Oy. The firework people are at it behind my house. I think they are too close and I am going to die. I also never liked fireworks because of the noise. I did always wonder how they did the fireworks of Seven thistles and a rose in Eight Cousins.

I think that all the n names I get called are people trying to slit my name into one they already know. No people of color really have that problem, which is interesting. Maybe Nadine is more popular in other cultures?

People misspell and mispronounce everything. No matter what.

We have a relatively simple last name, but always spell it for people because they inevitably mishear the first letter. Which lead to the following conversation in our house:

Me making an appointment over the phone: "That's "v" as in "vampire ..."

Mr. Loomy, once I'm done with the call: "Y'know, I say "v as in victory".

Me: "Who are you married to? Why are you surprised?"

A colleage's assistant always seemed to mis-name me. I got Evelyn, Marilyn, Jennylyn?,Jennifer, Natalie...

I finally realized she literally couldn't remember anything except it has three syllables, so she was trying every three-syllable name in hopes she'd hit it right. Write.it.down.sweetie.

I also told colleage when the assistant put me through, or gave her a message from someone with a three-syllable name, odds were pretty good it was me. Evidently the assistant had excellent skills in some other area.

Sophie, what's to stop you from applying for the job you like when the powers that be realize they will have to pay someone more AND hire an assistant for them?

People often pronounce "Fogelson" as "Ferguson," which who knows why.

I was going to try to be in bed by now, but downtown Mogadishu out there is making it unlikely. The remarkable similarity to some of those sounds to automatic gunfire is making me antsy, I hope any local veterans are somewhere quiet or have very good ear protection on.

fireworks may not go away, but they are unlawful here - and the fire danger is high. I have no problems with the municipal ones, but the one all around me that could set my yard on fire . And I have neighbors that left town to go a quieter area - because their dog rips apart a metal crate

I have so burrowed into zen handling my parents underfoot & also kinda trapped by the heat that I am not doing my usual pretravel anxiety swoop. I have barely even thought about packing because they spent 2 hours updating & combing over every single detail & I was all, eh? I guess I should book us a taxi from the airport.... (cheaper with 7 of us than bus.)

And this was after missing my swim because the pool closed.

Don't visit Baltimore in July. I don't even want to endure it, & it's not hazardous to my health. Though I did make them take a walk thru the hood after my cancelled swim, in 85 F with 70% humidity. We stayed in the shade...

(Of course, I'm also up at almost 1 am & will wake by 6, just so I can have alone time, but...)

I went from a difficult last name to one that confused everyone even more when I married 20 years ago. I am resigned to having to carefully spell it out every time I do business. I'm unique!

My neighbors LOVE fireworks so much there's a constant bang! Boom! Pop! Going on all around me. I could see at least six different locations sending up rockets. My favorite crew is at it again this year. They do a professional quality show and send up 20 firecrackers in a row so it looks like a giant sparkling sky flower I can see from my front lawn.

I used to worry about fire danger, but apparently my neighbors know what the are doing because I never hear emergency service sirens or read about horrible injuries in the local news. The kitties are not pleased but they are old enough to remember that this keeps happening on the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve.