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Oh that car is such a greedy thing!
Aug. 13th, 2007 06:58 amI was giving it new tires, balancing and aligning plus new oil. Was it happy? No. It wanted new axles in the front. Granted there had been an annoying whine for about a year and an odd pop when I turned out of the driveway but BOTH front axles? Yeah. The front "boots" had torn and junk got up into the axles. Instead of spending the remainder of my last check on tires, it all went onto the credit card so my car would be safe and happy. I'm trying to ignore that it also wants a valve job for a while. It doesn't like to start when it's cold.
At least now if I end up driving to Lake Almanor next weekend for my cousin's funeral, my car will be safe for the trip.
And I missed the trip up to see Chris's apartment. They rushed the job and actually did get done in time, but my monthly cramps had set in by then and I didn't want to go. Eric was pretty much out of it. He had a rough week and just wanted to read and sleep on Saturday.
All my rush to get four birthday presents bought for the summer birthdays was for naught. I didn't even assemble them. Maybe I'll assemble Sherrie and Bruce's and take them over after work one of these evenings. Mike and Katie's may get dropped off on the way up to Lake Almanor if I go. Is Davis close enough to the route to go through? I'll have to check on that. The whole fun of a fun and/or theme birthday card and gift is to see the person open them. Mailing the gifts would work to get them there but I'd miss seeing the giggles when Katie realizes her straws have umbrellas just like on the card and the foam ring fight when Mike opens his. *grumble*
Oh and my boy is going away for about a month! :(
Unless of course, he isn't polite enough, causes turmoil with his "discussions" and gets sent home early. I've told April if he doesn't behave and needs to leave to just call me. It's going to be a rough month for him, keeping his opinions that don't fit those of his hosts inside his head. He can do it. He's a strong person. GO J GO!
Apparently he's going to be dealing with April's fundmentalist Christian family members. We've both counseled him to fib about being saved because if he doesn't, they'll try to "save" him the entire visit. He has been saved, just not in the sense they mean. The paramedics saved his life right after the accident that orphaned him. They had to use the jaws of life to extract him and his brother from the van and rushed him to a hospital where he spent a week in ICU.
I counseled him to use a 12-step method of having God work in his life since he's firmly agnostic. Create a box with a slot. Write "God" on it. Write your problems on a piece of paper and put it in through the slot. Then he has given God his problems. Of course, the letting go and letting God thing may not work for him yet. This way he can honestly say God is working in his life.
I gave him a simple prayer to say for Grace if they should ask him to say it. We've both told him to play along and pretend he's a Christian just to be polite. Luckily, he's checked out some of the Fundamentalist communities so he sees the sense in the advice we've both given him.
Hopefully, the visit won't be as intense as it could be. I know I'm always pleasantly surprised when I visit Eric's family. We've managed to side-step the whole religion issue so far. I did almost start eating the first meal there but realized nobody else was so I waited and sure enough, we all held hands for Grace. Since I believe Christianity at its best is one of the paths to enlightenment, I only feel a little weird doing that. My grandmother didn't hold hands for Grace. We simply folded our hands and bowed our heads. There's nothing wrong with being grateful for having food and loved ones nearby. I'm just not used to praying about it 3 times per day.
Ugh. I didn't sleep well. I kept waking up thinking about work. I'm filing in my dreams now. My asthma is worse. Is it the perfumes at work or the toner I change so often? Or is it the neighbor's corn? I'm allergic to corn pollen BIG time. Now that I read about the dangers of toner in last week's news, I think I'll either hold my breath when I change it or wear a mask. The mask would be more practical.
At least now if I end up driving to Lake Almanor next weekend for my cousin's funeral, my car will be safe for the trip.
And I missed the trip up to see Chris's apartment. They rushed the job and actually did get done in time, but my monthly cramps had set in by then and I didn't want to go. Eric was pretty much out of it. He had a rough week and just wanted to read and sleep on Saturday.
All my rush to get four birthday presents bought for the summer birthdays was for naught. I didn't even assemble them. Maybe I'll assemble Sherrie and Bruce's and take them over after work one of these evenings. Mike and Katie's may get dropped off on the way up to Lake Almanor if I go. Is Davis close enough to the route to go through? I'll have to check on that. The whole fun of a fun and/or theme birthday card and gift is to see the person open them. Mailing the gifts would work to get them there but I'd miss seeing the giggles when Katie realizes her straws have umbrellas just like on the card and the foam ring fight when Mike opens his. *grumble*
Oh and my boy is going away for about a month! :(
Unless of course, he isn't polite enough, causes turmoil with his "discussions" and gets sent home early. I've told April if he doesn't behave and needs to leave to just call me. It's going to be a rough month for him, keeping his opinions that don't fit those of his hosts inside his head. He can do it. He's a strong person. GO J GO!
Apparently he's going to be dealing with April's fundmentalist Christian family members. We've both counseled him to fib about being saved because if he doesn't, they'll try to "save" him the entire visit. He has been saved, just not in the sense they mean. The paramedics saved his life right after the accident that orphaned him. They had to use the jaws of life to extract him and his brother from the van and rushed him to a hospital where he spent a week in ICU.
I counseled him to use a 12-step method of having God work in his life since he's firmly agnostic. Create a box with a slot. Write "God" on it. Write your problems on a piece of paper and put it in through the slot. Then he has given God his problems. Of course, the letting go and letting God thing may not work for him yet. This way he can honestly say God is working in his life.
I gave him a simple prayer to say for Grace if they should ask him to say it. We've both told him to play along and pretend he's a Christian just to be polite. Luckily, he's checked out some of the Fundamentalist communities so he sees the sense in the advice we've both given him.
Hopefully, the visit won't be as intense as it could be. I know I'm always pleasantly surprised when I visit Eric's family. We've managed to side-step the whole religion issue so far. I did almost start eating the first meal there but realized nobody else was so I waited and sure enough, we all held hands for Grace. Since I believe Christianity at its best is one of the paths to enlightenment, I only feel a little weird doing that. My grandmother didn't hold hands for Grace. We simply folded our hands and bowed our heads. There's nothing wrong with being grateful for having food and loved ones nearby. I'm just not used to praying about it 3 times per day.
Ugh. I didn't sleep well. I kept waking up thinking about work. I'm filing in my dreams now. My asthma is worse. Is it the perfumes at work or the toner I change so often? Or is it the neighbor's corn? I'm allergic to corn pollen BIG time. Now that I read about the dangers of toner in last week's news, I think I'll either hold my breath when I change it or wear a mask. The mask would be more practical.
