Dodging a bullet twice in 10 minutes!

No, not me, but some very, VERY lucky driver who probably needs to review Rules of the Road again!

As I was going down a very flat, straight (some slight hills) 2-lane highway, a Chevy HHR passed me as I obviously wasn't going fast enough (60 mph in a 60 mph zone.)  There was a car in front of me, also going about the same speed.  There were also cars coming the other way.  The first car, in the on-coming lane, had to hit the shoulder as the HHR pulled back in to their proper lane.  Obviously they thought they were faster than oncoming traffic.  This time they made it.

Then, a few miles down the road I saw that same car pull off the road in a hurry!  I thought they had "almost" missed their turn off as there was a driveway up there.  Nope, they were in the ditch, and it was a healthy deep ditch.  I stopped to see if I could help, but they kept gunning the motor and muscled their way out onto the road.  At one time they did slide back on a bit of a severe angle, and I thought for sure they were going to tip over.  Those HHRs must have a very low center of gravity.

When they finally did get on the road, I thought I heard the familiar flup, flup, flup of a flat tire (or tires) as they drove a few yards, in the opposite direction they were originally headed, and turned into a driveway.  I can only assume they had a blowout?  And if this was the case, weren't they lucky to not have the blow-out when they were speeding down the highway, and quickly pulling in front of the car in front of me, when they were passing in close proximity to oncoming traffic!!!

The first pic shows the skid marks as I passed them.  I didn't take the pics right away, and so the black is not as "vivid" as when it was brand new.   The first pic is how the skid marks look going in the direction of the car's original route.

The bottom picture shows what it looked like on the way back from my trip.  You can see a mail box, on the left side, down a few hundred feet.  When I passed by, the HHR was at the house at the end of the driveway which belongs to the mailbox.  Guess their hurry to get out of town got them about 10 miles down the road, and totally disabled.  

Last week I almost had a run-in with a person obviously texting, on this same road, and swerving all over, speeding and slowing down.    I used to think that people had accidents on curvy, hilly roads, but it would seem, the straighter and flatter, people take more chances. 

Time for a glass of wine...at home...

Bah humbug!!!

After working retail during the Christmas season for several years now, I can appreciate how a person can get burned out, when on the "receiving side" of the register.  Normal rudeness increases exponentially at this time of the year.  Common sense just flies out the window. 

 Just how important is that gift anyway?  I can hear you saying...

 ..."I knocked an old lady down, but I got the gift!"

..."I totalled my car on the way to the Mall, but I got the gift!"

..."I maxed out my credit card, but I got the gift!"

..."I couldn't afford to donate to the Bell-ringers, because I got the gift!"

..."I didn't make the mortgage payment, but I got the gift!"

TV, radio, newsprint all screams that we should get that "special someone" the gift at all costs, but how important is the gift, if all those other variables appear.

There's an old lady that could have been hurt.  A car that should have lasted for a few more years.  A debt that didn't have to be incurred.  A charitable donation that may have bought a cup of coffee for someone who couldn't even afford that.  A house that didn't have to go in to foreclosure. 

These are all hypothetical scenarios, but they can and do happen.  Just because someone wanted to get the gift.  Couldn't/wouldn't the received be happy with just any gift?  As long as it was given with love, and care, and sincerity?  I could and would be.




 

Dead Santa

I was driving to a garage sale, in a middle-class neighborhood, when I saw my first dead santa on the ground, in front of an otherwise nicely decorated house.  Further down that same street I saw a dead snowman, and some dead elves. 

I was sure that this was the work of vandals.  That people without the Christmas spirit had indeed probably sliced open, or shot BB pellets at these poor, forlorn inflatable forms we see at Christmas.  What a way to deflate your Christmas spirit!  And this surely did not look like the kind of neighborhood that such things would take place.

Then, later that same day, I went to another garage sale, in an even  nicer neighborhood, miles away from the first "killing field."  The same thing...dead santas everywhere.  And this neighborhood even has a resident cop in their midst.  At least the squad car was parked in front of the same house, as was seen on a previous ride through.  How could we have so many vandals roaming the streets causing mischief?

Then a light bulb went off!

