Real English Thirty-Seven: essential

Breaking news! 

The U.S. Government will re-open.  

For those of you who didn't know, the U.S. Government was shut down for a while.  During this time, the Government labeled employees two ways,  "essential employees" and "non-essential employees."  The "essentials" could stay and work. The non-essentials were sent home on furlough.  My cousin works for the government. He was furloughed.

"Essential" basically means "necessary".

"It is essential" equals "It is necessary".

Recently, I have had many "discussions" with my wife about what is essential and not essential for our new house.

For example, I said "Curtains are not essential."

She disagreed with me.

Then, she said "A new dining table and chairs are essential."

I disagreed with her.

FYI, we are getting both new curtains and a new dining table and chairs!!!

You can guess who wears the pants in the house :(

And then, the other day she said to me, "Do you remember that you said you would by me a new vacuum if we buy this house?"

I said, "I vaguely remember that..."

She said, "Are you going to be a man and keep your word?"

 I said, "Of course."

So, the next day I went to an electrical appliance store to buy the most essential house item for my wife; a vacuum.

She vacuums not twice a week, not once a day, but twice or three times every day. Thanks to her, our house is always spotless!

Believe me, if I were dust, I 

wouldn't come to my house!

The below is the conversation I had at the electrical appliance store.

Clerk: Can I help you?

Me: I am looking for a vacuum.  

Clerk: Right this way sir...

Me: My wife said she wants a cordless vacuum, because our house is 3 stories.

Clerk: I understand. Then, I highly recommend this one. 

Me: Is it made in Japan?

Clerk: No. The maker is Company D.

Me: Why do you recommend it?

Clerk:  Actually, I have one myself. I love it and couldn't live without it. 

Me:  What is so special about it?

Clerk:  It is light, so it is easy for women to hold with even one hand.  And stylish, and easy to store or put away. You can attach it to the wall if you want.  And unbelievably powerful!! 

Me: How powerful? 

Clerk:  You have to see it to believe it!  Give it a try!

(I proceeded to "test" the vacuum.  The clerk wasn't kidding!!  Just as she said, it was strong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Me: I don't understand one thing.  It is cordless so that means there is no plug... how does it work?

Clerk: It has a battery. You have to charge it. It takes 3 and a half hours to charge the battery  Then, you can use the vacuum for 20 minutes on "regular power" or for 5 minutes on "super power."

Me: What is the difference between "regular power" and "super power"?

Clerk:  When the vacuum is in "super power" mode, it can suck up very small pieces of dust...minute particles!  It is especially useful to clean futons.  It sucks up all the dust and even mites in a futon.

Me: How long does the battery last?

Clerk: About a year and a half to two years.  A new battery costs about 8000 yen.

Me: How much the vacuum?

Clerk:  69,800 yen.

Me: Excuse me? (I couldn't believe my ears...)

Clerk: Sixty-nine thousand and eight hundred yen.

Me: I see...I'll take it. (I didn't have a choice...)

Clerk: Thank you very much.  Will you be paying with cash or by credit card?

Me: Cash.

So, I bought the most expensive vacuum I have ever heard of...

But a man's word is a man's word.

Anyway, I really hope my wife likes it!  

And I don't know how well the vacuum sucks up dust, but I can tell you one thing it sucks up really well................................my money!!!

It sucked the money right out of my wallet!

Below are Ms. C's photos from her trip to America! Amazing!

Real English Thirty-Six: and then some

Since a few months ago, every time Mr. F comes to class, he annoyingly says:

"I am going to get you back...and then some "

"I am gonna return the favor...and then some."

"I will get back at you...and then some."

"I am going to give you a taste of your own medicine...and then some."

He is obsessed with the phrase.

He stole it from Mr. Hanzawa Naoki, who is the main character (a banker) in the TV show "Hanzawa Naoki", which was one of the most popular shows of the year.

Actually, the final episode recorded a TV rating of 42.2%, a new high!

Did you watch the show?

If yes, can you explain what it is about?

If no, are you interested in watching a rerun, or getting the DVD/blu-ray disc?

Real English Thirty-Five: music to my ears

It is October.
When I think of October, I think of playoff baseball, Okinawa and typhoons, and pumpkins, witches, and Halloween.
What comes to your mind first when you hear "October"?

And, as I have told many of you, I will move in a few weeks.
So, the other day, after my wife placed an inquiry on some "moving company site". Immediately after she placed the inquiry, about 5 companies contacted us.  We asked the first three companies which called to come to our apartment to give us an estimate.  We thought 3 was enough. So, we had to reject the two companies which called after the first three.  You could say that those last two companies "Missed the boat!"

On the phone, I told each of the three companies the same thing:
"I will be here from 2 to 4 pm, so please come any during that time.  Also, please know that there may be another moving company here while you are here.  If that is a problem, please let me know."
They all said, "No problem."

First, a salesman from company A arrived. He gave us a small bag of rice, was very professional and politely and patiently listened to all of our requests.  I liked him. And the estimate he gave us, 147,000 yen for everything included, was just under my budget of 150, so I thought, "Not bad."  The next guy who gave us an estimate was from company B.  I don't remember if he gave us any gift or not. He was also professional.  The two big differences between the salesman from company A and B were:
1. The Company B Guy was much faster than Company A Guy. Company B Guy was in and out of our place, in total about 20 minutes.  In a good way, you could say he was efficient.  In a bad way, you could say he was too fast.  In comparison, Company A Guy spent about 45 minutes to an hour there.
2.  Company B Guy's estimate was considerably more expensive than Company A's...about 180,000, not including trash removal.  His company doesn't do that. Instead, he recommended a "trash and recycling company" which handles that.

So, now, the only guy left in our apartment was from Company C. To be honest, I was thinking  "Come on buddy, speed it up" because I wanted him to leave as soon as possible so I could get on with my day.  In addition, I had 99.9 % already decided on Company A.  In my head, I was like, "I am gonna use Company A. I am sure that Company C's estimate will be around the same as Company A, and the guy from Company A was nice, plus my wife likes him..."

So after what seemed like an eternity, the guy from Company C said, "When can you decide by?"
I said, "Sometime this week."
He said, "Well, if you can decide now, then I can do it all for 100,000."
I was very surprised....pleasantly surprised.
I said, "Sir, that is music to my ears!! Give me a pen and where do I sign!"

That goes to show you. It ain't over til it's over.  You never know about that .1%.