On my way to work today...

...I was cut off on the freeway. This is a frustrating thing for me, because it only happens on the commute when I follow a "Safe Distance" behind the car in front of me. If I tailgate, I *never* get cut off. But if I back off to the three-second distance, some idiot always pulls in front of me. To add insult to injury, that same idiot inevitably widens the gap between his car and the car I was following to--you guessed it--Safe Following Distance. Argh.

Today's cutter-offer was different, however, in that I was cut off by the Crown Prince of Irony. The bumper sticker on the car that cut me off:

Mean People Suck
Yep. Then he merged to the right lane to gain more footage in the commuter traffic. Two miles later, he cut me off again. I wanted to pull him over and ask him (a) if he was a vampire, or (b) if I could get some sort of favor from him, but I decided against it.

Broken machines...

Remember me? It's been a while since last you heard from me, right? Well, life has been just crazy busy, and I have been keeping notes in the "drafts", but I just haven't gotten around to polishing and posting them. Here are some highlights, however:

My truck is in a coma. I think it was bitten by a vampire--it only runs when it's dark and cool. In the heat and sun, it won't start. I have put a ton of work into it to try to salvage the poor thing--it is only 1100 miles from 300K on the original engine, and I love it so--but it is just not happening.

My computer died last night. I worked on it in the evening, but when I tried to start it later last night, it loaded everything up except the taskbar and icons. It will still run the screensaver, and I can give it the ol' three fingered salute to pull up the task manager and/or restart, but no actual applications or running or anything. I was going to time-travel my posts last night, and lo! it ain't workin' any more. Not only that, but I fear for the data on that machine now...

Don't hand me anything of yours that requires starting, because apparently my starting aura is faulty right now. I will try to get things back up and running as soon as I can.

Picking a new ride...

Well, I am in the market, as it were. On Sunday, I took a bit of time and went to this huge strip of car dealerships near where I live. The last time I went shopping for a car for myself, I did all this research, only to find that my top two choices were too small for me to fit into. So this time I figured, 'I'll just go sit in a few cars and see which I like first.' After all, if you are going to spend some time in the thing, you should like the environment, right?

I am apparently all about the small SUV class of vehicles. Being a pickup owner for so long, I have grown VERY fond of being up high and seeing the traffic patterns and the road ahead. But a pickup won't work with two boys getting so big, and a dog, and if I want to have anyone else tag along, I have the lovely awkward situation of asking if we can take their car. Does not make me feel like a grown-up. In addition, I need something that will hold luggage for four (overnight bags, probably) and have a luggage rack. This is for those travel games of hockey, where one does not want the Reeking Bag of Sweaty Wet Hockey Gear in the vehicle stinking up the ride home.

So, I put my butt in several cars of this class: Nissan's XTerra, the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner, the Toyota Highlander (THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!), the Saturn Vue, and the Mazda Tribute. It was amusing watching the poor salesfolk flounder for something to say when I told them I was not interested in anything but trying one on for size. "Don't you want to at least test drive it?" Nope. Just want to see what it's like. Give me your card and I'll call you later to drive it if I like the way it fits. Of the above list, I narrowed it down to the Escape, Vue and Highlander. We'll see who has the best ride in the next day or so.

What is this world coming to? I need a loan...

I just paid $4.01 9/10 per gallon for a fill up. And I was ecstatic. "Only $4.01 per gallon? Woohoo!" Then I thought, what the aitch? Only four bucks a gallon? I remember the good ol' days when it was a buck and a quarter a gallon, and we were happy. (Well, it was higher for a couple of years, and then went back down...what are the chances of THAT happening again?) I was also excited because (a) it was in Mill Valley, where it has been about $4.20 (pun intended), and (b) the guy was literally switching the price up as I was filling up, so I got the last 4.01 gas. But still.

The gig at The Redwoods was delightful. The folks were very appreciative, and enjoyed what we brought. No one brought an axe for me, so the groundskeeper gave me a ten pound sledge (which I could not do the dance moves with). A guy in the ensemble fashioned something for me from a piece of baseboard, a spackle knife, and some masking tape. No one seemed to care. It was a blast.

I wish I could do more stuff like that. Maybe this is the year I go caroling at a convalescent home again. Want to join me?