant royalty I was told I had a responsibility to act that way - to try to help people do good things Having people do my will because of my name didn’t work" Van Orman said his family was fond of unusual names and commented that his uncle must have gotten some of his cousin’s names like Ransom Abraham from a Ouija board Ilis personal solution? Giving his kids names that would "all fit on one line of an application form" Literary names Other parents may find their kids’ names in the pages of literary greats like Shakespeare or from popular bixiks television shows and movies Donna Cheney ("Means 'lady' Upon traveling to Europeyour Donna will evoke nothing but confusion and annoyance when introducing herself') a professor of English at WSU said literature is chock-ful- l of oddities “Throughout literature you have odd names" she said "Names from Shakespeare are fairly common People who are named after literary figures are generally pretty proud of it" Cheney said she knew someone named Frederick spelled the same way as the character from the Shakespearean plays of “Measure for Measure" and "As You Like It" "It’s not usually an odd name but he insisted on being called by his full name" Cheney added Others are most likely doomed by their father’s interests Fred Adams founder of the Utah Shakespearean Festival named his daughter after Dorcas a shepherdess from "The Winter’s Tale" Words that have become names but are also similarly spelled or sound like certain words in other languages can result in a quagmire when traveling abroad as Cheney hollow so they can be filled depending upon the size If with soil and used as your retaining wall is going to be located near a deck or planters patio consider adding lights Write for - or instantly and speakers into the wall download from Several kits offer special wwwdulleycom - Update lighting and speaker blocks Bulletin No 980 a buyer’s that integrate perfectly into guide of eight the wall retaining wall kit and Most blocks use either accessory manufacturers listing sizes weights features positioning lips or a system and typical installation of internal pins (tough fiberglassnylon) and holes or instructions slots for stability and Q I currently have an old central air conditioner with a strength The top of the wall is typically finished with flat side air discharge I just built decorative blocks that fit a deck that is fairly close to over the pins They are also the unit When I replace it often fixed in place with a should I switch to a bead of adhesive model - and are they better? If the wall is going to be more than a couple of feet A Many manufacturers offer both styles of units and high select blocks that neither style is in itself an provide for a slight setback for each successive course efficiency improvement over For even higher walls a the other The interior condenser coils are designed reinforcing mesh is placed between the blocks It for the particular airflow extends several feet back into path through them the soil to provide additional If your deck is at least stability to the wall three feet from the unit and does not appear to impede Since you want to the airflow either style will integrate it with your be fine If you plan to sit near landscaping consider using all or just a few planter that edge of the deck a blocks These blocks are might be a little Michael - "An advantage to giving your child the most popular name In America Is that he’ll never leel too special” MatthewMatt - “As in doormat A metaphor that all mean girls know and use to their advantage" Joseph (Joe) - “Your baby will think you didn't have time to come up with a good name so you went for the first one that came to mind Joes don’t want to underachieve but they are well aware their parents expect them to Babies named Joe tend to be fat forever" and bald Christopher - “The first other Christopher your boy will encounter be Christopher Robin the effeminate priss of Winnie the Pooh fame” will delusional matriarchal GIRLS Emily - “A mushy meek and furry name that even kittens find nauseating She's not going to be a baby forever" Madison - “Here's one that has no business being a girl's name It's the last name of a perpetually angry president who suffered s from syndrome and before 1980 no poor girl had to deal with It Somehow Madison caught on after it showed up In the film 'Splash’ as the mermaid’s name C'mon that has to be the dumbest name origin In this book" Elizabeth - “A once graceful and noble name that has been chopped and reprocessed Into so many American piece that It now resembles Its old self as much as American cheese resembles a dairy product Choosing a name with so many derivatives Is like letting your baby choose her own name Maybe she'll pick Betty" Alexis (with Alex and Alexandra) “Cold as a chandelier and understated as a tiara on a drag queen Names that reek diamonds and fur Most girls with these names do not actually adopt them until they are and mean" short-man'- Source: “Don't Name Your Baby” by David Nader Standard-Examine- r 61 People do change the spelling of names - that’s common to Utahns - the same name spelled differently When someone spells their child’s name and say ‘That’s a strange spelling’ they take pride in that I Shirley Garcia jj sense to her but called that” I’m never Utah spellings Spelling is something par- ents often use to set their child’s name apart Bird who has lived in California and Washington in addition to Utah said he found it to be one of Utah parents’ penchants "They give the uniqueness of the name by a unique spelling” Bird said Shirley Garcia ("A nametag worn by more proud diner hash slingers than any other Good 'ol Shirley Don't you just want to give her a pat on the butt? Likely nickname: Squirrely”) director of the Child and Family Birthplace at Ogden Regional Medical Center agreed “People do change the spelling of names - that's common to Utahns - the same name spelled different- ly" she said "When someone spells their child’s name and I say ‘That’s a strange spelling’ they take pride in that" Nurses on Garcia’s staff discovered say that parents will change While traveling in Europe "ph” to "f" or "i" to "y" and vice versa to “get the same Cheney visited Italy where sound but with a different the word "donna" means "woman" spelling" "The woman at the bed and “They (parents) like to breakfast was so confused” spell names differently" Garcia said "They just like to be she said So Cheney told the different That's the culture woman her middle name here in Utah" Jeanne "She called me ‘DonAnd the unique spellings na Jeanne’ It made perfect Blocks are designed to ' interlock with the proper setback Beveled blocks create a rustic attractive texture — -- v Earth berm provides thermal butter Irom climate extremes t