t Brad was writing something on a piece of

paper. When he saw me come in, he slipped the note out of sight sight. Trisha: Hey, what's up?

Brad: Oh, nothingnothing. Trisha: What were you writing?

Brad: (Laugh) All right. You caught me in the act . I finally worked u p the nerve to ask

Diana out. I was just writing a note to put on her desk.

Trisha: You mean you're going to ask her out in a note? You big chicken ! Brad: I admit it. I'm a wuss . I just can't do it in person . Trisha: But, you work with her everyday.

Brad: That's different. When I'm working, I'm in a different frame of mind . But, when I

even think about asking her out, I get tonguetongue-tied . At least in a note, I can get the

words out without turning beet red red. Trisha: You've dated a lot. What's so diff erent about Diana?

Brad: Well, for one thing, she's gorgeous . She's so upbeat and sweet . Who doesn't like

her? Oh, I don't know. All I do know is that I think we have great chemistry together.

But, what if I'm wrong. Maybe she's just been nice to me out o f courtesy and doesn't

think of me that way . Oh forget it. This was a bad idea.

Trisha: Well, I guess you don't want this note, then.

Brad: What note?

Trisha: I was looking for you to deliver this note from Diana. She wants to know if you

want to go t o the office party with her tomorrow night.

Brad: You're kidding! I can't believe you've been standing this entire time and didn't say

anything.

Trisha: Sorry. What can I say? Now, do you want the note or what what? Brad: Yeah, I want the note.

Trisha: H ave a great time tomorrow night.

Brad: Thanks. I plan on it.

checkcheck-up and cleaning. I showed up at the dentist's office

a few minutes before 10. I gave the receptionist my na me and told her that I had a 10

a.m. appointment. She said that the doctor was running a little lat e and that I should

take a seat. After about 15 minutes, a dental assistant came out and told me to follow

her. She led me to a room and told me to take a se at in the exam chair , and then she

put a dental bib on me.

The dentist came into the room.

Dentist: Hello, how are you today? Here for your six month check check-up?

Gary: I'm fine, Dr. Meecham. Yes, just a cleaning and check check- up today.

Dentist: Oh, fine. L et's take a look.

She probed my teeth and checked my gumsgums. Dentist: Well, it looks like you have a cavity and your crown is loose. We need to fill that

cavity before it gets any worse and the crown needs to be refitted . Make an appointment

for next week and I'll take care of them.

Gary: Okay, I'll do that, but my crown was just put on last year. Will my dental

insurance cover the work?

Dentist: Since you had that done here, we'll take care of it. There won't be a chargecharge. And, your insurance should cove r the work on the cavity. Now, I'm going to have the

hygienist do your cleaning and I'll see you soon for the other work.

Gary: Thanks, doctor.

The hygenist came into the room and had me rinse with mouthwash . She began her

cleaning and finished by polish ing my teeth. On my way out, I tried to make an

appointment for the following week. Unfortunately, there were no appointments available

for two weeks, and the time they had was an inconvenient one, but I said I’d manage.

I have to say , going to the denti st can be a pain , in the mouth and in the butt.

partpart-time job when I was 15 working at a car wash in the summertimesummertime. A friend of mine, Rob, worked th ere and got me the job. I think it paid $2.90 an hour,

which I considered a fortune . There were no allowances in my family, so most of my

brothers and sisters started working as soon as they could to get spending money . I

hated working at the car wash, dr ying cars all day. After only about six weeks working

there (though it seemed much longer), I up and quit one day. I felt badly about not

giving a two -week notice , but I had it up to here with the job. Luckily, another friend

of mine got me a job working at a nursing home , washing dishes in the kitchen. I started

the day after my 16th birthday, qualifying me for a slightly higher minimum wage wage. Life scrubbing pots and pans was no picnic picnic, let me tell you you. I lasted there for only

three months, working after school and on weekends while trying to keep up with my

homework in high school. My next job was much better: Making keys at a locksmith . The

working conditions were much better, and I had flexible hours around my school

schedule. I stayed at that job for nearly seven years, right through my college years at

the University of Minnesota. To this day I still know the names of all the common key

blanks , but it doesn't come in handy very often!

getting into my car at the mall when I noticed a ma n standing nearby with a map.

He looked confused and I asked him if I could help. He looked up and was clearly

relieved . He was from Houston, Texas, he told me, and he was visiting his daughter. She

was at work that afternoon and he wanted to take the oppo rtunity to buy her a present

before she got back . But, he wasn't accustomed to driving in L.A. and he got all turned

around . His daughter lived near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and he needed to

find his way back back. I was familiar with that area so I gave him some directions:

"When you drive out of the mall, turn left and get into the far right lane . You need to

get on the 10 freeway and the on - ramp will be on your right. Go about two blocks and

you will see a sign that says 10W right after you cro ss under the bridge. Once you are

on the freeway, look out for the exit for La Brea Avenue. Get off at that offoff- ramp and

you will be heading north on La Brea. Go straight up La Brea, past Venice Boulevard,

and keep your eye out for Wilshire Boulevard. If you get to Beverly Boulevard, you've

gone too far . A good landmark to look for is the big Samsung sign on the corner, at the

intersection of La Brea and Wilshire atop an office building. Make a left on Wilshire,

going west. Go about six blocks and you'll s ee the museum on the right right- hand side ."

The man said that he knew his way from the museum and thanked me for the

directions.

I was glad I could help. I don't envy anyone who has to drive the freeways in L.A. It's not

for the faint of heart heart!

night bar hopping until closing time . We started around 9 p.m. and were on our third

bar when we closed it down . Some of us were starving and the rest of us were peckish

so we decided to get a late late-night snack . We didn't want fast food so we decided to try to

find a 24 24-hour dinerdiner. We passed on a chain restaurant and went instead to a dive near downtown. The six of

us went in and we sat at the counter . Since the place was dead , we had it to

ourselves . One of my friends, Paul, got prett pretty rowdy and the waitress had to tell him to

chill out . He was pretty hammered so we had to keep an eye on him. He was a

lightweight and didn't usually drink much, but he was bummed out about a fight he

had had with his girlfriend and decided to get smashed . I felt sorry for the guy, especially

since I knew that he would have a terrible hangover in the morning. I tried to get him to

drink some coffee, but he just wanted to stay buzzedbuzzed. After we left the diner, I dropped everybody off at Paul’s, since I w as the designated

driver . They were all crashing at his place. I made my way home and fell into bed. It

was good to see my old friends. But I'm definitely getting too old to party like we did in

college. As the old saying goes: The mind is willing, but the body is weak.

luncheon and I met a woman named Dana Okri who was

heading a new start up . I have been a sales rep for Eureka Corp. for three years now

and our bread and butter is data management software . I told her briefly about our

produ cts over lunch and she had given me her cardcard. I decided to follow up with a call. I dialed her direct line and fortunately, I got a hold

of her on the first try try. Dana: Hello, Dana Okri.

Kevin: Hello, Dana, this is Kevin Abrahams from Eureka Corp. I do n't know if you'll

remember me but we met last week at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Dana: Oh, yes. Hi, how are you?

Kevin: Great. Do you have a few minutes right now for me to tell you a little bit more

about the data management tools our company ha s to offer? It won't take long . Dana: Actually, I'm really swamped right now and I'll be going into a meeting in a few

minutes. Is there any literature you can send me?

Kevin: Oh, sure, I understand. I'd be happy to send you a promotional packet about t he

programs that I think might best suit a company your size. Would it be okay if I called

again to see if you have any questions?

Dana: Let's do this . Since I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to read the material, why

don't I give you a call if I have any questions. Now, I'm really sorry, but I have to get

going to this meeting.

Kevin: No problem at all. I won't keep you any longer. I'll put a package to you in the

mail and we'll go from there . Dana: Sounds good.

Kevin: Thanks for your time.

Dan a: No problem. Bye, bye.

at long last ! This morning, I went to the

airport to catch my 10 a.m. flight . I got there early to go through security . The folks at

the TSA can really sl ow things down sometimes. Since I had an electronic ticket ticket, I didn't have to wait at the ticket counter to check in , but instead used a kiosk . I then

went straight to the gate . But, when I got there, I couldn't believe my eyes. The flight

was delayeddelayed-- for two hours!

I decided to look at the flight monitors to see if there was an earlier flight to San

Francisco. I thought maybe I could either switch to that flight or get wait -listed . I saw

that there was another flight leaving in 40 minutes and so I bolted for the gate. When I

got there, I got into the back of the long line. When I got to the front of the line, I asked

the gate agent if I could get on that flight instead and she said I would be wait wait-listed. She

said that I needed to stay in the gate area an d wait for my name to be called if they have

a seat available. So, I waited, and waited, and waited.

The gate agent began calling out names over the PA system and guess what? The last

name called was mine. What a relief! The last seat left on the plane w as a middle seat

and I usually prefer an aisle or window , but I was just happy to get on board . I didn't

want my vacation to get delayed because of a late flight.

When the plane landed, I went out to the curb to catch a taxi to my hotel. I only had

carrcarry-on bags so I didn't need to wait in baggage claim . I was out of the airport and off

on my vacation.

hooked it up , I realized

that it was defecdefective . I trudged back to the store to return it.

Clerk: Next, please please. Jeff: Hi, I bought this DVD player last Saturday and I'd like to return it. Clerk: What's the reason for the return?

Jeff: It's not working properly properly. Clerk: What's the matter with it it? Jeff: Well, several things. First of all, the remote doesn't work.

Clerk: Did you put batteries in it?

Jeff: Yes, of course, but it still didn't work. I couldn't change any of the functions on the

display . It also doesn't fast forward when I'm playing a DVD. It rewinds but it won't

fast forward while the picture is playing. On top of that, I couldn't get the closed

caption feature to work.

Clerk: Okay, I see. Anything else?

Jeff: Yes, as you can see, the casing scratches very easily. I just took it o ut of the box

and put it on my entertainment unit and I got all of these scratches.

Clerk: Oh, are you sure you didn't scratch it with your keys or set some things on top of

it? Jeff: No, I'm sure.

Clerk: Well, I'm sure that it's just a problem with th is one player. I've never seen this with

any of the models made by this brand . Do you have the receipt?

Jeff: Yes, here it is.

Clerk: Do you want to exchange it or return it?

Jeff: I'd like to return it.

Clerk: Okay, how did you pay for it?

Jeff: Wi th a credit card.

Clerk: Can I see you card? Okay, I'll credit it back to your credit card. Can you fill out

this form with your name and phone number, and sign at the bottom?

Jeff: Sure.

Clerk: Great. Here's your credit card back and $95 has been cred ited to your credit card.

www.irLanguage.com

Anything else I can help you with?

Anything else I can help you with? Jeff: Oh, there is one more thing. Can you tell me if you Jeff: Oh, there is one more thing. Can you tell me if you carrycarry iPod Nanos?iPod Nanos?

unscripted interview by Dr. Lucy Tse with the host, Jeff McQuillan. Here are the questions

that she asks:

- Why did you decide to start ESL Podcast?

- How do you decide what topics to include?

- How long does it take you to complete each podcast?

- Do you speak any languages other than English? If you do, how did you learn them?

- You are the host of podcasts that h ave listeners all over the world. Which countries do

you have listeners in?

-You are the host for three podcasts: ESL Podcast, TOEFL Podcast, and English Through

Stories. Do you have plans to start any other podcasts?

- What do you like to do in your fr ee time? What are your hobbies?

These are the questions from American television program, Insider the Actor's Studio.

- What sound or noise do you love?

- What sound or noise do you hate?

- What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

- What profession would you not like to do?

Special thanks to Dr. Lucy Tse for hosting this podcast. Music from this podcast is from the

Podshow Podsafe Music Network at music.podsafe.com. Happy Birthday song by Craymo.

Visit their website http://www.cray mo.com.

kick back and relax, I usually flip on the TV and see what's on.

Primetime begins at 8:00 PM on the coasts in the United States, but there are plenty of

reruns and shows in syndication between the time I get home from work at five and

eight o’clock. I like to watch quiz shows like Jeopardy or Who Wants to be a

Milliona ire? I actually tried out once to be on Jeopardy, thinking I could be the next Ken

Jennings ! But I didn't pass the test. So much for trivia.

The national news is on at 6:30 in LA, and there is lots of local news before and after

that. Between six and seve n there are Hollywood gossip shows like Access Hollywood

and Entertainment Tonight , as well as some sitcoms. One of my favorites is SeinfeldSeinfeld, the ultimate comedy program about nothing . Of course, there are some old favorites,

too, such as MASH and Friends . When I'm feeling really bored or really desperate ‚ I'll

turn on Wheel of Fortune and watch somebody buy a vowel vowel.

humid and winters are bitterly

cold. Living in Los Angeles now, it's sometimes hard to describe to people how winter

weather can be in chillier climates . In L.A. most of the year, the weather is sunny , clear , and warm. In one of my favorite movies, LA Story , the weathercaster pre pre-recorded his weather forecasts because the weather was the same everyd ay!

Well, that's an exaggeration, because even in L.A., it can sometimes be quite cool in the

winter and some areas around the beaches can have dense fog and occasionally

drizzling . But, that's nothing compared to Minnesota. In winter, they get snow flur ries

and blizzards , when as much as 3 feet of snow can fall. As I kid, I would build snowmen

and make angels on the ground. That part was fun. But I also froze my buns off off! And, of course, one thing that Minnesota has a lot of in the wintertime is snow.

Sometimes, we get so many inches of snow, we have to shovel and plow our way out of

our houses. The worst is when there is freezing rain and sleet and the roads are

slippery . Needless to say , there are a lot of fender benders on the road with this kind

of weather. Luckily, Minnesota doesn't get any hurricanes that far north, but other parts

of the country are hard hit by those every year.

