I just watched a documentary on Bangladesh. Pretty shocking really. I mean, on a very basic level I was aware that it was a poor and poverty-stricken nation. I remember that concert George Harrison hosted back in 1971 (damn, I’m old!), but I just haven’t paid much attention since then. Wow. I apologize for calling the Philippines a third-world country. That’s an insult to the genuine third-world status of Bangladesh. Don’t take my word for it, you can see what I saw on YouTube.
So, you may be asking what in the hell am I doing watching TV on a perfectly fine Thursday afternoon? Truth is, I’m feeling poorly today. No fever, no cough, no energy. Yeah, that again. Took the dogs for an abbreviated walk, came home, and took a two-hour nap. Woke up and moved onto the couch, then turned on my little-used television. Scrolled through some YouTube recommendations and clicked on the one above. I don’t know why. Anyway, it remains to be seen whether I’ll find the strength to venture out later today or not.
Yesterday, I changed things up a bit and started my beer drinking at the Dive In bar. It’s on the far end of town and there is nothing really special about the place. Well, other than the fact that my ex-crush Jessa works there as a bartender. Naturally, I bought her some lady drinks, she sat with me at the bar, and we had a very pleasant chat for an hour or so. I was reminded of why I was attracted to her in the first place. No, I don’t expect I’ll be attempting to resurrect that relationship, but I’m glad we are still on friendly terms. As I was leaving, Jessa told me not to be such a stranger. I responded there are so many bars to visit and so little time. But I may try to find a way to add Dive In to my rotation.
Next, I had a couple of more beers at It Doesn’t Matter. The place was pretty packed for a Wednesday evening. Glad it is going well for the new owners. My regular waitress there, Roan, is a hoot. She’d been out sick for a few days and I mentioned the waitress who served me in her absence. Roan asked if had told her any jokes. I told her no and asked why she wanted to know. She said, “I’m going to use them, but don’t want to tell a joke they’ve heard already.” I was impressed that she even remembered my jokes, let alone found them funny! So, of course, I felt obligated to tell her another one:
A friend’s wife has been ill for quite some time and the doctor has been running tests to find out what is wrong. Finally, the doc told my friend he’d narrowed it down to two possible causes–AIDS or Alzheimer’s. My friend was like “oh my God! What should I do?” The doctor replied, “well if it were me I’d drive her ten miles out of town. If she comes back home, don’t fuck her!”
Yeah, not my best work, but Roan laughed politely. Oh, coincidentally, Roan used to work at Dive In and is friends with Jessa. Life in a small town, eh?
I departed shortly thereafter and headed out to The Pub for my weekly fix of Korean-style chicken wings. I’m usually only in there once a week, but I’m greeted like a regular: “Welcome, John. San Miguel Zero and sixteen chicken wings to go, right?” Yep, thanks! That’s my kind of service and the wings were excellent as usual.
Ah, I’ve become a predictable man of routines it seems. Monday I Hash. Tuesday is darts at Alley Cats. Wednesday has become It Doesn’t Matter night (and wing night, of course). Thursday I hit up the Kokomo’s floating bar on Baloy Beach, Friday and Saturday more darts at Alley Cats, and on Sunday I like to visit my friends at Cheap Charlies. I was not kidding when I told Jessa that I wasn’t sure how to fit Dive In into my schedule.
I don’t know if I’m feeling better or not, but I just popped some brownies into the oven. I don’t want to disappoint the brown knees on the floating bar should I decide to venture out later.
Yesterday, I sent this email to my landlord:
Hello, this is John McCrarey, your tenant in Casa Rosenda.
I have reviewed the lease contract I signed with Gloria Ocampo on May 25, 2018. The term of the lease was for three years, expiring May 25, 2021. In accordance with the terms of the lease, this is the formal notice of my intention to NOT renew the lease.
I have also reviewed my rental receipts which confirm I paid a one-month advance rent and two-month deposit on June 18. 2018. I trust the two-month deposit will be returned to me promptly. Please advise if that is not the case.
Also, on December 29, 2020, I paid six months’ rent in advance. That means my rent is paid through the end of June 2021. Additionally, I paid one-month advance rent when I signed the lease, so that means the rent is paid through the end of July 2021. I am prepared to vacate the house by June 1, 2021, provided the rent payments are refunded. Please advise of your intentions in this regard.
To summarize, as things stand, I am owed two months advance deposit (90,000 pesos) and two months advance rent payments totaling 90,000 pesos, for a total of 180,000 pesos.
Let me know if you have any issues or disagreements with my assessment.Sincerely,
John M. McCrarey
No response yet. I’m in a bit of a box. I don’t want to lose my new apartment, so I’ll need to sign a lease there next month. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to give up this place before my paid rent has either been refunded or expires. I might have two houses for a while. Everyone I talk to says it’s doubtful I will get the security deposit back. If they do go that route, I’ll do my best to make sure every expat in town knows not to rent from them (in addition to my house, they several duplexes they want to rent out). I’ll help Karma out in any way I can!
And that’s the way it is in my neck of the woods. It could always be worse, and it is in Bangladesh.
Let’s skip comma issues (of which there are many!) and focus on this:
“Truth is, I’m feeling poorly today.”
