I Think Sears is Holding my Car Hostage

Hi all,
Hooray! Class is done for a few weeks, just finished my last class of the semester on Saturday (the 21st). Although I still have to wait for my grade, at least I can sigh with some serious relief that class is done. It was a pretty informative class too!

Alright, so now time to get to the title of this post. As of Thursday December 19 because my heat was once again no longer working--only cold air was coming out of the vents even after being in the car for an extended period of time. So I bring the car back in, I know I really should stop bringing it there....unfortunately they are the only place with openings in the area and I can walk home from the auto center.

Anyhow, after they figured out what was wrong with my car on Thursday they told me it was the water pump this time. Fun fun. And then they said they didn't have anyone that day that could specifically work on it, but there would be someone in on Friday in the morning. So I was like ok, I want the person that knows what they are doing to fix my car. Makes sense right?

I was told it was projected to be done by noon on Friday. After hanging with my sister for a bit while she shopped at the mall, I decided to just hang around for two more hours to wait for my car to be done (Sears Auto is right next to the mall). I go over just after its noon to find out my car isn't done yet, that they discovered that the engine needed some special thing to prop up the engine so that it doesn't fall out and that it wouldn't be done until Saturday. Sigh.

I hitch a ride to class figuring it will be done by the time I get finished with class at 1. That was silly of me. I call only to find out it is STILL not done. They need some special tool or something, I don't really know, but that it would be done at 5. I worked 4 to 7 that night so clearly I couldn't pick it up then. The sales rep was even reminding me of the incoming snow storm. I was well aware, but unable to do anything else about it.

Sunday morning I call at 10, figuring they may need a little extra time just to get to the auto center because of all the snow (we got approximately 6 inches total I believe). Alas. My car was still up on the thingy for fixing. Awesome.... Supposedly it will be done today. We'll see. All I know is I am NOT paying more in labor because it's taking them so long. If they say I need to because it's not their fault that it's been taking so long than I'm going to just have to ask if that means they are saying it was my fault for bringing it to them. All I know is there service is so far not earning my business.

Sorry, rant over! I learned today how to clean up an alkaline battery explosion, quite proud of myself for not having to ask my husband to do it for me :). Also, Bailey trying to be sneaky!

He was hiding under Chris's winter coat. Cleo had totally being playing with that pink and blue ball until Bailey did a surprise attack on her. It was kind of funny.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

P.S. Happy Holidays and/or hooray for a day off this week for most people!

Apologies and Poetry

Hi all,
Sorry again it's been several days since I last posted. There's only one week of school left and I've got two assignments to finish up before then, so I guess my brain is a little frazzled :).

I don't often write poems, but a few months ago I was inspired to write two different poems, I don't know if they're really good, or even decent, but hey I figured it could be fun to share even if they aren't. The first poem is a little whinny, it was written during a time of serious frustration with work where a kiddo and I were just clearly not a good match, but I didn't want to give up on the team (the kid pretty much hated me for some unbeknownst reason), I ended up leaving the team so that he could thrive in therapy. The second poem is more of a criticism of the U.S. inspired by a mixture of what I've learned in my classes.

Caring
I find the caring inside of me
Is gone, it's not simply that I am unsympathetic,
It's that it has atrophied.
Thank society.
Or the media epidemic.
Thank the dwindling fervor that is humanity.
Maybe thank me.
The moving, aching muscles of compassion are gone.
So long.

What is the world coming to, you ask.
It's worst nightmare, I respond,
Humanity is gone.

False Dreams
The American Dream
Isn't as it seems,
Try as one may
No matter how hard they work each day,
Those bootstraps to pull upon
Are long gone,
If they ever existed
To start with, which is twisted.
This ideology,
This philosophy
We hold so dear
Is never near
Unless
You hold riches of boundlessness
And every opportunity is afforded
You. All of it is hoarded
For the rich, for the white.
It seems impossible to fight.
Change isn't easy or often fair,
Will it really get us anywhere?
Perhaps. Unknown futures
Could be the sutures
We need to save us
From our false dreams of greedy lust.

As always thanks for stopping in and visiting. If you've written any poems or flash fiction you'd like to share please do so in the comments! I forgot to say that with the last writing prompt I offered.

Thanks!
Melissa

The Burden of Convenience

Hi all,
Warning to the reader, this might get a little ranty, sorry! I noticed Sunday that my car was making an odd noise, it had just been in the shop on the 20th of November, so I was less than thrilled to hear that odd noise. Then yesterday my heat didn't work at all, which isn't good when you know, it's winter. My car also got awfully close to the "hot" temperature reading yesterday evening while I was driving to work, so that was concerning. Now I'm hanging out in the mall while my car is getting checked for a coolant leak--it's low on coolant which it shouldn't be because I just had the coolant exchanged. The noise apparently is coming from my muffler, that'll be dealt with a different day.

