But this one I took, because it was a vocabulary test. Here's my result:
That's right, I've got a huge vocabulary. Bigger than several other authors, and I know, because I spent an hour searching for similar results on Twitter. I am wicked proud of my vocabulary - but it struck me, as I was patting myself on the back, that I have no idea why I get so much self-affirmation from being a walking dictionary.
It's not like I use a lot of $14 words when writing fiction. On the contrary, I try to keep my language somewhat stripped down. (Although I did use the word defenestrate in one of my books. It's delightfully precise, that word.) I speak pretty much like everyone else - I may have an active vocabulary of slightly more than the average 20,000 words, but lets face it, shopping at Hanneford, going out for pizza and chatting with neighbors at the town I haven't even monetized my achievement by tutoring kinds on SAT vocabulary words. (I understand that in the right neighborhood, tutors can get up to $15,000 these days!) I have to conclude I'm proud of my suberabundant lexicon just because it's cool to me, in the same way some folks are proud of their completely alphabetized vinyl collection or their ability to play the Peruvian nose flute.
It got me thinking about the other utterly useless skills in which I glory. Being able to wiggle my nostrils (maybe I should try to Peruvian flute.) The ability to make perfectly engineered book covers out of paper grocery sacks (this is useful, except stretchy book covers are less than a dollar and don't take thirty minutes to put on.) The way I can pick out and sing the harmony line while listening to pop songs on the radio. There are many things that stir pride in us because they are genuine accomplishments. There are others - hopefully fewer - that we take pleasure in because they enable us to also be quietly superior, like making perfect lane-to-lane turns in traffic or having the cleanest and best-sorted recyclables at the Transfer Station. (Okay, I was talking about me. Did you guess?)
But there's a happy purity to achievements that just don't mean that much to anyone else - like learning to play the ukulele, or being able to recite all the states capitols in alphabetical order (by state, of course.) In our culture, where everything has to be branded, monetized, useful and busy, it's a sweet thing to know you can recite all of Evangeline - even if absolutely no one will ever ask you to do so.
How about you, dear readers? What useless skills and accomplishments do you delight in?
While I’m not at all certain that I possess any particular skill, useless or otherwise, I do enjoy being able to call out the answers before the contestants when I'm watching "Jeopardy" or "Wheel of Fortune" . . . .
ReplyDeleteJoan, I do the same thing! I actually have a season's pass on Comcast for Jeopardy because it just makes me feel good. Not that I could be a contestant--as I get older I can frequently come up with someone's first name, but not necessarily the last name, and that doesn't help me at all in Jeopardy. But the best is knowing the Final Jeopardy answer when none of the contestants does--bliss!
DeleteSo true, Margie . . . I doubt that I could actually be a contestant, either, but it’s fun to play from the living room. And getting the Final Jeopardy answer is downright awesome . . . .
DeleteAnd, Julia, I love the comment that you can “create new words that will expand the English dictionary” . . . that’s quite awesome!
ReplyDeleteI do find myself creating new words when I write, Joan - but it usually turns out I've just messed up or squashed together real words...
DeleteI love these - and had no idea there even was a Peruvian nose flute! I delight in coming across a new word I'd never heard of before - the New Yorker is good for that - and adding it to my lexicon. I have what some call a useless skill - hanging the laundry on the clothesline by person and category. His pants, collared shirts, t-shirts, socks, and undies. Mine, same. Kitchen dishtowels. Bath towels. And so on. That way, when you fold them dry and wind-ironed directly from the line into the laundry basket, they are all ready to put away in the house. Cool, no? I consider it highly useful, and can't wait for the ground to dry out under my clothesline so I can stop using the dryer.
ReplyDeleteI can also write a tome in very tiny printing on a postcard. I might have more useless skills but work calls (the dreaded synopsis writing...).
NOOOOOOOOOO not the synopsis! I would rather eat glass than write one of those. You have my sympathies, Edith.
DeleteHmm. Well I can fold a fitted sheet without any help!
ReplyDeleteWHOA. I can do that, too, but you might not call it "folded."
DeleteSo can I, it's called "balling it up".
DeleteAnd Rick wins today's post of the day contest!
DeleteLOL!
DeleteJudi: Teach me Jedi Master!
DeleteBrava, on the vocabulary, Julia! And who knew about the Peruvians? How creative of them, no?
