Naoko's news, views and shoes thread

[TxRad]

Welcome back Lori, you have been sorely missed.

 

[NotWise]

I had my very own salad moment today,

Tough stand you're taking there. Your servers are trained to do that and they may think that building a relationship with a customer is a good thing -- and for several reasons.

Husband has sworn the next time he takes me to dinner in London, it's going to be at a whelk stand on the Old Kent Road. He drove home muttering something about how you can take the girl out of the bayou...

I'm on your husband's side. If my wife abused a server then I'd be furious.

And I'm confused about how a Hoosier comes from the bayou. Explain?

 

[NaokoSmith]

An important rugby game and the Drama Queens schedule a performance ?
Do you want me to record the game for you?

Awww, thanks HP. I'm hoping the show might finish in time for me to nip back and see the second half. I can come home and watch it on BBC i-player too.

Hi Naoko,

I had my very own salad moment today, in a painfully trendy-wendy eatery in Covent Garden.

Oooh, I like to eat my steak blue like Will does! I usually tell the waiter if it's still mooing, I'm good with it. (Although actually I like my meat to be well-hung of course <snerk>.)

Tough stand you're taking there. Your servers are trained to do that and they may think that building a relationship with a customer is a good thing -- and for several reasons.

Yeah but there is a difference between 'building a relationship' and being all over you. I went to a restaurant once with my pal. I mean, like Lori, we were a couple so clearly we had company to chat with. The waiters were all over us like a rash - even interrupting us to ask us if we wanted more stuff when we were talking nineteen to the dozen very happily.

OK, I was wearing a very short and skimpy dress (this is about twenty-five years ago ) but still ...

Is there still a whelk stand on the Old Kent Road? Yum, yum.

Welcome back Lori, you have been sorely missed.

Ah, the guys
Yum yum indeed! I will suck on your whelk any day, you guys.

 

[MichaelinChina]

Did someone mention whelk sucking? I'd like to swallow a fat juicy creamy oyster from the shell - with a drizzle of lemon, and to get that wonderful 'ocean taste' after!.

But that was only last week!

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

Welcome back Lori, you have been sorely missed.

Thank you TX, it's good to be back!

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

Tough stand you're taking there. Your servers are trained to do that and they may think that building a relationship with a customer is a good thing -- and for several reasons.



I'm on your husband's side. If my wife abused a server then I'd be furious.

And I'm confused about how a Hoosier comes from the bayou. Explain?

Long story short; I was born in Hawaii, moved to Indiana when mom and dad divorced when I was still a baby. We moved to Fort Wayne because all four of my brothers were in college in Purdue (all my brothers are much older than me). Mom's family are from Thibodaux, La, and I spent my early years either living with my aunt in Southern Indiana, not too far from Louisville KY, or with my mom's folks in Bayou Gauche, on the banks of Bayou des Allemands. I may have gone to school and college in Indiana, but I'm a cajun first and foremost.

And I didn't abuse a waiter, I just expressed my annoyance at being patronized, and I really don't appreciate servers clambering all over me and interrupting me every five minutes.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

Is there still a whelk stand on the Old Kent Road? Yum, yum.

There was last year - some guy pretending to be Tubby Isaacs, down by the railway arches; I tried the jellied eels, not bad at all, but the whelks were the yuckiest thing I'd ever put in my mouth (Don't you dare, HP!); on reflection, I'd rather chew the leg off a leper than eat one of those horrible things again; Will, of course, wolfed them down, plus a cup of cockles, more jellied eels, and a plate prawns - the man's a glutton for punishment...

 

[Handley_Page]

I had my very own salad moment today, in a painfully trendy-wendy eatery in Covent Garden. I met the husband-fella in London on a promise of a nice dinner, and the waiter, Robert (or Richard, or James, or Justin, or something) looked me up and down and asked if I'd care to try the Caesar Salad, it's very popular with our lady clientele; I took umbrage, with a whiff of miffed, as I'm only 98 pounds soaking wet, so not exactly bulging out of my straitjacket, and said 'yup, sounds good, just fry a half-pound rib-eye steak in butter and stick it on top, I'm feeling peckish, Dave', so he stalked off in a huff.

I don't really understand why waiters need me to know their names; do they want to be my friends? Because I have those already, lots of them. When I go to a restaurant, what I really need are waiters who know where the kitchen is, because I don't like hunting-down and cornering the chef and making threats when I'm in a posh restaurant, it lowers the tone of the place.

Husband-person tried to hide under the table when I asked Robert/Richard/James/Justin/fill-in-blank to bring Will a cow and a fork, as he likes his steak blue and bloody. Husband has sworn the next time he takes me to dinner in London, it's going to be at a whelk stand on the Old Kent Road. He drove home muttering something about how you can take the girl out of the bayou...

