Weekly Reader lied to me

You know, when I was in elementary school and junior high Weekly Reader and Walter Cronkite told me all the things to expect when I reached the age I am now. I was told we would be flying around like the Jetsons instead of driving cars, we would have robots for maids and you would push a button and food would appear. I was also told that the whole world would go metric.

Maybe I am being a little harsh. Some of those things did come true. You can push a button and out pops a drink from a machine or a meal from the microwave. We have Roombas that vacuum the floors for us. In Jakarta, cars don't fly but they do defy a lot of physical laws I once held dear so we are kind of close.

However, my world most definitely didn't go metric. I remember learning what conversion factors to use to go from feet to meters, pounds to kilograms, gallons to liters. I also learned about Fahrenheit and Celsius. I did use those units of measurement for many things since I majored in a science in college. In everyday life, not so much.

Now I am totally surrounded by metrics. Gas is sold by the liter, temperature is done in Celsius, mileage by kilometer. Heck, I had to try to guess what weight to enter on the treadmill in the gym the other day. Did not have a clue and just kind of guessed. It was obviously a wrong guess since I burned a lot more calories according to the "workout summary" after my walk than I believed. So, I got on the scale and weighed myself. I am pleased to announce that I like my weight in kilograms much better than in pounds. I haven't weighed this amount since I was in about 5th grade. Maybe Weekly Reader and Walter Cronkite were on to something.

To date, I am trying to learn Bahasa Indonesia (without a teacher so far), the metric system (which I haven't used since ???? (not telling that one), how in the world street names and house numbers are done (Jalan Kemang Dalam VIII No F17), not to accept or give things with the incorrect hand, and how not to be so BULE. What is a girl to do? It is a lot to ask anyone to learn all of these things in three weeks time, but a middle aged anyone is really pushing it.

My brain is fighting back every step of the way. I keep thinking how great this is for me since I read in my AARP magazine challenging your brain everyday helps to stave off Alzheimer's and dementia. I am gonna be dementia if I have to try to learn one more thing. Either that, or I am gonna be Albert Einstein.

I know I have mentioned the heat several times. Yesterday while I was out looking at houses, I was melting. According to msn.com, which I checked when I got back to the hotel, the temperature was 86 degrees Fahrenheit (thank you msn). However, with the humidity factored in, it felt like 96 degrees (thanks again msn). Maybe if I converted the temperature to Celsius I would have felt cooler because it would be a smaller number. Don't ask me what that number is. My brain hasn't gotten to the Einstein level yet. However, with the humidity, my hair has.