Flatbed Felony

The truck died. As in "up and turned itself off, stopped moving and wouldn't turn back on" died.

It's a pretty specific form of death.

Ok, Ok, Ok already!

   At least I was in a parking lot. It could have been a whole lot worse. I could have been at the traffic light several blocks prior, where it had decided to make new and unusual noises, loud enough to be heard over the radio. If you've ever heard me play the radio, you understand these new engine noises ranked up there with sonic booms. It was the lack of noise, however, that proved to be a problem. A dead truck is a quiet truck.

   A kind stranger helped me push it into a parking spot. Yep, just the two of us. We were both wondering where the strapping young men were who are adept at this type of activity were hiding. I had to admit, I thought the father of two was quite powerful, but compared to my 5'2", just about anyone looks taller and tougher than me. I did help push. It wasn't going to budge without two of us applying muscle.

   Thankfully, I have been good about working out lately, because it took all those arm muscles and a bit of core muscle just to turn the wheel so we could place the truck in the closest spot between two other vehicles. We were very proud of ourselves. Not everyone can push around a pick up truck.

Did I mention the truck stopped on an upward slope?

   After thanking this helpful stranger, I went in the building and spent the next hour teaching 4th graders. It was the first day of RE classes (catechism classes), and I figured calling the tow truck could wait. The truck was in a parking lot. Where was it going to go? (Well, I did accidently leave it unlocked, maybe with the hopes that someone would steal it, but I suspect thieves don't steal vehicles that don't run. It was still there when I came out of class.)

   Again, I reminded myself, things could have been worse. After all, the truck has broken down in far more unfortunate locations, like...

• The side of the road
• The middle of the road
• Ditches
• The middle of nowhere

   A parking lot? No problem. Well, kinda no problem. The parking lot was fairly clear once classes let out, but after calling AAA I had to convince other drivers coming to later events to kindly NOT park next to my vehicle so the tow truck would have an easier time extracting it from the space. Some of them weren't too happy with me.

   In between making new friends in the parking lot, I tried to start the truck, just for giggles. There were no giggles. Thank heavens for AAA. We've had this service for years and I highly recommend it. In our case we have the platinum coverage, because not only are we good at breakdown, but we have managed to do so with a trailer in tow! We're not amatures. 

I had the truck towed home where I prayed for lightning or a tornado.

Unfortunately, inclement weather wasn't offering assistance. When I woke up the next morning, the stupid rust bucket was still sitting in the driveway.

Sigh.

   If only the truck could have waited another week. We were getting ready to trade it in for a newer model. One less than twenty years old. It was as if the SUV in the garage told the pickup truck what we were doing and it broke down in protest. Either that or it got wind of a check hitting the bank account. I'm convinced that vehicles can sense when even the slightest increase in funds occurs.

You want to know what was wrong with the truck?  We got a paycheck.

   I suspect with a newer model truck, matters will only get worse. Now equipped with bluetooth, internet, and data capabilities, I'm betting these vehicles will not only be able to monitor financial institutions remotely, but they'll also have the ability to transfer funds directly to the service facility of their choosing. Nothing like having a flatbed committing a felony.

Is that all it does?

I may have to take out Swiss bank accounts under an alias if I want to have any savings whatsoever.

   Still, I love pick-em-up trucks. They haul, they push, they pull, they handle rugged terrain, and best of all, they look good when they're covered with dirt. They are my favorite vehicles and I can't imagine life without them. What other form of transportation offers a bed that doesn't have to be made?

   A new(er) one is going to look really good in my drive. Just as soon as I figure out what to do with the silent one sulking there. I don't suppose we're due for an earthquake any time soon...

Dinner Dilemma

Everyday I'm asked the same dreaded question... What's for dinner?

   Like I sit around all day thinking, "Gee, wonder what I'll make for dinner today?" And I'm always asked this question about twenty minutes before everyone in the house hits starvation critical and is ready to blow up things. As if I'm the dinner God and have a magical selection of dinners ready to whip out of my butt at moment's notice.

I don't.

A fact everyone should be grateful for since dinners (and all other meals) should not be coming out of any rear openings.

   While I do think about food throughout the day, it's not often in conjunction with actual meal planning. On my better days, I combine ingredients in the crock pot in the morning, set the temperature, and come evening time, look like a rock star. A slightly frazzled and over caffeinated rock star, but a popular one who has food to serve before household occupants start chewing on the furniture. Some days I'm more successful at this than others.

   Perhaps I have brought this dilemma on myself by occasionally making premade meals which can be retrieved from the refrigerator and heated up in the microwave in mere seconds. It's a testimony to the true depth of my laziness and unwillingness to actually make myself a meal come mealtime.

   I spend a lot of time with me, myself, and I, which contributes to my lack of interest in meal preparation. Who wants to spend time and effort making a meal for one that will be consumed in mere minutes. By comparison, making a meal for say - the entire family - takes considerably more time and effort, yet it is also is devoured in roughly the same abbreviated time frame as the solo meal. As a result, I eat a lot of fruit. You would think the rest of my family would take the hint and simply belly up to the fruit bowl. But no, they seem to think we should have regular full blown meals.

Every. Single. Day.

   None of which they make. Worse yet, it's not just dinner either. I get requests for things like lunch and (gasp) breakfast. Here I thought breakfast was just stuff on a plate to go along with coffee.

  Today's request was lunch. As we were driving home from church my daughter asked what we were having for lunch. Cause that's something I always consider while listening to the new noise our truck has decided to make. I'm wondering if there isn't a cat in the engine...

Today, I decided to turn the tables. I asked her what ideas she had for lunch. HAH!

   Kiddo wasn't falling for it. She said if she came up with the ideas I would want her to make the lunch. (Damn, plan foiled!) Turns out she is as lazy as I am when it comes to making meals. The apple truely doesn't fall far from the tree. If it did, we would probably starve to death.

   After some discussion, we settled on pancakes. In my house this is an easy meal that involves a box, minimal ingredients, a griddle, and a blender. No sense in making more work than necessary. The griddle covers two burners which means multiple pancakes can be cooked at one time. With the blender you need neither exert the effort stirring the ingredients nor concern yourself with cleaning afterward as this handy appliance can go in the dishwasher where it will be washed and live with all the other clean dishes in our house until the armageddon.

Meal prep isn't the only chore avoided in this house.

If nothing else, we are consistent.

   I declared I would only make the pancakes if she helped. So together we pulled out the box and three ingredients needed to dump in the blender. That was when my girl asked if I thought the milk was any good. I was pretty sure it was, but our fridge has been known in the past to sport stringy green items that are NOT green beans. There is a reason for the magnet.

   She suggested we pour a little bit in the sink to see if it was lumpy. Lumpy milk is never a good ingredient for pancakes. So I did.

   After which we both looked at each other and agreed to never speak of this moment again. No one would need to know what we did, at least not until Mom blogs about it and shares it across several streams of social media for everyone and their second cousin to read.

 For anyone who is curious, it was not lumpy and we had pancakes.

   There were even leftovers for one of those handy readymade meals I'm so well known for making.

Score one for meal planning.

We put the milk back in the fridge.

   If you happen to stop by and are thirsty, I suggest the orange juice, or perhaps a cup of coffee. There's several varieties of coffee and we have reusable filters for our Keurig (because even coffee shouldn't be a lot of work)!

If you're hungry, well, there's fruit.