I'm sure he thought that was the position he held when he tried to tell me how I should drive. He had just passed me. I had been in the left lane, westbound on 94 approaching St, Paul, about to make a left exit in a couple miles. I was already going never-mind-how-much over the speed limit at the time, slowly easing past traffic in the center lane. Passing me meant he was going about another ten mph faster.
Ticketable, had there only been a cop watching. Oh well.
He came quickly up behind me, giving me no reaction time, swung sharply right, passed, and swung sharply left again in front of me. While making this last move, he stuck his arm up and out his window, exaggeratedly pointing over the top of his pickup cab to the right. Clearly he thought I should have been in that lane, and he was the one to school me in how to drive.
I kept my eye on him for the next mile or so. Just before the road curved, he zipped across two lanes, causing brake lights from the cars in those lanes just behind the path he took. Yep, just another example of his superiority in driving judgement.
I think I'll continue to trust my own.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Service Failure
While traveling and making a motel reservation via the phone, I succumbed to a sweet talking offer to join a service which gave discounts on travel expenses, including $40 of that night's room. It would cost $1 the first month, $16.95 each one thereafter. If I canceled within that first 30 days, I'd only owe the buck.
Seemed like a no-brainer. But knowing how mail and email can sometimes go astray, I thought to hedge my bets and ask for the phone number to cancel, just in case. I was given one, read it back to the gal on the phone, and had it confirmed. If you care, it is 1-800-658-3524. Heck, that's the number even if you don't care.
It was time to cancel, having assured myself that none of the services and discounts offered held any interest or value to me. I punched in the number, getting the expected voicemail list of options. But the options themselves were a bit unexpected. It seems I had the choice of speaking with either a male or a female, both of which, I was assured, were hot and ready to have a long chat with me!
Not quite the service I was looking for.
As a side note, I made sure, after getting the real number, that the manager I got kicked upstairs to, heard about my experience. I suspect it was embarrassment which rendered him nearly speechless.
Seemed like a no-brainer. But knowing how mail and email can sometimes go astray, I thought to hedge my bets and ask for the phone number to cancel, just in case. I was given one, read it back to the gal on the phone, and had it confirmed. If you care, it is 1-800-658-3524. Heck, that's the number even if you don't care.
It was time to cancel, having assured myself that none of the services and discounts offered held any interest or value to me. I punched in the number, getting the expected voicemail list of options. But the options themselves were a bit unexpected. It seems I had the choice of speaking with either a male or a female, both of which, I was assured, were hot and ready to have a long chat with me!
Not quite the service I was looking for.
As a side note, I made sure, after getting the real number, that the manager I got kicked upstairs to, heard about my experience. I suspect it was embarrassment which rendered him nearly speechless.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Mystery Bird X2
Yesterday I saw a bird I've never seen before. In itself, that's nothing special. I'm sure lots of birds inhabit my area or even just migrate through and I've never noticed. I enjoy finding new birds, such as egrets, sandhill cranes, or even turkeys, which haven't been here before, and now suddenly are. So what was this one?
It was perched on a fence post on the side of a road. Passing birds at 55 mph is not the best way to identify them, but it happens often enough that I've learned to try to memorize certain features instantly, fixing them in memory as the birds themselves recede. So, category: hawk. Size: small for a hawk, perhaps pigeon sized. Coloration: startling. I know, not helpful, but it's what drew the eye in the first place, shouting, "New! New!" Head and body were light brown, even in color rather than spotted, speckled or striped. The brown belly was a surprise. I'm used to whiter bellies in raptors, keeping the bird from being seen by prey below it while it's getting ready to swoop. But while different, that wasn't the startling part. The wings were. Black all through, very vivid against the light brown, but with even more vivid white all through. I'm not talking little flecks, but chunks of white. And not stripes, either.
Nothing I've ever seen before.
While I'm driving further down the road, mulling it over, I pass another one! Whatever they are, I've gone from zero to two in 15 minutes. This one, however, was clinging to the side of its fence, rather than on a post.
Weird. But it's just another little helping of weird at the start of a very busy day. Some time later I decided to call my brother, the bird expert of the family. He came up with three possible hawks I might have seen, using his own field guides as a reference, but wondered whether I hadn't seen a woodpecker? I insisted on backing my initial impression of raptor.
At home last night I looked through the field guide. Nope, not a female harrier. Not a red shouldered. Not a ... what the heck was the third bird? Well, I knew last night, and that wasn't it either. Oh yeah, broad tailed. Not one of those. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Pouring through the descriptions for variations wasn't helpful either. About to give up, I recalled the position of the second bird and my brother's question about woodpeckers. Why not check?
Wow, this book is old! It still references the ivory billed woodpecker! Oh my, 1980. Put a new one on the shopping list. Later. And as I thought, red heads, red heads, red heads, white speckled bellies...
Oh.
Would you look at that.
Much as I want to swear I was seeing hawks, the immature red bellied woodpecker matches my birds' color scheme, thought the black and white wasn't quite a fully striped as shown in the pictures.
