Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Help-ski


So I never continued the story of the search for a maid.

First of all one of our friends is incensed that we call her a maid. I don't know why. Isn't that what she is? A housekeeper lives in your house. A maid cleans things and then goes away. A man needs a maid.

Anyway we had to get rid of the Jamaican Mary Poppins after two days. It just didn't work out. We had a bunch of leads from Craig's list and interviewed a new one. She is Russian.

At first I expected a burly Stevlana type but she was a tiny mousy little girl. She came to this country as a student and met someone and got married. She was very eager and wanted the opportunity for a full time job at a good pay rate. The first day wonder of wonders she showed up on time and went right to work. She finished all of her assigned tasks in a brisk and efficient manner. There was only one hiccup.

When we went downstairs the radio was playing and WABC and Rush Limbaugh was on. The wife started yelling at me "What are doing making her to listen to your programs. She is going to quit after one day." Of course I had not put on the radio as the wife likes to blame me for everything. I am still hearing it about Katrina. And the fucking Tsunami Anyway the girl pipes up in her squeaky Russian voice "No missus, I put on radios ....I likeski the politics!" How cowski. Not only does she clean but she is a conservative. She won't break my Cutis Lemay commemorative plates. Score.

But then a potential problem came up. When I came downstairs she had the radio on.

She was listening to NPR.

OH shitski!

Better call in stupid moose and squirrel to check it out!

62 comments:

TTBurnett said...

Hey, I listen to both Rush and NPR.

But not at the same time.

chickelit said...

I heard that blake speaks russianly so maybe he offer you some choice one liners.

rcommal said...

No, what you need is a prairie dog.

--

I have no problem with the maid thing. I do have a problem with your definition of a housekeeper. A housekeeper does NOT have to live in your house (more generically, a housekeeper does not have to "live-in," period). From my POV, a housekeeper keeps a house, and the point of that is that a housekeeper is invested in, and charged with, keeping a house--which is pretty much a full-time job. (Where the housekeeper sleeps, or lives, is beside the point.) A maid, in these modern times, is mostly part-time, or at least episodic, if not sporadic. Merely cleaning a house at specified, limited hours does not a housekeeper make. It does a maid make.

I hope this clears up the confusion.

chickelit said...

The Russian word for German (language) is немецкий.

I believe it's related to their word for nemesis: Немезида.

I wonder what the historical significance of that is.

chickelit said...

Is "maid" considered derogatory?

How about Putzfrau? How'd you like to have Putzfrau as a job title?

chickelit said...

English is so filled with niceties. Unlike crueler, harsher (but more honest languages).

rcommal said...

I don't personally consider it so, necessarily, though many do, without qualification or exception. Of course, housekeeper is also considered so by many enough, and so is homemaker, and so are so many other terms considered so. It's a pickle and a puzzle.

For my part, I'm just gonna embrace my inner prairie dog, a description that's not so loaded, just yet. Hey! By golly. : )

TTBurnett said...

Once you have a Chamber Maid, you'll be needing a Footman, and a Cook, and, of course, a proper Butler to run everything.

Fortunately, in this day and age, you'll no longer have use for an 'Ostler and Coachman to manage your carriage.

rcommal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rcommal said...

Tim:

Fortunately, in this day and age, you'll no longer have use for an 'Ostler and Coachman to manage your carriage.

What about for the updated versions?

; )

r

comma

l

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

P.J O'Rourke listens to NPR. So do I. I like to contrast it to Rush's show.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Downton Abbey, Season II starts next week.

Anonymous said...

My conservative son in law listens to NPR. I used to listen to Rush, made me an even bigger commie.

Downton Abbey, can't wait!

Anonymous said...

My granddaughter , the little cheesehead is my mother the German hausfrau in miniature, she has loved " putzing " "since she was old enough to toddle and hold a rag. We think she's a reincarnation of my Mutti.

Anonymous said...

Quotation mark overdrive.

windbag said...

The NPR thing was probably just a nostalgic moment. Be careful, though, she might be another Anna Chapman (you should be so lucky).

windbag said...

Gratuitous Bathtub Picture

WALT said...

Never going to save up for that Hawaii house if you throw money away on a maid...Just sayin...

I'm Full of Soup said...

Putzfrau! that is funny.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Putzfrau! that is funny.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Sort of off-topic: If anyone wants to join in on the "Downton Abbey" watching/kibbitzing, please do. You can watch the whole first season for free on NetFlix and it'll be a great 7 hours spent. Chickenlittle and vbspurs got me to watch.

If you watch the first episode and don't think it's a great pilot, then watch no more. But there'll be a Twitter contingent watching and snarking while it happens.

Unless Trooper sets up an open thread. But Twitter is *made* for the simul-snark.

ken in tx said...

