Sssshhh!!

You know that game you teach babies about animal sounds? "What does the cat say?" "Meow" "What does the cow say?" "Moo" and so on. My 19-month-old niece Maggie Bea has been learning some unusual ones: "What does the wolf say?" "Aaaoooooo!" "What does the opera singer say? "Laaaaaaa!" Her aunt taught her, "What does the cowboy say?" "Yee hah!" I taught her one too, and this is what her mother reported to me yesterday:

Maggie Bea very randomly says to me this morning: Mama …Linnnaeriaaaan…(garbage talk I can’t understand)

Mama: What honey?

Maggie bea: Linnneariannnn….shhhhhh

Mama: Shhhh? What are we being quiet for?

Maggie Bea: Linnnnearrianann…shhhh …Mama …collie…linnnnearrrian…shhhh

Mama: Oh…What does the librarian say?

Maggie Bea: Shhhhhh

We got through it together!

You are inspiring little librarians everywhere

That child is SO in my will!

Eurotrash

So I'm preparing for an upcoming trip overseas, and I decide to go to the bank to buy some euros. No one uses travelers checks anymore, and ATMs can sometimes be iffy overseas, so I just thought I'd get the cash here. This is what it took:

Day 1

I visit My Bank, and explain that I want to get some euros. Teller B says sure, but I can go directly to Other Bank and buy them there. They don't keep them on hand and have to order them in. No, that's okay, I reply, I'd rather do it here. Okay, and he proceeds to call the International Funds Department of Other Bank to place the order. Phone rings and rings and rings but no one answers. Apparently, Teller B and I decide, they must be closed for the day (this is before 5 pm). Must be nice to work actual bankers' hours. I decide to return on a different day.

Day 2

Visit 1

I have the morning off, so I decide to go to Other Bank and purchase the euros directly--saves a second trip to pick them up. I enter the lobby of Other Bank first thing in the morning, and wait my turn in line. When it's my turn, the teller looks at me and says, "Are you here to buy foreign currency?" Actually, yes I am, I reply. (How does she know this? Do I have that International Jet Setter look about me?) "Yes, I thought so," she says, "The person who does that won't be here until after 9:30 a.m." Oh, so I misunderstood the signs that say "International Currency sold here between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m."? Did I mention that Other Bank is a large banking corporation with branches in several states? Okay, fine, I'll be back.

Visit 2

I return to Other Bank and wait in line. I get to Foreign Currency Teller and tell her I want to purchase some euros.

FCT: I can help you with that (Hooray!) Do you have an account here?

Me: No

FCT: Then there is a $5 fee and I will need to take payment in cash.

Me; You can't take a check?

FCT: No, not unless it's drawn on this bank. But we do have an ATM at the end of the teller row.

Me: Okay, I'll get the cash and be back.

So I go over to the ATM, which tells me it will probably charge me a $3 fee for the withdrawal because I am a non-account holder at Other Bank. Oh, and yes, it won't give me enough cash to purchase the number of euros I want. Sorry.

I leave Other Bank.

Visit 3

I go back to My Bank and Teller B, who remembers me and my need for foreign currency. This time, the order goes through quickly. Thanks, Teller B! I should have never strayed from you.

Srey

I'm sorry that the summer is over too.

You said who with the what now?

LADY: There's something wrong with my computer; can you help me?

So I go over and look. The problem is that in the URL line, she's typed in google without the ".com". I point that out and tell her she needs to type in google.com.

LADY: [types her email address into the Google search line] Is this where I get my mail?

ME: No ma'am, that's for searching. See where it says "Sign In"? Click on that and then put in your username and password.

Short time later...

LADY: There's another problem; can you help?

I go over and look. The error message says that her username and password don't exist. I look more closely and notice that her username is something like "janedoe@yahoo.com".

ME: Your email says Yahoo, but this is Google. Do you have a Yahoo or a Google email account?

LADY: Yahoo.

ME: Okay, you have to go to yahoo.com. See where it says "Mail"? Let's click on that.

LADY: [clicks on search line] Is this where I put in my email address?

ME: No, where it says "username" and "password".


I give up...

New camera!

Eggscuse me?

I so TOTALLY want one of these:




Chicken girl, that's me.

The Book of Love

One of the other blogs I read regularly posted this clip from the finale of the show Scrubs. I DARE you to watch it without tearing up. If you can, you're made of stronger stuff than I am, my friend.



Listen carefully to the song that plays during this segment--it's absolutely lovely, It's called "The Book of Love" and Peter Gabriel sings this version. If you're interested in tracking it down, I found it on the soundtrack CD for the movie Shall We Dance?