Fred the minivan hit 300,000 on her odometer tonight!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah! That is one sexy minivan.
I made it home from working with only two and a half miles to go before hitting the big 300. So Noah jumped in the van with me and we went for a short ride. It was a good father/son moment.
I posted in December when Fred received her last oil change before reaching this milestone. Here’s hoping that I get the chance to post in the future of her last oil change before 350,000 miles and maybe even 400,000 miles. Mhmmm 400,000 miles.
So apparently instead of my Stormy Kromer hat being my EOG (Early Onset Grumpiness) hat it is my Holden Caulfield hat. This is according to one of the concessions workers at Cedar Creek Cinema. Pam, Adam, and I went to see “The Post” tonight, which all of you should go see because it was very good. Well while we were buying popcorn, because even though the price of movie popcorn is a scam this is one scam that the Terrell family goes in for, the concessions worker look at my hat and said “You know, I like you hat because it reminds me of Holden Caulfield. Do you know who he is?” The second part of his question must have been what brought out the EOG in my again because I respond with “Yes, ‘The Catcher in the Rye‘ is a great book but Holden Caulfield is kind of a jerk. He hates phonies but he is the most fake person in the book. Still thanks.”
Yeah the EOG is strong in me. 🙂
SIDE NOTE – Here’s the Portlandia skit that the term EOG comes from.
Adam’s car is one of the cars hit by the Takata airbag recall. So I took it in the have that fixed. Roosevelt (the name of his hatchback) recently developed a slight vibration in the steering wheel which I assumed was an out of balance tire. Let’s go ahead and have that fixed before getting his car back to him. While driving his car to the mechanic I thought “hmmm, the car is slowing down faster than it should when I push the clutch in. I wonder if a brake caliper is sticking?” So I asked the mechanic to look at that. I was right, one rear brake caliper is sticking and the other shows signs of having stuck (i.e. bluing of the brake disc). So I thought I would use this moment to briefly explain the difference between car repairs in Wisconsin during the the Winter versus any other time of the year.
Any other time of the year other than Winter: I need new rear brake pads, discs, and calipers for the rear of the car? Well I can do that. I’ll set aside Saturday morning for that.
Winter in Wisconsin: I need new rear brake pads, discs, and calipers for the rear of the car and it will cost more than double the cost of me doing it myself? Yeah that seems fair. Do it.
My desire not to have to handle metal parts that have been sitting in negative temps turns me into a much better customer for auto mechanics.
SIDE NOTE – Yes I could use my garage but even that is more complicated than you would think. Salt and snow from the road make for a still very cold and wet garage floor.
SIDE SIDE NOTE – Conor, I hope you don’t mind that I used a photo of you from when we were working on Buddy.
Last month I posted about the four things we taught our boys that a man does and why I believe because of trying to practice these four things we should shame those who use their power and position to sexually harass others. We are a family that likes lists, so I thought I would share another of our lists. The 4 things with which you can solve most problems.
Here are the four things:
Upper Left: a knife, Lower Left: a bandage, Upper Right: a quarter, Lower Right: a pen
Just in case you can’t see the photo above here are the four things:
a pocket knife
a bandage
a quarter
a pen
My Dad told this list to me when I was young and I then took it and made it a big deal with my boys. The idea was, and is, that any problems that can’t be solved with the pen, bandage, or pocketknife will probably need a phone call as a part of their solution. That is what the quarter is for, though the modern version of this is a cell phone, since I have no idea where you would find a pay phone anymore, and if you did find one I assume that a quarter would no longer pay for a call. So I carry these four things with me everywhere that it is legal (i.e. I’m not carrying the pocket knife on a plane).
One of the things that Pam (my amazingly smart wife) encourages her communicative science disorder students and parents with whom she does speech and language therapy to do is to use open-ended toys for play and therapy. Open-ended toys are toys that don’t have a specific play agenda connected to them. For example, regular Legos can be made into anything, whereas Star Wars Legos are supposed to be built into specific items. Pam encourages open-ended toys because non-open-ended toys lend themselves to a limited number of types of play, while open-ended toys can be used in a world of manners. Like I said, Pam is very smart.
The four things are open-ended problem solving devices. Even the bandage. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have used my wallet bandage as a very temporary fastener. In order to solve a few problems I have also disassembled my pen and used its parts for various unintended tasks. The knife has come in handy for shaping the pen to solve a few problems.
What I specifically like about the four things is two fold:
First, it reminds me, and I believe the boys also, to be prepared to deal with problems before they happen. I feel like having the mindset of always having the four things with me leads to me thinking through what problems I might face during my day and what other tools I might need to face such problems. This mindset has shaped what I keep with me most of the time in my possible.
Second, I believe it reminds me to think creatively in dealing with problems. “I know I have these four things, how can I use them to solve what I am facing at the moment?”
Sadly none of these four things will solve the really important problems. I believe Jesus does that. Maybe you can use the quarter to call me and we can talk about Him. 🙂
Anyhow, if you see me anytime out and about during the day chances are that I have these four things on me in one form or another. What do you carry with you?
SIDE NOTE – Yep, the quarter is from 1943 and thus 90% silver. Not really worth much because of its condition but I still think it is cool.
I missed Kristi McCluer‘s photo of golfers playing the Beacon Rock Golf Course in North Bonneville, Oregon while the Eagle Creek Fire raged behind them. This was back in September. Talk about visual metaphors! For me this sums up much of 2017 in the US of A. I’m glad I have seen the photo now at least. What a great photo.
You know the scene in the movie “A Christmas Story” where the kid gets his wet tongue stuck to the very cold flag pole? Well I have recently learned from a “friend” that it is also not a good idea to go inside your house and wash off your hands because you have breakfast sausage grease on them, and then walk back outside and grab your very cold stainless steel jambalaya stirring paddle while your hands are still moist. My “friend” may or may not have lost a fair amount of skin on his hands trying to remove the frozen paddle. The good news is that I should be able to remove the bandages by the evening. 😉
SIDE NOTE- Jambalaya may be tasty but it is definitely not good for you. I was reminded of this by the amount of congealed grease in the pot that I store the cooked meat while I am waiting for the next step of the jambalaya process. That grease is tasty, but gross when you see it congealed by the 5° snowy weather.
That has to be good for your arteries. Probably lubricates them. 🙂
Arthur Schopenhauer – You Know You Can Trust A Pretty Face Like This.
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. This is an error of the intellect as inevitable as that error of the eye which lets us fancy that on the horizon heaven and earth meet. This explains many things, and among them the fact that everyone measures us with his own standard – generally about as long as a tailor’s tape, and we have to put up with it: as also that no one will allow us to be taller than himself – a supposition which is once for all taken for granted.
SIDE NOTE- Jambalaya may be tasty but it is definitely not good for you. I was reminded of this by the amount of congealed grease in the pot that I store the cooked meat while I am waiting for the next step of the jambalaya process. That grease is tasty, but gross when you see it congealed by the 5° snowy weather.