And I didn't abuse a waiter, I just expressed my annoyance at being patronized, and I really don't appreciate servers clambering all over me and interrupting me every five minutes.

Strangely enough, we have the opposite problem round my way.
One can wait a LONG time for a server (usually some disinterested post-school, pre-pregnant girl) especially if I go as far away from the 'music' as possible ('musak' got the name right).
Several times I have had to go politely to the till and ask for the rest of my meal or something similar. The server (I'd rather not demean the 'Waitress' trade with these examples), has been known to bring my apple pie & Ice cream AT THE SAME TIME as my steak pie; a practice I don't like.

To be honest, I'm not sure which I dislike more; your over-attentive scramblers of my disinterested idlers.
But I do enjoy reading your accounts. . .

 

[NotWise]

Long story short; I was born in Hawaii, moved to Indiana when mom and dad divorced when I was still a baby. We moved to Fort Wayne because all four of my brothers were in college in Purdue (all my brothers are much older than me). Mom's family are from Thibodaux, La, and I spent my early years either living with my aunt in Southern Indiana, not too far from Louisville KY, or with my mom's folks in Bayou Gauche, on the banks of Bayou des Allemands. I may have gone to school and college in Indiana, but I'm a cajun first and foremost.

Thanks for the explanation. We used to do some work in the vicinity of Thibodaux. I like the area as a complete contrast to where I live, but I'm perfectly happy to have never been there for a hurricane.

 

[TxRad]

Thanks for the explanation. We used to do some work in the vicinity of Thibodaux. I like the area as a complete contrast to where I live, but I'm perfectly happy to have never been there for a hurricane.

Hurricanes are Gods way of telling you, you need a new house. Kind of like tornadoes on a much larger scale. Some of the hurricane parties can get pretty wild too.

Hmmm, is that a plot bunny I see over there?

 

[Handley_Page]

Hurricanes are Gods way of telling you, you need a new house. Kind of like tornadoes on a much larger scale. Some of the hurricane parties can get pretty wild too.

Hmmm, is that a plot bunny I see over there?

What; flying a Hawker Hurricane ?

 

[R. Richard]

"I had my very own salad moment today, in a painfully trendy-wendy eatery in Covent Garden. I met the husband-fella in London on a promise of a nice dinner, and the waiter, Robert (or Richard, or James, or Justin, or something) looked me up and down and asked if I'd care to try the Caesar Salad"

How can a Christian eat a Caeser Salad? Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's."

 

[beachbum1958]

"I had my very own salad moment today, in a painfully trendy-wendy eatery in Covent Garden. I met the husband-fella in London on a promise of a nice dinner, and the waiter, Robert (or Richard, or James, or Justin, or something) looked me up and down and asked if I'd care to try the Caesar Salad"

How can a Christian eat a Caeser Salad? Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's."

How dare you accuse my wife of being a Christian, I'll have you know she's as cheerfully pagan as it's possible to be; when she walks past a church all the candles go dim and the vicar gets a shooting pain all down his left side...

 

[Handley_Page]

How dare you accuse my wife of being a Christian, I'll have you know she's as cheerfully pagan as it's possible to be; when she walks past a church all the candles go dim and the vicar gets a shooting pain all down his left side...

Has he had all the diodes looked at lately ?

 

[NaokoSmith]

Hey guys!
I had a real 'day off' yesterday - went swimming, tootled down to the wool shop for some new sock needles (a tragic accident happened in my handbag to the ones I was using - which were very thin ones and made of wood, you can imagine the rest, I will draw a veil ...). Watched some rugby on i-player through closed eyelids.

I got a couple of exceedingly small mackerels from the fish stall and baked them, then ate them on a bed of spinnach with some rice. The inspired touch was adding some pickled ginger I had leftover from a sushi takeaway pack I bought a week or so ago. Mackerel really takes sweet/sour sauces and pickles well.

I woke up this morning and fell back to sleep again - had some very very strange dreams, and then when I finally woke up I was very pleased as I thought I'd had a long lie-in. But it was only ten past seven!

HP, your description of the genre of servitor in your local: 'post-school and pre-pregnant' is fantastic!

I tidied up my dating profiles too and had a look to see if there were any men on either of the sites I have put my profile on whom I could bear to spend an evening with. (Some of them don't like cats! I mean, a man who doesn't like pussy ... no no no. Even worse, some live in Wales but appear not to like rugby! )

My general impression, on which I value your input as ever dahlinks, is that the classical music site (which cunningly also includes people who put their profiles on a silver surfer site and one from the Telegraph newspaper) has a few jolly sort of blokes who are easy-going and up for a larf, whereas the Guardian newspaper site has po-faced would-be intellectuals who think very highly of themselves and don't really want a woman cleverer than they are.

I did like the man who said his ideal match would be a woman who played golf, but not as well as him. I forget why I didn't Favourite him but he unfortunately had something against him.

