Plumb line

Who uses it: Carpenters
What it means: A string with a pointed lead weight on it (the plummet, so that's where "to plummet" comes from) that drops straight to the ground, in order to help determine whether something is level.
How you can use it: To judge whether something is straight. You can make your own plumb line with some basic office supplies, and pester your co-workers all day.

At the moment the rain is falling straight down, and I don't need a plumb line to tell me so. So much for field hockey. I took Dizzy out this morning, he visited his favorite bush, and then trotted over to the car so he could take the rest of his walk in comfort. I laughed, but didn't take the hint.

A book I'm reading -- more about this on Friday -- comments on the creativity of place names in Ohio, and it tied in randomly to something I was thinking about last weekend when I was watching the news. Why are there so many song titles that relate to Ohio, or places in Ohio? I gave no thought to this at all, and came up with this playlist of songs about Ohio, just from my own CD collection:

The Pretenders, "Back to Ohio"
Crosby Stills Nash & Young, "Ohio"
R.E.M., "Cuyahoga"
The Blue Nile, "Because of Toledo"
The Jayhawks, "Somewhere in Ohio"
The Presidents of the United States, "Cleveland Rocks" (yes, I know Ian Hunter wrote the song, but this is the version I have)
Too Much Joy, "Goodbye Ohio"

And because I don't own it, I'm not even mentioning Huey Lewis & The News' "Heart of Rock & Roll." Still beating. In Cleveland. Not that I would know this.

California probably has the most rock songs written for it, but does any other state have as many as Ohio? I'm thinking of my own home state, and all I can come up with is "Sweet Virginia Breeze," which was a local hit for the Robbin Thompson Band when I was in high school. And I can't think of any rock songs about Maine at all.

Can you? Chime in with your local anthems...