Random Thoughts Sechs: Eeeeehhhh...

[Valka D'Ur]

A can of bananas ?
Bananas in a can ?!?!?!
How ?
Why ?

I tried to explain to my dad that there are three ways to buy bananas: In the produce section of a grocery store, in the candy section (dried banana chips are yummy), or at Dairy Queen in the form of a banana split. They are not sold in cans.

He pointed to the label that said "l'anana" and I started to laugh. I explained that he'd found a can with the French side of the label turned out and that "anana" was French for pineapple (for those folks unfamiliar with Canadian grocery stores, all food labels are required to be bilingual, in English and French, even in the half of the country where very few people speak French).

All the spam calls I get are in Mandarin.

But you live in a city with a lot of Mandarin speakers, so that's not completely wacky.

3am, still unable to sleep, but my brain think something very interesting, now I live in a rented 90 m2 house with 70 m2 building, but a lot of time we discuss about the good old day when we just move to the city, we lived in a studio size apartment 4 family member, the flat possessed a dynamic scent, a scent of whatever we cook that day, but there were lots of interaction and laugh.

I made another realization, when we were visiting my parent's villa with only our family (parents mostly live in the city, close to hospital), 1800 m2 in the country side with a nice mountainous view. The spacious house isolated us most of the time, our body actually only occupied that specific amount of space, so however huge our ambition to enjoy a spacious living space, our body only be able to occupied that much, actually it is pretty pointless, there are lot of corner left not used, empty most of the time, just like a dead living space, whenever we established our favorite spot, the other spot mostly left untouched and empty. During our visit to my parent house, we want to go back to our little house asap.

Now I concluded for myself that, a huge living space (not mansion or palace obiviously they served for a lot of inhabitants) are only a candy to the eyes but will not serve its function as a home, like you saw a beautiful river in a very cold morning, you think it will be cool for you if you jump and swim, while the reality it will be quite a torment, a huge spaces ergonomically speaking, separated the family member that live there, unless they are a bunch of giant, it will hardly served its function as a home.

I mostly use two of the rooms in my apartment for books and craft supplies. One of them is also where Maddy's litter box is, so I joke that that one is "Maddy's room." Of course that's not where I sleep and since she sleeps with me, basically every room here is Maddy's room (except the bathroom; she's not allowed in there).

Just because I don't spend a lot of time in those rooms, it doesn't mean they're less of a home. It's where I keep a lot of my stuff, and my dad's ashes are tucked away in one of the dressers in the library/craft room. It's appropriate since my dad was considerate of my hobbies and even sketched a horse one time when I got a custom order for a horse-themed needlepoint project. He gave me some advice on colors and how to shade them so they looked more realistic.

BTW, you can use superscript to indicate square metres.

 

[H4run]

Just because I don't spend a lot of time in those rooms, it doesn't mean they're less of a home.

I agreed in the sense that it serves its function, having a special working and reading room where you can have your own attitude when you enter that room is very nice, I actually expecting the fifth member of the family, it is necessary to seek for a house with additional room, which mean I currently considering to move to a bigger house than a house with 2 room.

Living in a tiny space with your family packed like sardinise, like I experienced when I just moved, shares many funny and warm moment not as horrible as I anticipated, it is suprisingly a very special experience that we look back a lot of time, however the spacial limitation also makes it functionally problematic (I hope it makes sense).

I was questioning myself how can I provide a standard of life like my parent give me, I always think back then we were living in a quite spacial space, but now not anymore, and as a career person it is impossible from my earning to have such property. But that huge villa with 7 room and 4 living space is not actually something nice also in the end, the main house is nice but a smaller house gather the family more together and easier to clean, my parent dont live in the villa anymore and now it mostly empty and they rent it (count per day) to other people, good for invesment but very questionable for home.

 

[H4run]

One of them is also where Maddy's litter box is, so I joke that that one is "Maddy's room." Of course that's not where I sleep and since she sleeps with me, basically every room here is Maddy's room (except the bathroom; she's not allowed in there).

Sorry I type the reply on the phone and click post by mistake and I dont know how to merge it. Then bathroom must be Maddy's number one obsession lol I like her name, people usually name cat with not so serious name like "whitey", "miaw" or just random cute noise like "cici". I name my cat Pamuk, but alas he lost now, next time I will make sure to only adopt stray cat so no one interest to steal it.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Sorry I type the reply on the phone and click post by mistake and I dont know how to merge it. Then bathroom must be Maddy's number one obsession lol I like her name, people usually name cat with not so serious name like "whitey", "miaw" or just random cute noise like "cici". I name my cat Pamuk, but alas he lost now, next time I will make sure to only adopt stray cat so no one interest to steal it.

Litter boxes are extremely important to cats.

I didn't choose Maddy's name. That's the name her original human family gave her. The guy who gave her to me said I could change her name; she was only 7 weeks old, so that's young enough to adjust to a new name. But after a couple of weeks of observing and interacting with her, I couldn't think of any better name. So her name is Maddy, and she has a couple of cutesy nicknames she also answers to.

A few years ago some jerk started leaving notes on my living room window and the door of the apartment building, accusing me of stealing his cat (he insisted Maddy was his). Well, I have proof that she's mine - I kept the emails I exchanged with the person who gave her to me, plus there are vet records from when she got her vaccinations and when she was spayed. But this guy was absolutely creepy. I was living in a basement suite at the time and it would have been easy for him to break the window, come in, and grab her.

