Monique said:
I'm fluent, but there are expressions and intonations that don't translate well. The other day I insulted my German supervisor, while I was trying to express my gratitude. She was very angry with me and I received back a rant e-mail :s
Alright then. Remember how that made you feel, and you'll know how I felt every time that you ragged on me for something that I said with innocent intentions. Can we agree that from now on we'll just flat-out inform each other if one of us says something that the other finds dodgy and explain why?
OmCheeto said:
The last time I dressed up, I was a boat.
That's not a boat; that's Austin Powers without his fake teeth... (Either that or a hopelessly unflyable paper aeroplane...)
Monique, if you have any doubt as to my commitment to Hallowe'en, remember that my avatar is
me on Hallowe'en. That's somewhat similar to the appliance that the paramedics peeled off that fateful night. Further, you might notice in a different post that I've essentially figured out how to make a Pierson's puppeteer costume after more than 30 years of thinking about it. (If you think that's simple, Google the name to see what I'm dealing with. One of the simplest aspects is hacking a set of X-Box goggles to interface with a pair of digital cameras in the eyeballs to give binocular vision through a pair of pythonesque necks. The complicated bits arise from the need to implant intramuscular electrodes running through Schmidt triggers to the control system because there are too many circuits for two hands worth of fingers to deal with.)
I know that it's too late in your time zone to do anything for actual Hallowe'en, but I have a silly suggestion for something that you can do Saturday night if the bar parties continue the way that they do here. One of my friends found himself stuck at the last minute with nothing to wear when he was about 16. He cut leg, arm, and breathing holes in a drycleaner's bag, climbed in, and surrounded himself with a couple of dozen coloured balloons; he was a bag of jelly-beans.
Jobyts, my compliments to your wife. Those are gorgeous.
edit: By the bye, Monique... Lucy is more than just "arranged for". She has 4 bedrooms, all with people-type beds, while I sleep on the couch because I can't climb the stairs any more.

Also, her bathroom is almost 5 times bigger than mine. That's actually good for me, since we're each responsible for cleaning our own areas.