But I'm ready to believe.
It was perched on a fence post on the side of a road. Passing birds at 55 mph is not the best way to identify them, but it happens often enough that I've learned to try to memorize certain features instantly, fixing them in memory as the birds themselves recede. So, category: hawk. Size: small for a hawk, perhaps pigeon sized. Coloration: startling. I know, not helpful, but it's what drew the eye in the first place, shouting, "New! New!" Head and body were light brown, even in color rather than spotted, speckled or striped. The brown belly was a surprise. I'm used to whiter bellies in raptors, keeping the bird from being seen by prey below it while it's getting ready to swoop. But while different, that wasn't the startling part. The wings were. Black all through, very vivid against the light brown, but with even more vivid white all through. I'm not talking little flecks, but chunks of white. And not stripes, either.
Nothing I've ever seen before.
While I'm driving further down the road, mulling it over, I pass another one! Whatever they are, I've gone from zero to two in 15 minutes. This one, however, was clinging to the side of its fence, rather than on a post.
Weird. But it's just another little helping of weird at the start of a very busy day. Some time later I decided to call my brother, the bird expert of the family. He came up with three possible hawks I might have seen, using his own field guides as a reference, but wondered whether I hadn't seen a woodpecker? I insisted on backing my initial impression of raptor.
At home last night I looked through the field guide. Nope, not a female harrier. Not a red shouldered. Not a ... what the heck was the third bird? Well, I knew last night, and that wasn't it either. Oh yeah, broad tailed. Not one of those. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Pouring through the descriptions for variations wasn't helpful either. About to give up, I recalled the position of the second bird and my brother's question about woodpeckers. Why not check?
Wow, this book is old! It still references the ivory billed woodpecker! Oh my, 1980. Put a new one on the shopping list. Later. And as I thought, red heads, red heads, red heads, white speckled bellies...
Oh.
Would you look at that.
Much as I want to swear I was seeing hawks, the immature red bellied woodpecker matches my birds' color scheme, thought the black and white wasn't quite a fully striped as shown in the pictures.
But I'm ready to believe.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
I Dream of Dancing
I dream.
I dream of walking
Carefree and unfettered
Unrestrained by pain, by distance or reality
Walking like I can or like I used to
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of running
Running for pure joy of movement
Running in slow motion
Flying leaps with landings that don't count
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of flying
Floating on a bed of air
Hovering o'er a world and touching nothing.
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of dancing
Eyes and arms locked
Madly whirling 'round the traveling axis
Of our giddy waltz
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of singing
A voice that always finds the notes
Recalls the words
With tone that lifts the soul
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of swimming under water
Knowing I must hold my breath
Yet feeling air move through my chest
So I can stay for hours
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream what was and is no more
I dream what never was
I dream of being blind but seeing all
Of knowing always how the story ends
And guiding it to stay the same or change
Stride familiar landscapes no one's ever trod
Grown with mountains where they never rose
Of being loved by those who've never cared
But then I wake.
When waking day
So long and hard has ended
Stretching out my aches across the bed
Sandy eyelids close
And wait for dreams.
I dream of walking
Carefree and unfettered
Unrestrained by pain, by distance or reality
Walking like I can or like I used to
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of running
Running for pure joy of movement
Running in slow motion
Flying leaps with landings that don't count
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of flying
Floating on a bed of air
Hovering o'er a world and touching nothing.
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of dancing
Eyes and arms locked
Madly whirling 'round the traveling axis
Of our giddy waltz
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of singing
A voice that always finds the notes
Recalls the words
With tone that lifts the soul
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream of swimming under water
Knowing I must hold my breath
Yet feeling air move through my chest
So I can stay for hours
But then I wake.
I dream.
I dream what was and is no more
I dream what never was
I dream of being blind but seeing all
Of knowing always how the story ends
And guiding it to stay the same or change
Stride familiar landscapes no one's ever trod
Grown with mountains where they never rose
Of being loved by those who've never cared
But then I wake.
When waking day
So long and hard has ended
Stretching out my aches across the bed
Sandy eyelids close
And wait for dreams.
Cat-Tard Follies
Yes, we love her, and yes, the nickname is not PC. But she's earned it. You've heard about her before: abandoned, half-starved, mentally handicapped for a cat, lacking many usual instincts, sees things that aren't there, runs into walls. She's in the family news again.
Steve recently moved his desk into the living room. The wall space opened up after clearing out the furniture and boxes heading to Arizona, and was finally cleared of the stuff that piled up just because the space was empty. Cat-tard noticed.
She walked into the room, stopping short with a "Hey, that's new!" reaction. Then she walked forward to check it out, failed at her try to climb it, and left the room. A few minutes later she returned, and... "Oooh, New Thing!" After exploring it, she again left. A few minutes later, "Hey, New Thing!" And again.
She's gotten used to it now, and isn't nearly so entertaining. But the tale lives on.
Steve recently moved his desk into the living room. The wall space opened up after clearing out the furniture and boxes heading to Arizona, and was finally cleared of the stuff that piled up just because the space was empty. Cat-tard noticed.