ReplyDeleteI've chosen the colors for the new house (it's been primed in those colors, the final coat pending the floors being finished), and painting to freshen up the old one. Which has reminded me that I have a very good color memory. I can look at the fifty jillion shades of blue and come super close to the one I want, without anything to match to. Finally, my time to shine!
And of course, there's the more common ability to remember 90% of the song lyrics--complete with do-wah sound effects--from the 50's through the 80's. It's very useful for road trips, especially with Sirius XM in the car. It amuses my husband endlessly.
Sometimes I wonder how much I might be able to accomplish if my brain wasn't 50% concerned with storing every old song and commercial jingle from 1965 - 1985. I can belt out the Ajax ad song from 1972 but I can't recall the name of the woman who's been sitting behind me in church for the last 10 years.
DeleteWe're all right there with you, Julia.
DeleteKaren’ I am with you on the song lyrics! And Broadway show tunes. All of them. I wish there were room in my brain for something else. I can also sing songs using only the first letter of the word.. OSCYS, for instance, for oh say can you see It is a rarely called-upon skill.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a shame, Hank! LOL
DeleteHank, you never cease to amaze me with your talents!
DeleteI have sung in a church choir for the past 20-ish years, and while my overall musical talent is what I would term "Good enough and no more," I have become the go-to person for finding the first note. (First note of the song, or first note of a new section of the song after a silence.) This secretly thrills me because it is a case of having shored up a weakness to the point that it became a strength.
ReplyDeleteAnother useless skill that gives me a weird personal satisfaction is that when I check out at the grocery store, I load the groceries onto the scanner belt in the order that grocery store baggers are taught to bag things: produce first, then meat and dairy and other refrigerated items, frozen items, canned and dry goods, finally non-grocery items. No one ever seems to notice, but I get that smug little feeling of having "done it right."
Susan, they should notice! That's an awesome ability.
DeleteAnd that reminds me of a skill I inherited from my dad. I can hold something in my hand (tomato, say) and accurately guess the weight. My dad was a butcher, briefly, and I'm sure that was useful for him, less so for me.
Sounds like Perfect Pitch, Susan. Very useful. (Though apparently a pain when the song is sung in a transposed key.)
DeleteI'm good with mom things: a cell phone photo of a rash (contact dermatitis) or forehead gash (you need the little white strips), mending, landscaping, basic cooking (how do I cook a turkey/make a pie crust/frost a cake), curtains and rods.
ReplyDeleteAnd song lyrics from the seventies forward and Broadway shows.
Oh, mom things. Margaret, my sister and I both agree one of the things we miss most about our mother is calling up and asking, "How do you____?" We were still relying on her experience, and we're both in our fifties! Now I guess I'm the person who has to know everything. At least I have Google to help.
DeleteFascinating stuff--and so true about the tiny things we do that give us a secret thrill of satisfaction! There is an intersection I drive frequently. You go up a small incline at an angle to the main road. Easy enough if you are turning right. It's when you come from the main road and want to turn left that you need to overshoot the intersection by a bit, then turn in at an angle if you want to be in your lane when you make the turn. If you're not in your lane, any cars waiting on the incline have to back down the incline to get out of the way. When I execute the left turn perfectly, I remember all the times I've had to back down that incline and think, "This is the way to do it."
ReplyDeleteAnd I also hang my laundry by category and load my groceries on the belt by categories too. These are more for my convenience--so when I get home, the bags are easily sorted: freezer, fridge, pantry.
Nice, Flora! I like that loading groceries trick. That's not useless at all - it saves time on the back end!
DeleteI have two superpowers:
ReplyDelete1. Parallel parking. I can even park in an empty spot on the left if I need to. What can I say? I had really good driving instructors in high school. Sometimes, if it's a really tight spot, my husband gets out and I parallel park the car. LOL
2. Dog and Cat attraction. They know I love them. Dogs run to me, even dogs who hate people. Cats who are afraid of everything sometimes sneak up and sit next to me. ("You'll never see my cat. He hates everyone. Hey! What the heck?!") My husband says it's like watching a Disney movie. Of course, he is also sure that some day a dog is going to bite me. He's known me since I was 15; you'd think he'd realize by now that I know how to introduce myself to strange dogs.
I'm giggling over "you think he'd realize by now." Yeah...no.
DeleteThat is SO cute.
DeleteCathy, can you come visit me and teach Youngest to parallel park? I'll supply room, board, car and teenager.
DeleteJulia, any time! I love Maine. It's like Michigan but with an ocean.
DeleteI can file hard copy papers correctly. This means by alphabetical order then by chronological order within the alphabetically arranged file folders.
