PediaScribe » WHEN YOUR HUSBAND IS A COMPUTER GEEK……

Posted by Karen on Aug 29 2007

Last fall we travelled to Florida on vacation. As part of our visit, we spent time with Mike’s mom and her husband. They showed us the sights around north-central Florida. One of our excursions was on a huge lake by the city of Mount Dora. We all boarded a pontoon boat and set sail across the lake. On the other side of the lake, we slowed to a crawl and began to navigate through narrow channels of water. It was as if we were in the Everglades or a mangrove swamp. Trees and plant life were sticking up through the waterways. Animals and birds were everywhere. It was quite an adventure.

We had a very knowledgeable guide on this journey. He was an elderly man who seemingly knew everything about the native plant and animal life in the area. He could recite not only common names of what we saw, but sometimes the Latin names. He had a sharp eye and could spot the tiniest things of interest and point them out. He knew the history of the area like the back of his hand and frequently told us about the changes that have taken place over the years. It was a very interesting adventure.

He only stumbled once. He was telling us about an amazing bird which he referred to as the butcher bird. This bird takes large insects or small lizards and impales them on a thorn or the barb of a barbed wire fence. It will eat the meal then or store it for later consumption. Our guide told us everyone refers to this bird as the “butcher bird” which is its common name, but actually it is called the…..

the….um…..

And that’s where he apologized. He had drawn a total blank and could not remember the actual name of this bird.

He seemed off after that, like his mind was still trying to dig deep and find the information he needed, but was unable to come up with.

About 10 minutes later, I noticed Mike was doing something on his Blackberry. He turned the screen towards me and showed me he had Googled “butcher bird.” He then slipped his phone back in his pocket and politely said, “Excuse me, Sir.” The guide looked at him. “I believe the name of the butcher bird is actually loggerhead shrike.”

The guide looked startled, amazed, overjoyed! He introduced Mike to the rest of the people on the boat as “this very knowledgeable young man.”

Cough, Splutter, Gag.

Knowledgeable my foot. He just had internet access in the middle of a Florida swamp!

17 Responses to “WHEN YOUR HUSBAND IS A COMPUTER GEEK……”

on 29 Aug 2007 at 5:50 pm 1 Mary said …

Love it! Hey good internet access in strange places gives you great rewards - like popcorn!

on 29 Aug 2007 at 6:07 pm 2 Patricia (of Pollywog Creek) said …

Oh, that is a hoot! I really need to get my butcher bird photos up, too. They are very funny (and not particularly nice) birds, the way they leave their prey all over barb-wire fences. My husband is a lot like your tour guide. He is a walking encyclopedia on much of local Florida history, flora and fauna…without a blackberry! Thanks for sharing this, Karen.

on 29 Aug 2007 at 7:08 pm 3 wendy said …

Well, at least the guide was cheered up by it! Funny story.

on 29 Aug 2007 at 10:18 pm 4 Janet said …

So cool!! Lol I like that your husband was really nice about it…funny

on 30 Aug 2007 at 12:46 am 5 Awesome Mom said …

Did you bust him to the guide or did you let it pass and let him feel like a smarty pants?

on 30 Aug 2007 at 1:37 am 6 Susanna said …

Hmm, I remember a certain pediatrician knocking people who looked up things on the internet… Maybe I should look up some recipes for crow to send.

on 30 Aug 2007 at 1:40 am 7 Susanna said …

Here we go:

http://www.recipecottage.com/variety-meats/crow-pie.html

Amazing what a person can find out in a few minutes, isn’t it?