broken: exhibit, watch and tree. Missing: whales and ME
22-03-15 09:42 Family
We’ve had a wonderfully exciting week. My sister Marjorie escaped from New England to visit us here in Santa Barbara. Mitra picked her up at LAX while Nazy and I were driving down. We left early so that we’d have time to stop at the Camerillo Premium Outlet Mall in order to ..
“… return the Skagen watch that you bought, Dan.” Nazy explained. “You were so proud of your selection - but it stopped working a few months later. I’m going to throw it in their faces.”
Nazy always says she going to “throw it in their faces” - It’s an idiom. In fact, she inevitably uses charm and a smile to get her way. (This approach that also works at home.) The clerk responded with the old misdirection ploy.
“He bought a refurbished watch from the sales table,” the clerk explained as he pointed at me.
“That’s absurd!” I asserted. “I don’t think I did,” I thought.
“Of course he didn’t!:” Nazy exclaimed. “That would mean that he had been shopping. He doesn’t shop. He just finds something and buys. If it was hidden on the discount table, Dan would never have found it.”
“Thanks my dear,” I whispered.
“No problem.” the clerk claimed. “The refurbished ones are warranted like new. You can get a new new one for only $25.”
“What!” I exclaimed. “That’s…”
“ not fair.” Nazy interrupted. “If it was guaranteed like new, it should be replaced like new.”
“Replaced with new.” I corrected.
The clerk decided to call management, thereby giving us (i.e. ‘Nazy&rsquo
time to browse. By the time he got approval for a full and free replacement, Nazy had found an additional watch and a purse that was on-sale.
Having borrowed Melika's 18-wheeler, we all (Mitra, Stefan, Marjorie, Nazy and me) went to the botanical gardens at UCLA and then to the Hammer Museum. The gardens were beautiful and the Museum was a wonderful surprise. I especially liked the exhibition entitled the “Architecture and Design of the Heatherwick Studio”. They were exhibiting several wild models of buildings, bridges, furniture and just about anything else you can imagine. Some of the designs have been constructed in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and London, while others remained as scale model concepts. I liked the rotating ‘chairs’ that I had seen in the museum’s courtyard. I grabbed the model and tried to rotate it.
A loud “Crack!” reverberated. I assumed that I had pulled the model apart. “It’s like a tinker toy,” I thought. “with a ball and socket joint.”
Nazy approached the situation with less engineering analysis. “Dan!” She shouted - drawing the attention of the museum staff.
“Be calm, Nazy.” I whispered - too late.
“Just put it down, sir.” the guard, who magically appeared, instructed. “And back away slowly.”
“I’m only going to fix it.” I replied.
“I think that you should put it down sir.”
Aware that I had attracted a crowd (except for Marjorie, Mitra and Stefan, who had disappeared) I let go of the model - which promptly skidded to the floor. “I hope the full-size version in the courtyard works better,” I thought. “Sorry.” I mumbled.
It is difficult to describe the ‘chairs’ that I had toyed with, but the full-size ones were sturdier than the model that I had broken. The photo doesn’t convey the thrill or speed. Note: I did not break the full-size version.
We also found a store that featured clothing with hand-painted Persian Writing. And we had a great dinner at Shaherzad Restaurant. (Note to Nazy’s sister. It is not my fault that they spelled your name wrong.)
Marjorie joined us in Santa Barbara. It’s whale watching season. I like watching whales and suggested an excursion. My idea ‘had legs’. Visiting friends (Rob and Susie) decided to join us and, in fact, invited their visiting friends. (Anyone who lives outside of Santa Barbara likes to visit.)
Spirits were undampened by the news that a gray whale had hit a tour boat in Baja inadvertently drowning a tourist. (Undampened because I did not share that information with the group.) With plenty of time before we had to depart for the whales, I drove Melika and Tom to Montecito. They wanted to ride their tiger-striped and battery-assisted tandem bike to Santa Barbara. They forgot the key to the bike, but their (well-equipped) friends just happened to have a spare battery back and key. Back home, I had enough time for a Skype call with Darius. We were ready to go with just enough time when Tiger announced the need for a diaper change. We made the adjustment and dropped Tiger at a pool party (Tom and Melika had arrived). By now, we had barely enough time. Our friends called to see if we had forgotten the excursion. I put the car into sport mode and headed for the harbor. Because it was a beautiful day, parking was limited. I dropped Nazy and Marjorie with in-time to make it to the boat. When I found a parking place, the boat whistled in celebration - and departure. Thus, the whale photo was taken by Nazy. (My parking place was closer to Pike’s Peak than I was to any gray whale.)
This week the local homeowners association determined that ‘our’ giant tree was a danger to the property. It was scheduled for the chopping block. Young Tiger, the Grand(est)son, likes to touch that tree every time he comes to visit. Together, we said ‘goodbye’ to it. More about the tree and Persian New Year next week.
Last week's letter, click here
“… return the Skagen watch that you bought, Dan.” Nazy explained. “You were so proud of your selection - but it stopped working a few months later. I’m going to throw it in their faces.”
Nazy always says she going to “throw it in their faces” - It’s an idiom. In fact, she inevitably uses charm and a smile to get her way. (This approach that also works at home.) The clerk responded with the old misdirection ploy.
