Sunday Scribblings - "Plan B"

Sometimes I wish my life was more organized, more structured than it is.

Actually no, I think what I mean is that I wish I could organize and structure my life a little bit, given that my husband is the sort of person who sets off blithely into the sunrise without knowing how to get where he knows he needs to go (literally and metaphorically). I’m not exactly a worrier myself, but I’ll have to admit that compared to Pete I’m about as relaxed as a bagful of freshly-trapped snakes.

For instance, there was that occasion when he decided to whisk me off to Harrogate (in Yorkshire) where there’s a club called The Blues Bar, which has excellent music all days of the week but especially Saturday. I hadn’t been to Harrogate before, so I’d no idea that the city is wickedly posh and insanely expensive, and that the Blues Bar is located in the city centre right in the middle of a welter of posh hotels and clubs and bars – basically, the most popular hangout area especially on weekends for the wealthy young persons of Harrogate and surrounds. We would be getting there late Friday night, staying Saturday night as well, and leaving Sunday morning.

Me, as we were leaving: Where are we staying?

Pete: Probably at Premier Inn.

Me: Have you booked ahead?

Pete: No, I’ll ring them when we get nearer there. I’m sure we’ll get a room.

Famous last words, as they say. When we were about 30 miles away, Pete rang Premier Inn, but was told they were full up. Then I started ringing around the hotels in Harrogate – but cheap or expensive, they were ALL fully booked for Friday and Saturday although they were free on Sunday (for all the good that did us).

Me, somewhat alarmed: NOW what do we do?

Pete: I guess that rules out Plan B. On to Plan C.

Me: That rules out Plan B? What was Plan A??? And what is Plan C?

Pete: Plan A was tto have a Plan B. I've no idea what Plan C is. I didn't think we'd need it.

*sigh*

So THAT'S what he meant!

Frank Sinatra, that is. Long long back I heard one of his songs with the refrain "Let's forget about tomorrow, for tomorrow never comes"... followed by "Domani, forget domani" - and I always ended up wondering who Domani was, and if there was a "story" to the song that I wasn't getting.

Then I started studying Italian on my own, and by Lesson 3, all became clear.

Domani = tomorrow.

I hadn't realised that it was Mr Sinatra who set the trend so often seen in Bollywood movies, where the hero/heroine speak a sentence in English and immediately repeat it in Hindi (or vice versa), so that there's absolutely no doubt in anybody's mind of what was said in either language!  

Anyway, long-time mystery solved, which is always a good thing.

Oh, the irony of it!

Doolittle and Dalley - estate agents and surveyors

Wright Hassall - solicitors

What WERE they thinking of when they named their firms? Did it not occur to them to say the name aloud? Perhaps they were economising by choosing a name that also described their workstyle?

Well, whatever. I don't mind, really, as long as the names stay.

And you, gentle readers with the quirky sense of humour (y'awl know who you are, right?), if you know of any other gems to add to the list, please feel free to let me know in a comment. Just the thought that there could be more such descriptively named firms in this world makes me feel more positive and cheerful in general. Do you feel it too?

Limerick-Off Monday

Click here for this week's Limerick-off Monday on Madeleine's blog

How 'bout that - this week I managed a limerick without thinking too hard about the storyline or the rhyme (the prompt being "A guy/gal who was covered in sweat"). I must be getting cleverer at these (I hope). But next week will tell if this week's limerick is a mere fluke or a sign of easier times to come...

A gal who was covered in sweat

Couldn’t help but fume and fret.

Her high-fashion kit

Just ripped and split,

Laying bare much more than her silhouette.

Whatcha think of this one? Anyone? 

Limerick-off Monday

Click on the headline for this week's Limerick-Off Monday on Madeleine's blog.

Well, technically mine's now a Limerick-Off Wednesday, but this is the first chance I've had all week to try my hand at this week's competition. Unlike previous occasions, I had almost an embarrassment of riches to deal with in terms of rhyming words , which made it difficult to decide on what the "storyline" was going to be. I know, I have a genuis for making anything into whine (and there's another rhyme). :)

PS. I've heard from various sources that this feat was achieved a few thousand years ago by a young man whose name was Jesus Christ. But since I don't have proof of the nature of his feat - that is, whether it came in limerick form or not - I shall continue to hold my talent for limerick whine above anyone else's.

And so on to today's show:

A fellow was trying to dine
On fresh strawberries and aged wine.
The berries were sweet
A perfect fresh fruit treat -
But the alcohol, worryingly, arrived in a stein.