Thursday, July 8, 2010

Garden sprinklers + PON = Joy.





The summer heat is on its way. It's supposed to get close to 40 today so Wilf will be spending much of his time asleep indoors on the cool tiled floors. Yesterday, as the sun was setting we turned on the garden sprinklers and he cavorted around under the refreshing spray like a three month old puppy. He, and his toy squirrel, soon got soaked to the skin charging from one sprinkler to the next and then back again. Wilf clearly hasn't figured out that water is involved in this game . This morning a smell of damp senior dog can be detected in the house.

Had been putting off going to the dentist to have a filling for over a year. 'The font' , who has no sense of prevarication, finally resolved matters by phoning up the surgery and arranging for an appointment on Monday afternoon. This was the same day I was due to talk to a group of American bankers in the evening so the logistics seemed to work well. The filling was at 5.30 and the speech was at 9.00 - plenty of time to let the anaesthetic wear off, shower, change and relax before rushing out again. Got back to the room in the hotel at 6.45 to check the invitation. Horror of horrors being an American group from Charlotte, dinner was at the decidedly un-European time of 7.00 pm . Worse - the accompanying letter ( who ever reads accompanying letters ? ) suggested that the talk and questions take place during, not after, dinner. One good thing - Amir's new '25 to life' style hair cut didn't need much drying. From shower to dinner took ten minutes max. Whatever prompted me to mention Condoleezza Rice and Aretha Franklin in my opening remarks? As I heard it coming out as 'Condohleethah Wythhh an Weetha Fwankwin' the reasons for not having a jaw numbing filling an hour before an early evening dinner talk became obvious.

17 comments:

  1. But Angus, you must have sounded just like Asta! (You know my WFT friend Asta in New York don't you?) Do tell me, were you wearing something orange?
    Toodle pip!
    Bertie (ow should that be Bewtie?)

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  2. Sorry Angus.....we're still laughing. You probably got their attention quickly though. Will heed your advice.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

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  3. Oh Angus, THANKS for the grin to start my day! You know I work in a dental office and will be sharing that story today, it's priceless! But at least you weren't drooling as often happens when people are numb...You weren't were you?
    :-D!!

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  4. In another lifetime, I was an office manager for a large dental practice in CA. I wish I had videoed every woman who came out after having work done that tried to put on lipstick. Just be glad you didn't have to do that before your speech!!

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  5. Chuckling - the hu-dad grew up in Charlotte before moving up into the mountains.

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  6. ROFL....
    the mental picture of you bald and inarticulate... and the invited speaker flown all the way across the ditch - priceless!

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  7. That's a great story! Thanks for the laugh.

    Love the image of Wilf cavorting in the sprinklers, beloved toy in mouth!

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  8. Does Wilf like to bite the water as it comes out from a hose or sprinkler? That's one of Jakey's favorite things to do.

    And of course we are curious as to what Condoleetha and Aweetha were doing in your welcoming remarks. We do agree with Bertie -- our pal Asta would have handled the absence of "rs" with pawfect aplomb!

    xxx Joan

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  9. Wow! At least in a few months when your hair grows back, nobody is likely to recognize you.

    Have you ever seen that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer goes to the dentist and then to a "special" dinner with Mel Torme? It could have been worse!

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  10. From what I understand, folks in Charlotte talk differently anyway. Y'all just remember that. Roodles! Stuart

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  11. Good Lord, forget about the pronunciation of their names! What on earth do these two women have in common??

    You do make me laugh, Angus!

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  12. Lucky Wilf to be able to run around like a puppy through the sprinkler! I'm guessing you didn't join in running around like a kid........

    From haircut to numbed mouth it sounds like you're developing a hard skin around your ego! Think of it as just more of life's experiences to look back and laugh about :)

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  13. We are really, really laughing here!

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  14. I can't even begin to imagine what you might say about Condoleezza Rice and Aretha Franklin in the same sentence in your opening remarks!?

    My mom had a poodle many years ago who used to love to play in the sprinklers.

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  15. oh dear. heehee. i'm sure those american bankers had an entertaining evening.
    glad wilf enjoyed his sprinkler shower. :)

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