There were signs up saying not to park at the curb today, so we parked both cars in the driveway. At 8:00 AM, half the block was coned off, a truck crane established itself in the middle of the street, and various trucks with various equipment and attachments have come in and out.
It looks like they’re swapping out a utility pole behind a house across the street. Until they’re done, none of our cars can get out.
I was driving to work the other night when I noticed the rear passenger-side window was down. How it got that way, I had no clue, but I couldn’t get it to close from the driver’s console. And it was beginning to rain. I resigned myself to en expensive repair job, and when I got to work, I borrowed a large trash bag from a custodian, so I could have a makeshift rain-exclusion barrier in the door.
When I opened the door, I realized that there is a local switch in that door, so I took a chance that it would shut the window. Which it did. So now I’m thinking “Great! I only have to fix the switch on the driver’s console.” After work, though, the window went down again, while I drove. At a red light, I put the car in Park, and reached back to use the local door switch again. But I couldn’t feel it there, because the handle of a golf umbrella in the back seat was blocking it. I pulled the umbrella away from the door, and suddenly the window began behaving itself.
I’m really good at car repairs.
I did something similar decades ago. The driver’s window on our car got stuck partway down while we were out Saturday night. All the other windows worked, so I didn’t think it was a bad fuse. Since I wouldn’t be able to take it to the shop until Monday anyway, I decided to see if I could do anything on Sunday. The first thing I thought of was to try to take off the inside door panel and see if there was something blocking it, or maybe an obvious wire problem. So I started removing the obvious screws holding the panel in place, but couldn’t get the panel completely off. Just for the heck of it, I tried the power switch and the window went up. Then down, then back up. So I replaced the screws I had removed, then tried the switch again. Window is now working perfectly. So I shrugged, put my tools back in the box, and went back in the house.
I’ve had it with the cheap Chinese tires my mechanic put on the front wheels maybe 5 (?) years ago. One of them has had a slow leak for months, and now the other one is doing the same. Plus the traction is for shit, especially in winter. I suppose it’s partly my own fault because he gave me a number of options and I went for the cheapest. Next week I’m going down to a reputable tire place and have them replaced with a good set of all-weather tires.
I must say, though, that the Goodyear tires I had on the previous minivan were worse. They were not only susceptible to flats, but they had two blowouts, the only time I’ve ever experienced blowouts in many decades of driving. One blowout was on a front wheel at freeway speeds. I was lucky to have been able to keep control. That one also ruined the rim. Damned if I can remember what model of tires those were, but I should have freaking sued Goodyear.
You are a Kingsman !
Okay, that’s absolutely hilarious. Especially since parrots are notoriously hard to un-train from learned phrases.
My reason for opening the thread…
Clicked link for free white paper on subject of interest.
Requires phone/email/reason for my interest in subject. Not ideal, but I can block phone numbers and blacklist addresses if they don’t honor unsubscribe.
Then I read the fine print… “We will also opt you into other relevant marketing communication.”
Hell to the power of no, squared.
Assholes.
ETA: I was able to find a truly free copy by Googling the paper title.
Today is five years since a hurried driver crashed into my niece’s car and killed her. I was awoken at about 3 am by my sister in law. I noticed it seemed like other people were in Mom’s condo. Then, my SIL told me we’d lost Sky. IIRC from R A Lafferty “The three intractable problems are squaring the circle, trisecting the angle and rebottoming the world. They cannot be done.” I only saw or heard of Sky using violence once. The family was sitting on Mom’s king size bed playing some card game. My sister stretched her leg and deliberately pushed me off the bed. She began to laugh. Sky punched her and said “Don’t be mean to Unc Unc!”. We were all stunned and yes violence is wrong, but I felt so loved and oddly protected. I could go on and on about how wonderful, beautiful (outside and in), and smart Sky was.
I’m so sorry. What a painful day for you.
I feel lucky to have only one sister.
I’m so sorry. I hope you feel some comfort reflecting on her life.
Meanwhile, at work, the shire is burning. Since I’m one of the few people left with any tenure, I’m being pulled into all kinds of meetings about broader strategic decisions. It’s fascinating, it’s intimidating, and given the current state of affairs, it’s horrifying.
We’re either going to make it, or we won’t. But it kinda feels like everything is on fire right now.
Not just that everything is on fire, but that someone just slapped a fire hat on me and told me to get in there.
You’re running with the big dogs now!
Thanks for your kind words. Last night, we went to the park she liked to hang out in and where a bench has a plaque with her name. We had a memorial and set off some illegal fireworks in her honor. On the way out of the park, we met a cop car. While everybody else was figuring out what to do, my 78 year old Mom (with a walker) greeted the officer with “Hi, sweetheart. What’s going on?” She explained that we were there to have a memorial on the anniversary of the death of her only grandchild. At that point, the cop asked if we had seen anybody else in the park. Mom answered truthfully, that we hadn’t. The cop offered his condolences and drove off. At no time did he ask ‘Were you the ones setting off fireworks?’.
