Culture shock and reunion adventures: it's the MMP!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Those who have been closely following my life story already know(that’s all of you, right?) I went home this weekend for my 30th high school reunion. You also know there was a Dopefest.

The fest was lovely. Interesting and funny conversations, nice bookstore visits, just generally refreshing. Oh, and a yellowjacket decided to drown its sorrows in my water. And, sadly, drowned a bit more than it’s sorrows. (Is it bad that we laughed? And took pictures?)

Also, there were ducks. (Mine is the one with the pearls.Cuz I have a similar hat at work. Don’t ask. There are more over here.) And a whoopee cushion (in pristine condition; it left the fest unused). This was all wring’s fault. :smiley:

So, anyway, that was Friday night. Saturday, I’d planned to tour the newly-remodeled high school, then work for an hour or two, then attend evening festivities.

Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately) fate intervened. There I was, in the Lansing area’s original shopping center (what we had before there were malls), which has been transformed into a square strip mall. They did a kind of slapdash job, so it’s not nearly as nice as it ought to be, but there’s a Panera in there and I figured I’d have lunch, surf a bit, and then get some work done before going on the tour.

I arrived at the shopping center and spied a World Market right near the Panera and next to Kroger. I was almost out of my favorite licorice lozenge-y things and was coughing quite a bit due to my fabulous allergies, so I figured I’d go purchase reinforcements and maybe pick up a couple bottles of water, since I’d completely neglected to bring any with me. :smack:

Happily wandered through World Market, found my lozenges, found cheap-enough water (thus avoiding a side-trip to Kroger), went out to the parking lot and went to start the car. (I’m paranoid about putting stuff in a trunk and then walking away, so I wanted to move it to the other side of Panera.)

Don’t you hate it when you turn the key and all you hear is…click? I especially hate it when I’m not near home. On the positive side of things, I was in a parking lot, it was the middle of the day, there was a Panera (AKA free wireless) nearby and I had my trusty laptop with me. So, after going through a panicked moment of “but I really want to go on the tour and what if I can’t get things straightened out before the reunion and I’m not even near my hotel and I haven’t even checked in and I have all my stuff with me and THE END IS NEAR,” I decided that I needed lunch, time to make a list of phone numbers, and to consider all the possible plans.

So, I’m all comfy in my booth, looking up area towing services, and which one is listed first? The one my mom used to take our car to. And they have 24-hour towing. (Please let this be a sign!) In addition to towing-service numbers, I also wrote down numbers for car-rental places, taxi services, my hotel, etc. So, I was fairly calm by the time I finished lunch.

Went back to the car and called the nice towing people. The lady at Mom’s old gas station was extremely friendly, said it would be 10-15 minutes, and that if the driver couldn’t jump it, he’d tow me and they’d see whether the battery needed replacing or if there was some other issue. Five minutes later, the big red tow truck pulled up. Yay! And tried to jump the battery with one of those newfangled jumper machine thingies. And tried again.

Did I mention the terminals were really corroded? Made the towtruck guy’s eyes bug out (mine too, actually). And made him go to Panera to get hot water. Really. Anyhoo, he tried. And tried again. And finally pulled out the actual jumper cables. Those at least got the car started (I was starting to doubt my memory of the ignition process).

I drove straight to the gas station to have them check whether the battery was holding the charge. Well. No. It barely had a pulse. (Turns out it was a cheapo replacement battery that wasn’t even the right size – thank you, previous owner.) So the nice gas-station owner and the mechanic set to getting out a replacement, replacing the (shoot, can’t remember what it’s called) dojobbie that gets attached to the terminal. Also, they fiddled with all manner of wrenches and did other macho stuff. It was impressive. (OK, they were really really nice and I didn’t have to wait at all, so it really *was *impressive.) And it fixed what ailed my little car, so I didn’t have to deal with any additional back-up plans. Except I did make sure that I’d re-checked all the vital fluids to ensure that I hadn’t missed any other obvious issues.

