No-rvette

Corvette has turned into no-rvette. After searching for the perfect "vette" my husband has come to the realization that it was not the right car to buy. For two months my son and I have talked until we were exhausted trying to convince him not to throw money away on a car that was not right for him. It finally clicked. The Corvette obsession is over. He has moved on to a T-Bird fixation. After working all day yesterday, I was schlepped into Brooklyn to look at a car. It seemed promising but the search will continue for a bit longer until he reaches Nirvana.

Anticipation

I woke up this morning humming the Carly Simon song "Anticipation". Later this morning a man will be driving his Corvette from New Jersey to my house for my husband to see. If it is good we will buy it. My husband has been disappointed three times in the last week and I do not want this to be the fourth time. He has his hopes up and so do I. The man is driving two hours with two cars to hopefully make this deal. He doesn't want to waste a trip. I am hoping that he doesn't.

The Back Up

My computer is getting old and tired. It sometimes just sits there and stares at me when I want to use it. Yesterday it did not want to wake up as early as I did so I had to coax it along. That is when I decided it was time to do a USB back up. I started by looking at what I had saved in the "My Documents" area. I had so much junk in there. Things that I felt were important years ago no longer mattered to me. I deleted the nonsense stuff and began the back up. It took three USB's to finish the job. The only thing that really mattered was saving the pictures of my grandchildren and my teaching booklets. A computer is like a closet. If you cannot remember what is in it, you don't really need it.

Summer's Ending

Today marks the last weekend in August. For many it is the last weekend of summer even though that does not officially happen until mid September. Things change after today. Vacations are over. The roads will be crowded again. The relaxed mindset changes back to work mode. When we wake up tomorrow the aura is different. I have no idea where the time went. I did more this summer than in past ones, but I am ready to have the weather cool down and have things return to normal.

Car Cation

I feel exhausted as if I just came back from a vacation road trip. Last night we drove to Staten Island in search of a perfect car. As usual all that glitters is not gold and something on paper is different than something in reality. We got on the road at about 5pm to look at a car that was located after the first exit over the Verrazano Bridge. Unfortunately after we exited the parkway, we still had a half hour ride. The traffic was horrendous and we actually had to stop at a gas station to use the bathroom. After a two hour ride, we arrived at the house where the car was and as we drove up my husband said, "I don't like that color. It looked different online. I do not want this car". We got out and "faked" enthusiasm so we did not insult the car's owner. We stayed for 7 minutes and got back into the car for another 1 1/2 ride home. Except for a 7 minute break, I was in the car for almost 4 hours. I could have been to Boston. He still does not have a car and has no real prospects as the one car he might want to see has a crazy owner who we don't want to deal with. Three down, who knows how many more to go .

Neck Pain

This morning I woke up with a pain in my neck and upper back. I do not have to go to the doctor as I have self diagnosed it. The pain comes from carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Sometimes the weight is distributed better and sometimes it just sits there weighing heavily on me. At 11 am a man will be coming to my house to show my husband a car. If my husband likes it, he will want to buy it. That is where I come in. I need to get the insurance cards. I need to type the bill of sale. I need to get copies of DMV papers and make sure they are filled out correctly for the purchase and the registration. He will stand there with a rag and buff the car.

Driving Miss Crazy

My husband is looking for a car. The process is "driving" me crazy. He turns into a raving lunatic whenever he switches cars. Papers flying. Phone calls being made. Negotiations. Pacing. Yelling. He repainted the garage floor in anticipation of the new "baby". I knew this would happen even though he promised that it would be a no drama situation. This whole procedure had better be over soon or the new car he will be driving in will be a hearse.

Hot Spot

The past few weeks have been hotter than ever. People were moving slower or trying not to move at all. This summer's heat impaired more than people. I have a large round thermometer hanging on a tree in my backyard. Every day I look out to see the temperature. This summer I saw it rise from 70 to 80 to 90 and even close to 100 degrees. I have had this thermometer  for quite a few years and it is the best one I ever had. After the heat wave I noticed that the thermometer was stuck on 80 degrees. It took a few days for me to even realize that it had stopped moving. It must have overheated or melted on the inside as it has just given up and decided to rest at 80.

