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I bet y'all thought I was never going to get another car. Hah! I actually did it--I have a new car. O.K. I have half of a new car. I had decided just to get an American-made (cheaper) car that was within my budget; however, the one that I wanted to look at was rented out. In the meantime, my Dad got annoyed with the prices at the gas pump, and my parents decided to go in half on a new Toyota Prius (a hybrid). My Mom went up a week and half ago and managed to get one for us in a week (the usual waiting period is 6 months). Anyway, we picked it up on Saturday. Mom was going to pick it up on Monday, when she was going to Provo, but I wanted to go, since the car was half mine, so we went up Saturday. FarmerBoy came with us. I drove around Provo and to Payson. Mom drove from Payson to Nephi and FarmerBoy drove from Nephi home. S.Q. drove to church on Sunday, and Dad took it for a spin yesterday. We wanted to make sure that everyone knew how to run it-as you don't use a key with it.
Our current average gas mileage is 41.5 mpg, which is fabulous. I've noticed that you become obsessive about watching your mileage, always trying to increase your mpg. The electric engine mostly runs the car under 30 mph and then the gas engine kicks in above that. The car isn't going to win any stoplight races, but that isn't why we got it. It managed up the Nephi hill just fine (when FarmerBoy wasn't trying to improve his mpg).
Weird things about the car:
1. Pushing a power button rather than turn a key to start the car.
2. Having a rear-view camera. I'd rather look out the window.
3. Controlling all the auxiliary functions with a touch screen--Air, radio, etc.
Other great things about the car:
1. Great space for long legs. So far, everyone that has sat or driven the car fits just fine.
2. Lots of little storage compartments
3. Auxiliary/MP3 jack--My Zen/Zun (can't remember which one I own) sounds great in the car.
4. Automatic adjust air-conditioning to keep the car at a comfy level.
So there you have, my description of the car. Right now the odometer is somewhere around 250 miles. I'll let you know how it performs in the long run. Enjoy the photos above.
You know how they say that everyone knows your business in a small town. Much of that "business" is learned from the local newspaper.
At work every week, I get several of the newspapers from surrounding small towns. These newspapers have a unique style of their own. In one of the papers, no real news makes the front page--you have to do some digging. You have to dig deep for it in the paper, if it is there at all. One great thing about many small town papers is the police blotter. I have to say that I find police blotters anywhere particular enjoyable. You should always look for your relatives and neighbors in the police report, just so you are up on their lives.
Another important section of the small town rag is the Society page. It lists births, deaths, and marriages, and missionaries (this is Utah) often on the same page in the same style. One has to look closely at the heading to see if the picture is for a wedding or a death or a missionary homecoming/farewell.. Another important thing about this page is that you find out how everyone is related to each other. Parents, siblings, and children are always listed in Obits, and the Marriages always have at least parents listed, if not the grandparents also. The wedding announcements also tell what the couple has been doing, what they'll do after marrying, and occasionally, how they met. Graduation announcements are important, as they can help you keep up-to-date with kids you graduated, important information like who is married, how many kids they have, where they are living, and where they are working.
Another integral part of the small town paper is the Senior Menu. This is published every week and lists what the senior will be serving each day of the week. This way you don't have to go out only to find that you don't like the food that is being served.
Real news can be found by scouring the paper. Check the want ads for who is selling houses--their names may not be listed, but the address will be! Also, don't miss the letters to the editor, as they often tell what has been going on in the community, and who is upset with whom and why.
And there you have it--the intricacies of a small town newspaper. There much more (and less) to them than meets the eye.
As today is Friday the 13th, I followed some links to read about superstitions. In my family, we find Friday the 13th good luck as it is the day my Dad was born. Also Farmer boy was born on the 13th as was Uncle Isatalo. (though not on Fridays, however their birthdays fall on Friday the 13th sometimes--shocking, I know.) I'm not a very superstitious person, but I decided I'd share some reasons why I'm destined to have bad luck for the rest of my life (other than not passing on gazillions of e-mails that I've gotten).
Bad luck for:
1. Sitting on a table without one foot touching the ground
2. Passing someone on a staircase
3. Fastening a button in the wrong buttonhole (lots of bad luck for me on this one.)
4. Walking under a ladder
5. Mending a garment while I'm wearing it (I've found the bad luck here is that you poke yourself with the needle.
6. Opening an umbrella in the house
7. Singing before breakfast
8. A bat flying into the house (family, take note of this one. I'm not sure what the luck is for shooting the bat in the house with a BB gun.