I was once on the Boston subway—the silver line to the airport—when some of the other passengers had a long conversation in Russian. They made a few sidelong glances at me so I thought maybe they were talking about me. As I was leaving I said, “Dos Vedania” and got several startled looks. They had no idea what I heard and understood. Of course, I understood nothing. But I got a laugh out of it.

ndspinelli said...

I listen to some NPR, often when doing surveillance. Sirius radio has several stations and you can sometimes find non commie segments. You can get good info on nonpolitical topics, like interviews with authors, musicians, etc. But I also like to expose myself to all views.

Trooper, the Russian woman grew up on state sponsored radio, tv and Pravda. It will take her some time to wean off of it.

The Dude said...

No wonder they looked at you funny - they thought you said "two Svedania" in Spanish, and that confused them.

"Do svidaniya" is closer to how it is spelled in English, but the original Russian, до свидания is better yet. My brother claims he can read Russian. I think he is lying. Он не знает столько, сколько он думает, что он делает, и это делает нас двоих.

chickelit said...

@Scooby: Would you do it for two твёрдый знак's?

твёрдый знак = tvjordyj znak.

Darcy said...

Blake speaks Russian?

Ooh la la.

The Dude said...

Mmm, твёрдый знак!

ricpic said...

It never fails that the person who works for you owns you.

ricpic said...

Hey Chick, if the Russian word for German is nemesis, okay, related to nemesis, can you imagine what the Polish words are for German and Russian? Probably crushes me to death and squeezes me to death.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Darcy, don't you start speaking French!

The boys will not be able to control themselves!

Trooper York said...

I am watching her clean the store with the cameras we have set up that I can access from the internet.

I feel like that nerdy dude on "Person of Interest."

Trooper York said...

They never seemed to have these problems on "Upstairs, Downstairs."

blake said...

The Russians and the French were very intimate in the 19th century, such that Jean is used as a nickname for Ivan, at least in Russian literature in the period.

I don't know how y'all get the Cyrillic so easily. I always have to paste in character-by-character!

blake said...

Darcy,

Ты малая, красивая девушка.

Michael Haz said...

You have a maid? I thought you were a 99 percenter. Or a 10 percenter. Or a 1 percenter. Or something.

chickelit said...

The Russians and the French were very intimate in the 19th century, such that Jean is used as a nickname for Ivan, at least in Russian literature in the period.

I believe that Peter The Great started all that because he wanted help in fending off the Ottoman Turks in his southern empire. The French rebuffed him because they were always friendly with Muslims. He found an ally in the Dutch however who were still at the top of their 17th century game.

Years later, during WW I, the Germans sided with the Turks while Holland stayed neutral. The Russians fought the Turks and the Germans; the French of course fought the Germans too on the side of the Russkis. It was mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world.

Darcy said...

*blush*

Спасибо!

windbag said...

Those cameras come in handy. I was watching mine one day and saw a kid get a drink w/o paying for it. I called the store and let the manager know what happened. She said something to the kid, then pointed up at the camera. The stupid look on his face was priceless. Just knowing that they're there is a fairly good deterrent to the crew, but you gotta show your hand once in awhile.

ricpic said...

It all fits: the maid is Russian; Troop has posted pictures of Gary Oldman: it all fits I tellya!

ricpic said...

The Holland Tunnel has always been neutral! With a slight tilt toward Jersey.

chickelit said...

Блейк и Дарси: Получить комнату, вы двое!

windbag said...

I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was with the Russians, too

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Darcy said...

@chickelit

Смеясь!

chickelit said...

@Дарси:

объятия!

Michael Haz said...

кто пукнул?

Darcy said...

LOL!

Hugs and farts. That should be a blog name!

chickelit said...

@ripic: Next of kinski for Polanski: linski

Michael Haz said...

Hugs and farts. That should be a blog name!

The Titus version of EBL?

chickelit said...

Who's your favorite Pole poll: linski

Titus said...

My Indian husband has a driver, chef, maid and lawn slave.

So there.

tits.

chickelit said...

Titus said...
My Indian husband has a driver, chef, maid and lawn slave.

So there.


Yeah. Over in India, maybe.

I rest my caste.

chickelit said...

tits

0.7

blake said...

лол

blake said...

Hey, Titus, keep up:

сиськи!

chickelit said...

@blake:

Рофлмао!

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

Я предлагаю влагалище для всех

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

Famous political platforms.

chickelit said...

@Ritmo: As the commenter Jeremy might say:

да!

blake said...

Ochen xarasho, CL. (Tired of converting to Cyrillic.)

Ritmo, was that from Linda Lovelace for President (Russian version)?

Winding down said...

地獄與外語對我們的博客

Winding down said...

地獄與外語對我們的博客

Winding down said...

地獄與外語對我們的博客