WRECKED!

Yours truly got into a doozy of a car accident this afternoon, at the corner of Wallace and Hansel for ye socks familiar with the roadways in this little corner of heaven.

The good news is both drivers walked away from it.

The bad news is ye olde Blazer may be totaled.

Anyway, I discovered the true value of good insurance. State Farm is treating me well (and responding quickly). They've already got the wreckage towed and put me in a nice rental.

Now, we just have to sit back and wait to see what the adjuster says . . .

Blow-out!

Clearly, yesterday's post only served to antagonize the lunar menace that has been plaguing this little corner of heaven lately.

This morning, as I was barreling down I-4 in rush hour traffic, one of the front tires on ye olde Blazer decided to explode.

Fortunately, yours truly was able to safely exit the interstate and thump-thump-thump to safety.

But, the repair bill remains to be seen.

Ah, well, such is the price one must pay, I suppose, when one tangles with a celestial menace . . .

No headlights!!

I suppose it wasn't enough to lose cell phone coverage yesterday.

Tonight, as yours truly was leaving a thoroughly enjoyable dinner out with cousins, he discovered that he had NO HEADLIGHTS!

Fortunately, it wasn't TOO dark. In fact, I think we might have had a full moon tonight. (Perhaps, THAT is the source of all the mechanical failures?!)

Anyway, there was some white-knuckle driving on the streets of Orlando this evening . . . not to mention an inordinate level of police activity along the route home!

I suppose it was past time to visit the mechanic, but this was one heckuva way for ye olde Blazer to remind me!

Bathing the Blazer

Lest ye socks think yours truly might have stumbled across a cheaper alternative to dry-cleaning, let me assure you the title of this post refers to a long-overdue car wash.

That's right, I finally broke down and soaped up the neglected old Chevy.

I was even inspired to clean out the interior.

So, she's not only sparkling like the gem she is, but can actually cart a couple other human beings now instead of all the piffle and nonsense that usually rides around with me!

Spring cleaning, anyone?

Good grief!

Yours truly needs to do something about the ever-increasing load of piffle and nonsense that's taking over his vehicle.

It looks like Sanford & Son got a hold of the interior!

Feeling a little irresolute . . .

Nothing like being a day late to start off 2010, but I was too busy with out-of-town company this past week to worry much about compiling any list of resolutions for the new year.

I really don't put much stock in them, anyway.

Probably, because I don't have the greatest record of checking-off the items on them.

But, for auld lang syne sake, I decided to give it one more whirl today.

How sad is it that the most-ambitious-yet-still-achievable thing I could come up with was to clean out my car?!

I mean, I even scratched out the second half of the original draft of that resolution. (Which was, "and keep it cleaned-out!")

I think I'm just gonna set this fruitless task to the side for the moment, and pop in one of the Netflix DVD's that arrived in the mail . . .

Pass the popcorn!

I blew it!

One of the tires on my Blazer, to be specific.

Here's the scene. I'm flying down the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, yakking on ye olde mobile phone with my cousin. Then, just as I was approaching the lovely overpass pictured here, POP!

Not a great place to be when you need to change a tire, to say the very least. I mean, half the traffic cones and barricades on that little stretch of highway had already been knocked over by my fellow motorists. I could only pray I wouldn't be next!

Anyway, I broke out the old jack and got all the lug nuts removed from the offending tire without any curse words.

But, then, when I went to pull the flat off, the jack buckled and the chassis fell back down to the turnpike. Sprained my bird finger in the process, which was probably a good thing.

The good news is, before I fell into deep despair, a Road Ranger named Dan Robinson appeared out of nowhere and rescued me. He had an industrial strength jack and quickly had the flat replaced with my "donut."

The other good news is my buddy Paul at the Goodyear place in Apopka was able to squeeze me in at the end of his busy work day and got me up and rolling again by 6pm.

I know things could have gone a lot worse. So, I'm focusing on the positives, and sending out thanks to all "the good guys" out there--like Dan and Paul!

Now, let's roll!

I refuse to allow this to ruin my weekend

On my final work-related errand of the day, I discovered I had a flat tire. The right rear one to be precise.

Not an altogether traumatic situation in and of itself. But, it gets better.

I discovered the flat as I was barreling down Curry Ford Road, and it was only through the kindness of a fellow driver that I was alerted to the fact.

So, I pulled over at the first service station, which shall remain nameless, and went to get some air to solve the problem.

Now, this will reveal my age. The last time I had to put air in my tire, it cost me 50-cents. Well, dear socks, the price has now jumped to 75-cents - - - at least at this as-yet-unnamed "service" station.

Now, this will reveal how po' I am. I had only two quarters to rub together. So, there I was scrounging between seat cushions, the glove box, the floor board, etc. Eventually, I came up with the other 25-cents.

But, when I went to feed the machine my hard-won coinage, I discovered it only took quarters. So, I had to traipse into the "convenience store," stand in an inordinately long line, and ask the unjustifiably annoyed little girl behind the counter to exchange a quarter for my recently-scrounged pennies, nickles, and dimes.

Anyway, this post has gotten way longer than I intended, certainly way more coverage than the incident warrants.

Just thought I'd share in case any of you in the dryer are experiencing similar annoyances, and so I could encourage you not to let it ruin your weekend!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

A triple shocker to get Monday morning started!

1. The BoSox came back to beat Cleveland last night?! I guess I got too wrapped-up in the GOP debate . . .

2. I forgot to check my mail on Saturday, so swung by to pick it up on my way to work. We don't have boxes in front of our houses in our neighborhood. Instead, we have these big grey metal things near the entrance, next to a retention pond. Anyway, as I was struggling to find the keyhole to my box in the darkness of pre-dawn, I almost stabbed one of those disgusting Cuban tree frogs. You know the kind I'm talking about. Big as my hand! Wouldn't have scared me so much in the daylight. But imagine touching something slimy when you're expecting to touch something cold and metalic!!!

3. Some jerk rear-ended me at Apopka Boulevard and Piedmont Wekiva Road. Not as bad as it sounds. Really just a tap of the fenders. But, I was still jumpy from the frog incident.

What more shocks might be awaiting me this Monday . . . wait!!! I don't want to know!!!

My car got bombed overnight!

I went to run errands this morning to find that a flock of geese had apparently been using the Blazer for target practice.

And, they had pretty good aim.

There was a big white blob in front of the driver's side of the windshield. And, even more goo had slid down the entire length of the window and down the side panel.

Disgusting.

But, it did remind me of a funny poem from my childhood:

Birdy, birdy in the sky,
Why'd you do that in my eye?
Me no holler,
Me no cry.
Me just glad King Kong don't fly!!

Kinda stupid, I know. But, it kept me grinning as I had to drive with the window rolled down so I could see my way to the car wash.

Did I mention it's like 95 degrees out there today?!

Stupid birds.