I hadn't gone into much of any detail about the end of the road for the trusty Saturn. It's probably worth its own separate blog post, but it's too cold outside for me to be wandering around taking photos of the new Honda Civic. So we'll keep it to a paragraph:
After getting the water pump replaced for $400, the brakes and trunk latch went bad. It was 14.5 years old and I wanted to go for 15, but the trade-in value turned out to be (a surprisingly-high!) $300, and it was time to put it to rest. Thus ends my 20-year run as a Saturn owner; the old girl gave me 8,000 miles a year on terrific gas mileage with very few problems. Her heating/cooling gave out two years ago, but she got the job done. Rest in peace; you outlasted my State Farm career which is a noble and fitting tribute to you since the motivation for my red Saturns was out of allegiance to that red-and-white logo. God was watching out for me: I had no idea when I picked up the Honda that we were less than a week from a savage polar vortex. By comparison I'm in absolute luxury these days. Power windows, locks and seats; cruise control, CD player, working heat/AC. She's been tough against snowy conditions. I'm a fortunate guy.
Speaking of snow, last midnight while Dena and I were watching movies with Cupcake and snuggled up under blankets, we heard our snow plow guy grinding away in the drive. I'm not sure that I've shoveled snow this millenium; haven't mowed a lawn in decades; these are blessings.
It's been sort of a techie week for me. I solved a glitch in the Leadership McLean County blog that had been obscuring text, and developed a fill-in form using Microsoft Word for my LMC Alumni Association role. Google provided just what I needed to figure this stuff out. Meanwhile, some recent trauma to Dena's e-mail account reminds me how good I have it with my own... free from spam, hacking, and in her case complete shutdown with nightmarish customer service rep experiences to boot.
I've surged to second place in the fantasy basketball standings (thank you very much Kevin Durant). And with the turn of the calendar to February come oodles of fantasy baseball magazines to kick off the juicy research preseason.
With each passing winter day I'm more thankful that I've been cold/flu free the entire school year. An arsenal of exercise, Zicam and diligent hand-washing are surely contributing. Of course, it might also be that I love my tutoring business and so have more natural energy and resilience than a year ago.
The basketball team rebounded (pun intended) well in their last hoops game after losing two consecutive heartbreakers. A 14-6 record would be welcomed by almost any team in the state. We still have 9 more games to cram into the next 30 days, so there's plenty of time to get onto a roll.
Random thank-you for the invention of razors. My Neanderthal unshaven look would not have been a good one. The other tribesmen would probably have fed me right to the Tyrannosaurs.
I'm really enjoying the water bottle that Jack and Kate got me for Christmas. 24 ouncer with sippy straw for spill-prone adults, helping me chug 80+ cleansing ounces a day. And after leaving it at the gym twice this week, I'm thankful to have had just enough presence of mind to remember when I got home, call the gym, and recover it. I now have a mini back-up bottle for gym use, so the gift should be safely nested at home going forward.
When you don't have cable T.V., you feel comforted by the fact that the Super Bowl was a blowout!
Finally, on a musical note (more intended pun), I continue to be amazed at the warm, occasionally borderline rowdy reception of applause that the Catholics give us in the band at the end of our contemporary service on Sundays. The Protestants got nothing on them; it's a reaffirmation that the mission is making a difference.
This song has been on my mind all week, so I share it once again with you all while wishing the warmest of weeks, whether it's 70s in L.A. or 30s in Illinois.
No comments:
Post a Comment