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Post a bad thing that happened in your life today


Ed Rooney

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5 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Most nations accept that English is now the lingua franca in the world. I have a greeting and a thank you in 48 languages. My accent is pretty good in most, I think, but my vocabulary is tiny.  

 

Spanish America expects people to learn Spanish.  Doctors here rarely speak English.  Both in Mexico City and here, the English-speakers are in computer stores.  The social pressure is generally politer than "Speak English" in the US, but one is considered moderately retarded if one can not speak fluent Spanish two months after arriving.  I had zero people around at the hospital who spoke English at all.   I was complemented on how much my Spanish improved in two days.   A friend had told me that everyone in Mexico City would speak English, but he'd never been there, just to Cancun where everyone in the tourist industry does except for a Nicaraguan cook who moved back home and opened a taqueria a block away from me.  

 

Clash of Imperial languages.   Europeans need a lingua franca because you go two to two hundred miles and you're in a different language community.  Spanish American countries can be small but it's all Spanish and some indigenous languages from California and Texas to Terra del Fuego.  Except for Brazil.

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4 hours ago, Martin Carlsson said:

Works fine for me. You haven't managed to "click" the scroll-wheel and thereby disengaged scrolling? Good luck! /M

Thanks for the advice. It was only the forum page one where the mouse scrolling wasn't working, now it is OK

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On 15/02/2023 at 14:42, Rebecca Ore said:

 

Spanish America expects people to learn Spanish.  

 

 

The picture you paint of people not speaking English in Mexico has not been my experience. From Texas to Tierra del Fuego and back, there were lots of people who spoke at least some English and showed no hostility in doing so. 

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3 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

The picture you paint of people not speaking English in Mexico has not been my experience. From Texas to Tierra del Fuego and back, there were lots of people who spoke at least some English and showed no hostility in doing so. 

 

I had trouble once getting people to speak English at the Miami Airport.   Also, Nicaragua's history with the US is more recent.  Depends on where you are.   I'm not in a major tourist town. 

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We're downsizing. From a 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom tropical mansion to our 5 square metre motorhome, if that. 😪

 

The owners of our housesit went to New Zealand, initially they thought for 4 to 5 weeks. In the first week, they had tropical cyclone Gabrielle. Roads were flooded and cut off, no power in some places. They shrugged it off, patiently waiting for things to improve. As they were sitting with friends, they were then shaken by an earthquake. They've had enough. We got a message yesterday saying they were coming back on Tuesday, 2 weeks early. Bummer! I feel sorry for those poor Kiwis.

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3 minutes ago, gvallee said:

We're downsizing. From a 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom tropical mansion to our 5 square metre motorhome, if that. 😪

 

The owners of our housesit went to New Zealand, initially they thought for 4 to 5 weeks. In the first week, they had tropical cyclone Gabrielle. Roads were flooded and cut off, no power in some places. They shrugged it off, patiently waiting for things to improve. As they were sitting with friends, they were then shaken by an earthquake. They've had enough. We got a message yesterday saying they were coming back on Tuesday, 2 weeks early. Bummer! I feel sorry for those poor Kiwis.

 

Sorry to hear that Gen, sounded like a great place!  So this is crazy.  Right after the large earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, I saw a woman seismologist giving an interview on a TV news program.  She said something that I had never heard before,  she said that often, after a strong earthquake, another strong-ish earthquake occurs at the opposite side of the planet, within two weeks.  She said that people should be prepared for one somewhere around Fiji and New Zealand.  This one your homeowners felt was a 6.1 magnitude, right between the north end of New Zealand and Fiji!! That was 7 days later!!

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27 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Sorry to hear that Gen, sounded like a great place!  So this is crazy.  Right after the large earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, I saw a woman seismologist giving an interview on a TV news program.  She said something that I had never heard before,  she said that often, after a strong earthquake, another strong-ish earthquake occurs at the opposite side of the planet, within two weeks.  She said that people should be prepared for one somewhere around Fiji and New Zealand.  This one your homeowners felt was a 6.1 magnitude, right between the north end of New Zealand and Fiji!! That was 7 days later!!

 

Spooky isn't it?

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And here I am again, posting in the bad news thread for the second time today.

 

What is it about this house!!?? First there was the massaging chair starting on its own accord in the dark.

