Aaaaaarrrrrghhhhh!

My newest (and most demanding) client actually called to make a reservation yesterday - they would be sending me little mini-documents throughout today for immediate translation. No problem.

So when the secretary called just now I figured she had just sent a new one. But no. She wants to know how much it would cost to translate a 300-page document. Not 200 pages like the one that ate up the entire month of February (and half of January), oh no. Three hundred pages. Yikes!

Not that she can actually give me a word count, or even tell me if the dastardly thing will be coming out today or next week or next month, or really any kind of specific information whatsoever. Just how much please...

Please let them sit on it at least until my parrot quilt is done! Maybe my taxes too...Please!

For whom the bell tolls...eventually

Hey, did you know (maybe you did - it's the kind of thing that would have made the news) that one or possibly two of the candidates to replace the Pope (I'm SURE you know the Pope died...) was black? I couldn't believe it.

I happened to be over at José & Yolanda's house when the news came out that the new Pope had been selected. I had to leave before they announced which candidate it was (it wasn't the black one), but it was surprising to suddenly find myself watching live coverage of a major international event...who knew?

There was this big crowd of people out in the square outside the church (or religious building of some sort) where the Cardinals were voting. There's this dinky little chimney made out of like a metal pipe with a little cone-shaped hat on top and when the new Pope was elected white smoke was supposed to come out of the chimney, then the bells were supposed to ring.

Some Catholics (that I know) think/thought that they took papers with the candidates' names on them and burned them one by one, and that the one that made white smoke was the chosen one. I had kind of heard this in passing some time last week.

So anyway I had dropped by the house and didn't really notice what was on the television until people (on TV) started cheering and people in the house said there "We have a Pope!" But then the bells didn't ring so nobody knew what was going on for a few minutes. There was a split screen showing different shots of the crowd in the square, of the smoke (it looked white) coming out of the chimney, and of the bells not ringing. The text at the bottom said "Difícil de distinguir humo blanco, campanas no suenan" ("Hard to tell if smoke is white, bells do not toll"). The commentator was saying maybe there had been a problem with the chemicals used to produce the white smoke, and conversation in the living room speculated on how they make sure it burns white - my vote was for a chemical applied to the appropriate pre-existing ballot once the decision had been made. (Wonder how they did it in the days of yore...)

Eventually the bells rang (reportedly "10 to 12 minutes" after the smoke) and it was official. The commentator said maybe the lack of synchronization was due to the fact that they don't have to do this very often...last time was 26 years ago.

Here's everybody: Alex & the girls, his parents and grandmother...(Not in that order) 

The kids' latest love

It's called Lazy Town and it's on twice a day...but only at the grandparents' house because we don't have cable. So they see it a few times a week. Yesterday I had to make a rule that they would take turns telling me about it. We started with Julia's turn, so all I got was "It's about lots and lots of chicles (gum) in little squares of lots of different colors." Robin nearly choked wanting to tell me more, and kept asking--even at breakfast this morning--if she could take up the slack (not her words) left by Julia. But I held fast (I'm sure I'll see it myself eventually) and Robin will have center stage when I pick them up tomorrow.

Robin did tell Alex an entire episode when we picked him up at the airport last week. It took her 3/4 of the way home or--for those who've never been here--very nearly the length of an entire episode, if you don't count the commercials.

Here's the official show website.

And here's a blog entry from a guy who discovered the show when a young relative was visiting and wishes it had been around when he was getting high in college.

And if that, together with the fact that I approve of the show, doesn't get you wondering what it's like...here's my favorite question from the official show FAQ (and one I had already wondered about) "Is Robbie Rotten's chin real?"

Miscellany

This first paragraph (actually, now it's the second...) will make more sense if you've already read the previous post which, although dated and posted last Monday, didn't actually appear online until today.

