Hi, this is your talking head, Bill Christison. As you probably
know, I’m a MadridTeacher. I teach day in, day out for 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, sometimes 10 days a week, but I enjoy it. The work
is fine, the students are great, and . . .
Well, I’m not here to talk about teaching anyway. I’m here
to talk about something
far more important. I’m here to talk about the presidency. It’s
gone on
long enough,
far too many years,
in fact. I know it. The President knows it. The Vice-President
knows it. The administrator knows it. And certainly the community
knows it.
This presidency sucks!
Who am I talking about? None other than
the President of the community of neighbors in this building,
me. I’ve been President for five years. I alternate with the
guy across the hall. He shares the burden with me sometimes.
Misery loves company, but not all the time.
If you’re
jammed in the lift with three fat
uncles and you’ve got a cell-phone, why call on me. If the garage
ceiling is
leaking water on your car because the restaurant’s pipes are
broken downstairs,
why call on me. If your key breaks off in the front door at
midnight when you’re trying to get in from the street, why
don’t hesitate, call on me. If it’s winter and the entry-way
is dark and it’s, oh, 4 p.m. (a.m.) and someone has
forgotten to change the light mechanism, the
light timer, why just call on me. And
of course the cleaners, now if the cleaners aren’t retrieving
the garbage bins in the morning, then the city could
fine us
ma’am. Yes, that’s right, thanks, for calling on me.
And the lift needs upgrading, well, no problem, we can call
an extraordinary meeting of the neighbors. No-one will attend
anyway and we can get it approved. And if you can’t tune in
channels 2 and 5 and you need a new antenna, why let’s call
another meeting or let’s do it in the same meeting and get a
unanimous vote to get that fixed too. Just call on me.
And you lose your monkey, why like the lady downstairs did,
she called on me. We found the thing in the patio trying to
get into the restaurant through the bars.
And many more minor irritations like that. But, you know what?
It could be a lot worse.
In the
unlikely event that I were voted out of office - but who would
vote? – who else would take control? Who would see to it that
this building doesn’t fall apart? Certainly not the administrator,
she doesn’t live here. I do.
Say, you know the other day I needed a satellite dish installed
right up on the roof there. Well, all for myself I had it installed.
I live on the top here and I ran the cable through the window
and you know whose permission I got?
Perks of the job.
Good day.
Vocabulary
If you prefer, do the interactive Vocabulary Matching Activity.
1.
day in, day out - día si, día también. 2.
far more - mucho más. 3.
long enough - suficiente tiempo. 4.
far too many - demasiado ("far too many" tiene
más enfasis que "too many") 5.
sucks - es una mierd@. 6.
none other than - no otro sino. 7.
neighbor - vecino. 8.
share - compartir. 9.
burden - carga. 10.
misery loves company - a la miseria le encanta la compañía. 11.
jammed - bloqueado, atascado. 12.
uncles - tíos. 13.
leak - gotear. 14.
why - ¡Como no! ¡Por supuesto! (This is not a question.
No es una pregunta.) 15.
don't hesitate - no dudes (no te cortes). 16.
timer - temporizador. 17.
fine - multa. 18.
upgrade - actualizar. 19.
get something done - hacer que se haga algo. 20.
approve - aprobar. 21.
tune in - sintonizar. 22.
call a meeting - convocar una reunión. 23.
unanimous vote - voto unánime. 24.
bars - barrotes. 25.
In the unlikely event I were ... who would vote? (Compare:
If I were ... who would vote?) - En el caso poco probable
de que yo fuese / estuviese ... ¿quién votaría? 26.
see to something - encargarse u ocuparse de algo. 27.
all for myself - todo para mi. 28.
run a cable through a window - pasar un cable por la ventana. 29.
get someone's permission - conseguir el permiso de alguien. 30.
perks of the job - privilegios del trabajo.
An English learning activity.
