Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Tuesday

The onslaught of rain in recent months means that we, after about five years, are officially out of drought conditions here. I saw a man watering his lawn in broad daylight the other afternoon, and thought: Good for you! The one downside of all the rain is that severe flooding & mudslides are displacing many from their homes, and, in some unfortunate cases, taking lives. The Red Cross has opened numerous shelters in flood zones around California for those affected & thank goodness.

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Trump's still publicly trumpeting ridiculous statements that don't jibe with reality. His latest blather made it seem as if there were specific, targeted unrest in Sweden recently due to the influx of immigrants/refugees there. Sweden's US Embassy twitter account posted this in response: We look forward to informing the US administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies. Translation: they ain't having it. Former Swedish PM, Carl Bildt, also weighed in with this gem: Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. Well, Carl, expect to be detained at length by TSA were you to come to the states during Trump's reign.


Bork! Bork!


Press Secretary Melissa McCarthy, perhaps so fatigued by having to constantly defend Trump's verbal gaffs to the press, he hasn't yet garnered the strength to respond to 'last night in Sweden'. To be honest, he's probably too busy attacking the good people at the Anne Frank Center right now. Take a break, Spicey, you've sort of earned it.

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I'm currently taking a German course at a local school. Today, I availed myself of the language lab as part of my course requirements. It was my first time in the lab & I had no idea how to access the online course lessons. Sat near the students' area, I spied a German instructor who, I thought, was on-hand to help. (Well, at least that's what her colleague at the check-in desk led me to believe.) I turned to the instructor and said: ich bräuchte Hilfe/I would need help.  She said: Sie brauchen Hilfe/You need help. Ja, I said and continued to speak to her in German. She then responded to me solely in English. My German, in Germany & German Switzerland, is met with German & Swiss German, respectively. That means that my German, to put it crudely, doesn't suck. Why the instructor responded in English, I don't know, but it was off-putting at best. Before the meat of the exchange really kicked off, as I was settling in to my computer spot, she was making her way to leave. Her 'shift' was over, I guess? Not yet daunted, I did ask her if she knew where the online German instruction was to be found, and she obliged before dashing away. Note to self: don't rely on the language lab German instructor for help in the language lab regarding German. Ah, bless this school.

6 comments:

  1. Nobody's French is good enough for Parisian waiters.

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    1. Once, years ago, I had a grabby Parisian waiter pluck a 5 Franc coin out of my hand for his tip. Non, merci.

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  2. I envy your language class. I've bought Spanish and French lessons and never used them. Glad to hear from you Bea. I've given up on that Trump freak. All I can hope for is the press keeps digging and Trump might walk off the job since it was "beneath" him anyway.

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    Replies
    1. I really like the language & am glad I have some proficiency. -had been suffering from the 'Trump blues' of late & could think of nothing to write about that was cheery. The current lack of drought conditions is a bright spot!

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  3. Yeah, you guys are getting more rain than us. I think we're still considered in drought, but it should be a close thing, hopefully.

    One thing that's been keeping me sane are Keith Olbermann's videos. They're via GQ and he posts them on Twitter as well as Facebook. Today's really made me smile.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the Olbermann tip. I always enjoy his unvarnished take on things.
      May your area be out of drought conditions soon as well!

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Wood/Driftwood

Bartie in the yard. Backyard horse, Palo Alto Ocean Beach after a recent storm. Wild wood in Golden Gate Park The most I've 'made...