Oh…and there was this reunion. Quite amusing to try to remember who was who, and where I knew them from. There were 10 or so people that went to the same grade and middle school as I did; didn’t have a problem recognizing them. Got to talk to several people I barely talked to in high school. Found out that several classmates live in Ohio. Determined that my class contains very few potential Dopers (OK, that’s imprecise; I only talked to about 1/10th of the people who were there. Of that unscientific sample, I came up with one potential Doper.) Also heard that the high-school tour wasn’t all that impressive. No one I talked to liked the remodeling and no one really recognized much of anything.

Toward the end of the evening, my friend’s husband made an interesting observation: When you’re in the same grade, everyone’s within two years of each other, maybe three, max. When you go to a 30-year reunion, the age difference looks much larger. There were quite a few who looked pretty much as I’d expected. A grown-up version of themselves. But there were a bunch where I wanted to say: “What happened to you?” Or: “Are you sure you were in our class?” And there were one or two who looked almost exactly as they did in high school. And you know what made me recognize people most readily? Their smiles. That was kinda cool.

Oh, and the culture shock (other than the inevitable feeling that I was in a completely different universe): did you know they have an accent in central Michigan? I noticed it first in one of my close high-school friends. Minnesota-lite. Long, drawn-out o’s and softened t’s. As soon as I heard it in my friend, I started hearing it all over the place. Not everyone has it, but wow, it’s pronounced! Can’t believe it took me 20+ years away to notice it. Maybe it’s new?

Happy Monday!

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Sounds like an eventful weekend gt. I’m glad you got to squeeze in a dopefest. Sorry about the car trouble but ain’t it always the way? The dang things wait til we’re out of town with ‘em and then decide to act up. I went to one hs reunion (the tenth) and thought, eh, folks I want to see I still do cause a surprisingly large number still live in my hometown. The rest, why go through the expense and trouble? I have a 30 year college reunion comin’ up this Fall. :eek: Now that makes me feel old. I’m glad you had a good time though.

Am I the first?

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Nice OP, gt. Glad to hear you had a mostly-good time. :slight_smile: And now I want to go to Panera, thanks a lot. I have to figure out where there’s one near me

T-minus four and a half days to vacation. I had to stop myself from packing yesterday, as I’d probably need just about everything I wanted to pack at some point during the week. A thorough search of every purse I’ve used in the last six months finally yielded my bottle of xanax, so I won’t freak out on the plane. (I’m not afraid of flying. I’m afraid of crashing.)

If I weren’t going to be gone all next week, I’d totally play hooky today. I’m just not feeling the work vibe. Bah.

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Even though I live within a few miles of where I grew up, I passed up on all of my high school reunions. 2004 would have been the 40th. I don’t envy you, but I’m glad you had a good time.
We didn’t do much this weekend. We got back from Las Vegas on Friday, Hubby called in sick to work on Saturday. Our flight back was awful, so he felt he deserved a day to recooperate from vacation.
So other than laundering every piece of clothing we own, I did nothing all weekend.

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A boring weekend for me. Car troubles as previously lamented, but no dead batteries, Dopefests, or class reunions.

I may be getting the upper hand in Bobbio’s War On All Things That Sting. I found a ginormous nest in the lean-to from last Sunday’s adventure, and hosed it down quite well with Raid. I used about half of the can on it… Oh, and it was about 3 feet from where I got nailed, so :smack: for not finding it until yesterday.

So far, the score is: Bob 9 (nests), wasps 2 (stings). I’ve noticed a marked decrease in the number of wasps flying around.

I also played in the fire Saturday, disposing some of the scorched wood from last weekend. This time, I kept the hose handy and doused it regularly to keep the heat and sparks down. The only bad part this time was the raft of crap I caught from VWife, who thought I should have been working on something else.

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I know someone else who had car battery problems this past weekend.

The Nephew was born last October; of course, this was preceded (slightly) by the purchase of one of those cars which oughta be called vans, only they’re not because “van” sounds like work. No, no, these are sports vehicles - oh, ok.

That car officially belongs to The Nephew’s Dad, aka my bro. The small car they already had belongs to The Nephew’s Mom, aka my SIL; the reason for this is that Bro used to have a company car and now he doesn’t. Anyway, all the jobs SIL has had since returning to work in March (she’s a doctor, the jobs are all for Spanish Social Security and the longest she’s been unemployed is a week - because she wanted to go on vacation) have been in town, so she walks. Bro takes the van to work. Whenever SIL has gone to the supermarket, she’s done so late-ish in the afternoon and waited for him in the parking lot with a full cart. Whenever she was taking the car without him, she took the big one.

