Unfortunately, You Can't Sit on Them

Hello friends, or friend - I feel like Erika is the only one who reads my blog these days. Thanks, Erika! At any rate, I hope all five of you reading this had a really good weekend. I was busy all weekend long, yet I feel like I accomplished nothing. I guess that's how it goes some times. 

Friday night, my dad and I made it out to the MA game to watch yet another massacre of a Mustang opponent. The game actually started out quite well, and I thought it might be close, but MA pulled away and there wasn't much to it. We left a few minutes before the game ended and made a Krispy Kreme run for my mother. I believe that's going to be the last MA game for us until the playoffs where I imagine we will go every week, but then again, I could be wrong. Only time will tell I suppose. 

On Saturday morning, I was up before the sun washing clothes and cleaning the bathroom. So exciting, I know! I had an appointment to have my car aligned at 8:00 a.m. at the Goodyear downtown. Last month when I had taken my car in to Nissan, they told me I needed new tires and an alignment and I basically refused to believe them because I feel like dealerships are always out to get your money and so I made the appointment at Goodyear for an alignment and for a rotate and balance of my tires. 

Needless to say, I was not surprised when the guy came in to tell me that I did in fact need new tires in the front because the car had been out of alignment and had cut into the tires. He also said the back two tires were in the last third of their life and so, I made an adult decision to go ahead and get all new tires. Thankfully, Goodyear has financing and I was able to finance for six months with no interest. So, I've worked it into my budget for the next few months. Sadly, I was planning on buying a new couch around Christmas time and that will now have to wait until I get the tires and my recent vet bill and eye doctor bill paid off. Thanks goodness for interest free for six months on all of these items or else I would be in a world of hurt right now. I am getting a rebate on my tires and the rebate doubled since I used the Goodyear financing and so that money can also be applied to the payment of the tires which really helps out. Sadly, I cannot display these tires in my living room or ask my friends to have a seat on my new tires. Oh well, I suppose it gives me something to look forward to.

After my trip to Goodyear, I went to Publix for my weekly shopping trip where I discovered that they have a new coupon policy and now they will only allow you to use one $5 off $50 coupon instead of two. Previously, if your grocery bill was $100, you could use two of these coupons. The coupons are also for Star Market (Publix takes competitor coupons) and the cashier also told me that rumor had it that Star Market was going out of business. I knew the one in South Huntsville had announced a closing, but I have not heard about the one in Five Points and hope it is just a rumor because they have the best meat in town and I always buy my meat at Star Market. Have any of you in Huntsville heard this as well? 

When I was finished with the grocery shopping, I came home, unloaded the cold stuff and then took Pippa to the local pet store for a nail trim. I also returned an "indestructible" toy that she did, in fact, destruct. They replaced it with another one which she proceeded to destroy once we got home. I will not be taking this one back. Clearly, these toys are not meant for The Pip. 

I spent the rest of the day straightening up the house and cooking for my friends. Erika, Candy and Kendra came over for dinner on Saturday evening. We dubbed it, "Kendra's Last Hurrah in Huntsville". She recently got a job at Vanderbilt in Nashville and will be moving this coming weekend. We are sad to see her go, but super excited for her and this new opportunity. We will see her often though because her family is here and she will be back and we can always drive up to see her as Nashville is really not that far away. It was great to get together with the girls and send Kendra off properly. 

Sunday was church, followed by a rainy, lazy afternoon and then my cousin Tyler's birthday dinner cooked by his mother, Jan. The food was amazing, as always, and it was great to spend time with my family to close out yet another 2014 weekend. 

The New Vehicle

I'm sure you've probably realized by now that I have a new vehicle. I did, after all, sell my beloved Blue and I'm certainly not riding the Blonde Adonis (my bicycle) down the Parkway to and from work.  Well, technically speaking, I am still in the process of taking ownership, but in a matter of days, I will in fact be the "owner" of a new vehicle; and by "owner" I mean I'll be making some payments for a few years. Admittedly, I've probably needed a new car for a while; but, when you like to take long and expensive vacations a car payment isn't really at the top of the list of things to add to your monthly expenses. 

Thanks to my mother putting a bug in my granddad's ear and my granddad listening, I was able to purchase my new vehicle which is a Black 2012 Nissan Rogue. My grandfather generously gave me a nice down payment on the car which allowed my payments to be such that I can still tuck some cash away in savings each month. I honestly cannot thank my granddad enough for helping make this possible. His generosity has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion and I feel really blessed that he was willing to help me out in this capacity. It's tough out there for a single girl, y'all! Seriously though, when you are on your own and all home repairs and medical bills, etc. etc. are your responsibility and yours alone, it's hard to come off the money to make a big purchase and this would not have been possible without my granddad and I want y'all and him to know how much I really appreciate his help and generosity. 

Now on to how I came to choose my new vehicle...

Once my granddad told me he was willing to help me out, I suggested we go over to a dealership in Decatur that he is familiar with. I had zero intentions of buying a new car, but knew this dealership also had used cars and thought we could go look and if I found something then maybe I would be able to trade in old Blue for a penny or two. I looked online and discovered two vehicles I was interested in looking at - one was a red 2010 Nissan Rogue and the other was a 2009 Toyota Venza in a brown color. My granddad and I had made plans to go look at them on Saturday, July 20. The Thursday before, I called him to finalize our plans, but by the time I got out of the gym that evening, my mother had emailed to let me know both vehicles had been sold. 

I also had a message from my dad to call him and he told me the same thing, but he also had a solution. He suggested that I go online and look at the vehicles Hertz had for sale. In case you didn't know, Hertz, as well as other rental car companies sell their rental cars after a year or so of use. My parents had bought a car from Hertz not long after they were married and have always said it was one of the best cars they ever owned. My dad had looked online earlier and Hertz had seven or so 2012 Nissan Rogues in either silver or black with varying amounts of miles and features and prices. So, I took a look and decided to reserve a black one in Birmingham which was newer than the one I had planned to look at in Decatur, was also the color I preferred and was at a lower price - what more could you want?

This is how the Hertz program works... it's called Rent To Buy and basically you can reserve a vehicle you are interested in and rent it for three days to determine whether or not you like it. There is no obligation to buy and if you decide not to buy, then you are charged a three-day rental free and if you decide to buy then the rental fee is applied towards your financing. Hertz also offers financing (they work with multiple banks) and they also offer extended warranties that mirror the manufacturer's warranty. Also, if you decide to buy, everything is done online and by phone which is very convenient. 

After driving the vehicle a couple of days, I decided to go ahead with the purchase - not surprising since this newer vehicle drove about 100 times better than old Blue. I logged in to my Hertz account on Saturday and started the process by confirming that I wanted to purchase the car and since then I've been emailing and talking to the folks at Hertz to finalize everything. I received notification today that the final paperwork was headed my way and I expect to receive it tomorrow and will be promptly signing and returning it so that the sale can be final/complete/finished. I have really had a nice experience with Hertz and would definitely recommend them if you are looking to buy a used car. I even applied for financing through them and got a 1.54% interest rate which beat the socks off of the 2.8% I received from my bank. 

I want to once again thank my family for all their help - my mom for putting the bug in my granddad's ear, my dad for bringing Hertz to my attention and my granddad for helping me actually buy the vehicle. I'm really a lucky lady to have these people in my life and without them I wouldn't have these new wheels which shall henceforth be called Bertha.

We've Traveled Many Miles Together

Well, the past few days have been a whirlwind of this that and the other. There are lots of changes taking place and hopefully I will get around to writing about them all because goodness knows this blog is hurting for some decent reading material these days. 