I told the manager, and she said to call the cops. I did, but they didn't take it remotely seriously, even after I told them I didn't feel safe with this guy coming around. So finally I took the notes he left with me down to the police station and insisted they open a file (one of the times when I tell people what I want them to do and I won't leave until they've done it).

Well, thankfully my place was not broken into and nobody stole Maddy. But this was really unsettling. At least now nobody can leave threatening notes on my living room window without a very long ladder or cherry picker, since my balcony is at the equivalent height of a 2nd-storey window.

 

[H4run]

@Valka D'Ur reading your story really worried me, what if he is more a freak than a jerk when he keeps press on with the matter after the mail exchanges, something tell me that just doesnt feel right, but I'm glad both you and Maddy already moved out from that place.

 

[Gori the Grey]

"Pineapple" however must clearly be the result of a drunk thought process. It doesn't look like an apple, or a pine cone.

"apple" has an etymology that reaches back before the word got associated with genus malus, where it just means "fruit" generally. And "pine" derives from "spiky." So, "spiky fruit," which does pretty well describe a pineapple.

 

[Traitorfish]

It is because they thought it looked like a pinecone, though. "Pineapple" is an archaic name for pinecones. I guess it makes more sense if you've just stumbled off a 15th century caravel after drinking nothing but your own urine for the last week of the trip.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You're on fire today

 

[Cutlass]

I'm just astonished that other countries shut down on holidays that aren't Christmas.

America doesn't even close too much on xmas anymore.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'm just astonished that other countries shut down on holidays that aren't Christmas.

Some places here close for Easter (Good Friday is considered a stat holiday). Some others close on New Year's Day. Restaurants do a booming business on Thanksgiving (2nd Monday in October).

Around here it's less than 40 years since stores were mandated to close on Sunday. There was a city-wide plebiscite on this and I was working at one of the polling stations. It was insane, the way we weren't allowed to explain the bylaw to anyone or even the question on the ballot (for fear of influencing the voters). There were a lot of people who didn't know what the word "repeal" meant, so we were given a piece of paper with the dictionary definition printed on it and had to tell them to read that. If they still didn't understand, we had to tell them to phone City Hall.

 

[rah]

Unlike the old days in Chicago where if an old person or immigrant were confused how to operate the voting machine, there were always plenty of poll watchers that would show them how to vote for the democrat candidate.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Unlike the old days in Chicago where if an old person or immigrant were confused how to operate the voting machine, there were always plenty of poll watchers that would show them how to vote for the democrat candidate.

The only voting machine people have to know how to use here is a pencil. We use paper ballots for provincial and federal elections. It's more secure - leaves a tangible paper trail to the exact DRO/Poll Clerk team that issued a specific ballot (although the exact identity of the voter isn't known among all the names on the list for that voting station). If anything goes amiss, that team is in trouble.

Contrast that with the way our premier "won" his position as party leader. Voting was online and the RCMP have found evidence of voter fraud. Of course this means that some flunky will have to pay fines or go to jail. The premier himself will skate, even though there is no way he couldn't have known about this.

But then he's a Reformacon, and that's how they do things. They cheat.

 

[Takhisis]

I was standing at the bus stop and wondering like an idiot why it's late.
Then I remembered that the schedules are different during sundays and holidays.
Then I remembered that today is a holiday and I don't need to go to work.

You need more Dubioza Kolektiv. That way you'll never forget about the day.

Spoiler non-Ingerlish tekst :

Naspi nam po rakiju i nazdravi za kraj
tehnološki višak danas slavi 1. maj
Ovdje se rastajemo, zbogom, good bye
mi idemo u stečaj, sretan 1. maj
Danas nije Olimpijada
danas nije ni gej-parada
garant nije Čimburijada
danas je praznik dan rada!

3. "Ananas" is actually from a local language. Tupi or Guarani or some such.

Guarani ‘naná’ → Portuguese → ‘ananás’ → everywhere else

I checked my etymological dictionary.

Also, are you folks making me explain humor again?

You're bound to get it right someday.

 

[Ferocitus]

It is because they thought it looked like a pinecone, though. "Pineapple" is an archaic name for pinecones. I guess it makes more sense if you've just stumbled off a 15th century caravel after drinking nothing but your own urine for the last week of the trip.

My cousin brought some chocolate-covered sweets to Australia as a gift. They tasted like what I think Lithuanians imagine pineapple should taste like.
However, many people back home have illegal stills that use the recycling method you mentioned, so that could explain the abomination.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Someone yeeted at me yesterday irl and I can't stop thinking about it

 

[Synobun]

Someone yeeted at me yesterday irl and I can't stop thinking about it

 

[Hygro]

Hnnnnrrrrgggggggg dislike button

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I don't hate that

 

[GenMarshall]

He pointed to the label that said "l'anana" and I started to laugh. I explained that he'd found a can with the French side of the label turned out and that "anana" was French for pineapple (for those folks unfamiliar with Canadian grocery stores, all food labels are required to be bilingual, in English and French, even in the half of the country where very few people speak French.

Something I always wondered is how different Canadian French is compared to Metropolitan/European French. Since I looked at it as a difference in dialect akin to Bostonian Accent vs Standard American English.

Also I’m just a learner in Metro/European French .

 

[cardgame]

Why do you call them eggplants rather than aubergines? They don't exactly lay eggs.

British people: we're the most english of all english because we invented english and Americans are silly if they think they're on the same level of English as us.

also British people: we submit to the french, our hated enemy, and call this plant an aubergine.

I could probably do a whole virgin/chad meme here but I hate that meme.