So the problem with the starter was the "carbones" (The carbons? Who knows what they're called in English...) Carlos showed me the old ones - worn right down to nothing - and said he hadn't been able to get hold of brand new ones, but that he had put in some from a starter he had in the shop, and if I want to I can go back another time for new ones. Cost me 15,000 colones, about $32. Those I've asked are divided on whether or not it's a good price. Elberth, who tried to help Carlos out by removing the starter, thinks it is, because he says the thing was behind something else and absurdly hard to get at, so labor is a factor. Anyway, it hasn't given me trouble since, although every time we get in the car Julia asks "What if the car doesn't start?"

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Here's my favorite thing:
Julia almost always gets her shoes on the wrong feet. So eventually you notice and say, "Julia, your shoes are on backwards." And she looks up at you, all angelic, and crosses her feet so the shoes themselves are in the right place. She's gotten enough mileage out of that one that she'll probably still be doing it when she's 20.

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Well, I think I may need to get another dog. *Sigh.* I was the one complaining that there were too many animals, and it was only under duress that I agreed to let Alex bring home a pair of puppies last year. They did well when they had each other to play with, but one got sick and died after a few months and Emily, the other one, is...well, energetic. She just loves everything and everyone, and really really really likes to play. But she's so happy to see people that she jumps up and ends up scratching the girls, so they don't play with her much. Tina occasionally frolics with her for a few minutes - or rather used to. I don't think she's done it since she got the eye infection last month. (The infection is better, but the cataracts in that eye advanced about as far as I would think cataracts can, so aside from being old, now she has to adapt to losing half her vision.) So I think Emily needs a companion.

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Meanwhile, when I got home last night there was a cool dog hanging around the gate, and around Emily, who was on the other side of it. I had to shoo it back when I opened the gate to drive in. It was still around this morning, and it agreed to sniff my hand and let me scratch its head. It's a so-ugly-it's-almost-cute bulldog. Just under knee-high, but built like a brick barrel. It had a big, thick, studded tough-guy collar on this morning, but now the collar is gone. Maybe he (I haven't lifted his skirt to check the gender, but based on the collar I'm assuming...) will keep hanging around and solve my problem. Of course there's obviously an owner somewhere, but who knows where. So I figured I'd do my part to help destiny along, and gave him some dog food and water this evening, which he accepted. (Having a boy around would probably move "getting Emily fixed" a few notches up on the to-do list...)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

So this week I got the kids to bed and settled in to watch a video, when I heard a strange noise. It didn't really register at first, but after a while I realized it was still there, so I paid a little more attention. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was a goose. When I heard it again, I went over and looked out the window, and there's my neighbor, throwing bread to a pair of geese. This is the neighbor who is still building his house, and he brought up a husky puppy to be a watchdog a few weeks ago. The poor thing barked from 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. the first night, and howled from 4:00 to 5:00 a.m. the second. It eventually started to settle in a bit, but I haven't seen it for a while. And now they have watchgeese. I figured, correctly, that geese probably wouldn't make much noise in the night (as long as nobody's around), but I forgot that they're barnyard animals and, as such, prone to wake up with the chickens. But they don't actually make that much noise, and at least for now it's still kind of a novelty to have geese next door.

I say Starter, you say Arrancador, Let's call the whole thing off

So I'm out and about in town last week, shopping and getting things done. Stopping & starting, coming and going. Like a pro.

 

After my many errands I picked the kids back up and went home. Stopped at the gate, got out, opened the gate, got back in, discovered my battery was dead.

 

A number of options were considered, even attempted, and discarded. Finally my neighbor had the best idea. Start the car (it was on just enough of a hill to make that easy...for him) drive to PriceSmart and get a new battery, after having the old one tested to make sure it's really dead.

 

I liked that option. I did that. The guy's little machine declared the old battery dead and recommended (on a small printed receipt) replacement. So I bought a new one and they installed it for me. It started up fine, so I shut it down and went back in to buy some stuff and get something to eat, since it was getting to be that time. Came back out, started up, drove down to Yolanda's house to drop off her groceries and when I came out - dead again.

