YOU'RE A SMART COOKIE - Hilarious true story about my successor in Italy

Here comes a hilarious true story about my successor in Italy as I tried to COMPLIMENT her!

Marina Dalle Valle had just finished University and she started her 1st job.

So, I had to train her...

YOU'RE A SMART COOKIE! ←click link

Yep, when our boss Dr. Gigi Bagnasco came to check with me, about her ability, she was left out of the conversation as she did not speak English.

Knowing how she felt, I translated to her what I just told Dr. Bagnasco in English, that she picked up rather quickly and she is a smart cookie.

So I turned towards Marina and said in Italian: Marina è un biscotto furbo!

We almost wet our pants from laughing... This was one of those moments where translation is impossible.

Neither can you say in Dutch: Je bent een slim koekje...

But she understood that I only wanted to compliment her in a gracious way, and Dr. Bagnasco was quite pleased with that knowledge; meaning they hired the right person.

Cookie comes from the Dutch word 'koekje,' which means 'little cake.' The first cookie-like 'cakes' were thought to have originated in 7th century Persia, one of the earliest countries where sugar was cultivated.

Smart Cookie

The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms says that a smart cookie is 'someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations.' The term 'cookie' may have referred to women as far back as the 1700s, and 'smart cookie' may have been a comment on women's intelligence.

The Cookie Idioms: Smart Cookie, Tough Cookie ←click link

Here Marina is next to me on the right during one of our visits back to Italy, on September 30, 1995.

Happy to see that she did so well!

Wearing my own sewing creation, skirt made from some raw silk. Paired with a silk sweater and a wool Yves Saint Laurent scarf.

She continued the Statistical Process Control that I'd introduced, as a tool for being able to pin-point 'where' in the process of e.g. producing compost, we were 'off'.

Also we used that, for more accurately being able to predict the yield of an incoming 1st break of mushrooms.

If any of the above ingredients were 'off', that already predicted less good quality mushrooms with less piece-weight and thus lower market value.

BUT, Marina my successor was a smart cookie!

Hoping she is still doing well. 

Related link:

{Yes; I was at an Yves Saint Laurent Prêt-À-Porter Show in Jakarta!} | previous post by me

Our Terrace Tablecloth in Gazebo got SHREDDED by Pack of Dogs

 Oh my, with all our hard work and weeks of consulting and doing seminars for mushroom people, we finally went on a real VACATION.

By luxury bus, from The Netherlands that is.

First going 'home' for seeing Mom & Dad and Family and Friends...

The vacation via France to Portugal and Spain was just wonderful; one of the BEST we ever had and a good group of some 19 people on that bus.

We took turns for having a different view in the bus and really indulged in it all.

Then you have to fly back to the USA and drive home.

BUT we did not expect to see this...After finding a very special terrace tablecloth in a Dutch magazine, I bought this from The Netherlands.It does not blow away from wind, because the fabric had a vinyl coating. Found out it was made in Germany, brand Friedola.Never have been able to locate any like this, nor being able to replace it...
Have you had surprises like that in your garden, gazebo or on the patio?

Dieng Plateau area spent mushroom compost being carried up to terraces

 So very often have we seen the hard work by the men working those horticultural terraces in Java, Indonesia.

Also the thousands of tons of spent mushroom compost carried up, after having being dumped alongside the main road.

 

Best viewed on YouTube for being able to use the clickable points with written info below.Also shown are the stone breakers at work.We saw them numerous times, on different roads... Such hard work!The terraces yielded tobacco, corn, cabbage, potatoes and so on.In the tropics things can be grown year round.
Related links:Oversight of Dieng Plateau area in Indonesia with mushroom growing sheds and doing training | previous post by meKarangbakal, Indonesia Exemplary Compost Ricks | previous post by meThe Stonebreaker in Indonesia and Pieter's Paternal Grandmother's Name | previous post by meMount Merapi 2,911 meters or 9,551 feet and Rice Fields of Central Java, Indonesia | previous post by me{Dieng Plateau Indonesia - Where We Worked} | previous post by me