Yesterday...

Yesterday was a mixed bag…the laundry got done, El Casa Móvil De Pennington got cleaned (well, the grittiest parts thereof, anyway), and the larder got its periodic minor re-stocking. There was one critical chore that wasn’t accomplished, however: replacing the Green Hornet’s battery. Replacing the battery isn’t an immediate matter of necessity as it still has a charge and still cranks the car over, albeit slowly now that cold weather is here. No… it’s just a case of prudent pre-emptive maintenance, given the Green Hornet’s battery is the original OEM item and is six years old. Or, near the end of its useful life. Better to replace it now than when it goes belly-up and I have to be somewhere, anywhere.

I was at the appointed place, at the appointed time, and after surrendering the Green Hornet’s keys to Mr. Goodwrench, I proceeded to the customer waiting area where I cooled my heels with a book. Fifteen minutes later the service manager walked up and apologized, profusely, that their supplier had sent the wrong battery and could I please come back tomorrow? Well, I guess so…after all, I don’t have much choice now, do I? “We’ll make it up to you, I promise,” said he, cryptically. Just how they’ll “make it up” remains to be seen…but I’m anticipating a ten percent discount, at the minimum, for their screw up.

So while I was at Mr. Goodwrench’s store I gazed longingly at a brand-new, bright red 2006 Corvette and actually opened the door and sat in the thing, where I immediately became awash in memories of Former Happy Days. Those memories aren’t nearly enough to justify paying the princely sum of $52,000.00 (and change: list price) for the thing, however. Even after applying my GM Employee discount, which is substantial on high-zoot models like the ‘Vette or most Cadillacs, I’d still have to part with over $40K of my (not-so-) hard earned money to drive it off the lot. Dang! That’s a chunk o’ change, ain’t it?

I also had two interesting encounters yesterday…the first being with a woman I dated over three years ago. I ran into her in Wally-World for the first time in three years, which is a minor miracle of sorts, considering P-Town only has 12,000 souls and one would expect to run into people you know quite frequently, nu? Such is not the case, however. We caught up a lil bit and then went on our respective ways. I spent the better part of the rest of the day congratulating myself on remembering her name... no small victory, that. I’m given to serious worry about the fact I have trouble with names, in general, and specifically with those folks I haven’t seen in quite a while. But yesterday’s encounter is evidence that Alzheimer’s is delayed, for the moment.

Encounter Number Two was in the laundromat with a rather pleasant lady around my age. We’d been chatting for about ten minutes when she asked “Well, what do you think of our Dear Leader…President Bush?” “Oh Shit, Oh Dear,” thought I, noting the way her mouth got all twisted up as she said “Dear Leader.” I measured my words carefully in reply, stating I supported the President but had issues with his inability to articulate the seriousness of the war we’re in. I got the usual moonbat talking points in response, “no WMDs,” “oil,” “war of choice,” and so on…ending with “it’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.” “I think you ARE wrong,” said I. She was literally taken aback, in the sense she physically jerked about six inches away from me after I spoke, and had an incredulous expression on her face. I was all prepared for a heated exchange but she changed the subject, thankfully.

I don’t know why I’m surprised at these sort of encounters, given that seven of ten Americans disapprove of Dubya’s “handling of the war,” if one believes the latest polls. Yet I am surprised, each and every time. There seems to be a LOT of lefty Kool-Aid drinkers running around in The Land of the Free. Yet I suppose they can be forgiven, what with the MSM’s incessant negative bleating. On the other hand, there are alternative media, right?

Today’s Pic(s): A sight seldom seen these days, outside of the Red States…two views of the Nativity scene outside of the Roosevelt County building. A group of kindergarten kids and their teachers arrived as I was shooting the Nativity scene, and I took a few pics of the group. After snapping the kids I walked over to one of the teachers and asked who they were and what the occasion was. I was told they were kindergartners and the group was going caroling in the County offices, and oh, by the way, are you from the paper? “Nope, I’m not…I thought you guys were a good looking group and just had to take your picture!” A Nativity scene and caroling... ain’t it GOOD? Taken yesterday...12/14/2006.