j l- - r I T r - r i Finishing cap is held in place with adhesive retaining walls are simple to build Earth-ber- quieter To order Utility Bills Updates send $3 and a stamped d business-siz- e Janies Dulley envelope to r 6906 Royalgrcen Drive Cincinnati Standard-Examine- OU 45244 or for instant download contact his Internet Web page ihttpJwwwdulleycom) which includes 150 of his previous columns and illustrations Washer names Popular BOYS - - V-- r often get noticed when the kids reached grade school "I’ve had probably three or maybe four Mackenzies in my classes each spelled a different way” said Amy teacher Hadley a third-grad- e at I Iooper Elementary (here’s the bad news right off page 17: "Amy has such a cutesy juvenile feel that most girls named Amy never get promoted past the third grade" Sorry Amy) Schoolyard teasing Unfortunately for parents no matter what they name their sons and daughters other children often will find ways to use the name in teasing If a name rhymes easily with other words children will pick up on that fact - like how well the name "Luke" rhymes with "puke" "Grade school kids are cruel” Cheney said noting odd names can be a difficulty for school-agechildren "But they’ve generally dealt with that by the time they get to d college” But in an elementary school setting a name is often used to tease “They do and they can especially if a boy has a girl’s name that lends to teasing” Hadley said It’s often not a first choice but a child’s name will come into play “if someone has it in for a child" Hadley added improvement came when I turned the nozzle on my concrete driveway In From 1C seconds the washer blasted The closest I came to a away a thin layer of crud real accident happened that I hadn’t even realized when I got up on a ladder to was there The washer left clean the highest parts of the concrete so much the house the blast was so cleaner that I had to spend forceful I had to be careful more time on the driveway to keep my balance than I’d expected I don't I’d considered using a have a deck but a friend of cleansing solvent - there are mine says his pressure washer does a much better plenty available - but decided against it when the job cleaning his deck than he can do by hand label said to avoid contact with the skin That turned Renting the unit instead out to be the right decision: of buying one created an The washer sprayed so unexpected problem much water around that I Because I could use the was drenched repeatedly washer for only 24 hours I wanted to clean as much What a difference stuff as possible in the time available It took a Straight water worked fine on my vinyl siding It surprising amount of would have been a bad idea muscle to control the nozzle to add anything stronger especially when I was than soap to the spray holding it high overhead to Protective eyeglasses are reach the top rows of siding necessary as the washers By the end of the day I are powerful enough to was surprisingly tired The blast debris in all directions next morning the muscles Frankly I thought my in my shoulders and upper vinyl siding looked fine I’d back felt as before cleaning It was soon a weekend though on spent a working obvious though that the chain gang washer left the house Owning a pressure noticeably cleaner than a washer would make it easy rainstorm The difference was clear enough that it was to avoid this pain You could easy to tell the washed from tackle fewer tasks at one time spreading the effort the unwashed areas It took about six hours to over several weekends clean the entire house twice Electric or gas The first cleaning made a difference as did the Many consumer-ratesecond A third cleaning models sell for $150 to $300 seemed to accomplish The smaller cheaper units nothing are electrically powered I rented the machine for with gasoline engines used 24 hours so I’d have a in ones The big chance to try cleaning other unittheI bigger $65 for 24 cost rented items and the machine hours in proved to be useful An advantage of a several applications gasoline unit is that it is Concrete evidence more portable" requiring The baked-oresidue on nothing except being connected to a garden hose my barbecue grill - which resisted An electrical washer has ordinary stubbornly the advantage of being able scrubbing - came off easily with the pressure washer to work indoors or in poorly ventilated areas It requires Cleaning the car was less maintenance and dramatically easier and faster with the pressure doesn’t need to be drained washer of fuel at the end of the ‘ Find more on baby names at is wwwstandardnet Parents may think a name cute or funny but it may spell I on the playground “Parents can set their children up" Bird said "My last name is ‘Bird’ so I'm not going to name my child ‘Rob- in’ ” Instead Bird named his son Jim and his daughter Bridden The theory behind his daughter's name was a word that’s difficult to tease with but easy to spell and pronounce However no sooner had Bird told a friend his daughter’s name than his friend responded "I lere comes the Bridden all fat and wid-de- n ” Cheney said her children call such names “parent smackers" - meaning the child should be able to smack their parents for giving them such an odd name Does It really matter? Garcia and her nurses estimate that percent of the time parents have decided what to name their newborn when they come to the hospital to have the baby That name isn’t necessarily found at the top of the list of most popular names' "They (parents) don’t necessarily like to go with the top five baby names" Garcia said “They (the nurses) find that a lot of patients will say ‘What do you think about Braden Hunter or Mason?’ They come up with names not anywhere near the top five” How far out is too far out? Perhaps there is no limit Garcia’s staff agreed the most bizarre name they had ever heard given to a child was “Damien Lucifer" But how much of a child’s success is tied to his or her name? “Their name is not going to make or break them” Bird said However he added “Children with last names in ‘a’ through ‘k’ do do better in school - probably from being called on first" On the downside of the name game Bird said one study has shown that there are more unique names amongst famous persons and prison populations than in "normal” society So in naming children something outrageous it’s possible parents should keep in mind the colors black and white The only question is - for a tux or for prison stripes? 75-8- 0 You d n The most noticeable In season the Tuesday Life Section can reach reporter Taylor Fielding ("At what point did tailoring carry with it any degree of status? Even Tevya the impoverished peasant in ‘Fiddler on the Roof didn’t want his daughter 9 or to marry one") at 625-427- (fieldingstandardnet V |