The classical music site are temptingly offering me a 10% off voucher if I will join them, and I am turning it over. It would be handy to be able to communicate properly with people, instead of in one-liners saying: "Hi, I love your profile." "I can only send one-liners as I don't have a subscription." "Yes please."

I know you all know exactly what that means , but you are clever writerly people whereas the blokes on these sites are simple lovable chaps who need to have things spelled out carefully. Plus, my friend in France advised me - and I'm sure he's right - that blokes like to think you are a blushing maiden in a locked tower wearing a chastity belt at first. If they find out on Date 3 that you actually want to have *whisper* sex, then they are very excited, but if you tell them on Date 1, they think you are a slag.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I keep forgetting to report back to you all on Piglet's progress, following the Science Club fiasco (when one of the boys said girls' brains are too puny to do science).

Piglet has continued to enthusiastically attend Science Club and does well in a way out of being the only girl in her year there, as the much older Sixth Form girls adopted her as their pet and she used to do the projects with them. Now she has chummed up with a girl from the year above.

Recently her marks in her science class climbed up a whole level.

She is generally doing much much better than when she was at primary school. She has taken really well to French lessons, and we had a letter from her French teacher to say she is doing particularly well, which encouraged her even more. She does well on most of her classes - except Welsh which is so badly taught that nobody does well at it in English medium schools in Wales

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement when she got that knock-back in confidence.

 

[Handley_Page]

I keep forgetting to report back to you all on Piglet's progress, following the Science Club fiasco (when one of the boys said girls' brains are too puny to do science).

Piglet has continued to enthusiastically attend Science Club and does well in a way out of being the only girl in her year there, as the much older Sixth Form girls adopted her as their pet and she used to do the projects with them. Now she has chummed up with a girl from the year above.

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement when she got that knock-back in confidence.

It's worth remembering that the [lead] designer of (UK) Submarines is a woman.

 

[NaokoSmith]

How dare you accuse my wife of being a Christian, I'll have you know she's as cheerfully pagan as it's possible to be; when she walks past a church all the candles go dim and the vicar gets a shooting pain all down his left side...

I saw a church that might suit Lori the other day! It was the 'Capel Salem' (capel is Welsh for Chapel).

It's worth remembering that the [lead] designer of (UK) Submarines is a woman.

Good one! I'll look her up and casually mention that to Piglet.


Ugh, I have finally cracked and emailed all my colleagues - copying in the line manager - to remind them that Somebody is supposed to be monitoring the Student Forum and could they please go on and answer all the unanswered posts that are full of anxious student questions on there. Yes, yes, of course that's the line manager's job but I can't bear it any more. I put up my own thread there to help the students with referencing and I can just feel them asking themselves why I am posting cheerily in there and refusing to answer their questions in the other threads.

Well, I better get back to my marking, ugh. It's very heavy going this time round. There is too much material for the students to get through and they are all trying to cram it all into their essays to the detriment of developing a good argument. (Yes, we warned the Module Team but they wouldn't listen I mean who are we. We only actually teach the students day in day out, year round. What do we know about it.)

I will have a miserable little cup of decaff coffee to keep me going *sigh*

Here's a nice cup for you, HP, with a biscuit.

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Frlv.zcache.com%2Fcup_of_heart_coffee_postcard-r44563e21389e4754b838323b6195aeac_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg&f=1

 

[Handley_Page]

I saw a church that might suit Lori the other day! It was the 'Capel Salem' (capel is Welsh for Chapel).

Good one! I'll look her up and casually mention that to Piglet.


Ugh, I have finally cracked and emailed all my colleagues - copying in the line manager - to remind them that Somebody is supposed to be monitoring the Student Forum and could they please go on and answer all the unanswered posts that are full of anxious student questions on there.
Yes, yes, of course that's the line manager's job but I can't bear it any more. I put up my own thread there to help the students with referencing and I can just feel them asking themselves why I am posting cheerily in there and refusing to answer their questions in the other threads.

Well, I better get back to my marking, ugh. It's very heavy going this time round. There is too much material for the students to get through and they are all trying to cram it all into their essays to the detriment of developing a good argument. (Yes, we warned the Module Team but they wouldn't listen
I mean who are we. We only actually teach the students day in day out, year round. What do we know about it.)

I will have a miserable little cup of decaff coffee to keep me going *sigh*

Here's a nice cup for you, HP, with a biscuit.

Thanks, Duchess.
A choccy one as well. !

 

[NotWise]

Hey guys!
I had a real 'day off' yesterday - went swimming, tootled down to the wool shop for some new sock needles (a tragic accident happened in my handbag to the ones I was using - which were very thin ones and made of wood, you can imagine the rest, I will draw a veil ...). Watched some rugby on i-player through closed eyelids.

