Real English Three: a million

A picture is worth a million words!

And each one of the photos below fits the bill!

"a million" is used in many expressions.

Do you understand these?

1.  Thanks a million!

2.  I never said that in a million years!

3.  Not in a million years!

4.  You are one in a million!

5.  You look like a million bucks!

Question of the day

One of the seven guys below makes millions.  

Which one?

Real English Two: spent

More on shopping.

On the 3rd of January, because my parents volunteered to babysit "Spike," my wife and I went toy shopping.  Of course for Taiga! :)

First, we went to Hankyu Department Store in Nishinomiya Gardens.  By coincidence, a huge "Children Toys Fair" was being held that day, so the timing was good!

Here is our conversation:

Me:  It is mobbed!  I didn't expect it to be this crowded!

Kyoko: Me neither.  

Me:  Well, let's look around separately, and then meet back here in about 30 minutes.

Kyoko: OK. Then we can discuss what we want to buy.

Me:  Sounds like a plan!

One hour later...

Kyoko:  That was a long "30 minutes"...

Me:  Sorry. I got caught up in this toy shopping. Are you angry?

Kyoko: No, not at all. I know you! You are often late!  Plus, I saw you talking to the clerk about those wooden blocks.  You had that "serious look" on your face, so I knew it was going to take a long time.

Me: Thanks for your understanding.  So what do you want to get?

Kyoko: I want to get that fish-shaped xylophone.  Of course it is made in Japan!   How about you? Which blocks did you decide on?

Me:  I can't decide...

Kyoko:  Still?!  

Me: Well, I think the medium-size blocks with the wagon are the best. They are hand-made and the wood is cedar from Tottori. Did you smell them? They smell good!

Kyoko:  Yeah, I smelled them. Good choice!  Anything else?

Me: Yeah, that thingamajig over there with the beads and mirror.

Kyoko:  I know which one you mean.  Another good choice! You are on a roll!

Me:  You wanna pay and get outta here?

Kyoko:  Yes! I am spent!  

Me:  Me too! We spent a lot of time and energy on toys today! 

Kyoko:  You forgot something! 

Me: What?

Kyoko:  We also spent a lot of money!!

Me:  Oh yeah! I forgot about that...

Ms. K sent me the below photos.  She is in Canada taking a graphic design course.

Real English One- drive a hard bargain

I'd like to wish everyone a very late "Happy New Year!"
Sorry to keep you waiting!

It has been 27 days since I last wrote a blog.
The other day, Mr. O said to me, 
"Glenn, I check the blog every week. 
But for the past few weeks, you haven't written anything. 
What's up?"

I replied, "I sincerely apologize.  I have writer's block." 

He then added, 
"No worries! It happens to the best of us.  
But if you want to keep your resolution, you better get on it!"

So, I said, "You got that right!"

The first blog of the year is very unlike me because it is about shopping.  As you all know, I hate shopping!
On December 29th, I made two big purchases.
First, I bought a refrigerator.
Then, I bought a washer and drier.  
I bought them both at the same place, "YC."

Kyoko thought it would only take us about 2 hours to buy both..she was wrong!
It took much longer than she expected, about 4 hours in all.  There are two reasons it took so long. 
The first reason is we didn't look into the fridge at all before we went.  We were clueless!
(This is actually my fault.  I told Kyoko at the last minute that I planned to buy a fridge too, so she didn't have much time to look on the net.)
On the other hand, because she did a lot of research for the washer and drier, she  knew exactly which one she wanted even before we arrived at YC.  
The second reason is we simply couldn't decide...

Anyway,  in addition to shopping, we had a dinner reservation for two at The Cosmopolitan at 6pm.  
After looking at refrigerators for 2 hours, it was already 5:30pm and there was no way we were going to make it, so she called up the restaurant and said, 
"Hi. We have a reservation for two at 6pm.  The name is under Gross.  
Unfortunately, we are running late so we won't be able to make it at 6.  
If possible, we would like to go at 8pm....I am very sorry..."
Luckily for us, the staff said, 
"It's your lucky day! There is one table still available at 8pm, so it is not a problem.  
We'll be waiting for you."
She said, "Thank you so much!  We are looking forward to it!"

Before we could go to dinner, I really wanted to close the deal!
At the same time,  I wanted to get as much of a discount as I could.
After a lot of talking(negotiating) back and forth, finally the staff said, 
"You drive a hard bargain!!  I can't believe I am going to do this,  but if you agree to pay in cash, today, you can have both the fridge and the washer and drier for XXX,XXXyen."
I said, "You got a deal! Thanks a lot and Happy New Year!"

For your study, please note the below expressions using "drive"
-drive someone crazy/mad/insane
-drive someone up a wall