Two cars and a skateboard

Here is a crazy event from my college days...

I don't recall the exact circumstances leading up to this, but I do remember that I was a mile and a half from my folks' house with my car and one of their cars, and I needed to get both cars to their house. I also had my skateboard in my car.

So, I drove one of the cars a ways, parked it, and then made my way back to the other car on my skateboard. Since I had driven the car a fair distance, it took me about 5 minutes to pump my way back to the other car via skateboard. As I skated back, I exchanged glances with some guy who was walking on the other side of the street (and heading in the same direction as my folks' house).

When I made it back to the furthest car, I'd repeat the process. I'd hop into the car, now more sweaty and weary than on the prior trip, and start driving. It felt odd to pass the other (parked) car, as if I were leaving it behind; I was also alert to how far I was driving past it, because that's how far I had to skateboard back (and very slightly uphill). I'd park this car down a ways and skateboard back, and I'd see that guy again, continuing his long walk in the same direction as my two cars.

After a handful of these trips, I finally got one of the cars to my folks' and rode my skateboard one last time to the remaining car and drove it home.

My favorite part of this whole thing was watching the guy on the other side of the street each time I'd skate by. He definitely looked more intently at me on subsequent trips. Try to imagine what he was thinking. How could he make sense of what he was observing? "The same guy keeps skating by on the other side of the road...and each time, he's further back than the last time I saw him..."

Happy Birthday, Dad

Miss you.



I felt I needed to do something on Dad's birthday. I'm still not able to dwell on more current photos or memories...too heavy for me. But this altered photo from years ago came to mind; it's a good memory for me, something that made each of us laugh.

About the picture...
A few years ago, Mom and Dad visited Jan and Dan in Oregon. Starlings were considered a pest there, as they shooed away other birds and snorked all the food. Dad enjoyed the opportunity to try his hand at startling them away with a BB gun and someone forwarded a photo of him; there were no starlings within view. I fixed that, after a trip to the 'net to find some pics of starlings. Beware of starlings that fill up a rocking chair.

The rings of a fish

When I cut through my fish with a fork tonight, I saw these rings. I've never seen rings before...I've seen fish flake in sections, but I didn't know there could be rings. So, I thought I'd pass on what I found interesting.



Mmm, it was yummy, too. A quick version of hollandaise sauce + lemon pepper + garlic salt + parsley + fresh basil, poured on top of pan-fried grouper (lightly coated with flour + cornmeal) and baked. Dang, gotta try that again!

Daylight savings time and my car

The power and volume knob on my car radio busted a couple of years ago. Well, at least the clock part of it still worked.

When disconnecting the battery for various car repairs, I noted that the clock would reset to 12:00. Oh, maaan... So, it might actually be 9:32, but the clock might say something like 4:06!

I'd barely endure that until the next time I happened to remember that the top of the hour was coming (any hour would do) and I had the opportunity to get to the car to disconnect/reconnect the battery. If it was not noon or midnight, I'd then have to remember how many hours off the clock was, subtracting or adding whatever the number was, to figure out the actual time. I'd be tired of that from the start, and, again, if I happened to remember my car clock as noon or midnight approached, I'd go do the battery thing.

Well, the clock's been correct for many months. Then daylight savings hit us again a few days ago, so my clock was off by an hour. (If I don't have any car repairs, daylight savings all by itself means I have to unplug the car battery twice a year.) Yesterday, I happened to be on the road just before noon (or just before 11, according to the clock), so it was convenient to pull over and capture the moment of my setting the clock to the right time. (I know, you're thinking, "Just get a new car radio, already!" But would you have enjoyed a blog about "I bought a new car radio"?)