Cars can get so expensive, there are times when I want to just swear off driving and just bus and walk everywhere instead. But then I think about waiting in the cold for the bus, or remember the time I got on the wrong bus and ended up walking the two or so miles home from where the bus could drop me off that was closest to that point. I do generally try to walk where I can when I can (weather cooperating). I might even consider walking to one of the houses I work at once it's not winter and it stays light out past 4 pm. I'm not exactly keen about walking home alone in the dark for about a half hour's worth of time. The other house I work at would just be too far to reasonably walk to. If I were to get a bike that could solve some of the problems of travel time and distance, but I'd not ride a bike in winter, I am not that tough or daring.

So instead of getting a bus pass, which I can get one for free from campus since I am a student, I eat the cost of my car repairs. The convenience of cars certainly has it's associated cost. As for why I don't have the bus pass, well I'm kind of lazy, I'll admit it. In order to get the pass I need to go on campus during the week which means not only will I have to deal with the joys of throngs of students, I'll have to deal with finding parking that will most likely be a place I have to pay for. The office that gives the bus passes isn't open on Saturdays when I'm at campus for class. Maybe I think I'm being spiteful by not giving in...? I don't know, it's probably just laziness. Riding the bus, biking, and/or walking would be more environmentally friendly than my car too. Once winter is done I'm going to try to make a more earnest effort to not drive when possible. Cut down on my carbon foot print if only by a little!

Thanks for reading,
Melissa

Is it the Cold Deterring Me or am I Just Lazy?

Hey all,
So since the Hot Chocolate Run in November I really haven't jogged at all. I ran on Monday this week, but I haven't been able get myself to jog since then. I don't know where my motivation that I had from September to November went! I'd like to blame the wintery cold outside, right now (at 10 am) it's 10 degrees Fahrenheit, but it feels like -1. I don't even know what it was at 7:30 when I try to do my jog at, or at least when I had been doing my jogs prior to the Hot Chocolate run. Too bad I don't have a treadmill in my apartment. Some day I plan to, but for now I need to walk like five minutes to my apartment complex's main office where they have a decent gym. If anyone has suggestions on how to motivate myself, please share!

Here's a writing prompt for any of you writers out there! Write from a non-human perspective. It can be from an animals perspective or an alien's or even an inanimate object if you are feeling daring. I found this prompt here (Writing Prompts). But I am going to take the writing prompt suggestion one step further, write from the non-human perspective about a devastating event, it could be a deadly crash, a war, even the end of the world. Give yourself five minutes Now. GO!


Here is what I got, maybe five minutes isn't enough, that or my brain is rusty:

Lights flashed from the sky as Princess gazed out the window. They were so bright she shut her eyes from the suddenness of it all. Her humans were running around the house yelling in their drab ways. Princess didn’t even care to listen. 

She stood from the window, stretching all of the kinks out of her back, then she took in the panic of her people. The noisy picture box was on, there was red at the bottom of the box with something in white scrolling quickly. Red-orange color consumed the room, originating from the world beyond the window. Princess snapped her head back to the window, her humans ran to the window as well. 


Thanks for stopping in! I hope some of you try that writing prompt, I'm sure you'll do way better than me ;D.

Melissa 

Cat Personalities

Hey there!
While visiting with family for the Thanksgiving holiday I was really struck by just how different one of my in-law's cats is personality-wise in comparison to my two cats. My in-law's cat is named Hunter. Several years ago on a particularly chilly winter evening he was found by my father-in-law. They brought in the little kitty, fed him, and took care of him. At first Hunter didn't really interact with them at all, he more stared through them than anything else. Eventually he warmed up to them and started playing. He was estimated to be about a year old when he was found, he was probably a barn cat, and he was a scrappy fighter from the looks of his tuffed ears. Since opening up to my in-laws, he has become the most friendly cat I've ever met. He's hungry for attention (he will even use your hand to pet himself if you have stopped petting him) and playful as ever. I believe my mother-in-law said he's approaching eight years old, you wouldn't think he was much older than a year or two by his energy level.

Hunter is helping with quilting.

I think what surprises me so much about his personality is when I compare it to my cat Bailey, who was found when he was three weeks old and has been with people since that. Bailey is five now and although he has his playful moments, he's still a pretty stand-offish cat in a general sense. Maybe Hunter had been socialized with other farm cats when he was a kitten whereas Bailey didn't get much cat socialization. I'm not sure, I just know there is such a difference between these two orange cats!

Since we adopted Cleo I don't know exactly what her upbringing was like, but I do think she may have been a street cat. There are times when Cleo and Bailey get along really well though, so maybe she's rubbing off on him. He is a brat to her still though, don't get me wrong, he chases her through the apartment often. But they can at least both sleep on the bed at times without having a tussle. That's progress in my book :)!

Thanks for stopping in,

Melissa