Well, I have to say that it's nice not to have to scrape ice off my windshield in the

mornings, but I do miss the white ChristmasesChristmases.

told the driver the name of the hotel. I asked him how long it would take to get there. He

said it would only be 20 minutes. I sat back and relaxed.

We got to the hotel and the doorman helped me take my luggage to the checkcheck-in

desk . I said to t he frontfront-desk employee,

Rob: Hi, I'm checking in . The last name is Rama.

Clerk: Yes, here is your reservation . You have a standard room reserved for two nights.

Is that right?

Rob: Actually, no. It should be a suite . I had booked a non non-smoking king king. Clerk: Oh, my mistake. The reservation is for a suite and it is a non non- smoking room with a

king bed. I'm sorry for the error.

Rob: That's okay. I'm here a little early. Is it possible to check in right now?

Clerk: Sure, that's no problem. May I have y our credit card? We need a credit card on file

for your room charges and incidentalsincidentals. Rob: Here it is.

Clerk: Okay, now if you could please verify the room rate here, initial next to the X, and

sign right here. How many keys will you need?

Rob: Oh, just one.

Clerk: Okay, you're all set. You're in room 1201. Take the elevators to the 12th floor and it

will be on your left. Do you need any help with your bags?

Rob: No, I'm fine. Thanks.

Clerk: Enjoy your stay stay.

turned out to be a

bombshell . I held in my hand an invitation to my 10 10- year high school reunion . It

was a shock because I couldn't believe it had been 10 years. The first thing I did was to

call my oldest and dearest friend, Maria. We had gone to high school together and we

had been best friends.

Maria said that she had received her invitation in the mail, too. I told her that I was

leaning agains against going. After all, why live in the past ?, I thought. But, Maria convinced

me that it would be a trip to see some of our old friends and to find out what had

become of them. At the very least , we would get a chance to see each other and to talk

about old t imesimes. And, Maria said, Jeff McQuillan might be there. Ah, Jeff McQuillan. He was a senior when I

was a sophomore , and I had a big crush on him. I thought he was so cute and he was

smart, too. He was at the top of his class . He wasn't the class clown , b ut he had a

great sense of humor and was voted most likely to succeed . He never gave me a

second look , but I always made sure I sat next to him in class. I wonder what he's doing

now and whether he'll be there. Hmm Maybe this reunion will be more fun than I thought.

just in time for my interview and I was very nervous. I walked up to the

receptionist . She was talking into a headset an d typing on her keyboard.

David: Good morning. I'm David Laso. I have an appointment with Dale Mendoza at 10

o’clock. Could you please let her know that I'm here?

Receptionist: Please have a seat and I'll tell her.

About three minutes later, a man c ame out of the office and approached me. He

introduced himself as Ben, Ms. Mendoza's administrative assistant . He told me he

would show me to her office.

I followed him and we stopped in front of an office door with a placard on the door with

the name "Da le Mendoza" and her title "Vice President" written on it. Ben knocked on the

door and opened it. By this time, I was feeling more confident and was actually looking

forward to the interview.

Then, I saw Dale Mendoza. She was the same woman who was in the elevator on my way

up. I had been so nervous that I just couldn't stop talking. I had told her how nervous I

was about this interview. I had even told her about my nightmare with a three three- headed

monster interviewing me for a job. And now, here she was , my potential new boss.

Dale: Hello, you must be David. It's nice to meet you.

There was a frog in my throat . My heart was beating a mile a minute minute. David: It's nice to meet you, too.

Dale: Have a seat and make yourself comfortable. You see? I only have one head and I

don't even bite.

Needless to say, that was not my best interview. But, you live and learn . I'll know next

time to keep my mouth shut shut!

on my way to an interview and there was a lot of traffic on the ro ad. I got to the

office in the nick of time for my appointment. I walked into the lobby of the building

and looked at the directory . I saw that Casey Enterprises was on the penthouse floor

and headed to the elevator. The door was just closing.

David: Cou ld you hold the elevator , please? Thanks a lot lot. Woman: No problem. What floor?

David: I'm headed to the 18th floor, the top floor.

Woman: Oh, so am I I. David: Do you work there? I have an interview today with Dale Mendoza. Do you know

her?

Woman: Yeah , I know her pretty

David: To tell you the truth , I'm really nervous. I had a dream last night that I was

being interviewed by a threethree- headed monster that kept trying to bite my head off off. Oh, wow, my palms are sweaty just thinking about it. I just hope Ms. Mendoza won't be

able to hear my teeth chattering . I just hope I get though this in one piece piece. The elevator doors opened just then and we both walked out. I don't know why I poured

my heart out to a perfect stranger , but it actually seemed to hel p me chill out a bit. I

didn't feel quite as nervous.

We were in the reception area and I headed to the reception desk . The woman started

walking in the other direction. She turned and called back, "Good luck" with a smile.

intenseintense. Lucy: Yeah, Richard said something to me that I didn't appreciate appreciate. Jeff: Oh, no. I know h ow insensitive he can be. What has he done now?

Lucy: He asked me how long it took me to learn English.

Jeff: But, you were born and raised in California!

Lucy: Yeah, but I get that sometimes. It doesn't matter how many generations my

family has lived in the U.S., we'll always be foreigners in their eyes eyes. Jeff: What a racistracist! How can you stand working with the guy?

Lucy: You know, Richard isn't such a bad guy. He made the comment out of ignorance ignorance, not malicemalice. Jeff: So, what did you say when he aske d you how long it took you to learn English?

Lucy: I told him 28 years. And, he knows I'm 28 years old since I just celebrated my

birthday last week. He was puzzled for a minute, and then he got it it. Jeff: Are you sure he really got the message message? Lucy: Y eah, I'm pretty sure since I then asked him how long it took him to learn English.

Jeff: That's hilarious ! What did he

Lucy: He said, "36 years," and we both laughed about it. He apologized and now, it's all

goodgood. Jeff: I'm glad. I bet he won't m ake that mistake again.

co-worker from the office. She and I work in the same

department . We've had lunch at work a few times but I really didn't know her that well. I

was really glad she called.

Kevin: HellHello. Amy: Hi, could I speak to Kevin?

Kevin: This is Kevin.

Amy: Oh, hi, it's Amy from work.

Kevin: Oh, hey, how's it going? I didn't recognize your voice.

Amy: Not bad. Listen, the reason I'm calling is that I'm having a dinner party a week

from Satur day at my place around 7:30. I wanted to see if you could make it.

Kevin: So it's not this Saturday but the Saturday after that. That would be the 17th.

Amy: Yeah, that's right, the following Saturday, the 17th.

Kevin: Let me just check my calendar Yea h, I think I can make it. Are you inviting

anyone else from work?

Amy: Yeah, I am. Jennifer from marketing already RSVPRSVP-ed so she'll be there for sure

and I'm waiting to hear back from James in accounting . I've also invited a few other

friends.

Kevin: Ju st out of curiosity , are they in finance,

Amy: No. My friend Janis is in the medical field . She's an orthopedic surgeon . She's

bringing her boyfriend, Tim, and I think he's an engineer in the automobile industry industry. Then, there's Megan. She works part part-time in retail and moonlights as a tour guide on

the weekends. She's been wanting to get into the hospitality industry for a long time.

Kevin: Wow, that sounds like a great group of people. I'm looking forward to it. Can I

bring anything?

Amy: No, that's okay. Just come and bring your appetite appetite. Kevin: Sounds great. Thanks for the invitation.

Amy: No problem. I'm glad you can make it. See you in the office tomorrow.

Kevin: See you then. Bye.

grateful , but for a lot of people, the holiday also means a

weekend of eating a lot and watching football. And, my family is no exception exception. My family likes to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner each year. We invite people from

our extended family . We also invite close friends, especially those who don't have

family in town. When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, our motto is: The more the

merriermerrier. Our dinner, of course, starts with a big turkeyturkey, baked in the oven. I always carve it before it's served. Then, we have the fixings . We always have mashed potatoes,

stuffing, yams, cranberries, and corn on the cob . Some years, we go wild and have

other vegetables and sides . And, for dessert , we have pumpkin pie pie. My wife is not a

big fan of pumpkin pie so for her, we also have ice cream.

After we have a really big meal, we usually watch football on TV. Things usually get

pretty rowdy since there are always fans on both sides rooting for their own team to

win. Last year, my uncle almost got into a fistfight with my nephew. Luckily, no one‚ and

no furniture harmed. That was a relief!

resort hotel in Arizona on a short vacation. I had been out on the

golf course playing a round of golf. When I got back into the room, I was feeling pre tty

hungry. I was meeting some friends for a late dinner around 8:30. I wanted a snack . I

took a look at the room service menu and called their number.

Woman: Room service. What would you like to order?

Jeff: Hi, I'm in room 1201 and I'd like an order o f the calamari and a slice of

cheesecakecheesecake. Woman: Do you want the calamari appetizer or the entreeentree? Jeff: I'd like the appetizer.

Woman: Anything to drink?

Jeff: A diet Coke. About how long will that take?

Woman: It'll be about 30 minutes.

Jeff: Okay .

There was a knock on my door about a half hour later.

Jeff: Who is it?

Woman: Room service...Hi, where would you like me to put the tray?

Jeff: On the desk would be fine.

Woman: The total is $16.75.

Jeff: Oh, that's higher than I'd expecte expected. Woman: There's a 12% service charge for room service and there's also the usual food

tax.

Jeff: Oh, I see. Can I charge it to the room room? Woman: Sure. Just fill in the total here, write in your room number, and sign at the

bottom.

Jeff: Okay, there you go. Thanks.

Woman: Thank you and have a nice day.

The calamari and the cheesecake really hit the spot spot.

long time no see. How have you been?

Man: Oh, I've been fine, but I'm having some trouble with my son.

Woman: Tell me all about it.

Man: Oh, he's 14 and in the past few months, he's be come quieter and a bit secretivesecretive. He locks himself in his room and I think he's running around with the wrong crowd crowd. Woman: Oh, I see. What makes you think that?

Man: Well, he's become friends with a couple of older boys who are in a band. And one

night last weekend, he came home really late, way past his curfewcurfew. Woman: Really? What happened?

Man: He told me that his friend's car broke down and they had to walk home.

Woman: I see what you mean. I understand why you're concerned. Have you tried

talki ng to your son about it?

Man: I haven't yet. I just keep hoping it's just a phase he's going through through. Woman: You may be right, but it doesn't hurt to find out more about what's going on in

his life.

Man: You're right. I should talk to him. Sometimes, it's not easy being a parent. Thanks.

It helps to get it off my chest . You're always so easy to talk

Woman: I don't know about that, but my door is always open . Stop by

crowded in here.

Woman: Yes, it's always like this on the first night of the conference. Is this your first time

attendingattending? Man: Yes, it is. By the way, I'm Dan Morimoto.

Woman: I'm Gwen Renault. Were you here this morning for the opening keynote ? I thought the speaker was excellent.

Man: No, unfortunately, I didn't arrive to the venue until late morning. Luckily, I prepre-registered and just had to pick up my registration packet , so I was able to catch the

luncheon speaker and she was very good.

Woman: You know, I attended a really interesting session this afternoon on ethics in the

profession. It was a panel discussion and there was some lively debate . The lun cheon

speaker, Stephanie Morse, presented some of her findings from her new groundground- breaking study study. Man: I'm sorry I missed it. It sounds interesting. Do you plan on staying for the duration

of the conference?

Woman: No, I'm afraid I have to leave early tomorrow. Will you excuse me? I see a

colleague of mine over there and I'd like to say hello.

Man: Oh, sure. It was nice meeting you.

Woman: Yes, you too.

booked didn't turn out to be a dump . The last time I went

on vacation, I booked it online sight unseen , and it turned out to be a run down hotel hotel. This hotel was completely different. The decor was tasteful and updated, the stastaff was

friendly, and the rooms were well well-maintained.

Well, that is, until my second day there. When I left my room in the morning, I had

removed the "Do Not Disturb" sign from my door so that housekeeping would know I

needed my room made up . When I got b ack in the afternoon, though, it hadn't been

done properly. The maid had made the bed , cleaned the bathroom, and re - stocked

the mini mini-bar , but she hadn't vacuumed the carpet and didn't leave any soap or clean

towels. I called down to the front desk to make a complaint.

"Front desk. How may I help you?‚"

"Hello. I'm in room 1201 and housekeeping didn't leave any soap or clean towels. And,

the floor still needs to be vacuumed.‚"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Let me connect you with housekeeping." I waited on hold.

"Housekeeping.‚"

"Yes, this is room 1201. The maid who cleaned my room didn't leave any soap or clean

towels, and the floor needs vacuuming.‚"

"Okay. I'll get someone up there right away to take care of that."

About 10 minutes later, the maid knocke d on the door. I stepped out of the room and

she left the toiletries in the bathroom and vacuumed. That was pretty quick service. I'm

glad I didn't get the run run-aroundaround.

the other day . I saw a former co co-worker, Michael, across the room. He

used to work at my company until he quit a few months ago to start a new job as a

public relations officer at Missouri University. It's a job he's been working toward for

years. He wasn't happy working for a corporation and wanted to get into either a nonnon-profit organization or a university. I wanted to see how he was doing. The truth was , I

was thinking of making a move myself.

Becky: Hey, Michael. Remember me ? I'm Becky. We used to work at Lekmans together.

Michael: Oh, sure. How are you? Long time, no see. How are things at Lekmans?

Becky: It's about the same. I've been thinking of making a change myself. Do you

mind if I ask you a few things about your jo b at the university?

Michael: No, not at all. Go ahead.

Becky: Well, I was wondering what the salaries are like? I mean are they much lower

than the corporate world?