Series Completed

My summer lecture series is completed. Last night was the end of the three part series. It was a full room and half of the people came to all three lectures. I feel like I have new friends. They all asked if I was coming back again and I told them that the library is the one to choose the topics and dates. They asked for the name of the main librarian so they could request more lectures. They did not realize that I learn as much as them from these discussions. It is always enriching to meet new people from various walks of life. Some of the people that came to all of the lectures traveled from Brooklyn and New Jersey. Even though a one hour lecture really takes 6 hours of time including travel, I love being there. 

Cooling Down

This morning it feels like the end of summer is approaching. I walked the dog in cool weather and almost needed a jacket. My final lecture of the three part series is tonight and it will probably be dark out when I board the train to return home. Two more weeks of no traffic until school starts. Time sure flies.

Close Eye

Many parents are admonished for not keeping a close eye on their children. We cannot be with our kids 24 hours a day so you have to hope that they have common sense not to do the wrong thing. That is why I find it odd that the President of the United State's daughter was caught smoking pot. I find this odd for two reasons. First, she is followed night and day by the Secret Service. Secondly , because if she had a brain in her head, she would know that her every move is watched and smoking pot in public is a no no. This is a girl that "intends" to start Harvard in 2017. I "intend" to win the Mega Millions next week. Common sense is not acquired. You are born with it. It all leads back to the question, "Are you smart or are you bright or are you just plain dumb?"

On Paper

On paper, everything looks great. I am realizing that even more since my husband is looking for a car. Last night we drove 30 miles to see a car that looked great on paper. When we got there reality set in. While the body of the car looked nice, the front seat was all ripped and cracked. The owner knew nothing about the car he owned for 22 years. He never knew that the spare tire was under the car. He could not remember his last oil change. He did not think he ever had it tuned up. When my husband asked for a test drive, the man jumped in the drivers seat and took him for a ride. The car felt ok. When my husband asked to drive the car, the man looked uncomfortable. My husband drove the car one block and could feel the rattling underneath him. He told the man that he was not interested in the car and we drove home. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought that the car was fantastic. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but reality is worth a million.

The Hunt

The hunt is on for the new "holy grail". My husband's car was sold yesterday and I have now resumed the role of "carpooler". Hopefully he will not  take up soccer as I am done with being a soccer mom. This afternoon I will have to come home from whatever I am doing and drive my husband to his volunteer job. Before I make dinner I will have to drive back and get him. This will be a fifty mile round trip event. Then I will have to take him to start to see cars that might or might not be the best car he ever had....for now. It is always one thing after another and these things become my problems. When I die I want a double wide coffin as my hands and feet will not stop moving around for at least a year. No one ever lets me rest.

Another One Bites The Dust

Yesterday car number 15 was sold. My husband decided that he no longer loved the car he had previously said was the best car he ever had. I had a three year reprieve from the aggravation of selling one car and buying another. To me, a car is a vehicle to get you from one place to another. To him, it holds some sort of emotional attachment. I think he inherited that from "you know who". He sells his car and I am left to do the paperwork and I hate that. He buys another car and I am left to do the paperwork and I hate that even more. At 2:30 pm this afternoon the upset begins. He will now have no car until he finds another one. I pray he does not find a lemon which has happened before. I will be the chauffeur until the new "holy grail" is found. He says that he is a risk taker "living his life". I say that he is a dumb a** man upsetting mine.

Salutations

Our society has become very lax when it comes to respect of others. Decades ago you would never call an elder that was not close to you by their first name. They were Mr. or Mrs. As time moved on our attitudes began to loosen up and first names became the norm. In the South, they use first names but add a salutation in front of them to show respect. Miss Jane or Mr. John is used rather than just Jane or John. I like that. Other cultures, especially Asian ones, are still more formal. I did a lecture Monday night and gave out my business card. It had my first name and last name on it. One of the people that attended the talk was a young Asian man in his mid twenties. He emailed me to ask a question. He started the email with Dear Mrs. (First Name Last Name). In his culture, a teacher is highly respected and is referred to as such. It looked a bit funny to see someone write to me as Dear Mrs. but it made me think. If we showed more respect to each other maybe society would be a bit kinder.