I'm sure many of you will be thrilled beyond measure to read that my beloved car/summer oven Blue have parted ways. I've needed to grow up and get a new car for a long time but my frugality has prevented me from taking that step while I have an operable vehicle. However, recent developments have made it such that I am now in the process of purchasing a new vehicle (more on this later); and so, on Friday afternoon, Blue was parked in front of my house with a For Sale sign in almost every window. 

Blue, a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix, was originally my dad's company car and when he got a new company car in 2004, I bought Blue. The used company cars were offered to the employees at a very good price and in 2004 when it was time for my dad to turn Blue in, I was in need of a better vehicle. The price for Blue was $5,000 and at the time, my credit was so atrocious that my dad had to secure the loan for me and I gave him the money for the payment each month. If I'm not mistaken, I was required to give him every other paycheck to pay off Blue (I lived with my parents' at the time and didn't have a lot of expenses) and so she was paid off pretty quickly. 

When I took possession of Blue, she had about 55,000 miles on her. Last week, she turned over 185,000. My plan was to drive her until she hit 200,000 which would probably put me at buying a newer car some time next year, but the circumstances worked out such that I fell 15,000 miles short of my goal. Blue and I have traveled the highways and the bi-ways, country lanes and city roads. We've been in more wrecks than I really care to remember. There was the time my drunk neighbor hit Blue while she was parked out front, the time I almost met Jesus on highway 431 (there's still a dent on the backside from that) and the time someone ran a red light and plowed into her side. Honestly, it seems like there is another incident or 10 that I can't recall at the moment; needless to say, we've been through a lot together, Blue and I. 

Over the years, Blue has prevented me from staying warm in the winter but thankfully she always kept me cool in the summer, and really, isn't that most important. I can't remember the last time Blue told me what time it was as the display on the clock/radio hasn't worked since about 2006. This past April on the way home from the Dave Matthew's Band concert, Blue's gas gauge decided to quit working and hasn't worked again since. All four of the windows have been nonoperational at one point or another and the driver's window is still up with the assistance of duct tape. She had a side-view mirror drop off in a car wash (which I repaired myself thank you very much) and she is missing a cover from the side of the passenger side headlight that fell off who knows where. Not to mention I think she had an invisible sign on the front that read, "please pull out in front of me."

Blue has cooked a variety of dishes for your reading pleasure including cookies, pizza, and attempts at eggs, bacon and even brownies. Blue has let me crank up the volume on the CD player and her speaker covers have held on by a hair over the years. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they fall off. I've had flat tires, and breakdowns and blow outs and pretty much every possible thing that can happen to a girl while driving a car. Through it all, I've kept my mechanic Martin in beer and cigarettes (just being honest here people!). I've laughed and cried, been angry, sad and glad all while driving Blue. She's seen me through good times and through bad. 

Sunday afternoon, towards the end of my Sunday afternoon nap, the doorbell rang. I though to myself, it's either my neighbor Jeff or it's someone about the car and as luck would have it, someone was inquiring about the car. A man named Stacy and his wife, or girlfriend, named Chris. They looked the car over, cranked her up, checked the oil, looked at the Car Fax which I had printed off, looked at it some more and offered me $1,000 for the car. I had $1,500 as the listed price. I took them up on their offer primarily so I didn't have to deal with the headache of renewing the car tag for Blue and for the new vehicle and so I wouldn't have to keep insurance on two cars. It was one less thing that I would have to worry with in the great car transition. Besides, I was being really optimistic in hoping for $1,500 and in all honesty, I think$1,000 is a fair price. I mean, let's face it, Chris and Stacy will most likely want to get the driver's side window repaired and maybe some other things and really, how much longer is she going to hold up? Only the good Lord knows. 

My dad had joked that maybe someone on my street would buy Blue and I would be able to watch her drive by on occasion and as luck would have it, this couple lives one street over and I'm really hoping that Blue and I will cross paths from time to time. 

Chris and Stacy came by Monday evening to pay for Blue and drive off into the sunset. It was with a bittersweet feeling in my heart when I watched her go. She has been a good car to me. I've driven her for nine long years and even though she has given me countless headaches and drained my savings account from time to time, I loved driving her. She had some get up and go that old car of mine. So, it is with a heavy yet thankful heart that I bid her adieu; and don't worry about Chris and Stacy, I left a roll of duct tape for them in the front seat and a roadside kit and anti-freeze in the trunk. 

It Was Confirmed On The Way Home

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it or not, but the car I would like the most when I finally break down and replace ole Blue is a Volvo station wagon. Specifically, a black Volvo cross country station wagon. I love them and you can carry a lot of things in a station wagon - children, dogs, groceries, hockey equipment, loads of toilet paper for rolling yards, you get the picture. Well, for months now I've had my eye on this very car which has been parked in the park and sell lot of South Parkway. I pass this station wagon every day and dream of one day being it's owner/driver. 

I have deliberately not pulled in to the park and sell lot to look at the price of the car for fear that I would immediately run down to the bank and take out a loan and since I'm currently saving all available funds for vacation, I don't want anything to hinder that progress. Furthermore, the word on the street is that I am next in line for promotion at work once the opportunity becomes available and so I kind of want to wait that situation out as well before making any large purchases. My plan was to wait until I got back from vacation and then go look at the Volvo and check out the price. 

Well, folks, I'm here to tell you that on the way to work on Tuesday morning (I honestly didn't even glance that way on Monday) I discovered that my dream car has been removed form the park and sell lot. I thought it might be an illusion, but confirmed it on the way home. The Volvo is MIA. I don't know if someone bought it or if it was moved to another lot or if the owner just gave up on selling it, but apparently it was not meant to be my car. It's sad but true and so the quest is now on to find another one just like it at some point, maybe even later this year. 

In other news, yard mowing season is staring me directly in the face and I'm both dreading it and delighted about it all at the same time. I hate the thought of mowing the grass in 100 degree weather; but really, mowing is one of the few things in this life that provides me with some instant gratification. Seriously, it's not often you can look upon your work with sweat pouring down your face while drinking an ice cold Gatorade and think, "yes, that looks awesome!" but I'm here to tell you that with yard mowing, that's exactly how it is. The satisfaction I get from a freshly mowed yard is like no other - it's just getting motivated to do it that's the big problem. 

The past few years I have waited way too long to start the yard mowing. This year, the grass is high but not terribly so and I think it's still at a somewhat manageable level. I had big plans of mowing the lawn on Tuesday afternoon and called my aunt's boyfriend to see if he could bring my mower over for me. As you may recall my shed blew away in February and Chris has been kind enough to store all of my belongings at his workshop. So, he brought it over and when I got home, I got changed and was all geared up and ready for the first mowing of the season - and then the lawn mower wouldn't start. I summoned Jeff; well, knocked on his door and asked him to take a look. He had no luck either and so the grass remained unkempt for another day. 

Today (Wednesday) my dad and his friend Buddy stopped by the house to see about building a bathroom cabinet and also a new shed and they were able to get the lawn mower working. Apparently after the shed blew away, the mower ended up with some water in it which was causing it to be finicky about starting. With any luck, it will start up again when I make it home from work and I'll be able to give the yard a good trimming before time for church, otherwise the theme song for my backyard may soon be "Welcome to the Jungle."

I Thought It Was Vitamin Gut

Do you ever get vitamin gut? You know, that queasy feeling you sometimes get when you take your vitamins on an empty stomach. I get it from time to time which is why I now take my morning medicines with milk. It truly does help with the vitamin gut feeling. Today, even after drinking milk with my morning meds, I still felt a  little queasy. By the time I got to work, my stomach was still not up to par and continued to feel worse throughout the course of the day.

