uh oh

Bad Idea:

The AC is out in my car. It's pushing 90F/32C outside. I am driving home and talking on the phone with the windows rolled up so my friend doesn't feel like he is in a wind tunnel. I'm sweating profusely but I need to finish this conversation. It lasts about 20 minutes. I get home and am a hot, sticky mess.

Result:
My keypad is no longer working properly. Too much moisture. Maybe it will work tomorrow. Some users on the internet said it might.

Probably my Result:
I'll have to get a new phone.

But hey, at least I wasn't texting!

when in rome...

Do you have to do as the Romans?

I have been solicited three times to donate to my local scouting troop. For $35 I will have the American flag placed on my lawn each holiday. I want to support the scouts but I don't really have a desire to have the flag. While I know I am living in the USA, I'm Canadian... so I am not really patriotic to the country or the flag. Don't get me wrong, I have amazing friends, love my job, love many things about where I'm living. I just don't really have warm feelings when I hear the anthem or see the flag.

So tonight when a man came by yet again, I said "Well, I'll think about it but I'm not American... so..." And his response?

"When in Rome, do as the Romans."

Sorry man, that's not a selling point. In fact it reiterated why I don't want it. When in Rome, I can love the history, the food, the people, the weather and that I'm a Canadian hanging out in Rome.

busy body

I will admit that I was "technically" breaking Utah's new law of texting and driving. However, sitting at a stoplight does not "technically" mean you are driving. So, I took advantage of a very long red light and started texting a friend back. An old bird, with a dyed black coif, in a huge white SUV with a Utes sticker plastered on her door honks her horn at me. I look over and she's shaking her head and finger and me. Not one to be told what to do, especially from strangers, I roll my eyes at her, shake me head back and go back to texting.

As the light turns green, she is straining her neck to try and read my license plate. When it dawns on her that I don't have a front plate, she slows down to 15 mph. I laugh and slow down too. Not only is she a bossy, busy body but she thinks I'm stupid enough to pass her. Realizing that her tactics are greatly slowing traffic she speeds up a bit. At the part when it is clear we will be going different directions she tries to slow down again. No luck lady, I'm on to you.

I guess I should have let her get my plate just for kicks. Maybe her vigilante tactics would have helped her feel better about herself. The cops couldn't do anything about it if she did call... and I'm sure they have more important things to deal with... like forcing people to water their lawns.

Oh busy bodies. Life would be so much better without them.

read...

If you have a moment, click on the "I read Nie Nie" icon on the side of my blog. I usually tear up when I read her posts, but today especially. Her life puts my own in to perspective. I would only hope to have her faith and optimism if I were to experience a near death tragedy that left me burned that badly.

I try to explain to my girls at work that life will be full of ups and downs. The least of their struggles will be in a residential treatment centre... but I know full well that they rarely believe this. For most up to this point, this is the biggest challenge they have faced. They can't fathom that life after 18 does not magically erase any hardship or obstacle. Some will live life with goodness and hope, while some will sadly continue their destructive path to a sad and tragic life.

It's about choice and what we do with the one thing we have control over. Even my fortune cookie had it right today!

"Your choices at the moment will be good ones. Trust yourself"