Want to learn a little bit more about me? Go read my interview at DovBear.
Archives for April 2009
Automobile Repairs- Your Mechanic & You
Many years ago I remember telling the Shmata Queen about the similarities between cars and women. It was one of those obnoxious comparisons in which you suggest that both are expensive hobbies, but at least the car doesn’t talk back.
Some of you are probably waiting for the punch line where I tell you about how she literally punched me. Sorry to disappoint you, but The Shmata Queen was and is so madly in love with me that it was all she could do not to kiss me. Did I tell you that one of the many attributes she finds so very attractive is my enormous and incomparable humility..
Hee hee. I can’t stop laughing. When she reads this I am going to need to be certain to be extra wary, that woman carries an enormous black purse and let me assure you, it hurts to be belted with it.
Anyhoo, the joyous man that you all know as moi, Jack has a wry grin upon his face. You see my car decided to start smoking yesterday and sadly it wasn’t a good cigar. So off we went to see the wonderful wizard of auto repairs where we received a laundry list of items that needed to be attended to.
My dear beloved Honda is 9 years old and has 98,760 miles give or take a few on it. Up to now I haven’t had to do much other than change a few tires and a little brake work. But something told me that our relationship was going to change a bit this time around.
The damn radiator gave up on me. It is cracked. And because it can’t just be one thing to deal with there were a number of others that demand attention. So I reviewed the list and gave approval to hook up a direct line between my bank account and the mechanic.
And now I am sitting here watching the IV, kind of bittersweet to see all those dollars flowing through that clear plastic. I had such hopes and dreams for it all.
On a more serious note, I am very familiar with my mechanic. I have been taking my cars to him for years now and they have always treated me fairly which is why I still see them. That level of trust is very important. I know enough about cars to understand what is important and what isn’t.
That is not to say that you can’t B.S. me, but it is not going to be easy. And what I appreciate about these guys is that they haven’t ever tried to do so. They always give me a list of what is necessary and what is recommended.
Still, it hurts to have to drain my bank account like this. I don’t think that I have ever been able to buy a car on my terms. It always has come at a point in time when I couldn’t stomach pouring more cash into whatever vehicle I was dealing with at that time.
One of these days I’d like to change that. I’ll add that to my list. In the meantime I have to go find my helmet because I have this sneaking suspicion that I am in danger of getting bonked in the head. Hee hee, I can just hear her now. 😉
Tweeting About Twitter- One Blogger Speaks
I signed up for Twitter in December of 2008 and have been exploring/examining its utility for myself since then. Midway through my fourth month of using it I don’t have a good feel for whether it is really helped me.
There are aspects of it that I really like. It is a useful tool as a source of information as well as for disseminating it. But I suspect that it is doing more to hinder blogging than to help it.
Based upon personal experience I find that things I would have blogged about are getting swept aside and turned into a simple tweet. It appears to me that some other bloggers are experiencing the same thing.
However since I haven’t conducted any sort of poll this might not be entirely accurate. I don’t know.
I have also been careful not to let myself get too wrapped up in it. There is only so much time in the day and far too many things that serve as distractions or unintentional time sucking devices.
In fairness I should add that I feel a bit like I am in the middle of the dog days of blogging. I still do it and I still enjoy it, but it has lost a bit of the shine for me. We’ll have to see if that is temporary state or something else.
What do you think of Twitter?
Music From The Morning
A quick look at some of the music I listened to this morning.
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand– Primitive Radio Gods
You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid-The Offspring
Gone Away– The Offspring
Jerusalem– Matisyahu
Just Another Day– Oingo Boingo
Insanity-Oingo Boingo
GoldenEye– Tina Turner
Tikva-Subliminal & The Shadow
Mr. Brightside– The Killers
Tuesday Afternoon– The Moody Blues
The Voice– The Moody Blues
Dad, What Is a Gas Chamber?
“Dad, What Is a Gas Chamber” is one of the most horrific questions that I have heard in my life. He is not quite 8.5 and he wants to know what a gas chamber is and why people would murder other people.
He says that he can’t understand why people would be mean to someone else just because they look different or have different thoughts. I am more than troubled by this because I know that I have to answer his questions. I know that I have to despoil more of his innoncence and tell him that some people are just bad.
I have to tell him that in this house we teach everyone to judge a person based upon their actions and that even though it is the right way, not everyone follows it. I tell him that some people are bad and there is no good explanation for it.
Inquisitive eyes look up at me and he says that he doesn’t understand and that he thinks he might be a little afraid. I tell him not to be afraid, that most people don’t act like that. I tell him that part of why people have to have these conversations is so that we can help others prevent these things.
He smiles and tells me that he feels better because he knows that if anyone tried to hurt anyone in his family I would kill them. He knows that if anyone did anything I would get them first. He looks up at me and says that he is ok with me killing someone if they try to hurt one of us.
Now I turn away because there is a tear in my eye. I want to scream at the injustice of it all. I want to yell because it is unfair that yet one more piece of his innocence is being taken from him all too soon.
It hurts to see him learn these lessons, but he has to know. So we are very careful with these conversations to try and make them age appropriate. But kids are kids and they find out things. They listen to what is going on around them. They talk to their friends and they learn. So some things come out earlier than you’d think and you do the best you can.
I am grateful that he feels comfortable speaking to me and that I make him feel safe. I don’t tell him that a parent’s worst fear is that the monsters get to the kids first, that for whatever reason we aren’t there to protect them.
Later on I watch him sleep. He is out, the picture of bliss and harmony. I used to sleep like that. I used to just close my eyes and that was it. But not anymore. Now there is always one ear open, listening, just in case.
I am exhausted now, but I won’t be able to sleep for a while. That question haunts me, “Dad, What Is a Gas Chamber?”
Recent Posts
Things move fast and furiously around here. It is pretty easy to miss a post or two. For those of you who haven’t been around here is a quick summary of some of the recent material.
Yom HaShoah- Holocaust Memorial Day
Still Coping with Sick Parents
Three Computers & A BlackBerry
More on Columbine
A Warranty for The Warranty
The Speech Nixon Never Had to Give
Do You Follow Your Own Advice
Getting Paid for Your Relationship
Thunder & Lightning
Sarkozy Calls Obama Weak
Does Whole Foods Support Terrorism
Snake Tries to Eat Man, Man Bites Back