META – March 21, 2001

 

The Spiritual Translator Newsletter

 

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IN META TODAY

 

1. HOLIDAYS

2. HEBREW TRANSLATION

3. LET US PLAY WITH WORDS

4. EXTRACTS FROM “THE CYNIC'S DICTIONARY”

5. Donate a mammogram

6. HOLY COW

 

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1.  HOLIDAYS

 

Well, we are taking a week off to Cuba (March 22 to 29).

 

As a freelancer, it is always problematic to go away. We know we are bound to have some small urgent translations which are going to pop up during the week we are away, and either we have an automatic response to tell the clients and prospects we are away, or we try to stay in touch with a free web address (hotmail, apexmail, etc…) hoping that the hotel where we are going to stay has internet access.

 

If we have to translate something, do we take our laptop or can we use a computer in the hotel? Leaving a laptop in the hotel room is a bit risky and very tempting in countries like Cuba where people are so poor. In this case, we take a 5 stars hotel with all facilities and they have a safe for our passports, money and jewels but I do not think they have space for a laptop.

 

So we have to make a choice. We have told our usual clients that we will be away and we have given them the alternate email address for the week. I am almost certain that the hotel has access to internet and therefore has one or more computers. I will have to pay a few dollars for using their computer but it is better than risking losing my laptop. Any suggestion?

 

I am sharing this with you because I know that we all face this question one day or the other.

 

 

Let us laugh….

 

 

2.  HEBREW TRANSLATION

 

A team of archaeologists were excavating in Israel, when they came upon a cave. Written across the wall of the cave, were the following symbols, in this order of appearance: A woman, a donkey, a shovel, a fish, and a Star of David. Deciding that this was a unique find, as the writings had to be at least three thousand years old, they chopped out the piece of stone and had it brought to the museum.

 

Archaeologists from all over the world came to study the ancient symbols. They held a huge meeting after months of deciphering, to discuss the meaning of the markings. The President of the society stood up and pointed to the first drawing. He said, "This looks like a woman. We can judge that this race was family oriented and held women in high esteem. You can also tell they were intelligent, as the next symbol resembles a donkey, indicating that they were smart enough to have animals help them till the soil. The next drawing looks like a shovel of some sort, which means they had tools to help them. Even further proof of their high intelligence is the fish, which meant that if a famine had hit the earth, whereby the food didn't grow, they would take to the sea for food. The last symbol appears to be the Star of David, which means they  were evidently Hebrews.

 

The audience applauded enthusiastically. Suddenly a little old man stood up in the back of the room and yelled, "Idiots! Hebrew is read from right to left. It says, "Holy Mackerel, Dig The Ass On That Woman."

 

Contribution Diana Howell (USA)

 

 

3. LET US PLAY WITH WORDS

 

"If you want to see a comic strip, you should see me in the shower."- Groucho Marx

 

"Oh, my wife can spend money. I mean, who tips at a toll booth? Now she tells me she wants plastic surgery. She got plastic surgery - I cut up her credit cards."     - Rodney Dangerfield

 

"Why does the Air Force need expensive new bombers? Have the people we've been bombing over the years been complaining?"     - George Wallace

 

"The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: 'If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping up and down.'"  - Rita Rudner

 

"If I were a fraction, my goal would be world denomination."     - Chris Lipe

 

"My grandmother is over 80 and still doesn't need glasses. She drinks right out of the bottle."   - Henny Youngman

 

"I think the pilot on my last trip was pretty new to his job. I base that on his pre-flight announcement, 'We're going to be taking off in a few... Whoa, here we go!'"   - Unknown

 

 

4. EXTRACTS FROM “THE CYNIC'S DICTIONARY”

 

AUTHOR: A writer with connections in the publishing industry.

 

BOSS: A personal dictator appointed to those of us fortunate enough to live in free societies.

 

CHILDHOOD: The rapidly shrinking interval between infancy and first arrest on a drug or weapons charge.

 

DENIAL: How an optimist keeps from becoming a pessimist.

 

EXPERIENCE: In the working world, something you can't get unless you've already got it, in which case you probably don't want any more of it.

 

FITNESS: Salvation through perspiration.

 

MARTIAL ARTS: A family of Asiatic self-defense disciplines consisting largely of sweeping ornamental gestures of the arms and legs; amusing to look at but disappointingly ineffective when one's opponent is armed with a semi-automatic.

 

NEIGHBORS: The strangers who live next door.

 

PARASITE: A base creature that extracts a living from the lives of others, like a tapeworm or a biographer.

 

QUAGMIRE: Any situation more easily entered into than exited from; e.g., a guerrilla war, a bad marriage or a conversation with an insurance salesman.

 

VOTING: The right of our citizens to do as they please behind a curtain, as long as they do it alone.

 

X-RAY: A diagnostic tool used to detect existing cancerous growths and create new ones for future examinations to reveal.

 

Y-CHROMOSOME: A line of genes designed for men only; the cause of virility, war, baldness, hockey, sex crimes, clever inventions and a disinclination to ask for directions when lost.

 

ZOO: A pleasant and instructive wildlife park, lately denounced for depriving animals of their right to starve or be eaten alive in their natural habitats.

 

 

5. Donate a mammogram

 

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com

 

Donate a mammogram

 

This only takes a second. All you do is go to the site above, click a button and a woman gets a free mammogram at no cost to you. It is paid for by corporate sponsors (who gain advertising in the process because you see their logo.) You're only allowed one donation so please pass the word.

 

Contribution Diana Howell (USA)

 

 

6. HOLY COW

 

And we wonder why have mad cows…

 

http://www.flingthecow.com