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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Long But Good Day

Long But Good Day

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Had a very nice day today. I drove over to visit Joelle’s mother in Ohio, and it was a perfect day for driving- 75 degrees, blue skies, nice breeze, and no humidity. We went to lunch, got back, and I spent a couple hours cleaning her pool. Then I just lounged in the pool for a bit, picked up some sweet corn for dad and Gerald, and drove home.

Day well spent.

Also, I am still accumulating resources for our Spanish group.

Reader Interactions

34Comments

  1. 1.

    dnfree

    Our local farm stand (northwest Chicago suburb) had posted that they would have the first local sweet corn of the season tomorrow.  Then they posted on Facebook that they had some today.  I saw the post, jumped in the car, and got some.  The place was mobbed.  It was delicious.  A highlight of summer ever since I was a child.

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    We are moving rooms round at my house…. My office to go into attic, Spawn the Younger to move her room into my former office, Spawn the Youngest to have her own room. Everything is dusty but looking very cute. I have a dust mite allergy, so tomorrow afternoon will involve putting on long pants and sleeves and wiping down and/or vacuuming every surface.

  3. 3.

    bbleh

    Can’t beat midsummer for getting things done and still having time to chill.

    Re learning a language (having studied, I dunno, eight now? lost count), pretty much the MOST IMPORTANT THING is to PRACTICE EVERY DAY.  A group is really good, like any group for any activity that requires motivation, but unless it meets EVERY DAY, you’re gonna have to motivate yourself to work on it EVERY DAY.  (Did I mention every day?)  Speak the language, say ordinary things in it. “Oh nuts, I gotta do the laundry.” It’ll be frustrating at first, but keep at it, and things will get much more liquid, almost without you noticing it.

    (Speaking of liquid, I always found it easier to converse in another language when I’d had a few drinks, I think because my inhibitions were down and I wasn’t worried about “getting it exactly right.”)

    Good on ya btw.  Learning a new language opens your mind in unexpected ways.

  4. 4.

    Josie

    I’ll be very interested to see what John has planned for our Spanish lessons. Looking forward to it.

  7. 7.

    Pennsylvanian

    Went to OU, so I know much of that route. Beauty and beast along that corridor, but also some of the most beautiful terrain; and I mean actual hills! And some awesome crops in the middle of the fertile Appalachian hollow.

    My folks always came in through to Pittsburgh via the north central PA corridor thru Murrysville and stopped for Denny’s corn, at a Sheetz or a BP? Whatever, sweet sweet PA corn:  glorious! I’m sure in WV you get it a week sooner. Enjoy!

  9. 9.

    catclub

    @bbleh: I think because my inhibitions were down and I wasn’t worried about “getting it exactly right.”)

     

    that was what paralyzed me.

  11. 11.

    Glyph2112

    Why is he coming to AZ and what part? Be amazing to have a meet up if it’s in the Phoenix area.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    I’ve tried teaching myself German, French und Spanish. I’ve managed to keep up my German; but the French and Spanish, not so much. I’d like to join the Spanish group but time-zone issues will probably make it difficult. So I might go back to the Oxford self-instruction kits I used and pick it up again that way.

  15. 15.

    BigJimSlade

    @Suzanne: These days whenever I’m going to clean something dusty, I grab a mask, which I never used to have around the house, but since the pandemic…

  16. 16.

    HumboldtBlue

    I’m embarrassed I’ve lived primarily in California for 35 years and I can’t speak Spanish.

  17. 17.

    twbrandt

    @prostratedragon: there are people whose gifts inhabit a different universe than the one I do. Andre Watts, with his musical, artistic, and physical gifts, is one of those. Fred Rogers is another – his gifts of empathy and compassion I can only hope to emulate.

  18. 18.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    The rear window that was blown out of our minivan on the 3rd was finally replaced. The guy who blew it out must have been keeping an eye out because he came over within an hour of getting the van back and paid me in full ($447.50) for the replacement. Expensive fireworks lesson for him (big bang + loose gravel = fragmentation grenade) but he did own up to it and make it right. I did plenty of boneheaded stuff when I was young that I had to man up for.

    That’s how you learn not to do that stuff…lol! Hope he learned something from it.

  21. 21.

    StringOnAStick

    I started 21 Echinacea plants from seed two years ago, lots of different colors.  They are blooming like mad so I take my morning tea outside to sit and enjoy, watching the hummingbird wars (there appears to be a nest nearby).  I converted the entire backyard to a low water needs pollinators garden, and I’m seeing some crazy hoverfly species.  One looks like a yellowjacket  but the yellow is a little too bright; the hoverfly  flight pattern is what gives it away.

  22. 22.

    Emerald

    I missed the language app thread for learning languages.  I highly recommend Memrise–the website, NOT the phone app which is only vocabulary. It’s exactly what John said he wanted for learning Spanish. The website has hundreds of courses. The main Spanish course uses good short videos. There’s lots of repetition. I did German up to the A2 level. And all for $free.99. Try it!

