hula hoops and hampster wheels

So I took today as a floating holiday -- I've stored and stashed plenty of vacation time up and I had some things I needed to do today so ta-da the magical floating holiday was used.

I slept in -- got up at 8:30, that's later than average for me. Normally I'm up during the week at 5:15 and on the weekends, 7:30 and I'm wide awake. Granted - I like to go to bed early, I'm old that way.

So I slept in, I took a bubble bath, played online, worked a little on plotting for the book -- poor Gladys is still so skeletal in her development as a charachter - I'm a really good procrastinator - -to illustrate this -- for my procrastination - I decided to reorganize my closet and drawers -- I have a crap load of clothes -- I usually wear the same 12 outfits but I found in my cleaning today some items that have been missing. I folded, hung items on hangers -- I gave up once it was time to match socks... another day.

I vistited with my mom, We talked about my Great Uncle Hank who is now in hospice care - and when we are going to try and visit him - maybe this weekend. I dread the goodbye visits -- but even worse is not having the oppertunity to say good bye, both of my grandfathers passed before I could say goodbye and my maternal grandmother too. I sent her flowers and she got them, but by the time I bought my amtrak ticket she had passed. So this news about my Great Uncle isn't shocking, but he's my favorite Uncle, and I'm worried about my Auntie Helen since they've been married for 65 years.

My mom got ready for work and left and my dad, did his fatherly duty and took my car into get an oil change-- ( I don't like to wait around for things like this) Well he came back and it turns out -- I don't have brake lights. It's not the fuse - it's not the bulb so I have to take it in to the dealership since it's covered by warranty. So I get my Dad to follow me there, and on the way we pass Ramsey Elementary School. Buses are loading, the speed limit lights go on, it's 35 miles an hour, and there is a crosswalk sign and lady in neon in the middle spinning her stop sign like a baton, it's not facing any one direction, I have slowed down below the speed limit, there are no children or crossing traffic, so I do what everyone would do, proceed to go through- do to the spinning nature of the stop sign it was not pointed at any one direction it was being twirled around and around. The lady in neon obviously wanted her spinning stop sign to be directed at me, so she put her little flag in front of my now stopped vehicle and began yelling at me--- so I do what any good commuter with a healthy dose of road rage does, at first I apologized as her directions were unclear and she continued yelling at me -- so I told her to get the hell out of my way and to learn how to do her job. My dad who was right behind, and also experience the twirling stop sign first hand and second hand-- also gave her his x-rated version of the same speech -- along with his vibrant hand gestures, and choice demeaning phrases. This lady needs to get fired, and join the circus so she adequately perform her baton moves. So today, for once my dad is my hero, normally he just the cantankerous asshole I live with that never has anything good to say and spends most his time complaining about politics, and the lack of the TV guide in the Star Tribune. But today, he's my hero --

We continue toward the dealership, I'm ahead by a couple cars, and I get stopped by a train, I wait the arm goes up- the car in front of my goes through -- and I go through and then the arm goes down again. I hate train tracks --- mostly since college and the dishboy I worked with at Sammy's got killed by a train -- and the ones on 47 have had several deaths associated with them -- I'm already nervous since I'm driving without brake lights, I had an encounter with lady in neon and now this... so I look down and see that I'm almost out of gas! What next! So by now my dad is stuck behind train number two and I'm on 169 now, pulling into the holiday station. I get gas -- brr it's fricking windy and then I carry on, back on track to the dealership. I get there, pull to the service door, give my info the guy in the nylon pullover my information and dispose of 4 empty coke cans in the nearby garbage. Meanwhile they guy is trying to convince me to get my 30K mile check up and that it's on special for $950 and that it's soo crucial that I get it done, and what better time than right now. I say no thanks and ask about the minimum 30 special only $350 --- mind you I'm not at 30K miles yet, I have a good hearty 3k miles to go -- the guy continues, saying he can throw in an oil change for free today with service --- Umm I just got an oil change, that's how I found out about the brake lights -- weren't you listening? And another note -- I really like this current situation where I give my dad a blank check and he goes to Slim's Motor Clinic for my oil changes and tire upkeep -- I prefer not to deal with the dealership except for warranty crap - and I really think women are over charged for not knowing crap about cars, so I like that my dad --- who had a carreer as an RV technician and although autos are not his speciality -- he can go in and know what's what - and nobody is going to give him any bs. Plus aside from being a cantankerous asshole -- he has a great bullshit detector and my little dad doesn't take crap from anyone. A little Napoleon complex maybe... but that's aside from the point. So I go out and meet my dad and we bitch about the lady in neon and then I tell him about the sales pitch I got at Morrie's Hyundai -- he was furious and he wants to have words with the dude in the nylon pullover. Then we stop and I get him gas for his troubles and top it off with a Mounds bar, his favorite. So anyways, that's my vacation day, pretty lame and uneventful -- but my dad got to be my hero today.