Last year, in the final week's of December, I started to be able to smell gas fumes in my car. They were faint at first, but gradually grew stronger, to the point that it was nauseating to drive for long periods of time in slow traffic. (At higher speeds, the air movement thinned out the smell of gas enough that it wasn't too bad - though it still wasn't good.)
On the 27th of December (2013), I took my car in to the shop, and although they couldn't find out the exact cause of the smell, they found there was some issue with one of my oil hoses, which was causing my sparkplugs to misfire. So they fixed that and cleaned it up, in the hopes that that was enough to stop the fumes.
It wasn't.
So, on December 31st of 2013, I took my car back into the shop, where they this time found the gaskets which were causing the leakage - and just happened to mention that the gas fumes, combined with the misfiring spark plugs, could have resulted in a massive car fire.
But that didn't happen. (Phew.)
This year, on the 27th of December, I was in South Dakota, having driven to my home town to see my family after spending Christmas Eve and Day with Christopher's side of the family. I'm happy to say that there were no issues with my car on the drive there on the 26th, and no noticeable issues on the way back on the 29th. The 30th, however, was a whole different matter.
After the massive temperature drop between the 26th and 29th, I started to notice the gasoline smell again while sitting in traffic on the 30th. It was faint at first, though, and I thought it might just be traffic smells caused by the cold temps. Until I was driving home and the car was filled with the smell, which only got worse when I drove to and from a movie last night.
Which, then, resulted in me taking my car in to the shop this morning on the way to work - on December 31st of 2014.
Apparently taking my car to the shop on New Year's Eve is becoming a tradition for me. Though, truth be told, it's one that I'm very much hoping to break away from on December 31st of 2015. In fact, I've decided that it's going to be my primary resolution for the coming year. I really hope that it's one I can keep.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
Inter-holiday Slump
The time between Christmas and New Year's is... strange.
There's such a huge build-up to Christmas, and then it's over in a day or two (or three, if - for instance - you have to travel between locations).
And there's also a lot of expectations leading up to New Year's Eve. Everyone tries to figure out how to spend the Eve, and to be sure that it's the best night possible.
The week between the two is kind of a slump, right in the middle of a peak.
I guess you could kind of look at it as New Year's being a way to "taper down" from the excitement of Christmas, but at the same time the week in the middle is kind of just weird.
You have to go back to work, but can't get anything done.
You have to try to eat well, but you're surrounded by bad-for-you leftovers.
You think you can get back to your "normal life," but you have another couple of festive days in front of you.
It's... well... odd.
There's such a huge build-up to Christmas, and then it's over in a day or two (or three, if - for instance - you have to travel between locations).
And there's also a lot of expectations leading up to New Year's Eve. Everyone tries to figure out how to spend the Eve, and to be sure that it's the best night possible.
The week between the two is kind of a slump, right in the middle of a peak.
I guess you could kind of look at it as New Year's being a way to "taper down" from the excitement of Christmas, but at the same time the week in the middle is kind of just weird.
You have to go back to work, but can't get anything done.
You have to try to eat well, but you're surrounded by bad-for-you leftovers.
You think you can get back to your "normal life," but you have another couple of festive days in front of you.
It's... well... odd.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Holiday Post "Exchange"
Okay, so I'm not so much exchanging blog posts, as I am stealing one that a friend of mine posted. Why? Because I read it a couple of hours ago, and have been thinking about it ever since, and so I thought I'd see if any of you had any thoughts on it.
The bulk of the blog post in question is truly quite simple.
How about it you got that pony today?
How would things change?
It was posted by Miz Tiz over at TiZ and AsS (http://tizandass.blogspot.com/2014/12/on-26th-day-of-tizmas.html).
It's easy, of course, to guess what I might have done if I'd gotten a pony way back when, though in my case it would have been a metaphorical pony. (I never wanted a pony. My closest equivalent was probably wanting a cool car back in high school - instead of having to drive my parents' green 1973 Pontiac Catalina station wagon.)
Even so, I'm thinking of this even more metaphorically. The idea of "what if you got 'the brass ring' way back when?"
What if I'd gotten that perfect job right out of grad school?
What if I'd hit the jackpot the first time (or second time - aka "last" time - even) I was in Las Vegas as an adult?
What if I'd gotten to drive a better car in high school or college?
I really don't know.
I've talked, before, about the fact that there are split points in my life that I really wonder, sometimes, what would have happened if I'd taken a different path. If I'd taken a different job. If I'd move to a different town. If I'd never cut my hair in grad school.
As the old year ends, and the new year begins, this is the kind of thing that I ponder. And I love that I'm apparently not the only one.
So... What about you? What would you have done if you'd gotten that pony way back when? Or two days ago, even?
The bulk of the blog post in question is truly quite simple.
Who would you be today if you had gotten that long-ago asked-for pony then?
It was posted by Miz Tiz over at TiZ and AsS (http://tizandass.blogspot.com/2014/12/on-26th-day-of-tizmas.html).
It's easy, of course, to guess what I might have done if I'd gotten a pony way back when, though in my case it would have been a metaphorical pony. (I never wanted a pony. My closest equivalent was probably wanting a cool car back in high school - instead of having to drive my parents' green 1973 Pontiac Catalina station wagon.)
Even so, I'm thinking of this even more metaphorically. The idea of "what if you got 'the brass ring' way back when?"
What if I'd gotten that perfect job right out of grad school?
What if I'd hit the jackpot the first time (or second time - aka "last" time - even) I was in Las Vegas as an adult?
