28 • November 2015 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. WORDPLAY: Um Chaya by Marcia Singer • lovearts@att.net SANTA ROSA, [mmm chai-ya; CA. ~ as in “mmm,


that tastes good”] Clearing my kitchen table of an unruly stack of business pa- pers, a forgotten note fell to the fl oor.


It


“mmm little


read,


chaya: things


that put ‘life’ back in you.” What language was that, I now wondered?! A google


revealed taurant


search res-


names,


a Spanish word for “hot mama,” and a Hebrew name for a baby girl, mean- ing “life.” Before I could read more, a nasty array of demand- ing pop up ads slathered the


screen. Deleting them, a page then appeared telling me I’d probably been hacked, my fi - nancial data was in danger of being stolen, that


a virus


had entered my computer via that web- site. My in- ternet was being locked for protec- tion, the note said, giving a phone number supposedly on behalf of Mi- crosoft.


stunned, fi guring my day off was now ruined.


even know who or what was at the other end of that phone


I sad slump-shouldered, How did I


number? I sighed heavily, crossed fi n- gers and dialed.


A computer


tech guy with a foreign accent politely greeted me. I told “Ryan” my pre- dicament, listen-


ing half heartedly to his re- ply, de- liberating whether I should hang up. He sounded


was too nervous about it. Many times before I’ve been by myself, in need of help, unsure what to do. Wasn’t my August Upbeat col-


umn all about “trust- ing


what I can’t


see to support me,”


having faith in nice,


complicating things, offering this nervous inquirer his com- pany badge number. Ryan sug- gested I not go ahead with the computer fi x procedures, if I


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28 • November 2015 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


a kind universe? How ironic, though, that in researching mmm chaya –about how small, good things happen to enliven our lives --that a small bad thing –someone’s intentional hacking virus –was happening here instead! But here was the reassuring voice of a young In- dian fellow in Ontario, Canada, working for Microsoft, offering to fi x the problem and secure my computer from a future di- saster. Might this be a blessing, then, in disguise? Ryan’s initial investigation


revealed that my virus and se- curity set up was miserably in- adequate: over 2,000 “!” indi- cations of failure to protect my data. The evidence seemed in- arguable. Hours passed as hur- dles to unlock the security hack presented themselves to three tiers of tech support. Fingers still crossed, I agreed to their remote control of my computer fi les, having survived these in- terventions in the past.


As the problem-solving


spread out over a long after- noon, Ryan and I let our guards down, chatting about our lives, professions. He confessed to want to sing professionally, and to love Western pop music not native to his home village. He timidly crooned a bit of


... continued on page 31 Put on your dream hat and dance all the way to success! ~Terri Guillemets


Weird Facts & Fun Trivia - 9 Eli Whitney


having newly graduated from Yale Univer- sity headed to Georgia to make his


fortune. By April, 1793 Whitney had invented the cotton gin. After the invention of the cotton gin, the yield of raw cotton doubled each decade after 1800. Demand was fueled by other inventions of the Industrial Revolution, such as the machines to spin and weave it and the steamboat to transport it. By midcentury America was growing three-quarters of the


world’s supply of cotton, most of it shipped to England or New England where it was manufactured into cloth.


Gratitude! ... continued from page 5


November May all our vegans forgive us,


but for holiday food, turkey “had” to be served—but with a differ- ence. My dad’s notes include a recipe for turkey that perhaps should have included attendance by fi remen.


Many meat dishes


were on their buffet table. This fa- vored version called for “A Young Hen Turkey”–about 6 to 8 pounds. Rub turkey inside and out “gener- ously” with butter.


Season bird


with salt, pepper, “favorite” herbs, and “do not be stingy with ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper. Truss as usual.”


My folks much preferred bak-


ing stuffi ng in separate casseroles. Their rich egg and bread stuffi ng was laced with mushrooms, chest- nuts, apples, onions and celery. While the bird roasted in the oven, or “on a spit over a charcoal fi re for 2-3 hours,” a delicious stock bubbled from the neck, gizzard, giblets and soup veggies. A grand fi nale revealed in dad’s notes was to “pour a cup of gently warmed Armagnac” over the bird “and fl ame it.” The pan bits and juices embellished with the stock, ½ cup heavy cream, scant 2 tablespoons of fl our, and minced shallots, af- ter straining created an inimitable


... continued on page 30


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