0010 Relaxing, Reading the Mail, and the Trash.pdf
0010 Relaxing, Reading the Mail, and the Trash.mp3

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With the dinner dishes done, my wife and I each sit down on the couch to chill out and watch the national news which comes on at 6:30. During the newscast, I sort through the day’s mail. Most of it is junk mail and bills. There are also several fliers for houses for sale in the area. I check the front stoop and see that there are no packages.

I like to watch TV and my wife likes to watch reality shows. One thing I hate is having to watch all of the commercials, so I turn the sound down when they come on. After the show is over, I thumb through the latest issue of the Atlantic Monthly, while my wife reads a novel by her favorite mystery writer.

At around 9, I remember that tomorrow is trash day, so I take the kitchen garbage out and dump the recycling bins as well. I roll the trash container out to the street ready for the garbage trucks, which come by early in the morning.

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When I get home, I start on dinner right away. I clean off the kitchen counter after putting away the groceries and decide to make pasta. I preheat the oven to 375 to bake the bread and to keep the chicken hot until my wife gets home. I put some water in a pan and turn the burner on high. When the water starts boiling, I put in the pasta and decide to make a salad. Just then, my wife opens the back door and yells, “I’m home!” She comes into the kitchen, and helps with chopping the tomatoes to add to the sauce. She stirs the sauce until it’s done, while I finish tossing the salad.

I get out the place mats and napkins to set the table. I also make sure that there is a spoon, knife, fork, and plate for each of us. About 15 minutes later, we sit down at the table in the dining room and talk about our long day. My wife says she’ll do the dishes, since I cooked, but of course I help out by drying them. First, I put some of the leftovers in a Tupperware container and some in plastic wrap and the rest in aluminum foil. Then I dry the pans, plates, glasses, and silverware.

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It’s five o’clock and it’s quitting time. I put a few files into my bag, grab my mug, and say goodnight to the rest of the people in my area. I go to the parking garage and get into my car. I signal my turn onto the street and drive toward the freeway onramp. I merge as best as I can onto the freeway, which is always a bit of a hassle at this hour. Traffic is stop-and-go all the way from downtown. I hear on the radio that there’s a stalled car in fast lane near La Brea, backing up traffic all the way to Hoover. I decide to get off the freeway and to take surface streets for the rest of the trip.

I need to make a stop on the way home. I know that the fridge is empty, so I decide to stop by the market. I get there and I pick up some French bread, a bag of apples, a few bananas, some pasta, tomato sauce, and a cooked chicken. Luckily, they have a lot of checkout stands open, and I get through the line pretty quickly. I thank the cashier and the bagger and push my cart to my car. I open the trunk and load everything up. Just then my wife calls me on my cell phone. She was going to be a little late getting home and asks me to make something for dinner. Tonight, I will be the cook.

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On the way to the office, I was thinking about what I have on my agenda today. When I get to my desk, there is a stack of new memos and papers in my inbox. When I turn on my computer, I see at least two-dozen emails I need to go through. Just as I start in on the email, my phone rings. It’s my project manager, Julie, asking me to come in for a conference call with our head office. I don’t get back to my desk for nearly two hours. By that time, I was ready for a break.

At 10:30, I head down to the break room and get some hot water at the water cooler to make some tea. There were a couple of other people on break, having snacks out of the vending machine and reading the new notices on the bulletin board. I run into Sam, one of my friends at work, and we chat a little before going back to work.

Before long, it’s time for lunch. I usually bring my lunch with me to work and eat it at my desk. If I don’t have time to pack a lunch, I sometimes go across the street for some take-out. The only trouble is, it’s always so busy during the lunch hour and I always have to stand in line. That’s usually a pain. On Fridays, I usually go out to lunch with a few friends from work. On casual Fridays, we can kick back a little and take it easy.

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I open my car door and throw my briefcase in the back seat, and get comfortable for my drive. I put my coffee mug into the cup holder, put the keys in the ignition, find the gas pedal, and start the car. My wife drove the car last night, so I have to re-adjust the rear view mirror and the side mirrors. I turn on the radio to listen to the drive time traffic report. I take the transmission out of park and into reverse, back out into the driveway into the street, close the garage door, and put the car into drive. I used to drive a stick shift, but as I get older, I like my automatic transmission more and more.

I usually take the freeway to the office, so I get on the onramp for the freeway and drive to where I have to get off. My office is only a few miles from the exit. I pull into the parking garage, swiping my key card to get in. I park, grab my briefcase and coffee, and head toward the elevator. And that only took 40 minutes!

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I go back into my bedroom and open up closet door. I have about 30 dress shirts, 10 pairs of pants, a half-dozen ties, and some sweaters, suit jackets, and t-shirts. I pull out a clean pair of socks and underwear, and then decide which shirt I’m going to wear today. I’m terrible at color coordinating, so I usually bring my wife in at this point to help match my shirt and pants. I put on my belt with the silver buckle and polish my shoes. I put my cell phone and car keys in my front pocket, and my wallet in the back one.

I put on my glasses and check myself in the mirror to make sure I look okay, and then go into the home office to get my bag. I used to carry a more traditional briefcase, but now I just use my computer bag to hold my laptop and my papers. Now it’s back into the kitchen to grab my Thermos on the way out the door. I lock the door and then hurry to my car in the garage. I’m usually running late and today is no exception!

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Complete Transcript
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 4: Eating Breakfast

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number four. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, the third of our 10-part special series on daily English, I’ll talk about eating breakfast in the morning.

Let’s get started!

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