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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.
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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.
This month, the prompts are being provided by yours truly, right here.
This week's prompts are:
tap
dump
basic
push
favor
lesson
and/or the following phrases:
a day late and a dollar short
my cup of tea
a home bird
Over the last couple of weeks, we've been car juggling again. It's a BASIC need in our society, although i'd be much in FAVOR of an alternative if anyone can come up with one.
Someday, maybe, i can retire and be A Home Bird, but not now.
Monday had some plans, but since i'm always A Day Late And A Dollar Short, the check engine light came on in Slow-Moe just as i was leaving Carl's house. This meant an immediate trip to Kevin and Lenny's, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
It was close to lunch time, but they stopped a moment to hook her up to the computer to get a reading.
"Let me see," Luke, the best mechanic, said as he stepped over to look at the screen. Then, "Pop the hood. Start it." He stared at the motor a moment.
"Okay, turn it off," he said, then turned to me. "Solenoid is wearing out, they all do with time." He gave the computer a TAP or two. "We turn the code off and you just keep driving until it starts really being a problem, and then we'll replace the pair."
Alarm bells started going off in my brain, as i've been stranded on the side of the road often enough to have learned my LESSON, and i'm in no condition to PUSH a vehicle any distance at my age and with my back, even just into a nearby parking lot to get it out of danger.
Shouldn't we replace them now, before they give out, so i don't get stuck somewhere? i asked. Being broken down isn't My Cup Of Tea, you know.
"Well, you can..."
Good, i said, i need to make an appointment.
"You don't need an appointment here!" Kevin said.
Yes, i need an appointment, because i have to know when i'm going to be without a vehicle and i have to make sure i have transportation to work.
"Matt doesn't have any appointments for tomorrow morning."
Good, i'll be here, someone can give me a ride home, and my Tuesday lady is just five doors down from my house so i walk anyway.
Deal done, i gave up on errands and got home before the bottom could fall out.
Tuesday morning, i got up and took Slow-Moe in. They are so busy now they've hired an "errand runner," Jeff. His job is to take people where they need to go when they drop off a car, bring them back to get their car, and go get tools, equipment and parts from other places when needed. Jeff dropped me back at the house, i donned my cleaning apron, grabbed my scrubbers and bucket and went to see Ms. D.
She and i had arranged that i would continue the hand scrubbing of her kitchen floor. It's coming out very nicely, i'm getting the build-up off and she's enjoying the results. There was also dusting, and a bit of refrigerator cleaning, and some chatting.
Approaching home, i got my first sight of #1 Son's new/used Honda.
It was delivered, the paperwork was done, and Bessy Low-Key has been taken in trade, probably to be sold for scrap and much of her will end up in the DUMP.
#1 Son drove away to finish up registering the new vehicle with the state, leaving us with Lunceford again. When called, Sweetie drove me over to pick up Slow-Moe.
For the moment, we all have a vehicle again.