Around noon I decided to go ahead and leave work for the day rather than suffer at my desk for one more minute. I took a nap when I got home and around 3:30 or so I began to spend the remainder of the day and evening in the bathroom hugging the toilet with my arms. That's right folks, it would appear that the dreaded stomach bug has finally hit me. After avoiding it for more than a month, my luck ran out. I have racked my brain trying to figure out where I picked it up. My best bet is at the chiropractor's office - the nurse who did my treatment told me that her two girls had the stomach virus last week and I can only imagine that she probably carried it in to the office and gave it to me. Thanks a lot lady! I'm hoping this will be a quick run and it won't last a whole week like it has with other folks.

Speaking of the chiropractor, I almost died on the way to his office yesterday. As I got on the exit ramp at Governor's Drive, the vehicle in front of me came to a screeching halt. It was some sort of wildlife removal company and they decided to risk their lives and mine in the middle of rush hour traffic to pick up a ladder on the side of the road. They already had two ladders on their truck so I'm guessing this one wasn't even their's because think about it, have you ever seen a truck with three ladders? I doubt it. It's usually just two. Maybe it was their ladder - either way, it was a dumb move and could have injured or killed a lot of people.

At work on Monday, some of the cars in the parking lot were spray painted. The security guards were clearly hard at work. I was really hoping Old Blue would have gotten a stripe of spray paint on her broken window so I could get it replaced, but I was not so lucky. One guy in our department was a victim of the spray paint bandit and filed a police report. Hopefully he will be able to get his car repaired without any problems.

Well, typing this up has been the biggest break my stomach has given me in quite some time. So, I'm not going to press my luck, but instead will bid you adieu. Hope your health is fairing better than mine.

One more note - a shout out to my mom today - it's her birthday. Happy Birthday Mother! I look forward to celebrating with you when my belly can once again hold solid foods!

Repairs For Free - A 2013 Miracle

So, I mentioned in my Birthday #36 post that my car wouldn't start when it was time to go to my birthday party. Either y'all just skimmed over that part or you have become oblivious to my car woes. That's okay. I understand. I mean, I have a lot of car problems and sometimes they kind of just all run together.By the way, Kathy, I saw your comment from a couple of weeks ago, and yes, please let me know when you decide to get a new car. I might just break down and buy whatever it is you are currently driving.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that the power steering seemed a little off one morning and I thought the alternator might be bad; then last Friday when I went to leave for work, old Blue seemed to have a difficult time getting started. So, when I got to work that morning, I backed into my parking spot in case I needed a jump that afternoon. When I left work, she had a bit of trouble starting again but she did start and I, thankfully, made it home. I was at home for all of about five minutes and when I got in the car to leave she wouldn't start. I called my parents and they picked me up so that I could make it to my own birthday dinner. When they picked me up, we hooked the car battery up to a charger and it started soon after so we were thinking it was probably the battery. In the meantime, I had already called my loyal mechanic and told him I was bringing the car his way over the weekend.

Saturday morning after baptizing some folks at the jail, my dad came by to jump off my car so we could take it out to the mechanic. We made the decision to stop for breakfast on the way and when we finished with breakfast, we hooked the charger back up to the battery and it was a no-go. Now, we were thinking it was in fact a problem with the alternator. My dad then pulled his car close to mine and we used jumper cables and were able to get ole Blue started back up after much waiting. I drove out to the mechanic's and left it there and then my dad took me to my grandmother's where I stayed for a couple of hours going over thank-you notes and funeral details and then I went home in her car, which she agreed to let me use until mine was repaired.

While in class on Sunday, my mechanic called and it was in fact the battery that was bad (thank goodness) and he also fixed my lack of heat by replacing the radiator cap. I can't tell you how thankful I was for that because it is cold driving in to work each morning with no heat! The mechanic, bless him, didn't charge me one red cent for his time, and after picking up the car, I drove it to an auto parts store and had a new battery put in to the tune of $130. That watch I returned at Christmas quickly became a new car battery and Blue is running once again.

Some time on Saturday night, I noticed that the air in the house was running and running and running and by Sunday I was quite concerned because it had not shut off in over 24 hours. All I could hear was ch-ching, ch-ching, ch-ching for the utility company. On Monday I called the HVAC man and asked if he could come take a look at the unit. I suspected it needed some Freon and since it had a small leak a couple of years ago, he suspected the same and I braced myself because Freon isn't cheap, y'all!

The HVAC man came out early Tuesday morning and checked the unit and suspected it was either the compressor or some other mechanical thing; but, the unit was too hot for him to know for sure o he turned it off for a while and went to another job and was going to come back later to take another look. He said both things were not cheap and then my stomach groaned. That afternoon he called and miracle of miracles, it was neither of those and something had just gotten stuck and it was working again on its own and I was charged nothing.

So, now I have a working car and a working HVAC unit and heat in my car and my house and I didn't have to pay a penny. I don't know how this happened, but man, am I overjoyed. Finally 2013 has brought along a little good news! Here's to hoping no other repairmen or repairwomen for that matter need to be called any time soon!
 

Today I'm Bringing The Random

I'm stringing together another set of random thoughts for you today because, well, that's how I roll. You can thank me in the comments. So, it's not only raining today, but it's also sleeting, and snowing. In other words, it's still wet outside. As I'm typing this, folks are abandoning ship and heading home from work. I already had plans to leave early to attend a funeral, but at this point I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the funeral, which makes me very sad. There is, however, hope on the horizon because according to the forecast I saw this morning, after today, there is no more rain in the forecast for the next seven days. It might be a modern day miracle.

Monday is my garbage collection day (I told you this was going to be a series of random thoughts) and when I got home Monday afternoon one of my very sweet neighbors had brought my garbage can up from the street and placed it on the side of my house in its resting place. I thought that was just the nicest thing. I have no idea which neighbor did it, but it really made my day and I was very grateful to not have to drag up the can in the pouring rain.

Jackie told me recently about a scam going on in town where people come door to door selling cleaning supplies and then they scope out your house and come back the next day and burglar you. I had not heard anything about it on the news, but then again, I hardly pay attention to anything in the news that doesn't involve Lance Armstrong or Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend. Anyway, on Tuesday night, the doorbell rang and there was some hoodlum outside the door. I didn't even give him a chance to say anything, I just yelled, "I'm not interested!" and slammed the door. The Tide acted like a ferocious beast so if this guy was part of the scam Jackie told me about, then maybe he won't come back for fear that he will be eaten alive by a dog that walks on three legs. So far, my house has not been broken in to and I hope it stays that way.

I remembered this week that I completely forgot to tell you about the best Christmas card I received this past Christmas. It was from The Tide. She really is talented! She signed it, mailed it and everything!

I have a sneaking suspicion something is about to be very wrong with my car. The last two mornings the power steering hasn't been so great when I first started the car and there have been a couple of high pitched squeals coming from under the hood like a belt was whining. I suspect it might be the alternator. I've had many experiences with a bad alternator and therefore this is my first inclination. I could be wrong. I mean, maybe the car has just been really cold. Whatever the problem is, I hope it won't cost me an arm and a leg to repair.

I think this is all the random bit of news I have for the moment. I'm soon about to brave the world of snow and ice and will report back as to whether or not I make it to the funeral. I sure hope I am able to make it because this gentleman was one of my favorite people and I would like to pay my respects, but it seems the weather may have another plan in store for me.
Stay safe and warm everyone!

