2: August 2002 Archives

Quoth Lady Macgyver: "Off, damned tire! Off, I say!"

I was already running late for work this morning when I got into my car, turned on the key, started backing out the driveway, and noticed the tire was flat. Sure enough, when I got out of the car to look at it, the entire edge of the tire was broken away from the sides in one spot, exposing the steel fibers below. I got back into my car and sat there for a moment, deciding on the best plan of action.

I made a rather conscious decision to be single a while back, and it was an informed decision. I knew from the start that being a single girl living on my own meant that occasionally, I'd have to change a flat tire. I've accepted that, and I know how to do it, but it's not a task I particularly enjoy. However, since I'm currently without a phone (temporarily, I hope), I really had no other choice.

So I took my tire-changing tools out of the trunk and began assembling the pump, only to find that the tire tool, which doubles as a pump lever, didn't want to fit into the pump for some reason. I've used the pump before without incident, but for whatever reason, it wasn't going to be possible this time. So I tried to think of other things I could use as a lever. A screwdriver would be too thin; a stick would be too brittle. I dug through my trunk again, looking for some alternative, when I found a sturdy metal coathanger. It's thicker than your standard metal wire coathanger, and it didn't form a complete triangle, so I was able to thread it into the pump and use it to jack up the car. It was a slow process but entirely doable.

I was rather proud of myself when I finally left for work this morning, dirty hands and all. I felt a bit like MacGyver.

Addendum: As I was telling Lloyd on AIM this evening, what's funny is that yesterday afternoon, I was adding power steering fluid to my car in the parking garage at work, and a couple of my male coworkers saw me. After I'd assured them that I was fine, they asked, "Can we bring our cars to you for maintenance, too?"

Like I need a car other than my sputtermobile to take care of.

Addendum 2: Incidentally, I can't go buy a new tire after work tomorrow because I'm going tiara-shopping. Lest anyone thinks I'm not a girly-girl. Ahem.

If you do a google search for photolog+ireland, my photolog is the first site to pop up. The second and third? Those are Phil's, and the conversations involve me.

I feel bad now, because I don't even -have- my Ireland photolog posted -- just one picture of a fairytale castle, which is what that link should point to, even though it doesn't...

I'll try to post some of my older travel pictures before I go and add to them this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

Dear Anonymous, Less-Than-Bright Individual:

You, my friend, are -not- Mensa material.

U.S. to Begin Fingerprinting Aliens

And yet my SETI@Home still hasn't found any sign of extra-terrestrial life.

There's something very cool about the fact that there are at least two piercing parlours within walking distance from my office. Before I actually got my nose pierced, everytime I walked past one of those parlours during lunch time, I was tempted to just have it done, then return to work as if nothing had happened.

But really, I'm not sure I could've handled that kind of attention.

It's still very convenient really, the fact that I can walk to a piercing parlour during lunch and buy a new nosering. I actually tried to do it today. I walked into the parlour, which has a rather well-stocked head shop downstairs, and headed upstairs, where I wanted to buy a new nose screw.

Sadly, it was closed, as the piercing guy was out for lunch.

Damn, my plans were foiled again.

I've been looking forward to Friday since, oh, about Tuesday this week. It hasn't been a bad week -- nothing's gone dreadfully wrong -- but there's been a lot going on at work and at home, and I'm looking forward to the weekend to relax a bit.

1. Do you have a car? Yes, I have a 1992 Nissan Sentra. My first car was a 1985 Volkswagen Scirocco. I'm looking forward to getting my third car, which will be (if luck serves) a black Volkswagen Jetta.
2. Do you drive very often? I drive almost daily, but not usually very far. Work is only a couple of miles from home.
3. What's your dream car? All practicality aside, my dream car would be a BMW Z3 convertible. On a more practical note, I'd choose a 2002 VW Jetta.
4. Have you ever received a ticket? Yes, I received a ticket for "failure to control speed" when I rear-ended another car and caused it to roll into the car in front of it. The middle car was totalled, but thankfully, no one was hurt.
5. Have you ever been in an accident? The story above was the only time I was in an accident that was my fault. I've been rear-ended once or twice, and I was hit in the side by a big Ford Econoline. That one was scary. I've also been hit by a shopping cart full of teenagers, and I've been run off the road by someone who didn't know Austin roads. I think that's all of them, but I couldn't swear to it.

It's a bit ironic that I posted this picture of Huxley in my photolog yesterday. I've been getting complimentary comments on it all day long. He is a gorgeous cat, and one of those rakish cats who knows exactly how gorgeous he is. He's also a bit stircrazy when he's been left inside for a while, and after being inside alone all last weekend while I was out of town, he's more than a bit nutty at the moment.

So this morning, when he insisted on going outside, I didn't protest too much. He always calms down after a bit of time outside. Out he went, and in he came this evening, complaining because his bowl wasn't completely full of food -- only half-full. He ate well, and I didn't notice anything amiss until an hour or two later, when I noticed him favoring one leg.

Sure enough, he's acting rather injured, and I'm not sure what the problem is -- or even whether he received the injury today when he was outside or this evening after I got home. It looks like we'll be making a visit to the vet first thing in the morning...

1. What is your lineage? Where are your ancestors from?
Most of my lineage is Irish and Scotch-Irish, which is really an American cultural invention that means northern Irish. The rest of my family is Dutch and English, with a smattering of French or Italian.

2. Of those countries, which would you most like to visit
I've visited Ireland, and it surpassed my expectations. I would love to go again.

3. Which would you least like to visit? Why?
Actually, I'd like to visit all three, but I suppose that the Netherlands would be my least favorite of the countries, since I only speak English.

4. Do you do anything during the year to celebrate or recognize your heritage?
I went to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. Does that count? (For the record, they don't drink green beer in Ireland. I prefer to live by that tradition.)

5. Who were the first ancestors to move to your present country (parents, grandparents, etc)?
I'm some really distant descendant of Ethan Allen, so I know that I have American ancestors going back to the Revolution. My most recent foreign ancestors were my great-grandparents, who were from Ireland and some disputed land between Italy and France.

I had a somewhat lucid dream at about 5:45 this morning. I've forgotten most of it already, but I dreamt that someone was knocking at the door, knocking insistently, as though it were something very urgent.