Monday, August 11, 2008
The Strangeness of Wonderful People
How weird and wonderful people can both baffle and amaze you in equal measure.
A lovely gentleman came into the shop a while back. I was particularly impressed with this man's age. He was nearing the century mark and seemed in good health and spirits.
I booked this gentleman's appointment and saw him through to the testing room with the optician. Such a wonderful old man, I hope I am as upbeat as that if I even get that far!
He tried on lots of frames and decided on a neat pair of rimless frames with a decent varifocal lens with MAR coating. As you can see, I am becoming quite adept at shop-speak. Shop-speak is a particular talent I've always coveted and I appear to have grasped it quickly. Anyhow, the gentleman left the shop seemingly happy with his choice.
"Ready in two weeks. We'll call you" I said to the gentleman.
I telephoned the old man and he duly came into collect his shiny new pair of glasses. I asked him to try the frames on to see if the vision and comfort were to his satisfaction. He responded with an approving nod and smile.
"So that will be £165 to pay please sir."
"I will post a cheque to you."
"Ah okay, a cheque is fine sir. Would you like me to get you a pen?"
The old man smiled and said, "I will send it in the post to you in a few days."
Now given this man's age, I pretended to ignore what he was actually saying and chose instead to believe he would like to leave the glasses with us until we had received the cheque.
I kindly say, "Not a problem sir, a cheque is fine. We will just hold these for you until the payment has cleared." I smile.
One of my hands is now firmly on the glasses case. I have no idea why, I don't think he would be able to outrun me if he decided to get up. In fact, in order to get up the old man needed to perform a 20-minute five-stage manoeuvre. For some reason, I still felt a firm hand was necessary. I felt the old man grip the other side of the case with all the force he could muster. I felt like I was arguing with Montgomery Burns.
"Why don't you have any respect for me? Why don't you trust me? Opticians always allow me to take the glasses and send a cheque. I will take these glasses now and send a cheque in the post!"
Try to place yourself in my position. Either this lovely old man is in an advanced stage of dementia or he is trying it on with me, using that veil of venerability and deference as some sort of ruse to obtain his glasses for nowt. No matter how old this man was, and how much i liked the strange chap, I was not having any of it and embarrassingly I descended into the lowest known form of the English language…shop diplomacy.
"I am very sorry sir but it is not our policy to hand out glasses without first receipt of full payment."
(I have no idea where such phrases come from. I think it is that half of the brain that the world's best brain scientists have not yet managed to conquer.)
"Well, if you have no trust for your best patients (this nutty old man had been a patient with us for all of two weeks) then I will go elsewhere! I demand to have a copy of my prescription! I will go elsewhere! What is your name? I demand to see your manager about this!"
This strange and wonderful man had just made my day.
A lovely gentleman came into the shop a while back. I was particularly impressed with this man's age. He was nearing the century mark and seemed in good health and spirits.
I booked this gentleman's appointment and saw him through to the testing room with the optician. Such a wonderful old man, I hope I am as upbeat as that if I even get that far!
He tried on lots of frames and decided on a neat pair of rimless frames with a decent varifocal lens with MAR coating. As you can see, I am becoming quite adept at shop-speak. Shop-speak is a particular talent I've always coveted and I appear to have grasped it quickly. Anyhow, the gentleman left the shop seemingly happy with his choice.
"Ready in two weeks. We'll call you" I said to the gentleman.
I telephoned the old man and he duly came into collect his shiny new pair of glasses. I asked him to try the frames on to see if the vision and comfort were to his satisfaction. He responded with an approving nod and smile.
"So that will be £165 to pay please sir."
"I will post a cheque to you."
"Ah okay, a cheque is fine sir. Would you like me to get you a pen?"
The old man smiled and said, "I will send it in the post to you in a few days."
Now given this man's age, I pretended to ignore what he was actually saying and chose instead to believe he would like to leave the glasses with us until we had received the cheque.
I kindly say, "Not a problem sir, a cheque is fine. We will just hold these for you until the payment has cleared." I smile.
