today I have to...

pick up my car and possibly get its emissions tested
go grocery shopping
catch up on my mail/bills
go to scout meeting
get some sleep


I only got about four hours of sleep last night. I'm pretty slow today. I don't feel well, so if I don't catch up on my rest, I'm pretty sure I'll get sick.

Not being home for the last two and a half weeks, the fridge is empty.

I didn't bring anything home with me today, from Cyn's house - clothing, christmas presents, tools, mom's DVD player.

clutter

Every once in a while, I go through my things here at my desk, and see what I can get rid of. Just now I looked up at my shelf and noticed a three inch thick grey binder. I wasn't trying to declutter, I just noticed it. It said "Customer Education," but it didn't look familiar. It is a manual for HP-UX Network Administration: LANLink, ARPA/Berkley, NFS, NIS, and HP-UX Clusters. I've spent six years in this cubicle. Why have I never noticed this before? And why did I keep it when I first set up shop here?

gone

A couple of years ago, they tore down the old foundry to put up a condo building for old people. It seems like a decent place. The other one-third of the block was taken up by three houses and a small machine shop.

I happened by there on the way to Subway, and was startled to see it gone. A big dirt fields surrounded by chain link.

One of the houses was very nice. It was over a hundred years old and it looked like it was starting to get a little run down, but it still looked nice. Cyn and I briefly considered buying it. In the front yard were two notable trees. One was a huge maple tree. I'd guess it had been there since the house was built, it was that big. There was also a big lilac bush. It had a stump that was over a foot in diameter, and it split into three trunks a couple of feet off the ground.

Two of the houses looked pretty run down. Gray asphalt shingles and such. Probably could have been fixed up nicely, with some investment. One of them had a nice back yard. There was a low cement wall next to the sidewalk, which had a line of cedars growing all along the top of it. I was always a bit envious of that secluded grassy space. Now there's nothing left but the cement wall. There are three big holes in the middle of the dirt. Nothing left. No homes. No trees. No grass. No lilacs, no irises, no tulips, no cedars. No picket fence.

Those houses were a nice screen to block the view of the condos, too. But I guess you can't look like you care about new investment if you can't get rid of the old.

anyone recommend a good mechanic?

I'm a little annoyed at mine. He never seems to call when the work is done. He always takes longer than you'd expect.

This time, I needed some work done so the car would pass its emissions test. I got an estimate from a dealer, which said it needed $1200 worth of work. That's about four times what the car is worth. Unfortunately, I need to have at least $450 of work done on it before I can get a waiver, if it still won't pass. So that's what I wanted done. I told him to do about five hundred dollars worth of work, so I could get a waiver. I mean, I'm all for saving the environment from pollution, but the thing is not going to pass, and I can't afford a new car right now (especially since I'd need it right now). So waiver it is. I go to pick the car up today and he tells me the bill is $720. I'm expecting the car to run a lot better than it has been, but that's an extra $200. I'm a little annoyed.

I also need to be looking for a new car.

I've always said I would drive it until the cost of repairs exceeds what I'd be spending in payments on a new car, and I believe I've reached that point. Too bad I can't afford a new one right now.

grandma

My grandma is in the hospital again. She passed out again. I don't know how long it was before they found her. They couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they were going to be releasing her (after a few days). Then she passed out again. Now they've determined she's got congestive heart failure. Which means it's only a matter of time...

She'll be moving to a nursing home soon.