Today, author Margaret Tanner visits Terry's Place. Thanks to the magic of cyber-space, she's dropping in from Down Under.You be the judge. Do lucky charms work?I always scoffed at magic or lucky charms. If I couldn’t see it, I didn’t believe in it. Well, that is not until I visited my Dad’s sister, a sprightly old dear in her nineties. It was the 30th anniversary of my father’s death.
After a watery, milky cup of tea and some stale cake, that Aunty said she had baked the previous day, but I think it could have been the previous week, she started telling me about the silver boomerang, which we had found many years ago amongst my late father’s war medals. (A boomerang is an Australian aboriginal hunting weapon). The boomerang bore the words “I go to return.”It was a good luck charm, and my father apparently wore it throughout the 2nd World War. There was magic in the boomerang, the lady who had given to him was convinced of it, as was my aunt. Whether Dad believed in it or not, I have no idea. The original owner apparently survived the carnage of the 1st World War. So, did the good luck charm live up to its name the second time around?
Are you Triskaidekaphobic? Or just Paraskevidekatriaphobic?The first refers to a fear of the number 13. It's common enough, which is why hotels often don't have a 13th floor (but of course they do, it's simply labeled 14), and some airlines don't have a 13th row. This isn't a universal fear, however.
In Italy, 17 is supposed to be an unlucky number. Tetraphobia, fear of the number 4 — (phonetically similar to 'death') in Korea, China, and Japan, as well as in many East-Asian and some Southeast-Asian countries, it's not uncommon for buildings (including offices, apartments, hotels) to lack floors with the number 4, and Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia's 1xxx-9xxx series of mobile phones does not include any model numbers beginning with a 4. In Taiwan, tetraphobia is so common that there are no 4's or x4's for hospitals.The second is more specific, a fear of Friday the 13th. If that's your fear, maybe you're hiding inside today (which explains why statistically, there are fewer accidents on a Friday the 13th – people aren't going out). It's been estimated that there's an $800 to $900 MILLION loss in business on a Friday the 13th. Keep Reading...
Some interesting articles about Friday the 13th from NPR:
Friday the 13th: The Fear that Will Not Die
Who's Afraid of Friday the 13th?
I'm not particularly superstitious. I've never done anything differently on a Friday the 13th. In Walt Kelly's Pogo strip, there was a Friday the 13th every month. It just didn't always fall on a Friday. But in Romanian, Greek and Hispanic cultures, Tuesday the 13th is considered unlucky.
I don't avoid black cats, and if a ladder is blocking the sidewalk, I'll walk under it rather than risk stepping into the street.
The dryer saga: On Monday, I called the service company to tell them the parts they ordered had come in. They set up an appointment window of 8 AM to noon on Wednesday. When noon came and went, I called, because the previous time, the serviceman had called me to say he was running late. Ooops. "Sorry, we have no record of your appointment. We can reschedule for tomorrow." Why is it when the company screws up, the consumer gets screwed. What if I'd had to take a day off work to be home? As it was, I did have to juggle my schedule, not once, but twice. And then the best their supervisor could do was "request" that I be the first call of the day.
With luck, everything is fixed now. I haven't tested it yet – and maybe, since it's Friday the 13th, I'd be better off waiting a day.
After the dryer guy did his thing, I went downtown and met with Detective Hussey and ran my "would this be how a cop should handle this?" scenarios past him over lunch. Since he said I had the procedures right, and that my dialogue sounded appropriately "cop", I won't have to rewrite those scenes. I also learned a new term: "Protective Sweep." Gordon, my cop, did one; I just didn't know it had a name. And where else can you have lunch and get to listen to one side of a phone conversation where someone says, "Don't worry about it. Just tell them you dug the hole and you discovered the bones."
Detective Hussey's been busy, but he did say he'd be willing to answer questions. No promises as to how many he can handle at a time, or how long it'll take to get back with answers, but if you've read his case files and want to know more, shoot me an email (address in my sidebar) and I'll get them to him. Put Hussey Question in the subject line. And if you haven't read his case files, you've missed a treat. You can enter Homicide – Hussey in the search box. I ran them every Friday starting back in January.
So, for me, today is business as usual. I'm editing. Hubby is meeting with a tree trimmer to check into manicuring our oasis. We've got all the Realtor presentations laid out on the kitchen table, and we'll have to decide who gets our contract. Given their presentations, it's likely to be closing our eyes and drawing a name out of a hat. Or maybe throwing darts would be more cathartic.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
After a watery, milky cup of tea and some stale cake, that Aunty said she had baked the previous day, but I think it could have been the previous week, she started telling me about the silver boomerang, which we had found many years ago amongst my late father’s war medals. (A boomerang is an Australian aboriginal hunting weapon). The boomerang bore the words “I go to return.”
