June chitchat

[agate]

I'm sure it makes everyone feel a little better to have found such a nice car for your niece, Virginia. It sounds like a lucky find.

I don't want to get that boot dirty either but they told me I could wear it outside. I don't walk around outside much but in this nicer weather I might want to do more of that outdoor walking. I'll just hope it won't get too dirty in a month.

Yes, it's been almost 3 weeks since the fall, and I even asked the podiatrist if it wasn't too late to do anything, but he said, "It's never too late." He's a very upbeat and smiley sort of person and maybe he's just being overly optimistic but I'm giving it a try.

The bone is one of the metatarsals if that's of any interest. I wanted to know what bone it was while I remembered the Xray and looked it up.

About your helpers--would a pocket English-Spanish dictionary be of any help? You could keep it handy and look up words you need. Spanish isn't that hard to pronounce, and usually if you get the nouns you need, you can communicate well enough to get your meaning across. It's just a thought--you can usually find a small pocket Spanish dictionary just about anywhere where books are sold.

[Virginia]

Agate, thanks for the tip on Spanish/American dictionaries. The main person who owns the cleaning service had one when she came one day. We tried a little, but it didn't work out because they are always in a big hurry and don't have time. I might get one anyway, just to look up a word or two sometime.

[agate]

I've had helpers over the years, and some spoke almost no English, but they were from Oriental countries and it wouldn't have been so easy to master a few words of their languages, If they'd been Spanish-speaking, I think I'd have latched onto a dictionary, and before each visit I'd look up a few words I might need and write them down somewhere where I could find it easily. I might write down the words for laundry, bathroom, groceries, mop, floor, etc.--whatever I think I might need to say. I'd try to learn how to pronounce them and just keep that list handy and refer to it as needed. Sometimes only a word or two will get the meaning across.

It's just a thought-- about a possible way to get the jobs done without having to spend time and energy trying to communicate and being misunderstood.

I'm keen on this idea because of the experience I had once with a helper who knew no English, and I didn't know a word of her language (Chinese, I think, but maybe Korean). She was new to me and a substitute, and we needed to go grocery shopping. She was scheduled to work for two hours but apparently she misunderstood and thought she should leave at 11 instead of 12. We were in the midst of the grocery shopping, there in a supermarket aisle, and she was about to leave.

She would have just left me there, I guess, with no transportation home. She was furious when I told her she was supposed to work for another hour. I don't know how I got that point across to her but it wasn't easy, and in the discussion process she got so mad she shoved me.

Misunderstandings can be really unpleasant. I'm glad I didn't ever have to see her again. I may even have reported the incident to the agency that sent her. I hope I did because that definitely should not have happened.

Spanish isn't hard to pronounce. I have problems rolling the r's but that's not so very important. Aside from that, Spanish is pretty easy to pronounce. If you're interested, Duolingo has a Spanish course where you could pick up a bit at a time.

I've been tinkering with Duolingo for quite a while now. It doesn't do language teaching in the usual textbook way but you do learn a few words and phrases and even sentences.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[Ikoiko]

Google Translate is your friend. Try it out on your smartphone. I haven’t tried it, but you speak into the phone and out comes the translation!

Agate, I can’t believe your helper pushed you—assaulted, I should say!

[flatcap]

agate, I don't take a multi-vitamin but probably should. I need to find one I can swallow safely. There is a supplements store nearby, so I should probably ask them about it.

Meanwhile, I did get out to breakfast yesterday and enjoyed myself. I had crisp bacon and scrambled eggs, along with a short stack of pancakes. Almost finished all of it, so things could hardly have gone better.

Virginia, I don't keep food in my apartment. I do have a fork, a knife, and a spoon, though, just in case. lol

[Ikoiko]

Flat, I take a chewable gummy vitamin for adults.

[Virginia]

Agate, what an experience! Having someone who is helping you actually shove you is beyond my comprehension. I too hope you reported her. How do people become so aggressive?

Flatcap, really glad you went out to breakfast. That sounds like a really good one. I would like to have that for supper. I use to eat breakfast for my supper but haven't done that in a while. My husband and I went out for breakfast on the weekends most of the time. We enjoyed our Saturday mornings out.

Ikoiko, I had a neighbor who used an app (or however you get it) to understand English. She is gone now and I have no idea how she did it.

[flatcap]

agate, I am sorry to hear of your experience with your caregiver. A lot of similar stories appear in the news these days, and one would think this widespread problem would be addessed on some level.