Great Turnout

Last night I had a great turnout at my lecture. Since it is a small library, I did not expect a large crowd. Sixteen people showed up. They were a wonderful diverse group. Some were from Manhattan and some were from as far away as Spain. All of them were pleasant. The topic was happiness and they all realized that no matter how old you are or where you are from, that is all anyone really wants. They all said that they would be returning for the next lecture and took my email address. I had as much fun as they did. 

Happiness

This afternoon I will be back in Manhattan doing the second of a three part lecture series. Today's topic is "The Mindset of Happiness". It will be another brutally hot day out so I am not sure how many people will show up. It is one of my favorite lectures and I truly feel that people can create their own happiness by the attitude they put forth. We may not have control over circumstances that happen to us but we do have control over the way we handle them. While I am not thrilled about going into the city during a heat wave, I am happy that I was asked to do these lectures.

On Time

This morning I am up early even though it is not a work day. I am driving my sister and brother in law to the airport. They are going to the deep South to escape the New York heat. I am up, dressed and waiting to get in the car for the drive to La Guardia airport. I have walked the dog, done paperwork and even did a load of laundry. I will be exhausted and ready for bedtime by 10am.

Scorcher

It is hot out. At 6 am my outdoor thermometer reads over 80 degrees. I am not a heat person. It makes me feel tired and sluggish. Even being at the pool will be tiring. I am a middle of the road person. Not too hot, not too cold. I have no idea how people sit out in the sun on a day like today. I have the air conditioning running and am praying for a small thunderstorm so the heat will let up.

Goodbye Kisses

After breakfast we will start the trip back home. With each new family member, saying goodbye gets that much harder. The hardest one to leave is my older granddaughter because we now have a bond. She is the most engaging young lady. She has become my friend. We talk and laugh. She is the type of child that you want to always be around.  Thank goodness for Skype. I will eat breakfast, kiss everyone goodbye and try to hide my tears as we pull away.

Family Time

The ride to Cape Cod flew by. In actuality it took 5 hours but it seemed like minutes. We arrived first and a half hour later everyone else was here. The baby grew so much in the 6 weeks since I last saw her. We swam in the indoor pool and I held both granddaughters as they floated in the water. We drove down the road and had our traditional lobster rolls followed by waffle ice cream cones. We were all exhausted by 7pm. We had a good night's sleep and are raring to go. Today will be more swimming and a dinner alone with the "girls" and their two sets of grandparents. What could be more fun?

Cape x 4

This is the fourth annual trip to Cape Cod. My son and daughter in law started this tradition four years ago when they thought it would be a nice trip if both sets of grandparents went away with their family of three to the Cape. It is four years and now they are a family of four. Even though the ride will take about 5 hours, it is the fastest five hours because each minute driving means I am closer to hugging my granddaughters. Tonight we will eat lobster rolls and tomorrow the grandparents have dinner alone with our granddaughters. Just the six of us. My son and daughter in law have a quiet anniversary dinner, just the two of them. What a wonderful tradition.

God's Job

Certain things are in our control. Other things are not. As much as we try to guide people sometimes they just do not listen. For the past year or so I have been telling my parents to never walk away from each other when they are in a store. This way in case someone gets dizzy or feels tired, the other one is there. This falls on deaf ears. Yesterday I was in the city lecturing and I called my parents. My father said he was in Home Depot buying a bracket. I asked to talk to my mother. He said he had dropped her off at Marshalls to shop. Not only had they walked away from each other, they were in two separate stores. Why would they do that? If one of them fell or was not feeling well, the other one was no where to be found. I did not yell at them because I did not want to have my blood pressure rise before I lectured. Instead, I called my sister to vent. She told me that some things are God's job and there is nothing we can do about it now. I agreed and when I hung up the phone I left their safety in God's hands.

Power of Potential

This evening I will be giving the first of a three series lecture series in Manhattan. It is named "The Power of Potential". I am never sure of how many people will attend as it is a walk in group. It is done through the New York Public Library. I haven't been to the city in a while and decided to take the railroad and subway. My husband will tag along for the ride. The lecture is enlightening as it is all about how you can do anything you set your mind to and attitude counts for a lot. I am looking forward to it.

