I have encountered wrong numbers on the phone before; people ringing me and asking for someone of whom I ever never heard. Today, I had my first wrong number at the house. At 4am a couple of chaps with a pickup truck rang the doorbell. They were there to pickup the third member of their team. They were apologetic for the wrong house and the hour of the day, but that does not stop me feeling pretty tired as I drink my coffee and write this post before heading out to work
Handy Tips #42
If you are going to provide a napkin when serving a panini, please do not place it directly under the sandwich. When a paper napkin starts off covered in melted overflow from the sandwich its utility is significantly compromised.
They Start with I
It is a cliché that Americans have a narrow world-view that recognises little outside the USA. Like all such generalisations, they do have some basis in reality, as I was reminded last weekend. We were eating lunch in one of our favourite local eateries and the son of the owner came across to say “Hello”. We mentioned that we were on the way to the cinema and he recommended a film that he had recently seen; Slumdog Millionaire.
In giving a summary of the story he twice placed the events in Iraq. I can understand the confusion, there has been so little coverage of Iraq in them media in the last five or six years that a US citizen can hardly be expected to tell the difference between it and India. If only the building at which the hero pretends to be a tour guide was in any way iconic and associated with India, the geographic confusion would not have occurred. Since it is just another domed building with minarets in an Islamic style, as can be seen in the picture below, one can understand how this person placed the events of the the story in Iraq.
Parking Rage
I needed to take the car to work yesterday. After lunch I parked next to an MPV. On the driver’s side wing mirror was a post-it note. My curiosity got the better of me and I walked round to read it. The note said and I paraphrase:
You are parked too close to my car. Please try to part inside the lines next time. Your co-worker.
I accept that the minivan was parked at an angle and the outside of the front wheel was over the line, but the inside was in contact with it. I imagine that their parking had made it a little tricky to open the driver’s door in the next slot. However, even if one carries a post-it-pad with one, it seems an over-reaction to write this passive-aggressive note and put on the wing mirror.
A Free Lunch
It is said that there is no such thing as a free lunch. That is certainly true here in the US. I often eat the excellent freshly made hot sandwiches and Panini’s at the local Safeway; a ten minute stroll from the office. Using the supermarket’s loyalty card for recent purchases earned me a coupon for a “free” sandwich. In the UK a free sandwich would cost you nothing; here it set me back 40c as I had to pay the sales tax.
