When I wrote the original swift kick back in July I chronicled my problem with a dying laptop, the purchase of a new one with software problems, and the miraculous return to life of my old PC. At the very end I mentioned that I had a flu bug, but was feeling better. “Not so fast,” fate told me as she had another kick in store for me.
I recently had the misfortune of spending four hours in a auto shop waiting room. The real tragedy is that I took the truck in for an oil change, tire rotation, and to have an exhaust clamp replaced. I work for a large bureaucracy with lots of systems and procedures. One of the systems is to get preapproved for fleet repairs, schedule the work, and then have the garage fax and estimate for the work before proceeding. I arrived at eight and the garage had my truck in the bay within 30 minutes. The outlier was the exhaust pipe which was currently held in place by a wire hanger. The customer service rep came out and explained that the clamp actually ripped a hole in the exhaust pipe when it failed and that they would actually have to replace the entire tailpipe. Fortunately it was covered by warranty and would cost ZERO. So all that had to be approved was an oil change (my tires didn’t need rotated).
Eleven days ago I wrote Un-Vacation detailing some post vacation troubles. At the time I thought that it was heralding my path back to regular blogging. Obviously I was W A Y wrong. For thing I am writing on a brand spanking new PC. Before you get too jealous at my new machine I only spend $1000.oo because I had no choice. You see my “old” computer didn’t suffer the blue screen of death. I put it to sleep one night and it just wouldn’t wake up the next day. No pulse. No breathe. Cold to the touch. Sadly for me my “computer guy” at work was on an extended vacation. Here I was with all of my ideas (many of which are stale now) and no way to post…at least no practical way.
For those of you who visit FramingTheDialogue for more than the opportunity to attempt to post spam, I had only really intended to take off about ten days, but fate has a funny way sometimes of kicking you in the “you know what’s” from time to time. I was going to say “nuts,” but female readers have really know personal knowledge of that intensity.
I recently attended a workshop. Pretty exciting I know! Well after the introductions the first speaker got up and opened his talk with the following joke:
President Obama was visiting Queen Elizabeth. As they were talking Obama asked her how she selects good people. The Queen stated that she tests them to make sure that they are intelligent and promptly summoned Tony Blair to her office. She gave Mr. Blair a quiz; “if your mother and father had a child and it was not your brother or your sister who would it be?” Tony Blair thought for a minute and answered, “it’s me!” the Queen smiled and Mr. Blair left them alone. President Obama seemed impressed.
We had a cool, but sunny hike which means we were chilled in the shadowy parts and warmed up a little in the open area. As we left on the hike I mentioned to my daughter that I thought that the numerous black bears in the area were probably not active yet. I was kind of joking, but we had seen bears on other hikes in the area. As we entered the park I noticed this big bear trap about thirty yards off of the road. Perhaps I had been wrong about not seeing any bears.
Sportin that fashionable bolo in first grade
When I was growing up I had this crazy aunt and uncle. Aunt Georgean and Uncle Andy weren’t really crazy they just danced to a different drummer. They drank, they were loud (at least she was), they laughed and were fun enough to make the more stoic in the family uncomfortable. Aunt Georgean and Uncle Andy lived like in another country…Scottsdale Arizona. I had no idea about Scottsdale, but I seem to remember that Uncle Andy had some health issues and the climate there was good for him.
I should probably check this story on Smoking Gun. Reuters is reporting that Mattel is going to come out with new Barbies fashioned after the Kardashian sisters. I remember buying one of my daughters “Paleontologist Barbie” and the brand is famous for some of the career choices available for Barbie, including President of the United States. Why on earth would Mattel risk the wholesome Barbie brand by featuring Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe?
I had left the house this morning ahead of schedule. I didn’t have to pack a lunch since I had plans to be out in the field today and we’d go out to lunch between inspections. I was feeling pretty good getting an early jump and started my car to let it warm up while I walked out to get the paper. This should have been the first warning of pending catastrophe as the paper was not there yet. In the four years that I have been getting home delivery this is only third time I can remember it not being there. This upset my routine as I usually get to work early enough to read the paper before starting.
