Horses are good company -- The Witcher

Yesterday there was a chirping smoke alarm, so I looked around and found the step ladder and took out the battery.

I then asked Dad for advice because, "I took out the battery but it's still chirping." I did look around for other smoke detectors but did not see any.

Dad says, "There's just some left over electricity in the capacitor, it will wind down eventually."

Like a fool I believed him, lol, he was an electrical engineer.

So I get a new battery with the grocery order, and I pop that in. Guess what, it's still chirping! What the heck. I go to Dad because it's his house and maybe he knows something I don't. He says, just take the alarm down and we'll replace it.

So I take the alarm down while he's upstairs because I'm tired of the back and forth. He's holding this old smoke detector in his hand and looking at it and we hear a loud chirp. WHAT is going on...?

Suddenly Dad remembers that there is a carbon monoxide detector plugged into the wall near the floor...! I busted out laughing.

There is still elecTRIcity in the CapACitor," I teased him.

"If you say anything with conviction people will believe you," he said, which is a phrase I have also said in my life, making fun of myself, so I guess I got that from him. Ahahaahah

I dreamed that I was interviewing for a job with Barack Obama and former sec. of health and human services Donna Shalala.

If you had *asked* me who Donna Shalala was, I would have been like, uh, some politician? But apparently my unconcious brain knew this datum. (In the dream, we talked about rabies risk.) (Interestingly, she also used to be chancellor of UW - Madison and now heads the Clinton foundation. )

As part of this dream job, there was a uniform / dress code that involved wearing cashmere and leather (paid for by the job).

So, I guess that's my "dream job".

--I thought the moon was a planet.

--People seemed to pronounce wind chill as "windsheel", all blended together and soft, so I couldn't parse it and thought they were maybe saying "wind shield," even though that did not make sense.

--I thought that tourist meant someone who led tours (tour guide).

--I couldn't hear the difference between picture and pitcher.

--I didn't understand why "I" in the middle of a sentence should be capitalized.

--I didn't understand the subtle nuances that differentiated dinner and supper (this is still difficult because dinner means different things to different people).

What did you have a hard time understanding as a kid?

Someone today directed me to "My Gimpy Life" on YouTube. It is GREAT and very funny! There are three episodes so far.

( you tube clips under cut )