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Monday, November 27, 2006

Monday Mutterings

I arrived at work this morning, sat down at the computer, wiggled the mouse - but the screen didn't light up. I looked down - hadn't anyone switched it on yet? (My computer is the server for the whole office for our main database, so they usually turn it on first thing Monday morning). What I saw was a big dusty gap where the tower usually is. "Where's my computer?" I asked. "It blew up" was the reply.

Well, there was very little I could do without my computer so I came home again and now I have a free afternoon.

At the weekend I had a phone call. Our surname isn't very common. The caller was looking for Cindy for a school reunion. I suggested she try others of the same surname in the phone book since we moved here for my husband's work and don't know other families of that name in the area. But it reminded me of a funny incident a few years back. Strange mail started arriving addressed to me - advertising from marquee hire companies, caterers etc. I shrugged and tossed them in the recycling. Then I received one from a florist congratulating me on my engagement. My children thought this was a huge joke as I'd been married to the same man for about thirty years! I rang the florist and enquired how she got my address. She had purchased her list from a photographer. Apparently they go through the engagement notices in the newspaper, and then they check the electoral rolls to find the addresses. I told her that obviously they had the wrong Catherine and arranged to have my name removed from the list in the interests of saving a tree or two.

At this website you can check how many people in the US share your name. Actually you can't because it is based on statistics not an actual check of all the names - but it will give you an approximate idea. It tells me that there are 5 people with my name in the United States. (On the other hand there are 2372 people who share my maiden name). Which makes it a little unlikely that more than one namesake is going to turn up in the same not very big city in New Zealand.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. There are fewer people in the U.S. with my first and last name than I thought.

carmilevy said...

I am apparently unique: no one else wants to be a Carmi. Sniff!

Thankfully Michele still allows me to comment on her site. Whew!

Julie said...

I'm with Carmi, apparently one of a kind. Whodathunk?

Make the most of your surprise afternoon off!

Deb R said...

It says there are 830 people with my name in the US, but only 26 if I use my maiden name. I'm surprised it doesn't say even more for both. Both my first name and current last name are quite common. My maiden name is a bit less so, but certainly not UNcommon.

Fun post, Catherine!