Friday, September 28, 2007
They Speak With Other Tongues
Today I did a road test for a Hispanic guy with the name - Jesus Sacramental Alvarez-Hidalgo (the Alvarez-Hidalgo family evidently wanting to keep all the bases covered when naming their son). For some reason this prompted me to compose a blog entry to liven up the Johnson page (although I have to admit, the Jerry Johnson Car post is a classic). I have been seeing Jesus a lot lately. This month I had one car with a license plate that read - JESUS Y. I got in another car and had to ask Mr. Rodriguez to remove the 5" x 7" picture of Jesus (shown above) from in front of his speedometer before we could begin. Then there was the car that had Jesus hanging on a one foot tall crucifix that stood on a little mound of Calvary that was located between the front van seats. All of this is quite normal in my business. Most cars driven by Hispanics will display a holy card or two, or have a rosary or an Our Lady of Guadalupe card hanging from the rearview mirror. One conversion van last year topped them all. On the driver side of the cloth covered dash was a sticker of the Holy Family and another of St. Christopher. Pasted on different places on the control panel were stickers or holy cards of Jesus (wearing thorns), Jesus on the cross, the Holy Family (Mary w/Jesus as a baby), and Our Lady of Guadalupe. There was a nice wood rosary hanging from the rear view mirror, and below that on the dash was a little plastic statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Above the front window, hanging from the ceiling across the entire front, were two inches of golden yarn like fringe, interspearsed with holy cards, giving the whole interior the feeling of a rolling chapel. and in front of me on the passenger side dash was a little rubber figure of . . . Sponge Bob Square Pants! He must have been covered the day I skipped out of CCD class.
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Jackie and I have learned enough Spanish to be able to conduct a driver test without an interperter. For example, Al la sienta caiya, a la der rechio (don't know the spelling in Spanish), means - At the next street, turn right. But I have also picked up some words for "left", "right", "straight", "light", "horn", and other words in such languages as Polish, Portuguise, and Cambodian. "Right" in Cambodian is "bot staaam", "left" is "bot swaaainn", "straight" is "trong", horn is "beepkay", and "turn left at the second light" is "tee pee plueng, bot swaaainn". The other day, after listening to a translator, I learned two new Cambodian words. The word for "stop sign" is "stop SINE", and the word for "highway" is "high WAAY". The humor, of course, is that apparently one can take any English word and say the last part with a Cambodian inflection to make it Cambodian. I suppose if I went to a Cambodian resturant and ordered a "cof EEE" with extra "sug AAR", they would know what I was talking about. Today I did a test for a Peruvian guy and he, impressed with my teriffic Spanish skills, asked in his broken English if I could speak any other languages. I told him about learning the two new Cambodian words, and he replied, without so much as a smile, "Oh, you made funny". When you do stand up, multi-cultural comedy, sitting down, for an audience of one, you take satisfaction however you can get it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Jerry Johnson...car dealer?!!
Jerry Johnson...that's my Dad! I knew he was a man of many talents, but a car dealer?! When he bought his latest car, the Tahoe, he was saying he needed something to make his stand out from all the others the same color.
While I was driving around in Wilmington, I noticed a dealer sticker on a car...none other 
than Jerry Johnson! I told Dad about it. He emailed the company and asked to have that sticker for his cars. Just the other day I called Dad while I was in Lumberton, NC after visiting "his" car lot. I told him I took some pictures with my palm pilot of "his" car dealership to prove the place existed and to show him what his truck can look like with his name on it. The dealership was closed (on a Saturday) so I could not get a sticker for him. He said that the dealership not only sent him 2 stickers for his cars, but also a license plate. He has proudly displayed this on the front of his Tahoe! So when you see him driving his Tahoe around town look for the license plate telling you if it's him! :o)
than Jerry Johnson! I told Dad about it. He emailed the company and asked to have that sticker for his cars. Just the other day I called Dad while I was in Lumberton, NC after visiting "his" car lot. I told him I took some pictures with my palm pilot of "his" car dealership to prove the place existed and to show him what his truck can look like with his name on it. The dealership was closed (on a Saturday) so I could not get a sticker for him. He said that the dealership not only sent him 2 stickers for his cars, but also a license plate. He has proudly displayed this on the front of his Tahoe! So when you see him driving his Tahoe around town look for the license plate telling you if it's him! :o) ~Tanya
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The little boy
Quentin was born a healthy 7lb 10oz baby. The nurse that measured him made the comment that at 21 inches he must have been kicking Pam on a regular basis. She just laughed and is glad that she can look at his legs instead of having them dance on her ribs. Elin is adjusting much better to being a big sister. Nancy arrived today, and Pam is already feeling the relief that comes with having your mom around. If Quentin would have been born a day earlier, then Pam and I would have had two kids on our second wedding anniversary.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
And the name is...
Pam and Greg have named their little boy:
Quentin Gregory Moore
They are home from the hospital now. Big sister Elin doesn't quite know what is going on yet but everyone is happy and healthy, and glad to be home!
Quentin Gregory Moore
They are home from the hospital now. Big sister Elin doesn't quite know what is going on yet but everyone is happy and healthy, and glad to be home!
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Announcing....
Baby Boy Moore! He was born at 4:30 pm pacific time after a few hours of labor. Everyone is healthy and happy and will be able to return home soon. Still no name, but Pam will update everyone on that when they figure it out. Here's the statistics:
7 pounds 10 ounces
21 inches long
Caleb's reign as the youngest grandkid of Jon and Nancy was short lived and he's only a month old!
7 pounds 10 ounces
21 inches long
Caleb's reign as the youngest grandkid of Jon and Nancy was short lived and he's only a month old!
