I read instalment #17 at lunch, and had several corrections to make to the French, but I lacked time. I will state them below.
But first, I have to say I just love how the little details make the whole piece believable. Like having CBC Radio Two play music in the Grey Gull diner (at that time of day, CBC Radio One would be talk shows of some sort), or having Tim Horton's coffee (yes, a ubiquitous feature of many, many Canadian towns...)
And now, the French lesson:
(There are several corrections to make, this time...)
Every time you say "ça", you are using a regular 'c' instead of a c with the cedilla.
“Bonjour, Goldeneye! Comment
ca va aujourd’hui?” should be: “Bonjour, Goldeneye! Comment
ça va aujourd’hui?”
As an interjection, one would tend to say "Bon", not "Bien" (though not in all instances). But the ones you have do need to switch:
“
Bien, on va?” should be “
Bon, on
y va?” (Notice the extra 'y' needed to indicate we're about to go
somewhere...)
When used as part of a question, "allons-nous" means "are we going to", such as when saying "Allons-nous commencer bientôt?" (Are we going to start soon?) But the way you used it is incorrect:
“Bon – Allons-
nous!” should be “Bon – Allons-
y!” "Allons" is in the imperative, so there is no need to mention "nous", and "y" indicates direction. Let's get moving (somewhere).
I can understand not finding accented letters on a US keyboard, but you do know of the character map, right?
"Sur", without any accent on the 'u', means "on" or "on top of". "Il est assis sur la chaise." ("He is sitting on the chair.") or "Il a déposé le livre sur la pile." ("He placed the book on top of the pile.")
"Sûr", with the circumflex accent, means "certain", "sure". "Je suis sûr de ce que j'avance." "I am certain of what I am talking about." And "Bien sûr" means "of course", or "certainly".
Also, "J'ai fini avec ca" sounds like an attempt at a literal translation of "I'm done with this." But in French, it would be used more to indicate being done with something you were using. "J'ai fini avec ça, tu peux t'en servir." "I am done with this, you can go ahead and use it." To get the meaning of what you're trying to convey, it would be better to go with "I have had enough of this", or "I have had enough of waiting for you"
Consequently,
“Bien
sur – but you’re so SLOW.
J’ai fini avec ca – get on.” should be “Bien
sûr – but you’re so SLOW.
J'en ai assez – get on.” or “Bien
sûr – but you’re so SLOW.
J'en ai assez de t'attendre – get on.”
Thus ends the French lesson.
For now.
By the way... I'm still looking for Lockehaven...
I now know:
- It's near Route 3
- It is protected from the Atlantic by an island that is in the way
- It has a rail trail coming out of town
- It is near highways 103 and 203
Incidentally, Lockeport does have a railtrail leaving town, and is on the inside of an island (i.e. on the side facing the mainland). But even if it's not near that town, I'm guessing it's somewhere on the SW shore of NS.
I'll find those centaurs yet!