Paula Light, at Light Motifs II, has this prompt she calls TGIF. She encourages us to take this opportunity to openly chat or Jabber about anything we want.
Language Barrier Breakthrough
A few months back I had some extensive landscape work done by a contractor. It involved tearing out my front lawn and replacing it with drought tolerant plants, boulders, and a dry rock riverbed. The landscaper said that he would replace, at no cost, any plants that died within three months.
Well, two died. One in the front and one in the back. This morning, he sent José, a member of his team, to remove the dead shrubs and replace them with new ones. When he finished with the one in the front, he knocked at my front door. It became clear when he started speaking that he didn’t speak English. I don’t speak Spanish. So I shrugged my shoulders as he spoke, which is when he made hand gestures indicating he was going to now head to the back of the house.
I nodded to tell him it was fine, but then he started talking in Spanish again. And again I shrugged, indicating I didn’t understand what he was saying. Then he said three words: “woof, woof, woof.”
I smiled and said, “Our dog is in the house, so it’s okay for you to go in the backyard,” and flashed him the okay hand sign. It was a real breakthrough.
Do I Smell Like an Old Person?
First, I am an old person. Second, I’ve taken to showering every other day, not only to save water during our drought, but because I hardly ever go anywhere anymore. Today was my day to take a shower, but all I’m doing today is taking a quick run to the grocery store and tomorrow we’ll be heading over to visit our grandkids. So I figured I’d wait to take a shower tomorrow morning.
Anyway, after I got dressed, I asked my wife to smell me. “Do I smell like an old person?” I asked.
“You are an old person,” she responded.
“But do I smell like an old person?” I asked. “You know, that stale, musty, moth bally-like smell that old people have?”
“You’re being ridiculous,” she said. “And pick me up a bottle of wine when you’re at the store.” As I was stepping out the door, she called out, “You may want to wash your clothes more often.”
And on that note, happy TGIF, everyone.
Included in this post is the Ragtag Daily Prompt (breakthrough).
This, That, and the Other 
Lol mothballs 🤣
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Anytime I get a Hispanic landscaper, I always tell them “Green side up.”
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Ha! Ha!
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Haha……
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It is true. We rarely get really dirty unless someone, usually me or Owen, are gardening … or I’m cleaning. Also, EVEN when we aren’t running low on water, if I wash my hair more than once a week (give or take a day or two), it dries to the texture of straw and starts to break. And my skin goes completely dry and starts to flake off. All of which the doctor assures me is perfectly NORMAL. What does ABnormal look like? Garry admitted he is having the same problem with his skin, but he doesn’t have long hair so IT doesn’t break. It’s already gone.
I don’t know about other people and mothballs but we have mothballs because we also have mice — who don’t like mothballs. Or peppermint. We live in the woods in New England. It gets cold? Mice come IN and no amount of poison or traps can completely eliminate them. They are tiny and can infiltrate through hole so tiny, you wouldn’t think it is big enough for a pencil much less a creature.
So there’s a definitely mothball smell, but that’s better than having ones clothing shredded by mice who think it looks “homey.”
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So far, other than ants, flies, and small spiders, we haven’t had any critters enter our house. So no need for mothballs. Like Garry, I have no hair to break.
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It is reported the giant beetle nasic is on it’s annual migration from Florida to California. They enter houses via cracks and crevices. Alert pest control if spotted.
I am a nasicornous
Beetle (yes I am)
A giant of my genus
Black and blue and flan
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If you live in a woods, when it gets cold, the mice look for a warm place to nest and any house nearby wins. So we all have mice, although we do our best to control them. We get the poisons replaced annually and we always have extra traps. This year, the mice started coming into the house in the summer because of the heat. They also get into your car and the goal is to try and keep them from chewing up your wiring. They are a real pain in the butt.
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I can relate to your contractor experience. Our Spanish gentleman comes every month. I practice my Spanish and he practices his English. Still a lot of nodding of heads to say we understand but can’t express verbally our thoughts. Works out well for both of us. He has no problem with our currency 🙂
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Pointing and drawing pictures helps too!
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Seriously, you do write an interesting story here……….
You didn’t offer him a cup of tea?……….
Poor fella. He even asked for one. ‘Mi taza de té……Spanish for ‘my cup of tea?’…and all you did was give a shrug
You’re gonna have to sharpen up on your Spanish Fan…….
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sí señor.
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Lol. Your wife is funny! 😀
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That did add up to some jabbering. It’s a fun read. I find it very bright and humble that the guy said, “Woof, woof, woof.”
Are you going to wash your clothes more? I remember my mom saying old people sometimes don’t notice how they smell.
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I think…I hope…my wife was being facetious.
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Do you use a lot of mothballs? Once that smell is in the house it is on everything and everybody… I know, my grandmother used to have a ton of them around her house.
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My parents did, but I never had them in any of my homes.
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