The title of my blog is As the Spirit Moves Me, but the spirit is not religious, or a muse (because I don't have one. I would like one.); it just means that I'll write when I feel like it or when I have something to say. Or not  And Odds and Ends means that I'll write about any old thing, whether or not it has anything to do with anything. Or not.

So here goes:

When I was in Mexico a couple of months ago, I waited in the car while my friend was looking for something in a market. It took her awhile, even though the market was tiny, and I watched these guys get pavers or whatever they are called from the pile on the sidewalk to the roof.  By hand.  For at least twenty minutes. They appeared to be enjoying their work, talking to each other as the guy on the street level tossed the blocks one by one to the worker on the roof.  

This gave me a chance to try out some of my new Spanish:  Hola joven!  Yo es muy fuerte.

(Hey there young man, you are very strong!)

They laughed and one of the guys teased the other. I think. I don't speak enough Spanish to really know, but they were laughing. Maybe at my Spanish, but that's ok.  

When we had a new roof put on our house, the roofers used a platform that attached to the ladder, was run by a compressor, and it ratcheted the packages of shingles up the ladder. It was really, really noisy, but certainly easier and quicker than tossing them up by hand.

So, which is better:  machine or human?

I report; you decide.


And while I can't put accents in Spanish text because I don't know where they go, I discovered while I was at the Apple bar waiting for my computer that I can in French.  A screen playing overhead showed all sorts of tips for using a Mac and one was for accents. Just hold down the key for the letter you want the accent for, and up pops a series of choices.  

Sometimes it is good to have to wait for something.

Like the time a friend and I went to NY to see some plays. On Sunday morning we went to a restaurant with outdoor seating for breakfast and once we were taken to a table, the wait was interminable. They ran out of cups and saucers, then they ran out of coffee, they didn't have enough servers, and on and on. We were sitting near the sidewalk of a side street, and suddenly, there was Paul McCartney!  

I called younger daughter and told her that Paul McCartney was standing on the sidewalk next to our table and she said Mom!!!  He's one of the Beatles!!!

I know!

He was walking with his then-wife, Linda (the second one), and everyone left them alone. They stood there for a good five minutes, studying a piece of paper, maybe a map, and then walked on.

So Yay! for slow service.

And another odds or ends:

My younger daughter put this photo on Facebook for Mothers' Day. (And since I have already mentioned younger daughter, this is a proper segue to a new topic, in case you were grading this.)

This is of my daughter and me some thirty-odd years ago.  I do not look like this anymore; in fact anyone who knew me then would not recognize me now.  I bemoaned whined about this to my husband, who said that the problem is that I now don't smile naturally for the camera. Nope. That's not it. The problem is that it is now thirty-odd years later and somehow I lost my face.  I don't know where it went.

And my daughter doesn't look like this any longer either, but she looks pretty and all grown up.

This was taken over the weekend when she was in Palm Springs for a weekend with friends.  She was lying (I hope) in the shade.

And here is a picture of her with her family:

Not really. 

BTW:  Is he a Prince or a Duke, or both? It's confusing.