Those skinny wooden needles seem awfully brittle. My wife has broken them before but she buys them from a place (KnitPicks, I think) that replaces them for free if they break. She likes only needing to buy them once.

 

[Handley_Page]

Those skinny wooden needles seem awfully brittle. My wife has broken them before but she buys them from a place (KnitPicks, I think) that replaces them for free if they break. She likes only needing to buy them once.

They're in the UK, now, I see.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I have now bought some very pretty metal sock needles. They come in different colours. (Knitpro Zing.) I only got size 2 mm, as I like to go down to the wool shop and check out their dwindling supply of nice wool. (Their main clientele unfortunately goes for the cheap and cheerful, so they aren't able to keep as much of the wool I like in stock.)

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.Mcbfd48b781b8727aa462d9db054563ceo0%26pid%3D15.1&f=1

I have just about got time to pop in here and say, I have got a poorly Piglet sniffling and sneezing at home. She has a torrid head cold so I have let her stay off school for the day. (She is normally very keen to get into school and refuses to sneak off for the day if we have any appointments, or to allow me to book into the dentist on a schoolday.)

Oh well, on with the marking and Piglet tending. I better go out and buy some of those soft tissues that don't make your nose sore.

 

[curl4ever]

Sending wishes for Piglet's speedy recovery and a smooth day for you.

 

[ishtat]

Boots n' shoes

Got back from business trip to US a couple of days ago - bit fraught, had to let a few people go in a re-organization.

Next morning was woken by a courier to sign for a parcel. Didn't mention it to the two youngest (the twins) because they would have been late for Uni. Their mother returned in the late afternoon from an overnight visit to Adelaide and agreed the grand opening should wait for the twins. First of the girls to arrive (they attend different Uni's) and she didn't really want to wait, but mama insisted, so that was that.

Twin number 2 eventually arrived and the parcel was torn open - double quick smart. The contents, dispatched from Milano, a pair of shoes for one twin, boots for the other - they'll be interchanged. And a pair of both boots and shoes for their mother. Much oohing, aahing and signs of undiluted contentment, then someone suggested a show.

They were trying them on when J, the boyfriend of one of the twins turned up, a rather inarticulate and occasionally confused young engineer.

"What do you think?" I was asked.

"Well, they are beautifully made- look good and that little serpenty dragon sort of buckle is neat."

"And you J?" asked my wife.

J stumbled "Um I - Mrs H you look really classy - and hot."

"Now that," she acknowledged, "is exactly the right answer."

Hmmm, mebbe not so inarticulate. Time to exit I thought, "C'mon J , lets have a couple of games of snooker." And we did.
***

And Naoko, good to see that Piglet enjoys science. All five of our daughters did or.
are doing science based courses at Uni.

Finally, I put up a submission to Lit yesterday - first in almost 3 years! It's in the sig line and is dark with a jaunty packaging. Called "Doodle Dandy Walker" It's only got 30 odd reads in two days so needs a bit of help.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

I have now bought some very pretty metal sock needles. They come in different colours. (Knitpro Zing.) I only got size 2 mm, as I like to go down to the wool shop and check out their dwindling supply of nice wool. (Their main clientele unfortunately goes for the cheap and cheerful, so they aren't able to keep as much of the wool I like in stock.)

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.Mcbfd48b781b8727aa462d9db054563ceo0%26pid%3D15.1&f=1

I have just about got time to pop in here and say, I have got a poorly Piglet sniffling and sneezing at home. She has a torrid head cold so I have let her stay off school for the day. (She is normally very keen to get into school and refuses to sneak off for the day if we have any appointments, or to allow me to book into the dentist on a schoolday.)

Oh well, on with the marking and Piglet tending. I better go out and buy some of those soft tissues that don't make your nose sore.

Yay for Piglet, she sounds like a toughie, unlike my great big girl of a husband; he's been shot (he called me from Darwin, after being airlifted in for emergency surgery, to say he'd been 'a little bit shot, but I'm fine now' with a hole in his chest you could drive a steer through without the horns catching on the sides) held hostage, kidnapped and beaten, performed surgery under fire, under duress, and once, under a tank, but let him get a cold and he turns into a snivelling, watery-eyed, pitiful, dying plague victim, and he goes on and on until I really, really want to go get one of his shotguns and put him out of my misery. He truly does match the cliche 100%.

When I get a head cold and feel like crap I have to carry on; husband person is a great surgeon, not so good at dealing with actual sick people; his attitude is a hearty 'if you're not dead, you must be fine, so come on, a nice 5K will do you a world of good' (unless he's the one with a mimsy little cold; then the world must stop and coddle him, poor fragile baby that he is). When the Lemsip and Night-Nurse have kicked in, and he's finally passed-out, I do look fondly at him and consider the fact that if there was just one wife and mother on the jury, and any justice in the world, I'd be acquitted at warp speed...