Friday Four

Friday, December 12, 2014

1. I took Little Man to the pediatrician for his eighteen-month checkup this week and played the part of amused interpreter when the physician opened a conversation with me about my concerns. Immediately, his three-year-old sister started repeatedly interjecting something. On noticing this, I got Pumpkin to slow down and repeat herself again.

"He's allergic to strawberries," was the message, and delivered at the appropriate time, too. As I suspected about the rash he got at daycare one day, it could be due to any number of things, and we won't really know what it is for some time.

In the meantime, I nevertheless have a cute memory of Pumpkin being proud of contributing, and being a good Big Sister. And I got a chance to begin helping her understand the limits and basis of knowledge.

2. Heh! Electric cars are a Bad Idea, part 5,000:

After 15 or 20 minutes, a woman shows up, unplugs her Nissan Leaf and pulls away. I've finished my burger, so I speed-walk to my Leaf and speed-drive through the garage to snag her spot. I plug in, and wait. I've got work to do, anyway. An hour later, I've got enough juice to get back to San Francisco, where I park, exhausted. A trip that would have taken an hour in a regular car -- Bay Area traffic is a hassle, after all -- took me almost three.
This tempts me to make something like "range anxiety update" into a recurring feature of this blog.

3. Thomas Sowell, among a few other random thoughts, quips:
You know you are old when waitresses call you "dear."
This reminds me of something I noticed when I was around thirty-five or so. Starbucks baristas, young waitresses, and the like started calling me, "sir". I called it the s-bomb back then.

It's good to know I have something to look forward to!

4. I enjoyed seeing the below interview of Bosch Fawstin, creator of the anti-Jihadist super-hero, Pigman:


This just about makes me want to adopt an all-pigskin wardrobe.

-- CAV

2 comments:

Snedcat said...

Yo, Gus, you write, "I took Little Man to the pediatrician for his eighteen-month checkup this week and played the part of amused interpreter when the physician opened a conversation with me about my concerns. Immediately, his three-year-old sister started repeatedly interjecting something.:

By an amusing coincidence, I gave a short lecture tonight on language learning, including tips for foreign students studying English, and one part the audience enjoyed was this: "Above all, don’t avoid doing some part of language practice because it’s too hard or scary or embarrassing. If that happens, take it slowly but finish it. Remember, a three-year-old could probably say it, and that’s because three-year-olds aren’t afraid of talking! Imagine you’re a three-year-old and just say it over and over until it’s natural to you. You’ll forget the embarrassment soon enough, but you’ll remember what you practiced."

Gus Van Horn said...

My daughter is becoming very communicative and she does exactly what you say. I am amazed at her level of patience sometimes.