Then after a week, the wooden floor upstairs, nowhere near any water source, starting buckling and breaking. Two plumbers have been left flummoxed. We're now testing if the aircon two rooms away could be the culprit.

 

And now THIS. We are pet sitting a deaf, 14yrs old, longhaired Jack Russell, a sedate canine grandma, we thought. Just now, we were looking out the glass ceiling to floor windows when we noticed the old girl sniffing the ground as usual. Suddenly, she lunged forward, grabbed a passing snake by the tail, and shook it vigorously against the window. We yelled and charged out, but she couldn't hear. Grabbing her quickly from behind, we dragged her back inside whilst the snake scarpered. Cool as a cucumber she looked at us, as if to say 'what's the fuss, that's what I do for a living!' She does not appear to have been bitten but we are keeping an eye on her.

 

What next??

 

 

 

Edited by gvallee
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Today, we had an 'explosive' Certificate of Inspection. Weighing 5.7t, our Coaster bus needs a yearly one. Not necessary 'explosive' though.

 
7.30 sharp we are on the doorstep of our mobile COI inspector. Initial assessment rates the inspector as tightlipped, strict professional, so be on my best behaviour.
He says he's going to take the Coaster for a spin and do a 38kph brake test. He warns to stow any loose items. I didn't hear.
 
Off the inspector goes, whizzing round the block to reappear 10 minutes later. He climbs out of the cab clutching his tablet which is dripping liquid. He says I did warn you to stow everything. The whole kit and caboodle came hurtling from the back, smashed a bottle of wine and drenched him and his tablet with ten dollars of Cabernet Sauvignon!
 
So, I reckoned prognosis a thumbs down for our inspection. However, his thin lips parted in a smile and the offer to bring his bin for cleanup.
Chatty as ever, he passed us. We drove off engulfed inside in alcoholic fumes, thankful we'd gained a pass and paid with a bottle.
 
Joking apart, it was a big eye opener and I've just re-organised our storage space. As an additional solution, we're also starting drinking 😁 It's worth noting that our vehicle being over 5 tons, permitted level of alcohol is zero. So no boozy lunch.
 
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On 23/02/2023 at 02:21, gvallee said:

Today, we had an 'explosive' Certificate of Inspection. Weighing 5.7t, our Coaster bus needs a yearly one. Not necessary 'explosive' though.

 
7.30 sharp we are on the doorstep of our mobile COI inspector. Initial assessment rates the inspector as tightlipped, strict professional, so be on my best behaviour.
He says he's going to take the Coaster for a spin and do a 38kph brake test. He warns to stow any loose items. I didn't hear.
 
Off the inspector goes, whizzing round the block to reappear 10 minutes later. He climbs out of the cab clutching his tablet which is dripping liquid. He says I did warn you to stow everything. The whole kit and caboodle came hurtling from the back, smashed a bottle of wine and drenched him and his tablet with ten dollars of Cabernet Sauvignon!
 
So, I reckoned prognosis a thumbs down for our inspection. However, his thin lips parted in a smile and the offer to bring his bin for cleanup.
Chatty as ever, he passed us. We drove off engulfed inside in alcoholic fumes, thankful we'd gained a pass and paid with a bottle.
 
Joking apart, it was a big eye opener and I've just re-organised our storage space. As an additional solution, we're also starting drinking 😁 It's worth noting that our vehicle being over 5 tons, permitted level of alcohol is zero. So no boozy lunch.
 

I'm keeping a list of things to avoid in Australia. I've just added spooky black chairs but I'm not sure how to log this one? Is it vehicle inspectors or inertia? 🤔👍

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On 23/02/2023 at 02:21, gvallee said:

So, I reckoned prognosis a thumbs down for our inspection. However, his thin lips parted in a smile and the offer to bring his bin for cleanup.

Chatty as ever, he passed us. We drove off engulfed inside in alcoholic fumes, thankful we'd gained a pass and paid with a bottle.
 
 
 

One for the Good Things thread I would have thought Gen !

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4 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

Goodness  me, Gen. I hope your next project is not to fight on the frontlines in the Ukraine. 

 

😂😂 I'm a peaceful quiet boring girl Edo, I never do a thing out of the ordinary 😉

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5 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

I'm keeping a list of things to avoid in Australia. I've just added spooky black chairs but I'm not sure how to log this one? Is it vehicle inspectors or inertia? 🤔👍

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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