Michael: Well, I can't speak for all universities, but my salary is a definitely lowe r than

at Lekmans. I just don't think the salaries are comparable when you leave a major

corporation.

Becky: Yeah, that's what I thought. But, I've heard that the perks are better. I was

wondering if that was really true.

Michael: I'd have to say yes an d no on that. I don't get a big end end-of -the -year bonus like I

did at Lekmans but I get to take classes for free if I want to. I've always wanted to get a

graduate degree so I'm taking classes now to do that.

Becky: Oh, that's great. It sounds like you're r eally happy with your move.

Michael: Yeah, I guess I am. Working at a university is the really suits me.

settle down . But, I could tell that he still wanted to play the field before getting

married. I don't think Don ever cheated on me, but I finally realized that he wasn't the marrying type type. My friend Sheila was thrilled to hear that we had split up . She never liked Don and she

was anxious to set me up with some of her single friends. I told her that I didn't want to

go on any blind dates . But, she kept telling me about this guy Alan. She thought he was

my soul mate and she was sure that he would be my Mr. Right . According to Sheila, he

was good looking , he had a good sense of humor , he was bright and witty , and was

kind and considerateconsiderate. In the end, I told Shiela to give him my number . He called and

we agreed to meet for coffee.

I walked into the cafe and looked around. I saw a nice looking guy sitting by himself

near the window.

Lucy: Hi, are you Alan?

Alan: Yeah. You must be Lucy.

Lucy: Did you have trouble finding the cafe

Alan: No, I've actually been here before. I'm really glad you could make it. Sheila has

been telling me all about you.

Lucy: Well, Sheila likes to play matchmaker . But, it's nice to meet you, too.

Alan: To t ell the truth, I'm not big on blind dates.

Lucy: Yeah, me neither. But, I'm glad I came.

Alan: Yes, so am I.

garment district in downtown L.A.

If you want to find goo good deals on clothes, shoes, and accessories , this is the place to

come. To get the best deal, though, you have to be ready to bargain.

I walked by a stall and saw a purse I liked. The owner had just finished making a sale sale. Lucy: Does this come in any ot her colors?

Man: Yeah, we have this one in white and blue. I also have this other style in green.

Lucy: How much is the blue one?

Man: It's $32.

Lucy: $32? What about the green one?

Man: That's $30.

Lucy: That seems a little high. Can you do better on the price price? Man: This is a designer bag and it's good quality. It's a bargain at that price.

Lucy: Is that your best offer?

Man: That's the best I can do.

Lucy: Well, I don't know. I think I'll shop around.

Man: Okay, how about $28.

Lucy: That's still more than I wanted to spend. What if I take the blue one and the

green one?

Man: I'll give you both of them for $55.

Lucy: That's not much of a break on the price. How about $50 for both?

Man: You drive a hard bargain. The best I can do is $54. Y ou won't find it cheaper

anywhere else.

Lucy: Why don't we split the difference and make it $52?

Man: Okay, okay. You've got a deal.

co-workers, Betty, was retiring this month after working for the company 23

years. I was put in charge of planning a retirement lunch in her honor at a restaurant

nearby. The company was picking up the tab and it was up to me to set a day and

time. After asking the people in the department and finding out their availability , I

called the restaurant to make a reservation.

Manager: Bruno's.

Jeff: Hi, I'm calling from Nika Corporation. We would like to hold a business lunch a t the

restaurant.

Manager: Oh, certainly. I'm Linda, the manager. I can help you with that. How many will

there be in your partyparty? Jeff: There will be about 18 people.

Manager: Okay. For a party that size, we have a separate banquet room in the back.

Je ff: Is there an extra charge to reserve the room?

Manager: No, as long as you can guarantee at least 15 guests, there is no extra charge.

Jeff: That's great. I'd like to go ahead and reserve the room, then, for Friday, December 2,

at around noon. This is a retirement party and we’d like to bring a cake for the guest

of honor and some bottles of champagne. Will that be acceptable?

Manager: The cake is no problem at all, but we do charge a corkage fee of $15 a bottle

for any alcohol not purchased from th e restaurant.

Jeff: Oh, that's fine.

Manager: Great. I have the banquet room reserved for a luncheon for Nika Corporation on

the 2nd of December. May I have your name and contact information?

Jeff: Sure. I'm Jeff McQuillan and my number is 323 -555555-684 0, extension 42.

Manager: Thanks, Mr. McQuillan. I'll give you a call a week in advance to confirm the

arrangementsarrangements. Jeff: Sounds good. Thanks for your help.

Manager: Thank you for choosing Bruno's. We look forward to seeing you on the 2nd.

Man: I don't know. What do you want to do?

W: I have no idea. Do you think we're in a rut rut? M: What do you mean?

W: Well, we do the same things every weekend. We go to the same rest aurants. We see

the same friends. You know what I mean?

M: Yeah, I guess you're right. It's easy to get bogged down in the day to day , and

forget to change things up once in a while. Let's break out and do some thing

completely different tonight.

W: Oka y, I'll look in the events section of the paper to see what's going on tonight.

Hmm, we could go to a concert. There is a good one tonight. I bet it's not sold out . But,

we'll have to drive an hour to the venuevenue. M: An hour? That's a bit of a bummer . Let me take a peek and see what else there is.

How about going dancing? We haven't done that in a while. There's a club in Silver Lake

that's supposed to be hopping on Friday nights. Eddie from work told me that they have

a really good DJ and a big dance floor , and the cover charge isn't bad.

W: I'm not really in the mood for dancing, actually. You know what? I just feel like

staying home tonight and vegging , after all. How about you?

M: Yeah, I was hoping you’d say that. It's nice to have the option to g o out but I’d

rather stay in . Maybe we can go out tomorrow

W: Yeah, definitely, tomorrow night.

memorized the standard safety announcement made by the flight attendants . It goes

som ething like this:

Good afternoon and welcome to Flight 345, service to Los Angeles International Airport.

We appreciate your full attention to this important safety announcement. This 747

aircraft is equipped with four emergency exits , two in the front o f the plane and two in

the aft . Be sure to identify the nearest exit to you, which may be behind you. If the plane

should lose pressure , an oxygen mask will drop from the compartment above your

seat. Reach up, pull down on the mask until the tubing is full fully extended . Place the mask

over your nose and mouth, secure it with the elastic band and breathe normally.

Passenger seat cushions on this aircraft may be used as a flotation device and detailed

instructions may be found on the safety information card in the seat pocket in front of

you. Smoking is not permitted at any time while on board this aircraft. Also, federal law

prohibits tamperingtampering, disabling , or destroying these detectors in the lavatories . Your

compliance with all crew member instructions, all pl acards , and lighted seat belt and

no smoking signs is required.

The following electronic devices may not be used during takeoff or landing : portable

compact disk players, portable computers, and cellular phones which should be in the off

position and sto wed . Now in preparation for takeoff, please fasten your seatbelt seatbelt, return your seatback and tray tables to the full upright and locked position. Your

carrycarry-on luggage must be stowed in the overhead compartments or underneath the

seat in front of you. On beh alf of all Mar Vista Airline employees, we'd like to thank you for

selecting us today. We hope you enjoy your flight.

on top

of t hat , my cousin Dominick just moved there. I got in touch with him and he invited

me over to see his new placeplace. On the way over, though, I got a little lost . I knew I was in the right area, but I was

turned around . He lived in an apartment over an old ba kery and I couldn't find it.

I stopped a man who was walking by to ask for directions.

Lucy: Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the Cross Bakery building?

Man: The Cross Bakery building? Oh sure. You're actually walking in the opposite

directiodirection. Lucy: Oh, you're kidding ! I thought I was heading east.

Man: No, east is the other direction . To get to the Bakery, you need to turn around and

go three blocks to Broadway. When you get to the intersection of Broadway and Elm,

you hang a left left. Go str aight down that street for half a block and then you'll see the

building on your left.

Lucy: Okay, let me see if I've got that. I need to go down Elm until I hit Broadway, then I

make a left and the building is on my left hand side . Is that

Man: Y eah, you've got it . Do you want me to show you the way?

Lucy: Thanks for the offer, but I think I've got it. Hopefully, I won't get lost again on my

way there!

to work . This plan calls for the new office to open by

July and I think that's too ambitious . I don't see how the groundwork can be done any

earlier than September.

Jeff: I understan d your concern. I don't want to rush the opening of the new office

either. But, as I see it, a lot of the preparations were made last year when we considered

opening an office in Miami. Even though the site is different, a lot of the cost projections

are t he same.

Lucy: That may be, but remember that one of the reasons we scrapped the Miami plan

was because the budget was too big.

Jeff: That's not how I saw it. I think the major reason we didn't go ahead with the

Miami plan was a problem with timing . I know that the budget was a concern, too.

As you can see, though, this plan has a lower budget than the Miami plan.

Lucy: I don't agree. If you add in all of the extras , the budget is the same, if not higher.

I think we need to go back to the drawing b oard on this.

Jeff: I have to disagree. This plan is the best we've come up with and is workable.

Lucy: I'm afraid we just don't see eye to eye on this. Let's call a meeting with the rest

of the team and see what they think.

Jeff: Okay, let's do that.

the theater. He had season tick ets but couldn't go to this performance. It was opening

night of Shakespeare's The Tempest . I jumped at his offer and invited Lucy to come

along.

We arrived at the theater a half an hour before opening curtain . We had the tickets in

hand and didn't need t o pick them up at the will call window. The doors to the theater

were open and we handed our tickets to the ticket takers standing in the doorwaydoorway. We looked for our seats and were pleasantly surprised to find that we had some of the

best seats in the hou house ! I thought we would be sitting in the balcony , but we were in

the orchestra section in the center. This was great! The lights dimmed and the curtain

went up . After the second act , there was an intermission . Lucy and I went into the lobby and

bought drinks from the bar. After about 15 minutes, the lights flickered and we went

back to our seats.

After the last act, the audience gave the actors a standing ovation . This was the best

play I had seen in ages . The acting was superb, the staging and direc tion were fresh. I

couldn't have asked for a better theater experience. I owed Dennis big time for giving

me his tickets.

coming up this Saturday, and I thought it would be nice to take

some ca ndids for the happy couple . My wife, who's the photographer in the family,

wasn't around today, so I decided to strike out on my own and head off to the camera

shop. I love to shop for new gadgetsgadgets. When I got to the store. I was blown away by all the opt ions I had! There were

disposable cameras, digital cameras, cameras combined with camcorders - it was

making my head spin . I finally asked one of the sales clerks what he would recommend.

"It depends if you want a pointpoint-andand-shoot type, or are looking for something more

fancy ," he said.

"I'm looking for something that will take a good shot and not be too complicated to

operate," I replied.

"Well, this one here has a builtbuilt-in flash and takes good pictures. When you've finished

shooting the roll , just bri ng it in and we'll develop them for you.‚"

"Do you make enlargements of the prints if I'm interested in doing that?‚"

"Sure," he said, "we can do 4 x 6 or 8 x 10 glossies , if you'd like.‚"

I decided to go with the camera he recommended. Now all I hav e to do is justify the new

camera to my wife.

help out one of the new

employees. She needs some basic orientation on how to login to our network. So I

made an appointment with her to c ome to my cubicle for a little training session.

Jeff: Hi, Lucy, how are you settling in in? Lucy: Just fine thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this

software. May I ask you what we will be covering today?

Jeff: Sure. Before I do that, could you tell me if you've worked with this program

before? That will help me figure out how to proceed . Lucy: I've done a little work with it, but not much.

Jeff: Well, it's a good idea to have the manual ready, since it can get a bit hairy . Yo You should start by logging in with your username and password.

Lucy: How do I do that?

Jeff: You can just click on the button in the corner. Be sure to enter the password you

created. You can write it down until you memorize it, but you might want to kee p it in a

safe place.

Lucy: Okay. Then what?

Jeff: Well, then just select the network you want to work with, and you're all set.

Lucy: Great, thanks for your help, Jeff. May I trouble you to show me how to print

reports out from the program?

Jeff: Sur e. I'll do what I can to help.

single mom . She has been working some

odd hours lately and was having a tough time finding childcare for her 4 4-yearyear-old

daughter and her 8 8-yearyear-old son.

Her daughter, Kimberly, is enrolled in a preschool and Susan is able to drop her off on

her way to work. But, the preschool closes as 6:00 p.m. and sometimes Susan can't get

there in time to pick her up up. Her son, Paul, is in the second grade and goes to a public school near their house. Paul

gets out of school at 3 p.m. but Susan never gets off work before 6:00 p.m., and

sometimes later.

So, what can she do with the kids after school? I went with Susan to check out a latchkey

program at the local commu nity center . It seemed like a good idea. Paul would be

picked up from his school and he could stay at the center to do his homework and to play

in the center until as late as 7 p.m. The tuition was fairly low and there was rolling

admission . The trouble wa s, there was very little supervision of the kids and the staff

seemed inexperiencedinexperienced. Now, Susan is considering hiring a nanny . The nanny would pick both kids up from their

schools and bring them home. The nanny could make dinner for them and stay with t hem

until she got home. This would be ideal, but a good nanny is hard to come by and is very

expensive to hire, even the ones who don't live in in. I don't envy Susan. Single moms‚ and dads‚ have it tough tough.

made a reservation . After I got through the phone tr tree , I spoke with a reservation

agentagent. Agent: Welcome to Bargain Rental Car.

Jeff: I'd like to reserve a rental car.

Agent: What city will you be picking up from from? Jeff: Chicago.

Agent: Which airport location ? O’Hare or Midway?

Jeff: Hmm I'm not sur e. Is there a downtown location?

Agent: Sure. We have an office at 401 State St.

Jeff: Is that near Prairie State College?