I also learned from the stories shared at the memorial that Sky was more of a wild child than I realized. It’s odd. She was a rebel and wild child. She was also a great student, a dutiful daughter, and called my Mom everyday to talk and volunteer to do chores for her. I miss her terribly every day.
I’m sorry. I know nothing I say makes it better but I’m sorry all the same.
I don’t have a rant today.
So now I have brand new all-weather Firestone tires instead of the cheap leaky Chinese ones with no traction. On the very same day that my engine oil light started coming on. Oil level is fine.
The mechanic at the nearby shop is certain that it’s just the sensor, which in fact was a commonly reported problem with this particular engine. They couldn’t look at it today but I’ll take it in tomorrow if I manage to drag myself out of bed early enough.
“It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another”
– Roseanne Roseannadanna
I don’t want to go out in cold rain but I need toilet paper. Theres a shelter for the bus a ways in front of the store. Got my stuff. Come to the shelter, theres a young woman I know. She says she has the flu. If I go stand out in the rain, I’ll get sick. I did get my flu shot two months ago. She said they gave her a flu shot. That doesnt make sense, no dr. would give someone a flu shot when they’re sick.
But Im pitting the stupid weather. Today rain, tomorrow lotta snow.
Fuck this day, and fuck yesterday too. I’m in ADHD hell right now and I think it’s just an implosion from having too much shit to do. I finally sat down in front of the computer and started some work and ended up in the living room on the couch somehow.
I can’t stop worrying about my kid. I go through these phases, where I worry about him, and eventually realize it’s out of my control and probably not an emergency (in the sense that this is so important that I need to go down a google rabbit hole RIGHT NOW rather than do my work). But this is the hyperfocus shit where your brain won’t let you drop something no matter how hard you try to do other things.
I’m pissed at the person who did this job before me for doing such a bad job of preparing me for the role. I’m pissed that finance has been ignoring my emails about a grant that’s due MONDAY. I’m pissed that I have to figure all this shit out for myself. I’m pissed that I can’t focus. I’m pissed that I have yet another virus making it the third week in a ROW.
AHGHGHG.
Getting back into the swing of things, looking forward to that first paycheck.
I’m not reading the news as much, but I just saw that Kevin Flat-Top just invited Biden to the State of The Union.
Keep in mind that the mentally deranged faction he represents yanked out all of the metal detectors, accepting seems problematic.
( If you were Biden, would you feel safe, giving what is sure to be a reasonable speech, in front of gun-crazy psychopathic nut jobs like the MAGA GOP…? )
Well, fuck. Just saw a post on Facebook that my favorite meadery - Maine Mead Works in Portland (Honeymakers) - will be closing for good at the end of the month. They’re still shipping, so I’m in the process of putting in a final order. 
After doing my weekly grocery shopping and running some other errands, I’ve got at least half a dozen different things to rant about, but I’ll just talk about the asshole in the Popeyes drive thru where I stopped to grab some lunch on the way home.
I could tell the guy was an asshole when he turned left in front of me and cut me off as I was making my right turn into Popeyes. He pulled up to the speaker, sat there for maybe 10-15 seconds, then pulled up to the window. (No other cars in the drive thru at the time.) I thought that was odd, it was barely enough time to place an order. I pulled up to the speaker, placed my order, then pulled up behind the asshole.
Guy in the drive thru window sticks his head out and looks like he’s giving him his total and waiting for payment. Sitting behind, I can see the asshole yelling and gesturing wildly. I see the guy in the window gesture like he’s asking the asshole to pull forward, but asshole’s having none of that.
Second guy comes to the window, also gestures for asshole to pull forward. Asshole is still yelling and waving his hands around, obviously pissed off about something, and still not moving. Meanwhile I’m thinking “Asshole, if you have a problem, go inside and talk to someone. Stop blocking the drive thru, I want my lunch and want to go home.”
Finally, a third person (a woman this time) sticks her head out the window and is trying to talk to the asshole. Now he’s not even responding, and I can see that his window is rolled up. After repeated attempts to communicate with the asshole, she reaches out and taps on his window. No response. He’s apparently decided to just sit there and pout.
At this point I say “fuck this shit”, pull around the asshole (giving him my best stink-eye as I do) and park and go inside to get my food. I can tell that all three of the employees who tried talking to the asshole are not happy, but especially the woman. I would love to know what the fuck that was all about, but I just want my food.
And then to cap it all off, when I got home I found that once again they forgot to give me my dipping sauce for my chicken strips. 