ReplyDeleteI've discovered that with the advent of the computer and the scanner,people in an office just learn how to name a file and they think the computer "knows" where to put things. Many don't even bother to keep the paper document they scanned because "it's in the cloud, silly." When the cloud crashes, and the machines turn against us, I will be among the much sought after few who know where the secret documents that outline our eventual victory in the battle are filed.
P.S. I will also be one of the few who will know how to balance a check book manually.
DeleteOooh, that's one of my useless skills too Lyda. I was told that I should teach a class on how to keep a check register to balance the checkbook for the bank's customers. I'm annoyingly anal about that. I got that from my mother.
DeleteOkay, everybody: wWe're all going to meet up at Lyda's house when the (Zombie/Peak Oil/EMP/Robot) Apocalypse comes. Please bring snacks and shoes that are good to walk in.
DeleteWow! I am so in awe of everyone's skills and resourcefulness! The only odd/obscure talent I have that I am secretly proud of is that I can usually peel an orange in one long strip of peel. I always thought this was cool, so I practiced, and was vindicated when my niece and nephew were in high school, saw me do it, and were amazed.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool! Can you do it on lemons, too?
DeleteI should have added that skill, too!
DeleteI have never tried it on lemons, but it can work on grapefruit, tangerines, and clementines. I'm getting better are peeling apples in one long spiral, too.
DeleteI love your super powers Reds! Mine is that I can cross my legs, then spread my toes wide and interlace them. this is not useful in any way, but it's mine:)
ReplyDeleteWow! Taking off my socks to try...and can't full interlace. On one side I can do about three toes, on the other not at all. You rock, Lucy.
DeleteWe want video, Lucy!!!
DeleteUseless? I don't think any of the skills mentioned are useless. I can fold a fitted sheet neatly, parallel park is a space six inches longer than my car -- comes from living years in Belmont Shore across the street from the sand, and though I can't sing nor play any instrument with skill, but I can tell you when the second soprano is a quarter sharp.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the skill that continues to astonish Julie is that I can cook a multi-course dinner and have everything ready to eat at the same time and still hot. Bless her. A related skill is that I can set the timer for, say, twenty minutes, come back to the living room, and and 19.5 minutes get up and head back to the kitchen, arriving just as it buzzes. Every time.
It's the little things, isn't it!
All-at-the-same time --That is a HUGE skill. Can you come over?
DeleteBut the timer thing--I have that, too!
Finta, getting it all out at the same time is a GIFT. I've been cooking huge holiday dinners for over 15 years now, and I've NEVER managed it, no matter how many lists I make and timers I set. Brava.
DeleteThis is so embarrassing. I can't say that I have a single rare skill, unless you count being able to blow-dry my hair in under a minute. Here's what I wish I could do: The splits. A backbend. Tuvan throat singing. Yodel.
ReplyDeleteGoing to shop for groceries and now that I know how, bagging them correctly. Thanks, Susan!
Hallie, it takes me around 10 minutes to blow dry my hair, so I'm officially declaring your land-speed-breaking record a Skill.
DeleteY'all have been making me laugh since I read the first three posts at 5am (well, actually I have been laughing since yesterday's blog) and it is driving me nuts to think of some interesting skills! It has never occurred to me to hang laundry by person and category, but it is an AWESOME idea!
ReplyDeleteI can do lyrics if they are in the 70's and older, and I can alphabetize circles around people. Sometimes, when I am in the only bookstore around (which shall remain nameless, but its initials are BAM), I can hardly resist re-ordering the books on the shelves, because they are in NO discernible order at all! I don't know how they sell anything, since no one could possibly find what they are looking for.
I guess my most useless skill is trying to put in too much detail when I am telling a story, and everyone who was listening at first gives up and leaves. It was a skill my mother passed on to me. :( sigh
I share this "skill" however my son does not rate it as such. He has a less generous term for it.
DeleteJulia, one of my characters used "exsanguination" in a story once - he got all happy over using it and another character told him to stop trying to impress folks with his fancy vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteApparently, my special skill is keeping track of the schedule of every single person in my household, inclusive of required car maintenance, because I'm asked for this information frequently and rarely fail to answer correctly.
Liz, that used to be my special skill as well! I could never figure out why, when EVERYTHING was color-coded on Google calendar, which everyone had access to, I was the ONLY person in a household of five who knew where everyone was supposed to be at any given time.
