It's Always Something

I had to run out for something at lunch today. Things in my life however, never seem to go as planned. Halfway to where I was going I went around a corner and heard the telltale thunk thunk thunk. I got out to investigate just to make sure. Wishful thinking. Yep, the tire was flat all right.

As I was standing there, cursing the universal powers for choosing me for their games yet again I looked up and low and behold a tow truck happened to be passing. So okay, I took back half of what I said. Should have taken back all of it because the spare was flat too. Yes, I know. My fault. I’ve had the car for over a year now and no, I’ve never checked it. I was just happy to see I actually had a spare, not that it did me any good.

Dave, the wonderful rescuing tow truck man, loaded both me and my wounded car up in his truck and toted us off to Mikey’s place. He did ask first if I had any other destination I preferred. Nope. My only requirement was somewhere fast that wouldn’t soak me.

Mikey’s turned out to be a garage not far from my house, complete with dad Jason to keep me company while I waited. He was quite charming, white-haired and dapper in his uniform. I don’t think he’s used to having females in his little waiting area because he went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable.

As it turned out both tires only had slow leaks and were easily fixed. I never did get my errand accomplished but I’m only out $18 and an extra half hour lunch time but as I see it the entertainment value far outweighs that. Life’s an adventure no matter where you find it.

When I Grow Up

When I was a little girl, before I started school, my parents’ friends would ask if I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. That’s what they all were. Uh, no. Even then I already knew I’d never have the patience for it. After all, why would I want to when all they did was complain?

So what did I tell them? I wanted to be a translator for the UN. Swedish to be specific. You should have seen the looks I got the first time I announced that one. I don’t remember how I came up with it but it sounded like an awesome idea to me. It lasted for years, right up until the time I could start taking languages in school.

That’s when the dream ended. Although my school didn’t offer Swedish it was still painfully obvious translator was not among my capabilities, not spoken anyway. Yes, I was very adept at languages. I picked them up with relative ease. I could write out most anything. It’s the pronunciation that I sucked at. The truth is there are a lot of days I have trouble speaking clearly in English. But that’s me. Most days talking to people is too tiring to bother with so I don’t.

What about you? Was there something odd you wanted to be when you were a small child?

By Definition

anticipate – verb - to give advance thought, discussion, or treatment to

anxious – adjective - characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency

boredom – noun - the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest

curious – adjective - marked by desire to investigate and learn

delusional – noun - a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self

exhaust – verb - to tire extremely or completely

fascinate – verb - to transfix and hold spellbound by an irresistible power

frustrate – transitive verb - to induce feelings of discouragement in

furtive – adjective - done by stealth

kind – adjective - of a sympathetic or helpful nature

nonjudgmental – adjective - avoiding judgments based on one's personal and especially moral standards

pensive – adjective - suggestive of sad thoughtfulness

prejudge – intransitive verb - to judge before hearing or before full and sufficient examination

thwart – transitive verb - to run counter to so as to effectively oppose or baffle

Local News

As I was getting dressed this morning I heard something interesting on the radio. Reading put a new law into place. Car owners will now be fined if their keys are left in their car ignitions with the doors unlocked and the cars unattended.

Oh. Okay. This brings up some questions. I didn’t have a chance to see today’s paper so I don’t know if it mentioned anything additional about leaving the keys in with the doors locked. You know. Say perhaps after an ice storm when the whole city starts their cars with the spare key and lets them melt instead of chipping away at the ice as we all do.

Also, what ramifications does this have in regard to insurance? If your car is stolen and your keys were in it, would your insurance company now not have to cover any damage after it’s found since you broke the law? Not that I make a habit of wandering off with my keys hanging in my ignition but I really don’t know if I would admit it if my car was stolen. Would you?

And what about the law enforcement aspect of this? The radio was unclear as to who exactly would be enforcing this new law, the police department or the parking authority. As I see it the city, doesn’t have the manpower in either area to do a highly effective job as I know they will strive to do. I’ve never seen any parking authority personnel in my neighborhood. If it’s to be the police officers well then just imagine all of the other crime that will go unchecked while they’re wandering the streets, peeking in car windows. Oh my, now doesn’t that just leave me with a renewed sense of security. I think I need to move. Or run for mayor.

No Blog Today

I tried. Really I did. But no matter what I wrote I would have pissed off someone or other and I'm still too tired and self-absorbed to deal with it.

I'm going to finish my vacuuming and my laundry and go back to bed.

Hope your day is better.

It's Confirmed

It's 70 degress outside today.




It's pouring.






I'm watching Christmas movies.







