Thursday, May 12, 2022

Deciphered

Natalie has certain behaviors. I've gone into detail about how she's always about getting on her computer, but there are other things that she does that we have to watch out for. 

She likes to bang a specific rhythm on the tables. (I could write it out in musical notation for you, if anyone is interested. Yes, it is that specific. Yes, it's always the same rhythm.) She likes to play in the water. She likes to chant, "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" (As in Jerry Springer.) 

And she likes to make an announcement that none of us can understand.

She repeats all of these behaviors, multiple times a day. The "Jerry!" thing will only happen if someone starts her. But the others appear at random intervals all day. 

One of the aides pointed out that Natalie likes to watch a local TV station. It's the TV station that broadcasts The Jerry Springer Show

So, after about two weeks, we were able to figure out that the second half of Natalie's announcement is, "Channel Five". Okay, then. 

But what she said before it...? 

Natalie has a very cartoony voice. She's hard to understand. After dealing with her for a couple months now, I can make out various things she says all the time. And we ask her a lot of yes and no questions to determine what she wants. But what was she saying in that announcement? 

It's one of those things that from time to time I think I'll dive into. It would entail finding video of channel five and their station identification stuff. (My streaming service does not have channel five. Otherwise, this mystery would have been solved months ago.) But it was something that I would do later.

Until last Wednesday. 

We were sitting outside at snack. Natalie made the announcement. 

Then Flash said, "Ontario's channel five." 

My jaw dropped. Ontario. 

Ontario. 

OMG! He figured it out. 

I thanked Flash. A couple times. Because, yeah, it was driving me a little crazy to not know what Natalie was saying. And now I know. 

Ontario's channel five. 

Mystery solved. 

(Ontario is a city out in the Inland Empire of California. The Inland Empire consists of the counties of San Bernardino and Riverside. It's about an hour drive from where I am. And I don't care how hard they push it, I will not call it "the IE" just like I don't refer to Orange County as "the OC". Nope. It's a stupid name.) 

19 comments:

  1. Glad that mystery is solved! I can imagine it was driving you crazy! I agree with the OC and that sort of thing. I am from California, northern, and NO ONE native there calls the state Cali! Maybe in the southern part? And NO ONE calls San Francisco Frisco or San Fran! It's "The City," as in "I'm going to The City on Saturday." No one thinks you mean Oakland!

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    1. No one calls it Cali here, either. And I really wish Blogger would fix this issue. It's annoying (and totally not your fault).

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  2. Ontario California! I remember you mentioning that to me once, when I mistook it for Canada. And apparently they have a TV station that somehow still has Springer.

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  3. Good for Flash! Long ago, I worked with a guy who said he was going to Ontario for the weekend and I thought why not stay longer in Canada.

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  4. Funny how little things can become frustrating. Glad this one was solved for you :)

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  5. It's so nice when a mystery is solved. The little things niggle at us. :D

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    1. It was driving me crazy, not knowing what she was saying. And now it's clear as day.

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  6. Glad, finally, the mystery was solved!
    I initially mistook Ontario for the city in Canada. Didn't know there was in California too.

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  7. Always nice to figure something out. Inland Empire makes those counties sound probably more mysterious and important than they are.

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    1. Very true. Of course, I'm not impressed by the desert. But the mountains are there, too.

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  8. Nope, you just keep confirming how glad I am not doing the job you do.

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