I learned a lesson about planning.\u00a0 It should be associated with thinking.\u00a0 I had an auto maintenance appointment that I wanted to get done before last week\u2019s big trip.\u00a0 But because I\u2019ve been distracted by unfortunate circumstances, I couldn\u2019t get an appointment on time (bad photog!).\u00a0 I said, \u201cWell give me the appointment next week.\u201d\u00a0 So, I pick the day before the Fourth of July!\u00a0 Well, you know what\u2019s hard to get to work on the day before a long holiday weekend?\u00a0 Auto-mechanics!\u00a0 A one-hour maintenance job keeps me waiting there for four hours.\u00a0 The sad part is I could watch all the lined-up cars sitting there for three hours and then they were all done in the last hour.\u00a0 A nine o\u2019clock appointment for a mechanic who\u2019s showing up at noon is kind of a sad situation.\u00a0 Of course, some people started flipping out at eleven thirty and by 1 pm they were demanding the site manager be summoned for the maintenance clerk\u2019s summary execution.\u00a0 Of course, the site manager was on vacation until next Tuesday but it was a noble sentiment.<\/p>\n
Being old I realized my own culpability in the whole idea of scheduling something involving waiting for the day before a major holiday.\u00a0 I tried to do some on-line stuff over their customer wi-fi network.\u00a0 But I got bored so instead I watched the people.\u00a0 It had a certain entertainment value.\u00a0 I guess the thought that I had was there are definitely two kinds of people.\u00a0 The kind you would want in a lifeboat and the kind who will get thrown overboard.<\/p>\n
Later on, we had one of those thunderstorm\/hail storm\/minor tornado\/mini-monsoon downpour thingies here today.\u00a0 It had been very hot and muggy and just walking around the yard was a major effort.\u00a0 Then all hell breaks loose, the power goes off, the dogs go insane and suddenly the air is twenty degrees cooler.\u00a0 And we\u2019re watching from the window and saying isn\u2019t it great to watch this from inside?\u00a0 And it was.\u00a0 The trees were whipping around and the sky was full of water and ice and the clouds were moving fast.\u00a0 And then in fifteen minutes the sun was out again.\u00a0 Well, no trees came down and the dogs calmed down so I went for a walk.\u00a0 The air was sweet and there was a strong breeze.\u00a0 Just an interesting kaleidoscope of weather.<\/p>\n
And now we have the Fourth coming up.\u00a0 Sitting in the service station watching their television I saw a news item about how some of the more progressive towns and cities were replacing their fireworks shows with a swarm of drones forming shapes in the air and changing colors.\u00a0 It looked so incredibly lame and so sad I just shook my head.\u00a0 The newscaster went out of his way to say how much more environmentally friendly and carbon neutral the lame drone show was than a fireworks display.\u00a0 And I thought, this encapsulates the difference between people who enjoy life and people who do what they\u2019re told is good for them.\u00a0 These are the same people driving Priuses and getting their fiftieth COVID booster shot.<\/p>\n
Well Happy Fourth of July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I learned a lesson about planning.\u00a0 It should be associated with thinking.\u00a0 I had an auto maintenance appointment that I wanted to get done before<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3366,818,1263],"tags":[3341,1960,1267],"class_list":["post-33752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-life-in-dunwich","category-ocf","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-dunwich","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-photogs-corner"],"yoast_head":"\n