These inflatable santas, and snowmen, and elves, are all kept inflated due to a small air pump that they're attached to.  And to conserve electricity, the home owners are turning off the pumps during the day, hence the inflatables DEFLATE, and thus cause the seeming carnage of dead santas. 

It's still an eerie sight, but now I know the cause!

What next?

Sheesh...if this doesn't beat all! 

We park our cars under a nice, big oak tree next to the house.  Sorry, no garage, or car port, just the wide open spaces.  So during a (not so recent any more) rain storm, one of the branches broke off the tree, and fell on the jeep.  Or rather fell INTO the jeep.  Who could have predicted this happening?

Yep, a tree branch right through the top of the jeep.  What are the odds of this happening?  Why didn't it fall horizontally rather than vertically?    Of course our auto insurance deductible is as much as the cost of replacement, so the burden of fixing it was on our shoulders.  We opted to get a large tire patch (as is used for semi-trailer tires) and patch it that way.  Actually looks quite nice, and it's waterproof!

Oh, if you notice the "rubber" snakes on the dash, and visor...those are just for fun!
 

Olive oil...and it worked!

I have a confession to make.

I made brownies last weekend as a thank you for some people who had done some good deeds for me.  They were from a store-bought mix.  I did read the package to see if I needed milk, or eggs, or whatever to finish the mix.  I did need eggs and so I bought a dozen.

What I neglected to notice was that I also needed oil, preferably vegetable oil.  I didn't have any.  I didn't buy any.  I didn't want to go back out and buy any either, as it was a long day, and I just wanted to finish the brownies!

I did have olive oil, extra virgin olive oil.  High quality olive oil.  Expensive olive oil.   And it is a vegetable, isn't it? 

So I figured that I would try it, and taste sample the mix before I put it in the oven to bake.  It seemed to taste fine, so I made the brownies.  After they were cooled, and cut up, I again sampled a small piece.  Still seemed just fine, and so I delivered the brownies and went home.

I did save a couple for my husband.  I did not tell him how I made them.  Of course as soon as he saw them, he had to eat one.  I held my breath.  He pronounced them very, very good!  I then told him what I did.  He said, if anything they were not as overly sweet as usual, and he appreciated that.

I don't know as I'd do that again, as olive oil is more expensive than vegetable oil, but if I do, I'm still not going to tell anyone. 

You want hummingbirds?

Try planting this flowering vine!

This is growing on our fence.  It's native to the area.  It's known around here as Trumpet Vine.  Huge orange flowers, with deep throats for the hummingbirds.   Can become a nice woody vine, with rather large, stout stems.  I've also seen a yellow variety, but orange seems to be more prevalent.  I don't know how it propagates naturally, although I do know you can take a cutting from a more tender spot, and get it to grow from that start.  I did find these pods on the end of a branch, and so assume it may also start from some sort of seed?

It can spread by trailing branches on the ground or by discarded cuttings.  It can also be considered a pest, due to the spreading, but it is my experience that it's no where the problem that honeysuckle can be, plus it's a much more showy plant.    This particular plant also bloomed twice this year; once in June, and again in August, drought nonwithstanding!

If none of this appeals to you, you can put up the obligatory feeder, in  place that doesn't get direct, hot sun (at least that's what I think), with some trees or shrubbery closeby that they can nest in.  This picture was taken on my covered porch.  The bird was competing with a bee, which if you look closely,  you can see in the picture.    The birds are very bold, and very wary at the same time, and can be hard to photograph with just an inexpensive digital camera!

The bird won!
 

Recycling at it's best!

This is something you don't see every day.  And it makes my heart swell!  This building was in an area that is slated for a new road interchange among other things.  I watched as the contractors carefully pulled off the brick, and I was wondering what their intentions were.  I thought the building was too nice to tear down, but in this day and age of "everything's disposable", I assumed the worst.  I thought perhaps they were just saving the brick.  Then I saw the truck with the I-beams inderneath the building!  They're gonna move it!

This used to be the office of my insurance agent.  He's moved into another facility.  Don't know if he's waiting for this to reach it's new home.  But whomever is moving it, kudos to them as this was a nice building, and I assume moving is much cheaper than rebuilding from the ground up!