The verb “feel” is what we call a linking verb. It links some noun or modifier in the predicate back to the subject. The most common linking verb is the verb “to be.” It introduces the predicate and takes a predicate nominative (a noun in the predicate) or a predicate adjective. Examples:
1. John is an American. (pred. nom. = American)
2. John is horny. (pred. adj. = horny)
Most of the other major linking verbs are associated with sense/perception. These linking verbs would be: seem, appear, look, sound, taste, smell, and feel. Linking verbs DO NOT take adverbs, which is why you should never say, “I feel badly.”*
Examples of proper usage:
1. That seems easy.
2. He appears drunk.
3. You look confused.
4. That sounds lovely. (lovely = adj., not adv.)
5. Your son’s skin feels reptilian.
6. This tastes shitty.
7. Your fart smells nasty.
Try using adverbs with some linking verbs, and you’ll see it doesn’t work:
1. That seems easily.
2. He appears drunkenly.
3. You look confusedly.
4. That sounds lovelily. (“lovelily” does exist!)
5. Your son’s skin feels reptilianly. (not a word)
6. This tastes shittily.
7. Your fart smells deliciously.
So that’s how you know not to use an adverb after a linking verb. By the way, a horny guy like you will be happy to know that a linking verb also goes by the technical name of copula. Who knew grammar could be so conjugal?
Upshot: no “I feel poorly” or “I feel badly.” People use “badly” because they think they’re being more grammatically correct. It somehow sounds more literate to the uneducated mind. Donald Trump made the mistake of trying to correct a woman who had said “I feel bad” by interjecting a terse “Badly.” He simply made himself look dumb, and he followed that up with a four-year storm of tweets that confirmed his lack of mastery of English. To be clear, I’m a supporter of most of Trump’s policies, but even his supporters have to admit the man was and is a linguistic retard.
__________
*This is where all the smartasses chime in and say, “But what if I’m trying to say that my tactile faculties are dysfunctional, resulting in my ‘feeling badly’?” Oh, fuck off. In such a situation, you’re more likely to say “Ah cain’t feel nuthin’,” or “Ah’m numb,” or something like that.
And this is the comment in which I offer my sympathies re: the state of your health. Sorry to read that lethargy has struck again. Keep an eye on that; if you see a pattern (and blogging these instances will allow you to check for a pattern later on), maybe it’s time to seek medical attention.
John – yup, hope the malaise is short lived.
RE: routines. I think it is human nature to want a sense of routine in our lives. I read an article once about how the human body reacts to something new, and there is a “rush” when that happens. First dates, first time to a new country, etc etc etc. But if everything was “new” all the time, it would be information overload and the brain could not handle it. So we go back to the comfort of routine. Gives the brain and soul a bit of a rest.
Kev, I do write poorly. 🙂 More disappointed to hear that commas haven’t improved. I actually *think* about those when I write now. It was an interesting lesson though on linking verbs; I swear they never taught that shit in my English classes! Here’s my takeaway: “John is a horny American who needs to work on his copula.” I don’t think this particular type of error is that common with me. I’d normally just say “I’m not feeling well today,” not sure why I chose my words so poorly. And yes, I was never a Trump fanboy, but if Twitter had banned him early on, I think he’d still be President today.
Thanks for the good wishes re: my health. One thing is for sure–I will never feel poorly again!
Brian, yeah, that’s right. If everything was “new” all the time, then it would become routine and lose its excitement. And there is a relaxing comfort in the familiar as well. Maintaining the right balance between the two is the way to go. So, it was fun to visit the It Doesn’t Matter bar for the first time and meet the owners and staff. Now I’m a regular and feel at home there.
Geez, I really need to be able to travel again!
I’m feeling poorly is a perfectly acceptable sentence in UK English. It simply means under the weather or mildly sick. Do people not say this in America?
Daeguowl, I’m obviously no expert, but I’m learning there are significant differences between the US and UK in the way English is written. I’ve frequently been chided for writing like a Brit!
Daeguowl,
“Perfectly acceptable” is not the same as “perfectly grammatical,” of course, but I agree with the notion that certain locutions may be more or less acceptable in the US or UK context. I’m pretty sure that, technically speaking, my above explanation of linking verbs applies equally on both side of the pond. That said, it’s also a commonplace that people speak and write ungrammatically all the time, and this is acceptable. For example, Americans say, “There’s a lotta people in this room” instead of “There are…”—and no one bats an eye.
To answer your question more directly: Americans don’t normally say “I’m feeling poorly,” although maybe some—like ol’ John, here—do. Perhaps John can vouch for whether that’s some sort of regionalism. Certain American regionalisms do, in fact, come from Britain, so there may be a connection.
I knew a woman who used to misuse the word “anymore” because of where she came from. She’d say something like, “Gas prices are going up anymore,” with “anymore” being her surrogate for “these days.” Normally, “anymore” is used with negatives and interrogatives: “Is he there anymore? We don’t see him anymore.” So from the perspective of “proper” English, the lady’s idiosyncratic use is incorrect, but it’s also only natural because of where she’s from.
Scroll down and read Dictionary.com’s usage note for “anymore” here.
Now that I’ve beaten the issue to death, as I usually do, I’ll sign off here, and you won’t see me in this particular comment thread anymore.
Heh. I wrote, “both side of the pond.” Thus is it ever goes for the language scold.
In my defense, I had an English coworker, years ago, who spoke with a strong northern accent, and who would say things like, “I saw ‘im two, tree month ago”—with no “s” on “months” (and with “three” sounding like “tree”). So, hell, if he can drop an “s,” then by God, so can I!
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