1. I returned from Ireland.
2. I worked like crazy for a week.
3. I went to Portland/Newport OR for a week and stayed in the most delightful vacation home in the WORLD. We saw WHALES out of the living room window. Thanks Mom and Dad!
4. I came back to Miami. Worked (am working) until tomorrow--when I leave for South Africa until Aug. 21st.
5. Right now I'm trying to make sense of my desk and check the slides in my talk to make sure they're correct/not offensive(since I have to give 2 talks in SA)
Ahh, and somehow I started a feud with an old-lady-neighbor about the strip of grass I like to walk my dogs on. It's just a three foot wide piece of grass between the sidewalk and the 8 foot black iron fence, a fence which protects a large complex of buildings. This strip of grass and fence and ridiculously large lawn and nice group of buildings happens to be where this old-lady-neighbor lives with HER DOG. Quick story: The past few days on the morning walk, this old lady has been showing up out of no where and yelling at me in spanish. I recognize the word perro, so I know she's talking about my dogs. Also, her body language is very frightening/unfriendly so I know she's telling me to "take my perros and scram" or something.
On Monday she hollered at me all the way from across the fenced-in courtyard, so I couldn't really understand her. I thought that if I stood and looked at her with my signiture "foreign language deer in the headlights" look she would understand that she was not understood and explain it to me better in english. But she didn't so I just kept walking. On Tuesday, she caught me in front of MY fence as I was taking out my recycling. She was standing in the street there talking to some public-works-type-city-type-employee guy who was blocking my car with his big ol' pickup truck. When she saw me she started waving her arms and pointing at me and saying that word again--perro. So I stood, looking dumb and silent, waiting for the public-works-type-city-type-employee guy to explain to me what was going on. But he didn't say anything and he didn't look to concerned about my perros, so I just kept walking.
This morning the old-lady-neighbor blocked my path as Scott and Grant and I were attempting to VIOLATE HER 3 FOOT STRIP OF GRASS with perro caca (which, to all you concerned readers out there I always always always pick up). She started in with her perros and her arm windmills and I started with my "deer in headlights stupid look". She picked up on my facial expressions this time and switched to english. She told me that I was not allowed to "go this way" that I was to "go that way". I said "but I go this way" she said "no you go that way" I said "why? there's no sign that says I can't" she said "It is impossible, the manager doesn't like it" I said "Well, I go this way, you walk your dog on other people's lawns" At which point she told me again that it was impossible and I just walked around her. I think we're fighting now.
I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything wrong.