One of my hands is now firmly on the glasses case. I have no idea why, I don't think he would be able to outrun me if he decided to get up. In fact, in order to get up the old man needed to perform a 20-minute five-stage manoeuvre. For some reason, I still felt a firm hand was necessary. I felt the old man grip the other side of the case with all the force he could muster. I felt like I was arguing with Montgomery Burns.
"Why don't you have any respect for me? Why don't you trust me? Opticians always allow me to take the glasses and send a cheque. I will take these glasses now and send a cheque in the post!"
Try to place yourself in my position. Either this lovely old man is in an advanced stage of dementia or he is trying it on with me, using that veil of venerability and deference as some sort of ruse to obtain his glasses for nowt. No matter how old this man was, and how much i liked the strange chap, I was not having any of it and embarrassingly I descended into the lowest known form of the English language…shop diplomacy.
"I am very sorry sir but it is not our policy to hand out glasses without first receipt of full payment."
(I have no idea where such phrases come from. I think it is that half of the brain that the world's best brain scientists have not yet managed to conquer.)
"Well, if you have no trust for your best patients (this nutty old man had been a patient with us for all of two weeks) then I will go elsewhere! I demand to have a copy of my prescription! I will go elsewhere! What is your name? I demand to see your manager about this!"
This strange and wonderful man had just made my day.
Bathroom Without Floor Illusion
You will feel that there is no floor
Actually its a floor design which make it look like bathroom is without floor.
Actually its a floor design which make it look like bathroom is without floor.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You
Waiters share insider secrets about restaurant -- from what days to avoid dining out to how much to tip.
1. Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.
2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.
3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.
4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.
5. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)
6. Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.
7. Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entrée 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.
8. Splitting entrées is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?
9. If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.
10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.
11. Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.
12. If you want to hang out, that's fine. But increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.
13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.
1. Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.
2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.
3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.
4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.
5. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)
6. Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.
7. Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entrée 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.
8. Splitting entrées is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?
9. If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.
10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.
11. Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.
12. If you want to hang out, that's fine. But increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.
13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
13 words not found in the English language
These words do not have direct equivalents in English. Some of them would definitely be useful for us English-speakers, what do you think?
1. Waldeinsamkeit (German): the feeling of being alone in the woods
2. Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time
3. Taarradhin (Arabic): a way of resolving a problem without anyone losing face (not the same as our concept of a compromise - everyone wins)
4. Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery
5. Esprit de l’escalier (French): a witty remark that occurs to you too late, literally on the way down the stairs…
6. Meraki (Greek): doing something with soul, creativity, or love
7. Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally ‘a meal eaten sideways’, referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language:
8. Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art, which might be fulfilled in flamenco dancing, or bull-fighting, etc.
9. Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by giving gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favour, but you can also use up your gianxi by asking for a favour to be repaid.
Crazy Examples of Why English is the Most Hilarious Language to Learn
10. Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions
11. Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbor house until there is nothing left
12. Radioukacz (Polish): a person who worked as a telegraphist for the resistance movements on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain
13. Selathirupavar (Tamil): a word used to define a certain type of absence without official leave in face of duty
1. Waldeinsamkeit (German): the feeling of being alone in the woods
2. Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time
3. Taarradhin (Arabic): a way of resolving a problem without anyone losing face (not the same as our concept of a compromise - everyone wins)
4. Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery
5. Esprit de l’escalier (French): a witty remark that occurs to you too late, literally on the way down the stairs…
6. Meraki (Greek): doing something with soul, creativity, or love
7. Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally ‘a meal eaten sideways’, referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language:
8. Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art, which might be fulfilled in flamenco dancing, or bull-fighting, etc.
9. Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by giving gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favour, but you can also use up your gianxi by asking for a favour to be repaid.
Crazy Examples of Why English is the Most Hilarious Language to Learn
10. Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions
11. Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbor house until there is nothing left
12. Radioukacz (Polish): a person who worked as a telegraphist for the resistance movements on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain
13. Selathirupavar (Tamil): a word used to define a certain type of absence without official leave in face of duty
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Most beautiful show at sea
A beautiful scene with the clouds, the sky, the sun and the ocean as the leading role players. In the background you see the islands of Desert as.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
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