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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Moving boxes around is no fun and can be hard on your back--unless, like us, you've bought a handcart at the "Home Depot" hardware store. In American English, these rolling helpers are also called "dollies," but when I asked the store clerk, "Where might I find a dolly?" he responded with, "A what??" Maybe it was my pronunciation, but I had to briefly describe that I wanted one of those things you can use to cart stuff around. Ah, he understood and informed me that "hand trucks" could be found in the last aisle on the shelf next to the trash cans. I chose the top model for $39.99, which can handle up to 600 pounds. That's quality! It even withstood the heavy moving goods and now stands on the balcony. Unfortunately, it won't fold!
By the way, I always notice in the hardware store how limited my English skills still are, even after eight years in America. Quick test before you laugh: Regular screwdriver? Cross-head screwdriver? See, you don't know either.
Regular screwdrivers are 'Flat heads', 'Phillips' is the name for the cross-head screwdriver, which sounds quite strange to European ears, is actually derived from the name of its inventor Henry F. Phillips, who patented it in the year 1936.
Recently, I was standing in the hardware store around the corner and wanted to buy a dustpan with a broom, but when I tried to find the word, all that came out was a slow "uhhhh...". Angelika, on the other hand, impressed with the correct term "dustpan," which she had learned in kindergarten, while such things are less common at AOL.
Greetings from the new place:
Angelika und Michael
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