Banana Bread and Driving with the Donut

Well, I managed to make it through the week despite all my sinus issues. I'm still not feeling top notch, but alas, life must go on, beginning with some yard mowing on Thursday night. I'm really not looking forward to it; but, it has to be done. I have a couple of random stories to share with you because nothing much else has really been going on. I've spent every night this week watching a movie and going to bed around 9:00 - I'm such an exciting person! So, without further adieu, I give you the following:

A story about banana bread - please try to contain your excitement. So, we have a cafeteria at work which I have mentioned on more than one occasion. I don't eat from there often because I'd rather save money and bring lunch from home and the food isn't always the greatest, although it has immensely improved since I first started working where I do. Also, the prices can be steep if you are not careful.

A while back, the cafeteria started making homemade desserts, some of which are not too shabby. A couple or three months ago, they introduced banana bread to the line-up. I didn't think much of it, but kept seeing people buy it and figured it must be good; but, still never took the banana bread plunge. Then a few weeks ago, the girl I sit with and her sister bought a slice and let me taste it and y'all it was so good! I couldn't believe it had come from our cafeteria.

The next week I gave the girls $1 and asked them to buy me a slice if there was some available. I could not stop thinking about that banana bread and I had to have some. Wouldn't you know it, that particular week, no banana bread was made in the cafeteria. Just my luck. I would go down to the cafeteria every day when they opened for lunch only to be disappointed and then I requested that someone make some loaves!
The week after I struck out on banana bread, the cafeteria made some loaves and so I bought a couple of slices and then someone else bought me a slice. Needless to say, after those three slices (not all in one day mind you) my craving for banana bread had been satisfied and since then I have not been craving it.

Everyone that works with me, however, apparently still thinks I am over the moon for the banana bread because the next week someone bought me a slice and this past week someone bought me a slice and I only ate a couple of bites out of each slice because I didn't really want any. I was thankful for the gesture - it was really nice for those folks to think of me; but, there's only so much banana bread a gal can eat before she is sick of it. You know what I mean?

A story about driving with the donut - I don't really suppose there is any specific tale to regale you with regarding driving with the donut, just that in general, it was terrible. I am so thankful that I was able to have a couple of new tires put on the car this past weekend.

On the Wednesday night that I had the blowout, I had to traverse over Chapman Mountain with the donut to go to church; needless to say, someone road my tail the whole way to the church building. I wanted to slam on my brakes and cause them to hit me if I'm being honest; but, then I thought better of it. After all, the last thing I want right now is a car payment.

Driving to and from work on Thursday and Friday was beyond hilarious. I had the foresight to actually leave the house early and it's a good thing I did because when you can only go 50 miles per hour down the Parkway (and that's the speed limit on that road) it feels like you are driving only 20 miles per hour. I felt like a grandma driving so slowly. Every single car on the road passed me. It gave me a big chuckle, but was still annoying and it made me realize just how fast everyone in Huntsville drives. Seriously, I felt like I was sitting still on the road.

I could probably sit here and write something else about the final week of the Olympic coverage; but, I think I will spare myself and you the misery of the situation. The last week of the Olympics was exceptionally boring television. The closing ceremony was beyond weird and those Ralph Lauren designed, made in China outfits that the USA Olympians were wearing were about the ugliest things I have seen in a long while. I will not be rushing out to get one.

Hope everyone has an exceptionally wonderful weekend!

Apparently it's Called a Donut

I had a little post all ready for today, but it has been put on hold until tomorrow because something happened on the way home that makes for a better story, at least in my opinion.

I had an appointment at the chiropractor Wednesday afternoon, as is often the case and so I left work at 4:00 in order to make a stop by a UPS drop off location (to ship Caroline’s package) and then make it to the chiropractor by 4:30. After dropping off the package, I got back on the Parkway and exited at Governor’s. For whatever reason, I always take that back street that runs behind Top Line Tires and Ayers Produce to cross Governor’s and turn right onto St. Clair which is where the chiropractor’s office is.

I was stopped at the light and called Star Market to order a small Terry’s pizza to eat for dinner because after three days of roast for dinner, I was ready for a change. The light turned green and as soon as I crossed Governor’s I heard a high pitched squeal and felt a bump and thought, “Oh Lord! Have I hit a cat? A dog? A small child?” As it turns out, the tire on my front passenger side blew out. So, I turned onto St. Clair and pulled into the first parking lot I came to.

I am sometimes a lot smarter than I look and thankfully had the brilliance of mind to pay for the Roadside Assistance as part of my car insurance. The reason being is, sadly, my dad won’t be around forever and I need to rely on myself more than him. So, I pulled that gold card out of the glove compartment and gave it a call. The automated system connected me with a company whom I assume my insurance company has a contract with and after telling them where I was, the lady said someone would be there in about 30 minutes.

Now, 30 minutes isn’t too big of a deal except I needed to pee and instead of going at work before leaving, I had planned on using the facilities at the chiropractor’s office. So, I gathered my purse and phone and keys and walked up to the front of the building where I was parked. I had no idea what kind of businesses were there. Ironically one was an insurance agent (although not my company) and the other was a bathroom and kitchen store – they sell cabinets, fixtures, etc. I went into the kitchen/bathroom store, explained I was in their parking lot and did they have a restroom I could use. They apparently took pity on me because they pointed me in the direction of the facilities. The old man was also willing to change my tire but I told him I had already called someone and plus it was hot out there so he needn’t bother, but thanks.

After using the facilities, I went back to the car and cranked it up and did some reading while waiting on the roadside assistance. The man arrived a few minutes after I opened my book and when I got out of the car, he didn’t really say anything – weird. Finally he asked for my ID, which I gave him. His name was Kevin, per the nametag on his shirt. Kevin then had me sign the paperwork and brought out a jack and a thing to take the lug nuts off of the tire. (What is that thing called? It looks kind of like a drill – I’ll just call it the thing).

In the meantime, mind you, I called Terry’s pizza again and let them know what was going on and that I would be late picking up my pizza. A young guy answered the phone and said he would just make me a new one and have it ready about 5:15 – works for me!

Back to the scene of the vehicle – Kevin was working really slowly and it was so hot outside. I thought I was going to be drenched in sweat by the time it was all over and I wasn’t even doing any of the work. He got that thing and started to take the lug nuts off and he didn’t have the right size remover on the thing so he had to change that out. (Is anyone else laughing at “the thing” or is it just me?) Then after he removed two, the power in the thing died (“I ran out of juice,” he said) and I kid you not, he went and cranked up a generator so he could give that thing some power.

Finally 15 minutes or so after arriving, Kevin had the spare tire on my car and we parted ways. Now look, I have driven Blue with tape on the window, a wrecked front side, etc., but there is just something exceptionally ghetto about driving around with the spare tire. I find this to be the most embarrassing of all. I drove it to Star Market and picked up some apples from Scott’s, some ham for the next two day’s worth of sandwiches for work and my pizza. The guy that I had talked to earlier asked me if I was okay. Then he asked me if I had the donut on my car. I have never heard of the spare tire referred to as a donut, but now I know. This kid was probably 16 or 17 and he told me not to go too fast with the donut on – not over 50 he said. I think it’s more like 40, who knows?

So, if you see me driving around Huntsville with my donut the next couple of days, just honk and wave and smile, but wait until I’m past you before you start laughing at my donut. I hope to have some new tires put on this weekend. Until then, fingers crossed this doesn’t happen again because I don’t have any more donuts in the trunk of my car.

Painting and a Reunion with Blue

Another 2012 weekend has passed us by - there are only 24 left in this year so use them wisely! I don't know what is up with me taking on out of the ordinary projects recently, but it happened again this weekend. You may recall a few of weekends ago I decided to clean the baseboards in my bedroom and even attempted to dosome window cleaning, which didn't turn out to well. I would like to have all the windows clean before the end of the year - such a lofty goal. 