So, today she has to go work in a village nearby; they decided to take a trip there so she’s know the path beforehand. She’s a control freak: the notion of trying to find the Health Center in a 500-ppl village, where it happens to be the biggest building and btw there’s signs for it all over the place, without previous exploration just freaks her off.

Since they were leaving The Nephew with his maternal grandparents, they took the small car. After, uh, counts 10 months parked in the garage. Of course, the poor thing didn’t start.

According to SIL it’s Bro’s fault. Mom was pretty angry at this, I just rolled my eyes. One of the things Mom and SIL have in common is that both expect the world to bend to their wishes (even without expressing them) and take personal offense when it doesn’t; so oooooof course it couldn’t be SIL’s fault when the car didn’t start, right? I mean, just because it’s her car that she doesn’t let anybody else use but hasn’t touched in ten months, of course not! Bro was supposed to keep its battery charged without ever driving it out!

And then people wonder why divorce was invented :rolleyes:

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Nice OP, gt. I’m glad your poor little car is okay. I am sincerely hoping that there isn’t a high school reunion until I’m at least forty, because I still don’t want to see most of the people I went to high school with. Anyway, the Dopefest would obviously be a lot cooler.

Welcome, Nava!

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Oh, I forgot. Over the weekend, I had a customer who didn’t know what ‘Kabul’ was (I was recommending The Kite Runner) and when I recommended Shake Hands With The Devil, she stared at me, and said, “I don’t know what genocide means”.

Life is depressing sometimes.

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So, what should you have been doing Bobbio and why didn’t you read VunderWife’s mind so you’d know? :stuck_out_tongue:

Nava had I been your bro, I woulda suggested the SIL take a nice long walk to the village and gone in for an ice cold beer or twelve. Then again, I’m a big ol’ meanie so what do I know.

BTW, mop handles with <snerk> plastic heads <snerk> are fiberglass, not wood. I await word on whether or not fiberglass handles are acceptable in prisons and detention centers. I hate mops.

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Oh, I HATE when that happens (car trouble on a trip), gt! Glad you got it all fixed up without too much trouble.

I have never attended my hs reunions. Never could work up the desire. I DID go to my one and only grammer school reunion quite a few years back. It was great fun. And like you said, some folks didn’t look like they’d changed a day and others, well, they grew up!

Mr. Anachi and I painted yesterday. All for naught. Both of us hated it when we were done. Sleeping on it and daylight didn’t improve our affections. :stuck_out_tongue: Back to the drawing board.

Much work to do today. Some ijit in Mexico wants copies of receipts from miscellaneous billing. No, he’s not a ijit for that. He’s an ijit cause he wants them scanned and turned into a pdf file. Erm, wouldn’t faxing them be faster and easier???

Later.

Tupug

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good morning, all! I am achey all over from moving mulch for 8 hours yesterday. There is still so much to do…
I have enjoyed my HS reunions, for the most part–there have only been 2 (10 and 20).

I am looking forward to my 30th–there are people who I am fine with seeing every decade.
Too bad about the car–I hate when that sort of thing happens on the road. I always think I’m going to be rooked by some bad mechanic who preys on touristy types. Hasn’t happened yet, but you never know (she said darkly).

I am babysitting today-a friend of #2 son’s. She is a teacher and has workshops all day today. I’ve always wondered what they do in those–I am too intimidated to ask! I imagine secret rituals and small animal sacrifice play a large part.

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I got to meet my brand new nephew on Thursday. My brother brought his family down from Virginia Beach and we all went to dinner at this place on Thursday night. Friday night was fun, met a friend who has been trying to (re)-open a brewery and tasted wines, then went to this place and had some beer. The downside of that night was that I learned a friend of mine that I’ve not seen in a while has an inoperable form of cancer. Of course he’s one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. In fact, they figured out he was ill because he’d suddenly become grumpy.

