Sunday 11 October 2009

Thanksgiving

Monday is Thanksgiving Day in Canada and Sports and Health Day (Tai-iku no hi) in Japan. U is off hiking in the south and I'm stuck home supposedly working on my thesis but really just sniffling and feeling sorry for myself as I've come down with a cold. My usual source of turkey didn't happen this year, but I decided that one of my other Thanksgiving traditions - coming up with a list of things for which I'm thankful - was a definite must to snap myself out of my stuffed-sinus induced mood. So here goes:

10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:

10 - mega electronics stores - all you could ever imagine you wanted and more... one dizzingly large floor after another!

9 - helpful electronics store staff who listen to stupid questions from stuffed up and cotton-ball brained foreigners and who calmly tell you all you need to do is plug it in and you're good to go.

8 - Points cards - while the sheer number of them doubles my wallet in size, using them faithfully can actually add up to sizable rewards - if you're patient.

7 - 100 yen stores - selling everything you could want for your house, including flashlights used to shine at laptop screens with a dead backlight in an attempt to troubleshoot why the "just-plug-it-in" screen is not working although it is in fact plugged in

6 - my cell phone - in addition to the obvious making phone calls (which I actually do rarely), it also surfs the Internet to troubleshoot computer problems, and sends frantic texts

5 - U - my kind and caring boyfriend who, 1000 km away, who replied to the frantic email by immediately calling me.

4 - U - my smart boyfriend who remembered that pressing "function" and "F8" does something to displays, and that proves to be the solution to the problem.

3 - my new screen - its purrrrty! and it works!!

2 - lemon tea and honey - soothing on a sore and scratch throat

1 - grapefruit scented lotion containing Kleenex - soft and fruity and so nice on a sore red rudolf nose!


Happy Thanksgiving!

3 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your 'purrty' screen! I know what you mean about those Function keys - imagine having that problem when about to start lecturing to a class of 94 students! Unfortunately the McGill technical people weren't as smart as your boyfriend, so couldn't fix the problem. Luckily, that was just the first day of class.
    Sorry you're missing out on turkey this year. We're not having turkey either, since I never did figure out how to do it myself, and I'm not really a fan of turkey, but we're still going to have some friends over and a nice meal (beef roast probably, with a new recipe from the internet that Lorenz wants to try.) Happy Thanksgiving! And hope the sniffles go away soon!
    love and hugs,
    Cath

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  2. Hope you feel better soon. I have to say, that when living in Japan, I was thankful for the 100 yen stores and points cards too! I'm missing them both over here.

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  3. Cath - I'm not sure congratulations are in order for the screen - it was a cold-induced impulse purchase. I probably could have found a used one somewhere else for a fraction of the price. It is an awfully pretty screen though, and I am happy to have a working computer again!

    Melanie - Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm even more of a fan of points cards now that I got some cold medicine for nearly free after cashing in about 8 months worth of points at the big shopping centre!

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