What if I'd gotten to drive a better car in high school or college?
I really don't know.
I've talked, before, about the fact that there are split points in my life that I really wonder, sometimes, what would have happened if I'd taken a different path. If I'd taken a different job. If I'd move to a different town. If I'd never cut my hair in grad school.
As the old year ends, and the new year begins, this is the kind of thing that I ponder. And I love that I'm apparently not the only one.
So... What about you? What would you have done if you'd gotten that pony way back when? Or two days ago, even?
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Merry Christmas!
Whether you've found a Christmas Dragon of your own, or received a bunch of cards, or spent the day watching the Yule Log on TV, I hope that it was a great day.
Heck, even if you didn't do any of those things, I still hope you had a great day.
Here's one of my favorite thematically related videos for you. I hope you enjoy it.
Heck, even if you didn't do any of those things, I still hope you had a great day.
Here's one of my favorite thematically related videos for you. I hope you enjoy it.
(It's "Present Face" by Garfunkel and Oates.)
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
The Christmas . . . Dragon?
I fully admit that I really like seeing the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. (Christopher and I, unfortunately, don't have any outside outlets, so we can't join in the fun.)
The house next door has "icicle" lights and a wreath at the peak of their roofline.
The house kitty-corner from us has their tree in the front window, and a "star" in an upper window.
A house about a block away has wrapped the trunk of a huge maple tree in stripes of white and green lights, and the house across the street from them has a white picket fence lined with white twinkle lights.
We may not have the brightest street in town when it comes to Christmas lights, but it's definitely festive.
A couple of years ago, one of the houses across the street from us had an inflatable snowman that kept partially deflating and tipping over. Another house had an inflatable Santa.
This year, the house across the street has lights along the eaves. And a dragon.
Sure, during the day the lights are simply draped in the front shrubs and along the fence. But, at night, the dragon comes out to play and shoots fire out toward the street. It's both magical and festive, in it's way - definitely better than a deflated snowman.
And did I mention that it's probably only visible from our house, because of the angle you have to be at to see the effect?
Magical, festive, and ephemeral in its way. If that doesn't make the dragon perfect for Christmas, I don't know what would.
The house next door has "icicle" lights and a wreath at the peak of their roofline.
The house kitty-corner from us has their tree in the front window, and a "star" in an upper window.
A house about a block away has wrapped the trunk of a huge maple tree in stripes of white and green lights, and the house across the street from them has a white picket fence lined with white twinkle lights.
We may not have the brightest street in town when it comes to Christmas lights, but it's definitely festive.
A couple of years ago, one of the houses across the street from us had an inflatable snowman that kept partially deflating and tipping over. Another house had an inflatable Santa.
This year, the house across the street has lights along the eaves. And a dragon.
Sure, during the day the lights are simply draped in the front shrubs and along the fence. But, at night, the dragon comes out to play and shoots fire out toward the street. It's both magical and festive, in it's way - definitely better than a deflated snowman.
And did I mention that it's probably only visible from our house, because of the angle you have to be at to see the effect?
 |
| The view from our living room - you can see the top of the blinds at the bottom of the photo. |
Sunday, December 21, 2014
The Shortest Day of the Year
The first day of winter, as we all know, is the day with the least daylight of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
I almost started to write that it was the day with either the least sun or the least sunlight of the year. But the way things have been, lately, we haven't really seen much sun for the past couple of weeks.
I'm not really sure what Mother Nature has against Minnesota this year.
Between the freaky cold in November and the past couple of weeks where we've only had about six hours of sun (cumulatively), it's definitely not been the most pleasant late fall. Honestly, this has been one of those seasons where pretty much everyone is talking about moving somewhere warm - myself included.
But now we've got the promise of the lengthening days ahead of us. Yes, January is typically our coldest month of the year, but it's also usually pretty bright and sunny.
Right now, I'm definitely looking forward to that - and I'm very glad that these gloomy days have been during some of the shortest days of the year.
I almost started to write that it was the day with either the least sun or the least sunlight of the year. But the way things have been, lately, we haven't really seen much sun for the past couple of weeks.
I'm not really sure what Mother Nature has against Minnesota this year.
Between the freaky cold in November and the past couple of weeks where we've only had about six hours of sun (cumulatively), it's definitely not been the most pleasant late fall. Honestly, this has been one of those seasons where pretty much everyone is talking about moving somewhere warm - myself included.
But now we've got the promise of the lengthening days ahead of us. Yes, January is typically our coldest month of the year, but it's also usually pretty bright and sunny.
Right now, I'm definitely looking forward to that - and I'm very glad that these gloomy days have been during some of the shortest days of the year.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Fragrance Fantasies
We don't watch a lot of commercials.
I mean... most of what we watch is actually recorded, so we fast forward through the commercials and only see them as they fly by. We only really watch full commercials if we're watching something "on demand" and the fast forward isn't an option.
Even so, this year we've noticed a resurgence of men's cologne commercials. Lots of very artistically filmed 30-second spots, most with swimming or horseback riding.
And most with half-naked men smoldering as they look at the camera, or perhaps quickly romancing a willowy young woman. (Okay. Not gonna lie. Seeing the half-naked, tan, toned guys enjoying exotic locales in the middle of December is not necessarily a bad way to spend 30 seconds...)
We're not really a cologne-wearing couple. But if there were any way that spritzing myself with one of those would suddenly give me a body like one of the guys in the commercial, I might consider it.
I guess that's all part of the joy of this time of year - the wishes for things that we'll never have.
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