Monday, January 30, 2006
Cars, cars, cars.........
So, for those of you who don't know ... I own two cars. And, for those of you who don't know ... I am a single person and live alone. So ... you may be thinking to yourself, "Why does Lou Ann own two cars?" Well, before I get into my whole current vehicle debacle, let me explain to you WHY I own two cars.
I bought a little blue sporty-ish Nissan NX in 1993. I bought it new. They only made that car for two years and discontinued it. It's a stick-shift, no power windows, no power locks, no air conditioning, etc. All the basics. BUT ... it drives GREAT, has GREAT pick-up, and I LOVE THAT CAR!!! In fact, that is the car that I drove on my first cross-country road trip: in 2001, when it was 8 years old, from DC to Seattle down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego and then back to the DC area (thus twice through the Rockies). On that trip it got almost 40 miles per gallon. In my normal DC area commuting, I usually get 30-35 miles per gallon. That car has never had any mechanical problems. Never. At 120,000 miles it needed a new clutch & transmission (that's normal wear & tear). It's FUN to drive, and I love it. Today it has 205,000 miles on it, and Kelly Blue Book tells me that it's worth less than $795 as a trade-in, but about $1500 for private party sale.
Anyway - during the winter of 2003 I decided that I still wanted to continue doing summer road trips, but that the little blue car could potentially die in the middle of nowhere, and that since I'd be making several long-distance trips to Buffalo during the winter that year, I wanted to purchase an SUV. The little blue car has nearly NO space to carry stuff. So, I started looking at SUV's. I figured that since I'd had such a great (GREAT) experience with Nissan, I'd look at the Nissan XTerra. And, since Honda has a wonderful reputation, I'd also look at the Honda CR-V. After some research, I decided that the XTerra would be better suited to my needs. I went to several local dealers, and found the XTerra that fit my criteria: stick-shift, six-cylinders, 4-wheel drive.But then, just before I was going to buy the XTerra, I realized that I was totally in love with my NX, and that I really didn't want to part with it. What to do? But, a good friend suggested that I check into the insurance. And, sure enough, there is something called a "multiple car discount". When I considered the gas mileage savings of using the NX to commute and the insurance discount, it was well worth having both vehicles. SOOOOOoooo ... I got the XTerra without selling the NX.
Thus, I have two cars. Fast forward a little. Since getting the XTerra, I have had trouble with the airconditioning EVERY summer. And driving with the windows open in that truck makes for almost unbearable wind. Everytime I take it to the mechanic, he says that he's got it this time (I've even tried other mechanics, who all say the same thing), and the air conditioning works for a couple of weeks, and then it's back to just blowing out the same air temps as the outside air. It was even a pain when I drove it to Alaska. And the weather was really only in the 70's that summer in Alaska.
I also have decided that the XTerra is too big for my purposes. Even in Alaska, I didn't really need the high clearance or such a big truck. The roads weren't really THAT bad. And I just don't see me as the "off-road" type. So, I revisited the idea of owning a CR-V instead of the XTerra. When I mentioned that to my dear friend, Nancy, she informed me that she wanted me to buy HER CR-V. She wants to sell it and buy a convertible.
So, she made arrangements with me to trade trucks for a week or so, so that I could get the feel for her truck, have my mechanic look at it, and make sure that I really do want to buy it from her. So ... we decided to pull off this trade this Wednesday (2/1).
THEN, just this weekend, the clutch on the NX went out. Ugh!! I drove it to work today (the mechanic that I use is across the street from school) and he agreed - I need a new clutch. The new clutch will cost just about what I would get for the car as a trade-in at a dealership. I have decided to replace the clutch, as it's been 85,000 miles since the last one, and otherwise, there aren't any other mechanical problems. The car has been VERY reliable for the past 13 years. How can I give it up now? I'll be REALLY upset the day that I have to give up on that car.
So, now, my NX is living in Arlington for a week (or possibly a few days less than that) while I'm supposed to be trading my XTerra for the CR-V that may eventually belong to me. So, I'll be driving the CR-V while neither of the cars that I actually own are within my direct control. Yeah.
How's THAT for an automobile-soap-opera? :-)
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Journal Writing
I've never been one for writing in journals or diaries. I write very slowly (sort of like I read), and since I type so much and don't write very often by hand, when I do so, it makes my hand hurt like crazy. And, when I'm in the mood to be contemplative, I am usually more productive in my processing if I am processing in a conversation with someone than if I am writing down my thoughts. That's just me. Many times in my life I've tried keeping journals, and have always gotten away from it.
Well, this year, in our homeroom groups, we are having the kids write in journals once a week. The rule in Miss A's room is that you have to write for the entire 15 minutes of the homeroom period. That allows for low-ability students who don't write well to do their best work, and allows for high-ability students who write volumes to do so. And, while the kids are doing their homeroom activities like reading (on Tuesdays) and writing in their journals (on Thursdays) I try to "model" the activity by reading or writing along with them.