  23. 23.

    brendancalling

    ¿Un grupo para practicar español? Me interesa mucho—español era mi concentración minor en universidad, pero la mayoridad que aprendía era en restorantes. Contáctame, quiero participar.

    A group to practice Spanish? I’m totally interested.  I minored in Spanish in college, but the majority I learned working in restaurants. Contact me, I’d love to participate.

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    “No cilantro, or favor.”

    Most important four words in Espaol.

    (Took Spanish classes from 4th through 12th grade and it is frankly astonishing how much can still be dredged up ::cough, cough:: decades later from the gray matter swamp when I have occasion to visit NYC.)

    Video recommend: Club de Cuervos on Netflix. Solid, innocuous, often hilarious fun.* Might take a rewatch (or two) of any episode to become attuned to the rhythm of the Mexican Spanish.

    Believe there’s still a seven day free trial via Prime for the Pantaya network. Run, do not walk, to savor Gran Hotel (a.k.a. Grand Hotel). Period murder mystery (with a gargantuan dose of familial backstabbing) set in Spain over three extremely addictive seasons. Used to all be on Netflix but alas, no more.

    *the first 10 or so minutes of the initial episode, while setting up a later plot point, are offputtingly deceiving and give disconcertingly raw clue as to what is to follow.

  27. 27.

    satby

    @NotMax: Gran Hotel was great, as is The Cook of Castelmar, both available with closed captioning. But, they’re Castilian Spanish, not Latin American, so there are differences in pronunciation. At first, I couldn’t understand how an entire cast lisped.

  28. 28.

    satby

    Going to be a long, hopefully good day here today since I started it at 3:30 am and will be at the market until 3pm. At which point I’ll come home, sit down “for just a minute” and promptly pass out until dinnertime. Livin la Vida loca beibei!

  30. 30.

    Mel

    @Amir Khalid: Maybe there could be an additional study / conversation group to make it accessible for those of us with time zone differences / night owl circadian rhythms / shift work schedules?

    How is lovely Aoife doing?

  32. 32.

    dnfree

    @mrmoshpotato: This is a way late response, but these days I microwave it!  No more waiting for the big pot of water to boil.  I shuck the corn, put it in an old Corningware flat square casserole with a lid, and microwave for maybe 4 minutes.  Another plus is that the cob also gets heated so the corn stays warm longer.

  34. 34.

    nickdag

    I realize I’m super late to this, but I didn’t want to pass it up. I’m a big geek when it comes to studying foreign languages.

     

    Here are some tips/tools.

    1. It needs to be fun! Encourage yourself to find the fun out of language learning: thinking of it as a puzzle, using music, watching novelas, reading fun books, watching other TV shows & movies! If it’s not fun, you will stall in your learning.
    2. A little bit every day is better than a lot once a week.
    3. If you want to be thorough, try to hit multiple skills. You can generally break down language learning into: reading, writing, listening, speaking. Note that different people advance in each skill at a different pace and in a different order.
    4. You can also think someone about language learning as about grammar + vocabulary.
    5. There are many vocabulary memorization apps out there. I love them! They’re not exciting, but they’re great for 10 minutes/day or something. Brainscape was great (but I haven’t used it in years). I’ve heard a lot about Memrise. But there are oodles out there. The key thing you’re looking for is “spaced repetition.” That’s the idea that the flashcards will pop back up at ever longer intervals as you are able to recall words. (Conversely, if you miss a card, it’ll repeat it more frequently.)
    6. There are some apps that try to do everything. I love Duolingo. It’s fun, can be free (or cheap). You won’t be fluent after going through the entire course, but you will have gone through all the fundamentals.
    7. If you like any fun, light books (e.g. Harry Potter), read them in Spanish! (Perhaps wait until you’re more advanced.) The advantage is it’s fun, and if you miss something, it doesn’t matter.
    8. There are innumerable Spanish podcasts. Since it’s such a common language to learn, there will likely be podcasts dedicated to language learning. Some will be didactic. Others will be like a normal podcast but using simpler vocabulary and speaking more slowly & clearly.
    9. Find Spanish-speaking songs that you love, and study the heck out of them. Don’t forget to sing along! This is *amazing* for learning.
    10. There are TV channels in Spanish or services like LingoPie where you can watch a foreign country’s TV shows and movies in their language. LingoPie specifically has advanced subtitles where you can choose English or Spanish or both and easily pause and rewind.
    11. Note that the subject matter will make a big difference in how you learn. A reporter giving the news will be much easier to understand than a novela. I also chose shows or podcasts that on topics I enjoy, such as science news.
    12. If you’re a grammar (or pronunciation) geek, Wikipedia is a great resource for details of the language. There are a lot of grammar geeks out there!

    I’m sure I will think of more comments as soon as I hit “Post.” But, have a great time. I hope it’s more fun than you expect.

     

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