9. Hearing a rooster crow at night (or anytime you are sleeping. It wakes you up--duh!)
10. Cutting my nails on a Friday
There you have it--all of the reasons that I'm doomed to have bad luck for the rest of my life. You should take a look at this website.
I found it all very amusing. And no wonder I'm not married, I read all of the wedding traditions as well. I don't think I could handle doing everything correctly on my wedding day--I'd just be doomed to an unhappy marriage.
Happy Birthday, S.Q.!
I recently hit the big 3-0 mark in my life and have been reflecting on how I have changed as I have gotten older. I've been thinking I was 30 for the last six months anyway, so it wasn't much of a shock to my system. First, the taste buds are dying. Foods that previously made me gag, no longer do (except for fish). I used to despise fresh tomatoes. I still pick them off my food, but I don't die if I miss one. Second, it is more important that shoes are comfortable than cute. This does not mean that cuteness is not important. The best shoes are stylish and comfortable. Third, gadgets only need to do what they are meant to do. A phone should dial another phone. It does not need to text, take pictures, get on the internet, or play music. Fine if I can get S.Q. to do it for me, but I don't care to find out myself. Fourth, I watch a lot more PBS than I used to. Historical shows, nature shows, and of course, British comedies, and my favorite, The Red Green Show. This show, in turn, leads me to believe that I can fix anything with duct tape, which I believe is true; however, the quality of the fix is in doubt. Please share any other unconventional signs of aging that you, my readers, come up with.
P.S. My space bar likes to put an extra space in half of the time and it is driving me nuts!
I recently acquired 2000 pre-stamped envelopes for the office, and have now used 28 of them, as well as 3 envelopes that were provided with the bills. What, you ask, does this have to do with living dangerously. I'll tell you. I LICKED them all myself. Yes, even though there is the e-mail out there touting the "fact" that cockroach eggs are found on envelopes and will embed themselves into your tongue and grow into very large cockroaches inside your mouth, I took the plunge and licked the envelopes--with my tongue, no less. I know that my courage astounds you. You may later see my photo attached to that e-mail.
In other news, my Mom and I were eating lunch in my office, when we saw movement in the form of a mouse. I tried to ignore it, but could not after seeing it several times. The mouse then had the gall to climb on top of my fridge and dig around in my emergency food supply. If we made noise, he would pop up his head and look at us as if we were friends calling "hello" to him. Mice are not my friends, as you may know from earlier posts. The solution to the problem--I dumped all emergency food in the trash and took it outside, and my Mom was kind enough to set a new mousetrap to catch this "un-friend", so that the food foraging would stop, though she did say that the dead mouse in the office (which I cannot find, but only smell) probably died from overeating. By the way, it was a deer mouse we saw, so I also live dangerously as Hanta virus comes from deer mice. Deer mice are different than the mice drawn in kindergarten classes. They have very distinct features and look like very intelligent creatures, who condescendingly look at you daring you to outsmart them.
The Elephants
Last Saturday, I went to the State Republican convention as a state delegate. FarmerBoy was also a state delegate and Mom went up to help. It was quite a bit of fun, though it was long (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) The voting took forever, but it is fun to see and get all of the fun stuff that the candidates are handing out and just to watch the process work. I always say "You can't complain if you don't vote". I figure if you can't manage to take the couple of minutes it takes to vote, then you don't have the right to complain, since you aren't doing the small part that you can do as a citizen.
The Cows
Today we moved cows. We move them a couple of miles is all, but part of that is down the highway. We don't use horses, we use our feet, 4-wheelers and cars to move them. Mom and I stop traffic (or try to) at our beginning point and the ending point (on the highway). Don't be jealous of our outfits. Sometimes cars pay attention to us and stop and other times they don't. Luckily, this time they all stopped pretty good and only two cows turned back. Earl and FarmerBoy followed behind to keep them moving and to encourage them to continue forward and not to turn back. Dad was on the four-wheeler and drove ahead of the herd to open the gates and wait at the desert, ready to count the cows as they come through the gate. The cows pretty much know the way, as they have been doing it for years. They even turn at the right spot most of the time. As my car has been relegated to a farm vehicle, I used it today. I had a visitor part way through, though I think he was scared, as he wet the seat. I know that grosses half of you out. Oh well. (Mom was kind enough to clean the seat). Yeah, for a smooth event! Those of you who are family members can view more on Flickr. The rest of you will have to be satisfied with the ones above.
