Six Random Things
I don't know about any of you, but I find it absolutely fascinating, in an annoying way, that the times I have the most to talk about on this blog coincide with the times I am struck with writer's block.
Not kidding. I have started a couple of posts since getting home from Florida last week and I haven't advanced further than six or eight words before giving up. It's very strange. It's like my mind blanks when I start to type.
Add to that the fact that I have a pile of things to work on at the office and at home. Maybe the writer's block is caused by the dull feeling of guilt I have by trying to write when I have other things to do. Could be that. But usually, I have to be facing catastrophe before I feel any guilt over my clinical procrastination. And I'm not facing catastrophe. At least I don't think so.
And so you now have the background as I attempt to break the logjam and complete my lastest assignment from Mr. Macrum, the Greatest Bicycle Repairman in the history of the World, or at least in the history of York County. I have been tagged for Six Random Things. Apparently, the six random things must be random things about me. And there must be six.
"Random" is just such a slippery term. If only there were some way to empty my brain of all things (Editor's note: This has obviously already been done) and then randomly draw six of them, then I could write this post more honestly. Actually, knowing all the Dark Matter that's in there, that's probably not a good idea. So I'll just have to pretend they're random, and offer the following:
1. Like the song by Three Dog Night says, I have never been to Spain, but I've been to Oklahoma. A trip to Spain would be nice, but I've never been anywhere but Canada and the USA. We usually visit the same old places, and actually, I'm quite happy with that for the time being. The Oklahoma visit was actually more of a "drive across" on Interstate 40 back on August 10th, 1988, when gas was still 88 cents a gallon, I was 20 pounds lighter, and the car I drove - a magnificent 1983 Chevette - screamed in pain at speeds over 50 m.p.h. Good times, good times.
2. Like a former Prime Minister of Canada, I am an Irishman who speaks French. So therefore you cannot count me out. Do you know who said that? Richard Nixon, that's who. (Hmm... best not get carried away with the random thing.) As to the French language - I am very proud of having become as fluent as I am, but at the same time, I am not happy with it. I have arrived at a glass ceiling. The only way to improve my French at this point would be to live in a totally French environment for a while. And we have no plans to do that.
3. I am prematurely turning into one of those annoying, scowling fussy old men that every single one of us knew when we were kids. The number of items on the list entitled "Things I Am Not Willing to Put Up With Anymore" has become a little too high for my own good. And most of the things on the list are trivial. I'm not vocal about my pet peeves, but I find there are more and more things (and people) that get on my nerves these days. I'm working on it.
4. The car I own right now is only the fourth one I've ever owned. It is a 2004 Chevrolet Venture, nicknamed Chloe. (Exciting, isn't it? Hey, try trucking around four kids and a bunch of cargo without a minivan.) Marie and I tend to buy a car and keep it for quite a number of years. My automobile ownership dates: 1) 1986 to 1994; 2) 1994 to 1998; 3) 1997 to 2007; 4) 2006 to present. Yes, there is some overlap between #2 and #3, and between #3 and #4, during which times we owned two cars. But we own just one at a time, as a rule, because it's all we need and it's much cheaper.
5. The longest I have ever worked for any organization is eight years. In June, I will have been in my present job for seven years. I do not know if this is significant, but there it is.
6. I am reading, for the first time, the Harry Potter series that my two eldest daughters love so much. I am mid-way through the third book, Le Prisonnier d'Azkaban. Yes, it's in French, as were the first two books I read. The girls assure me that the first three books are better in French, and that books #4 through #7 are better in English. I'm only following their recommendations. And I must say I'm quite enjoying the books.
The Rules of the Six Random Things tagging game:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
Done.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
Never! I'm a rulebreaker. I'll not list them.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
Done.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
A huge waste of time, because everyone reading this can consider themselves tagged. I know they'll rush to comply and keep the thing going.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
This post will have to suffice.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
Shall do so shortly.
6 comments:
Now see. My little homework assignment got the juices flowing again. The first month of this year I was so full of things to write about, I couldn't get them down fast enough. Now, I seem to be stumbling myself. But your mentioning of pet peeves might have jogged something loose. Or I will finish that damn post on Moths I started. Don't ask.
My wife had a Chevette before we got married. I helped her pick it out after that flounder in the stolen car took her Datsun out in a head on collision at a traffic light at the intersection of 33rd and Greenmount Ave in Baltimore in 1979. We put 140,000 miles on that POS and then sold it to my brother in law for $50. He drove it for a couple of more years. They were tin, but they kept on going. And yeah it was always painful to push it past 50.
Now see. My little homework assignment got the juices flowing again.
You may be onto something, sir. This post was hard to start, but once I got going, it just rolled, baby.
Or I will finish that damn post on Moths I started. Don't ask.
Moths?? I won't press further, since you said not to ask, but you got me curious. And laughing.
We put 140,000 miles on that POS and then sold it to my brother in law for $50. He drove it for a couple of more years. They were tin, but they kept on going.
Awesome, sir. I bought my Chevette on August 26th, 1986, when it had 78,000 km on it (about 48,000 miles). I had it towed away in April 1994 - a tragic month, as it was also the month that President Nixon died - and it had about 240,000 km on it (about 149,000 miles). That car took me places we had no business even trying to visit. The thing was falling apart when I junked it, but it still started and ran.
I only got $20 from the junk man, though, so you did better with your sale to your brother-in-law.
And yeah it was always painful to push it past 50.
When I first got the car, it was disconcerting to discover just how little power the thing had. But I got passed that by employing the time-honoured method of "putting one's foot to the floor and pushing the car past its limits anyway" - to great effect. The car screamed at high speeds, but we achieved high speeds anyway. It was obviously very good for the car.
i should have titled my blog writer´s block.
more importantly, i live in spain and my door is always open to the like of you, my friend. and if you need more room i have in-laws with plenty. seriously.
glad to see you back!
My van is ten years old; I'm in denial over the mileage (although all but one of my vehicles has had high -- enough to make your high look low -- mileage), it's seriously rusting out on the bottom of the side doors (will soon turn into a redneckmobile), and the rear brakes need to be replaced. Sigh. . .
At least the air conditioning works.
I'm a firm believer in driving a damn car into the ground. Resale value? That's for suckers. The day she dies, I buy another one and start the cycle all over again.
The day she dies, I buy another one and start the cycle all over again.
Couldn't agree more, Larry. The only car that I gave up prior its near-total destruction was my 1990 Chev Corsica, which I owned from 1994 to 1998. When I sold the car it still had only 72,000 km on it (about 45,000 miles) and I got a good price. But the other two - my Chevette and my 1996 Pontiac TransSport - were crap when they finally left my driveway.
Post a Comment