Friday morning I got up before the sun so I could shower and ready myself for work before the Tour de France came on at 5:30. I wanted to get that one hour and 45 minutes of viewing time in before I had to leave for the day. (No, I'm not a normal person, why do you ask?) Anyway, I don't know if I was more awake than normal or if I ended up staring at the wall behind my stove for too long or just exactly how it came about, but before I walked out the door at 6:45 a.m. on Friday morning, I had decided that I would put a fresh coat of paint on that wall if it was the only thing I accomplished on the weekend. 

I had all the supplies (paint, roller, brush) with the exception of a pan; so, I stopped by Lowe's on my way home Friday and picked up a pan. I got out of work about an hour and a half later than I had expected and so instead of tackling the project on Friday night as had been my original plan, I put it off until Saturday. So, Friday night I watched...wait for it... the Tour and did the same on Saturday morning. I also did some laundry and some dusting, mopping, etc during commercial breaks so I wasn't a complete bum. Around noon I finally managed to get started on the painting. At first I had large goals of doing the three walls that are cream color but that plan was quickly thrown out the window since I didn't have a trim man (my brother) to help out. You may recall that at Christmas time I painted one wall of my kitchen turquoise and if I had not had a stomach virus at the same time, I probably would have done the whole kitchen.
I managed to get a couple of coats on directly behind the stove and a fresh coat on the majority of the rest of that wall - the fridge is there and I doubt anyone is going to pull it out and ask, "Why didn't you paint back here?" I did pull out both the stove and the fridge and gave the floor a good cleaning which it desperately needed. The new coat of paint looks so much better and to the person who does not live in my house, in other words all of you, I don't think you can tell which parts were not painted and which ones were. The way behind the stove was rather gross and there were at least two drops of exploding tea that came through the new paint. Bizarre! The exploding tea, by the way, was from Father's Day 2007 (I think) and no matter how many times you wipe down the wall, it seeps through again. That, my friend, was some potent tea. I also gave the wrought iron piece that hangs there a good scrubbing and wow, does it look so much better. I'm really glad to have that out of the way. 

The rest of the evening was spent cleaning up the mess I made painting, finishing up laundry and vacuuming, mopping and dusting - I lead such an exciting life. I did manage to leave the house long enough to pick up a few things at Publix. Can someone tell me how it is when you have just a few things on your list you end up spending more money than you thought you would? This happens to me all the time. Of course, it didn't help that I was out of Allegra and had to spend $28 on a 45-count bottle. I did have a $4 coupon, although that didn't ease the pain of buying allergy medication. Then, to top things off, while the guy was checking me out, I ran my card through the slot, which I normally don’t do until after they tally my coupons. Well, he told me the total, I said ok, and handed him my coupons as he was handing me my receipt. I have no doubt that I had a look of shock and awe on my face when that happened. I was at a loss for words and that doesn't happen often. I'm pretty sure a tear formed in the corner of my eye as well. I was shuffled over to customer service where they gave me cash ($19.09) for the value of the coupons I was going to use, but still, I didn't want cash, I wanted to pay $19.09 less for my groceries. Can I get an Amen?! 

Sunday I went to church at Mayfair where I am trying to find a class that I like. I will write more on this later because it is worthy of its own blog post and will tie in to a Thomas Nelson book review I will have for you soon. After church I went to lunch with my aunt and cousins and some of their friends and we had a great time laughing about the plight of my finding a class and being entertained by Grumpy Greer who later became a happier Greer. Greer is my cousin's 18 month old and he is quite entertaining. 

Sunday night I went to church with my parents and afterwards we picked Blue up from the mechanic! I was so thrilled to have her back. It was such a wonderful reunion. The mechanic repaired the following:

The back window is now operable once again
The windshield wiper works again
The gear shifter works without the aid of duct tape
The fan belt was replaced
And finally... the biggest surprise of all.. I can retrieve the key from the ignition without sticking a Bic ink pen in the steering column. I didn't even ask for this repair, it was a bonus repair. For three years or longer I've been sticking an ink pen in the steering column to get my key out. It is weird not to have to do this any longer. 

Wow, that seems like a lot crammed into one weekend, but really it wasn't. Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

I Forgot to Mention

So yesterday in my detailed post about all of the problems my dear car Blue is having I completely forgot to mention that the heater doesn't work. As I was driving in to work this morning, it was raining and there was a chill in the air and I wanted a little heat in the car because I was wearing a skirt and my legs were cold. As I turned it on and it spurted out cold air, I remembered that the heat doesn't work unless you are driving about 80 miles per hour (no joke). A few weeks ago when we had that dogwood or blackberry winter, otherwise known as a cold spell, I had to cover up with a blanket on my way in to work. I've had this same problem with my heater every year for the past four, maybe five winters and I always pay some random amount of money to have the repair man fix it up. This past winter, as you probably recall, was anything but cold and so there was never a dire need in having it repaired, but I sure miss having it on cool rainy mornings. At least it's not the AC that doesn't work, like in my friend Honey's car. If it was the AC, no doubt, I would break down and have it repaired ASAP. I only like to sweat at the gym or when working in the yard; other than that, no thanks and certainly not when I'm driving down the road. Honey, however, has children so she obviously, and rightly so, prioritizes the needs of her children over having the AC in her car repaired. If I had a lot of extra cash lying around I would hook her up with an AC repair, but sadly, I do not have extra cash lying around or swimming around or just around for that matter.

Moving on...

I've recently discovered or come up with, however you want to look at it a great way to cook chicken. Probably everyone already knows that chicken tastes good this way and I'm probably the last one to discover it, but anyway, I'll share it with you here. So, I've eaten Mexican something or another basically every day since Friday. I think I'm finally burnt out, but probably not for long because Mexican food is a real joy I tell ya. Anyway, on Sunday, I had laid out a chicken breast with no real idea of how I wanted to cook it for dinner. I ended up squeezing a lime into the bag the chicken breast was in and then hammered it out thin and cooked it in butter and lime juice with some salt and pepper. It became a golden brown and was probably the best chicken I have ever cooked. I subsequently ended up cooking it the same way on both Monday and Tuesday nights and my stomach is growling as I type this just thinking of the deliciousness. I cooked it on medium heat if you were wondering and I wrapped it in a soft tortilla with guacamole and cheese dip. It tasted very similar to a fajita. I thought it was really good, obviously since I had it three nights in a row!

Not that anyone cares, but the Philadelphia Flyers are out of the Stanley Cup playoffs which caused me for the 35th year in a row to be a little heartbroken. OK, maybe not 35 years because I doubt I cared when I was only a few months old, but still, heartbroken nonetheless. Maybe one day before I die they will win the Cup, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I'm sure many of you play Words with Friends, it's addictive and fun and I love to play myself, but I was recently introduced to Scramble, which is another word game by Zynga and sweet heavens, I love it even more. I've played about 30 games with my three friends who play and lost every game but one and I still love it! I get a little better each time I play. If you like Words, you will probably like Scramble as well. Give it a try!

Continuing on with completely unrelated subjects, one of my customer's went to the same school as I did growing up. He was five years older than me and I had no idea who he was then and if I saw him on the street now I probably wouldn't recognize him as I have never met him in person. Last week, I brought in the yearbook from 1990 and we looked him up. Then we read his senior saying which was, and I quote, "It ain't nothing but a thang." We had a good laugh about that and now every time we respond to one of his emails, we always want to type, "It ain't nothing but a thang." Obviously we don't but we now say that at least once a day when referring to our customer, who has no idea we looked up him up in his senior yearbook and if we did respond with that line, would probably think we had lost our minds and have no clue as to what we were talking about. It makes for a good laugh, though.

