REVERT

The day is clear, but cold—only 28F this noon with a light breeze. First day at work this year. Those who have been working short work weeks here will all be back at work full time next Monday. Yes, I wrote my password down, just in case, but found I didn't need it. Everyone who crossed my path so far today has received a cheery "Happy New Year." Most of them returned the greeting heartily.

Someone propped a duster on its handle in my co-worker Vic's chair. Apparently this was because Vic is out with the flu instead of in his rightful seat. I added a smiley face on the dusting cloth to make things more realistic. Unfortunately, the duster is neither as congenial nor as knowledgeable as Vic. The consensus is that we would rather the duster have the flu.

At lunchtime, when I got home to feed Lloyd and Speedy, the dog did not meet me at the door as usual. When I got to the bedroom there was a lump under the coverlet next to Lloyd. Obviously the dog knows where the warm spot is. I had put his t-shirt on this morning as it was so chilly. He doesn't like to wear it though, and tries to wriggle out of it. Let it be noted that once the shirt is on, he stays out longer. In fact, he ran outside while I was fixing his lunch bowl; barked a couple, three times; ran back inside; shook himself as though he were wet and ran back outside. By that time, both Lloyd's lunch and his were ready. So I fed them both and came back to work.

The word of the day for January 5, 2009, is "revert" — Pronunciation: \ri-'vərt\
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French revertir, from Latin revertere, v.t., to turn back & reverti, v.i., to return, come back, from re- + vertere, verti to turn — more at worth
Date: 15th century
1 : to come or go back (as to a former condition, period, or subject). 2 : to return to the proprietor or his or her heirs at the end of a reversion. 3 : to return to an ancestral type.

Our quote for the day is from Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), U.S. president. Letter, March 27, 1940, to Governor Henry Horner of Illinois. The Roosevelt Letters, vol. 3, p. 310, ed. Elliott Roosevelt, George G. Harrup & Co., Ltd. (1952):

You and I ... are convinced of the fact that if our Government in Washington and in a majority of the States should revert to the control of those who frankly put property ahead of human beings instead of working for human beings under a system of government which recognizes property, the nation as a whole would again be in a bad situation.

Horner had written FDR to inform him that the Illinois Democrats urged him to run for a third term as the only hope to continue the liberal orientation of the government. FDR responded that certainly a liberal ticket was necessary but that he was not indispensable to its success.

;^)

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