Saturday we went to my folks to see some more of my brother’s family and eat lasagna. In what has become a cliche dinner wasn’t ready until almost 10 pm. Sunday Mrs Shibb had to work so I took the kids for lunch, by request, to Long John Silver’s and then for what they claim* is the World’s Best Ice Cream at Ritters. After we got home I eventually fixed our cable modem, at least temporarily and was able to finally book our flight to Colorado Springs for a good friend’s wedding next month.

*This is what my kids claim. I’m not sure if this is an official Ritter’s corporate line. But it’s frozen custard, and it is very good and worth the extra drive.

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morning all - gt- I’m glad everything worked out. My 30th HS was this spring but the same weekend as I’d already had other plans - I’ll make the next one tho - I think enough time has gone by and based on pics from 30th enough poundage has been added to the jocks and princesses that I should fit right in
My toe is safely inside a sock and shoe - but it still hurts. Not “omigawd, I see stars” kind of hurt, but I know I’m wounded. I’ll see my doc Wed I think and get a proper bandage-ing

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Ha, I’ve had this reply window open for 45 minutes.

It’e route selection day - all the drivers come in and pick their routes for the year. Busy day.

My 20th was the only reunion I went to, I still remember the night most for the fact that late at night, some friends, and our wives and I were at a sports bar, watching CNN show us Princess Di’s crash.

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According to a fashion magazine I read yesterday, black nailpolish is back in style. I will be fashionable. Well, during the once-yearly spurt when I feel like wearing nailpolish.

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Is a 4.5 game lead safe in late august?

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Glad everything worked out with the car, gt, and that you had a moderately entertaining time! I see all my best friends from high school every year, and have only been to one official reunion.

My mama took my husband and I out to an utterly awesome brunch buffet at a hotel on Sunday. Man, oh man. It was embarrassingly expensive but it was absolutely delish. How often do you have raw oysters and crab legs, omlettes and biscuits and gravy AND apple pie, catfish and Belgian waffles all on the same menu? All within 20 feet. All available for bruncherly consumption? It was Heaven on Earth, I tell you. We managed not to eat ourselves sick.

We’re coming up on The Big Birthday Number 2 for little Cherry Boy. It’s Sept. 12! Plans are in the works.

Here is something cool: my husband built me a shelf for my purses. Our house has 9 foot ceilings, so therefore the closet does too. He put the shelf above the door to the closet! In the closet. Isn’t that cool. My purses have a home, even though I need a stepladder to get them (and me, 5-9!).

Happy Monday everyone!

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Good morning everyone.

**gt, ** I’m glad your car troubles weren’t more serious and they were fixed quickly.

I just wanted to pop in very quickly and say hello. I’ll try to pop in later, but I’m very, very busy at work…AGAIN.

Sigh, I guess it’s better than being bored.

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totally depends on the team - some teams fall apart completely in September
I can’t even say for sure our 14 game lead is safe - but if you’re routing for Oakland, I’d say they’re pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot - You just have to worry about the Tigers (and most likely, so will we)

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Hi, everybody. I’ve been so busy for the last couple of weeks I’ve barely had time to pop in just about anywhere online; I’ve read the MMP OPs, but haven’t even had time to keep up with the conversation. Shame on me, working that hard is not conducive to an enjoyable life; so I’ve spent about five days basically zoned out, incapable of doing much of anything but sit and watch Babylon 5 episodes. Call it a mental vacation.

Glad the car wasn’t too badly off, gt, and that the people you hoped would help you turned out to be so good. It’s always such a pleasure to find helpful, honest people when you’re in a jam and in a position to get seriously ripped off, isn’t it? A good commentary on the world.

And yay for a Dopefest, but boo for a reunion! The only reunion I even got an invitation for was my high school 10th – which I got three days after it had happened. Bummer. Actually, I’ve never been all that interested in going to a reunion, anyway; we moved the middle of my junior year of high school, and most of the good friends I made were a year ahead of me. So they wouldn’t be at my reunion anyway. I barely even remember the rest of my class, and the few I do remember are all on an email list put together by one diligent classmate who looked a bunch of us up through classmates.com. So that silly website really is good for something.

I’ve had a dull and boring life. About the only excitement has been taking the dogs to the dog beach a few times. It’s always such a good feeling to see total HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY! like that. Warms the cockles of my heart, it does.

Now back to my B5. I’m only in season 2; I’ve got a long way to go yet!