Good Book

I picked up an interesting book in the aisles of the local library today and didn't put it down until just now, upon finishing it. Great book! In fact, it got an award for being one of the 500 best books written by a woman since the year 1300. It's called:

Princess: A true story of life behind the veil in Saudia Arabia

Featured

Just found myself featured on the front page of Claire Wolfe's Blog. Pretty nifty! You should stop by to read her blog, and perhaps go to the library or bookstore to check out some of her books.

Chocolate

A really good chocolate article

Dancing

Last night's band was amazing! The bands that usually play are always good, but these guys were out of this world! They had the usual instruments and a killer sax player.

Now that I'm becoming a regular there again, the guys have started to hit on me. Last night one guy kept telling me the reason the place was so packed was because they had all come to see me, another guy who was drawing me a map to get to another dance gave me his phone number, and a couple of other guys hit on me as well...one casually remarking on how good a local cafe was, and that that was where he was going after the dance.

I was in such high demand that I didn't get a chance to dance with the nice guy I have at the previous dances. I did feel his hair though. :-) It's only a 1/4" or so and feels exquisite when you run your hand over it. How could anybody resist?

Have you ever heard that joke that goes; "Why can't a girl find a guy who's smart, funny, cute, sensitive and kind? Because all those guys already have boyfriends." Lately all of the guys I've had crushes on are gay. I've got a 12 to 1 bet with myself that this guy at the contra dance is too. I keep meaning to ask, but it's kind of hard to casually sneak it into the conversation...

I drove home in the rain and sleet with my noisy, blown up muffler. I felt pretty wiped out and a little queasy from the nonstop action of the night. A couple of miles from home I started to feel like I was going to puke. When I started to walk across the field to the house, it suddenly hit me - that watering that starts in the back of the throat and signals imminent upchucking. I dropped my stuff and got off the path just in time. Blech! I felt instantly better though.

I slept in till 11 this morning. I'm starting to feel old. I never puke or feel tired! I suppose it's inevitable though...My 21st birthday is in 9 days.

Pinstripes

Somebody has been stealing the gasoline out of our cars. It's been happening off and on for the past couple of weeks. Mom and I now have locking gas caps, and Eric installed a huge hasp and padlock on his gas door.

Yesterday I tried to start my car and got nothing. The spark plugs weren't sparking. These are brand new spark plugs and wires..... I'm starting to think whoever's stealing the gas has been monkeying with other parts of my car. Bastards. Time to buy a shotgun and sit out there at night.

I bought and replaced the distributor cap and almost everything inside it. I'm going to install the new coil tomorrow. When I tried to start my van earlier today, I got nothing except a huge BANG that shook the house and scared Mom. I have to figure that one out tomorrow.

After that excitement, Mom and I went to town for her doc appointment. We brought her motorized wheelchair so she could test drive it around the local mall. While we were there, I went inside a frou-frou clothing store to see what it was like. They were having a sale on suits ... pinstripe suits! I've always had a thing for pinstripe suits and have always wanted one.

I tried on a few to see what I looked like. Snappy! Too bad I never have an occasion to wear something like that. It's not the most practical thing to wear while working in the garden or on my van. Perhaps I'll get an office job this winter as an excuse to get it. I wonder what kind of office drone I'd make? I bet I could have a lot of fun being someone's secretary. Mmmm, office supplies...

My van!

Hallelujah! My van finally has an inspection sticker on it!

I spent 3 hours at the garage, asking a zillion questions of the mechanic as he worked on my van.... "What's this, how's that work, what's that do?"

He tightened up the exhaust, drained, refilled and put a new filter on the transmission, installed a lower balljoint on the right hand side, and inspected it. Total cost: $169.

My van purrs now. According to the nice mechanic, he can't see anything else wrong with it. He says it's in really nice shape. Woohoo!

Contra dancing

The place was packed last night! Great band, lots of people, and it lasted a little longer then usual ... from before 8 to midnight.

The kids and I had a great time! We danced with other people and each other, at one time doing a 4 person waltz with the nice guy I waltzed with last time.

Now we're all in recovery from too much fun :-) My feet hurt, Peter has a headache, and we all slept in late. Charlotte conked out even before we left the parking lot.

Sam kissing Zeke

Water droplets on Maple leaf

I've always loved macro photography. There's something soothing about capturing the beauty in a small object that's often overlooked.

Out dancing

Last night the kids, Peter and I went to a contra dance in Montpelier. They have them every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays of the month. I haven't been in years. Long time no dance. It felt great to do it again!

