Americas Obsession with Registration

They built an Ikea just north of me a month back. It cracks me up cause people are acting like it's a holy temple that they need to gravitate to.

I can't BELIEVE how many people are there whenever I find myself wandering the aisles. It just amazes me. The amount of hype and excitement that existed before it opened was just a riot.

Anyway....

I went there last weekend, and was staring at the back of my Jeep, while my friends loaded shit up... and I noticed... my registration is 3 months over-due.

LOL.

I must be losing it. I'm usually REALLY on the ball with that type of thing. I guess the only reason I was looking is that I need to switch the title over on the Stang and was considering getting it registered too. Anyway... I realize that wasn't very interesting, but it really shocked me.

Not even a week ago, I was driving home with a cop on my ass for like 20 mins... he didn't pull me over. Weird.

So, I guess that's the plan for today. Register the Jeep and switch the Title over on the Stang. Woot.

That's it....

Probably for this week.... maybe even the rest of the month. What month is it?

Year: 2027 Mustang: Still Leaking

I watched an "OK" movie this last weekend. It was called "Children of Men."

It was probably a 5 on a scale to 10. It was something I thought I'd like cause it took place in the future. (2027 to be exact) But, to be honest it didn't have any aspects about it that really grabbed my attention.

I actually found myself driving off to "La-La Land" a few times... which almost never happens when I'm watching a movie. I'm usually zoned in. ;o)

Anyway, the movie takes place in a "futuristic" version of the UK. Although it's not specifically mentioned... It seems that America, Asia, and most other places in the world have fallen off of the grid.

The primary plot is that there have been no human births on earth for 18 years. There are continuing arguments over where the human sterility came from. Everything from pollution, to excessive use of chemicals in our food / drugs, etc. There were even religious groups saying that it was God's punishment for our disobedience and sinful lives.

Anyway... some dude gets recruited by his old girlie, to escort a preggo chick out of London. She's the first person to become pregnant on earth for 18 years. So, it's important to get her out of the country, because the UK is starting to border on a "Nazi Germany" attitude, in that they're booting all non-natives from their borders. The resistance is also worried that if the Government found a pregnant girl, they'd flip out cause she wasn't a Brit. She's a Fuji. (Black)

There was lots of battle scenes... Mostly street fighting. Bombing, etc.

Meh...

The only thing the movie had going for it was that it was an interesting concept and some decent acting. Not exactly 'too' far fetched. With the amount of chemicals and pollution we ingest on a daily basis... who knows.

*Sigh*

I worked on the Mustang from 11AM till 8PM on Saturday. Replaced the Oil Pan gasket in an attempt to stop my mysterious leak once and for all.

I really think I got some minor heat stroke. It was the hottest day of the year. Probably pretty close to 100 degrees. I tried to keep myself hydrated, but I think excessive exposure to the sun really messed with me. I had a horrible rash on my chest by the time I took a shower. Anyway... I'm ok now.

The bastard STILL leaks. I'm so frustrated. I was meticulous in ensuring that didn't over tighten or mis-align the gaskets. Damn it!

It's not nearly as bad, but it's still makin' a mess.

At least I'm REALLY good at removing the oil pan now. ;o)

*V*

Money Sucks

To be completely honest... I've been putting off my blog, cause I haven't had a whole lot to write about.

I was hoping something cool would happen, so that I'd have some super exciting post... but ya... nothings happened.

My car insurance and my rent hit me at the same time. That sucked. I pay my car insurance every 6 months, so it was like $440, on top of my rent $575, kinda killed my last paycheck. So, I haven't done anything cool, cause everything costs money.

Well, anyway... I fortunately setup overdraft protection. So, anything that goes into the negative, just goes onto a CC that I never use. *Sigh*

I need a new job.

I applied for two jobs yesterday or the day before. Not really 100% up my alley, but they both pay better....

Well, anything pays better.

Vagabond Motivational Speaker

So, a few things have happened that I've been DYING to blog about.

It's been a little hectic lately, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and unload.

First and foremost, my friend finished her marathon! She did really well, and managed a reasonable time...(Under 6 hours) despite running with a stress fracture in her foot. Woot! Good job!

