Mau added a new life experience to her repertoire today: Passing out on an airplane (while in the air).
Yup. I fainted while on my flight to Toronto today. I've got the scraped knee to prove it!
I wasn't feel very well last night, and when I woke up today it was much worse. I think I have food poisoning - nothing was staying in my stomach (aka I needed gravol and immodium), I was having stomach cramps, nausea, etc. I forced myself to eat breakfast and a frozen dinner for lunch. My plane was delayed and I knew I was a bit weak, but nothing happened. In the air I was feeling worse (I felt like the cabin was waaaaay too hot), and the feeling persisted even after I ate a snack and had some juice.
Suddenly the cabin seemed to get even hotter and the lights got darker. I figured I was either going to pass out or throw up so I started walking towards the bathroom. I have vague memories of trying to grab on to seat chairs to steady myself while I was walking, but by this point the cabin was too dark to see. (I'm pretty sure I just smacked people in the heads/shoulders instead.) The next thing I know, I'm on the floor and people are touching my shoulders on either side, asking if I'm okay.
Which of course I was. Apparently one fainting episode cures all. I got to sit down in the nearest chair, get more juice, fill out some forms, and assure the flight attendant that no, they did not need to call the paramedics. They even lowered the cabin temperature for me and got me some ice to help stay cool. All in all, the incident is more embarrassing than anything! LOL.
I made it to the ground safely (we were only 17 minutes from Toronto) and checked into my hotel. I immediately hoofed it across the street to the Swiss Chalet where I forced myself to eat 3/4 of a quesadilla and some veggies. I'm still feeling nauseated and ill, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not in any danger of croaking in the next 24 hours.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
Squishing the flea on the microchip with my thumb.
Learning Chinese has helped me with my French. Seriously. While there aren't many (or even any) similarities between the languages, understanding tones has helped me to understand the differences between some words.
For example, in French the words, "au-dessus" (meaning: above) and "au-dessous" (meaning: below) sound EXACTLY the same to me. Even when I asked my French friends, they couldn't explain the difference. It was only when they repeated the words over and over that I could hear what changed - au-dessus has a slightly higher tone than au-dessous. That's the only way I can describe it. Normally I could just figure out which word meant what by the context of the sentence, but "above" and "below?" Obviously very interchangeable.
I ran into another tonality difference last night, but one not so easily apparent. We were talking about credit card fraud, etc. Someone mentioned that France has been using credit cards with thumb identification (e.g. biometrics) for 20 years. I expressed my surprise that France had been using biometrics - I thought that was a relatively new technology! I told them that I'd never be able to use such credit cards because I have no thumbprint, etc. That's when we discovered my error.
In French, the word "microchip" is "puce" while "thumb" is "pousse" - but the words sound the exact same. The entire time that I thought they were talking about biometrics, they were actually talking about microchips! Whoops! We all had a chuckle when we sorted things out, but again when I asked what the difference between the words was, they weren't able to explain adequately. The only difference that I can hear is that "puce" is pronounced in a higher tone than "pousse."
Oh, and to complete your language lesson for the day, "puce" can also mean flea.
For example, in French the words, "au-dessus" (meaning: above) and "au-dessous" (meaning: below) sound EXACTLY the same to me. Even when I asked my French friends, they couldn't explain the difference. It was only when they repeated the words over and over that I could hear what changed - au-dessus has a slightly higher tone than au-dessous. That's the only way I can describe it. Normally I could just figure out which word meant what by the context of the sentence, but "above" and "below?" Obviously very interchangeable.
I ran into another tonality difference last night, but one not so easily apparent. We were talking about credit card fraud, etc. Someone mentioned that France has been using credit cards with thumb identification (e.g. biometrics) for 20 years. I expressed my surprise that France had been using biometrics - I thought that was a relatively new technology! I told them that I'd never be able to use such credit cards because I have no thumbprint, etc. That's when we discovered my error. In French, the word "microchip" is "puce" while "thumb" is "pousse" - but the words sound the exact same. The entire time that I thought they were talking about biometrics, they were actually talking about microchips! Whoops! We all had a chuckle when we sorted things out, but again when I asked what the difference between the words was, they weren't able to explain adequately. The only difference that I can hear is that "puce" is pronounced in a higher tone than "pousse."
Oh, and to complete your language lesson for the day, "puce" can also mean flea.
Top CEO tweets resignation - in haiku
Top CEO tweets resignation - in haiku
Bwahahahahahaaa. I'm not the only one who gives into poetry once in awhile. :)
Bwahahahahahaaa. I'm not the only one who gives into poetry once in awhile. :)
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