Casual Conversation

We are currently waiting for some power transformers to arrive in the mail so that we can plug in our stereo. The TV won’t work because the US uses National Television System Committee (NTSC) broadcast standard and Europe uses Phase Alternate Line (PAL). While we search for the perfect throw-away TV, we get to spend a lot of time talking to each other. Since we don’t have access to the internet (at home), TV, radio, or people to tell us the latest ‘news’, our topics of conversations are limited to: Roche, the paperwork that is coming in the mail, the paperwork that needs to be sent or the bill that’s associated with the afore mentioned paperwork. All this chat is absolutely riveting, but it gets a bit stale after a while. Over the past couple of weeks we have chosen philosophy topics to discuss (what is art, are humans social animals, how should you treat your friends, what is knowledge, should you yell “movie” in a crowded fire house, etc.). Each topic usually takes several hours to discuss and is really quite interesting. We’ll send you the entire list if you’re interested – or the associated Steve Martin “Philosophy” monolog if you just want a laugh.