So today, being Thursday, was journalling day. I have enjoyed writing in my journal all year. We usually give the kids a topic about which to write, and I usually offer them the option of writing about something else if they'd like to do so (about half the students take me up on that). I always write in my journal on the "assigned" topic (suggested by the school).
Today's topic was, in effect, to make a list of the things that you'd like to do before you die. Yeah, there are lots of things that I want to do before I die, but it was fun to write the list, seeing which things came to my mind first. I wanted to put that list here, just in case anyone is interested. :-) I rearranged the order so that you just have to wonder a bit.
The Things I Want To Do Before I Die
Of course, I didn't write everything. First of all, how can you make a list like that in 15 minutes. Besides ... there are just certain things that I wouldn't ever write down. ;-)
So - what are some things that you want to do before you die?
Monday, January 16, 2006
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is SO cool. I can't believe that I only stumbled upon it a few months ago. And that through a random websearch (I feel like I could type www.google.com in my sleep!) Wikipedia is SO cool!!Okay, now that there's no confusion about how I feel about Wikipedia, let me describe it to you. It's an online, free encyclopeida. It is created by user contributions. If you are an information junkie, like I am, even the front page of Wikipedia will fascinate you. Right now, as I type this, the front page has a picture and link to an article about the history of the Texas Rangers.
I have tried (successfully this time) to ignore the teasers on the front page to look at the structure of the site. There are many categories. You can type in a search string and come up with an article relating to your topic. For example, I just got home from seeing the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. So I am interested in the whole idea of what the Geisha culture is all about. So I typed "Geisha" in the Wikipedia search string. It took me to an article about Geisha, with links to the same article in other languages and links to more articles about Japanese culture. At the bottom of the page there are references, links to related articles within Wikipedia, and external related links.
I also looked at the categories within Wikipedia. It's so cool that it's not linear. Someone like me could get lost in here. I checked out the Wikipedia Photography category. There are dozens and dozens of sub-categories and articles contained within the Photography category. Yeah - there's lots of reading for Lou Ann to do within Wikipedia!
Finally, when you read an article in Wikipedia, many of the words are hotlinks. For example, if you read this article about Ansel Adams, you'll see links to mentioned places, names, dates, national parks, and so on. Yeah, talk about rabbit-trail land!!
So ... go, check out Wikipedia, but only if you have a lot of time to spare!! :-)
Monday, January 02, 2006
My Sister's Keeper
If you are looking for the Mr. Weber/Forgetful Jones episode, either scroll down to the previous post, or click here. :-) Otherwise, keep reading.
Over the break, I started reading for our school's "non-professional" book club. That is, the books are not considered professional reading. That needed to be explained because I didn't want you to imagine a bunch of teachers having a club to sit around acting all non-professional. Yeah.
Anyway, previously, we have read and discussed Winter in Kandahar and Glass Castle. Now, I'm not a good reader. I mean, I read VERY slowly, with all of the plodding and contemplation of a mathematician studying a text. Yes, even novels are read this way by me. Sorry to admit it. And I was raised by a book-devouring librarian. She keeps encouraging me to learn to skim. Skimming is a concept I don't get.
About a year and a half ago I read the book, Wicked. After reading it, I loaned my copy of it to a friend, and after a few weeks asked her, "Do you like it!!??" She looked at me funny, and said, "You can't like that book!" But she was *into it*, and we chatted about it. Yes, she's right ... Wicked is a book that you just can not "like". It's a bit on the disturbing side.
Well, I feel the same way about My Sister's Keeper. I started the book at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. I was at Mom's for about a week, and then was in Ohio for a wedding and spent two nights at a hotel. All of this adds up to LOTS of reading time ... at Mom's because that's what's done in our family, sitting around reading. And in the hotel, well, obviously because what else is there to do in Springfield, Ohio? Needless to say, this gal who could spend months finishing a Dr. Suess book finished My Sister's Keeper yesterday.
And I can NOT say that I *liked* it. But it was a fabulous book. I don't want to say much about it ... don't want to give anything away. But here's a hook for you. The premise is that there is this normal, American, middle-class family. Their daughter, Kate, is found to have leukemia. A very deadly form of leukemia. They try some different treatments, but are having trouble finding a donor for things like bone marrow, etc. So, they genetically engineer a younger sister to be a perfect genetic match for the older daughter. After thirteen years of donating stem cells, blood, bone marrow, etc. for her sister, Anna is required to donate a kidney. She decides to hire a lawyer and fight to have herself medically emancipated.
I have found that just describing the premise to friends is enough to spark huge conversations. One friend keeps coming back to ask me more questions whenever I see him. I told him that he just needs to read the book for himself. And that's really what I recommend for you. I don't think that you'll *like* the book. But it's good ... and it's well-written (each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person in the story: the donor sister, the mom, the dad, the lawyer, the brother who didn't match as a potential donor, and so on). You'll cry. And I think you might just agree ... there really is no good answer to the question.
