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I'm not a Language Snob...I Just Prefer to Live Dangerously

Dodging tiny senior citizens in large vehicles reversing out of their stalls at Puainako Town Center before work.  Encountering hoodlums gathered along a dark unpaved road during field service.   Being attacked by a jealous chihuahua after field service. All that was yesterday.  

Climbing through a wire fence in the dark (we had permission) and hiking to and from a Bible Study's house through a field of trees aided by hand held lanterns in the rain while being charged at by large dogs.  That was tonight. 

My, my, I must say that this has been a dangerous week for yours truly. 

None of this however, has been quite as unsettling as: THE KILLER AT WORK.

The boss has recently hired an unusually quiet woman who I am convinced will go postal one day very soon.  She doesn't seem disturbed or sad or anything like that but she doesn't react to anything going on around her either.  Even more unsettling is that not a single word has left her lips the entire 2 weeks she's been around. Frankly, it's beginning to freak me out.  I think she said "hi" one morning, although it may have been a burp- I couldn't tell. 

But I've begun to see that the problem with said employee, may simply be a language barrier, which is not readily detectable since she works so well.  Three other employees speak her native tongue already, and being a language freak of sorts, you may be inclined to think I'd be jumping at the opportunity to learn a few words. Surprisingly, I'm not.

Which sadly shows that I am guilty of the very thing that upsets me about other people who refuse to learn a foreign language: I am simply not interested in this particular language or culture.  Don't get me wrong...I don't dislike it. (I know some basic words and phrases which I use whenever I have the chance). But I'm not moved to study it either (perhaps because I gravitate to Latin-based languages like French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian or Catalan) and this isn't one of them.  That would explain why I find the above languages to be relatively easy but can't get a feel for say, German, Chinese, Arabic or Hungarian. So maybe I'm not a language snob.  It just proves I'm not as industrious with languages as most people think, and prefer to stick to what I know, n'est-ce pas?/ ¿verdad?/non è vero?/nu-i aşa?/não è?

A Mystery at Work

Both Marcos and Jason mentioned last night at the meeting, that they've been feeling sluggish and under the weather.  It must be Wintertime Blues because i feel the same way.  The short, overcast days aren't really my cup of tea although I'm looking forward to the cooler temps. 

There's nothing quite like an encouraging Circuit Overseer's visit to chase away the blahs, however, and overall, I'm feeling good.  Gary's visit just flew by.  He had some very encouraging words for our Spanish group that were much appreciated,  and Eugenio drove himself to the Kingdom Hall for the first time to hear the special talks. After that, I was ready to face the overcast skies this week.  However, I wasn't quite prepared for my discovery at work this morning:

A booger on my laptop's keyboard.

It was smooshed on the "N" (for "nose" apparently.)

Out of all fairness, I suppose it could have been mine but I swear it wasn't there yesterday when I left and I don't recall sneezing onto my laptop this morning.  I did the right thing and patiently waited a few minutes to see if anyone would swing by my desk and claim it.  No one did so I tossed it. 

This, I think, demonstrates a very helpful lesson about being more responsible for one's personal belongings in the workplace.  If you don't like the idea of someone throwing your booger away, don't be stupid and go leaving it around the office. This is not a good thing. I'll get to the bottom of this. 

 
 

Dinner With C.O and Pioneers

The C.O. Visit has simply flown by in a multicolored blur, thanks in part no doubt, to Luke's and my dazzling display of shockingly bright shirt and tie combos during the week.  

 Luke and I in our decidedly yellow-Candyland-like ties and Brother O. who may be in the middle of a yawn or a sneeze...I can't tell

You may not believe me, but I swear our little matchy-poo-twinsee look on Tuesday and Wednesday wasn't planned.  (We ARE planning to wear lime green tomorrow however, to match the lime green C.O. Visit schedules!)  Wear green and be cool! 

   

 Luke, Gary our C.O and Sky just ooze coolness.

This morning brought beautiful skies and a field service group of around 80!

Ahhh, then there's tonight.  I've invited the pioneers over to my place for a Middle Eastern dinner.  Justin will help wait tables and Catanny will play bartender.  Out of our 17 regular pioneers, 9 won't able to make it due to various reasons: work, travel, sheer fear. 

 

photo set here

I Hate Wal Mart

Repeat after me:  "Ooooooooh, oooooooh, ooooooh!"

I'm so excited!  After field service on Saturday, a box arrived in the mail for me.  It contained 18 Zip-Loc baggies full of leaves and torn pieces of paper towel.  Many would consider this some sort of silly prank.  But no.  I was actually expecting this.  In fact, I had ordered it.

 
They were my African violet leaves from Libbie at Bluebird Greenhouses in North Carolina.  I am currently on an African Violet rampage.  It's nothing new really, since I've been growing these plants for over a decade, but the ease of propagation (just stick a leaf into moist potting mix and it will sprout baby plants), and relative low cost make it splurge-worthy every now and then.

 
a few of my current African violets (and other plants) 

 
They arrived at a nice time too, since only the night before, I was eyeing a few African Violet plants at WalMart.  I swear, there was absolutely no one in the Garden center besides the lone greeter at the door who had positioned herself in front of a large fan and was inviting Mom and myself to feel the breeze.  In the few seconds it took to grab my plants however, all seven thousand thirty two WalMart shoppers that evening had suddenly made their way to the garden center registers.  All at the same time.  All with full carts.  This left me quite distraught.  And a bit peeved.

 
 a few of my current African Violets in bloom

I mean, didn't these people have anything else to do at 8:42pm?  Anywhere else to be? Were there not 10 other registers open at the front of the store?  Couldn't they go there instead and leave me alone with my plants, greeter and her big fan?  (No.  No.  Yes.  No.)  Well, the lines weren't moving and after mulling it over, I decided it wasn't worth standing in a long line of shoppers with loaded carts, just for 2 measly plants.  Besides, when I buy plants from WalMart, I always feel like all eyes are on me.  I mean, who actually goes to WalMart and just buys plants?  At night? 

So I put back the 2 African violets, muttering quietly at all the dried cereal and laundry detergent toting shoppers in line (which included Mom and her box of frozen Eggo waffles) who had just ruined my evening.  But I've gotten over it and have finished potting up half the leaves.  I am planning to bring the remainder to work and try growing them at the office. 

 

Oh yes, I forgot to check in last week:

151 lbs.
 

OCTOBER CHALLENGE- We have a winner!

Congratulations to Luke, our October Challenge Winner!

CHALLENGE:  In the NWT -English, find the Bible verse that is found in the very middle of the Book of Esther (same number of verses before and after). Then find the letter of the alphabet that is found in the very middle of that verse.  Then identify a Bible character who's name begins with that letter. 

Luke correctly identified the letter "I", located in the middle of Esther 5:7, and chose the Bible character Isaiah.  Great job!

  Luke's correct answer gets him the 2011 Cavalini desk calender pictured below!

Each month features a different vintage travel poster from the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress. © Library of Congress. Calendar is 6 by 6.5 inches. Ivory laid paper stock, perfect for framing and collecting