Looks like the house closing will take place next Friday.
When I chose the title to this post, it seemed perfect to describe
where we are in the house closing process; however, it occurred to me that the
phrase “getting down to the wire” made no sense at all taken at face value. I wondered where the phrase came from
so I looked it up in my handy on-line phrase checker, http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com,
to learn where it came from:
“Usage notes: In a horse race, the wire is a metal thread
that marks the finishing line.”
Then I realized because of my crappy working class
education, I did not know what an idiom was, so I looked that up in my
computer-based dictionary. An idiom is:
“a group of words established by usage as having a
meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats
and dogs, see the light).
I could not help but notice how close “idiom” was to “idiot”
so I checked “idiot”, too. They
both come from the Greek word “idios” which means: “own,
private.” Apparently in Ancient
Greece an idiot was not someone with a mental disability, it was someone
who was considered selfish. It was
a person who was perceived as overly concerned with their private, individual life
and ignored their public duties as a citizen of Greece. Yep, a person in Ancient Greece
who did not vote or participate in public duties was an idiot.
This is what makes retirement such a pleasure. I have the time to dabble and delve –
wasting time in the most delicious ways.
Wait – I am not “wasting” time, I am “taking” time. Big difference! I own my time now. I am using time to my own private advantage.
Some of you may think, “She has
too much time on her hands.” But
there is never too much time. When I was working, for 40 long years, most of my
time was not my own. I sold my
time to earn money and make a living.
I was not doing what I loved. I was simply doing the best I could. Now, my time is finally my own and I
use it in my own, private, selfish way. After today, I will never think of the word “idiot” in
quite the same way.
Anyway, getting back to that wire…I will believe it when I see it.