She walked into the room, stopping short with a "Hey, that's new!" reaction. Then she walked forward to check it out, failed at her try to climb it, and left the room. A few minutes later she returned, and... "Oooh, New Thing!" After exploring it, she again left. A few minutes later, "Hey, New Thing!" And again.
She's gotten used to it now, and isn't nearly so entertaining. But the tale lives on.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Kudos for Coburn
Senator Tom, that is, from Oklahoma. Why the kudos?
Let's first go back to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which, should your memory be short, demolished much of the eastern seaboard last fall, especially around New York and New Jersey. Federal aid was needed, but Coburn held it up for months citing the need for holdbacks. Or in plain English, the budget was a fixed sum and if we were to spend some of it on one unexpected place, we needed to cut it someplace else to make up the dollars spent. We needed to hold some back. You know, cut something unnecessary like food stamps or Medicare. The holdbacks issue delayed payments for rebuilding so long that many businesses along the shore whose economic year is compressed into a few summer months won't be able to rebuild in time. Think of it as a double whammy.
Now, we have the EF5 tornado that hit Moore, in Coburn's home state. Again federal aid is needed. And guess what? Again Coburn says sure, just as soon as we figure out what the holdbacks are going to be to balance the unexpected expense. So kudos to Coburn for being consistent, an equal opportunity asshole.
I wonder how many of his constituents properly appreciate him for that?
Let's first go back to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which, should your memory be short, demolished much of the eastern seaboard last fall, especially around New York and New Jersey. Federal aid was needed, but Coburn held it up for months citing the need for holdbacks. Or in plain English, the budget was a fixed sum and if we were to spend some of it on one unexpected place, we needed to cut it someplace else to make up the dollars spent. We needed to hold some back. You know, cut something unnecessary like food stamps or Medicare. The holdbacks issue delayed payments for rebuilding so long that many businesses along the shore whose economic year is compressed into a few summer months won't be able to rebuild in time. Think of it as a double whammy.
Now, we have the EF5 tornado that hit Moore, in Coburn's home state. Again federal aid is needed. And guess what? Again Coburn says sure, just as soon as we figure out what the holdbacks are going to be to balance the unexpected expense. So kudos to Coburn for being consistent, an equal opportunity asshole.
I wonder how many of his constituents properly appreciate him for that?
Monday, May 20, 2013
Back to E85
Yeah, I know: Minnesota gas prices: GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
I'm going back to something I haven't done for several years: adding E85 to my tank when I fill it. It's about a buck a gallon cheaper right now, and that more than makes up for a small mileage decrease.
Here's how it works: when the tank is nearly empty, I try for about a 60/40 blend, the 60 being the percent of regular unleaded, the 40 being E85. Always add the regular first. You never want to go over that ratio. We've been warned for years not to increase the amount of ethanol in our cars. Oooohhhh, scary! Something might happen. Well, I've done it in 10-year-old cars, or rather as much as ten years ago, and nothing happened. They ran fine, nothing broke down, nada. I based the ratios on advice given on a local NBC morning news program. Don't recall who the expert was, but I tried it and everything was fine.
Nobody who's advised against it was able to say why it shouldn't be done. "Cars weren't built for it" is what they said. My Hyundais handled it just fine, thank you very much. Not a whisper of a problem. When it wasn't available, regular gas went in. No biggie, unless you count the price, and ten years ago it was nothing like now. So I'm back and running, on unleaded and E85.
I have found one drawback: the pump handles themselves are very stiff. Under-usage? Or is it a subtle way to get us to buy more expensive fuel? For sure the all-new pumps at a local station don't have that issue with any of their other gas pump handles. Of course, I haven't checked the diesel handles. But it's not the only station with that issue.
I'm going back to something I haven't done for several years: adding E85 to my tank when I fill it. It's about a buck a gallon cheaper right now, and that more than makes up for a small mileage decrease.
Here's how it works: when the tank is nearly empty, I try for about a 60/40 blend, the 60 being the percent of regular unleaded, the 40 being E85. Always add the regular first. You never want to go over that ratio. We've been warned for years not to increase the amount of ethanol in our cars. Oooohhhh, scary! Something might happen. Well, I've done it in 10-year-old cars, or rather as much as ten years ago, and nothing happened. They ran fine, nothing broke down, nada. I based the ratios on advice given on a local NBC morning news program. Don't recall who the expert was, but I tried it and everything was fine.
Nobody who's advised against it was able to say why it shouldn't be done. "Cars weren't built for it" is what they said. My Hyundais handled it just fine, thank you very much. Not a whisper of a problem. When it wasn't available, regular gas went in. No biggie, unless you count the price, and ten years ago it was nothing like now. So I'm back and running, on unleaded and E85.
I have found one drawback: the pump handles themselves are very stiff. Under-usage? Or is it a subtle way to get us to buy more expensive fuel? For sure the all-new pumps at a local station don't have that issue with any of their other gas pump handles. Of course, I haven't checked the diesel handles. But it's not the only station with that issue.
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