Another Opinion Among Many

So, here’s a stock picture of my car.  You’ve seen it before in a previous post.  Soon, I won’t be seeing it.  Ironically, after I spent over $600 to get the coolant system repairs, I get a month of use and the engine blows.  On the way home from work last night, the engine stops working properly and begins to run rough.  I feel it losing power and I am on the approach to the bridge.  I decided that it was not worth it to risk a stall on the bridge and pull into the local gas station and call a tow truck.  Off to the garage I go.  The recommendation of the mechanic after starting the engine to a clattering, squealing and chattering noise was that it needed a new engine.  So, now I have to dispose of this old girl and get a replacement.  I really didn’t need this expense at all! Foresight would have been handy before I sent it off for the first repair.

Ah well.  Life can’t always go well, right?

To the asshole who stole my little boy’s bike (I know that you’re probably not on the internet, but I don’t care), you’re a jerk and I hope you die painfully! Why did you have to take the crappy bike from our yard. It wasn’t much, but it was ours. Now my son has no bike to ride. You just took away his favorite out door activity. You’re lower than scum! Stealing from a child! You disgust me! If I find you, I will charge you!

Update: Bike found in the woods behind our place.  I guess that the thief realized that he didn’t pick the best one to steal.  At least that’s back.

Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t think that we should have to designate a special day just to honor our mothers.  You know that I feel that we should be doing that every day.  However, its hard to keep the spark up on something like that if you do it every day.  So, today, I want to say, “Happy Mother’s Day” to my mom, Barbara June Thompson and to my mother in-law Bonnie Jean Rodday.  As well, I wish a happy Mother’s day to my wife, Angela Frances Thompson, who has strangely stuck with me for over 13 years.  To all the mothers out there, who may or may not feel appreciated, I extend good wishes to you as well.  Its a wonderful think to care for and raise your children, and I think that the burden (or joy) falls on our mothers the most.  So, if you have no other recourse, as the house is full of noisy kids, sneak into your bathroom, turn on the fan and lock the door.  Park yourself on the flush (you don’t have to use it) with a book and take at least 10 minutes to yourself.  You deserve more, but that’s at least a good start.

I am hoping that some financing that I’ve requested will go through without a hitch.  I’ve been without my car since the heater core went kaput on it in late January.   Since then, I’ve been hoofing it everywhere, pretty much.   A co-worker has been offering to drive me to and from work without asking for compensation (little does he know that he can’t get away with that - somehow, I’m gonna at least fill his tank once, at least).   So, if I get the funds I’m looking for today, the enormous repair bill that I’ve been faced with will finally be eradicated and I can have a bit more flexibility again with the transportation situation.   I still want to walk Caleb to school, though, as its the only real exercise that I’ve given myself.

The only snag is that I need picture ID and I think that I’ve left my drivers license in the car, which is a bit far away from home to walk.   I guess that I’d better see if I can get it, though.   Otherwise, there will be a delay.   I’m sure that I’ll overcome that, though.   Once mobile again, I can search around for some digs - preferably something I can own - with more room for the growing weeds (also known as children).

I have a bit of reservation about getting the car back, as I’ve felt, in some ways, more at ease without the vehicle available.   I haven’t had the quick trips to the store or the errands that I can do - because I can get there.   I’ve had to plan a more deliberate course of action when it comes to getting bills paid and groceries bought, etc.  I have become reacquainted with riding the bus, which is not such a bad experience (although a few of the drivers are a bit aggressive), since you don’t have to be the driver.  You can pay attention to the traffic if you want, but you don’t have to to stay alive.  I’d take the bus a lot more often if there were more runs to where I needed to go.

Anyhow, I think that this is a good thing, all in all.  I’ve had a few loose ends ti tie up and this move should help me to do that.