Deletethis is fun reading about our skills. I can operate old office equipment such as a Dvorak Keyboard. This was a typewriter that was redesigned to allow for quick and logical typing. I can run a mimeograph machine and a tape recorder from the 1960's. I can research using books instead of computers. I have a good sense of smell and can still identify spices that are older than 10 years. I can conquer dust bunnies that are primordial sized.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I loved that you used defenestrate in one of your books. It gave me a little shiver of "hey I now that!"
I took that vocabulary quiz. Enjoyed it.
Like Liz's example of "exsanguination" above, it's useful because it explains exactly what happens in one word instead of eight (let all the blood drain from the body) or five (threw him out the window.) Fewer syllables, too!
DeleteI am double jointed so I can do lots of weird things with my fingers and toes and, like Mary Poppins, can say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards ~
ReplyDeleteDouble-jointedness is in a special class of things that both make you go, "OOoooo!" and give you the creeps up your spine. At the same time.
DeleteCelia, if you have children, are any of them also double-jointed?
DeleteBoth of my thumbs are double-jointed, and all three of my daughters each has one double-jointed thumb, all the same thumb. One of them has a different father, too. It's like an exercise from a class in genetics.
Once, while I was still working, I received an advertisement for a business communication training class. It asked me to find all of the grammatical mistakes in a sample. When I found more mistakes than they had intended, they told me I should be teaching the class! Grammar nerds are not popular, but this skill has been helpful when writing Toastmasters speeches and editing my Sisters in Crime newsletter, and it makes me inordinately proud. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean I always speak grammatically.
ReplyDeleteYes, but no one speaks grammatically all the time, Margie. if we did, we would all sound the people in the learning-to-speak-a-foreign-language tapes. "Where is Sylvie?" "At the pool." "With whom?" "With Anne."
DeleteGetting it right on paper (or glowing pixels) is what counts.
I was talking with my Sister-in-law not too long after my niece was born. I don’t remember what word I had used, but she stopped, looked at me, and said, “If she spends much time around you, she’s going to have a huge vocabulary.” My niece does, but it’s nit from spending time with me, sadly. I wish I could see her more. Instead, it’s from her parents and grandparents.
ReplyDeleteYour vocabulary definitely puts mine to shame.
But I challenge you to a Disney trivia contest. Talk about a completely useless skill. It maybe a Calvin and Hobbes quote contest.
My Disney trivia is sadly out of date, Mark, as my kids stopped mainlining Disney movies a decade or so ago.
DeleteYou don't necessarily need someone around speaking to have a large vocabulary. Although my mother was very well read and well spoken, I'm pretty sure I got most of my unusual words from reading voraciously between the ages of 5 to 57. And counting.
Shalom Reds and fans. My fingers can tell the difference between two coffee filters or one when stuck together. Sort of useless but I make a lot of coffee.
ReplyDeleteThe struggle is real, David. We all do what we can.
DeleteI'm so impressed with everyone. Great skills.
ReplyDeleteMy own superpower is the ability to emit a shrill whistle through my fingers.
Need to silence the crowd? I'll do it. Want to get the attention of your friend at the other end of the beach...? Just ask me.
It's extremely useful and endlessly impressive to friends and strangers alike.
(I can also brilliantly navigate a roundabout when driving in Britain, but there's less call for that.)
But can the two-finger whistle actually get cabs like it does in 1950s movies?
DeleteI am awed by anyone who can fold a fitted sheet. Pretty good at all other laundry folding, including queen size sheets without help, but cannot master fitted. A deep bow to you all! My super power probably is that I am a fund of unimportant facts. Not quite as sharp as I used to be but still way better than average. This is useful for absolutely nothing except watching Jeopardy and playing Trivial Pursuit, though it's fun to occasionally awe my family. My grandkids think it's impressive that I can "fix" things with a needle and thread, but probably they will outgrow that.
ReplyDeleteNever discount the thrill of knowing some random fact when it's mentioned on Jeopardy or shows up in Trivial Pursuit, Triss. "Hey, I know that!" is a powerful drug.
DeleteWow, I am so impressed by all these talents! I, too, can fold a fitted sheet. I can navigate roundabouts in the UK, AND I can shift left-handed in a standard car. I can parallel park. I can usually get multiple courses on the table at the same time. I organize grocery lists by section of the store.
ReplyDeleteBut my biggest talent is also a curse. I have a very keen sense of smell. While this might be useful for a perfumer or an oenologist (there's a good vocabulary word!) or a chef, in real life, it's a big nuisance. Just ask my husband.
