Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I worked straight through the day, not stopping at all even for a bathroom break or something to pacify the empty stomach. As soon as I got home in the evening, the phone rang and it was a person who was performing a survey on behalf of our state lottery system. I agreed to answer the questions, still needing a bathroom break. He laughed when I told him that it's been about 10 years since I participated in buying lottery tickets; but I'm not the one who purchased the tickets because it was through a group of people I worked with about 10 years ago. Some of the questions (maybe all the questions) had to do with marketing: my demographical status (age bracket, income bracket, education bracket) and what radio stations and TV shows I listen to or watch. Statistically, I believe I am outside the scope of the target audience of the lottery consumers in this state. Coincidentally, on the way to work this morning I listened to a song that goes like this: "When I win the lottery, I'm gonna buy all the girls on my block a color TV and a bottle of French perfume." I started to think about how I only know two of the girls on my block, and I wondered what I'd buy my neighbors, if anything, if I played and won. And then I wondered if the people who just won the lottery in my town about three weeks ago would buy their neighbors anything and to what extent their winnings would go to their lesser-known acquaintances. I also wondered this morning whether any of the lottery winners would be interested in buying the miniature stone castle nearby that just went up for sale for $2.1 million. I wonder if there's such a thing as a guide for lottery winners, like a "Managing Multi-Million Lottery Winnings for Dummies." I think there is a separate etiquette called for with lottery winners, rather than just getting multimillions through inheritance or earnings. I should have told that survey company guy my idea when he called tonight. Too bad I hadn't thought it all through until now.

Today a member of my household made flan and made a big mess in the kitchen. Burnt pans, burnt mugs, lots of stuff spilled on the floor, and stuff scattered everywhere. I have a deep gash on my finger from trying to scrape burnt sugar out of the bottom of a bread pan. I am bleeding from getting my finger caught on burnt sugar. Totally unrelated to the making of flan in my home, I ordered it at a Mexican restaurant three days ago and had a five-minute discussion with my friend on what the ingredients are: I said cream, sugar, eggs and corn starch. It's actually made from milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla. The waitress corrected my pronunciation. Who can remember whether it's flan or flonnnnn? The maker of the flan today had no idea I had ordered and eaten it this weekend. She wasn't wise to the ways of pronunciation, either.