Dreaming of Circus Elephants...
...in the basement...
with the dogs.
Last night's tornado threats were very real, but only in Kansas would you expect to find
Circus Elephants traipsing through the backyard. When this happens, we all take note, pack up the valuables in a laundry basket and carry them down to the basement, to wait out the storm.
We also carry the elderly dog down since he cannot walk down the stairs on his own (note to self...next time, do not lift the heavy dog under its windpipe when doing this...it causes much unnecessary hacking/gagging/spitting up and concern for the rest of the family members who think you've just killed the family's favorite pet). Cocoa, the worrier, runs up and down the stairs while we do this which sometimes results in spilling of the valuables and/or elderly dog down the stairs. So we exercised an excessive amount of expletives in getting people, animals and things to the basement. Then we hunkered down in front of the teevee, to watch the radar and weatherpeople tell us what to expect, when and where. Then, almost as soon as we sit down, the satellite signal went out (thank you, DISH) and so we were left in the basement with only ourselves, and a weather radio, listening to the rain and hail and howling wind outside.
When the weather calmed down a bit, but the threat of tornadoes still present, the others decided to head back upstairs to the comfort of their real beds while I decided to sleep downstairs on the couch...with the dogs (since, to take the elderly one back upstairs would require carrying him, or walking him around the house outside in the rain)...where I dreamt of circus elephants in our house.
Related, I stayed home from work yesterday, to tend to the younger daughter who was experiencing a lot of anxiety...an emotional rollercoaster (yes, I've made an appointment with a psychiatrist). One of the funnier moments of the day (maybe the only funny moment) was when she told me that she thought her "real purpose in life was to be a circus speaker." I laughed and said, "do you mean a circus
performer?" I agreed that maybe she'd make a great circus act, but she corrected me, "NO! I said
CIRCUIT speaker, you know, one of those people who goes around speaking about how they screwed up their life and now they're making a living by talking about it?" Oh, okay. I preferred "circus act" myself. ;-\
Labels: Family, Weather
Burning
My husband is a pyromaniac...
Yesterday looked like the begining of Spring. Warm, sunny, nice. To help green up the place, my husband lit the yard on fire. Today, there is snow on the ground, a reminder that Spring has not yet sprung. This is kind of like washing your car to ensure rain the next day (or in my case, later that evening). Light the yard on fire, another month of winter ahead, guaranteed. *sigh*
And my eyebrows still itch. I'm beginning to think it's just stress. I suppose there are worse ways for stress to manifest itself, but still...
Labels: Weather
Winter Wonderland
Iced in and "working" at home today (blogging, making jewelry and billing...my favorite!). Ice is still forming a glaze all around us, expected to get worse later today, but so far we still have power and are thankful that we don't have to drive anywhere. The trees are very heavy with the extra burden they've been asked to carry. Branches and in some cases, entire trees, are crashing to the ground as we speak. We have plenty of food, water and blankets should we become stranded and powerless. In the meantime, we are enjoying the beauty of ice.
Icicles
Bird "Bath"
Horizontal Icicles
Escargot
Labels: Weather
Where Am I?
Contrary to what you are probably thinking, I have not been whisked away by a tornado or swept down the river. My prayers go out to
those who
have.
I'll be back shortly with a weekend report. But first, a word from our sponsors.
Right. We have no sponsors.
Labels: Weather
Just Shy of a Miracle
Nearly half the day gone and I'm just getting to work. At home.
By 9:30, I was almost to the office. By 10:30 am? Back home.
Today's ice "storm" was deceptively dangerous. For one, they weren't calling it an "ice storm" exactly. Just a "winter weather advisory." Some "freezing drizzle" in the morning, more after 6:00
pm. Perfect. I'll beat the "freezing
rain" ("drizzle" I can handle, or so I thought) to the office and come home before it kicks up a notch after rush hour. As it turns out, we can only drive in freezing "drizzle" as long as nobody needs to stop or slow down. Driving along at 60 mph, thinking the road was fine and I'd be only a little late to the office, I suddenly found myself in need of brakes. A car up ahead, in the middle of 3 lanes (full of traffic), was inexplicably spinning in circles. Though I was forewarned by the weathermen, it still took me by surprise. More surprising was when I went to brake and my brakes
immediately locked up. Look, Ma! No brakes!! I could see that others were just discovering this same fact as many around me fishtailed and I saw brake lights on and off, all of us pumping the brakes. And bracing ourselves for the impending, almost unavoidable, impact(s). My heart raced and I shut my eyes a time or two, but kept pumping the brakes. Fortunately, nobody hit
anyone. The spinning car eventually found some traction and turned around, headed South again. After that, I immediatly saw three cars sliding off the road into various degrees of ditch, one nearly rolled on a particularly steep embankment. I pulled into the right lane so I could drive on the shoulder grooves if needed, and decided to turn it around and go home. I was so shaken that I could barely punch the numbers on my cell phone to report in to work. On the way back home, there was more evidence that I was not the only one caught by surprise this morning. Altogether, I probably saw about 15 cars in some kind of undesireable predicament. Nothing so bad that anyone got hurt (though I did hear of a serious accident on the other side of town involving the Jaws of Life). Thankfully, I made it back home without incident. And that may not have happened had it not been for what took place yesterday.
Because yesterday, I got new tires. My old tires had 79,971 miles on them, so they were pretty shot. I heartily endorse Michelins for their durability and performance. So I bought 4 new Michelins even though they were not cheap. I could immediately feel the difference last night when I drove home. I'm pretty sure that my bald tires would not have
performed nearly so well this morning. :-)
But that's only part of the miracle.
The other part came in the form of a free catalytic converter. When I took my car into the dealer to have the "check engine" light checked out, they told me that their computer could no longer talk to my car because I had replaced the stock radio and the installer of the new radio had not "pulled out the K wire." Yeah, so what? So there's a "K wire" in there, whatever. Go ahead and pull it if you have to. But I was told that without the special "stereo removal tool," they would not be able to get to the "K wire" without dismantling my entire dash which would be expensive, etc. And without pulling the "K wire," there would be no way for them to check the engine. And believe me, I asked, "So, couldn't you just like check the engine, you know, mechanically, the old fashioned way?" Um, no. No, we cannot. So I said, "Fine, I'll just pick up the car after you do the tires and oil change, and I'll take it back to the installer for K wire removal." Sounds like a very special operation.
About 3 pm, I received a phone call. It was the dealer. Hey, Gwynne, I have good news! That's not something you hear every day from your mechanic. Right,
Jim (BTW, the VW dealer is right across the street from Gashland Presbyterian Church...you know that church, don't you)? Anyway, he said that they took the car down the street to a stereo shop that was able to remove the radio, pull the K-wire, and then the dealer was able to hook up communications to the engine. Turned out I needed a new catalytic converter. And the best news? VW warranties the catalytic converter up to 80,000 miles. And as I already noted, I was at 79,971 on the odometer. Had I even driven as far as my own stereo shop and returned to have the light checked, the warranty would have expired. Things like this don't usually happen to me. I was prepared to spend a lot of money to get my bug out of hock. As it turned out, all I had to pay for was the tires. What a great day!
Okay, back to work...gosh, I love "working" at home. ;-)
Labels: Planes Trains and Automobiles, Weather
