Mugged
23/06/12 07:43
It is one sticky wicket this morning. I'm trying to get back in the groove with by blog-a-roni and the heat isn't helping. It doesn't help that I'm wearing a terry cloth bathrobe that is sticking to my skin like a wet rag. I need to scuttle this puppy and in a hurry before I lose what little motivation I have. The air is absolutely still and it looks like an early mid-summer morning in Gainesville as I look out over my deck. Stay focused, Johnny boy. You can do this. There isn't a soul around to rattle your concentration or a lack of subject matter to prevent you from putting one foot in front of the other. Another sip of coffee. Another random song on the radio. Maybe some nice lounge music from Brazil will get the juices flowing. And maybe I'll have a fistful of blueberries for a healthy dose of antioxidants. My priorities are simply nowhere to be found this morning.
We paid a visit to Nan's mom yesterday at the place in Portsmouth. She was sitting outside when we arrived. It was good to see her taking in a little sunshine. Aside from the bruising on her legs, you would have never known that she had the type of operation that she did. But she was fragile. She was not quite ready to take a ride in car although we offered. At a minimum, we thought it might be nice to take her by to see her husband but that was just not in the cards. I don't know if she feels that she wants to be 100% for her man when she finally returns home or if she thinks that her weakened state might alarm him. We kept reminding ourselves that she is there to get stronger although you wondered if they didn't encourage dependency just to reduce turnover and keep the funds rolling in. We stopped by her house and picked up her iPad before stopping to see her. You know how she loves to play chess on the iPad. When she was finally situated inside with her iPad in her lap and in the privacy of her room, she was so immersed that I'm not sure she knew we were there anymore. Our only concern was that someone might steal her pad and that would be a shame. It is a 1st generation iPad and one that has been near and dear to my heart since I first stood in line at the Apple store some years ago to buy it.
And what about that Volvo? We needed a replacement vehicle for the one that Evan totaled last winter and I've had an eye out. The price had to be right, the condition had to be good, and above all, it had to be a safe vehicle for our son to drive. The weekly circulars in the area always listed a variety of cars but many were from used car lots or some other source that just didn't work. I always felt my best bet would be to take a ride around the hood and see if someone had one sitting in their driveway for sale. And so it was, within the last week, that we were driving down to see Mr. G and on the way there we saw a wagon that was just one year older than our old Volvo. It was in pristine condition and the price was just right. We just couldn't believe our eyes. Nor, could we believe our good luck. For an older car, and one that had a lot of miles, it was a beauty.
If you know anything about Volvo's it is a truism that they hold up well and they run forever. We had it checked out by our local mechanic that services Volvo's and he gave it a thumbs-up. Did I tell you that the car had only been out there for one day when both we and he, the mechanic, stopped by to see the car? He stopped because he services Volvo's and was just curious. We stopped because we were looking for a car. His laughed when my wife called him and asked if he could take a look at it for us. He admitted to stopping by to see it and told us that his first thought after looking at it was, that, "it wasn't going to last long." Good thing we put down a deposit. Evan was impressed as well when he laid eyes on it. He sat behind the wheel and smiled. He even said that he liked the color and we agreed. More so than the color of our old car I think. Gas prices continue to be a concern so I told him that if he were driving locally that he should take my car. Otherwise, he should feel free to take the Volvo. Oh, and Evan, there are no plates on the car so don't take it out just yet.
We paid a visit to Nan's mom yesterday at the place in Portsmouth. She was sitting outside when we arrived. It was good to see her taking in a little sunshine. Aside from the bruising on her legs, you would have never known that she had the type of operation that she did. But she was fragile. She was not quite ready to take a ride in car although we offered. At a minimum, we thought it might be nice to take her by to see her husband but that was just not in the cards. I don't know if she feels that she wants to be 100% for her man when she finally returns home or if she thinks that her weakened state might alarm him. We kept reminding ourselves that she is there to get stronger although you wondered if they didn't encourage dependency just to reduce turnover and keep the funds rolling in. We stopped by her house and picked up her iPad before stopping to see her. You know how she loves to play chess on the iPad. When she was finally situated inside with her iPad in her lap and in the privacy of her room, she was so immersed that I'm not sure she knew we were there anymore. Our only concern was that someone might steal her pad and that would be a shame. It is a 1st generation iPad and one that has been near and dear to my heart since I first stood in line at the Apple store some years ago to buy it.
And what about that Volvo? We needed a replacement vehicle for the one that Evan totaled last winter and I've had an eye out. The price had to be right, the condition had to be good, and above all, it had to be a safe vehicle for our son to drive. The weekly circulars in the area always listed a variety of cars but many were from used car lots or some other source that just didn't work. I always felt my best bet would be to take a ride around the hood and see if someone had one sitting in their driveway for sale. And so it was, within the last week, that we were driving down to see Mr. G and on the way there we saw a wagon that was just one year older than our old Volvo. It was in pristine condition and the price was just right. We just couldn't believe our eyes. Nor, could we believe our good luck. For an older car, and one that had a lot of miles, it was a beauty.
If you know anything about Volvo's it is a truism that they hold up well and they run forever. We had it checked out by our local mechanic that services Volvo's and he gave it a thumbs-up. Did I tell you that the car had only been out there for one day when both we and he, the mechanic, stopped by to see the car? He stopped because he services Volvo's and was just curious. We stopped because we were looking for a car. His laughed when my wife called him and asked if he could take a look at it for us. He admitted to stopping by to see it and told us that his first thought after looking at it was, that, "it wasn't going to last long." Good thing we put down a deposit. Evan was impressed as well when he laid eyes on it. He sat behind the wheel and smiled. He even said that he liked the color and we agreed. More so than the color of our old car I think. Gas prices continue to be a concern so I told him that if he were driving locally that he should take my car. Otherwise, he should feel free to take the Volvo. Oh, and Evan, there are no plates on the car so don't take it out just yet.