It stinks how dependent we are on our cars, and how much it costs to obtain, maintain, and repair them.

Every now and then I think, "We should go back to carts, wagons, drawn by animals! No more car repairs!"

And then I start adding up food, shelter, vet care, and have to return to reality.

Best possible solution, Theo.

A new transmission at 40k seems odd. Maybe you just got stuck with a bad one. I'm sorry, Theo.

There's a lovely series of organ pipe mud dauber nests near my front door. They're non-aggressive, so I don't mind them being there. But hornets? Paper wasps? A world of no.

Right now everyone at work is watching weather sites to see how Hurricane Florence will go. According to the latest models, we're right in the path, albeit over a hundred miles from the coast. We'll probably be without power for several days and there will be some downed trees.

I'm sorry about the kitty, Sophia. I hope you find her soon.

Florence may even reach up to here. The only thing I'm worried about is power outages.

Hurricane Florence is indeed looking fierce. The thing with storms that big is that they just go where they please and don't care much about steering currents. It staying a Cat 1 that far inland in troubling as well. Stay safe all!

I know this is obvious, but it's not under warranty, Connie? That blows.

Good hurricane luck, guys. Just don't be stupid about driving in flooded streets. As in, don't do it.

Be safe with the weather, peoples.

I'm sorry your kitty discovery was not the good kind, meara.

Yikes to stinging things in general.

I am irritated that I am at work on Rosh Hoshana, but I am taking a week off starting on Thursday, and last year when I took off for this particular holiday was when the layoffs happened, so ... yeah. Anyway, round sweet years to y'all

Completely useless trivia: One of my grandmothers was named Florence. She passed away many years ago, so I don't know how she would feel about a major hurricane named for her.

More seriously, prepare now and stay safe, Carolinistas!

What kind of car is it? 40,000 miles may be out of the general warranty, but there might be a longer powertrain warranty.

there might be a longer powertrain warranty.

Yeah, that's what I was wondering.

I swear, I had intentions to get things done today, but it's 2PM and I'm sitting here debating whether Tony Stark belongs in Slytherin, as some random thing on the internet just claimed.

I think you might be able to make a case for Tony pre-Iron Man as Slytherin, but that's it. I could argue any of the other three houses.