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Today is:
Beaujolais Nouveau Release -- France (at midnight, so really most of the celebration is tomorrow, a new wine celebration marked with fireworks and festivities)
Birth of the Blues Day -- birth anniversary of W.C. Handy, "Father of the Blues"
Button Day -- internet generated; a day to collect, or reminisce about collecting, buttons, with information about buttons here
Dagur Islenskrar tungu -- Iceland (Icelandic Language Day)
Day of Declaration of Sovereignty / Day of National Rebirth -- Estonia
Famous San Diego Chicken Day -- a day to celebrate anyone who has ever slugged a purple dinosaur
Flag Day/Statia and America Day -- St. Eustatius
Geographic Information Systems Day
Have a Party with Your Bear Day -- no comment, it's too obvious
Hecate Night -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; celebrated still by some Wiccans)
International Day for Tolerance - UN
Mothers' Day -- North Korea
National Educational Support Professionals Day -- US
National Fast Food Day
Repentance Day -- Saxony, Germany (Day of Prayer and Repentance [Buss und Bettag])
Buss und Bettag -- German speaking Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestants (Day of Repentance and Prayer)
St. Gertrude the Great's Day (Patron of nuns; Naples, Italy; West Indies)
St. Margaret of Scotland's Day (Patron of learning, parents of large families, queens, widows; Scotland; against the death of children)
St. Matthew the Evangelist's Day (Eastern Churches)
Tori No Ichi -- Japan (the second "rooster day" of November, so called because it is held on the two or three days of the rooster this month, in which to wish good luck and prosperity at temple and shrine ceremonies around the country, and celebrate with a fair)
World COPD Day -- International (helping people understand Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; this year's theme is "Your Lungs For Life")
Anniversaries Today:
Oklahoma becomes the 46th US State, 1907
Birthdays Today:
Maggie Gyllenhall, 1977
Oksana Baiul, 1977
Martha Plimpton, 1970
Lisa Bonet, 1967
Diana Krall, 1964
Dwight Gooden, 1964
Susanna Clarke, 1959
Marg Heigenberger, 1958
Shigeru Miyamoto, 1952
Elizabeth Drew, 1935
Daws Butler, 1916
Burgess Meredith, 1908
W.C. Handy, 1873
Tiberius, Roman Emperor, BC42
Debuting/Premiering Today:
The Roman Catholic Church issues the first new Universal Catechism since 1563, to address modern issues, 1992
"The Real Thing"(Stoppard play), 1982
"The Sound of Music"(Musical), 1959
Today in History:
The second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published, 534
Francisco Pizarro captures the Incan emperor Atahualpa after the victory at Cajamarca, 1532
The first colonial prison is organized, in Nantucket, Massachussetts, 1676
Kentucky becomes the first state to nullify an act of Congress, 1798
The New York Evening Post publishes its first edition, 1801
An earthquake in Missouri causes the Mississippi River to flow backwards, 1811
Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail, 1821
Napoleon Guerin of NYC patents a cork life preserver, 1841
Fyodor Dostoevsky is sentenced to death for anti-government activities; sentence is commuted to hard labor, 1849
Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens, 1856
William Bonwill patents dental mallet to impact gold into cavities, 1875
6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan, 1894
Arturo Tuscanini begins conducting NY's Metropolitan Opera, 1908
US Federal Reserve System formally opens, 1914
LSD is first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, 1938
UNESCO is founded, 1945
NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission, 1973
The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk, 1992
After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons, 1997
The People's Republic of China begins to implement the "Great Firewall," filters which make it impossible to connect to internet sites the government deems illegal or unhelpful to the communist ideal, 2006
Hostess Brands reveals plans to file bankruptcy because of a baker's union strike, 2012
Chocolate manufacturers state that a cocoa-pod fungus and dry weather in cocoa-growing regions has created a shortage of cocoa that may increase in the future; world chocolate demand already exceeds production capacity, 2014
The largest diamond discovered in more than a century, a 1,111 carat stone, is found in the Karowe mine, Botswana, 2015
French President Francois Hollande declares the country at war with ISIS in an address to parliament, 2015
Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Salvator Mundi" sells for $450.3 million at auction in New York, world record price for any artwork, 2017
Nineteen countries pledge to phase out coal at UN Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, 2017
Scientists agree to redefine the kilogram, measuring it against Planck's Constant instead of measuring it against a physical artifact specimen, 2018
Samoa declares a state of emergency and shuts down all schools after a measles epidemic claims the lives of 6 children, 2019
Astronauts aboard the ISS are forced to take cover as the breakup of a Russian satellite creates a debris field that might pose a danger, 2021
I love your use of the prompts and wish that you could lead a simpler life. Hooray for all of you having a working car at the moment.
ReplyDeleteMy take is below.