Agent: I really don't know.

Jeff: That's okay. I'll go ahead and make a reservation for that location.

Agent: For what date and time?

Jeff: For November 11, around 7 p.m.

Agent: Returning to the same location?

Jeff: No. I’d like to drop it off at the Chicago O’Hare airport.

Agent: Okay. On what date and time?

Jeff: It'll be that Sunday, November 13, around the same time.

Agent: What size car would you like? A compact, mid mid-size, or fullfull-size ? Jeff: I’d like the most economical economical. Agent: That would be the compact. The rental fee would be $32.25 a day, giving you a

grand total of $62.50 for the two days.

Jeff: Does that incl ude taxes and fees?

Agent: No. With all applicable taxes and fees, you grand total comes to $77.40.

Jeff: Okay, that's fine.

Agent: Your last name?

Jeff: McQuillan. M, C, Q, U, I, L, L, A, N.

Agent: And your first name?

Jeff: Jeff.

Agent: J, E, S, S?

Jeff: No, J, E, F as in Frank, F.

Agent: What credit card will you be using?

Jeff: I'll be using a MasterCard.

Agent: Okay, I have a compact reserved for pickup at our downtown location on

November 11 at 7 p.m., returning November 13 at 7 p.m. a t Chicago O’Hare. Is there

another reservation I can help you with?

Jeff: No, that's all. Thanks.

Agent: It's my pleasure. Have a good afternoon and thank you for calling Bargain Rental

Car.

dressing up in a costume that I pick out at

the store or, more often, we made out of odds a nd ends at home. The best part was

going tricktrick-or -treating . Some years, I went with my brothers and sisters. When I got a

little older, I went with my friends. We would go to the houses in our neighborhood and

knock or ring the doorbell. When the door open ed, we would yell, "Trick or treat!‚" We

never played tricks and always got treats. The neighbor would put some candy and

chocolate bars in our bags. We would go home at the end of the night and eat them to

our hearts' content content. To get ready for Halloween , my parents would buy pumpkins from the market or from

the make -shift pumpkin patches on the side of the road so that we could make jackjack-o- lanterns . We took each pumpkin and cut off the top, scooped out the seeds from the

inside, and carved faces on the front. At night, we would put candles inside the jack jack-o- lanterns and put them on our doorstep . Sometimes we carved scary faces and

sometimes they were funny ones.

I remember that one year, we had a Halloween party. Our friends came over dressed up

as wi tches, ghosts, superheros, cartoon characters , and anything else you can think

of. We would play party games like bobbing for apples , and we even created a haunted

house in our backyard. It was a blast ! Halloween is truly a holiday for

signed up for a new ISP for my office, using DSL . I managed to ge t the

modem and the router configured properly, but now my email won't work. I dug out

the manual that came with the modem and called the tolltoll-free line for technical

support . I'm not a big fan of most IT departments, but if something doesn't work,

they'rthey're the only game in town town. I explained to the tech support person that I couldn't get my email to send or receive.

He asked me if I had checked the Ethernet connection from the modem to the router, and

I said I did. Then he asked if I had run any diagnosticdiagnostics on the email software, and if I

was able to connect to the web . I said no to both of these questions. He told me he

would submit a ticket and have the problem escalated to the next level. Someone

should be calling me back, he said.

I won't hold my brea breath!

switch banks recently, and after looking at my options, I went for Mar Vista

National Bank. I drove over to the bank, parked next to the drivedrive-through teller lanes,

and walked inside. I made my way to the new accounts desk, and was gre eted by John,

one of the customer service representatives there. I told him I wanted to open a new

checking and savings account. He said he’d be happy to help me, and gave me a form to fill out with my personal information, including place of employment, home

address, and so forth. I had to show him a government government-issued ID and give him my

Social Security number number. John asked if I wanted an interestinterest-bearing account with overdraft protection protection. Technically, he said, the savings account is a money market where I can earn interest

daily. The checking was free if I had direct deposit , and my checks were also free. I

signed on the dotted line , gave him the minimum deposit to open the account, and

thanked him for his help. I'm glad I got that out of the way. Now all I need to do is make

some money to put into my accounts!

acting up . It was making a strange

noise and the engine was running roughly . When I got home, I popped open the hood

to see if there was anything wrong. After looking around for a few minutes and not seeing

anything, I decided to take my car to the shopshop. I took it down to street to Manny's Car Repair. I've never had luck finding a really honest

mechanic , but Manny was no worse than most . I explained to Manny the problem and

he took a look at it right away. Finally, he narrowed it down to the fan belt . I asked

him how much it would set me back and he said $80, with parts and labor . I usually

feel like I'm getting ripp ed off when I go to a repair shop, but for once, I thought Manny

was being straight with me. I asked how long he needed to keep the car and he said at

least until the end of the day tomorrow. He said he would order the part right away and

he’d call me wh en it was ready.

Oh well. I guess it could have been a lot worse. I better dust off my bike to take to work

tomorrow. It's about time I got some exercise!

stage fright , but the thought of getting up in front of my colleagues

to give a presentation always gives me butterflies . But I have no choice; my boss asked

me to do it, so I will.

I set up my projector and PowerPoint program on my laptop. Clearing my voice , I

stood up and addressed the 10 people present at the meeting. I started off by saying,

"Good afternoon. I want to thank you for inviting me to talk to you today." I had a

clicker in my hand to advance the slidesslides. " Today I'm going to talk to you about our

new product, Provasic. Please feel free to ask questions as we go along," I said. I then

flipped through the slides showing pictures of our p roduct, and concluded by

summarizing the main points of my talk with bullet points points. I finished by saying, " Thank you for your attention today. My contact information is

on your handout ." Whew ! I was glad that was

I live in a cu l de sac in a residential neighborhood in Los Angeles. There is a nice retired

couple that lives kitty corner from me. They have always been very friendly and we

have gotten along very well.

About three months ago, they decided to renovate their garage a nd turn it into a

guesthouse . Since they didn't have a lot of money, they wanted to rent out the unit to

help make ends meet meet. A new renter moved in three weeks ago and that's when the trouble began. She was a

student at the local university and she liked to invite her friends over. The trouble was,

they kept very late hours , and they liked to play loud music. My neighbors were at their wits' end . They talked to their tenant several times about the noise but nothing

worked. Finally, they asked her to move out . Fortunately, she was on a monthmonth-to - month lease and they didn't have any problems.

Now that my neighbors have learned their lesson , their new tenant is a nice widow

with two cats. I'm so glad that everything worked out in the end!

hometown about once a year. This year, I was in town for about five days and

there was a family getget-together . It wasn't a family reunion since it was just my

immediate family , but still, there were a total of about 45 people who showed up . Our family parties are always held at the home of one of my brothers or sisters. It is

always a potluck . We never have formal dinner parties and so we never need cateringcatering. At the potluck this past weekend, some people brought casseroles , some brought chips

and dip , and some brought cookies and cakes for dessert . I usually don't have to bring

anything since I'm the guest of honor honor. There is always a lo t of talking and laughing at our family parties. Someone always brings

up old childhood memories or a funny anecdote from the old days. A family get get-together as big as ours can be overwhelming for some people. When they ask me what

it's like to be part of such a big family I always tell them one thing: It's noisy!

coming up and I wanted to get her a special present . She always

tells me to not to splurge on gifts for her but for once , I decided to pull out all the

stopsstops. I went to the jewelry store and began looking at all of the display cas cases . I started by

looking at the bracelets . The sales clerk asked me if I was looking for a bangle or a

chain bracelet. I told her that I wasn't sure and she showed me some in yellow gold,

white gold, and platinum . None of them seemed like my wife's style so I moved onto

the rings . The clerk asked if my wife liked diamonds and I told her that she did, but that

she also liked other stones, like emeraldsemeralds, rubies , or sapphires . I looked at a lot of

anniversary bands but none really fit the bill.

Finally, I wal ked over to the display case with the necklaces . There was a pearl necklace

with a really beautiful clasp . I had never seen anything like it before and I was sure my

wife was going to like it. I told the clerk that I would take it it. The clerk placed the ne cklace in its box and giftgift-wrapped it. I have to say that when I

left the store, I felt pretty proud of myself . I knew my wife would like the present and I

picked it out all by myself . Now, I can't wait to see the look on her face when she

opens it!

fashion sense sense. I mean , I know that

you shouldn't wear a pink shirt with green pants, but beyond that I'm pretty much a

basket case when it comes to picking my wardrobe . I h ave plenty of shortshort- sleeve and

longlong-sleeve dress shirts, some have a buttonbutton-down collar , and some have a shirt

pocket in them. I also own some more casual shirts with a collar, and a ton of t-shirts

with just about every logo you can think of . I have a co uple of good pairs of black

slacks for formal occasions, along with khakis and jeans for more informal events.

Naturally, I have one nice suit to wear to weddings, funerals, and job interviews, with a

suit coat , tie, a belt with a nice nice-looking buckle , and pants. I also own a sports coat coat, but I don't use it much. Well, I better stop talking and start dressing. I'm late for work!

conference this weekend back in my home state of Minnesota. I am going

there to address a convention full of librarianslibrarians, believe it or not . For me, the worst

part of going on the road for business is not the traveling; it's all the preparation you

have to do. I created a whole checklist of things I ha ve to do when I travel. First, I

confirm that my flight will be on time departing from LAX. Next, I call to doubledouble-check on my reservation for the hotel and the rent a car . After that, I pull out my

suitcase and start packing. I'm a light packer , so I brin g only the pants, shirts, socks,

and underwear I'm going to need, nothing more. I throw in my toiletries bag with the

usual stuff ‚Äîshaver, shaving cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss ‚ and then I'm just

about done. Finally, I go through my briefcase to make sure I have all the things I'll need

for the conference‚ my badge , my laptop, my overhead transparencies , a notepad, and

some pens. Now I'm ready‚ off I go to my old home.

the other day . She wanted to grab some lunch and as ked me

if I wanted to go to the local fast food place down the street. I said sure, even though I

knew it wouldn't be good for me. I hopped in my car and swung by to pick her up at

her work. When we got to the restaurant, there was already a long line at t he drivedrive-through . It was the lunch hour , so that is to be expected. We inched forward in the

driveway and finally reached the order station station. " Welcome to McApple's Restaurant. How

can I help you today?" I leaned over to shout into the little box, "Uh, I'll have a

cheeseburger, and my friend will take a regular hamburger." " Would you like anything

to drink with that?" she asked. She had a very low voice . "Two diet Cokes, please," I

said. "And would you like any fries with that?" she asked again. "No, just the hamburgers,

thanks." " That'll be $8.75. Please pull forward ." We drove up to the pick up window

and paid the cashier. Our food was ready about 30 seconds later. "Thank you!" I said as

we drove away . We pulled over to the side of the road to eat our hambu rgers. I knew

I was going to regret it, but it sure did taste good!

the first to admit that I'm hooked on reading magazines. I've been this way as

long as I can remember . I love picking up magazines about different topics. Currently, I

subscribe to about six or seven magazines, although when I was getting professional

journals during my days at the university, I probably had 15 or 20 coming to my box

every month. Now I read mostly for pleasure . I like to read the New Yorker , because it is

so wellwell-writtenwritten. I also get a copy of Atlantic Monthly and Harpers every month, because

they have good coverage of cultural, political, and social issues. My latest is to read

book reviews . There are a couple of really good book reviews published in the U.S.,

including the New York Review of Books . But the best reviews for my money are the

Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books , both of which come out of

England. I have to thank my friend Gustavo for turning me on to those two. I prefer to

read the nonnon-fic tion reviews over the fiction ones, but that's me . Ah, the joys of

reading!

I wonder if I could ask you some questions about our paper, professor. Do

you want us to cite our sources in the footnotesfootnotes? Professor: Yo u should use endnotes for longer explanations. Otherwise, just follow the

style sheet I passed out for citations in your paper.

Student: I see. And what about the cover page ? Is there a special format for that as

well?

Professor: Do you have the handout I passed out with you? If you look at the bottom of

that, you'll see that that you should follow the format of the American Psychological

Association, 5th edition.

Student: Okay, I guess I missed that.

hairdresser today. It has been too long since I had my

hair cut. My bangs were to o long, I had split ends and my roots were showing . I was

a mess!

I arrived for my appointment and I told the receptionist that I was there for an

appointment with Mark. She told me that he was finishing up with another client and

that he would be with me soon. About 10 minutes later, he came over to where I was

sitting and took me back to his stationstation. Mark: Hi, how have you been? You're looking good.

Lucy: Thanks. I've been great. Thanks for fitting me in today.

Mark: No problem. So, tell me, what do you want to have done today?

Lucy: I need a trimtrim. Mark: Okay. Let's see how short do you want me to cut it? Shoulder length? Chin

length?

Lucy: I'd like to take it up about two inches in the back and the bangs should fall just

under my eyebrows.

Mark : Okay, I really think that's a good length for your face shape shape. Just as I had hoped, Mark did a great job with my hair. I paid the receptionist and made

sure I gave him a big tip . Anyone who can do wonders with my crazy hair definitely

deserves it!

sound okay with you?

Lucy: What? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said.

Jeff: You seem preoccupied today. What's up?

Lucy: Oh, it's this guy I know from this class I'm taking. His name is Richard. I think I've

mentioned him before.

Jeff: Yeah, sure, the guy you're working o n a project with. Right?

Lucy: Yeah, that's him. The four of us are supposed to be working as a team on this

project and I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with him.

Jeff: What do you mean?

Lucy: Well, he doesn't know how to express his opinion without putting other people

down. And, he always has to be right.

Jeff: He sounds a little immatureimmature. Lucy: Yeah, I think it's partly that. He doesn't know how to be diplomatic with people.

Jeff: He doesn't know how or he doesn't want to.

