I’ve always wondered about that phrase. Literally, the master’s tools could probably dismantle the master’s house—every hammer has a claw to pull out nails. A wrecking ball would be faster, but is that not also one of the master’s tools, used for clearing away any existing structure before he builds his house? If not…

I was firmly and vocally opposed to pre-rinsing until I bought my house, which came with a fairly new but shockingly ineffective dishwasher. Now if everything isn’t 90% clean going in, it’s all disgusting coming out. I’ve cleaned the filter, run it empty with various cleaning chemicals, added vinegar, hard water…

“If it is an at will company, they can fire you at any time for any reason."

I tried to post this a few days ago and it’s not showing up for me now, even in the grays. So sorry if this is a duplicate.

My parents divorced when I was in fourth grade, and my mom and I moved a few hours away to live with my grandma. I was an only child and painfully shy; all my friends had been my friends since forever, and I had no idea how to talk to these new kids at school.

Can’t believe how many clicks it took me to find this comment. 

That last sentence killed me. 

There was a lot of unnecessary detail that threw me. A lot of unfired Chekhov’s guns. When I read a ghost story where the bride was buried in so much gold jewelry she glowed, I expect her ghostly presence to be revealed for what it is by some ethereal sparkles. When I read that the narrator couldn’t believe family…

Wait, really? Four years old is too young to discipline? I agree that what the teacher did here was inappropriate, but not because of their age. I think a time-out would have been fine.

That you were assaulted, and that almost every woman is eventually harassed or assaulted, are really two separate conversations. You could have one or the other without having both. You could also have both, of course. I personally wouldn't combine them into one, though. 

Oh no. I’m so sorry! I never even met the sweet little purr machine and I’m upset. You did a good thing, taking her in and loving her. It’s heartbreaking she lived such a short time, but what a blessing that she got to be so cherished. May we all know such unreserved affection in our lives, however long or short.

Exactly. I once forgot to cite a source in a middle school social studies paper. I had at least half a dozen sources in my bibliography, and there was original thought in how I put all the information together. It still wasn’t OK that I didn’t attribute that one sentence that wasn’t mine. But here’s the key…

I love your priest's perfectly rational take on a situation premised on having accepted the idea that Ouija boards open a portal to the underworld. 

Don’t know about the study but that's certainly been the case in my circle of friends. Almost every woman I know who has had kids in the last five years was less interested in having kids than her male partner was. 

This is what I came here for. 

Some minds are more ide than others to start.

Aaaaaaaaaaauuuuugh why did you do that to me? That’s so cute it hurts.

Got a link to those studies?

I think it came from the same place as the contemporary insult: the idea (true? False? I have no idea) that every snowflake is unique. Years ago, pro-lifers latched onto this because OMG every embryo has a unique human soul! and it wasn’t until later that the term came to be used sarcastically in a derogatory way,…

In vino veritas...