Running Amuck

Why do people/things run amuck? No one every walks, jogs, crawls, swims, surfs, plays, pogo-sticks, or even sleeps amuck. What's so great about running amuck?

My Lenten Offering

To most Catholics, the season of lent means giving up something for 40 days, and not eating meat on Fridays. Both are supposed to be in recognition of the sacrifices Christ made for us by dying on Good Friday.

I can understand the giving up something, but I've never been able to find anyone to explain the meat thing. A lot of Catholics eat fish. This I can't figure out. I've actually been told that we can't eat meat because Christ died for us and we should eat the flesh of an animal because of the suffering he endured. Um, hate to break this to you, but fish is flesh from an animal. Some people have said that Christ was a fisherman. Couple of arguements there. 1 - He was not a fisherman, he was most likely a carpenter like his father (before he took to wandering in the desert and preaching). Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John were fishermen, when Christ called them to follow him and taught them to be fishers of men. Just because he was in a boat once in a while doesn't make him a fisherman. No story shows him casting any nets. 2 - If he were a fisherman, shouldn't we honor him by not simply eating fish, which he would have spent his life trying to acquire.

If the whole "can't eat meat thing" is a supposed to be a sacrifice, I don't see it. At my house growing up, we usually ate cheese or mushroom pizza every Friday, cause we couldn't eat meat. You could imagine how upset we were.... And its not like we were the only ones in this situation because every pizza place in town was jammed every Friday.

I've had discussions with people I've worked with who said, they could not go to lunch at Burger King because it was Friday, and eating meat was against the rules of the church. I told him that so was living with your girlfriend, and not going to church on Sunday. The reponse I got was, "Well, the church has eased up on those."

I guess I'm going to hell. But probably for other stuff, not just for eating a Big Mac on Fridays.....

Backing up

So what is up with drivers who think it is easier to back into a parking space/driveway, so they don't have to back out of it?

I'm not talking about people who do this on a road that is busy in the morning or that has a blind spot, I'm talking about the parking at the store, or a driveway on a dead end road.

When I've asked, I've been told that it is easy to just drive right out. My arguement is that you have to spend the effort to back up to the parking spot, so what have you really gained? My other problem is that they have no issue whatsoever of blocking the rest of the parking lot, or the street, so they can go to this extra length of having their life more convenient when they leave. (Hey nitwit, while you were lumbering into your spot to give you a better life later today, there are now 6 cars behind you waiting to pass through!)

I think I've figured out what it is. These are the people who otherwise would just back right out, without looking at all, so this saves time.

Out with the old, In with the new (and cool)

So if you read Marie's blog, you know that it's finally happened. I got a new car. It's been 13 yrs since I got my last one, and it owed me nothing. I had been planning to replace my old car this year sometime, but was looking for 4-6 months from now. The clutch has been getting worse and worse, and the battery was dying as well. I got an estimate from the dealer and they said it would be anywhere from $300 - $1200 to repair the clutch. The car is good condition was maybe worth $1000, so, it was hard to swallow that kind of repair bill (as Marie helped me come to realize).

So we made plans to go to the Saturn dealership on Wednesday. Wednesday morning came and the car would not start - battery needed a jump (ok it was like 6 degrees but the timing still stunk). Then I couldn't get it into gear at all. Not reverse, not 1st through 5th. Luckily, I was parked on a hill and was able to get it to roll backwards enough to turn around the neighbor's driveway. Then I got it rolling forward and was able to shift without the clutch, so I made it to work.

Marie and the girls met me there at noon, to follow me to the dealership (in case I died on the way) and guess what. I had to shift out of the gear I was parked in so I could back up. I could not get into reverse, or any other gear. I fought with it for about 5 min, and somehow managed. I had one more incident on way to the dealership, but made it there in one piece. I parked the car and told Marie "I don't care if I get a new car today, but I'm not driving this one back."

I know on Marie' blog, she gave you the details of the time at the dealership, so I won't hit on that again. We picked out a new, dark grey, Saturn ION. Stick shift, AC, cruise, CD player, power windows and locks, and 1 yr of OnStar. So the car is among, other things, a phone. Oh yes. It also has a sunroof. It rides smooth and quiet, has nice pick up, and it has a clutch that works. I'm in great shape for not having it break down on me for anything for another 8-9 years if history repeats itself.

Oh, and Marie even drove it (with a little prodding from me).

So, thanks, Hon, for helping make it possible and kicking me in the pants when I needed it. It is a cool car.