I had the funniest exchange with a parent from work.
A mother wrote me an e-mail titled, "Garnet Stone's contact details." She said, "Henry is trying to get in touch with Garnet. Would you happen to have his contact details?"
Now, I had a vague memory that Henry is her husband, but I had no idea who Garnet Stone is. I figured Garnet must be someone associated with the world of books and for some reason she thought our library might be able to get in touch with him. So I did a Google search and found that there is indeed an apparently self-published author named Garnet Stone.
"No idea!" I wrote her back. "I can only suggest trying to contact him through his publisher." And I sent her the same link.
Anyway, she wrote back and said, "Apologies! Wrong Steve. Garnet is an elderly gentleman who sells us wood in Quebec. Garnet Stone is his improbable name."
Which left me laughing because what are the odds there would also be a book author with the same improbable name?! I wonder who she meant to send that message to?
Here's my haggard little foxglove, rescued from the sidewalk grate where it took root. It doesn't look like much now, but foxgloves are hardy plants so I hope it flourishes now that it's growing in some actual dirt. (My plant-identifier app confirms that it's a foxglove, for those of you who doubt me. 😀)
I had to track down a notary public yesterday to get a letter notarized related to my mom's estate. You might or might not be surprised to find that this is not an entirely straightforward task in the UK, which has a slightly different system for legalizing documents. I found that I could get something notarized at the US Embassy, so I made an appointment to do that next Wednesday. Believe it or not, in the 12 years we've lived in London, I've never been inside the embassy. It's not even in the same location it was when we moved here, on Grosvenor Square -- it's now in a fancy new building down near Vauxhall. So that should be interesting.
Meanwhile, happy weekend, everyone!
(Top photo: Fallen rose petals on teasels in our garden.)
Ooh, that happy weekend picture is enticing. Garnet Stone? Do you suppose that's a pseudonym? We are fortunate that the American Consulate for Málaga is, oddly, located in Fuengirola. Unfortunately, the agent is usually painfully unpleasant. Otherwise, I have to go to a Spanish notary who does their work and then sends me off to an international notary office who takes another day to do theirs. Not very convenient.
ReplyDeleteThe story about Garnet is funny.
ReplyDeleteI think we have notarising here but I am not sure what it is about.
Isn't the new embassy right on the river? A somewhat strange building if I remember correctly.
Notaries in the UK are normally practicing solicitors (lawyers) and will advertise the fact and carry out the function at their office. I guess it would be simple enough in your part of London, as anywhere else in the UK, to find a Notary Public to authorise a document for a modest fee. However, if you have an appointment at the US Embassy I am sure you know what you are doing and will be in good hands. The Garnet email is a mystery.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was Garnet Stone is my birthstone.
I wonder if notarizing when it's an international document is part of the complication. Here I just go to the library and get the reference librarian to notarize for me.
ReplyDeleteI love that picture. A keeper.
That top photo could be entitled, "Ouchie."
ReplyDeleteThere was a very well-known philanthropist in Tallahassee named Ruby Diamond. There is a performance venue at FSU named that. Ruby Diamond Auditorium.
That adopted foxglove will be your favorite foxglove of all.
I don't know Garnet Stone's contact details either. What a name.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I'm looking forward to watching that foxglove thrive and grow. And that martini is a lovely way to begin the weekend.
ReplyDeleteI was part of one of those mistaken identity situations. finally the guy told me that he was not the person I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story! And what an odd name for two people to have. Wonder if they are somehow related. We want a full report on the Embassy.
ReplyDeletemy dad had a private medical lab, as in not connected to a hospital (he was a pathologist). my mother worked in the office for a time and I did one summer doing the filing. the reason I mention this is that you would not believe some of the names people had. wish I could remember a single one but it was decades ago. anyway, I'm not surprised there are two people named Garnet Stone. there are quite a few Ellen Abbotts out there too.
ReplyDeleteI once knew of a woman named Garnet Garland. That was a strange email!
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend to you too, Steve.
Happy Weekend! I've accidentally sent texts to the wrong person but never an email. Garnet Stone is an unusual name; perhaps the siblings could be Rocky, Flint and Granite? :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a really tasty looking martini, happy weekend to you & Dave.
ReplyDeleteThey pictured the outside of that fancy new building in the Netflix series called "The Diplomat". You will have to take some photos to share with us. And, if you see Keri Russell or Rufus Sewell snap their photos too. I read recently that the series will return for another season, which is good. They left us hanging with the last episode.
ReplyDeleteI'm a notary! Too bad I can't help out, but even if Vauxhall isn't convenient to you it's at least on the same continent. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThat martini looks like a welcome beginning to the weekend. Maybe a gin and tonic is in my near future!
ReplyDeleteLook at all the olives in that martini!! It's not a cocktail I enjoy, but I sure do love olives. 😉
ReplyDeleteAt one time there were four people with my name registered with my doctor. There are still at least two of us around. And my husband had an unknown namesake as well. So I am not surprised that there are two Garnet Stones, especially on different continents. Just as there are only 366 possible birthdates and you're likely to know someone with your birthdate at some point in your life, our names are not as unique as we might hope! I've especially noticed that when trying to locate someone on Facebook :)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter once needed to visit the embassy of the country she was living in at the time to get some legal documentation. They refused to accept her paperwork because it didn't have a stamp. So she went home and used her husband's 'From the desk of xxxxxxx', and then took it back in the following day. They studied the stamp and approved her documentation.
ReplyDeleteI'd have been terrified to try it. Not that one...
Mitchell: Why are so many public servants so unpleasant? I think those dreary jobs must torture people.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: I think it's a rather ordinary building but with an unusual facade. I will tell you more shortly!
Rachel: I got a list from my employer that included several Westminster law firms, but it seemed simplest to have an American deal with it!
Bob: Funny! Mine is topaz. Not that I ever owned anything topaz or paid much attention to all that.
Boud: I asked several British people at school where I could find a notary public and they looked at me like I had two heads. I think it's a different term here.
Ms Moon: Ruby Diamond. Crystal Ball. You wonder how these names happen. And do their owners simply lean into them, or do they resent them all their lives?
Janie: Isn't that a hoot?
Robin: I agree! A martini on a Friday evening is a happy event.
Red: Well, at least he was honest and didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't!
Jeanie: I imagine the author is a pen name. But maybe he stole it from the guy in Quebec!
Ellen: And quite a few Steve Reeds! One reason I don't worry too much about people tracking down my blog. They have to go through pages and pages of more important Steve Reeds to get to me.
Ellen D: Garnet Garland is a great name! Very alliterative!
Margaret: Ruby? Sapphire? There could be a lot of siblings!
Jim: Thanks! I pride myself on my martini-making skills. :)
Sharon: Yes! We watched that too. I like Keri Russell.
Bug: Bummer! It surprises me that no one at our American school is a notary.
Michael: Giving you ideas, am I? :)
Kelly: Olives are one of the best parts of a martini, in my book. I usually put five of them in there!
Jenny-O: Especially if you're talking just first and last names. Throw the middle name in there -- especially if it's unusual -- and you're far more likely to be unique.
Debby: Many foreign functionaries LOVE stamps. I remember when I worked in Morocco, everything official or semi-official had to have a stamp and often an embossed seal. (Like a notarized document.)
It is the same term here Steve, Notary Public.
ReplyDelete