That does sound potentially disastrous, Debs. I love perfume, but I only wear it around the house or when I'm not going to be shut up with people unable to escape from the scent, because I've heard how annoying it can be to supersmellers. Is that a word? Like supertasters is a thing?
DeleteI can back into parking spaces, and in fact prefer to back in. Passengers are always impressed, for some reason. I always back into my assigned space at home. On the rare occasion when I have not done so, a neighbor has asked if I’m feeling well!
ReplyDeleteI have a good memory for names and details. My friends, family, coworkers have all depended on me to remember things for them. I always caution them that they’re too dependent on me, and had better hope that I don’t lose my memory as I get older! At the place where I worked, when someone retires they are presented at their retirement party with a plaque containing a “proclamation” that is half serious, half fun, mentioning their various qualities or quirks. When I retired last year, mine mentioned my superb memory for details! Family and people who worked closely with me all nodded. (Believe me, they are way too dependent on me!) On occasion I stop off at my former office to say hello. Nearly always, someone will ask me where to find some information or how to do something.
DebRo
DebRo, along with Lyda (see above) we're going to out you in charge when the Zombie/Peak Oil/EMP/Robot Apocalypse comes. Details are going to matter, and we'll have to preserve paper, so we can't write everything down!
DeleteI thought of two more, but they are actually useful. I can fall asleep and power nap for exactly fifteen minutes, then sit up and go back to work refreshed.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I've forgotten the other one, so I definitely don't have the useful memory skill...
I wish I could power nap, Edith. My son, The Sailor, can do it as well - very useful in the military! If I go down for a nap, I'm out for hours.
DeleteI once answered a Final Jeopardy category before they even asked the question (and no, it wasn't a repeat episode). They showed the category as "World Fashion" and then went to commercial before giving the clue. I turned to my mother and said, "Watch the answer be "What is a burqa?".
ReplyDeleteThe show came back, and Alex read the clue and I burst out laughing because that is exactly what the answer was! My mother just looked at me and said, "How could you possibly have guessed that?"
In my best totally sarcastic tone of voice I told here it was because "I am exceptionally freaking brilliant!"
Beyond that, I can't think of what useless skills I have. Hell, I can't recall having many useful skills for that matter.
And yes, I do have a vocabulary. But I tend to stick with the same basic words everyone else uses. I follow the John Thompson (former Georgetown basketball coach) philosophy when it comes to language. As he said, "I'm fluent in two languages. English and profanity."
Jay, my late husband was a PASSIONATE Georgetown fan and used to quote the same thing from John Thompson. (He was such a fan, he was pushing for our third child to be names John Thompson Hugo-Vidal or Patrick Ewing Hugo-Vidal. Thank heavens, we had a girl.)
DeleteJulia, you have to admit either of those names had the child been a boy would certainly stand out against a see of Noah's and William's.
DeletePlus, John Thompson played for the Boston Celtics at one point so he can't be all that bad. :D
Certainly not useless, I am a dynamite parallel parker. Several times it has happened when I get out of the car that a bystander congratulated me. And uturns too. I’m good at taking SAT type tests. And my best skill these days is being “No Drama Mama.” It comes in handy on days like Monday when I visited our #7 grandchild and his mom who had not slept for way too many hours. Breathe.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Denise Ann. "Keeping your calm" is a wonderful skill that often develops with age and wisdom.
DeleteI can tell you what I can't do: blow bubblegum bubbles or whistle. I can make book covers too! Do schools still encourage that? Do merchants still give away book covers? I have prehensile toes, according to my husband. I can pinch with them. I once plucked hair off my husband's leg while asleep in bed. That was a one time only event, much to his relief. I can also semi-yodel, much to his consternation. If a song comes on the radio (cue He's in the Jailhouse Now) which includes yodeling I will join in for the pure pleasure of torturing him with my offkey rendition and sorrowful sounding yodels. I do have a useful skill: I am a champion map reader!
ReplyDeletePat, I suspect just the POSSIBILITY of getting his leg hair plucked off by your prehensile toes is enough to encourage your husband to study how to keep you happy.
