I just drove my sweet wee Buffy car over to its new owner's parking lot. I hope she'll be as good a car for them as she has been for me.

I have had several cars that I got all sniffly about. My diesel Rabbit with the leaking sunroof. The Toyota Carina with the curling up vinyl roof, the unevenly oxidized paint and the lingering smell of bean salad in the carpet. I've also had a couple to which I said, "Don't let the garage door hit you in the tailpipe on the way out."

Cindy, I just hope she gets driven the way she likes to be, and appreciated for the good car she really is.

We'd had her 11 years, and replaced everything on her--the odometer stopped working at 180,000 miles--engine, water pump, master cylinder, alternator, plus all the window motors, batteries, tires, brakes, struts, & etc. The scary part, as we knew she'd ticked over at least 250,000, was that all those things are coming up on needing replaced again. And the knees just can't take hours-long drives with a clutch anymore, or even just running around town, so it was time for her to find younger owners.

I love my new-to-me '96 Camry, as yet nameless. She's kind to the knees, and a lot more comfortable for long trips or short errands. But she drives sedately, and I'd never thought of myself as sedate.

I didn't take any pictures of Buffy. When we traded our Mercury, I made sure to get pictures. The merc was my parents' car, that I got to borrow on weekends and to drive to school when I needed to. DH and I dated in that car. It had student parking stickers from my high school, and from NCSA and WFU. Since I worked at WFU for a while, it also had a WFU staff sticker on it. We eloped in that car. We bought it from Dad and took it to NJ, and DC, and to Germany with us. It drove on the Autobahn, over tank trails and cobblestone streets with cheerful equanimity. It had a white football with a D in it, for Deutchland, on the rear bumper, and stickers for Merrill Baracks in Nurnberg and Johnson Barracks in Firth, plus a USAEUR lisence tag on it. We brought both kids home from the hospital in that car, and brought it back to the US with us. DH drove it to work at the Tech College, and it garnered another parking sticker before we finally traded it. I hated to see it go--it had DH's and my whole history on it. Now I can't even find the pictures.

WAH! I want a Pirate Duck!

[link]

those puppie pictures killed me, and let up the foul mood I was in when I sat down in front of the computer.

Heather, I freak when I see dogs loose- I always wait until I see that his or her owner has caught up to them before letting them out of my sight.

I wish I could have, or at least put him in the car and taken him back to the office (boss's dog would have had a fit!)

Oh Heather, I feel the same way. One of my very close friends got her dog that way. She found her in traffic at an intersection, the dog ran under her car for shelter, she jumped out and called the dog to her, put her in the car, and the dog's been her traveling companion ever since. It's so scary seeing any animal trying to navigate a highway.

And now I want a pirate ducky too, Betsy. Qua'arghck!

As I recall, yuo k ind of applied on a whim, right?

Oh, I totally did. It wasn’t a surprise or anything (I would have gotten a call way before now if they were interested.) And actually, I’ve been happier at work lately, so I’m not even broken up over it. Even if I did get the letter and think “Dear Applicant”? Man, if they’d hired me, they could have learned of the wonders of mail merge.

Tom and I are going to Lush tomorrow even though you ignored/resisted my attempts to tempt you to Boston to shop at Lush and hang out during your FIVE DAY weekend. So there

OMG! I completely missed any alleged attempts to lure me! Dangit, that would have been a good idea, too! If only I hadn’t just blown my potential train fare on a pair of new Buffy boots. Even if they WERE 75% off. Crappity crap crap!

I hate to sound all Pollyanna, but the right job is out there.

You make a sweet Pollyanna, vw. I will keep the faith.

So, I just stopped at the JC Penney salon on the way out of the mall to get my eyebrows waxed. (I’m helpless with tweezers and when I notice it needs doing, it needs to get done RIGHT NOW.) This tiny French lady named Ghislain leads me into the room and gets right to business. Usually, people ask what you want- just cleanup, heavy shaping, whatever. Not Ghislain. She says “With you, I pluck more, because I’ve not seen you before. This is better.” So, she’s working away, and then says “I do something to you now. You do not scream.” (For the record, when someone says that, I generally think that it’s time to scream.) So, quick as a cat, she waxes my upper lip, and says “You had little moustache. You wouldn’t notice. It bothered me. I didn’t tell you.” I probably should have been insulted or frightened, but actually? Kind of grateful. Then she said “Here is my card. You will come back.” And damned if I won’t.

Scary, scary little esthetician. I like her.

It's too stressful getting to Level 12 cat stacking. I just got 83,600 points.

Emily won't let me buy her a present. She's mean.

Oh, and I want my groceries to come so I can make Chili.