Lucy: I don't know, but I do know that sometimes he really gets the better of me.

Jeff: Well, he sounds pretty hard to get along with. Are the other people in your group

feeling the same way?

Lucy: Yeah, in fact, they're fed up with him. I keep having to run interference when

our discussions get too heated . Actually, I feel really sorry for the guy . He doesn't

seem to have too many friends and he always seems so unhappy.

Jeff: Well, I think you're helping just by putting up with him.

Lucy: Thanks for trying to make me feel better. Ok, now what were you saying?

could do withou without Mondays. On the weekend, I can

kick back and relax , but I dread going back to work when the weekend is over.

This morning was particularly hectic . On weeknights , I set my alarm for 7 a.m. That's

what I did last night. But, when I woke up this morning an d looked at my alarm clock, it

was 7:30! The alarm clock was on the fritz and it didn't go off . Oh no, I was going to be

late again.

I washed my face, put on my makemake-up , got dressed, and ate a small bowl of cereal. I had

one foot out the door when I real ized I didn't have my keys. I went back into my

bedroom and looked on the shelf where I kept them. No luck . Maybe I left them in my

purse . I hunted around for them. Finally, I just dumped out everything from my purse

onto my bed. I had my wallet, sunglasse s, compact, lipstick, eye drops, aspirin,

tissues , and my PDA . But, no keys.

I looked around the living room. Maybe they fell behind the couch cushions . I picked up

each one and looked. No keys. I went into my closet and checked the pockets of my coat.

Still, no keys. By this time, I was pretty frantic so I tried to calm myself down . I

decided to get a drink of water. I opened the refrigerator and what did I see? My keys.

They were sitting on the shelf right next to the milk. I must have left them there w hen I

got the milk for my cereal. It served me right for being so absentabsent- mindedminded. Oh, how I hate Monday mornings!

Yosemite National Park to do some camping

and hiking . We all like the outdoors , but we all live in the city. We have all been griping

about feeling cooped up so we decided to take a road trip . This trip w ould give all of us

a break from the traffic, noise, and smog that we all deal with in L.A.

Before we left, I went to the sporting goods store to get some new gear and

equipment. I had a tent , but I needed a new sleeping bag , one that was waterproof . I

also needed some new hiking boots . Lucky for me, I found everything in one stop , and

by the time I left the store, I was really psyched about the trip!

Early on Saturday morning, my friend Rachel came to pick me up. None of us had a

camper but Rachel had an SUV that fit all of us comfortably. I was the last one to be

picked up and I put my backpack and other gear in the trunk . I was about to get in to

the car when realized I had left my sunscreen in the house. I rushed back in and

grabbed it , and then we w ere off . I couldn't wait to get some fresh air and plenty of

exercise. Yosemite, here we come!

my admin istrative assistant gave notice that he was quitting in two weeks.

It couldn't have come at a worse time. It was a very busy time of the year, but there

was nothing I could do. Right away, we put a want ad in the classifieds and received

several applicatio ns for the job. I called in four of them for interviews and I had

narrowed it down to two candidates.

The first was Claudia Trujillo. From her resume , I knew that she had had four years of

experience working at a telecommunications company. She looked promising and

when she arrived for the interview, she was dressed professionally and seemed

personable . When I asked her about her experience, she answered my questions with

confidence . She sounded like a hard worker and showed a lot of perseverance . The

on ly drawbacks were that she was a little chatty and she also seemed a little

disorganizeddisorganized. The second candidate was Alex Mayhew. Alex had more experience than Claudia, but in

different capacities , and only had one year of experience as an administrative a ssistant.

When I met Alex, he seemed a little rough around the edges . He was earnest and

eager , but didn't have the air of someone who had worked in a corporate

environment . Still, he seemed bright and easy to get along with . He did strike me

as being a li ttle shy , but I think that was because he was nervous.

So, those are my two options. Now, which one should I hire? I need to give it some

more thought.

local paper that a new public library had just opened two weeks ago in my

neighborhood. I wanted to check it out . But first, I called the library to check the hours

of operation . The librarian told me that they were open Monday through Saturday from

10 to 6 so I decided to see the new library for myself myself. I parked my car in the library parking lot an d walked in. There were two library clerks

behind the counter and a librarian at the reference desk . I walked around and spotted

the nonnon- fiction section and moved onto the fiction stacks . There was a pretty good

collection in both of these areas. I wante d to see if they had a book I've been wanting to

read so I went over to the computer to check the online catalogue . As it turns out, they

had one copy and it had not been checked out . I wrote down the call number and went

to the stacks. I found it right aw away . When I walked in, I also noticed that the library had music CDs, videos, and DVDs that

could be checked out. I looked briefly at the collection but decided not to check out any

right then then. I had my book and I was all set. I stood in line and waited to check my book out. The

library clerk said, " Next please ," and I stepped up to the counter . I asked her what

the loan period was for the book. She told me that the due date was three weeks from

today . I gave her my library card . She scanned the bar code on my book and

stamped the due date on the back of it. It was quick and easy . I was so glad to have a

nice new library so close to home.

Jeff: Come in.

Julie: Hi, Dr. McQuillan, I'm Julie Taylor. I'm in your 2 o'clock class on Thursdays.

Jeff: Hi, Julie. Have a seat. What can I do for you?

Julie: I wanted to come see you during your office hours because I missed class last

week. I had a family emergency . Jeff: I'm sorry to hear that. We went over a lot of material so make sure you get the

notes from another student in class.

Julie: Thanks, I will. Did you give any assignments ? Jeff: Yes, I assigned an essay on the topics in chapter 3 of your textbooktextbook. Julie: Oh, I see. Are there guidelines for the essay?

Jeff: Yes, it should be 8 8-10 pag es and it's due in two weeks. Take a look at your syllabussyllabus. It has more details.

Julie: I will. Thanks a lot. I've also been meaning to talk to you about the trouble I'm

having keeping up in class. I'm having trouble understanding the lectures . Is there

anything you would suggest?

Jeff: Some students tape record the lectures and listen to them afterwards . That seems

to help.

Julie: That's a great idea. I'll definitely try that. I'm wondering if you give extra credit in

your class?

Jeff: No, I don't gi ve extra credit assignments. But if you're worried about passing , there

are still two more tests to pull up your grade grade. Julie: Yes, I'll study hard for those. Thanks a lot for your time.

Jeff: No problem. See you in class.

Julie: Okay, Professor McQuil lan, see you Thursday.

Script by

here's a question . I was just talking to Dawn. You know, they had their first

wedding anniversary last week. Guess what her husband gave her as a present.

Jeff: I don 't know.

Lucy: He gave her a vacuum cleaner . Jeff: Didn't she want a vacuum cleaner?

Lucy: Yes, the old one was broken, but that's not the point ! It was their wedding

anniversary, their first one. Dawn was really upset that he wasn't more romanti c. He

really let her down down. Jeff: Oh, great. Women are always saying that men aren't romantic. But we are! Just not

in the way that women want.

Lucy: What do you mean?

Jeff: It's a man's job to protect his wife and family. When something goes wrong, the they want to fix it. That's the mark of a good husband.

Lucy: I can see that, but that's not romantic in my book book. Jeff: That's because you women have this idealized view of romance that you get from a

lifetime of watching chick flicks and reading romance n ovels . Even if a man wanted to,

he could never get into the head of a woman and guess what she wanted. That's why

women have to just tell us what they want.

Lucy: That's the problem. We women think men should just know what we want, without

us having to tell them that is, if the man really loved and understood us. That's why we

don't want to tell you. But, I see your point, too.

Jeff: So, I guess it's really true. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus.

Lucy: Yeah, that's what makes life interestin g, right?

exhibit at the art museum and invited Lucy to come along.

We both like contemporary art and this was an exhibition for an artist that we've both

liked, ever since she was an up and coming artist 10 years ago. This was a

retrospective so there was going to be a lot of different types of work by the artist.

There would be some of the artist's paintings , her early work. There would also be some

of her sculptures . Her most recent work is mixed media . This is very versatile and

that's one of the reasons I like her work so much.

We were going to the op ening of the exhibition, with a wine and cheese reception for

the artist. When we arrived in the main gallery , there were already a lot of people there.

Looking around, I could see that some were artists themselves and some were art critics critics. I'm sure ther e were collectors there, too. I knew the curator and looked around for him.

I spotted him talking with a group of people in the corner, probably trying to talk up the

gallery and the artist. After a little while, the curator said a few words and then

intro duced the artist. We got a chance to meet her briefly and she was very gracious . I'm

glad that someone with her talent has made it in the art world. That's not easy to do.

And, I think her best work is still to come come.

roommate and I feel like staying in . We've both had a tough

week at work and decided to have a lowlow-key evening. On my way home, I stopped at

the video rental store and rented a couple of movies. I got a new release and a

classic . I thought I had left my membership card at home but found it at the last

minute . I like going to my local rental store because it doesn't charge late fees. That's

handy when I don't have time to return the DVDs the next day.

My roommate and I were feeling too tired to go out to eat so we decid ed to order in in. We mulled over the taketake-out menus from restaurants that had delivery service and

couldn't decide which restaurant to order from. The trouble was that we had never

eaten at the two restaurants nearby. Ordering from either one would be crapshcrapshoot . In

the end, we just decided to order a pizza. I called the restaurant and placed our delivery

order.

About a half hour later, the delivery person came to the door. I asked him if I could pay

with a credit card and he said, "Sure." I handed him my ca rd and he wrote down the

number. Then, I signed the slip and I added a tip to the total. He gave me a copy of the

slip as a receipt and then handed me the pizza. I was really glad to get it. I was starvingstarving. With our movies and the pizza, we were all set set. There's nothing like a night at home

vegging out to get over a hectic week.

branch of my bank is located just a few blocks from where I live. It's very

convenient, since it has four ATMs open 24/7 . Today I had to go in to m ake a depositdeposit, but since I wanted to cash a check as well, I needed to go inside to talk to a tellerteller. Inside the bank, I got in line for the tellers. All the tellers are behind a large piece of

bulletproof glass , so you have to speak up when you are tal king to them. Anyway,

when I got to the head of the line, the cashier said, " How may I help you ?" "Well," I

said, "I'd like to deposit this payroll check into my checking account , and cash this

cashier's check ." "Certainly," she said, "just endorse the ba ck of both checks and put

them in the tray." "Sure. And, I can get that in small bills bills-- 10s and 20s ?" I waited for

her to process my checks. Then she said, " Here you are ," and counted out the cash

and put it in an envelope. I said, "Thank you!" and walked away . Now that I have some

money burning a hole in my pocket , I guess I better spend

driving down the Santa Monica freeway yesterday, headed towards downtown,

when all of a sudden I see my engine light come on on. Needless to say , that's not the

sort of thing o ne likes to see. So I immediately pull over to the side of the road and park

on the shoulder . I pop the hood and look to see what the problem might be. I'm no

mechanic . I barely know how to change the oil and the wiper fluid ‚ but perhaps

something would pop out at me.

The car didn't overheat , since there was no steam coming out of the radiator . I

checked the battery cables , and the battery was definitely not dead. I didn't know quite

what else to do, so I pulled out my cell phone and called AAA for a tow to the nearest

repair shop . I started worrying about all the things it could be—the fuel pump , the

transmission , the electrical system . Who knows? I just had new brakes put in a

month ago, so I knew it couldn't be that.

The tow truck finally arrived a nd we went to a nearby mechanic. He checked everything,

and then told me that he had found the problem: the engine light sensor was broken! I

now had to take it into the dealer to get it fixed. Well, at least it didn't end up costing

me an arm and a leg leg.

d I decided to see the latest blockbuster this weekend. I like a good

action movie once in a while. We decided to meet at the movie theater after work work. When I got the theater, I looked around and didn't see Jim. So, I thought I would get in

line to buy tickets . There were two different lines so I asked a woman standing in the

first one, "Is this the line for Mission Impossible 4 ?" and she said, "Yes, I'm afraid it is." I

turned around and saw why she said that. It was really long and had about 20 people i n it

already. Oh, well. I went to the back of the line and waited.

About 10 minutes later, I saw Jim coming up the escalator . He looked out of breath . He

said, "Hey, sorry for being so late. I hit a lot of traffic on the way over ." I told him,

"Don't wor ry about it. As you can see, we have a long wait.‚"

We finally got up to the head of the line . The clerk behind the ticket window said, "Can

I help you?" and I said, "Two tickets for MI -4, please." We weren't children, students, or

seniors , so there were no special discounts for us. The clerk handed me two tickets and

we headed inside. There was a ticket taker just inside the door and he took our tickets,

handing back to us our stubsstubs. Coming straight from work , I was really hungry. Jim and I went to th the concession

stand and got a couple of Cokes, a tub of popcorn , a hotdog, and a box of candy. We

were set. We went into the screening room and it was packed . Lucky for us, we found

some seats together that weren't too close to the screenscreen. We sat back and waited for the movie to start. While we watched 10 minutes of previews

we wolfed down our food. By the time the movie started, I was feeling pretty good. I

don't know which was better: The movie or the great junk food food!

Lucy: Hello.

Jeff: Hey

Lucy, it's Jeff.

Lucy: Hey, welcome back. How was your vacation?

Jeff: Oh, it was great. The seven days in New York was a blastblast. Lucy: Oh, yeah? Did you do any sightseeing or just visit with friends?

Jeff: I got to do both, actually. First, I saw my friend Edmundo who just moved there. He

hadn't seen much of the city himself so we went to all the tourist spots . We got a

guidebook and went to the major museums , saw a play , went to a concert in Central

Park , and took the Staten Island Ferry . We did all of that in a day and a half. It was a

whirlwind , but we got to see a lot.

