Safe and sound

Tonight I have promised myself, I am going to sleep well as last night was a right off. This was because 'the boat' which had been due in during Sunday night wasn't there Monday morning when the shore captain checked, nor all day when he attempted to call them on the radio and cell and by the time he arrived home last evening he was just about beside himself with worry. He talked himself down a bit by telling me about all the safety gear, alarms and training they had as well as that all three of them were very experienced in winter fishing and must've 'laid to' in the major storm which had caught them early. He hit redial all evening and asked me to try after he went to bed. I called last at 11 p.m. and heard him up at 1 a.m. and then 2 and finally up for the day at 3:15 to go lobstering. Scenes from the movie The Perfect Storm played in my head all night. I woke before the alarm at 6:24 a.m. and decided I had to try one more time before work so I could concentrate today. Let me tell you that when the Captain answered and said "how are you today?" just as calmly as if he was home in his livingroom (as he always does no matter the drama ongoing) I was so relieved I almost cried! They were still 45 minutes from the wharf so he says "would you like to speak to your son?" and the boy says "well we shut the door, turned on the bus heater and I wedged myself in the bunk, what else could you do?" Now this is quite a mild assessment as they'd just laid to in a 40 ft. boat in 45 + knot gales, in - 6 temperature which causes icing with any movement and at least 11 hours (in good weather) from shore. The prodigal son is such a master of understatement. Now, I'm pretty sure that he engages in (as) risky behavior here on dry land but....

Today I received another message about the South American cruising opportunities, this time offering either February and/or March. Not sure if the tanking economy is scaring off cruise lecturers or what the problem is. But I can guarantee if I were a retired person that it would only be a matter of which month I'd be choosing to be there. This in addition to a request for New Zealand/Australia this winter, oh the choices the choices.

I'm off tomorrow and then again the next day to the district facility as there is a teleconference being broadcast from Nashville, Tennesee on improving healthcare. The past two years this has been broadcast only to Halifax so we've traveled down and this is not good scheduling early in the lobster season for me. The only problem will be (as usual) the time zone lag which will mean a 'lunch' break at 2 p.m. and not getting home until after 7 p.m.

And to close, I leave you with...the word of the year:
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Everyone seems to want one but apparently a lot of Americans aren't sure what exactly a "bailout" is.

The word, which shot to prominence amid the financial meltdown, was looked up so often at Merriam-Webster's online dictionary site the publisher says "bailout" was an easy choice for its 2008 Word of the Year.

The rest of the list is not exactly cheerful. It includes "trepidation," "precipice" and "turmoil."
"There's something about the national psyche right now that is looking up words that seem to suggest fear and anxiety," said John Morse, Merriam-Webster's president and publisher.
Several well-worn terms from the presidential campaign also made the cut: "maverick," "bipartisan" and, coming in at No. 2, "vet" - to appraise and evaluate, as in vetting a vice-presidential pick.

But none topped "bailout," a seemingly simple word that suddenly took on $700 billion worth of importance in September - and prompted hundreds of thousands of online lookups within just a few weeks.

How big was "bailout," etymologically speaking? While Congress was considering the enormous financial industry rescue package this fall, searches for "bailout" eclipsed perennial puzzlers like "irony" and the bedevilling duo of "affect" and "effect."

So how does Merriam-Webster define "bailout"?

As "a rescue from financial distress." But Morse says those who looked it up also seemed to want to know whether it had negative nuances or suggested irresponsibility or blame.

"People seem to have a general understanding of the word 'bailout,' but they seem to want to better understand its application, any connotations it may have and shades of meaning," he said.
The publisher usually picks its Word of the Year by considering the number of lookups and whether certain unusual terms submitted by online users have slipped into everyday discussion.
That's how the whimsical and technology-driven term "W00t" - that's spelled with two zeros, used by online game players to express triumph or happiness - gained the top spot in 2007.
A year earlier, online dictionary users picked "truthiness" as No. 1 after it was coined by Comedy Central political satirist Stephen Colbert.

But this year, Merriam-Webster switched its procedure to consider only the volume of lookups of particular words, noting "bailout" and others were looked up so frequently their importance could not be ignored.

Interest in "vet" spiked in June, as presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke about the team he had assembled to "vet" possible running mates.

"Socialism" and "rogue" also had many hits - the former as people debated whether economic help to businesses was tantamount to socialism and the latter as pundits questioned whether Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin hurt John McCain's presidential bid by "going rogue," or defying his campaign's control.

And "misogyny," defined as hatred of women, was looked up in huge numbers on the online dictionary, as Hillary Clinton's supporters questioned whether it had derailed her presidential hopes.

Allan Metcalf, executive secretary of the American Dialect Society - which picked "subprime" as its 2007 word of the year - said he thinks "bailout" was a good choice by Merriam-Webster.
It may even be in the running for the American Dialect Society's 2008 word when it is selected in January, Metcalf said.

"If we were to sift through the words of the past year and pick the most significant, the ones that characterized the year, the ones that remind us what we were thinking about and talking about, then I'd say 'bailout' is a good choice," he said.

Here is a list of Merriam-Webster's annual Words of the Year dating to 2003, when the publisher started making the selection:

2008: Bailout - "A rescue from financial distress."
Selected by huge volume of lookups as Congress was considering the $700-billion bailout package for the financial industry.
2007: W00t - "Expression of joy or triumph, or an obvious victory; abbreviation of 'We Owned the Other Team,' originating from computer-gaming subculture."
Selected as representative of new words, often whimsical and clever, emerging from new technology.
2006: Truthiness - "Truth that comes from the gut, not books." Coined by Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert; selected as Word of the Year by Merriam-Webster's online users.
Picked as national political debates questioned what constitutes "truth," and whether it is subjective. Deemed by Merriam-Webster as a playful term for an important issue.
2005: Integrity - "Firm adherence to a code; incorruptibility."
Picked as national political discourse centred on integrity and lack thereof in public servants on national and local levels.
2004: Blog - "A website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Short for Weblog."
Selected as it rocketed to prominence in midyear, driven by growth and popularity of blogs.
2003: Democracy - "Government by the people, especially: rule of the majority, or: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."
Selected as one of the most frequently looked up words each year, especially in a campaign season preceding noteworthy elections.