I'm really at a loss for additional words or topics right now - scary, huh? Come back tomorrow for another post about, well, who knows what. Then, stop by on Friday for what I hope to be a book review and a giveaway! Oh yeah! I have a little more reading to do on this particular book, but I've already started the review and with any luck it will be finished and posted on Friday evening. For those of you who read during the day, do not fear because the giveaway will be open for a week. I want to give everyone who wants to enter the chance to do just that. OK, that's it for today.

Blue Continues to Have Issues

As mentioned yesterday, I don't have much on the agenda right now and so it's any man's guess as to what kind of material will be here over the next little while. All I can promise is that I'll keep it clean and try to write at least something.


I was thinking last night about what I could write about since life has slowed down a wee bit and decided that one thing I could do was update you on my car, Blue. Poor Blue, that's really all you can say. My aunt rode with me a couple of weeks ago when we went to see Michael, Jr. at Grissom and asked me if my car would run without duct tape. I'm pretty sure the answer to that is no. Thankfully, I'm not easily embarrassed.

The latest list of Blue's ailments is a long one. First of all, she needs a good washing, which I would do if I had someone to sit in the backseat and hold up the window for me. It's times like these when a girl really needs her incarcerated brother to be living on the outside. Yes, Blue is having window problems again. I don't know if the Gran Prix model of car is prone to window problems or what, but this is the third of my four windows to have an issue staying up. The first time it was the back window on the passenger side and it was repaired such that it can no longer be rolled down. The second, as you may be aware was the front passenger window, which I had repaired to the tune of $125 back during the winter. Now, it's the back driver's side window that won't stay up and is only being held up by the strength of clear duct tape. So, at some point (or not) when I have an extra $125 lying around (probably won't be any time soon) I'll have it repaired. I would have this one done like the other back window where it just won't roll down any more, but The Tide rides in the backseat when I have to cart her some place or the other and I'm quite sure she would appreciate it if she had some fresh air. Dogs, after all, like to use their turbo noses when riding down the highway. Plus, and I'm probably the only weirdo that ever thinks of this, but what if my car was to run off a bridge and was submerged under water, I mean I would at least like the option of being able to roll down the window before the car plunges into the depth of the river or creek or whatever. Can I get an Amen?

Next, the windshield wiper on the passenger side doesn't work. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before. Thank the good Lord, the one on the driver's side does work, otherwise I would be up a creek. This problem can be temporarily corrected with a number 13 socket wrench which I do not have, but perhaps should consider procuring. Permanently, I would imagine it takes more than a #13 socket wrench, but I fear the price tag and therefore just carry on without the passenger side wiper.

The last time I had my oil changed, I was told my serpentine belt needed to be replaced to the tune of $99 (plus who knows how much tax and labor which is most likely not included in that $99 price tag). I'm always leery when the oil change place tells me I need something replaced because I know they are trying to drum up more business and make some money; but, at the same time, each time I get into the car to go somewhere, there is the thought in the back of my mind that I will end up stranded on the side of the road thanks to my not having replaced that serpentine belt. Thankfully I have roadside assistance through my insurance company and with any luck, I wouldn't be stranded for too long.

I know I've mentioned this before, but my gear shift is also duct taped and I wouldn't be going anywhere but a parking space if it wasn't. That's really all I have to say about that. Finally, I don't know if I've mentioned this one before or not, but because the key release is somehow stuck, I have to stick and ink pen in the steering wheel shaft to retrieve the keys from the ignition. Not just any ink pen, but specifically a BIC ink pen. Needless to say, I have two or three on hand at all times. This has been going on for a couple of years or more now and just comes as second nature when I turn the car off.

I think those are all the issues for now. I'm sure something else will come up soon, it never ceases to amaze me how many issues a car can have yet still drive rather well. I'm thankful to have Blue and really thankful to not have a car payment.Maybe one day I will break down and buy something newer, but today, is not that day.

My Ghetto Car

So, as you probably know, I often have more than my fair share of problems with my car, Blue. It seems that just when one problem is repaired another one pops up.

Lately I have had a lot of problems with getting my car out of park. As most of you probably have to do with your car, I have to place my foot on the brake and shift from park to reverse or to drive or whatever. You know what I’m talking about I’m sure. Back in December I had the oil changed and also had a headlight and reverse light replaced. During that process while the car engine was off, I had to put my foot on the brake and put the car in reverse so the guys could see if the bulb was replaced correctly. It was after this little adventure that I started having the problem with moving the car from park.

The problem got better for a while and I figured out some tricks to help the process along. For whatever reason, late this past week the problem got worse and I had a really difficult time getting the car out of park. The problem is the lever on the gear shift would not push in, it gets stuck and won’t budge. Friday was a real pain and Saturday morning it became much worse.

I managed to get it in drive and go to my haircut appointment; but, when I was ready to leave, I couldn’t get it to budge. Finally about 10 minutes or so later I was able to put it in drive and head to Publix. After my grocery trip, I had the same problem and finally managed to get it in drive and head over the mountain to Mr. Donut. There, I left the car in drive and put on the emergency brake and discovered that I could move it in to park to turn on the ignition and as long as I didn’t take my finger off the lever, I could move it back into drive, reverse, etc. (Is this story making any sense?)

Anyway, I went to my parents house and then to the Publix in Hampton Cove to get some bread (my first stop I didn’t’ get any bread because it wasn’t baked yet) and I had to take the keys out and put it in park. Well, when I got back to the car, I couldn’t get it to budge out of park. I had to call my dad and as he was on his way, I finally got it out of park – 22 minutes after my first try. I ended up duct taping the lever and so far it has worked in allowing the car to go from park to reverse or park to drive. Hopefully it will work for a good long while because I really don’t have the funds to have this little problem repaired.

So, that’s the latest story about Blue, my ghetto car. Maybe one day I’ll have the Volvo station wagon I’ve always dreamed of and it will work without fail. Here’s to hoping!

Blue Has Some Issues

There are no more updates on the house the moment. Last night after church, I just went home and watched TV instead of doing any work and the very same thing may happen again tonight. Over the weekend I hope to get the house back into some semblance of order and everything back in its place and cleaned before I start on my next project which has something to do with the kitchen. I’m not letting any secrets out of the bag just yet. You’ll have to stay tuned and see what I’ve got up my sleeve.

In other news, my car Blue is once again in need of some repair work. You may recall that Blue was in not one, but three of the four car accidents in which I was involved last year and had to have body work done. Then in January, Blue completely pooped out on me and I had to have a gasket replaced to the tune of about $700. Well, not wanting to be upstaged by home renovation, Blue has decided to have yet another problem.

A couple of weeks ago now as I was driving to work, I heard what sounded like air coming through a cracked window. I mistakenly rolled down the passenger side window and then attempted to roll it back up, but to no avail. Once I arrived at work I had to manually put the window back in place. This was the weekend that my brother stayed the night a couple of times and each time he sat in the passenger side, he had to push up the window.

The Saturday morning of that weekend, I bought some clear duct tape and we taped up the window, which was a good thing since it rained later that weekend. The tape has managed to stay on and hold for almost two weeks now with no leaks! It poured rain last night and the inside of the car stayed dry – awesome! The tape looks really ghetto, but it does the trick for now.

In addition to the window problem, my neighbor Jeff also told me one of my reverse lights is out. So, there are two minor problems that need to be fixed. Since I’m having my second foot surgery on October 19, I hope to take the car over to the repair guy’s place and have him work on it during the two or three days I’m out of commission. That should give him plenty of time to fix both of those issues. In the meantime, I’ll keep on driving around with a taped up window.

