Small Stuff

I know most of you Gentle Readers don’t give two hoots in Hell about my hockey posts (Becky), so here’s a few mundane, trivial, most un-interesting bits from life this past week…

I had an interesting sort of experience yesterday. So… there I was (all war stories told by USAF veterans begin this way, no matter how hair-raising or mundane they may be, and no matter if you’re still part of The World’s Greatest Air Force, or not. That’s just the way it IS, Gentle Reader.)… sitting at my desk around 1145 hrs, drinking the third cup of the day and making the rounds when the phone rings. Dr.Thompson’s office on the line…asking if I might could come in today and have that MRI done? Early? Dr. Thompson got his new MRI machine installed and the staff were going through training with a factory rep and they wanted real, live patients to practice on. Well, sure… but ya gotta give me a half-hour to clean up and get dressed.

I did just that (showered and scraped my face) and scooted on downtown. The ensuing 45 minutes were pretty cool, what with four women fussing over me, the Good Doctor hovering in the background, and such. The staff took two MRIs, and then I went on my way, but not before briefly discussing the wonderfulness of the new machine with the factory rep and staff. I was most gratified to learn the machine is American-made, and I said so…which prompted a brief round of vigorous north-south head nods and a couple of “ain’t that the truth” war stories. Until I said “But who am I to talk? I drive a Japanese car…” followed by incredulous looks from the staff and then (thankfully) laughter.

I really like my dentist, Gentle Reader, and the whole staff, for that matter. Good folks, they are. The best.

―:☺:―

My motivational mojo has kinda-sorta returned. Enough for me to buy myself a new vacuum cleaner earlier this week (Hey. I said this was “small stuff.” Whaddaya expect?). I’ve been living with this lil piece o’ crap vacuum for the last five years or so, which is essentially a hand-held vac that fits into a handle with a built-in and supremely ineffective carpet brush as part of the bargain. But it was small and fit into my closet quite well, and space (specifically storage space and the lack of same in El Casa Móvil De Pennington) was the driving criterion behind its purchase.

So. I bring the new vacuum home and have to try it out immediately. Imagine my shock: after vacuuming this oh-so-small space I was startled to discover the dirt canister was half-full. This, after I had vacuumed a scant three days earlier. God only knows how many years have been taken off the life of my carpet because of inadequate cleaning. But: no more.

Still more evidence of returning motivation… I attempted to replace the tinted window film on the afternoon-sun-side of the house yesterday and was semi-successful. I’d bought new film at the same time I bought the new vacuum and set about trying to install it yesterday… only to give up in disgust. The instructions for said film said there was a “transparent protective film on the adhesive side” which must be separated from the film before application. Well, that might be true but I strongly suspect it’s NOT… coz I spent a half-hour trying to separate the non-existent “protective layer” from what was CLEARLY one single piece of film. I gave up in disgust and threw the whole shootin’ match in the trash. Fortunately I had some static-cling film left over from last year’s application and the remnants were just enough to cover one window.

It's not often you encounter situations like this without having to make a return trip to the store. I like it when a plan comes together...accidently, or otherwise.

―:☺:―

“Walk away with victory…”

It’s an Al Green sort of day. And guess what? There’s NO wind to speak of! I’m gonna put this post up and go outside and fire up the first stick from a new box of Spanish Rosados, which the nice lady who drives the Brown Truck of Happiness put in my grubby lil hands this past Wednesday. And I’m gonna have a hefeweizen with it, too. Or two. Whatev.

So there you have it: an oh-so-mundane, yet 100% hockey-free post. You’re welcome.