The Head

My husband's collection is getting out of hand. What started off as a few collectables has morphed into an eclectic group of themes. A few months ago we had a garage sale. We threw out a styrofoam head since my husband said it was something we would never use. A week ago another styrofoam head appeared at my doorstep. It seems that he ordered a WWII fighter's helmet and it needed a head to rest on. Since his was not available a styrofoam head would fill in. The helmet arrived and was placed onto the head. The head was then attached to the wall. Then a scarf was wrapped around its neck. I now have a head staring at me as I write. I do not know whether it looks eerie or stupid.

Cyber Decisions

When I sat down at the computer this morning I saw a message. I had an option to eliminate some startup programs. I have no idea why the disclaimer showed up. It was nothing that I prompted. Now I had to address it. I opened the window and saw a list of programs, some I knew and some I did not know. Now the decision making came into play. What did I need? What could I delete? If I deleted ones I did not know, would it ruin the computer? I played it safe and only got rid of the "sure things". It asked me to restart and I said no. I will restart after I write this blog just in case I crashed the computer.

The Rock Star

Last night I went to another concert at the local park. It was beautiful weather and the atmosphere was great. As usual we brought a picnic dinner. Most of the crowd there goes to a few concerts a week. We ate dinner, conversed with friends and then the show began. Out came a Rod Stewart look alike. I was sitting close enough to see him but far away enough to not to see every facial feature. In my mind I saw an older man wearing a blond wig that resembled Uncle Leon. He began to sing and his voice was great. He had the same raspy tone as the real Rod. Then he seemed to slow down a bit. He asked for a chair and sat on it off and on. His wife kept walking on stage to change his jacket. I saw no purpose to that but maybe that is what Rod does. She also kept snapping pictures from every angle. Maybe she was making a memory book for the grandchildren. During the song Maggie May he sat on the edge of the stage and then laid back. He was actually lying down singing. All in all it was a fun night. I bet he couldn't wait to go home and sleep.

Un Plug

We live in a world that is run by electronics. It gets worse by the moment. There is now some kind of game app that leads people from place to place. What is the purpose of that? I wish that we could go back in time and live the simpler life. A life before the internet. A life where the news of the day had relevance. I do not need to be bombarded with the minutia of celebrities. Most of the world now knows what color lipstick a young model wears but if you asked them to point out where Idaho is on the map they would have no clue, (except if they lived in Idaho). We have trivialized our existence to the point where we no longer think for ourselves and that is sad.

What Watt

It used to be simple to buy a light bulb. You bought the shape and the wattage. Now it is a complicated event. An office flood light burnt out so I needed a replacement. I used to buy a 120W indoor flood light. They no longer make that option. First I had to choose the watts. For some reason 120 had become 90 but now I think that 65 can be used. I know it is not a 20 or a 13. Next I had to choose LED or halogen because incandescent was not available in most places. Last on the list was the choice of daylight, bright light, white light or natural light. I chose 90W LED daylight. It was delivered and I put it in the spotlight and you guessed it. It was the wrong one. Now the only problem is that I do not know what the right one should be. A 90W led bright light is on the way. Hopefully this one will be good.

Territory

Today we are having a work luncheon. Two of our interns are leaving. Since they are both orthodox, the food needs to be kosher. Since kosher food is expensive we decided on pizza. I called the closest kosher pizza place and they said they only deliver in town. I said that we were in town. They said only the center of town. I called three other places and they said the same thing. The fourth place would deliver to us. The entire town is only a few miles long so why would someone give up a $100 order for five more minutes on the road?

Dr. Seuss

Even though it was cloudy yesterday we went to the town pool. Rather than sitting at home we would be with other people socializing. We were having a conversation about charity events and one woman said that she was the chairperson for a painting party. We talked about what she needed to do to put the event together. She said she had everything set except that people would need to bring their own smocks. Then she said that her daughter suggested that she buy a box of smocks and give them out. In the course of the conversation she must have said "a box of smocks" ten times. Every time she said it, it sounded weirder and weirder.To my ears "a box of smocks" became "a box a smox". It sounded like a line from a Dr. Seuss book.  All I was hearing was "blah blah blah a box a smox". I started to laugh and everyone looked at me. I told them what I was laughing at and then they started to say "a box a smox". Some words just take on a life of their own.