You've got another thing coming

There is a classic song by Judas Priest called "You've got another thing comin'." You wouldn't think that something as silly as an 80s hair-band song could spark controversy, but it did just that, during a friendly game of Rock Band.

What controversy, you ask? Whether the phrase is actually "You've got another think coming." My initial argument was that thing was in the song title, end of discussion. However Sherise's side of the family maintains that the correct phrase is "think." The rationale being that it is a parallel construction, something along the lines of "If that's what you think, you've got another think coming."

Nonsense, I say. Aside from the fact that I spent way too much time during my teen years in the pursuit of rock music and fast cars, I maintain that "thing" is correct.

Since pop culture won't definitively answer the question, I must regress to something much less exciting -- grammar. I use the following points to make my case, and invite any lurking English majors to wipe the french fry grease off their usage books and tell me where I may have gone wrong.

0. Diagramming (or dissecting) the sentence:
You (subject)
have got (verb)
another thing (direct object)
coming (complement or participle phrase)

1. Start with the premise that it is incorrect usage to use a noun to replace a verb. For example: "I'll e-mail you tomorrow." The correct usage is "I'll send you an e-mail tomorrow."

2. The corollary to this rule would be that it is incorrect to use a verb to replace a noun. In the case of the phrase in question, the object of the sentence (thing) should be a noun and not a verb. My understanding is that the object of a sentence must always be a noun or pronoun.

3. If we were talking about singing, one would say "You've got another song coming," not "You've got another sing coming." If one insists on using the parallel-construction-thinking argument, the correct usage would be "You've got another thought coming," not "You've got another think coming."

4. Last time I checked, think is not a noun.

I welcome your thoughts on this matter. Perhaps you can help settle this disagreement.

Neighborhood Games

Inspired, no doubt, by the Olympics, our neighbor Ryan organized a multi-day sporting event for the kids on our street.

Riding the Pipeline

My brother Neal likes to get the family out on the mountain bikes. We've had some great adventures.



And a few misadventures, unfortunately.

This is when we we took Dad out on the Pipeline Trail for the first (and probably last) time. Dad came around a bend too fast and lost his balance and careened 30 feet or so down the hill.



One visit to the emergency clinic and a few stitches later, Dad was as good as new.

Sherise also did the same thing, but didn't fall as far - just a skinned knee.



More recently, Sherise and I both decided to get "clipless pedals" for our bikes (with ample encouragement from Neal), which is a misnomer. You actually physically attach your shoes to your pedals with a special binding (similar to a ski boot into a ski) so that they stay firmly anchored. Sherise felt comfortable enough with them after some practice to try them out on a real trail ride. What you see below is the result.





This ride resulted in another visit to the same clinic, this time to fix up Sherise's wrist. The attending physician likes to ride his mountain bike too. When Sherise explained what had happened, he said "Oh yeah, everyone has a story about when they first start to ride with clipless pedals. You know you should probably go practice more before you go for a trail ride."

Yeh.

I'm reluctant to point it out, but I will anyway. This happened BEFORE Sherise ever even got on the trail. It happened near the car in the PARKING LOT. She was a champ and got back up and pressed on to ride the trail. She fell THREE MORE TIMES.

But at least she's had lots of practice with the clipless pedals now.

CLARIFICATION FROM SHERISE:
My wrist is just sprained, not broken. I only kept the splint on for two days, and then I've mostly had it off, although if it starts to get sore by the end of the day, I'll wrap it back up. But here's an interesting tidbit: while the X-rays didn't show a fracture, it looks like I have a bone cyst in my left hand. It's probably nothing to worry about, but the doctor at the urgent care clinic recommended that I get it checked out by a hand surgeon. I've got an appointment on Monday--I'll keep you posted!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

We are great at taking pictures of our kids with our own cameras. We are terrible at getting professional family portraits taken. I think the last one we had done was when Matthew was a tiny baby, and he just turned 5. So a few weeks ago we got together with Pam and Ritchie, former colleagues of Paul's at Overstock and a couple of great photographers. You can see what they accomplished by running around after our very active family for two hours here.