Farsi of the day

Moosh!

That's "mouse" to us anglophones. :-) I liked "moosh" not only because it's a lot like the Latin "mus," but also because it's such a pleasant word to say. But yes: mus, moosh, mouse--Indo-European strikes again. Anyone know what it is in German or Norwegian or something else?

Summer is over and gone

Perhaps technically we have another two months of summer, but really it's done, and this is how I know: my house-sitting job is over today.

I took care of the cat, brought in the mail and papers, and took out the trash. It felt like a vacation cottage on Chincoteague--except better connectivity. :-)

The cat, incidentally, was quite a character. He's a young little thing, in contrast to my own beloved Lilly, and he plays. I'd forgotten that young cats will randomly attack things, like shoes, and zipper-pulls. Bo-Kitty drove me nuts most of the time, actually. He got underfoot. He tried to wake me up at 5:30 whether I wanted up or not. He would stalk across my computer keyboard. He noticed when I headed for the bathroom, bounded in ahead of me, and sat on the potty seat. I'd shove him off and he'd sit in the bathtub and lick around the drain. So I'd draw the curtain--that was his hint I was about to start the water--and lean dramatically toward the faucet. Bo would zoom out of there like I'd lit his tail on fire and yowl for me to open the door. So I'd open it and he'd leave and sit on the outside, yowling to be let back in. Honestly.

But he also had his endearing qualities. He liked to linger in whatever room I was in. And sometimes, every once in a while, he'd come curl up next to me.

So summer is over, and I've said goodbye to the cat. I get to go home and curl up with my own cat now.

In case you ever wondered...

If you drop a whole flat of caffeine-free diet cokes on concrete, three or so will spring leaks and start spewing all over the rose garden.

Just so you know.

Farsi of the day

This charming purple word, "yavash," means "slow." To get the full effect, you need to say it like this... yavaaaaaaaashhhh....

yawn...

Titles

As declared by Lady Fortune the Absurd of Greater Internetshire:

Her Excellency C-- the Ineffable of Featherstonehaugh St Fanshaw
Her Grace Lady Rebecca the Nefarious of Fiddlers Green
Her Most Noble Lady Amelia the Prickly of Fishkill St Wednesday
Milady the Most Honourable Lisa the Woebegone of Lardle Midhoop
Grand Duchess Shirley the Convincing of Grasshopper in the Hole

A spot of something

"May I have some coffee?"

I looked at the patient. She elaborated.

"You said, last time I was in, I could have some coffee. Is that still okay? I'd like cream and sugar, a lot of cream and sugar."

Now that she mentioned it, we had offered her some. I woke up. "Absolutely! It'll be just a minute."

Back to the back; start a pot of coffee, find and wash an unidentified but very pretty mug, put in a good slosh of the highly preserved hazelnut cream and a spoon of sugar, wait for the very moment the coffee got done; then back to the front. I don't get to make people coffee very often. She said it was really good. Aww...

<:3 )------

"When we get our new office, it'll have to be a dental office and tea-and-coffee room. It'll be an English pub theme, with a coffee pot, and steak-and-kidney pie, and pictures from Oxford--"

"And cheese," I interjected.

"And cheese. And lovely serving wenches."

At which point he returned to his crown prep.

Farsi of the day

Today's phrase: "Khandan va neveshtan," meaning "read and write."

Both splendid activities, don't you think? :-)

A moment of office warfare

The good doctor: "I've been shooting at you, Shirley."
Shirley: "Oh, have you?"
The good doctor: "Haven't hit you yet."
Miguel: "She had her shields up."
The good doctor, in a funny accent: "Deflector shields down!"

Blog rating

Hmm...

Mingle²

I used "knife" twice and "missionary" once. Makes it sound like something Jim Elliot would do in a jungle, doesn't it? Well, nobody claimed Christianity was G-rated...

Some things money can't buy

You know, I dearly love my town. It's so weird. The weirdness is particularly evident at the pre-movie commercials at our local theater, where they run ads for things like urgent care and the Episcopal church and insurance. But the pre-movie ads went further than ever before, the other day, when we had one for a free physics lecture.

The good doctor, today, is in search of A-4 paper. This is the European format, and he needs it to submit his thesis to Oxford. Therefore, I have been calling all the office supply stores here and in Santa Fe. A-4 paper cannot be had for love or money, except online.

I dialed into an office supply store, noting the faddy tagline, "that was easy." I tumbled into an automated phone system and landed in some hold music, assured that my call was very important to them. A man finally picked up.
"Hello, my name is C-- and I wondered if you had A-4 paper in stock."
"Um, I don't know... let me check for you."
We had some more hold music.
"May I help you?" It was a woman's voice.
"I believe someone is already helping me. I didn't catch his name. He's going to check on A-4 paper."
"I'll go check."
The hold music started again.
"May I help you?" It was a different woman's voice.
"I'm the one calling about the A-4 paper..."
"I'll go check for you."
Enter hold music, stage right. Meanwhile, my phone rang, so I put them on hold. When I got back they'd hung up on me.

So I called them back. The first guy answered.
"I'm so sorry, I'm new to the Santa Fe store... I don't know the phone system...I'm from Albuquerque.."
"No problem! Were you able to find about that A-4 paper for me?"
"We do have it online. Let me check if we've got it in stock."
He tried to put me on hold and accidentally hung up on me.

I called him back.
"I'm the one calling about the A-4 paper..."
"I'm SO SORRY!"
"It's all right! Let me give you my name and phone number, and then you can call me back when you find it."
"All right!"

A bit later the phone rang.
"Dr. M's office, this is C."
"Is C-- available?"
"Yes, speaking."
"Ah. --I checked and it's online only."
"Thanks so much!"
And we both hung up, to our mutual relief, I'm sure.

Then I started down a list of office supply stores in Santa Fe, or businesses that might or might not be office supply stores. It was pretty entertaining.

"Hello, my name is C-- and I wondered if you had A-4 paper in stock."
"Hello, my name is C-- and we don't make A-4 paper. We make hand-pounded bark paper."
"Thank you."

"Can you tell me if you have A-4 paper in stock?"
"What?"
"A-4 paper?"
"Is that like 8 1/2 by 11?"
"No, it's a European size."
"No."
"Thank you."

"Can you tell me if you have A-4 paper in stock?"
"What?"
"A-4 paper?"
"I have no idea what that is." ::goes and looks:: "No, we don't have any."
"Thanks."

"Do you have A-4 paper in stock?"
"No, we don't sell paper."

"Do you have A-4 paper in stock?"
"No, that's a European size."

"Fidel's Kwik Tan."
"Ah...is Fidel's Office Supply available?"
"Speaking."
"Do you have A-4 paper?"
"No ma'am, we don't."
"Thanks."

To date, I have not found A-4 paper. The saga continues...