From my email inbox:

Aussie Men

A young Aussie lad moved to London and went to Harrods looking for a job.
The manager asked “Do you have any sales experience?”
The young man answered “Yeah, I was a salesman back home.”
The manager liked the Aussie so he gave him the job.
His first day on the job was challenging and busy, but he got through it.
After the store was locked up, the manager came down and asked ?
OK, so how many sales did you make today?”
The Aussie said “One.”
The manager groaned and continued “Just one - Our sales people average
20 or 30 sales a day.
How much was the sale for?”
“101,237.64.” the Aussie replied.
The manager choked and exclaimed “101,237.64?
What the hell did you sell him?”
“Well, first I sold him a small fish hook, then a medium fish hook, and
then, I sold him a new fishing rod.
Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down at the coast,
so I told him he would need a boat, so we went down to the boat department
and I sold him that twin-engined Power Cat
Then he said he didn’t think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I
took him down to car sales and I sold him the 4 x 4 Suzuki”.
The manager, incredulous, said “You mean to tell me….a guy came in
here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a boat and 4×4?”
“No, no, no……he came in here to buy a box of tampons for his wife
and I said………
“Well, since your weekend’s stuffed, you might as well go fishing.”

This is a good one! I’m just wondering if its true of Aussie men (sounds reasonable for most areas).

I wish that I had a camera with me tonight. This cute beast is not a pic that I took, but if I had taken a camera with me to the drug store down the road, I could have had pictures that would have made this one look “just okay.” On the walk back, in the fairly dense residential North Side, I came upon two deer. The first one surprised me a bit, being on the walking path in front of me and seemingly fearless. I continued approaching her and she merely stared. I thought that she wasn’t going to move. I didn’t really relish the idea of getting a slash from her hoof if she decided to get scared “a little too late.” She did decide that I was not the best friend she could have and moved off the trail. This was when I noticed her larger “sister.” This one had to be the biggest doe that I’ve ever seen. She was merely watching me walk by from her vantage point in the back parking lot of a local machine shop. It caught me aback a bit, seeing these deer so close to such a busy street as Main. I guess that they usually go down to the river and find their way back to the woods from there. It still amazes me that they don’t meet their maker with the way people drive around here.

I watched Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendez in Ghost Rider today. I can’t remember who said it, but I was advised that it wasn’t a very good movie. As this “source” did not see the movie, I was not prepared for anything great or terrible. After all, if you “hear” that spaghetti is a terrible meal, are you never going to try it? I’m glad that I didn’t listen, as I was entertained. This is definitely not the best movie of all time and it isn’t even close to being the best movie based on a comic book. But, it had all the qualities of a classic comic - it was a light read, a far fetched story, accomplished only by someone with special powers.

Nicholas Cage seems to often get typecast as a leather-wearing bad boy with a well-buried, but soft heart. This seems to be true in this movie as well. He plays Johnny Blaze, son of Barton Blaze, a motorcycle daredevil. The movie starts in Johnny’s teen years, when he has joined his father in performing motorcycle stunts for the crowds. His father is dying of cancer and Johnny unwittingly makes a deal with the devil (Mephistopheles) as trade for the cancer to be gone.

His father is soon killed and Johnny leaves town to become a traveling act, doing more dangerous stunts every time. He carries his father’s memory with him until he is asked to cash in on the deal he “signed.”

From IMDB summary:

When the motorcyclist Johnny Blaze finds that his father Barton Blaze has a terminal cancer, he accepts a pact with the Mephistopheles, giving his soul for the health of his beloved father. But the devil deceives him, and Barton dies in a motorcycle accident during an exhibition. Johnny leaves the carnival, his town, his friends and his girlfriend Roxanne. Years later Johnny Blaze becomes a famous motorcyclist, who risks his life in his shows, and he meets Roxanne again, now a TV reporter. However, Mephistopheles proposes Johnny to release his contract if he become the “Ghost Rider” and defeat his evil son Blackheart, who wants to possess one thousand evil souls and transform hell on earth.

I’m not going to spoil any of it, as I think this is better left to you to decide and discover.  I liked this movie.  I found it to be as entertaining as any comic book movies are - entertainment only.  Its no Spiderman, but I think its better than Batman and every X Men movie after the first.  Watch it on video.