And it Starts

Yesterday our community experienced our first holiday fatality due to drunk driving. A guy in his pick up truck sailed through a stop sign on a busy highway and rammed a suv killing the driver instantly. It was 5:00 pm and the guy's blood alcohol level was FIVE times over the legal limit. He was barely hurt. The whole thing is just plain sad.

Now here is where everyone gets real angry. This guy had been arrested for drunk driving several times, even losing his license FOR LIFE, and somehow got it back, and after he got it back was arrested AGAIN with a blood alcohol level four times over the legal limit, and somehow the charges were dropped.

Something is really wrong here.

Jinx

Serveral weeks ago, I got a call from my supervisor asking me if I was wanting full time work, and of course, I said yes. He went on to say that they were given permission to put a full time person on, and that they could move up one of the employees that they took full time away from, and my supervisor said he didn't want him promoted, that he would like me. I was so excited and told a few relatives about it, and while I was telling them I even mentioned something about jinxing it by talking about it. I hadn't heard anything since that call. Well I did jinx it.

Today my other supervisor said that the supervisor that I had talked to stepped down and was being replaced by someone relocating here. Of course there was no mention of the pending promotion for me, and I'm sure won't hear about it again.

I'm so bummed.

Flush This

The other day when it was raining and I was um, going to the bathroom, I thought hmm, it's raining so hard it sounds like it's raining right here in the bathroom. Being in another world lately, I didn't think anything of it until I went to the bathroom when it wasn't raining and still heard water dripping. I noticed rust coming from my flusher lever and then shuddered at the thought that my tank was overflowing. I hate plumbing stuff.

I went to the hardware store and the nice person working there told me that I needed to replace my fill valve and an even nicer person shopping who noticed me looking bewildered at all the different things hanging on the pegs not knowing exactly what I needed told me which kit to purchase that would be the best. I confidently went home and planned to replace the valve and be good to go...heh heh in just an hour or two.

Turn off water supply, easy enough. Remove old fill valve. One nut came off. The other wouldn't budge. Hard as I tried, I couldn't get the nut to move. I had to mostly feel under the tank to try to get the wrench to fit, as there was only about 8 inches between the shower and stool, and hardly any wiggle room. Finally I got on the floor, put one arm over my head, squeezed my head beween the stool, and shower and then shimmied the rest of the way between so I could reach up under the tank with my other hand too. I put a pair of channel locks on the nut, shimmied out, sat backwards on the stool, with one arm in the tank with a wrench and the other on the channel locks trying to move the nut. Nothing. The channel locks slipped off.

Fast forward 8 hours, and about 30 times getting on the floor and squeezing and manuvering.

I am still shimmying putting the channel locks on, shimmying out. Nothing.

Swear...

Swear some more....

I'm going to blow it up....

I know, I'll get a hack saw and see if I can saw the mother..ummm...thing off.

This is going to take all night. Forget it...I'll go to bed and start all over...

Morning comes and back on the floor shimmying in and out...

Grrr...

GRRRRR,....

I'm going to take the whole toilet up and throw it out and get a new one, it has to be easier.

I call my friend/plumber Richard. Turns out he is coming up this way this afternoon. I'll get the toilet, he will be glad to stop in and put it in. He had offered to try to undo the nut, but I didn't want him to dread ever volunteering to ever help me again, and knowing it will take him hours, I assured him the new toilet was the way to go.

I go purchase a new toilet, get it home, take the old toilet up, which only took me 20 minutes, not 8 hours, and he showed up, plopped the new one in. It took him less than an hour, I gave him 50 bucks.

I helped Richard carry his stuff back out to his van, when he showed me a bow he just bought for 50 bucks from his last customer he had planned on giving to his grandson.

Isn't it great how stuff just works out?

And.... I'm good to go.

Joy

Good news arrived this morning with a brand new baby boy delivered by my Nephew's wife. Six pounds and ten ounces of joy! Along with his elated parents and grandparents are a lot of elated aunts and uncles and great aunts and uncles! It has been a very long time since little feet have pitter pattered around this family.

Many prayers and blessings to Chip and Jen and Mason.

I always have a lot of things on my mind and never have the pencil or pen and paper handy or the computer ready to jot down a few things to jog my memory. One day I will think of having it handy. I have purchased several 10 packs of pens and bunches of spiral notebooks but I never have them with me when I think of something to write. They are in the car when I am somewhere else, or they are home and I'm at work. I think I need one of those spy watches where when you think of something you just speak into it, or how about something like the old Star Trek communicators. It seems they always have something to log.

"Star date August 12, 1009. I arrived home from vacation to find the house in one piece. The toilet didn't overflow this time and I didn't have a lake and carpeting to pull up immideately upon arrival. Kitties are in good shape but wanting lots of attention. Saw a bear on vacation; no, make that two bears."

Oh Come On Now

I was in class all week and they have bottled water available for us to drink. I happened to notice the label. It had a statement on it by the manufacturer that said something like: Have you noticed our smaller label? By our using smaller paper labels we are saving trees and going green!

I heard not too long ago if you line up the plastic bottles end to end they can circle the Earth a bazillion times; okay, not quite a bazillion times but you can catch my drift, and how long does it take for a plastic bottle to turn into dirt?

Do they really think we will all swallow that line of poo poo?

Okay, don't answer that. Sadly, most people will.

Okay Now What

I have had a rather stressful month with my car dying and losing my job, then getting a new car, then hitting a deer and going two weeks without it. It kind of worked out since I didn't have a job, I didn't have really anywhere to go, but it was missed, none the less. I finally got it back today and arrived home and sat here and thought to myself, now what? I got a chuckle as it reminded me of the fish in the aquarium in Finding Nemo who finally escaped to the ocean in their baggies and as they floated in the water said "okay, now what?"

I'm all dressed up now, with no where to go.

That's not really true, as while the neighbor was giving me a ride up to pick up the car, a company I had interviewed with called me with a job offer. Now is that something Divine or what?