 

Hmmm. That's not right. It was on an incline, so I tried to start it myself, but never having done it before I put it in first and was unable get it going. I have since learned (ten minutes later) that you have to have it in second.

 

A neighbor was prevailed upon and very kindly started it while we pushed. He made some recommendations and we drove home. Getting the key for the gate off of the keyring without shutting off the engine was something of a challenge.

 

So I got in and made sure I would be able to roll it if it still didn't start in the morning. Next day, however, it started fine. (I just had to go out and try at 7:00 in the morning...) Then when I actually had to leave, it still started fine. So I drove it down to José, who went with me down the street to a shop that specializes in auto electrical systems (whatever is that called in English?) However, since the vehicle stubbornly refused to misbehave, it was given a clean bill of health. Carlos explained that the material inside a new battery can "settle" if it's been on the shelf for a long time. Sounded good to me, so I went home to pack and set out on my Easter vacation as planned. (Okay, so we were going over to my friend's who has a pool. Truly, it was as relaxing a vacation as you can ask for with one parent and two kids.)

 

We met at the store. Prudently, she showed me a spot in the parking lot where there was a direct shot to a long, sloping, empty parking lot...just in case. Scoffing somewhat--my problem, after all, was solved--I parked there and we had our lunch and did our shopping. Coming out, we didn't even think about the battery issue, and she nearly drove off without me because the car wouldn't start. So the long sloping empty lot came in handy and I got to push-start my car myself for the first time (in second gear - I know what I'm doing).

 

My friend's driveway has a perfect sloped parking spot, which I took, and we commenced to watch videos and sit by the pool. A lovely three days later, I got in the car and...it started fine. Drove to Yolanda's to pick up the parrot and...it started fine. Drove home and offered to give Mercedes a ride to the bus stop but...the car wouldn't start. Unfortunately it surprised me and I braked - losing my small headstart that would have let it roll back to the nice slope behind me. So Mercedes took the bus. When I needed to go out later I called my big burly neighbor to come over and feel good about himself by pushing the car. Also got my second chance to push-start my own car (in reverse this time) and did fine. I left the car running at the first errand - dropping off a bag of stuff at someone's house - and told the girls we could get a video if the sloping parking space was available at the video store. It was, but we didn't need it...started fine from a full stop.

 

So that was Saturday. Sunday we didn't go out and today the car started okay to take Robin to school. I sent her in without stopping, then drove down to meet Elberth and buy the roof paint (without stopping). Brought him back up to work on the roof, but then it started to rain. So I took him home (car started fine) and stopped back by the electrical shop to talk to Carlos. He said to take it to a battery shop and get them to test the battery.

 

I got Elberth to come with me because he knew where the place was. The battery was declared healthy (at no charge), so it was back to Carlos. But the car wouldn't start. I had left space to roll back, but didn't get going fast enough soon enough and, failing to start the car, had to stop it. I thought maybe the guy in the shop could get it started for me if Elberth and I pushed - there was still a bit of room before the parked car back there - certainly enough to turn out into the street (traffic was very light), if one knew what one were doing and had done it more than, say, twice before.

 

Poor guy was just on his way out for lunch but fortunately for me he took a professional interest and got back under the hood. He did a thing to the battery and had me try it, but nothing. Then he went back into the shop. To get another high-tech tool, I thought. Well, sort of. He came back out with a tiny footstool and a hammer. Right.

 

He got up on the stool and down into the engine and started banging on something. Try it now. Started right up. Well, actually, it protested a bit, but it did start. I figured that was worth something and although he still wasn't charging me, I gave him 2000 colones (three bucks--also two hour's pay for many manual laborers).

 

So now our malady has a name: Arrancador. It's the starter (on which he was banging).

 

I drove back to Carlos and made an appointment for tomorrow, stopped by Yolanda's house to drop something off, and went home, all without stopping. Made sure I had a nice strong slope and parked for the night. Hopefully it won't take days to resolve, but at least now we know where we stand.

