Greyish

This week's Thematic Photography over at Written, Inc. is "Greyish". I chose this photo not just because it's grey, but because it shows movement (the current lapping on one side of the cone), weather (the raindrops hitting the water), and proof that indeed it does rain in southern California!

Oh yeah, and I didn't take this picture - DH did. He said I could use it, though. :-)

A Lesson in French

Last summer, DH and I spent a weekend in a small town for one of his sports meets.  It was a typical small town:  one grocery store, one gas station, a few motels, and about four bars.  While in our motel’s breakfast room, I was chatting with some of DH’s teammates.  Everyone else in the breakfast room was from the team except for one couple, who were conversing with each other in French.  As I was leaving the breakfast room, we all said the usual “Bye”, “See you at the site”, etc.  Just as I was about to go out the door, I turned around, looked at the couple, smiled and said, “Au revoir”.  The French-speaking couple looked quite shocked and said, “Au revoir!”  The looks on their faces were priceless.

A New Word

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I learned a new word!  It’s one I can even say at work, unlike some others I have learned in the past year or so….  Anyway, a local newspaper asked its readers to describe their biggest complaint about other drivers.  There were the typical responses:  lack of turn signal usage, slow mergers, bad parkers/door dingers, tailgating, etc.  One response, however, was “sidegating”.  Even though I had never heard this term before, I immediately knew what it meant because it happens to me a few times per week, at a minimum.

What is “sidegating”?  It’s a term derived from “tailgating”.  It’s when someone drives right next to you for a long time.  This happens to me a lot, but I don’t know why.  People zoom up to me, and then drive next to me for a long time.  Why do people do this?  It’s not like I’m going to look over and see who it is.  I really don’t care who it is, because I’m driving 60-65 mph on the freeway!  Is it because I sit deep in the car and from behind it looks like no one is driving?  If so, do they really think a car would drive itself?  *sigh*  I just ignore them.  They go away eventually – kind of like a rash.

Groundhog Day Lessons

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Now that Groundhog Day has come and gone, so has the movie.  Again.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, Bill Murray relives Groundhog Day countless times.  Every morning, it is Groundhog Day, but Bill remembers the previous day, which was also Groundhog Day.  He eventually realizes that his actions will have no consequences.  He also takes piano lessons.  This means that by the end of the movie, he’s a really good pianist.  This made me think about what I would do if my actions had no consequences.  I couldn’t think of much, though.  I couldn't think of anyone I'd like to tell to naff off or anything.  Maybe I would “predict” things at work (which would of course come true), and they would think I was brilliant.  Maybe I would buy lots of things I didn’t really have the money for.  Maybe I would drive as fast as I wanted to and park on the sidewalk.  Heck, maybe I would take a fancy car on a test drive and never return it.  Of course, I would do good things, too, like save people’s lives and such.  But about to those piano lessons….

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If I had all the time and money in a make-believe world, and my actions had no consequences, what would I do?  I had fun thinking about this one.  I could try roller derby, learn another language, learn how to fly a small plane, become a race car driver, take ice skating lessons, and maybe even learn how to sing or dance.  Heck, I could learn all sorts of sports and get into shape.  Did I mention that this would be in a make-believe world?

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If your actions had no consequences, what would you do?  If you could take lessons of some sort, what kind would you take?