Sunday Fun Day

Yesterday I met some friends at Patrick Malloy's to ostensibly watch football. When someone asked me who was playing, I said, "Nebraska and South Dakota." But then several people told me the initials NE and SD stand for New England and San Diego.

During a commercial, my friend, N., asked me why the South Bay doesn't use ocean water (desalinated, of course) to drink. We came up with all sorts of reasons, until at last I decided to survey the crowd. The first guy I asked said, "It's too energy-intensive to make it cost-effective. They do it in Africa, because there's no fresh water supply there and they have oil money to pay for it."

It turned out he'd just done a financing deal with a desalination plant in Algiers. He seemed to think that meant we were soul mates, although it was really N's question, not mine. But then I showed him the video of my cat on my phone, and he blurted, "I hate cats!" I didn't much care for him, anyway.

Another guy came up and my Michigan friend asked him if he were from Michigan (he was wearing the state sweatshirt). In answer, he raised his hand. I thought he was just showing off his abnormally small thumb, and declared it the smallest thumb I'd ever seen, but that wasn't it.... Apparently, Michigan people raise their hands when explaining where they're from. The hand symbolizes the state. So, the gesture serves an actual function, but it also is like a secret salute.