Anyway, we've been having the weirdest weather lately. (I know it's taboo to talk about the weather in your blog, but this applies to my story) It's been REALLY warm out. I think a few days ago it was nearly 90 degrees. So, definitely A/C weather. Then for no reason we started having these crazy rain storms.

So, on Tuesday, I came into work...and it was raining like crazy. Snowing on the mountains, etc. And I just barely sit down, and one of my Co-Workers comes up to me, and says... "*N* fainted at work today." (*N* is a co-worker of mine. She's a single mom in her early to mid 40s)

I was like, "What? She fainted? What happened?"

"Well, she's had the stomach flu for like 4 days," she replied, "but, she keeps coming into work."

"Oh, terrific." I said, "She's probably totally dehydrated."

"Ya... so, anyway... I just drove her home... cause I guess she was so out of it... she drove to work with a flat tire."

"My lord..." I say, "So, lemme guess.... you're about to ask me to change the tire?"

***

The tire was COMPLETELY flat. All the way down to the rim. Driving to work on the rim, I'm sure wasn't the best course of action.

I see that it's sandwiched between two cars, so I can't open the rear hatch to get to the jack, tire iron, etc. So, I open up the car to pull it forward. What I saw was horrifying.

I realize that guys tend to be more concerned with the maintenance of their vehicles... but generally, girls like it at least bearable...at least the interior, right?

This car was a NIGHTMARE. I have never in my life felt like I was getting sick... just by sitting somewhere. There was more trash than you can imagine. Papers, spilled soda, pizza boxes, peanut jars, clothes. The dash was stained, the carpet was a disaster... the seats were removed and shit was just strewn EVERYWHERE.

Everything was sticky, and just had that grimy feeling. I seriously was so uncomfortable.

Well, I rolled the car forward, and popped the back hatch. Ugh... it was still horrible. Well, not surprisingly, there were no tools, no jack, no nothing. I later found out that her sons changed a tire a few weeks ago, and didn't put the stuff back in the car.

I walked over, got the stuff I needed from my car, and I changed her tire. Now remember, it's P O U R I N G outside. So, by the time I was done, I was completely soaked. I had underwear up my ass, and my socks were soaked too.

Well, I managed to trick one of my co-workers to drive the car to her house, and I followed behind in the Jeep. When we got there to her house, one of her sons answered the door.

Well, as I looked at this kid, I suddenly got really irritated. I mean, his mom works her ass off... to the point where she's fainting at work, and he and his brother who are like 12 - 16 years old... can't even clean up the damn car for her? I mean, I'm sure they got chores to do around the house, etc... but geez... all they seemed to care about was their big loppy friend that was coming over to "play" at the same time we showed up.

You don't have a bunch of friends hanging out at your house, while your mom is throwing up.

So, I sorta snapped. I kinda reamed her kids a little. They didn't have a father, and probably didn't for a long time, so I thought I'd try to shape them up for a second. I wasn't horrible or anything, I just said,

"Look man, your mom is REALLY sick... she's workin' really hard to keep you guys a float, the least you could do is try and pull a little weight around here. Her van isn't even sanitary man, why don't you clean it up for her. Throw some of the trash away, clean it up a little. If you're going to change the tires, then put the damned tools away when you're done. If she'd broken down anywhere else, she would have been screwed."

I kinda went off for a few more minutes. I mean, if my Dad had seen my mom's car lookin' that bad, he would have kicked my ass into next week. It was just expected. yard work, house work, wash the cars, etc. It was me and my brothers' responsibilities. Even WITH two parents there.

It just seems to me, that if you have one parent, that you have to pull double the weight. Well, from my perspective, these kids were hardly pulling any weight. All I ever heard her talk about was that they played Star Wars, etc.

I realize that I didn't have any right... and I should just mind my own business. But, my mouth just started moving. In retrospect, I realize that I probably scared the shit outta that kid.

I was completely soaked, covered with grease, hadn't shaved in a week, and I was pissed.

LOL... "Mooooom... some vagabond just yelled at me!!!"

Oh well, she hasn't made it back to work yet... so maybe she'll ream me at work on Monday. I probably deserve it.

Oh well... Anyway... I thought it was funny... and irritating.

BTW, I found out that nasty leak I've been having on the Mustang is a boo-boo that I did, not something more serious. WOOT. I'm going to try to fix it this weekend.

*V*