Se Habla Espanol

There is a disadvantage to living in a community that has at least half of the population Hispanic and with restricted English-speaking abilities. Today, both Y and I had an encounter of the Espanol variety when we decided we each needed a hair trim before we leave on our visit to China. There’s a shop down the street that has both a lady’s hairdresser and a female barber. Last time I was there, I had the female hairdresser cut my hair, which was shoulder length at that time, and I liked the end product, so I headed out this morning for the haircut shop.

I went at 9 am, then 9;30, again at 10, back at 11, cruised by at 12 noon – and finally found the shop open when I gave it one last effort at 1:00 pm. It would be helpful if the hours of operation were posted, but that isn’t part of their business plan.

When it was my turn to sit in the chair, I shared a conversation with the stylist, who is actually a barber, rather than a hair dresser. We discussed my goal of shorter “cute” hair that would be easy-care on my upcoming trip. She asked me how much she could cut, which was a good sign, and I agree with ½ inch off the present length.

All ready to go, I confidently sat down in the chair. She held up a hank of hair and mimed cutting off ½ inch, to which I readily agreed. Here’s where the language thing raised its ugly head: I thought she was confirming she would cut off ½ inch from the present length, which is what I wanted, but what she was actually indicating was that she was going to cut my hair to an overall length of ½ inch. If you know Ellen Degeneres’s current haircut, that’s what my stylist had in her mind – and that’s what I am now sporting.

Yeah, yeah, I know: no sense in crying over a bad haircut because you can’t put the hair back on and just have to live through the growing-out stage. Y was kind and said it looked okay from the front, but he agreed that the back view was really, really short hair. Man’s barber short hair.

About an hour after I returned home, Y decided he, too, would go get a haircut as we’re leaving in a couple of weeks and this is a good time for some grooming. He returned home ½ hour later with the sides shaved bald, and the rest of his hair appropriately short enough to make my ½ inch length look long. He grimaced as he told me that he showed her a picture of what he wanted, a very current and stylish cut, and I could sympathize, but … you can’t glue it back onto your head.

So, we’re going to China with really short hair, which will be easy to care for while we’re doing the tourist things we have planned, but we’re both committed to finding another stylist when we return from our trip and need a trim!

3 Goes for the Movies

Recently, I've viewed three films that I enjoyed enough to recommend. First is The Zookeeper's Wife, followed by Born in China, and then Jeremiah Tower.

The Zookeeper's Wife is a strong story about a woman who dares to defy the political climate in her war-torn country by hiding Jews in the bombed-out zoo where she lives with her family. She devises a way to pick up the Jews, transport them through the German lines, and hide and feed them until they can be transported to safety. It was a daring act of courage, but well worth the efforts she made. I give this film an A- primarily because all the characters speak with an accent, and I find that tedious over the long-run.

Born in China is the moving story of three families of wild animals: the giant panda, the wild monkey, and the leopard. Each of these families have to live in ruggedly isolated terrain to be able to survive as their dietary needs depend on nature. The families are followed through an entire year of life, and it is interesting to engage with the animals in nature and see what the struggle for survival means to them. This is not a children's film, but older children who like animals will enjoy it. This film earns a solid A.

Jeremiah Tower is the biography of a well-known chef who suffered through a challenging early life, and then had three pivotal life-changing events as an adult. The look at his life is told through flash-backs interwoven with contemporary narrative by Jeremiah Tower himself. He fights valiantly for his career in fine dining, but with each step of his career comes an event that collapses what he's worked so hard to achieve. The end of the film is left open: is he permanently out of the food business or just waiting for another chance to fulfill his life-long dream to prepare the best food for patrons who will appreciate his talent. This film earns a strong B+ because it leaves the story open-ended, which I felt would have been better with an actual conclusion.

The Blue Apron Experience Part 2

If you haven't tried Blue Apron, I highly recommend the cook-it-yourself meal plan. So far, at the end of week 5, we've only had one meal that wasn't all that spectacular. We've enjoyed eating foods from different cultures and finding out how easy it is to prep/prepare when 2 people are involved in the process. From our first thought about dinner to sitting down to eat has not yet taken more than 30 minutes.

Part of what I have enjoyed is making the meal with Y. He's learned to read and follow directions, rather than flying by the seat of his pants in the kitchen. He's learned that the prep should all be done before the cooking starts -- unless there are potatoes or a grain. In that case, start the process by putting the grain or potato into a pot to cook as it takes that part of the meal about 14 minutes to cook and the rest of the meal half that time.

And, we do the dishes and clean the kitchen together, so I don't have to face a mess when all is said and done. Y is great at taking care of himself for most of his meals, but he "finishes" when he is done eating, regardless of what's left on the stove, on the counter, in the sink, and still on the table. Rarely is there a morning without a dirty pan still in the sink "soaking."

Sharing the Blue Apron experience means the meal prep and clean-up both get done, which makes me a much happier person all the way around.

The Spoken Word

Listening to a talk show interview caught my attention for the manner of speaking throughout the conversation. The actress talked about not doing something “as of yet,” which I’m not sure actually has any meaning. She was in “close proximity” to a friend, which is redundant because proximity means closeness. She assured the interviewer that “I, myself” had never done something another actor had done. And throughout the interview repeated, “it’s like, yeah” before finishing the thought.

I’m not sure why this type of conversation is so popular among young people, but it is fingernails on a chalkboard to me! Of course, all chalkboards are now whiteboards, so this young speaker would have no idea what I meant by that critique :-). 

Growing Old and Gardening

I finally broke down and hired the neighbor whose business is “garden,” as it says on the side of his truck. The front yard was so overgrown that one could literally not walk on the walkway to the front door. The weeds were up to 2 feet tall, and the bougainvillea completely blocked access from the garage to the front door. Made it a challenge to get to my front door, which is not bad – except for the fact that I’ve been purchasing items on line that need to be delivered to the front door.

Sergio did a great job and, in the process of cleaning, discovered that the bird fountain had broken into three separate pieces, which means the birds and stray cats can’t get a drink as the weather continues to warm. I’ll go up to the hardware store and buy a new ceramic fountain and then ask Sergio to drill a hole through the ceramic so the small rubber tubing for the watering system can be installed to keep the water fresh on a daily basis. The back yard is overgrown, but not in an area that interferes with navigation of the space, so it can stay that way.

I used to take pride in how nice my yard looks, but, frankly, I am all over the hours in the hot sun to get it to look that way, and the older I get, the less I want to do yardwork. I have talked to Sergio about his monthly plan, where he comes in and cleans up what needs cleaning and checks the watering system. I’ll only need him to do this until about October, so I’m opting for paying him the going rate and not have to do it myself.

UPDATING: After writing this post, I had occasion to go out to the patio and saw what a disaster my backyard is! Reluctantly, but shamed, I got the clippers and dead-headed some of the shrubbery, then turned on the water and gave all the plantings a much-needed drink of water. It's not perfect, but now if Sergio wants to take a look at the backyard, he won't be seeing dollars signs. :=)