sliding food and talking heads

i spend most of my waking hours in front of my computer, to the left of which is a big, inviting tv. non-important factoid: i'm addicted to cable tv. so imagine how much temptation i have to fight (and succumb to) every day, trying to build up some kind of work momentum for a decent amount of productivity. my workspace wasn't intentionally designed as such; i had to move my original 'office' out from my bedroom (talk about temptation) because i realized – after numerous tear-filled calls to the poor dsl provider who i thought had exceptionally bad connection problems at the time and was out to get me – that my room had some kind of invisible, hateful force field that repelled wireless signals from our router.

the view over my right shoulder

so on a daily basis, i try to ignore the tv on my left, and another source of distraction on my right, the stairs. every now and then, the people from downstairs (ie, the rest of my family) slide items across the floor to deliver them to me instead of taking a few more extra steps to actually hand them to me, like what normal people do. i suspect topi has invented her own form of shuffleboard in her head, where instead of pucks she uses my telephone bills, loose change and the occasional dhl package. dad has also recently unknowingly joined the game, and often gives me different kinds of food (ok, fine, it's always chips) by forcing whatever through the balusters. one day, i'm going to find chicharon or clover on the floor and stairs.

every now and then, dad's head appears to ask me something about the computer. the questions range from 'how do you remove a paper jam' to 'why are the letters in my email all slanted now!?' (it's called accidental italics, dad ... or a haunted computer). very rarely, he asks me about grammar.

the other day, dad asked me which was correct for a business letter, 'had' or 'have'. it seemed like 'had' was more appropriate so i told him how to word his sentence properly. he looked at me quizzically and said, 'isn't there a rule that you can only use had if you mention a date?'

'what do you mean, like 'before September 1, 2010, i had been to that place?'

'are you sure? i remember some kind of rule like that,' dad said.

'dad, that is really very oddly specific.'

he laughed at himself and went back to his computer. i, on the other hand, went back to work, even more unsure of my own grammar, and a teeny bit more wary of talking heads on the floor.