Ikoiko, That's a good idea. I'll have to try some gummies and see how they work. Thanks!

Virginia, I used to have breakfast for dinner all the time and always loved it. After working late in the old days, I would often grab a paper and do exactly that at the local 24/7 restaurant. There's a Denny's in town now, but it's right on the border with the other side of the tracks (aka, gangland), so I don't go there in the daytime, much less at night. The place I go for breakfast these days is right around the corner in a good neighborhood. I only wish it were open longer hours. They're open all week, but only from 7AM-3PM. I usually go right when they open and the grill is still freshly seasoned. Whatever time it is, going all-in includes a glass of fresh-squeezed OJ as an opener — heavenly. Everything else I have tried off the menu is just as good, and the people there are great.

[Virginia]

Flatcap that sounds like a good place to go for breakfast type foods. If you don't have food in your apartment do you go out for all your meals? I would have to have snacks.

[flatcap]

I have been eating only one meal a day for as long as I can remember, so I pretty much always eat out or bring something home. I gave up preparing my own meals a long time ago. I was good at it, but my gf and I split up after college, and there was no one left to cook for but myself. That was no fun, so I started going out, and it has been the same ever since. I don't even have utensils or pots and pans to cook with.

I bring home snacks sometimes, but I don't always have them around. I like fresh fruit cut and packaged at the grocery store and get that sometimes. I also like the occasional pint of Häagen-Dazs Butter Pecan, so you will find that in my freezer from time to time, which is never: I usually finish it off as soon as I open it after getting home. Nothing much else I bring home in the way of snacks is really any different: it comes single-serving packages, and I almost never buy more than one at a time.

I was on a dry-roasted peanut kick and always kept a jar around from about 2016-2021, but one day it all came to a grinding halt. I suppose you could say I had one peanut too many. All I know is, I couldn't eat another one. This sort of thing has happened before with other foods, so I was surprised but not shocked. I just never would have guessed it would come up with dry-roasted peanuts.

[agate]

Glad to know you keep some food around for snacks, flat.

I'd find life mighty dreary if I didn't have food on the premises.

I can understand about the dry roasted peanuts. There have been times when I could go through quite a few of them at once, but mainly they don't usually appeal. I do have a weakness for natural peanut butter though, the kind you stir first. Also cashew butter and almond butter but they tend to be pricier.

[flatcap]

I remember having the natural peanut butter you have to stir when I was a kid. I always thought it was better than the usual brand-name product such as Jif. I should see if I can't find cashew butter or almond butter around here. Both sound like they would be a real treat spread on the right kind of cracker.


ETA: Peanut butter and banana sandwiches! Remember those?

[flatcap]

Today's Trivia Lesson: Alt Codes

Alt Codes allow you to type symbols such as degrees.

Example: 72°

• Press the ALT key and hold it down

• Type 0176, then release the ALT key, and you get the ° symbol

The catch is you have to know the code.

Another, easier way to do this can be found at Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

There, you can click the symbol you want, which copies it to the Clipboard.

Then, you can paste it anywhere, including here.

I believe the site lists all of the Alt-Code symbols, so if you're a nerd, you can have a lot of fun with them.

Hope this helps.

♫


ETA: One thing I should have mentioned about alt-codes.net is, the site sometimes won't respond to a second request once you've made your first choice and copied it to the Clipboard. Refreshing the page will fix this.

[flatcap]

When I was about 8-years-old, I joined the Cub Scouts. In those days, all of us got pocket knives of the type shown here.

We were to carry them only on Cub Scout outings, but a lot of us also carried them to school. This was not to use the knives as weapons but to show off, including our respective whittling skills. No one ever got into any trouble for it.

Imagine if a kid was found carrying a knife like this at school today. They would probably call in the SWAT team to 'eliminate the threat.' /s

But seriously, times change and that is that I suppose, but sometimes a person longs for the past and misses simpler times. My Cub Scout pocket knife was a product of just such a period.

Mine is long lost and greatly missed. I always carry a pocket knife and wish I still had it. Possessions like it can carry us back in time and connect us with our past. Sometimes, that's just what a person needs.


Boy Scouts of America Cub Scout Pocket Knife


Used Condition




New Old Stock (NOS) Condition

[Virginia]

Flatcap, I remember my husband carrying a pocket knife. Brought back memories.