Lucy: A day and a half?! You guys must have been exhaustedexhausted. Jeff: Yeah, we were. But, the rest of my trip was pretty low key . My friends Pat and Billie

rented a car and we took a road trip to Upstate New York to visit some other friends

of ours.

Lucy: Did you have to stay over in a hotel along the wa way, or did you drive straight

through ? Jeff: We didn't bother with booking hotel rooms so we just drove straight there. It wasn't

that far.

Lucy: How long did you stay there?

Jeff: We were only there two days and we drove back and got back last night. My flight

was this morning at 8 a.m. The worst part of the whole trip was that my flight was

cancelled . I was rebooked onto another flight that had a three three-hour layover in Chicago.

That was a major pain pain. Lucy: It sounds like it. Well, I'm glad you made i t back okay. And, you even have the

weekend to rest up before work on Monday.

Jeff: Yeah, I'll need it. I've got to catch up on my sleep sleep!

Lucy: Oh, is the big m eeting over? What happened?

Jeff: Dan tried to take credit for our idea for the new campaigncampaign. Lucy: You're kidding me! I thought he might try to pull something like this, but I didn't

think he'd have the nerve to do that.

Jeff: Yeah, and to top it off off, he said that he did it all by himself.

Lucy: He's unbelievable. What a jerk ! He slacks off for the last two weeks and doesn't

lift a finger to help on any part of the project.

Jeff: Well, he's not going to get away with it . I'm going to talk to the sen ior vice

president. I think she'll listen.

Lucy: Are you sure? I think she's fairfair-minded , but maybe she thinks we should work it

out with Dan ourselves. She might not want to step in in. Jeff: Well, can you think of another way to handle this?

Lucy: I wis h I could. I don't want to just blow it off , but we have to think of the fall out out. Maybe the senior VP will end up thinking we can't fight our own battles battles. Jeff: Yeah, you're right. I'm just so ticked off right now I can't think.

Lucy: That's probably th e problem. We both need to cool off so we can think straight straight. Let's get some coffee and see what we can come up with.

Jeff: That sounds good. But, if I see Dan on the way out, I'm going to floor that guy.

Lucy: Yeah. That makes two of us us.

particularly pleasant for me. But I couldn't put it off any

longer. It was time for my annual physical , and there was no getting around i it. So I

picked up the phone and called for an appointment. " I'd like to see Dr. Shimoya next

week, please, if that's possible," I said. Of course, it wasn't possible. The doctor was

booked until next month, the receptionist told me. "Okay," I said, "let's schedule it for

next month.‚"

When the day arrives, I drive over to the doctor and checkcheck-in at the receptionist desk. I

have to present my HMO card and pay the co -pay of $15.00. The receptionist instructs

me to go to waiting room B, down the hall, first door on the right . So I go there and

take a seat to wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, my name is called and I go into see the

doctor. The nurse weighs me, takes my temperature and blood pressure , and asks

me why I'm there. I tell her it's time for my year ly check check- up . She tells me to follow her

to the examination room , and then to strip down to my underwear . Now I'm sitting

on the exam table , half half- freezing, waiting for the doctor to show up . Finally, he walks

in, looks at my chart , and begins his examina tion. "Breathe," he says, as he places the

stethoscope on my chest. "Breathe in and out slowly," he says. I do so. Then he checks

my throat and has me lay down to check my abdomen . Finally, he orders a blood test

and says, "Well, you're good for another ye ar, Mr. McQuillan." Thank goodness, I think to

myself, and get dressed to leave.

corporation with its

headquarters in San Francisco, CA. It also has satellite offices across the U.S. and in

Europe. I'm not sure if this would be the right fit for me, but I'm keeping an open

mindmind. I got some sound advice from my aunt. She said that I should be confident but not

cocky . T hat means I have to look for opportunities to talk about my qualifications, but

don't make the mistake of boasting or worse, making things up . I do that sometimes

when I get really nervous. My brain stops working and my mouth takes over.

I need to be resp ectful but not meek . I want to be professional with everyone, my co -workers and my bosses. But, I don't want them to think that I would let my co co-workers

walk all over me me. I should show them that I'm a teamteam- player . Nobody likes a person who tries to grab

the limelight all of the time, especially if they're new, like me.

Okay, I think I'm ready. I have my resume, my transcript, and the address of the office

where I'm going for the interview. Now, all I need are my shoes

landed my first interview. Well, actually, that's not really true. I have been o on many interviews for partpart-time jobs. This was my first interview for a fullfull-time job.

In less than two months, I will graduate from Arizona University. After a lot of back and

forth trying to decide on a major , I finally decided to double major . I would study both

political science and marketingmarketing. These are not majors that usually go together . In fact, most people thought I was crazy.

But, after a lot of soul searching , I decided to combine my two main interests: 1. politics

and 2. getting a job! Those a re my two priorities . I thought that if I get degrees in these

two fields , I could cast a wide net when going job hunting. And, that's what I'm trying

to do now.

Since I don't know if I want to work in the public or private sector , I've applied for jobs

in both. In the public sector, I could work for the government. Maybe one day, I could

even be a speech writer for the President! Okay, maybe I should shoot a little lower lower. In the private sector, I could work for private organizations such as museums, schoo ls, or

programs. Some of those are nonnon-profitprofit. Or, I could work for a company . Everybody tells me that that's where the money is. I

haven't decided yet. I'm planning to apply for a lot of jobs and will see what happens.

What I want now is just to get som some job offers . Then, I can start being pickypicky.

keynote at last week's conferenceconference. As I mentioned to you, I have read all of your

journal papers and I am a great admirer of your research . Your article in the top journal

Language Learning was groundbreaking.

The reason I am contacting you is that I would like to come to your university to

study with you. I met some of your students at the conference and they couldn't stop

singing your praises as a professor and as an advisor. I do n't know if you are accepting

any new students for the next year, but if so, I hope you will consider me.

I have included two attachments to this email. I am sending a copy of my CV , and I

am also including a research paper I completed this year. I hope that these will give you

an idea of my qualifications and experience. Please let me know if you need more

information or more samples of my academic work work. It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you at the conference and I hope to hear

more about your research at a future conference.

Sincerely,

Lucy Hocevar

what you would call the world's best negotiator, but sometimes it's necessary to

engage in a tough negotiation . Take, for instance, the time I had to renew the lease on

my apartment. This was back in college, w hen I was renting a small studio in the

Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. When my lease was up , the landlord and I sat down

to hammer out the terms of a new lease.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do ," he said. "I'm going to give you a break on rent if

you sign a two two-year lease instead of just a one one-year lease."

"Well," I said, "I don't know. What sort of break are we talking about here ?‚"

"I'll give you a 5% rent increase instead of a 10% increase in exchange for you signing a

twotwo-year lease. It's win -win situation: you get a cut in rent, and I get the security of a

twotwo-year lease.‚"

At this point, I decided to make a countercounter-proposal . " How about this ," I said, "You

give me a one year lease with a six percent increase.‚"

"No, I can't make that s ort of deal ," he said. But here's what I can do , and it's my

final offer : I'll pay for your electricity for the first 6 months of the lease, along with the

other terms I mentioned before.‚"

"You drive a hard bargain okay, it's a deal ," I said. I guess I could have tried to

bargain him down a bit more, but I was happy with our agreement. Now all I had to do

was sign on the dotted line .

upon us us, and that means that homecoming celebrations are just

around the corner . Homecoming is an American tradition each September and October

for high schools and colleges where they celebrate their school spirit with a football

game and other celebrations. I re member the homecoming events when I was in school.

First, there was the election of a homecoming king and queen. Each class had its own

representative, one boy and one girl, usually the most popular jock and the cutest

cheerleader . Needless to say, I was neither, so I never stood a chance of being

elected! The king and queen, though, were always from the senior class class. All the events led up to the big game , played on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon,

always a home game for the school celebrating their homecoming. In my school, we had

a pep rally the day before the game, where the cheerleaders and dance team would do

their thing on the stage. We also had a small parade before the game, where all the

homecoming royalty and the marching band would go arou nd the track of the stadium

where the game was held, cheered on by alumni , parents, and students. Then we would

watch the football game, which at my school, we usually lost.

reality shows. Some nights, it's hard to

find a scripted drama to watch. There are so many different kinds of reality shows, too.

The most popular one in the U.S. has been the "American Idol" show. This is a singing

competition where amateurs try to impress the judges and the audience calls in to vote

off a contestant each week. The last person left standing gets a recording contract.

I think many countries now have a reality show like this. This show starts its fourth season

this year and I think it'll be more popular then ever.

Another popular reality show is " Big Brother ." In this sh ow, a group of people live

together in the same house for about 15 weeks. They're not allowed to leave and they

can't have visitors. The people chosen to live in the house are usually very different. This

way, there is sure to be a lot of conflict . Some pe ople form alliances and other people

try to go it alone . The contestants compete in games and each week, the other

contestants vote off one person from the show. Why would anyone want to be on "Big

Brother?" The answer is easy: money. The last person remai ning gets a huge prize prize-in the

U.S. show, a half a million dollars. Even I'd live in a house full of strangers for that kind

of cash .

ترکیبی از چند آهنگ دلنشین خوانندگان عزیز ایرانی خدمت شما.

امیدوارم لذت ببرید

apartment last month and decided to invite a few friends over for a

househouse-warming party . I didn't want to spend the day cooking, so I decided to hav e a

barbeque . The food would be easy to prepare and I could cook it when my friends got

here. But first, I had to go get a few things at the supermarketsupermarket. I got to the store and got a cart . I started out in the meat department department. It wouldn't be

a barbeque without hamburgers so I bought some ground beef. I also picked up some

chicken breasts and hot dogs . I skipped the seafood counter since I didn't want to

bother with fish.

Then, I was off to the produce department. I got some corn on the cob and a lot of

vegetables for grilling for my friends who are vegetarians . Then, I was off to the

bakery section. I needed buns for the hamburgers and hot dogs, and I also bought some

cookies for dessertdessert. Then, I was almost done. I went down each aisle looking for the condimentsondiments-- the ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise . And, just before wrapping things up, I went to the

liquor department and got some beer, wine, and soda. Nearly everyone I invited asked if

they could bring something for the party and but I told them no. I would have plenty of

food and drink.

That was it. I stood in line at the check check-out stand, staring at the magazine rack full of

tabloids , until the cashier rang me up. The shopping went off without a hitch . Now,

all I have to do is clean my messy apartmen t. That's the hard part.

is turning 8 next week and I decided to buy her a new pet . She had been

asking her parents for a pet for a long time. But, they were worried about taking care of

a pet. I told them I would go to the pet store to see if I could find a pet that wouldn't be

too much of a botherbother. I walked into a big pet store and looked around. I saw cages with dogs and cats. There

were also bird cages with birds of every color. I even saw some snakes!

I saw a sales clerk and asked him for help. I told him that I was looking for a pet that was

easy to take care of. He suggested a cat or a kitten . But, I told him that my niece was

allergic to cats. Then, he suggested a puppy. I walked over to the rows of dog kennels

and aske d the clerk how often they needed to be walked . He said that usually, they

needed to be taken out three to five times a day. That was much too much work, I told

him.

He then showed me some birds, including a parrot. Then, I asked him how often the cages

had to be cleaned, and when he told me, I nixed that idea.

Finally, he took me to the back of the store. I have the perfect pet for you, he said. I

looked around and saw acquariums full of fish. There were about 20 different kinds. The

clerk said that th ey were very easy to take care of. With the right equipment, you don't

have to clean the tank regulary and all you have to do is feed the fish. That was it! The

perfect solution.

The next time I visited my niece, she told me she loved her fish. She had n amed them all.

She even named one after me. It was called "Jeffish." Get it? Now, she's happy and so

are her parents. Just before I left, my niece asked me: When can we go to Disneyland ? Ah, the work of an uncle is never done done.

mall

during my lunch hour. The mall had a big variety of st ores, including two department

stores so I was sure to find something that was just right. I found a space in the parking

structure and entered the mall through the main entrance. This was right next to the

food court.

Okay, where to start?

I headed to one of the two department stores. On the way there, though, I saw a nice

dress in a window display of a women's clothing store. I decided to go in. As I walked

in, I saw a sales clerk hanging some shirts on a rack . She said, "Hi, can I help you find

somet hing?‚"

"Oh, I'm just browsing ," I

"Okay. Let me know if you need any help." I told her "thanks" and started looking around

the store. There were some nice sweaters folded on the shelves and some dress pants

on the racks. I made my way toward the back of the store and found the same dress I

saw in the window display. And, it was on sale ! It was 50% off. I started looking for my

size. There were plenty of smalls and larges , but no mediumsmediums. The sales clerk was walking by just then so I asked her, " Do you have any other sizes in

the back ?" But, I was out of luck. This was all they had.

"But," she said, "I have this dress in a medium and it's been marked down , too. Would

you like to try it on ?" I said I did and followed her to the dressing room. She said, "My

name is Cheryl. Let me know if you need anything else." I tried the dress on and it fit perfectly . I liked the color, too.

I took the dress to the register . The sales clerk asked, "Are you ready?" I told her I was

and she started ringing me up . The clerk told me the total and asked me, "How would

you like to pay for this?‚"

"With my MasterCard," I said and handed her my credit

She processed the card and asked me sign the credit card receipt. She handed me a copy

and a bag with my new d ress in it. She said, "There you go. I hope you like the dress.

Thanks for coming in .‚"

I thanked her and left. I couldn't believe I got my shopping done so quickly. There's a

first time for everything.

thinking-- TGIFTGIF-- all day. I was on my

way out of the office when I saw Nick sitting at his desk. Even though the office was

nearly empty, he didn't look like he was r eady to leave. In fact, he looked like he was still

swamped with work.

