February's Right Foot

I've been feeling semi-ill the past couple days but wanted to put something new up for y'all (well, new to you anyway). The following piece dates back to February 2, 2002.

FEBRUARY'S RIGHT FOOT:

Struggling, rumbling. As soon as David mentioned it on Monday, my car got louder, the deliberate auditory blinders lifted. I told him the next time he prefaced a comment with, "Can I ask you something outside of work?" it better not involve me shelling out lots of cash.

Engine all week belaboured and myself attuned to the mounting distress.

The last thing I want to do on any Saturday is rise early. Saturday mornings are typically sleep interspersed with breakfast, email, and snatches of cooking shows, the Total Gym infomercial, random educational stuff, and MTV CRiBs. Quality pajama lounge time that often stretches into afternoon. But I psyched myself up and weighed down my backpack with research books to last me all day.

I made it to the shop ten minutes before it opened. First. Filled out my paperwork, needing my brakes checked too, and sat to wait as the crew pulled in.

The owner was there to open since the manager called in sick. A rather cheery fellow. As other customers filtered in, we were heralded with tales of skeet shooting and hunting. All this because he'd rather be hunting tomorrow than watching football with his wife. I tried to read, but I was tired and it was hard to concentrate.

All the 10-12 year olds he's taken this season have scored deer, but he hadn't yet. "Hardest thing to teach them is patience. ... She's a real killer. No hesitation, one shot at 90 yards. Good shooting, well of course it was, I taught her. ... jumped right in with her knife when I was showing her how to clean the carcass." Lovely.

Then he moved on to wild boar. I couldn't help myself, "I didn't realize we had wild boar around here."

The whole room, including the woman next to me, confirmed it. All righty then. Can't say I was real disappointed when the owner left to make a run to his other store. Not just due to the hunting sagas but because he obviously felt compelled to entertain us when I was prepared to just stare at the cars through the glass door.

It was only 8:45. The guy who'd looked at my car was diligently entering stuff into the computer for ages while I waited anxiously for the estimate.

Finally, he looked up. I stepped to the counter. "Looks like you're getting out this time without having to pay anything."

"YES!" My warranty didn't have a loophole and actually covered the part that was broken for the first time ever.

"If you've got 20 minutes, I've got a muffler."

Of course, it took longer than 20 minutes, but I could see why. Pulling on the tailpipe, the old muffler would barely budge. He blowtorched some bits, jiggled the whole thing, still no luck. Eventually I think he just blowtorched through the hangers. Didn't bother me though cuz the price was perfect and he said my brakes looked great to boot.

I was home and back in bed by 10, my car exuding only a gentle purr.

Since I'd already showered, I opted to hit an early matinee. Another freebie as I'd accumulated the required MovieWatcher points. The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring. For the second time from a better vantage. Even better.

Cheers, mates.

tags: anecdote, car+trouble, car+story

Sense of smell

Not just smell, sense of smell. It's the sense part that'll fool ya. Like right now, my brain is thinking pork chops and it's all wrong because it's popcorn. I don't even care for pork chops. Maybe it's the salt, the rain, or struggling through the anti-hurl this past day and a half.

Oh right, I didn't tell you about that. The anti-hurl: yesterday afternoon just as I was getting ready to go out, right after pulling on another layer, I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit. I peeled the extra layers off, stood in my bathroom supporting some weight with a hand on the counter, waiting. But then quite surprisingly, the nausea passed. Not completely, but enough so that I could choose, and I chose not to make myself throw up.

That seems obvious, but I suspect this was brought on by very mild food poisoning. I really should've known better because it actually crossed my mind that seafood of any sort must be the worst thing to eat past its time. Anyway, I'm still a bit queasy today-- not so much I'm reduced to saltines, but enough that ginger ale tastes perfect. Actually that sounds pretty good, maybe I'll nibble on that before I go to bed.

tags: sense+of+smell, food+poisoning

Mom's day's a-comin'

Honestly, I didn't think this matte configuration would be that hard to find. Oh, I did find two versions of it, but they had the worst frames ever. One had a large wood frame, fairly traditional, but painted silver. The other was what I can only imagine was an attempt at 'rustic' with a boxy rough wood frame painted a disturbing beige-green-grey, with a matte of the same color in a corrugated texture.

As for the rest of the multi-picture frames, I'm so tired of seeing squares, ovals, and openings the size of a postage stamp. Oh hubris, how you've led me to exasperation; I wrongly thought this year's Mother's Day gift would be a breeze. I'm starting to think I should just get my mom another book of Sudoku puzzles.

Or maybe I should just frame the shot that feels like the perfect gift to come from my brother; I know she loves that photo of him. Hmm...

tags: mattes+and+frames, Mother's+Day+gift

Hallelujah!

Next Tuesday at 9PM on UPN, they are showing the first episode from season 2 of Veronica Mars- the only one I missed this season.

If you've missed the greatness that is Veronica Mars, next week is the time to jump on board. There's even time still to rent or buy season one so you'll know all the background.

Without getting spoilery for anyone who hasn't seen the final episode yet, I'll just say it completely rocked. I had a few things figured out, but there were still many surprises (which had been set up throughout the season) that I never saw coming.

The CW, are you listening? Sign those fine folks on for season THREE! I want more VERONICA MARS!!!

tag: Veronica+Mars

The day I snap...

...I'm sure to be in a produce aisle trying to pick out tomatoes, apples, or some other fruit. It is perfectionism nearly beyond my control as I stand there noticing the most minute of flaws while other people walk up, pick three, and leave. It's like I'm a contestant on Caveat Emptor Xtreme!

If only I enjoyed gardening more; I'm much more forgiving of things I've grown myself.

tags: perfectionism, picking+produce, musing

Civic duty

I've voted in all the elections that have come up since I was old enough to vote, but I feel like I'm only starting to get the process now years later. I know: lame. It's not enough to vote for the person whose views most closely match my own and then leave it at that or give up if they lose. It's about representation. Obvious, right? If I don't speak up, my reps will make assumptions about what I want that may not be valid. I'm still part of a group, a district, a state, so my point of view may not be the majority, but it's still important to be heard. Informed citizenry, and all that.

The internet makes it easier to keep up with issues and to contact reps by email, but because it's so easy to email, the floods of messages they receive take longer to sort through, so they are less timely than phone calls. Did I mention how much I hate making phone calls? Right. Anyway... I forced myself to make some calls regarding Network Neutrality this afternoon, and I still have some of that stress adrenaline in my veins. I'll just have to keep up with it until calling feels like no big deal.

This reminds me of a friend from high school. Liza and I had graduated, gone off to colleges for a year or two, and were once again hanging out during the summer. It must've coincided with an election year because she was complaining about some issue or politician. When I told her she could just vote against it or for someone else, she revealed that she wasn't registered to vote and didn't plan to. I was appalled, and then I was inspired.

One of the graduation requirements at our high school was learning CPR. Why not make registering to vote mandatory for anyone over 18?

That's when Liza memorably declared, "You can make me register, but you can't make me vote."

That's when I became livid. Yet another straw on the doomed camel's back of our friendship.

When I got home, I stayed up until 2 AM writing an impassioned letter to the principal of the high school with my suggestion. He wrote back saying they would start by sending birthday cards with reminders to students turning 18.

tags: voting, voters, political+involvement

Contenders

I should really be working on the Mother's day photo collage that's vaguely in my head, but instead I thought I'd share some of the road not taken in regards to my new header. Some didn't read as well thumbnail-sized and some didn't fit the color scheme, but I'm still rather fond of these.







tags: photography, photos