It was such a basic lesson to learn. Naomi was a home bird. She watched the news and social media and couldn’t understand why other people got so excited about far away lands and adventures. ‘Tap into your wild side’ they said. No, no and a thousand times no. When push came to shove she demanded comfort. And that comfort included a flushing (and private) toilet. Exotica is just not my cup of tea she decided, and happily dumped other people’s suggestions about how to live her life in the garbage – along with all the other fashions she refused to follow. She might be a day late and a dollar short, but the things that were touted as normal and desirable did her no favours.
Well written - even though I am Naomi's opposite number, your described her very well.
DeleteGood for Naomi, knowing what made her happy and what didn't, and making sure to follow her own heart on that matter.
DeleteGreat story EC, I am a Naomi too, staying home and being comfortable is number one in my book.
DeletePlaying musical cars does not sound much fun to be hoinest. I'm happy it all worked out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the words, they set my writing jucse in motion again, and nexp bit of my story of Susan is up now.
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Great write up with the prompts. Glad everyone has a car to use now.
ReplyDeleteCar trouble is the worst. Mom has no patience for it as she just wants it to run and no trouble. Glad your car is fixed and everyone has a car at least for now.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I hate car troubles! Thankfully, we've had wonderful experience with our Toyotas over the years and it seems with each new model we get, so does the reliability. I'm happy you got your vehicle repaired. It's awful indeed to find oneself stranded beside the road. Have a blessed week, dear friend!
ReplyDeleteLove that name plate. I don't want to work for that person though. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteLove your use of the prompts and I'm glad you have all your vehicles again. Fingers cross that everything works just fine for a very long time.
Love your sons new car.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. Big hug. ♥
Glad you got your car fixed, and quickly.
ReplyDeleteGlad you all have a car again. That is a nice looking Honda.
ReplyDeleteyes, you are important ~ Xo ~
ReplyDeleteGreat car ~ enloy
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Well done weaving the prompt words into the tale of your daily life. I'd say it was a good idea to get the car repairs done, I'd prefer that to waiting for trouble to happen.
ReplyDeleteThat was quite the story and I'm glad everyone has a ride at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYou did well with the words and I'm glad everyone has a working car at last. For now anyway. What you need is a winning lottery ticket so you all can have new cars.
ReplyDeleteCar juggling over - for the time being anyway!
ReplyDeleteLIVE AND LEARN by Granny Annie
ReplyDeleteMarchelle knew it was time to go out in public. All her life she had been affected by agoraphobia and was a home bird fearing to leave familiar surroundings. She called the dump to see if they would grant a favor. "Please don't empty the last truck in the landfill" she begged. "I must search for my coin!" It was not a request the owner was willing to grant. Marchella went there anyway and would politely tap at the entrance. Her fear of being outside was gone as her heart pounded for this lost treasure.
She had made every effort to bring her trash back in before it could be picked up. She gave them a basic story, "I was sipping my cup of tea after searching everywhere for my coin. Then I suddenly remembered my lost coin could be in the container on the way to the dumping ground. I ran to the curb and sadly I was a day late and a dollar short. The empty container was waiting for me to push back to the house."
Eventually the sanitation department took pity on her and allowed her entrance. She went into shock seeing the mountains of garbage that stood before her. Suddenly she was thrilled her to see Ivan, Marchella's regular collector. He was just pulling in with the truck. "Stop Ivan!"
With his help she spotted her trash bags and began ripping them open. By God's mercy she saw this rare coin come tumbling out. Her lesson for the day was to check the trash for lost items before carrying it out. The second achievement for this day was that she could go outside safely and Marchella just might do that again.
Well told! She accomplished a great deal in one day.
DeleteMimi, I loved your story about the car dilemma and loved the prompts you are giving us.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson I've learned is to favor fiber as I sit here and tap my foot trying to push out a basic dump.
ReplyDeleteSuccinct and (hold your nose) stinky! I mean that in a good way. You are very clever.
DeleteUgh. Car-juggling. It always makes me nervous! Sounds like it worked out remarkably well. (P.S. I love your car names!)
ReplyDelete