My idea of fun

So what do I do when I finally finish The Big Translation (and The Small Follow-Up Translation)? Here's what:

 

Day One: Start "The Chain of Chance" by Stanislaw Lem

Day Two: Finish that, start "Peace on Earth" by Stanislaw Lem

Day Three: Finish that, start "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Day Four: Keep reading that (it's long)

Day Five: Finish that...

Here's what my kids look like today! 

Days of Shrek and horses

Well I think it's starting. I have been content to let the girls stay very young in terms of their video habits. In the U.S. I could just limit them to PBS Kids and our own videos. Once in a while we would rent something else and so often it was too much for them--especially Robin. They just loved the positive, educational kids' shows where the big conflict might be someone not sharing, or someone feeling left out. Anything with a plot was too much.

Just last summer Lisa and I took them to Elmo in Grouchland when it was on for free at the mall, and we had to leave after 20 minutes because there was an actual bad guy--dressed in black and everything--who stole Elmo's blanket and had a really bad attitude about it.

Both girls were uncomfortable so we left - no big deal. And then that very afternoon (I don't recall how it actually happened), they sat all the way through Shrek on DVD--including the fire-breathing dragon--and loved it. I ask you.

So for the next six months or so, they were very insulated children (television wise) who also loved Shrek--which, yes, we rented for them from time to time. Like the time they got lice and I knew I'd be picking nits for a few hours...I figured I might as well rent something I'd enjoy too!

It may be that their tastes are just maturing, or maybe it's the influence of school and many MANY days at the abuelos' house where I'm somewhat skeptical (in fact dead sure) that they are not actually limited to Discovery Kids, as requested...Probably it's both.

So at home I'm protecting her from Elmo and when she's out of my sphere she's starting to see standard Disney (plenty of plot & bad guys there), Powerpuff Girls, Sponge Bob, Pokemon.

They were given a video for Christmas that seemed like it would be an okay transition, and one day recently when Robin was sick in bed I sat and watched it with her. It really was a good one - the conflict was about a bush plane coming in and possibly taking the mail delivery job away from the sled dogs in Alaska. Animated, told from the dogs' point of view and with no bad guys, it was great.

So I (watching with her for the day) went out to get more videos and decided to risk Monsters Inc. We watched it and she did like it, but in retrospect I think that may have been a Pandora moment.

When I let them pick out their own videos in the past they were content to stick with old favorites like Bob the Builder & Clifford, sometimes branching out as far as Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake. But now they're perusing the entire stock of "children's" videos...some of which are way off limits yet...but I guess it's time to let them push the envelope. I don't intend to shelter them from all conflict ever - but I was perfectly happy to let them self-select that, as long as they were happy with positive, educational fare, I figured So much the better.

But now it looks like I'm going to have to start watching with them for a while, at least until we redefine the field. We got Spirit this week. It's an animated film about a wild horse in the "Old West" that gets captured by the Army, rescued by a Lakota Indian, captured by the railroad builders, rescued by the Indian...certainly more historically accurate than the old-school cowboys & Indians, and a touching story, but I'm just not ready to sit three and six year-olds down in front of violence (much of it implied, some of it explicit) and mistreatment of people and animals. There will come a time for learning about all of that, but we're not going to call it entertainment and rent it for bedtime. I watched it with them, then explained that we won't be getting it again. (Of course, Robin had already seen much of it on television...)

It's hard to figure out which videos to try - today we ended up with 101 Dalmatians and The Little Mermaid. I'm letting them watch 101 by themselves right now (although I'm starting to remember about Cruella Deville - I wonder...) I think I'll watch The Little Mermaid with them tomorrow. Maybe once we've expanded the options a little, they'll be content to settle in to a broader selection. Not that our local video store has that broad a selection anyway...

Here's the picture I took especially for the holiday "Dear Friends" letter I never wrote...