May 2, 2002

• I haven't seen the news this morning to know how other communities survived last night, but we had quite the impressive storm here.  The only damage at my place is that my garden cherubs were toppled from their pedestal.  In the next county over people had their glass broken by soft-ball sized hail.  As cool as I think it would be to see that, I'm glad it skipped us.  I can make do without the broken windows.

  
  

  Spotthecat saw through me the other day and gave me a chuckle.  She's right - the day I described with the spilt milk and power washing the inside of the van - wasn't an unusual day.  It's always something different, but it's always something. 

  
  

  Yesterday, the maintenance guy from Sears came out to repair my riding mower.  In the three years that we've had this service contract, I think they have completely rebuilt the mower from the ground up a couple of times.  The only thing they've only replaced once was the engine.  This was his last visit, my contract expires the first of June.  They have offered to renew my contract, but I could buy a new mower for the amount they to charge me, so I'll be going with plan 'B.'  The neighbor kid is going to tinker with the mower this summer until I'm forced to either admit he's a mechanical genius, or buy a new one.

  
  

  For now I have new blades, a new oil filter, fresh oil - and as I was trying to drive it around to the shed to put it away it died every 10 feet.  Did it do that trick when the maintenance guy was here?  Nooooooo, it waited until he packed up his stuff and left, then it pulled out all the stops to be as ornery as possible.  The neighbor kid was here at the time though and says that I have a problem with the fuel system.  He thinks he can fix it.  I think I need to find a local farmer who is interested in bailing my lawn for hay.  By the time we get the machine fixed to mow it, it's going to be too tall for a regular lawn mower to handle.

  
  

  Also yesterday, I deposited a check that AT&T kindly sent me out of the goodness of their heart.    I don't use regular long distance from anybody.  I pre-pay my long distance with Bigzoo.com.  Yes I have to dial an annoying access code before every phone call, but I have that programmed into my phone, so it's not so bad.  And it is more than made up for by the rate I get, 3.9 ¢ a minute to anywhere in the US.  If I lived in a city, I could get 2.9 ¢ a minute.  It only costs me 11 ¢ a minute to call my brother in Korea.  So periodically At&T, MCI, or Sprint will send me a check to persuade me to switch my service to their company.  I deposit the funds with a smile.  I've told them that they won't make any money off me, so I figure the checks are my payment for suffering through sales calls.  (Thank you Dale, for showing me how to make the ¢ sign.)

  
  

  So far today, Michael is trying to persuade me that he can do his writing just as well with a banana in the other hand.  Tucker is walking around repeating a new phrase that he learned this morning "grape juice concentrate" - after the 20th repetition it starts to sound vaguely sinister.  The dog tried to get away with running a quick circle through the wet grass and heading back to the door.  She hates to do her business when it's wet outside, but I saw through that evil plot and made her go out into the yard again until she got it right.

  
  

  I'm still thinking about the concept of sin.  Someday I may write down my thoughts on that topic, but it will be a long one and Fugitive will complain.    I don't just have my DVD's in alphbetical order, I have my CD's in alphabetical order according to their category, I have my books in alphabetical order according to Dewey decimal system.  I have my spices in alphabetical order.  The only things in my house that aren't arranged in alphabetical order are my closet and pantry.  - They are in order of color.  Is that a sin?  I'm still thinking about it.

  • 8:38 am
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