Least Favorite Stores to Shop In

Apropos of nothing, the businesses below are where I least enjoy shopping and why...

Home Depot - Not just because I don't know what I'm doing there but because it is so darn difficult to get someone to help you figure it out.

AT&T - You can wait forever and there are no chairs. When you do get answers from a service person, you don't understand what the heck they told you.

IKEA - Hard to believe I have to explain this. IKEA is just a dreadful place to be in the middle of. Even though the merchandise is reasonably priced (cheap, usually) and you can pay someone to put it together for you, the display rooms are aspirational only. Even the done-up 225-square-foot apartment model is too perfect. You will never achieve this or any other IKEA look in your own home.

Warm for Winter

Dear Broadcasters and Meteorologists:

seasonably - Appropriate for the time of year
unseasonably - Unusual for the time of year as in, "unseasonably warm"

seasonally - Pertaining to certain seasons of the year as in, "seasonal employment"
unseasonally - NO SUCH WORD

Thank you!

First Vocabulary Words of 2014

Latest word I'm in love with and never use but will try to:

imbue - (verb) to cause to become filled or saturated with a certain quality; to cause someone to become deeply affected by a feeling or to have a certain quality; endow
Her experience in Europe imbued her with a certain sophistication.


Best word you've never heard but is fun to say and not impractical for use in conversation:

smeap - (noun) a reprimand, snub or rebuke

(Thanks, "Says You!" at http://www.saysyou.net/)

Now go forth and have fun with language!

Puppy Love 2014

I hate to cave to search based headlines but here goes...

Top 5 reasons why it's better to have a dog than a child:

1. You can pick one you think is cute. 
2. Your dog will not grow up one day and hate you. Unconditional love, baby! 
3. If you really screw up in raising your dog, you probably won’t even know it. 
4. Very few people don’t like dogs, as opposed to children.
5. No social security or health insurance enrollment required!

 

How cold was it?

The pool at my gym had been closed for two weeks for resurfacing and such, and recently reopened during a chilly week in Northern California. I was looking forward to resuming my aqua exercise regimen yesterday but it turns out the water in a big pool takes a long time to reheat. The class toughed it out but it was so cold!

How cold?

1) The lifeguards were bribing us not to get into any trouble that would force them into the unpleasantly crisp water.

2) Even the 300 pound guy was shivering.

3) For the first time ever, I wished someone would pee in the pool.

(Just kidding about the first two.)

Happy end of 2013!

The Great Nail Polish Swindle

Since I did not get my first manicure until I was in my 30s (where I intend to stay, for future reference), I had no idea the difficulty of holding on to the right shade of polish once you find it. Having experienced the heartbreak of discovering a great color at a salon, not making a note of it, and being unable to find it again, I've taken to buying the shades I like whenever I find them.

My tastes have been pretty consistent over the years so I thought I was set for the foreseeable future. Hard lesson #1: Nail polish doesn't last forever. It gets thick and eventually unusable. Harder lesson #2: Polish makers (OPI, I'm talking to you!) are evil. They regularly discontinue your favorite ridiculously named flavors (St. Petersburgundy and Toffee Treat, for instance), and you can never purchase them again. Then you have to find a new suitable shade which will also be summarily removed from the shelves and off of my once beautifully polished fingernails.

Why does no one tell you these things before it's too late?

Vocabulary Words for November

replete - a terrific underused adjective that means 1) abounding or 2) satiated, having had plenty to eat.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!