Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum. (Ambrose Bierce)

Today's quote in English: I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.

I think I've figured out why I don't blog more often. It's not just that I don't always have an interesting photo to post, or that I don't have time to find a quote that I like for the title. While both of these things are true, the biggest reason I don't blog is that I have trouble coming up with something interesting to wrte when I finally sit down to write it.

This morning, I had a great story that I wanted to share. I remember giggling and thinking that this would be perfect to put on my blog. This evening, I haven't got a clue what the story was about, or even what prompted it. I guess I'm only brilliant in theory, but not in practise. 

And say my glory was I had such friends. (William Butler Yeats)

The Jupiter Lighthouse,

as seen from Debois Park

I had the most remarkable thing happen to me today. I was out with a client this afternoon, and we stopped at the park to walk along the beach. At the park we met some kids out with their moms, and naturally we shared smiles before going on our way. We hadn't gotten very far when one of the mothers came running up to me. I have to admit that my first thought was "uh-oh." (Even when people are genuinely good-hearted, their reaction isn't always the best when they meet someone 'different.') I prepared myself to politely answer the awkward questions, but found myself surprised when she asked if my name was Sandi. It turns out that she had recognized me -- we went to high school together!

Pam and I had a nice time chatting. It's been 25 years since we graduated, and there was a lot to catch up on in the short time we had to visit. She and her two children were down here on vacation. Her children, by the way, were wonderful. They smiled and chatted with my client, accepting his limitations without pause.

I still can't get over the fact that Pam recognized me. I've always thought that I went through school as a quiet, near-invisible bookworm. I guess I wasn't as invisible as I thought. Not to mention that Pam has a phenomenal talent for remembering names and faces!

Some people walk in the rain...others just get wet...(Roger Miller)

Submitted to Tuesdays Photos

Today's photo meme is A Very Little Animal. Just by chance, when I went to check the mailbox I found several snails crawling on the wet sidewalk. Naturally I stopped to take some pictures.

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. (Douglas Adams)

Brookston Scavenger Hunt
SOMETHING OVERSIZED
1 bonus point if the oversized object is outdoors.
3 bonus points if the oversized object has a person next to it to show its size.
5 bonus points if the oversized object is conspicuously out of place

 

I am definitely going to take a course on time management...just as soon as I can work it into my schedule. (Louis E. Boone)

Brookston Scavenger Hunt
A CLOCK
1 bonus point if the clock is an outdoor clock
3 bonus points if the clock is showing the hour
5 bonus points if the clock is showing Noon (or midnight)

I think today's quote says it all for me... 

As long as you can savor the humorous aspect of misery and misfortune, you can overcome anything. (John Candy)

This afternoon, as I was getting ready to leave work, I suffered through a good news/bad news phone call from my mechanic. The good news was that they had finally figured out what was wrong with my van. The bad news was that it was not covered by the warrantee and would cost quite a large amount of money.

My immediate reaction was to hide in my office with the door locked, and cry for five minutes. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a waste of time because it really didn't help solve anything. So I stopped crying and left to walk to the bus stop. By the time I made it home, I was feeling stronger. I had figured out a way to come up with the money and had managed to call the mechanic back to give him the go-ahead with the repairs.

On the bus ride home, I had also decided to cheer myself up with a tiarra and a feather boa. After all, how could anyone be depressed while wearing a shiny tiarra and red feather boa?

After I got home, instead of the tiara and boa, I stole my daughter's construction hat. I decided that if problems were going to continue to crash around my head, I really needed the hard hat more than a tiara.

I'm still hoping to have a tiarra-day soon. But in the meantime, my hard hat's on and I'm ready for whatever else life wants to send my way. 

Start every day off with a smile and get it over with. (W. C. Fields)

Submitted to Inspiration Challenge -- SMILE

This is a very rare photo of my niece smiling. Don't get me wrong -- my niece is a wonderful, loving girl. She just prefers to limit herself to dignified grins rather than outright smiles.