“He bought a refurbished watch from the sales table,” the clerk explained as he pointed at me.
“That’s absurd!” I asserted. “I don’t think I did,” I thought.
“Of course he didn’t!:” Nazy exclaimed. “That would mean that he had been shopping. He doesn’t shop. He just finds something and buys. If it was hidden on the discount table, Dan would never have found it.”
“Thanks my dear,” I whispered.
“No problem.” the clerk claimed. “The refurbished ones are warranted like new. You can get a new new one for only $25.”
“What!” I exclaimed. “That’s…”
“ not fair.” Nazy interrupted. “If it was guaranteed like new, it should be replaced like new.”
“Replaced with new.” I corrected.
The clerk decided to call management, thereby giving us (i.e. ‘Nazy&rsquo
time to browse. By the time he got approval for a full and free replacement, Nazy had found an additional watch and a purse that was on-sale.“Is this a refurbished purse?” I asked as I whipped out the debit card.
“See!” Nazy enthused as we left the store. If you stand your ground, you don’t need to spend extra money. These stores will back up their products.”
“Don’t have to spend money?” I asked carrying a couple of bags of purchases.
Having borrowed Melika's 18-wheeler, we all (Mitra, Stefan, Marjorie, Nazy and me) went to the botanical gardens at UCLA and then to the Hammer Museum. The gardens were beautiful and the Museum was a wonderful surprise. I especially liked the exhibition entitled the “Architecture and Design of the Heatherwick Studio”. They were exhibiting several wild models of buildings, bridges, furniture and just about anything else you can imagine. Some of the designs have been constructed in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and London, while others remained as scale model concepts. I liked the rotating ‘chairs’ that I had seen in the museum’s courtyard. I grabbed the model and tried to rotate it.
A loud “Crack!” reverberated. I assumed that I had pulled the model apart. “It’s like a tinker toy,” I thought. “with a ball and socket joint.”
Nazy approached the situation with less engineering analysis. “Dan!” She shouted - drawing the attention of the museum staff.
“Be calm, Nazy.” I whispered - too late.
“Just put it down, sir.” the guard, who magically appeared, instructed. “And back away slowly.”
“I’m only going to fix it.” I replied.
“I think that you should put it down sir.”
Aware that I had attracted a crowd (except for Marjorie, Mitra and Stefan, who had disappeared) I let go of the model - which promptly skidded to the floor. “I hope the full-size version in the courtyard works better,” I thought. “Sorry.” I mumbled.
It is difficult to describe the ‘chairs’ that I had toyed with, but the full-size ones were sturdier than the model that I had broken. The photo doesn’t convey the thrill or speed. Note: I did not break the full-size version.
We had dinner in Westwood, the Persian district of Los Angeles. Naturally, we went shopping before dinner. Nazy and Mitra bought ingredients for the traditional Persian New Year’s table. Nazy agonized over whether to get a white or a purple hyacinth. After she finally decided on purple, she asked multiple people for opinions about which plant would be best:.one that was in bloom, one that was just about to bloom, or one that was thinking about blooming. She wanted to know which one would have the strongest fragrance. She re-considered her choice of purple. When we got home, late that night, she forgot to water the carefully selected flower - which looked wilted and annoyed the next morning. But, in the end, everything worked out. The flower recovered and freely dispensed smells (eh, fragrance). We also bought some Persian tea. I suggested that we get ‘Imperial Gaz’, a very sweet Persian candy. Nazy, who had spent so much time choosing a hyacinth, vetoed candy forthwith.
We also found a store that featured clothing with hand-painted Persian Writing. And we had a great dinner at Shaherzad Restaurant. (Note to Nazy’s sister. It is not my fault that they spelled your name wrong.)
Marjorie joined us in Santa Barbara. It’s whale watching season. I like watching whales and suggested an excursion. My idea ‘had legs’. Visiting friends (Rob and Susie) decided to join us and, in fact, invited their visiting friends. (Anyone who lives outside of Santa Barbara likes to visit.)
Spirits were undampened by the news that a gray whale had hit a tour boat in Baja inadvertently drowning a tourist. (Undampened because I did not share that information with the group.) With plenty of time before we had to depart for the whales, I drove Melika and Tom to Montecito. They wanted to ride their tiger-striped and battery-assisted tandem bike to Santa Barbara. They forgot the key to the bike, but their (well-equipped) friends just happened to have a spare battery back and key. Back home, I had enough time for a Skype call with Darius. We were ready to go with just enough time when Tiger announced the need for a diaper change. We made the adjustment and dropped Tiger at a pool party (Tom and Melika had arrived). By now, we had barely enough time. Our friends called to see if we had forgotten the excursion. I put the car into sport mode and headed for the harbor. Because it was a beautiful day, parking was limited. I dropped Nazy and Marjorie with in-time to make it to the boat. When I found a parking place, the boat whistled in celebration - and departure. Thus, the whale photo was taken by Nazy. (My parking place was closer to Pike’s Peak than I was to any gray whale.)
This week the local homeowners association determined that ‘our’ giant tree was a danger to the property. It was scheduled for the chopping block. Young Tiger, the Grand(est)son, likes to touch that tree every time he comes to visit. Together, we said ‘goodbye’ to it. More about the tree and Persian New Year next week.
Last week's letter, click here
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