Ok, so I have to admit it. I though I was literally going crazy.
Not really that ironic if you consider the facts: I have MANY symptoms of craziness as well as the fact I work in a facility for the mentally ill. One can look at this circumstantial evidence and conclude the same diagnosis: Bonkers!
Here's why I think I was coming "undone":
Every night and morning when I make my way back and forth from home and work, I pass by this storefront in an otherwise un-noteworthy small shopping strip plaza in Casselberry. (Or is it Winter Park? Not sure, it's right on the town line in any event.)
I'm traveling an average of 45 to 50 MPH on a bustling six-lane stretch of road, one of the busiest here in greater Orlando as I pass this place so it's hard to get more than a glimpse of it.
But it caught my eye one night because it looked like it might be a restaurant featuring French Canadian cuisine. It clearly had what I thought was a sign with two Canadian flags prominently displayed. I couldn't make out the wording on the sign except for the first word "La". This confirmed my suspicion it was a French Canadian restaurant. A French Canadian restaurant would definitely be unique. The only other one I can think of in the area would be "Le Cellier" at the Canada pavilion at Epcot.
For the next few weeks, it became a strange frustration to be driving near the storefront, remembering to look and read the name of it only to immediately forget to. As soon as I passed out of view of it, I'd remember I wanted to look and was amazed I'd forgotten to.
I eventually forced myself to keep it in mind as I got near, slowed down and really looked at the sign to try to read it. That's when it became even funnier. Convinced it must be written in French, I became only more and more confused as each day I was able to make ot a bit more of the wordage: "La Furias", I first thought. Bablefished it, but for the French to English translation it gave me only "la furias". In other words, Bablefish confirmed it wasn't French. Later, I found out it was actually "La furia". I tried Spanish to English. It translates as "The Fury". Huh? What the...!
So figuring out it was Spanish, and showing Canadian flags, and saying something like "The Fury" really made my head spin. Now it became imperative to read the rest so I could figure all this out. But again I started blanking out as I passed it each night, kicked myself metaphorically and promised to check it out as I passed in the daylight on my way back home. But I was on the other side of the rather wide road in the morning and traffic was decidedly more dicey so it's not unexpected that I'd tend to forget to crane my neck to peer at the sign.
Of course I thought of just pulling into the place to fully check it out to satisfy my curiosity but I time my commute to work precisely and I don't budget for much in the way of deviation from the direct path. And by morning, well, I'm too focused on navigating the busier traffic swiftly and getting my tired ass home.
In the past few days I made strives in my goal to understand it all. I was able to memorize the full top line after reading it at least four or five times: "La Furia Chalaca". But this translated as "The Chalaca Fury". Hurumph!
Finally today I decided to Google it and I found out it's a commonly used phrase serving as the name of several Peruvian restaurants across the country. I guess it refers to a Peruvian treat of some kind. I don't know why Babelfish couldn't figure this out.
And the "Canadian" flags? Well, I guess at 50 MPH glancing at a somewhat small sign, one could make this mistake. Look, they kinda look the same, eh?
Well I'm glad to find out that I guess I'm not going crazy after all.
As Emily Litella would say:
Nevermind.
Not really that ironic if you consider the facts: I have MANY symptoms of craziness as well as the fact I work in a facility for the mentally ill. One can look at this circumstantial evidence and conclude the same diagnosis: Bonkers!
Here's why I think I was coming "undone":
Every night and morning when I make my way back and forth from home and work, I pass by this storefront in an otherwise un-noteworthy small shopping strip plaza in Casselberry. (Or is it Winter Park? Not sure, it's right on the town line in any event.)
I'm traveling an average of 45 to 50 MPH on a bustling six-lane stretch of road, one of the busiest here in greater Orlando as I pass this place so it's hard to get more than a glimpse of it.
But it caught my eye one night because it looked like it might be a restaurant featuring French Canadian cuisine. It clearly had what I thought was a sign with two Canadian flags prominently displayed. I couldn't make out the wording on the sign except for the first word "La". This confirmed my suspicion it was a French Canadian restaurant. A French Canadian restaurant would definitely be unique. The only other one I can think of in the area would be "Le Cellier" at the Canada pavilion at Epcot.
For the next few weeks, it became a strange frustration to be driving near the storefront, remembering to look and read the name of it only to immediately forget to. As soon as I passed out of view of it, I'd remember I wanted to look and was amazed I'd forgotten to.
I eventually forced myself to keep it in mind as I got near, slowed down and really looked at the sign to try to read it. That's when it became even funnier. Convinced it must be written in French, I became only more and more confused as each day I was able to make ot a bit more of the wordage: "La Furias", I first thought. Bablefished it, but for the French to English translation it gave me only "la furias". In other words, Bablefish confirmed it wasn't French. Later, I found out it was actually "La furia". I tried Spanish to English. It translates as "The Fury". Huh? What the...!
So figuring out it was Spanish, and showing Canadian flags, and saying something like "The Fury" really made my head spin. Now it became imperative to read the rest so I could figure all this out. But again I started blanking out as I passed it each night, kicked myself metaphorically and promised to check it out as I passed in the daylight on my way back home. But I was on the other side of the rather wide road in the morning and traffic was decidedly more dicey so it's not unexpected that I'd tend to forget to crane my neck to peer at the sign.
Of course I thought of just pulling into the place to fully check it out to satisfy my curiosity but I time my commute to work precisely and I don't budget for much in the way of deviation from the direct path. And by morning, well, I'm too focused on navigating the busier traffic swiftly and getting my tired ass home.
In the past few days I made strives in my goal to understand it all. I was able to memorize the full top line after reading it at least four or five times: "La Furia Chalaca". But this translated as "The Chalaca Fury". Hurumph!
Finally today I decided to Google it and I found out it's a commonly used phrase serving as the name of several Peruvian restaurants across the country. I guess it refers to a Peruvian treat of some kind. I don't know why Babelfish couldn't figure this out.
And the "Canadian" flags? Well, I guess at 50 MPH glancing at a somewhat small sign, one could make this mistake. Look, they kinda look the same, eh?
Well I'm glad to find out that I guess I'm not going crazy after all.
As Emily Litella would say:
Nevermind.