I was still a bit rusty with the dance moves. I had forgotten how to do a lot of them, and I'm not that great at remembering the sequence they're supposed to go in for each one. I had a blast anyway!

There's this one guy there that I've danced with before. He's really nice, always smiling, and looks a lot like our favorite hiker Radar. I danced with him a couple of times tonight. He had to teach me how to waltz again. He showed me how much easier it was to follow him if I put my hand on his chest near the shoulder joint. You can then feel the slightest change of direction and follow before he starts to move that direction. Try it sometime :-)

We were out until 11:30pm. The kids conked out in the back of the van on the ride home. I was still jazzed up from the excitement and didn't get into bed till late. It's good I got out tonight and danced up a storm - I polished off half a gallon of eggnog over the past couple of days. It's my yearly holiday treat :-)

Office safety

I was searching for that statistic on toilet seat injuries when I ran across this funny article:

Workplace safety

Idiots

Somebody sent me a letter recently and said that research had been done about IQ levels and being understood. Evidently, if your IQ is 30 points higher than the person you're talking to, neither one can understand/comprehend the other. That statistic sure is evident in the comments section over on Rob's blog. Some people just take the information in front of them way out of context and derive totally opposite views than what the information really states.

Did you know that the average IQ in the U.S. is 100? Pretty scary!

It seems like a lot of people in this country don't know how to reason, or think, or form opinions on their own without somebody else telling them what to think.

I'm sick and disgusted of all the airtime the 9/11 incident has been getting. About 3,000 people were killed. Whoopie! More than 10 times that amount die each year in this country from the flu. See the CDC website for more info. Why don't we declare a war on germs and classify them as enemy combatants?

Did you know that over 1,000 people visit the emergency room each year for toilet seat related accidents? Priorities people, priorities!

My Butt

Boy, I was really incoherant when I wrote that last entry! Chalk it up to not enough sleep. When I re-read it this morning I realized it needed more detail.

Yup, I have stitches. They're underneath the skin.I was supposed to keep on the three butterfly bandages that were holding the outside skin together, but I ripped them off 4 hours after surgery. They hurt. Everything feels fine now :-) Though I suppose the doc won't be pleased ... they were supposed to be left on for a week.

I'm supposed to take it easy for the next couple of days. I think I'm going to catch up on my reading. If I go outside, I'll be tempted to work on my van again ...

Speaking of my van, I picked it up from the garage last night. They installed my brake lines and looked it over for inspection. It needed a couple of things done before they could inspect it, so I made an appointment to have them done. It looks to be November 9th before I can legally drive it again. (Sigh)

This garage was really nice and quick. They charged me $55.50 for the brake line work, which I consider fantastic! Both my uncle Eric and and I had tried to get the lines off previously, but couldn't budge them. I tried for several hours. It's such a relief to have them done now! The braking capabilities definately improved. My right front brakes had been locking up if I stomped on them too hard, now they work properly.

They now need to replace the front wheel bearings, tighten up the exhaust to the manifold, and patch a couple of small holes they found in the body. Then I'm all set! Woohooo!

I need to figure out what to do this winter. I need to get a job and pay off my debts ... and buy some new toys. I really need a circular saw, jigsaw, and a drill. Especially if I go down to Florida this winter to work as a carpenter!

I'm fairly sure that's what I'm going to do - Florida needs carpenters, I need money. Plus it'll be nice to hang out in gorgeous weather all winter. (Side note...while looking at my butt picture, I realized just how low my tanline really was. Jeez! I didn't know my pants hung that low)

I'm off to read some good books. I'm trying not to go out to the driveway, scooch under my van, and fix that exhaust. That's how I got this splinter in the first place. :-)

I wish I had the camera in the operating room! I could barely see a thing from my position on the table. It was pretty cool to be totally numb but aware of what was happening.

The doc had to poke around for quite a while to get the metal out. It kept moving around inside, so he had to lengthen the incision from the original plan ... it's about an inch long. Now my official pain in the butt has been removed and now sits on my shelf in a urine specimen jar. :-)

Van cab area - note hula girl on dash

Interior of my van

Enlarging bed and making new doors

van cedar

My van took another step towards completion today. I installed aromatic cedar planks on the top and sides of the lip where wooden paneling meets fiberglass roof. My handy dandy rope lights are behind the side planking, and the top ones make nice candle or other small object shelves.

The other day I gave the exterior another coat of paint. Today I finally reinstalled the black rubber weatherstriping that encircles the roof cap attachment point.