Sometimes Things Don't Go As Planned

My original intent today was to write a post about the annual Christmas Eve breakfast my parents’ have at their house. They’ve had this breakfast for as long as I can remember and I had every intent of coming to their house early and taking photos of the cooks and the people eating. Sometimes good plans get thwarted by unexpected situations as was the case today.

As I was getting ready to leave, my mom called and asked me to stop and get her some medicine from the drug store. I loaded up the car soon after and headed that way; only to be stopped in my tracks by car accident number four. That’s right folks, not only am I not safe in my own vehicle, but apparently I’m not safe while driving my dad’s car either.

I was heading down Russell Street, which has no stop signs and when I reached Beirne, some people from out of town drove right thru their stop sign. I proceeded to blow the horn and slam on my brakes but still managed to clip the back end of their vehicle.

Needless to say, I was pretty upset about this. To top it off, our Christmas Eve dinner of potato soup was in the back seat and after the slamming of the brakes, was all over the floorboard – so now we have to figure out something else to eat for dinner.

I called the police who came and filled out a report. The people in the other vehicle were from South Carolina and clearly were not familiar with the area. The driver said she stopped, but as God as my witness she didn’t. Anyway, I’m okay and the car isn’t too damaged. I always thought things came in threes. I sure hope this isn’t the beginning of another set of threes because I’m really tired of being in car accidents.

With the Exception of My Car, Life Continues to be Uneventful

Blue was towed to the mechanic yesterday and I haven’t heard yet what the damage is; but I’m sure I’ll end up owing hundreds of dollars and then I’ll have a big cry fest. Please pray for me; and while you’re at it, pray for The Tide too. She’s having a lot of problems with pain in her hips during these cold days. As you may know if you read this post last year, The Tide has had both of her hips operated on and when the weather is cold or a front moves through the area, she has a lot of problems with pain and walking and getting on and off the couch, etc. The past couple of days have been especially bad and this morning she was just so pitiful. She didn’t even want any treats! So, say a little prayer for my not-so-little dog if you don’t mind.

I wish there was something more exciting to write about so that you may actually want to come back to this site, but I’m here to tell you, things have been the epitome of boring lately. This past weekend, other than the car troubles, I spent sleeping and doing a little cleaning. I also did some reading and some TV watching. Oh and I took a bath at my parents’ house because their bathtub is bigger and easier to maneuver in, which is a huge help when you have to hang one foot off the side of the tub. So, clearly there’s not much detail to write about because the previous sentences sum it all up. I’m also fairly certain you don’t care to read about how I bought some meat to make spaghetti over the weekend and by the time I finally got around to pulling it out of the fridge to cook it (last night) the meat was no longer good and I ended up cooking a frozen pizza instead. See how exciting things are these days! Have no fear though, I plan to buy some more meat today and make spaghetti for tonight’s dinner.

In case you are wondering about the foot, it is healing up quite nicely and I am able to walk without the cane most of the time. I am still using it at work though because we have concrete floors and it causes me a lot of pain and I don’t want to topple over because I’m sure there would be some people here that would think that’s the funniest thing ever. Come to think of it, Jackie would probably find that funny too, which thinking about that makes me laugh as I am typing this. I get two of my stitches out on Thursday and the rest on the 23rd! So, I should truly be able to take a shower for Christmas and I’m pretty excited about that.

Thursday night I am having Christmas with Jackie and the kids and that should give you something to look forward to reading about because I will have done something other than nothing for a change.

It’s 11 degrees in Huntsville right now. 11 degrees! And it’s not even January! I’m really amazed at how cold it has gotten. I keep waiting for the roads to freeze over so I won’t have to drive in to work but I guess you have to have precipitation for that to happen.

I guess this about sums up all the boringness for today. If you have any subjects you’d like for me to write about please let me know in the comments. Otherwise I may write a post about doing laundry and then I may lose the only two readers I have left!

Have a good Tuesday, ya’ll!

Oh, What a Night!

Yes, I’m channeling the Four Seasons here today and their beloved hit from 1976, “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”; because although it may not be late December back in ’63, it is mid-December in 2010, and Oh, What a Night indeed.

Some of my friends and family who read this blog may know that the heater in my car, Blue, has not been working as of late. I seem to have had this problem every year for the past three years or so and every year I take it out to the mechanic in Owens Cross Roads to have the heater worked on so I can survive the winter, or at least defrost the windshield in the mornings. It sometimes takes two or three trips out there before the mechanic gets it working exactly right, but he finally does and my freezing face and hands are appreciative.

This year was no exception. Back in November when Huntsville experienced the first cold weather of the season, I thought, oh no, not again, but sure enough, the heater wasn’t working and only blowing cold air. I decided I would wait until my foot surgery before I took Blue to the mechanic because obviously I wouldn’t need a car for a few days.

I picked the car up on Sunday evening after my foot surgery and the heater still didn’t work. While I was still cold, I was mostly aggravated and didn’t feel like wasting any more money on the car right now and decided I would tough it out as long as I could.

This past Friday, after I left work, I put a full tank of gas in Blue and also had the oil changed. The rest of Friday afternoon things ran smoothly and they ran smoothly on Saturday as well when I took The Tide to the vet and went by my parents’ house.

On Sunday morning when I was backing into a parking space at church, I thought I heard a strange sound and after parking, I staying in the car with it running for a while to listen – I didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary and went on inside. When I left church later that morning to go home, the engine started overheating! I was nervous because the last thing I want is for my car to blow up! I made it home and put some more anti-freeze in it and then went inside for lunch and a nap.

All of this brings me to Sunday night – Oh, What a Night! On the way to church, the car overheated again and so I called the mechanic and told him what was going on; I then called my dad for the same reason and we decided to take the car to the mechanic after church was over. I was going to drive to my parents’ house and then to the mechanics.

We had an abbreviated service because of the weather last night and afterwards I started out towards my parents’ house. I had to pull over less than 10 minutes into my journey. I let the car rest a while and then drove for another few minutes and had to pull over again. Basically, I could only drive the car for four minutes and then had to pull over for 10. On top of this, there was no heat in the car and it was around 20 degrees outside and snowing. And the cherry on top was that I was driving down a dark curvy road with very few areas to pull over. NOT FUN!

I finally made it to my parents’ house and after talking with them for a few minutes and warming my buns by the fire, my dad and I headed out again. I thought he was going to drive my car and I his, but he jumped in his car and so I was stuck with Blue. I got maybe a half mile or so from there house before the car started to seize up and I had to pull over on the side of the road. To my knowledge the car is still there. I think my dad is calling the wrecker to bring it to the mechanic today. Good times, people, good times.

After abandoning Blue, we headed across town to my maternal grandfather’s house to pick up a truck for my dad and I took my dad’s car, which I am driving today – all of this in snowy weather. Blue really knows how to pick a night to act up.

I have no idea what the damages are going to be but I can only imagine it isn’t going to be pretty. I have done my best to keep the oil changed and keep the maintenance up on the car so I have no idea what has happened.

I will probably have to get a new car, but I just hope Blue can carry me through the end of July until I get back from my trip to France. When you are saying your prayers tonight, please remember me and my car troubles. I’ve had enough to last a lifetime and I need all the help I can get.

They Say It Comes In Threes

I had a post about the concession stand prepared for today; but that will now have to wait until next week because it has happened again. My poor car, Blue, was involved in yet another car accident – the third in three months! (Read about #1 and #2 if you haven't already.) I’m beginning to think Blue is actually a magnet for car accidents.

