Furby Wranglings

 As if learning about the death of one of my favorite TV actors wasn't bad enough, last night when I went down to CVS after work to straighten out a prescription, some careless individual in the parking lot apparently backed into Riza's front bumper!!!! Didn't even have the decency to leave a note --- probably didn't even notice it!  Fortunately, Riza's bumper seemed to do what it was originally designed for -- absorb the impact, and it appears the only damage was to the license plate and holder.  When I got home, steaming mad, Husband was able to remove the license plate and holder and hammer out the dent.... looks, well, not as good as new, because it's at least five years of on-the-road and MidWest weather-wear, but the damage isn't noticeable unless you look for it..... My Husband, my Hero!

If 'Riza' didn't fit so well as a name, I'd be tempted to change it to 'Kirsch', in memory of Stan.

Dang it, lil' Bro!  Am really wishing I'd gone to that Highlander convention in Indiana years back --- if I hadn't been so broke, and it hadn't been Daughter's birthday that weekend.....

 It's time.  We had a good run, my dear, and perhaps you'll get a second (or third) chance like Buck Hakkai did....

Adios, amigo.  It's been fun.

(doing the Happy Dance)

Adric is mine, all mine!!! Loan is paid off, insurance premiums SHOULD be decreasing slightly (for all that it's been inching up this year -- sheesh! Late with a payment ONCE because I forgot about the Martin Luther King postal holiday and they tack on a Late charge for the next three months!) -- so now all I have to worry about is scheduled maintenance, the Steering Column recall, and my wonky gas gauge.....

Oh, and come up with a new reason why I don't give in to Daughter's urging to 'hit the pedestrian'.... I used to tell her that I didn't want to cause damage to Adric before he was paid off.... Hah! Got it. Don't want Adric to develop a taste for human blood and turn into a Demon Malibu.... yeah, that should do it.....

Ideally, now that I don't have a car payment, I should be able to save money and pay down on Teh Shiney... Hah! Except ANIME-Zing! 2014 is in two weeks and Daughter and I are constructing Cosplay. I told her last night, 'That's IT!!! Anything else you need, sell something on Ebay or get a job!"

So I called the City of St. Louis PD/Impound people this morning. Turns out that the car has already been claimed. The very nice and polite man I talked to said that what probably happened was the car had been sold recently and the paper work took a while to get into the system...I said, 'yeah, makes sense, considering we're talking about the state of Illinois' -- he laughed and agreed, and said not to worry, we wouldn't get billed for towing and Impound fees.

So, everything's fine. I just wonder a little ....

Happy birthday, dear 'grieving_pln" -- and have I mentioned lately how wonderful it is to know that you are, indeed, celebrating a Happy Return of the Day????

Okay, the semi-sad stuff....Along with all the busy work-related and canine related activities consuming my waking hours over the past two months (have I mentioned the knitted Dish cloths? I really like the 'feather and fan' pattern I found, as it is surprisingly forgiving of mistakes, such as too many knit-stitches between the yarn-overs, or knit-togethers in the wrong place because I lost count-- it still looks pretty regardless!), I've been fretting about the state of my 1994 Buick LeSabre -- things needing to be repaired, odd sounds from the engine, not-so-slow air leaks in the tires, transmission fluid leaks, brake fluid leaks -- keeping a running tally in my head (exhaust system, tires, shocks, brakes, ENGINE) and came to the conclusion about a week ago that the cost of bringing my dear 'Buck Hakkai' up to safety standards was going to cost more than he was worth. I feel bad because I really should have been more pro-active about maintenance all along, but...

Our bank had a repossessed 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis with reasonable cost and payments, but we decided to see what else was available locally... unlike last time, I couldn't just pay cash (paid for 'Buck Hakkai' with a combination of tax refund and insurance settlement), and the banks are leery of financing on pre-owned vehicles that are more than five years old. The dealership that sold Husband his car three years ago had a few possibilities posted on their website, so we went over there yesterday 'just to look'.....




Behold! The reason RIA Credit Union owns my soul for the next four and a half years: a 2004 Chevy Malibu, one previous owner who judging from the CARFAX report only drove it back and forth from Texas to Iowa for the past six years.

*Waves 'Bai' to DemiCon, MediaWest*Con, AnimeIowa, I-Con (might be able to swing TARDIS-Con in November)* for the forseeable future*

Maybe it's a good thing I never got around to replacing Buck Hakkai's exhaust system in September, because then I'd be REALLY P.O.'D !!! instead of just annoyed at the snowplow people who left HUGE ice and snow blocks IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT!!!! where I backed into one last night and damaged the tail pipe; now I have to keep a window partly open so I don't get asphixiated by fumes until I can get to the repair shop.... At least I won't be replacing a Brand New System, just the old 'Overdue to be Replaced' system....

Still - Grrrrrr!!!!!!

