the Acadamy

and a battery

At last, the new battery has arrived for my computer, it's been a while since I ordered it, I guess it took a long time to cycle to China and back !! Put it in the large hole at the back of the machine and waited and waited until it farted and grunted and eventually lit up. It's still the same old computer, takes an age to wake up, flashes a lot and sends me lots of messages, the meaning of which I don't have a clue about, but at least I have a spell checker now, although it says it's American, apparently, it doesn't do proper English!! So altho it dos not make scents, it wil bee spelt rite.

Whilst we are on the subject of languages, did you know that about one quarter of the world's languages, like the French, give inanimate objects a gender, Wiki says it dates back to the Greeks, but doesn't have a clue why anybody would think of doing it in the first place, (over active thyroid probably). It actually makes those languages very difficult to learn, as well as having to remember the words for things, you also have to remember what sex it is. 

Here in France, we have the Acadamie Francaise (sorry I can't remember if they are male or female), a bunch of academics whose job it is to decide which new words should be allowed into the language, and also to decide what sex they should be. Now, if you were a doctor, teacher, nurse or any one of those people who did a really worthwhile job, at the end of each day, when you got home you could reflect on what you had done and those people you had helped, what do those academics think they have achieved ? I reckon they achieve bugger all, and get paid a fortune for doing it.

If like me, you are not entirely aware of the sex of inanimate objects it can be rather embarrassing when you sit down to eat at the table, not knowing whether or not it is politically correct to cross your legs coyly or to give the table leg a swift kick because it's not quite straight, (mother always told me to sit up straight at the table). I do not even like to think of what the French think when I turn on my computer (whisper sweet nothings in its' ear) and then proceed to place it delicately on my lap, not knowing beforehand if it male or female. I suppose if I were catholic, I wouldn't do that kind of thing !!