Clam-digger spectacles and laser dummies
I hope that this week finds you happy, healthy and prosperous. Here the beautiful March weather has given way to a rather cold and dreary April. Nazy and I, of course, are not daunted by cool and cloudy weather because we remember that sunny skies are not always great. (We’ve lived in hot and humid Houston and Memphis.)
The major family excitement this week involved Melika.
“I’m having laser treatments, Dad.”
“Really?” I replied. “Removing a tattoo?” I thought.
“Tattoo, Dad? Where are you coming from?”
“I was thinking,” I replied. “I must have inadvertently turned on the telepathic interface on my iPhone,” I thought as I anxiously browsed through the Apps.
“I have no tattoos, Dad. Especially not on my eyes.”
“Your eyes?”
“Right. I’m having a Lasik treatment. I haven’t been able to see anything without glasses or contacts for more then 25 years.”
“She’s right,” I thought remembering the glasses she wore in 1990.“I think you inherited that from my side of the family.”
“My prescription is -12.5.”
“Egad! That’s ..”
“I can see an elephant that’s 2 feet away, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a hippopotamus, rhinoceros, tyrannosaurus or elephant.”
“I don’t think that a tyrannosaurus is same color as..”
“Dad! I’m making a point here.”
“I’m just saying..”
“The only downside is that I have to wear my glasses, instead of contacts, for ten day before the operation.”
We spoke with Mel the next day. When she woke up, she reached for her glasses..
“But I could see Dad! I’m am so happy about this.”
“i’m glad that it all worked.”
On a somewhat different note, this morning’s International Herald Tribune has a front-page advertisement for Armani. As a fashion-conscious person, I was naturally intrigued.
“Look at that, Nazy,” I said. “The pants look like pedal-pushers.”
“What are pedal-pushers?”
“Showing my age,” I thought. “Hmm.. clam diggers?” I replied.
“I think he’s walking on grass, Dan.”
“Capri pants?” I was getting desperate.
“What do you know about fashion?” Nazy retorted.
“I know about dignity, my dear. I know that men’s trousers should not end several inches above the ankle. I know that business dress mandates simplicity consistent with tradition and timelessness. I have been a suave, debonair, senior executive and I know what to wear.”
“Then why am I sometimes afraid to be seen with you, Dan?”
“Afraid? Perish the thought.”
As regular readers know, my website has undergone extensive renovation in the past few weeks. Feedback has been...
“It’s a bit better, Dad.” Mitra emailed.
... not completely positive.
“The navigation is complicated and drop-down menus are confusing.”
“But I like drop-down menus. That’s one of the reasons I changed,” I thought.
“And your blog..”
“The Weekly Letter: my pride and joy.”
“... is presented on a page that looks like the classified section of a newspaper.”
“I didn’t know you read newspapers, Mitra.”
“The major problem, of course, is with your professional website. It’s too colorful.”
“But I like colors,” I thought. “I’ll see what I can improve,” I replied via eMail.
Darius, meanwhile, liked the name of my test site (www.martinstaging.com) better than the name of my production site (seat26b). Because -
“I can’t remember the seat number, Dad. Is it 42D, 23A..”
“Of course not, Dar. 23A is a window seat and 42D is an aisle. KLM always gave me a middle seat.”
“How are people supposed to remember that, Dad?”
Other friends were more indirect.
“We saw your new website, Dan,” Susie said. “And I’ve brought some gifts for you.”
The gifts were books. I’ve made it through Website Design for Dummies and I’m in the middle of Absolute Beginners Guide to Web Design.
“At least no one complained about the content,” I thought. Although I haven’t (yet) moved all the archives (Weekly Letters and Photos) to version 2.0 of seat26b, but I did add a few new items: a story about Nigeria, Shell’s instructions for visiting Lagos and stories about our trips to Bratislava and Krakow. I was pleased...
...as I perused another book. But, this book claimed that “No one will care about or look at the content if you don’t get the design right.”
Note: In spite of the commentary above, response to the new website was mostly positive.
I’ve made several updates and I’m considering using www.danmartin.ch as the new web address. I thought that I had a lot of name recognition established with seat26b, but if Darius can’t remember the name.. well.
Finally, informative news from Switzerland: The SBB, the local transportation company (they run the trams and buses) recently had an auction for unclaimed items lost on public transport.
“Maybe I can find a newer model iPhone. What do you think, Nazy?” I asked.
“I don’t think so Dan. According to this article..”
[Note: I would have read the article myself if it had been written in English.]
Nazy continued: “the most frequently lost item is underwear.”
“Underwear? And they auction underwear?”
“It says they wash it first.”
“Well that explains everything. How can you mislay underwear on public transportation.”
“I find your choice of verb self-explanatory, Dan.”
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