And so it goes

Saturday- On way to mall for last hurrah before best-friend delivers baby, car makes huge thud-pop noise and slowly dies. Manage to steer it into a Bank of America parking lot. Tow-truckage and mechanic-finding ensue. Girlfriends cheer me up with pedicure.

Sunday – Mechanic is closed. Bum rides to and from church with Younger Bro.

Monday – Bum ride to work with co-worker. Mechanic calls – transmission is shot. Cost? $3,400. Actual worth of car? Less than $500. Tears and panic follow. Call Mom, who calls Dad. Much discussion. Decide to get rid of car and get another used one. Know trusted friend at church who does auto auctions. Call him and give him price range. Go get rental car for meantime.

Tuesday – Rental car company misunderstands my request to only have the car a couple of days and charges me for a week. Cost = $297. Call and cry to car rep.

Wednesday – Old car towed to salvage lot. Nearly killed in pouring rain as rental car fishtails into a truck on bridge but corrects itself at last minute. Saved by God’s merciful hand. Take check from salvage yard and buy new shoes and purse on way to bank. Ah, good news. New car bought at auction – 99 Nissan Maxima. Needs new tires, but that is basically it. Pick up car before church. Like it.

Thursday – New car will not start in morning. Call friend, who arrives with a mechanic. They bring me to work and have the car towed to his business, where they determine it needs a new fuel pump and they replace the old one. After work, Younger Bro drives me out to pick up new car.

New car still won’t start. Call friend again. He comes over and checks it out. Possible it is bad gas. Fill up with premium. Go to dinner. Car starts okay after dinner.

Friday – New car has problems starting in the morning, but finally catches and I make it to work. Friend calls to see how it is running. Runs fine. Starts badly. More head scratching. Still not sure of problem. Cry at work. Again.

Want bicycle.

Friday’s Scramble

Oh, Baby
Excuse me if I’m a wee bit out of puff (as my Scottish friends would say), but the baby shower I threw last Saturday for my best friend worked me into a frenzy. It was the first time my little home made a public debut (i.e. the first time we allowed other people into it). So I had Younger Bro working hard on hanging up all that stuff that has so artfully sat against the wall for oh, nearly a year now. It’s so nice to know that there are more decorative elements for my dining room than an ironing board and 15 pounds of random junk mail.

But the weather was lovely, the house was a hit, and Best Friend got tons of good loot. And I discovered the pleasure of vacuumed carpet and home décor.


Heading South?
I’ve managed to lose about 12 pounds since last year on my own, but there are another 15 or so I’d like to get rid of. More than anything, I want to eat better. So I’m looking into this South Beach Diet thing. Anyone have any opinions or experiences with this? Chime in and let me know.

Literary Aspirations
I attended my “Writing Mystery and Suspense” class with Tasha Alexander on Tuesday evening. She was a great speaker, and it was so encouraging to listen to her and get insight and pointers about writing and also about getting published. She asked if anyone had brought what they were working on, and only one other guy and myself brought something. I thought this was rather odd, but as the woman sitting in front of me took her notes on the back of a shopping receipt, I’m not so sure everyone was in the class for the same reason.

Anyway, she asked me to read my first couple paragraphs out loud, which reminded me very much of my creative writing class in college, and I thought I was going to die of nervousness. But I gave it a go, and she gave me some positive feedback. I hung around after class to get her to autograph her book (hey, why not?), and we got to talking and discovered that we like a lot of the same authors. We ended up walking together out to the parking lot, and she very kindly offered to read my manuscript when I’m done and even, if it merits something, possibly show it to her agent.

Which was a humongous incentive to get my derriere in a chair and finish this thing. And I haven’t been able to really concentrate on much ever since.

Thursday's Top 10 - Courtesy of Target

1. Never wear a red shirt while shopping at Target, unless you want to be asked where the Q-tips are and the location of the bathrooms.

2. Bathing suits that make their appearance in March should come equipped with a warning label that says, “Frankly, kiddo, you aren’t ready for me yet.”

3. When I asked for a ball of string, the store clerk asked me, “What is that?” How do you describe string? Strands of jute woven together? It’s like thread, but thicker? Like rope, but skinnier?

4. Wedge sandals can be cute, but unless you’ve got some truly awesome calves and balancing agility….

5. Ever notice that, as St. Patrick’s Day approaches, suddenly everyone becomes Irish?

6. Note: Ireland and Scotland are not the same. Just to clear up that commonly held misconception among the geographically challenged.

7. Ohhhh, Maeve Binchy has a new novel out – love her storytelling ability. Anyone read it yet?

8. Just for the record, Maeve is Irish.

9. I tried to find a baby shower gift bag with two objectives – no pink and no dancing bears. Result: You just can’t get it both ways. I went for the bears.

10. With distress, I noticed that those teeny-tiny-micro-minute-scrap-of-a-fabric shorts are once again on the display racks. At this moment in time, I’ve very glad I don’t have a teen daughter. Or teen son, for that matter.

Pulling Mussels From the Shell*

A few weeks ago I received a little catalog from a local school inviting me to attend an evening class, and while I wasn’t particularly interested in “Conscious Breathing” or “Zen and the Art of Western Insanity,” they did have one that caught my eye – “Writing Mystery & Suspense.”

Hmmm.

The teacher is Tasha Alexander, whose debut novel, “And Only to Deceive” was published by HarperCollins this fall. I read the book over the weekend, deemed it a good read, and signed up for the class. The course description also suggested bringing the first couple pages of your manuscript along.

Oh.

I do have a manuscript. I’ve been intermittently plugging away at it. But to have it shown to a published author? For a possible critique? I’m just a bit nervous. I mean, no one has seen those pages yet (with the exception a small excerpt seen by Jules and Katrina).

So yesterday I sat down in the library on my lunch break and tried to polish what originally started out as a “NanoWriMo Mess.”

And just as I was getting into it, a voice piped up behind me.

“Excuse me, does your computer get good reception in here?”

I turned around to see a woman standing there, loaded down with books.

“I’m not on the internet, so I don’t really know.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I returned to my typing. I had specifically chosen the library, assured that surely there no one would interrupt me, and I wouldn’t have another Panera Bread debacle.

“Excuse me,” she asked again.

“Yes?”

“Do you have a job?”

“Um, yes.”

“Where at?”

“A marketing firm near here.”

“Do you think they would hire me? I’m looking for a job.”

What on earth? Why? Why? Why am I a magnet for odd encounters like this?

I just blurted out the first thing that ripped through my thoughts.

“Um, no.”

I wasn’t trying to be rude but… I guess I was. I tend to get very grouchy when I’m interrupted from my writing. Maybe I should be closeted away from the world, not fit for human interaction until I’m at a good stopping place and ready to re-emerge into the sunlight once again.

Anyway, the class is next Tuesday. I’ll let you know how it goes.

*Warning: Title has absolutely nothing to do with post but does happen to be the song running through my head today.