But we were waiting on line for autographs at the Chris Rice concert, and I had my digital camera out snapping pictures of my daughter and niece. The girls weren't happy with my taking their picture, and were not cooperating. I pointed out that my memory card could hold over 350 pictures, and if that wasn't enough I could erase them and start over. In other words, I planned to keep taking pictures all night unless they gave in and let me have a nice one. My niece thought it over, and decided it was the better part of valor to just let me have my way. Her grandmother has already asked me for an 8x10 copy...

My eyes ain't even open yet I'm smellin' coffee... (Chris Rice)

We went to the Chris Rice concert last night with my sister's family. It was wonderful! My sister and I had a great time, dancing and signing to the music. Chris Rice has a wonderful, personable stage presence. He chats as if we were all just hanging out together, rather than his being in front of everyone on stage. After the concert, we hung around so that the girls could get autographs. And of course I took pictures!

Time flies. (Saying)

Brookston Scavenger Hunt
A BIRD
3 bonus points if the bird is a real, live bird
5 bonus points if the bird is in the wild

I'm not sure if the parking lot counts as being in the "wild." The landscapers had just finished for the day, and they hung around to laugh at me trying to sneak up on this bird, who was trying to sneak up on the bugs and worms that had been awakened by the landscapers.

Don't throw away your old shoes until you have got new ones. (Dutch Proverb)

It's a happy day today. For me, anyway. I have my truck back and life is good again.

Not everyone was having as nice a morning as I was, though. On my way to work I saw this pickup. The driver was obviously having a difficult day -- check out the workboot he left on the back of his truck. I wonder...did he forget to put on one of his shoes because he was only half-awake? Or did he leave both shoes back there, and is going to be really upset when he gets where he's going and finds out that one of them dropped off along the way?

And if I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep. (Lord Byron)

And the drama continues...

I had to take the bus to work this morning, since my van is still at the mechanics. It was only about three stops into the route, when the bus was hit by a car! It happened on a quiet side street -- some guy was coming out of an appartment complex and didn't see the bus. I have no idea how you can miss seeing a public transit bus, but this guy managed to ram into the side of the bus. Luckily nobody was hurt. But they kept us on the bus for almost an hour while the police did the investigation and took statements before letting us transfer to another bus.

I really want my van back! 

Just a quick update on the saga of my new van: On Tuesday the new van was towed to the Mercury Lincoln dealership to be repaired. After working with it for a day and a half, they finally gave up and admitted that they didn't have a clue as to what was wrong with it. They suggested that I take it to the larger Mercury Lincoln dealership, because they would have better equipment to diagnose the problem. So I called the other dealership and explained what was going on. They assured me that of course they could handle the problem, their mechanics were much smarter than the first dealership's. So the first dealership got the van running just enough for me to drive it to the second place on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday afternoon I get a call from the second garage. They decided to give up on the problem; they couldn't figure it out either. Sorry, but come get the van please. I called the dealer that I actually had bought the van from, and they asked me to bring it in to their mechanic. By then it was too late for me to do anything, so Friday morning I got up early to catch a bus to the 2nd garage to pick up the van. On the way to the bus stop I slipped in a puddle and sprained my ankle. (You should have seen me limping back to the apartment, yelping with every step, and with my back literally covered from head to toe with wet, oily mud!) I called my mom, and she drove down to help me that afternoon. We get to the 2nd garage, and they assure me that even though they didn't know what was wrong with the van, it was totally safe to drive. "It's not like the engine is going to suddenly turn off while you're driving," were their exact words. So I get in the van and pull out onto the busy highway. I made it three buildings down the road (not even an entire block!) before the engine suddenly went dead as I was driving. I was able to coast into the next parking lot, where we then waited almost two hours for a tow truck. My van is now sitting at the 3rd garage, and I'm hoping that this mechanic will be able to figure it out. Since we didn't get it to him until late Friday, though, it will be at least Monday before he has time to work on it. In the meantime, I'm stuck at home. I can't even walk anywhere this weekend, since my ankle is still sore. On the bright side -- I can't clean the house because of my ankle so I guess I'll just have to force myself to sit and read all day.