Learn the Past Progressive Tense

Kukuka – Absolutely.

You can say that you’ve been held up because your passport hasn’t come through.

Or “I’m held up at the doctor’s office because the doctor is running behind.”

“I’ve been held up because of my boyfriend. He wanted me to stay and watch a movie with him.”

Hope that helps!

Heather

LOve it Ola!

I so agree. I turned 40 this year and I felt fine about it. The older I get, the more at peace I am. Wisdom accumulates, and not just academic. What you learn about how to overcome life’s struggles and challenges with grace is priceless and can be learned no other way but through experience.

I hope you become a diving instructor before then if that’s a dream of yours! That’s quite a long time to wait.

Julito…they sure do. Aging is a huge industry.

Oh, another phrase I have heard to refer to a “hold up” - the robbery kind - is a “stick up.”

Hi everyone!

It was fun reading everyone’s replies, especially the discussion about tuxedos, otherwise called “penguin suits.” Tuxedos are worn for very formal occasions. It used to be that almost all grooms wore a tux on their wedding day, but now men are much less formal. If people wed in a church, however, a tux is usually worn. Many people now marry outside, or on a beach, or in a hotel, so a man might wear a suit or else something more casual.

Anyhow, I have been crazy busy. My 75 year old dad just had knee replacement surgery so he has needed a lot of my help. In this kind of surgery, doctors remove the original damaged knee/joint and replace it with a metal and plastic implant.

My mom is next in line to have surgery, but she is having her hip replaced. There is a lot of arthritis (inflammation of a joint, usually accompanied by pain, swelling, and stiffness) on both sides of my family (my mom’s relatives and my dad’s).

I was diagnosed wtih severe arthritis at age of 30, which is very young for the condition. Some days, like today, are extremely painful due to the weather. When there is any type of precipitation (rain or snow), people with arthritis often notice increased pain. This is due to the change in barometric pressure. So, I can usually forecast rain better than some computerized systems. If my joints really start hurting, I know we will have rain within 48 hours!

In regard to “hold up,” the thought of experiencing a hold up is very scary. I am a bit of a paranoid person (meaning I am always worried something bad is about to happen), so each time I walk into a bank, for example, I feel nervous. Another common place for hold ups/robberies in the US is in a convenience store, especially at night. I have a friend who has managed a convenience store for about 10 years. He had never been robbed until five years ago when two men in masks ran into the store and asked for the money in the cash register. There were no customers in the store. My friend, worried about his life, complied (obeyed) and handed over all of the money. Even though he did what they wanted, one of the robbers put a gun up to my friend’s head, but he did it just to scare him. Thankfully, the robber didn’t shoot him; instead, they ran from the store and drove away. Unfortunately, the two men have not been caught, and probably never will. My friend hasn’t felt safe at his job ever since, which is natural. He tries not to obsess over it.

I work from home, which has its advantages. I keep the doors locked and always feel safe. Plus, my state (Maine) has a low crime rate, unlike many other states.