Working on a new hat -- pretty green and varigated. My scaled-back goal is to have five hats done by the end of next week, so I can take them down to QCAD for the Holiday Party. I really wish I hadn't wasted time on the gloves, because then I'd have more hats finished. Ideally I'd have at least 12 or so; I may end up buying some, too. Sigh.

"X" the manga & anime by CLAMP is waaaaay confusing, but the music is EPIC!!!! I think I confused the guy at the Used CD/Dvd exchange when I brought in the first three DvD's and walked out with the OST...

Well, it's been a little while. Firstly, Thank you all for the kind birthday wishes, especially Andrea and Leslie with the LJ prezzies. I had to wait until I went back to work, so I could view them properly with the DSL connection -- THANK YOU!!!! Much Love to everyone!

I had taken a three-day vacation: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.... I took Daughter to the doctor to get a re-fill on her Imitrex and ended up on antibiotic for a sinus infection, slept in, renewed my driver's license, had lunch with Pastor Mary during which we wished each other a 'Happy Birthday' and swapped daydreams of winning the Lottery and touring England, Wales & Scotland; I e-mailed my youngest sister and wished HER a Happy B-Day, e-mailed my mom, talked to the Splendid Vet again about Bel's ligaments and made an advance payment for the surgery (Big Sis: the reference is from the book 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians' by Dodie Smith! amazing what stick in the memory sometimes....), watched anime (Kyo Kara Maoh, Mushishi, Shonen no Myoshi, Eight Clouds Rising, Princess/Princess), ate cake and generally lazed recuperating while I could.... and it was a good thing, too.

Lunchtime, Friday September 28th -- I got into my car intending to run some errands and maybe pick up some accessories for Daughter's hair to go with her positively GORGEOUS homecoming dress (Homecoming Dance on Saturday) and drove approx. 1/quarter of a mile when the roaring sound that both Husband and I believed to be my exhaust system going bad suddenly got horrendously worse, and my car wouldn't go any faster than 25 mph. I managed to turn around and limped the car back to the church parking lot. So much for lunch. Luckily I keep emergency supplies in the office cupboard. Eventually, we (husband and I working together via cellphones)had my poor Buick towed to a transmission repair shop; unfortunately they couldn't get to it Friday afternoon....

Daughter was STUNNING Saturday night -- She said she had to use her harisen (japanese paper fan) to fend off the guys!



Alas, Monday Daughter was running a fever, coughing, voiceless, earache, headache, etc..... I kept her home from school, but went to work planning to ask one of the Elders (who used to be our next door neighbor) if he'd be willing to give us a ride to the doctor's sometime during the day. Also, nagging the Transmission shop.....Bad news. My transmission was TOAST. It could be replaced/rebuilt, minimum $1,150 - Maximum $2,000+.
Thank GHOD for teh Shiny....(pets teh Shiny).... Good News: Pastor Joyce offered the loan of her car as long as she got it back before 4 pm. Semi-Bad News: Daughter has a Sinus Infection (proabably caught it from me the week before), needs antibiotics (of course -- she can't possibly just use what's left of mine), medicated nasal spray, etc. More Bad News when I got back to work: Transmission is BURNT TOAST at $1,875, and I won't get it back until Thursday (October 4th) which is also Daughter's birthday. Daughter is bummed, I'm bummed, Husband (who is exhausted from 65 hr work weeks!) is bummed. Also coming up is the end of the school quarter and Daughter has projects due AND a Choir Concert Wednesday!

Fortunately, the projects are mostly finished and Daughter can work on them at home in between bouts of fever and coughing. I spent a lot of Tuesday e-mailing the appropriate teachers and explaining the situation, all of whom are understanding including the Choir Director who agrees that if Daughter has no voice, she can submit a report on Mozart in lieu of participating in the Concert. Daughter e-mails Project docs to the Teachers Wednesday afternoon, and that's pretty much taken care of.
Thursday.... I get my car back (and there is much rejoicing)!!!!!!

Low Key Birthday for Daughter....I got her a couple of cosplay items from Hot Topic, Husband got her some PS2 games she wanted, Bel 'gave' her the new 'NightWish' cd.....

And Husband gave us a joint birthday present, since they're only two weeks apart -- we HAVE DSL!!!!!!!

Woot!!!!!!!!

and *whew* Do NOT want another week like THAT!!!!

But teh Shiny is in pain... which means any chance of my sneaking off to the D.C. SlashBash this coming weekend has dropped from highly unlikely to absolutely no way, Jose......

*sniffle*

Wails LOUDLY!!!! --- I wanted to meet 'dontwanttosaygb' and jump in the Ted BED!!!!!! I wanted to talk BBM-Boyz with Jess and Marijke, and Tes, and beth, and EVERYONE!!!!!

*sniffle*

oh fraggitt....