Monday morning

When you hire guy to do work with cable installation and repair, is it part of his job description to be a strapping young lad? (I mean I've heard the jokes and seen the sitcoms but really....)

We had our cable and Internet connected this morning and this guy even smelled good.



My housemate and I were discussing something this morning that involved one or two references to a mother or parental unit saying, "Do whatever is best for you," or, "As long as you are happy," and it made me realize something. The reason that parenting is a full-time job is that you are in charge of making sure that your babe is happy and taken care of all the time. They cannot do anything for themselves. As they aggrandize, they can do some things for themselves though your role does not change. I mean, it's still y = 4x + z but now z represents something different (and it likely has a smaller value). By the time they are "self-sufficient" or even mostly there your job becomes (or seems to become - I will get back to you after the first offspring arrives) less demanding or less hands-on. Now you watch helplessly from the sidelines but your job is still to take care of them in every way. [Side note: during another housemate discussion from days of yore, one of them said that when she speaks with her mother on the telephone, she can tell when something is wrong with her daughter just by the sound of her voice. I don't doubt this capability at all. {Internal side note: say, what's the difference between "capability" and "ability"?} I conjectured, "Think about it: when you were a baby, her job was to interpret every little sound you made and figure out what you needed. By now, she's got to be an expert and understanding your non-English (or in her case, non-Tamil) expressions." It's cool to me; it's very, very cool.] Because z now almost equals nothing, its value forfeited to the child, the best they can do is say, "Whatever makes you happy."


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capability
1. The quality of being capable; ability.
2. A talent or ability that has potential for development or use.
3. The capacity to be used, treated, or developed for a specific purpose.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=capability

ability
1. The quality of being able to do something, especially the physical, mental, financial or legal power to accomplish something.
2. A natural acquired skill or talent.
3. The quality of being suitible for or receptive to a specified treatment; capacity.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ability

For some strange reason, I'm not finding the origin for "capability" but I will wager that its root is in "ability". If I knew Latin better, I would understand what cap- means. I bet it is something like with, almost like "ad-".