Objects, whether you actually see them in the mirror or not, may be closer than they appear

To start with, I went to finish my retraining for peritoneal dialysis. You've never had a non-native speaker of English, a person who is neither a scientist nor a teacher, try to explain the concepts of osmosis and diffusion, have you? I stopped him after a minute or so of his idiot-level explanation. Apparently most people who are starting PD are unfamiliar with basic chemistry.

He took my refusal to hear his explanation pretty well when I provided an even simpler explanation than the one he's been trying. I also suggested that he might not be very good at delegating, which was pretty obvious since he left his assistant sitting in a chair doing nothing while he ran around like the proverbial headless chicken.

Ny second encounter with non-native speakers of English happened quite accidentally when Ed changed lanes into a grubby-looking Corolla driven by a man who spoke mostly Spanish. His passengers were his wife, who spoke no English at all, and their toddler. There wasn't much damage to either vehicle, but the wife was pregnant and she was very upset by the collision.

It was cold out, so I stayed in the car for an hour and a half while representatives from Arlington's various emergency services paced around and decided what to do. At least three different people asked if I'd been injured, which I hadn't. I was impressed by the number of vehicles that came out after the 911 call: we had an ambulance, a fire truck and two police cars; and like I said, it was just a little incident slightly complicated by lack of English skills on one side and lack of Spanish skills on the other. (I could probably parse textbook Spanish, but I doubt I could parse immigrant Spanish, and I wouldn't have been able to say anything to the people in the Toyota, since they weren't offering me a meal.)

Which is to say that I personally didn't encounter those people, which means it doesn't count. The Arlington County police were very pleasant, though.

After the accident, we continued down Route 50 to Home Depot. I bought a gadget to help me change lightbulbs, some OxyClean, and some twine. I was looking for prefab shelving, but couldn't figure out what aisle it might be on; however, I determined that when I find the right shelving product, I'll need toggle bolts to install it on my plaster walls. I also couldn't find the stuff you put on tree stumps to make them die.

Ed says you can use gasoline for that, but I think that sounds dangerous. especially when there's some.... other poisonous product specifically designed to kill tree stumps. See, there's a problem with weed trees in the back. It wouldn't really be a problem except that the living room is bigger than the back yard. Now, as usual I've wandered far afield of my starting point. Oh yes, a really long day.

After we checked out--the clerk said "merci beaucoup" in a Creole accent--we went to the Falls Church Every Day is Christmas Diner for pie, because what's a vehicular altercation without pie? Ed had apple with ice cream; I had coconut custard. Mine was all right, but I think I would have been happier with the apple/pear/lemon juice drink.

And now I think I owe myself a decent night's sleep.

before - after