Yep, I've lost my mind.







Want to join me?

Dunno

Agitate – verb – to excite and the mind and feelings of

Dejected – adjective – cast down in spirits

Discompose – transitive verb – to disturb the order of

Discontent – noun - a sense of grievance

Discourage – transitive verb – to deprive of courage or confidence

Dishearten – transitive verb – to cause to lose spirit or morale

Disquiet – verb – to take away the peace or tranquility of

Dissatisfied – noun – lack of contentment

Downcast – adjective – low in spirit

Overwhelm – transitive verb – to overpower in thought or feeling

Restless – adjective - characterized by or manifesting unrest especially of mind

Sad – adjective – affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness

Subdue – transitive verb – to conquer and bring into subjection

Swage – verb – to disturb the poise of

Unease – noun – mental or spiritual discomfort; vague dissatisfaction

Unquiet – adjective - Physically, emotionally or mentally restless

Sooner or Later

I’m going to catch whoever it is that’s sneaking into my kitchen and leaving all that odd food in my cabinets. The latest is a package of instant microwave chickpea curry. The picture is not at all appealing so I have no idea why anyone would ever buy it. I like chick peas and I like curries so in theory it could be good. I know a man who loves to cook. I bet he could whip up some that would be amazing but instant? Um, I somehow don’t think so.

Right behind that there’s a box of kosher potato pancake mix. What the? Where the hell did that come from? Who in their right mind needs a mix for that?

The other day I found a jar of peanut butter. Peanut butter! And it was opened. I don’t eat peanut butter. I asked the cats just who they were letting into the house when I’m not home but of course I got that look only cats can give.

In the refrigerator there are nine different flavors of mustard, also all open. That’s okay, I like mustards. The only problem is I have no recollection of eating any of them, nor do I have anything that you might want to put mustard on.

There’s a box of fish sticks in the freezer. I didn’t eat them as a kid. I’m certainly not going to start now. Or maybe I have. Maybe I’ve lost my mind and have a whole other life I don’t know about that includes eating strange things or having an assortment of people into my home. Maybe, instead of setting up the video camera to see what the cats are getting up to during the day, I need it to watch myself.

Curiouser and curiouser…

Aggravation

This is not my week.

First, I received a letter in the mail informing me the doctor I oh so carefully chose is leaving the practice. I don't know why nor do I know where she is going.

Then today I turned on my phone only to discover that the woman who cuts my hair is leaving the salon I go to. Again, I chose her carefully and for a very specific reason.

What are these careful and specific reasons, you wonder? Other than the obvious qualifications, I went by location and age. I want convenience and I want someone who has good odds of being around longer than I am. Hey, I'm busy and I'm tired and I just don't feel like running all over the place any more. Is that so wrong?

I spoke with my hair lady. Her reason is very valid. She's opening a shop with her sister. All the way over on the other side of town. Not impossible but very user-friendly either. I asked about pricing. It's equivalent so not an issue. But I don't ever get to that part of Reading. She said she'd love to see me again but she'd understand if I switched to one of the other ladies in her former location. Hm, very likely I will since it's less than a quarter of a block from my house.

I will be calling my doctor to find out where she's going tomorrow. I had jury duty so I didn't have the chance to do that today. With my luck I'm sure she's relocating to East Timbuktu and I'll be forced to start the whole new doctor finding process all over again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for change but sometimes it sure can be a damn nuisance.

Wah Wah Wah

I swear today I must have been sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Either that or I suddenly quit speaking English without realizing it and everyone around me lost their translation filters or something. Whatever it was, nearly every word I uttered was met with a universal “Huh?”

I don’t know about you but personally, by the fourteenth time I find huh truly aggravating. I tried to maintain a sense of humor about it but it just wasn’t happening. My solution was to stop talking altogether. Then of course we were back to the whole “what’s wrong with Barb routine”.

Do you think I should have told them? How do you think they would have reacted if I’d responded, “Nothing. You’re just too damn annoying to continue attempting to converse with any further today”? I suspect not at all well. Then again, they probably would have thought I was joking. Sometimes I think they haven’t paid enough attention and don’t know me at all. On the other hand, I do see that as a plus for the most part.

Yes, I admit it. I’m selective about who I let into my life. Oh, I’ll talk to anyone. I just don’t reveal things to most that I wouldn’t hire a skywriter to blast across the sky on any given day.

As I seem to have lost whatever non-existent train of thought I never had to start with I suppose that’s enough for today.

One thing that is rather important. It is Veterans Day. If you encounter any in your travels be sure to say thank you. I did.