ReplyDeleteI'm good at picking out and singing the harmony on a song, too, Julia. The song "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and the Florida Georgia Line is a favorite because I have the harmony of the chorus down pat. And, I took that same vocabulary quiz as you, Julia, and I got the same score. One does need to recognize the audience when using certain words. I've probably told this story before, but when my husband had more written work he did for the Army, I was his editor/proofreader. I substituted the word "seminal" for one of his choices, but I failed to tell him about it. Well, no one knew what he meant (a discussion for another day), and with the word being so close to another word, it was rather embarrassing for him and others. I should note that my husband wasn't cognizant of its meaning either. Lesson to be learned is know your audience and let your husband know when you've inserted a "bigger" word.
ReplyDeleteOne of my small victories is the same as Denise Ann's. I kick butt at parallel parking, and I get great satisfaction from it. One of my favorite parallel parking memories (yes, I have favorite parallel parking moments, hehehe) was when my husband had tried several time to get in a space and failed. I looked at him and said, "please, allow me," and parallel parked it like a boss.
One of the talents I have began with my father. I was the only one who could pick out a tie he liked. He was particular, but I seemed to be able to please him, which in turn pleased me. I still can pick out good ties for my husband and son. My son, who no one would ever guess, loves to wear a suit, and I'm usually his tie buyer. He doesn't wear a suit for work, just inherited the natty dresser gene from my father. I'm good at picking out gifts for people, and it gives me so much pleasure to have a friend or family member open up a gift and be genuinely happy with it.
Kathy, I love the "seminal" story. I was helping Youngest edit an essay she wrote for a scholarship application, and I suggested that word to replace a phrase like "the start of all my later interest in..."
DeleteShe refused to use it, on the grounds someone reading the essay would laugh. Can't say she wasn't right.
I can hold an envelope with several pages or a big card in my hand and tell if it needs extra postage. I think I have that skill because my dad was the postmaster in my home town and could do it first.
ReplyDeletePeggy, that is an AWESOME skill! I can't even tell using my kitchen scale.
DeleteI can read 4 or 5 books at one time and also keep track of many TV shows. I was a file clerk for many years but I filed my books in alphabetical, chronological, and genre order when I was a kid. Before the Internet, my family used to ask me who the actor was in that TV show. My co-workers asked me even when we had reference books and cheat sheets. One co-worker was honest enough to say that it was easier to ask me than look things up herself. I sometimes re-shelve books at Barnes and Noble. I like things in order.
ReplyDeleteOh, Sally, I think we would be good friends!
DeleteDebRo
Julia, I find this post rather interesting. All of my life I have been known as a "woman of many words." I have a passion for words individually and love a well turned phrase. One liners are my delight. You can imagine my dismay when, for the first time in my lifelong love of works of fiction, I had to stop more than once in your series and look up a word. The first time, I was like "Hh-mmm. That's different." But as I worked my way through the series, I was starting to hide my face behind the pages of my Kindle as I looked up a word for the fifth or sixth time. Along with that, I had to go to Google to find out who the heck Abelard and Heloise were and to see what Russ said in Spanish the night he and Clare almost made love. I finally decided that I would just embrace the opportunity to grow along with relishing the story. After all, it is your way with words that created one of top three favorite series. As far as my own perfectly pointless abilities, I can remember the lyrics to nearly every song I've ever know - even ones in early elementary school. (I'm 62 now.) Not sure when I would ever have a need to sing all the verses to Waltzing Matilda.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Judy! I worry about how grammatical the Spanish in that book is - I had a friend of one of my kids who had studied the language for a few years do the translations. St. Martin's is reissuing the book this fall - maybe I can get them to spring for a REAL translator!
DeleteI couldn't respond earlier today I was late for work. Useless skill or is it useless skills, 1. I'm always early for appointments. It's a curse from my grandmother she would arrive 15 minutes early for her doctor's appointment and then sit there in fretting because the doctor was 40 minutes late. 2. I don't get lost in my town very often. Now that sounds weird I know but I work for a Home Care Agency, actually I'm one of the schedulers. We send nurses and therapist and all those nice good people all over our County and all over our town. The office staff will ask where is such and such street. I usually get it generally correct without even looking it up on a Google map. This is a very handy skill because our field staff are in teams and we have one ZIP code that is in two different team's areas. And God forgive you if you send someone into the wrong ZIP code. I'm so humble about it (wink, wink).
ReplyDeleteFold fitted sheets, easy, I even taught dorm-mates how to fold them. Oh, I taught my youngest aunt how to make turkey gravy without lumps and how to skimmed most of the fat off before the thickener is added.
Deana, I so wish my skill was being early for appointments. I put them in my calendar as 15 minutes before the actual time and I STILL wind up arriving late. Sigh.
Delete