Almost Bastille Day
4:16 p.m. - 2007-07-09


I discovered yesterday that my AT&T landline phone was yet again dead. My first thought when this happens is "Oh drat, now I have to call them!" which is a horrible task that can take hours. However, this time it only took about 20 minutes before I talked to an actual person to make an appointment, and I was able to amuse myself reading blogs with the cell phone to my ear. Then, in the night, I woke up and remembered that the guy would have to check the junction box, which is located high up in the garage for unknown reasons. So this morning I was forced to greet the spouse with the unwelcome news that we had to go clear a path through our packed garage so that we could set up a ladder for the phone guy. The phone guy arrived a little after noon, and I showed him the ladder and told him that I did not want to hear a scream and a thud. After checking the junction box without mishap, he was able to scurry up the telephone pole and fix the connection. On his way to his truck, he expressed an interest in the last of the apricots which were hanging from several heavily laden branches out front. I was able to foist off a large bag of apricots on him, so it was a win win situation all around.

Last Friday I was driving around doing some errands, when I decided to go try the spam musubi at the new Hawaiian BBQ place near Kohls. I got out of the car near the side entrance to Kohls and as I walked to the BBQ place next door, I saw a small, despondent boy about 5 yrs old leaning up against the outside wall of the department store. I said to him "Are you lost?" and he nodded. As he was clearly Mexican, I couldn't be sure if he spoke English or not, but he seemed to understand a little. I told him to come along with me, and we went into the BBQ place. I asked the girl clerk if she had seen the mom, but no luck there. I told the BBQ people that I would take the boy over to Kohls and inquire about him. On the way to Kohls, I tried to explain to the boy with hand gestures and conversation such as "I'll get them to page your mamma, you know (waving hands) ATTENTION!!(said with Mexican accent)". He continued to look at me blankly, probably thinking, 'Who is this wacky gringa?' I approached a clerk, who,it turns out, was very nice and fluent in Spanish. She spoke with the boy, obtained his mother's name, and paged her. In a few minutes a woman came off the escalator, and I knew it was the mom just from the look on her face, very afraid but angry at the same time. I pointed to her and the boy jumped into her arms. Very gratifying. The clerks thanked me, I said 'adios' and went off to try out the spam musubi. And it was very very good.

I have knit two sweaters in the last week, but have to buy buttons for them before I can put them together. That is because you have to know what size of buttonholes to knit before you can start the bands. I have also been applying the interfacing to my Cinco de Mayo shirt, which is what I call the red shirt with the chili print on it. I am also trying to get back into the weights with Pilates on alternate days.