Last night after work I went to the gym and then headed over to drop some things off at a friend’s house. As I was coming home, I was stopped at the traffic light at Russell and Pratt Avenue. When my light turned green, I started driving and out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone coming down Pratt Avenue at what seemed like 40 miles per hour and it looked as though they had no intention of stopping. I slammed on my brakes to try and prevent poor Blue from being hit again; but it was no use. The guy in the silver Reno plowed into the side of Blue and gave my unfortunate car her third injury in as many months.

Neither me nor the other driver were injured which is a blessing. I’ve had a headache since last night, but the doctor says it isn’t a concussion; so, that’s good. Needless to say I was less than thrilled about being in yet another traffic accident. I really wish I could afford a driver because I hate driving more and more every day. I really think I have a sign on my car that says, “Please pull out in front of me” or “Please hit me”. Unfortunately the sign is invisible to me and I can’t see it to get rid of it.

So, that’s the latest saga of Blue. She’ll be headed back to the shop next week. Since things supposedly come in threes, I hope that this third accident is the last one for a long while. Keep me in your prayers as I travel the roads of Madison County!

You’re My Car, Blue!

Because I didn’t do anything fun and/or exciting over the weekend, which was an absolute blessing I might add, you get to hear a boring story today.

I got my car back yesterday and turned in The Rental. I was very glad to get Blue back, Blue being my car. Do you name your car? I have always named the cars I’ve driven. For whatever reason, I haven’t found a name I like for my current car and this morning it hit me that I think Tony and I may have decided to call it Blue, as in “You’re my boy, Blue!” from the movie Old School. Maybe we didn’t; maybe this is just something I dreamt up overnight. I honestly cannot remember; but, at any rate, my car has, as of this morning, been dubbed Blue.

I got the call yesterday afternoon at about 3:30 that Blue was ready to be picked up. So, I went ahead and left work because I had to put some gas in The Rental before I turned it in. I was actually glad to be rid of The Rental. I don’t like to drive cars that I don’t own; it makes me nervous. The Rental was a smooth ride, no doubt and I will definitely miss the satellite radio. Being able to listen to ESPN radio all day long without some local joker talk show host was indeed a little slice of heaven! Other than that, there wasn’t much I was overly impressed with about the car and I was happy to once again be in the comfortable and familiar confines of Blue.

When I got to the shop to pick it up, I had to wait about 15 minutes for the paperwork to be completed. Um, hello, if you call and say the car is ready, there shouldn’t be any additional administrative duties to complete, causing the customer to wait.

Blue looks as good as new up front where the work was completed. It’s as though P never even hit the car! I’m happy with the way it looks and even happier that P’s insurance paid for it all. They even washed the outside and vacuumed the inside – what more can you as for?

When I got into Blue, it felt like I was sitting on the ground. I had noticed when I took possession of The Rental that the driver’s seat sat up higher, which I liked a lot better than riding low to the ground like I was about to partake in a drive-by. I started fidgeting with the seat controls and lo and behold, I discovered that I could move the driver’s seat up higher! I was so giddy with joy I could hardly control myself. I had never noticed this function before. You see, Blue was my dad’s company car before I purchased it and so when I bought the car, the driver’s seat settings were to my dad’s liking. Well, I never in a million years realized I could move the driver’s seat to a higher position. Sure, I’ve straightened the back of the seat and moved it forward but as for being a low rider, I just thought it was how the car was made. I had no idea this was actually my dad’s preference.

So, I’m now riding high in Blue, and I’m sure glad to have her back!

Watching Football Can Be Dangerous

Saturday night, I was lying on the couch watching the Texas/Texas Tech game, enjoying a nice evening of college football. I was also doing some laundry, so, needless to say, there was a lot of “noise” in the house with the TV, dryer, etc. About 9:25 or so I heard a crash outside; usually when there’s a noise like this, The Tide will bark and jump up from her slumber to peak out through the seam between the blinds and the window to determine if everything is okay. Well, she must have been worn out from watching football all day because she didn’t even stir until I got up and decided to check things out.

I opened the front door and saw my neighbor, Jeff standing in the street in front of my house. He waved me over and I asked what was going on. He said, “They hit your car.” I said, “What?” He repeated, “They hit your car and I think they’re drunk. They’re turning around down there. I came out here to see if I could get the license plate number.”

About that time, the car headed towards us at which point Jeff pushed me and him out of the way and said, “Get out of the way, I think they’re drunk.” As the car slowed down, I thought maybe they were going to stop at my house and admit what happened, etc.; but, no. The car was slowing down because it was the car of my other neighbor P. (Name was been withheld to protect the not so innocent).

I said to Jeff, “Is that P’s car?”

“Yes, I think it is,” he said.

And so we started walking towards her house. I asked Jeff, should we call the police and he said, “Yeah, I would. I think she’s got a drinking problem and it would probably be best. Come on over you can use my phone; I’ve got the police department on speed dial.” Yes, there is sometimes a need to have HPD on speed dial when you live in Five Points.

I told Jeff I was going to go home and put some shoes on first, which I did, and then I went over to his house to speed dial HPD. I explained to the guy what happened, told him there was a witness (Jeff – who had been outside smoking and saw the whole thing happen), and that we were under the impression P might be intoxicated.

After I got off the phone, I asked Jeff if he minded speaking to the police, and he said, “Sure, not a problem, let me put my other glasses on.” (No, I’m not sure why.) And I said, “OK, I’m going home to put on a bra.” Look, I’m just being honest here, people! I was at home for the night and I don’t care to wear a bra when I’m hanging out at home with nothing going on but I figured I’d better put one on before the police showed up and as far as telling Jeff is concerned, well, he just thought it was funny. (Jeff is in his 60s for those of you wondering).

I went inside my house and did just that and also managed to call my parents. I briefly told my dad what was going on and about that time the police showed up, which I thought was interesting because it took them about seven minutes to arrive after I placed the call, whereas 45 minutes after I called about Charlie possibly being dead no one had yet shown up.

The police looked at the car and Jeff gave them the account of what happened – the car came from the east stopped a little bit past my car and started backing up (we assume to turn around) and hit my car, then sped off, turned around at the next intersection came back and pulled into the driveway of her home. We told them which house was P’s. They asked if she had come out since she pulled her car into her driveway and parked it. No, she had not.

Two more officers arrived at this point. The first two took car of the paperwork – getting my information, Jeff’s information, and his witness account. The other two went over to P’s house and looked at her car and somehow got her out of her house. I assume they knocked on the door, but I never saw that take place. I think it all happened in the back of her house which I cannot see.

Moments later, the two officers that had gone to P’s house started walking down the street with P in tow. One of them brought her information over to the officers on the porch with me so they could document it in the report. The officer that brought the information up (Jones) said, “She’s drunk as hell, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” I’m not sure what the law is here, but I assume the reason they could do nothing about it was because she was already home and/or her drunk driving was not witnessed by an officer. I really don’t know. While P was walking over to the scene of the crime, she fell down three times.

Once all the paperwork was complete, I went inside to watch some more football and called my parents to let them know what had happened while the police were there and also called Jackie to let her know what was going on.

The next morning as I was picking out some clothes for church the doorbell rang, and I had a sneaking suspicion it might be P – sure enough it was. I had never actually met her before, but knew her name through Jeff. So she said, “I guess I should introduce myself, I’m P.”

“I’m Natasha,” I said.

“I hit your car last night,” said P.

“Yes, I know,” I said.

P went on to apologize and say how ashamed she was and how she knew better, and on and on. I proceeded to give her a lecture about how my car could have been a person and she is really lucky it wasn’t and how about calling a cab next time.

She has since called her insurance company and they have been in touch. So, plans are to get my car repaired soon I hope.

As always, there’s never a dull moment in Five Points, or Peyton Place as Jackie calls it.