Linda: Hi, Nick. You're here late.

Nick: Yeah, it looks like this may be an all -nighter . I just got a project dumped in my

lap . Linda: You're kidding! On Friday afternoon? What happ ened?

Nick: Well, the person who was put in charge of this project went on maternity leave

this week and the person who was supposed to take it over just resignedresigned. Linda: I can't believe that. When is the deadline? I hope you're getting some extra help.

Nick: The project is due first thing Monday morning. And, with the lay -offs recently, I

think I'm on my own on this one.

Linda: Why don't you bring me up to speed ? Maybe I can help.

Nick: No, it's Friday. You look like you're about to head home. I can' t ask you to do that.

Linda: I don't have any big plans for tonight. So, I'll tell you what. I'm having some

trouble finishing the budget on my proposal and I know you're a whiz at numbers. Why

don't I stay and help you with your project for the next few hours and you can give me a

hand with my budget next week.

Nick: That's really nice of you. It would be a big relief . I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed

and I know you've done a project like this before. Okay, you've got a deal deal! Linda: Good! Now, let's see what we've got.

hanghang-outs is a cafe near where I live called Bolivar in Santa Monica.

It's only five minutes away , and its never too busy to find a table. Sometimes it can be

bustling , but that's usually just in the morning during rush hour or at lunchtime . The

owners are from Venezuela, and always have some cool music playing in the background.

Yesterday, I decided to take my New York Times and my laptop and kill a few hours there.

I ordered the usual . I'm a regular , the folks there know I w ant a Vanilla Latte with a

double shot of espresso, hold the whipped cream. Sometimes I'll order a coffee cake if I'm feeling a little hungry. The cafe also has soup and sandwich menu you can order off

of.

Cafes are great for people watching . Sometimes I just sit and watch the people come

and go. You get all types at this cafe. Yesterday, for example, a mother comes in with her

three daughters, and one of the little girls ordered a latte! This being Los Angeles, you

have your typical mix of screenwritersscreenwriters, outout-of -work actors, and various Hollywood

wannabes . They make for a colorful mix most of the time. Me, I just sit and read my

paper. I'm no actor, but someday I would like to direct

special talent in something? Maybe as a musician or an

athlete? I'm of two minds about this. Sometimes I watch TV or read about someone

who has a special talent. This was true during the Olympics. Some of those athletes I saw

were very talented. Whether it was playing soccer, running track, ice skating, or

doing gymnastic routines , you could see how gifted they were and how wellwell- trained

and focused they were. I get the same feeling when I see musicians who can sing well or

play an instrument easily. Watching or listening to them can take your breath away . I sometimes wish I had an special gift like theirs.

On the other hand, I also read about stories of children who are singled out as having

talent early in life. Some of these kids begin training or practicing at the exclusion of

other things kids do, like hanging out with friends or learning things in other subjects.

Some of these kids don't go to school but are taught at home with tutors instead. They

may be sent away to teachers or trainers in other cities, s ometimes even without their

parents. And, sometimes they spend so much time developing their talent, they don't

have much time to develop other parts of their lives. These kids often live under a lot of

pressure to perform. I envy these kids’ talent, but I don't envy their lives.

I guess maybe it's not so bad being mediocre after all. At least that's what I'll keep

telling myself when I practice this week.

go very smoothly at my local post office. I've learned that if you

want to mail a letter , you'll have no problems. But if things get more com plicated than

that, well, watch out out! Yesterday I went there to mail a small package and to pick up a book of stamps stamps. I waited my turn in line, and when I get up to the window, the clerk asks me, "What can I

do for you?" "Well," I said, "I need a book—n o, make that a roll of stamps. And I need to

send this package priority to San Francisco." "You want insurance with that?" he asked

me. "Uh, I don't know, what do you recommend?" "Well," he said, "you can send it priority

with tracking if you want to see w hen it gets there, you can send it insured if the

contents are valuable, or you can do both." "Okay, I'll take the insurance." "Then step

aside to fill out the insurance form," he said, "and bring it back up to me when you're

finished." With that, I was wa ved aside to fill out my form. "Next in line!" the clerk

called. When I finished filling out the form, I waited patiently until the gentleman being

waited on in front of me was finished, and then stepped back up to the window. "Sorry,"

the clerk said, "I'm on break now. She can help you at the next window." Maybe it would

be quicker just to drive my package to San Francisco.

then , there used to be two daily newspapers newspapers-- morning edition and an afternoon edition.

Nowadays, of course, many cities in the U.S. have just a morning paper. I'm not too picky

about which newspaper I read, although when it comes to national newsp apers, I

prefer reading the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal over USA Today Today. Don't get

me wrong : I'm not a news junkie . I just like browsing the different sections, reading

the headlines, and checking out the classifieds . I usually skip the sports section and the

funnies , and only flip through the food and health sections, but I always read the front

page and the editorial page . On the weekends, I'll skim the entertainment section for

the movie listings and reviews.

I'm sort of old old-fashioned in th at I still like reading a real, paper newspaper. Sure, I also

read some of my news online, but nothing beats lounging around on Sunday morning

reading the big, thick paper. Don't worry, though: I always recycle my stack of

newspapers.

toiletries to pick up , as well as my prescription . Fortunately, the chain pharmacy

where I go has a little bit of everything: food, greeting cards , magazines magazines-- it's almost as

big as a regular supermarket.

To begin with, I needed to get some medications for my allergies . I've got hay fever fever, so I'm sneezing up a storm every morning when I wake up. While I was at it , I also

got some antacids and some BandBand-Aids . Now it was time t o pick up my refillrefill. I stood in line for a few minutes before being waited on . Since it was not a new

prescription, the pharmacist didn't have to do a consultation with me. I just gave the

clerk my insurance card and she rang up the sale. Fortunately, I h ave a low co -pay , so

my HMO foots most of the bill bill.

ex -colleague of mine who, quite frankly , has something

of a big mouth mouth. I bumped into him at the beach, where he was walking his dog.

Anyway, as I was saying, he's the kind of guy that's a lways bad mouthing his co -workers . So he comes up to me and says, "Hey, Jeff. Long time, no see . What've you

been up to?" "Ah, not much, " I said. "Well, guess who I saw yesterday? John Robeson,

the guy from accounting at Firth Industries. You remember him , the guy with big ears and

and an ego to match ." It takes one to know one , I thought, but I kept it so myself.

"Oh, really. How interesting," I

"Yeah, well, I hate to talk behind someone's back , but ever since he and I had that

falling out last year, I've never really cared for the guy." " How come? come?" I asked. "Well,

he's a bit of a backstabber , always trying to outdo the other guy." "I know what you

mean," I said. I knew at this point it was time to make my exit , otherwise, this guy

would go on ab out John Robeson for the next 10 minutes. " What time do you have? " I asked him. "It's quarter after five." " Geez , already? Man , I've got to hit the road . I'm

supposed to meet my brother at the pier in a few minutes. But, hey, it was sure good

to see you a gaingain. You take care! care!" With that, I made my exit. I've got better things to

do than to listen to him gripe all day.

most of your time thinking about all of the things that are on your "to to-do‚do‚" list and you

try to figure out how you're going to do them all. Or, sometimes, I think about things that

have already happened. Maybe I messed up my presentation at work or had a fight with

my boyfriend. People dwell on these kinds of things all of the t ime.

The book I was reading made a very good point . If you're constantly thinking about the

past or the future, how can you enjoy the present? In other words, you're making yourself

unhappy by stressing out about things that you can't control. At the same time, you're

missing what's happening right now.

I know I do this all the time. For instance, I was at the movies this past weekend. I was

with my good friend and we were seeing a movie we've had our eye on for weeks. I was

looking forward to it and my friend and I were both in a great mood . Then, I saw

someone across the theater who looked like my co co- worker. It wasn't her but it got me

thinking. I thought about the report I had to do on Monday and how much I hated working

on it. Then, I thought about m y co co-worker who wasn't pulling her weight . The more I

thought about it, the more angry I got. By the time the movie started, my mood had

changed completely. I was stressed out.

Where did all of that thinking and worrying get me? Nowhere. My new resolutioresolution is to try

to stop obsessing about the past and the future so much, and to just enjoy the here and

now.

most of your time thinking about all of the things that are on your "to to-do‚do‚" list and you

try to figure out how you're going to do them all. Or, sometimes, I think about things that

have already happened. Maybe I messed up my presentation at work or had a fight with

my boyfriend. People dwell on these kinds of things all of the t ime.

The book I was reading made a very good point . If you're constantly thinking about the

past or the future, how can you enjoy the present? In other words, you're making yourself

unhappy by stressing out about things that you can't control. At the same time, you're

missing what's happening right now.

I know I do this all the time. For instance, I was at the movies this past weekend. I was

with my good friend and we were seeing a movie we've had our eye on for weeks. I was

looking forward to it and my friend and I were both in a great mood . Then, I saw

someone across the theater who looked like my co co- worker. It wasn't her but it got me

thinking. I thought about the report I had to do on Monday and how much I hated working

on it. Then, I thought about m y co co-worker who wasn't pulling her weight . The more I

thought about it, the more angry I got. By the time the movie started, my mood had

changed completely. I was stressed out.

Where did all of that thinking and worrying get me? Nowhere. My new resolutioresolution is to try

to stop obsessing about the past and the future so much, and to just enjoy the here and

now.

rolled out of bed at around 7:00 AM, like every

morning, and jumped in the shower. After brushing my teeth and shaving, I picked up

my morning paper from the front sidewalk and started reading it. I like to eat breakfast

when I read the paper, so I poured myself a bowl of cereal. At around 7:30, I went into

my office and sat down to go over my to to-do list. First, it was off to the post office to

check my P.O. box. Then I went to the public library down the street to check out

some books I've been meaning to read.

Next stop : the supermarket. My wife had given me a grocery list as long as your arm

of things to pick up. I grabbed a shopping cart and got down to business . After I

checked off everything on my list, I headed to the check out stand to pay for my items.

But I wasn't done yet. I zipped over to the bank, where I had to make a deposit and

withdraw some money from the ATM . Fortunately, the line wasn't too long and I was

able to get in and out quickly. My next stop was the pharmacy, where I needed to pick

up my prescriptions. Finally, I headed home again. Now, I have to go to my real job!

pick your brain for a minute?

Jeff: Sure, what's up?

Lucy: Well, I have a sticky situation at work and I wanted to get your input . You're

always so tactful . Jeff: Thanks. I'm not sure I can help but I'll give you my two cents.

Lucy: Well, it's like this. There's this guy I work with who is always making jokes about

the boss. Don't get me wrong. I like a good joke now and then , especially about the

boss. But, sometimes he goes too far far. Jeff. What do you mean?

Lucy: Well, just the other day, he got a picture off the Internet and cut and pasted the

boss’ head onto it. Let's just say it was a very unflattering picture of him.

Jeff: Hmm. That's really unpr ofessional, but it sounds harmless enough, if he kept it to

himself or just showed it to a few friends.

Lucy: That's just it. He didn't keep it to himself. He attached the picture to an email and

sent it to the entire company, including the top brass brass. Jeff: You're joking, right?

Lucy: No, I'm not. This is what I mean when I said he goes too far. He just doesn't know

when to quit quit. Jeff: Is he a friend of yours?

Lucy: No, not really. But, I don't want the guy to get fired. He's actually a good person.

He's just clueless , that's

Jeff: Well, that's a tough one . Let me think about it. Maybe there's a way to get him to

cut it out before he gets fired.

Lucy: Thanks. I appreciate it.

Jeff: Oh, it's no big deal . Let's go get a bite to eat.

Lucy: Sur e. Sounds good to me.

just to get to the grocery store, much less across town . What is it about getting behind

the wheel that brings out people's aggressive side? The most mildmild-mannered mother

of three turns into a race car driver when she gets on the road.

In L.A., people rely on the freeway to commute to their jobs or just to get around town. I

think driving on the freeway has it's good and bad. On the one hand, there are no

stoplights and the speed limit is over 55 miles per hour so you can get somewhere in a

flash . But, on the other hand, there are drawbacks , too. People like to gun their

engines and cut off other cars to get ahead. The other day, I saw a guy in a Porsche

get into the passing lane lane, race ahead of the Honda that was in front of him, and cut that

person off. Then, the guy in the Honda tries to catch up to the Porsche. They're both

zipping in and out of traffic, almost causing an accident. They were speeding and

changing lanes without lo oking or signalling . I was sure they were going to cause a big

pile up up. As an alternate to the freeway, I sometimes take surface streets . Of course, surface

streets have their drawbacks, too. If you have a long commute to work or school, it can

take you ages to get there. There are stop signs , stop lights, and crosswalks to deal

with. And, people sometimes tailgate if they think you're not going fast enough. Now that

I think about it, there's sometimes even more congestion on surface streets than on the

freeways!

There's no getting around it living in L.A. We need better public transportation and more

people to walk, bike, or rollerblade to work. But as the famous song goes, "Nobody

Walks in L.A." [by the Missing Persons]

procrastinated and now I have to finally get rid of all the junk I've accumulated over

the year. But now there are no if's, and's, or but's about it it-- the cleaning must be

done!

I start in my bedroom. I have a king bed, with a sheet on the mattress and a top sheet sheet, with pillow cases on the pillows . Atop all that I have a down comforter . Well, they all

need to be washed, so into the machine they go. Next I start in on th e closet. What a

mess! I've got boxes and bins full of stuff that need sorting . Finally, I have to vacuum

the carpet and dust . Whew! Quite a job! Good thing I don't have any drapes , just

shades on the windows.