Recently some yahoo sent me a letter saying how awfully I was living my life, that my van was a waste of money and I should have bought a newer car, etc etc. I get the idea that the letter writer totally missed the point of my life.

I see my van as a great investment. With it, I'm learning valuable mechanical skills and getting a huge self-esteem boost every time I figure out how something new on it. I now have a home on wheels and a snazzy work vehicle. My van isn't as likely to get stolen as some other vehicles out there, and I can easily spot it in a parking lot. My van has also been invaluable in terms of therapy.

I get great enjoyment out of my van and the rest of my life. Rather than save up all of my money and time for two weeks of vacation a year, I enjoy the money and time now. I could get run over by a bus tomorrow...But more likely, I could get an auto-immune disease like my mom. It doesn't make sense to save up money and fun for a time that may never come. It's nice to have money in the bank, but I'd rather use that money on things I can enjoy now...like cool carpentry tools for work, and outdoor gear for play.

There is a strong incidence of auto-immune diseases within my family. There's a chance I could get something like Lupus or Myasthenia Gravis later in life. If I do get something like that, I would like to have at least lived a little before hand.

If you don't like the way I live my life, then bite me. :-) And only send letters that overflow with genuine flattery and adoration.

Mechanical bill

I'm in a better mood now :-)

I still haven't found the mechanic, but I figure he'll finally find me/call me back if he wants to be paid. I'm going to give him a bill for his 'services'.

He originally wanted $77.24. $45 for the part, $30 for labor, plus tax. Well, I've done some calling around. Being a mere customer and not dealer, I could only obtain that part from the dealer instead of a parts shop. They would sell it to me for $21-27. Being a dealer, you know they mark it up substantially. The part probably really only costs $8-10.

The bill I'm thinking of sending goes something like this:

Original Bill:
$45 Part
$30 Labor
$2.24 tax


My Bill:
You charge $5 a day for cars not picked up promptly after fixing. You did not begin to fix my car until 7 days after I brought it in for the original appointment. $5 a day times 7 = $35

You did not bother to inspect my car like I asked you to. Nor did you install the two brake lines because in your words, "It would cut into the other work I'm doing elsewhere". My car's inspection grace period expired while it was sitting at your garage. I have been unable to go to work until I get it inspected, and the soonest appointment I could get from a reputable garage was 10 total days/7 working days after you released my vehicle. I earn more than minimum wage as a carpenter. Even at minimum wage, I would have lost $378 thanks to not being able to use my van to get to work.

My uncle graciously fixed the crooked steering column and wiring you screwed up. At the $30 an hour you charge, he should be fairly reimbursed for the 2 hours it took him. $30 x 2 hours = $60

Total Bill:
$473
minus cost of your bill of $77.24

You owe me $395.76

Have a nice day :-)

Agitated

I went mechanic hunting today, unsuccessfully. Andy Morse of Morse's Garage was nowhere to be found. According to his mother, he plans to take this whole next week off. She wouldn't tell me where his house was, and the directions I obtained from his cousin were kinda vague. I went to both the Calais and Worcester town clerk offices to see if they knew where he lived. I walked around where his house was supposed to be and bumped into some neighbors of ours, who didn't know he was even living in the neighborhood. I tried a different but almost parallel road and asked a couple of the neighbors down there if they knew of him.

Everywhere I went, I explained why I was looking for Andy. Pretty soon both towns should know what a crappy mechanic he is. Both town clerks like to gossip. :-)

I'm still peeved he'd consider the job done and hand the car back to me with the drive shaft installed crooked and more problems then when it came in. The snot.

I fixed some of the problems today. With the help of my Uncle Eric and his cool electrical probe thingy, we figured out the back left blinker and got it to work. But now the left front side and right rear side blinkers don't work. Lovely.

My bed is lumpy, I'm irritable, my car's inspection has inspired, the idiot mechanic is nowhere to be found, I have no money thanks to being vanless/workless for a week, and my credit is shot thanks to normal living expenses and a present I bought myself yesterday. :-) I can't wait to use it...it's a carbon fiber kayak paddle and a nifty wetsuit that I've been lusting after for YEARS.

While I was at the kayak store getting my goodies, I took one of their kevlar kayaks out on their pond for a little test drive. What a gorgeous boat! It's so swift and curvaceous. Very light too...only 46 pounds! It's on sale - only $2,400. Such a steal! I need a roof rack for my van so I can go somewhere. It's either that or take up whitewater kayaking...then I could fit the boat inside the van. :-)