I read in the local paper that a new public library had just opened two weeks ago in my neighborhood. I wanted to check it out. But first, I called the library to check the hours of operation. The librarian told me that they were open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6 so I decided to see the new library for myself. I parked my car in the library parking lot and walked in. There were two library clerks behind the counter and a librarian at the reference desk . I walked around and spotted the non- fiction section and moved onto the fiction stacks. There was a pretty good collection in both of these areas. I wanted to see if they had a book I've been wanting to read so I went over to the computer to check the online catalogue. As it turns out, they had one copy and it had not been checked out. I wrote down the call number and went to the stacks. I found it right away. When I walked in, I also noticed that the library had music CDs, videos, and DVDs that could be checked out. I looked briefly at the collection but decided not to check out any right then. I had my book and I was all set. I stood in line and waited to check my book out. The library clerk said, "Next please," and I stepped up to the counter. I asked her what the loan period was for the book. She told me that the due date was three weeks from today. I gave her my library card. She scanned the bar code on my book and stamped the due date on the back of it. It was quick and easy. I was so glad to have a nice new library so close to home. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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[A knock on the door.] Jeff: Come in. Julie: Hi, Dr. McQuillan, I'm Julie Taylor. I'm in your 2 o'clock class on Thursdays. Jeff: Hi, Julie. Have a seat. What can I do for you? Julie: I wanted to come see you during your office hours because I missed class last week. I had a family emergency . Jeff: I'm sorry to hear that. We went over a lot of material so make sure you get the notes from another student in class. Julie: Thanks, I will. Did you give any assignments ? Jeff: Yes, I assigned an essay on the topics in chapter 3 of your textbook. Julie: Oh, I see. Are there guidelines for the essay? Jeff: Yes, it should be 8-10 pages and it's due in two weeks. Take a look at your syllabus. It has more details. Julie: I will. Thanks a lot. I've also been meaning to talk to you about the trouble I'm having keeping up in class. I'm having trouble understanding the lectures. Is there anything you would suggest? Jeff: Some students tape record the lectures and listen to them afterwards. That seems to help. Julie: That's a great idea. I'll definitely try that. I'm wondering if you give extra credit in your class? Jeff: No, I don't give extra credit assignments. But if you're worried about passing, there are still two more tests to pull up your grade. Julie: Yes, I'll study hard for those. Thanks a lot for your time. Jeff: No problem. See you in class. Julie: Okay, Professor McQuillan, see you Thursday. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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Lucy: Jeff, here's a question. I was just talking to Dawn. You know, they had their first wedding anniversary last week. Guess what her husband gave her as a present. Jeff: I don't know. What? Lucy: He gave her a vacuum cleaner . Jeff: Didn't she want a vacuum cleaner? Lucy: Yes, the old one was broken, but that's not the point! It was their wedding anniversary, their first one. Dawn was really upset that he wasn't more romantic. He really let her down. Jeff: Oh, great. Women are always saying that men aren't romantic. But we are! Just not in the way that women want. Lucy: What do you mean? Jeff: It's a man's job to protect his wife and family. When something goes wrong, they want to fix it. That's the mark of a good husband. Lucy: I can see that, but that's not romantic in my book. Jeff: That's because you women have this idealized view of romance that you get from a lifetime of watching chick flicks and reading romance novels. Even if a man wanted to, he could never get into the head of a woman and guess what she wanted. That's why women have to just tell us what they want. Lucy: That's the problem. We women think men should just know what we want, without us having to tell them that is, if the man really loved and understood us. That's why we don't want to tell you. But, I see your point, too. Jeff: So, I guess it's really true. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Lucy: Yeah, that's what makes life interesting, right? Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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I really wanted to see the new exhibit at the art museum and invited Lucy to come along. We both like contemporary art and this was an exhibition for an artist that we've both liked, ever since she was an up and coming artist 10 years ago. This was a retrospective so there was going to be a lot of different types of work by the artist. There would be some of the artist's paintings, her early work. There would also be some of her sculptures. Her most recent work is mixed media. This is very versatile and that's one of the reasons I like her work so much. We were going to the opening of the exhibition, with a wine and cheese reception for the artist. When we arrived in the main gallery , there were already a lot of people there. Looking around, I could see that some were artists themselves and some were art critics. I'm sure there were collectors there, too. I knew the curator and looked around for him. I spotted him talking with a group of people in the corner, probably trying to talk up the gallery and the artist. After a little while, the curator said a few words and then introduced the artist. We got a chance to meet her briefly and she was very gracious. I'm glad that someone with her talent has made it in the art world. That's not easy to do. And, I think her best work is still to come. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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It's Friday night and my roommate and I feel like staying in. We've both had a tough week at work and decided to have a low-key evening. On my way home, I stopped at the video rental store and rented a couple of movies. I got a new release and a classic. I thought I had left my membership card at home but found it at the last minute. I like going to my local rental store because it doesn't charge late fees. That's handy when I don't have time to return the DVDs the next day. My roommate and I were feeling too tired to go out to eat so we decided to order in. We mulled over the take-out menus from restaurants that had delivery service and couldn't decide which restaurant to order from. The trouble was that we had never eaten at the two restaurants nearby. Ordering from either one would be crapshoot. In the end, we just decided to order a pizza. I called the restaurant and placed our delivery order. About a half hour later, the delivery person came to the door. I asked him if I could pay with a credit card and he said, "Sure." I handed him my card and he wrote down the number. Then, I signed the slip and I added a tip to the total. He gave me a copy of the slip as a receipt and then handed me the pizza. I was really glad to get it. I was starving. With our movies and the pizza, we were all set. There's nothing like a night at home vegging out to get over a hectic week. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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The local branch of my bank is located just a few blocks from where I live. It's very convenient, since it has four ATMs open 24/7. Today I had to go in to make a deposit, but since I wanted to cash a check as well, I needed to go inside to talk to a teller. Inside the bank, I got in line for the tellers. All the tellers are behind a large piece of bulletproof glass , so you have to speak up when you are talking to them. Anyway, when I got to the head of the line, the cashier said, "How may I help you?" "Well," I said, "I'd like to deposit this payroll check into my checking account, and cash this cashier's check ." "Certainly," she said, "just endorse the back of both checks and put them in the tray." "Sure. And, I can get that in small bills--10s and 20s?" I waited for her to process my checks. Then she said, "Here you are ," and counted out the cash and put it in an envelope. I said, "Thank you!" and walked away. Now that I have some money burning a hole in my pocket, I guess I better spend it! Script by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

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I was driving down the Santa Monica freeway yesterday, headed towards downtown, when all of a sudden I see my engine light come on. Needless to say, that's not the sort of thing one likes to see. So I immediately pull over to the side of the road and park on the shoulder . I pop the hood and look to see what the problem might be. I'm no mechanic. I barely know how to change the oil and the wiper fluid‚ but perhaps something would pop out at me. The car didn't overheat, since there was no steam coming out of the radiator . I checked the battery cables, and the battery was definitely not dead. I didn't know quite what else to do, so I pulled out my cell phone and called AAA for a tow to the nearest repair shop. I started worrying about all the things it could be‚Äîthe fuel pump, the transmission, the electrical system. Who knows? I just had new brakes put in a month ago, so I knew it couldn't be that. The tow truck finally arrived and we went to a nearby mechanic. He checked everything, and then told me that he had found the problem: the engine light sensor was broken! I now had to take it into the dealer to get it fixed. Well, at least it didn't end up costing me an arm and a leg. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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My friend Jim and I decided to see the latest blockbuster this weekend. I like a good action movie once in a while. We decided to meet at the movie theater after work. When I got the theater, I looked around and didn't see Jim. So, I thought I would get in line to buy tickets. There were two different lines so I asked a woman standing in the first one, "Is this the line for Mission Impossible 4?" and she said, "Yes, I'm afraid it is." I turned around and saw why she said that. It was really long and had about 20 people in it already. Oh, well. I went to the back of the line and waited. About 10 minutes later, I saw Jim coming up the escalator. He looked out of breath. He said, "Hey, sorry for being so late. I hit a lot of traffic on the way over." I told him, "Don't worry about it. As you can see, we have a long wait.‚" We finally got up to the head of the line. The clerk behind the ticket window said, "Can I help you?" and I said, "Two tickets for MI-4, please." We weren't children, students, or seniors, so there were no special discounts for us. The clerk handed me two tickets and we headed inside. There was a ticket taker just inside the door and he took our tickets, handing back to us our stubs. Coming straight from work , I was really hungry. Jim and I went to the concession stand and got a couple of Cokes, a tub of popcorn, a hotdog, and a box of candy. We were set. We went into the screening room and it was packed. Lucky for us, we found some seats together that weren't too close to the screen. We sat back and waited for the movie to start. While we watched 10 minutes of previews we wolfed down our food. By the time the movie started, I was feeling pretty good. I don't know which was better: The movie or the great junk food! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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(The phone rings.) Lucy: Hello. Jeff: Hey Lucy, it's Jeff. Lucy: Hey, welcome back. How was your vacation? Jeff: Oh, it was great. The seven days in New York was a blast. Lucy: Oh, yeah? Did you do any sightseeing or just visit with friends? Jeff: I got to do both, actually. First, I saw my friend Edmundo who just moved there. He hadn't seen much of the city himself so we went to all the tourist spots. We got a guidebook and went to the major museums, saw a play, went to a concert in Central Park, and took the Staten Island Ferry. We did all of that in a day and a half. It was a whirlwind, but we got to see a lot. Lucy: A day and a half?! You guys must have been exhausted. Jeff: Yeah, we were. But, the rest of my trip was pretty low key. My friends Pat and Billie rented a car and we took a road trip to Upstate New York to visit some other friends of ours. Lucy: Did you have to stay over in a hotel along the way, or did you drive straight through ? Jeff: We didn't bother with booking hotel rooms so we just drove straight there. It wasn't that far. Lucy: How long did you stay there? Jeff: We were only there two days and we drove back and got back last night. My flight was this morning at 8 a.m. The worst part of the whole trip was that my flight was cancelled. I was rebooked onto another flight that had a three-hour layover in Chicago. That was a major pain. Lucy: It sounds like it. Well, I'm glad you made it back okay. And, you even have the weekend to rest up before work on Monday. Jeff: Yeah, I'll need it. I've got to catch up on my sleep! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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Going to the doctor is never particularly pleasant for me. But I couldn't put it off any longer. It was time for my annual physical, and there was no getting around it. So I picked up the phone and called for an appointment. "I'd like to see Dr. Shimoya next week, please, if that's possible," I said. Of course, it wasn't possible. The doctor was booked until next month, the receptionist told me. "Okay," I said, "let's schedule it for next month.‚" When the day arrives, I drive over to the doctor and check-in at the receptionist desk. I have to present my HMO card and pay the co-pay of $15.00. The receptionist instructs me to go to waiting room B, down the hall, first door on the right. So I go there and take a seat to wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, my name is called and I go into see the doctor. The nurse weighs me, takes my temperature and blood pressure, and asks me why I'm there. I tell her it's time for my yearly check- up. She tells me to follow her to the examination room, and then to strip down to my underwear. Now I'm sitting on the exam table, half- freezing, waiting for the doctor to show up . Finally, he walks in, looks at my chart, and begins his examination. "Breathe," he says, as he places the stethoscope on my chest. "Breathe in and out slowly," he says. I do so. Then he checks my throat and has me lay down to check my abdomen. Finally, he orders a blood test and says, "Well, you're good for another year, Mr. McQuillan." Thank goodness, I think to myself, and get dressed to leave. Script by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

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