But I'm not done yet. It's time to move on t o the kitchen. I have a combination stove and

oven , both of which I need to clean. I start with the fridge , though, which needs the

most work. I take out the shelves and rinse them all off . Then I dump anything that has

passed its expiration date . Then its back to the stove, which I need to scrub clean of

the grease and stains , and the same for the oven. Finally, I wash all the dirty dishes and

put them in a dish rack next to the sink.

Spring cleaning is always a mixed bag for me. It's a lot of work, but I also find things

I've been missing for the past year! Maybe next time I'll manage to do my spring cleaning

in the spring.

turning out to be a month for seeing old friends. I got an email a couple of weeks

ago from an old frien d from graduate school . She and her family are visiting L.A. for a

week. They plan to see family and to visit old friends. Since she moved out of the country,

I hadn't seen her in ages . I'm looking forward to meeting her new kids and seeing her

again.

An other old friend called this week. She and I were buddies in our undergraduate days.

She plans to swing by L.A. on her way to San Francisco. We've made plans to have

lunch. She works in Washington D.C. as a political advisor and is usually very busy. I'm

glad she could make time for us to get together.

When we say good good-bye to our friends, we always hope to keep in touch . But, what with

this and that , it's sometimes hard to do. With friends that I've fallen out of touch

with , it's sometimes hard to meet up again and pick up where we left off . We've both

moved on to a different phase in our lives. Some of my old friends have become very

successful, living lives in the fast lane . Other friends are struggling along and are just

making ends meet . But, no matter how they're doing, it's always nice to touch base

again.

I'm really looking forward to seeing these old pals of mine and catching up after all this

time.

born and raised in Minnesota, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to be exact. I won't say

how long ago th at was, but let's just say I'm no spring chicken . I grew up there with my

rather large family of 8 brothers and 2 sisters. (I was the baby of the family, but I swear

I wasn't spoiled !) We were 13 in all, probably the biggest family in the neighborhood,

may be in the state. I had a mostly happy childhood . My father and mother didn't have a

lot of money, but we were never worried about keeping up with the Joneses. I wasn't

much into sports like my brothers were, but I enjoyed reading and listening to music

gro wing up. I went to grade school near my house, and then to a high school about 2

miles from where I lived. After graduating from high school, I went on to the University

of Minnesota to get my bachelor's degree. It took me a while to learn the ropes at the

university, but I finally graduated nearly 6 years later. Better late than never , as my

father used to say. I then went to Mexico for a couple of years to teach English and to

study Spanish. When I returned, I decided to become a teacher, so I went back t o school

to get my Master's degree. After teaching for a few years, I was offered a job in California,

so I moved to Los Angeles in 1991. After working here a few years, I went back to school

(again!) to get my Ph.D. I was starting to become a professional student . Well, I

finished up my degree in four years, and then taught at the university for several years.

Now, I work at a small research organization here in L.A. I am happily married , and I

still enjoy reading and listening to music, and, of course, ho sting ESL Podcast.

acting up on me. It's a pretty old model , and I need to replace it.

So I decided to call up my friend Kevin to ask for his two cents. Kevin is a computer

whiz . He knows PC really well since he worked on them for yea rs, but in his heart of

hearts , he is a big Mac fan. So, I thought he would be good person to ask.

I have always used a PC. I do mostly word processing so I don't need anything fancy.

But, I see people I know doing cool things with photos and video, so I ’d like to take a

crack at some new programs in the future.

Well, I called up Kevin to tell him what I needed. He immediately started throwing out

specs : "You need at least a 2 Gigahertz processor and 1 Gig of memory, and make sure it

has a writable DV D drive ." "Whoa," I said. "All of that is way over my head . Let's back

up for a a minute." Then he laughed and said he had gotten carried away . "Okay," he

said. "Let's start at the beginning. Now, the processor determines how easily and how fast

you can u se the programs on your computer. Got that? that?" I said that I did. Then he

continued, "How much RAM memory you have is very important, too. Your computer will

go faster the more you have. So, I recommend getting at least 1 Gigabyte of RAM

memory." "I think I' m following you so far, " I said. "Great," he said. Another thing you

want is a drive that handles both CDs and DVDs. Some drives can just read DVDs and

some can record onto blank ones. If you want to burn your own videos, you'll want a

writable DVD drive. Remember though, that's just the computer itself. Don't forget that

you'll need a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and speakers."

"OK," I said. "I think I've got all that. Now, here's the burning question : Mac or PC?

He said: "Now that's a whole differen t thing . Do you have a couple of hours?‚"

behind the times , but I

have an excuse. I've been so busy at my work lately, I haven't had time to take a break break. So finally yesterd ay I went shopping for an iPod down at the mall in Santa Monica.

I walked into the Mac store there and was immediately greeted by a salesperson. He

asked, " Can I help you find something? something?" "No," I said, just looking ." I don't like the

feeling of highhigh-pre ssure salespeople. Anyway, I looked around the store some more, and

finally made my way to the iPod section. Then I decided to ask the salesman a question.

"Excuse me, can I ask you something?" "Sure," he said. Go right ahead ." "I'm thinking

of picking up an iPod, but I'm not sure which one is right for me. What do you

recommend?recommend?" He replied, "Are you going to be using it for running, jogging, working out,

in your car?" "Yes," I said, "all of those, except the running, jogging, and working out." He

laughed at my somewhat lame joke. "Okay, well, I recommend you get the iPod Mini to

start ." "How much is that?" I asked. "Well, it just went on sale, so I think we can offer

you a good price on it." " I'll take one ," I said, and we made our way to the cash regist er.

"Will that be credit or debit ?" he asked me. "Credit card," I said, as I swiped the card

through the reader . I waited, and nothing happened. "Could you swipe that card again?

It didn't go through ." "Sure," I said, and swiped it again. Finally, the card processed and

he handed me the charge slip to sign. "I'm sure you'll be very happy with your

purchase." "Oh," I said. "It's not really for me. It's for my wife! ‚"

own cars, but not everyone can foot the bill for the car, plus the insurance, gas, and

maintenance. Most big cities have buses, but they are much slower than a car. Several

cities in the U.S. have subway systems, but many do not. There are even fewer trains that

transport daily commuters. In cities such as Los Angeles, public transportation is

much more limited than in other countries.

If you take some form of public transportation, you need to pay a certain fare. In most

big cities the fare is anywhere from 1 to 2 dollars. But don't expect the bus driver to

change a bill for you. You usually need exact change if you're going to ride a bus, train,

or subway. Whatever you take, you always have to pay for it!

My friends here in Los Angeles all have different ways of getting to work. One friend, who

lives out in the boonies, rides the train everyday. He takes the train because it's easier

for him than driving or taking a bus. Another friend I know who works close to where he

lives rides a bike everyday. Still another friend drives his car. I don't know anyone who

rides the bus, but I've taken it once or twice when my car was in the shop. Worse

comes to worst, you can always hop in a taxi. Taking a taxi is expensive here, though,

so be prepared for a big fare—not including the tip!

always find something that fits the bill. When I'm feeling down, I sometimes like a good

comedy. My favorite are romantic comedies. The plot is pretty simple. A boy meets a girl

and there are road blocks to them getting together. The lead actors are usually likable

people, the supporting cast give comic relief and villains are people we love to hate.

In the end, though, there is usually a happy ending. Romantic comedies, or comedies in

general, can be predictable but they're also pretty entertaining. I don't go out of my

way to see slapstick or physical comedies that much. But, once in a while, I catch a

good one on TV.

I like dramas, mysteries, and action and adventure stories, not to mention documentaries.

My favorite are movies that have surprise endings that throw you for a loop . Just when

you thought you had the whole thing figured out, there's a plot twist. Good

screenwriters or directors can pull it off.

One type of movie I don't like that much are horror movies. Scary movies just don't do it

for me. But, there is one exception. I like movies by the director Alfred Hitchcock.

Hitchcock was born in England but made most of his films in the U.S. Before he died in

1980, he made a lot of movies that are now considered classics. Most of them are nail

biters; some are mysteries and some are horror stories.

The scariest movie I think he made and that I've ever seen was a movie called Psycho.

The movie is set in a seedy motel called Bates Motel. The main character owns the motel

and lives there with his mother. Strange things happened at this motel. People check in,

but sometimes, they don't check out. One day, a very pretty woman checks in to the

motel. We know something bad is going happen to her. Sure enough, we see her get

murdered. At the very end, we find out who the murderer is. It's one of those surprise

endings. Just when you thought you have it figured out, it turns out to be a shocker. I

won't spoil the ending for you if you haven't seen it. I recommend it though and give it

a big thumbs up. But, be warned. It's not for the faint-hearted.

ago. Two of my friends and I went on a two-week road trip. At the time, I was living in St.

Paul, Minnesota, in the Midwest of the United States. Anyway, we started off camping

every night, but that got real old, real fast. So we started checking in to hotels after

about the third day. We were headed for Washington, DC first. Checking in to the hotel

was always a bit of a hassle. I wanted to sleep in a double bed, my friends wanted to

get a king to share. Lodging is more expensive at a hotel than in a campground, but it is

much, much more comfortable!

We went to the major tourist attractions in Washington, D.C. - the Capitol, Lincoln's

Memorial, the White House. We then headed north, passing through Boston and headed

towards Canada, to Quebec City. When we arrived at the Canadian border, we had to pass

through customs and immigration. Customs was easy. We had nothing to declare.

Immigration was more of a pain . We were asked the standard questions. How long will

you be staying in Canada? What is the nature of your visit? Finally, we were permitted to

enter, and we drove on to our destination.

Quebec City is beautiful! Unlike many cities, there are no tourist traps to sidetrack you.

We spent two days there, then drove on to Montreal. Of course, we had to pass through

customs and immigration again when we re-entered the United States. Our bags were

searched in customs, but other than that we got through fairly easily. A few days later,

we were back in Minnesota--home sweet home.

was the night. We were so excited. In a small venue like the Whiskey, there wouldn't be a

bad seat in the house.

So, we get to the Whiskey really early to find street parking and snagged a spot about

four blocks away. Then, we got in line which was already about 20 deep. There were two

bouncers outside of the bar and they weren't letting anybody in yet. We waited and

waited in line. Finally, the line started to move. When we got to the head of it, one of the

bouncers checked our tickets and one of the other employees of the club put a wrist

band on each of us. I guess this was to let the employees in the bar know that we

belonged there and we weren't crashing the party.

Anyway, we got inside and tried to get as close to the stage as possible. There were

already a bunch of people standing in front of the stage in a special roped-off section.

These were probably VIP’s or maybe they were groupies. Who knows? Anyway, I just

know that security wasn't letting anyone get that close.

Before too long, people started to cheer and I knew that the opening act was about to

come on. This was a band I’d never heard of before so I wasn't that excited to hear

them. They did come out and they started played a set. I couldn't believe it. They were

really horrible. The people standing next to Ben and me started boo-ing the band. Other

people started throwing things on the stage, like their drinks and their food. After a little

while, the boo-ing got so loud, you could hardly hear the band. Finally, they finished their

song and left the stage.

The concert-goers were pretty rowdy by this time. Some were yelling, others were

getting up on top of the bar and dancing. Just when I thought there was going to be riot,

someone got on the microphone and started to introduced the headlining band . All of a

sudden, everybody calmed down and started cheering. The band came on stage and

started their first number. Then, the room was full of happy campers. Ben and I were

both a little nervous for a second there. We didn't know if things were going to get out of

hand. But when the band started playing, we knew that everything would be ok. This was

turning out to be a great night, just like we’d imagined.

next month. I was so excited. The first thing I did was to call my friend Ben who is also a

big fan of the band. Not only was the band playing in town, they were going to play at a

bar called the Whiskey. The Whiskey is known as a small, intimate venue so we’d be

able to get close to the band. It's not a big amphitheater where you can't even see the

band from the nose-bleed section. This would be the ultimate concert experience if only

we can get tickets.

I was sure that the tickets would sell out fast when they went on sale on Saturday

morning. So, Ben and I decided to camp out in front of the box office on Friday night.

That way, when the box office opened on Saturday morning, we would definitely get

tickets. We grabbed a bite to eat on Friday night, then we got dressed in our warmest

clothes and took our sleeping bags to the ticket office. This was around 8pm. When we got

there, I couldn't believe it! There were already about 15 people in line! And, I was sure

we’d be the first ones. Oh well.

Ben and I got into the back of the line and we barely got any sleep all night. We talked to

the other people there and we just hung out all night. Nothing got out of hand, though,

so we didn't get hassled by the cops. By morning, there were more than 50 die-hard

fans in line.

Well, it paid off. When the box office opened at 9 am, we filed up to the window one by

one and got our tickets. It was all worth it. I heard afterwards that the concert sold out in

less than a half hour! I'm so glad we braved the elements and camped out. I really can't

wait until next month!

the waiter came to our table to take our order, my friend ordered a lobster ravioli dish,

and I ordered my favorite, lasagna. The waiter then asked us, "Would you like a soup or

salad with that?" My friend said yes; I passed on both.

The vibe in the restaurant is pretty laid back, not at all uptight like you find in some of

the ritzier restaurants in Beverly Hills. The wait staff is courteous, although sometimes

the hostesses can be a bit snooty .

Anyway, when our meals arrived, everything was cooked to perfection. Since I didn't order

any appetizers, soup, or salad, I was starved. Even though I was really hungry, I tried

not to gobble down my food too quickly. I didn't want my friend to think I was a pig! But

even though I tried not to, I still overate. When the waiter asked if we wanted any

dessert or after dinner drinks, I just couldn't resist getting the apple-filled crepes. They

are the best.

When we got our check, my friend and I split the bill, as we're accustomed to do. I

frankly prefer to go Dutch when I eat out with friends. So that was the end of a really

great meal. Now I have to hit the gym if I'm going to lose any of this extra weight I

gained from eating that lasagna!