Dieter Zakas wrote:
> In article , George Shirley at
> wrote on 1/14/05 17:50:
>
> <snip>
>
>>More than fifty years ago my mother put up jams and jellies the same way
>>and my wife and I did too when we first married in 1960. Used to be an
>>approved US way of putting up jams and jellies but food science has
>>moved on in the last fifty years and paraffin and inversion methods are
>>no longer approved for food safety.
>
>
> So that method is either passe or taboo. Interesting...
>
> <snip>
>
>>>
>>>I should have mentioned my mother's technique is likely from her heritage:
>>>she was born in the former Prussia in what was then the Third Reich, and
>>>likely picked up her canning methods from her mother. After living in the
>>>States for nearly forty-five years, she still retains her accent. (Mom was
>>>responsible for naming my younger sister and me, which accounts for the
>>>nice, common German name I have...common in Germany, but not here.)
>>
>>Fairly common in Texas too Dieter, a goodly portion of the population
>>there is of German or Czech origin. Grew up with a couple of Dieter's, a
>>Max (actually Maximillian) and a couple of hotsy Gerta's. My wife's
>>maiden name was Himmelheber and she was from Maryland originally. Lots
>>of German names in the old melting pot.
>
>
> However, it's a shock when someone pronounces my name correctly when they
> see it in print first. Usually it gets mangled...in grade school there was
> one aide who'd correct herself whenever she scolded me: "blah, blah, blah,
> dieter - Dieter!*, blah, blah, blah...."
>
> Since it's not easy to determine the gender of the name's owner, I've
> received correspondence addressed to Mrs., Miss, and Ms. If that doesn't
> deflate one's ego, I don't know what will.
Only if one allows it to. A good friend recently died after a long
battle with cancer. His first name was Lanelle, rhymes with flannel. He
was always getting mail addressed to Ms La nelle. He always laughed
about it. As a kid and as a young man I was always the kid with three
names - George Milton Shirley, or was addressed as "Betty" by the smart
asses and bullies. By the time I was 13 yo old no one teased me anymore
because I would just ignore them unless they got in my face, in which
case they got whupped up on pretty good. Names are what our parents give
us, the ability to carry them is up to us. Seems as though you've done
that well.
George, rhymes with Jorge
> Welcome to my world. :-)
>
> <snip>
>
> Dieter
>
> *it rhymes with "meter"
>