Fun with 5-speeds

After very little discussion and only a little (OK maybe more than just \"a little\") angst on my part, it has been decided that my beloved \"Moby Grape\", the purple Cavalier convertible is just too far gone for the firstborn to invest any more significant time in.  He is a great mechanic and has pulled our collective \"you-know-whats\" out of the ringer more times than I can count, but this time, with the struggle it would be to troubleshoot the coolant leak in the very tight and oddly oriented engine compartment, we all agreed that calling it a day was the right thing to do.  The firstborn has found someone who will take the little devil off his hands in exchange for storage space for his dearly beloved project car, \"The Notchback\", so it\'s basically all good....

I am, however, now permanently assigned to another member of the fleet of Timman cars -  \"Viktor\", the back from the dead, \"phoenix\" of a car that was resurrected from his previous life as a Honda Accord automatic transmission (which crapped out after a massive amount of abuse, so it was definitely NOT his fault) to rise again a Honda Accord five-speed....and quite a little trouper he is, also.  I have been \"learning\" the not so fine points of driving a five-speed in town since my first trip to Indiana last weekend, when, you will recall, I was set loose to grope my way through the gears from our home here in Sylvania to Angola, Indiana (or there abouts).  The learning curve seems to have dips and peaks... Friday morning, due to threat of rain, and a big box I had to schlepp, I drove to work...did an exemplary job of getting the mile and a half from my house to the office without stalling from a start, overrevving before shifting gears, or even stalling when shifting into reverse to back into a parking place a good distance away from the building.  This morning, I was again successful in getting myself going from in front of the house, and was able to successfully maneuver my way all the way to the \"Timmy\'s\"  about two miles away.  I declined to undertake the challenge of taking the car through the drive-up, so I parked and walked in...once ready to leave, I backed out of the parking space, only to stall as I was shifting into first.  I recovered from that without much struggle and made my way out onto the main road, only to be stopped at the light right before the overpass at Rt 23...and to stall as the light turned green, and have to refire and go with two folks sitting behind me, waiting.  I was able to go the rest of the trip to the office without incident, but I am still obviously not totally \"getting\" the whole shifting thing yet.

Further, I have totally avoided travel on any street in town where I might risk being stopped at a stop light that would keep me at an incline....I DO know my limitations, and the possibility of rolling back on someone because I am too unskilled yet to know how NOT to is just something that I know I can avoid so I do...I know as I get more accustomed to everything it will be no big deal, but I would like to get to that point without having any not very funny stories about how I got there....

For now, I am finding this whole process highly amusing and am getting used to the idea.  I still am a little rough on the shift sometimes and I still stall, but I have a whole new level of understanding of how Viktor works and respect him even more because of it...

Anyway...that\'s it for now...will keep you posted on the whole \"manual transmission\" thing...should be a hoot!  Till later, much love to you....

 

v

GLVROC at Walden Woods

So, over the past weekend, I was all set to go camping with a friend. I was to bring the camping stuff in my car and we were to meet at the campground to pitch a tent and then spend a couple days just chillaxin' and taking it easy with some friends. All sounds great, right? Well, yes....except you have to remember that it is ME - the person of the perpetual story - writing this...so of course you know already that things did not go exactly as planned....

Getting ready to leave on Friday afternoon, the firstborn declared in no uncertain terms that I was NOT to drive my car, Moby Grape, on the trip because of a significant coolant leak. He was concerned about my safety and the possibility of my being stranded on the way somewhere....he offered this solution...to drive the white Honda, Viktor, that I used to drive (and of the ill-fated Florida adventure)...he has worked on the car a great deal since I have driven it last, and it is now a standard shift transmission rather than an automatic. The down side of that is the fact that I have NEVER in my entire life driven a stick shift automobile. The firstborn, with infinite patience and composure, spent nearly two hours teaching me the basics of stick shift driving, reassuring me the entire time that I was doing great and soothing my jangled nerves. Once we were both moderately satisfied that I understood the basics, we packed the car and after several false starts getting in reverse to get out of the driveway, he cut me loose to see exactly what I could do...wishing me well and telling me to be careful (funny how they retain those parenting behaviours we pattern for them) he watched with amusement as I bucked and lurched my way down our street.

Once out of town, where I stalled once in the middle of an intersection and once again at a four-way stop, it was smooth sailing, until I came upon a detour, which directed me to the Ohio turnpike....as you can well imagine, we stalled at the ticket booth, but once out on the four lane highway, the cruise was easy going....that is until it came time to exit in Indiana....the exit ramp was jam packed with stopped traffic....all the way onto the turnpike...on the way to the toll booth there, I stalled at least a dozen times...giving the person behind me quite a bit to laugh about, as long as they stayed far enough behind...

Finding the campground was pretty easy - the directions I "Mapquested" were pretty thorough. Once there, we pitched the tent and then joined the others at the campfire for sandwiches and beverages. Adult beverages flowed throughout the evening until the wee hours of about 11 oclock, at which time most of the campfire watchers retired to their tents. During the night, the rain came in and the thunder rumbled loud, accompanied by lightening flashes and lots of water pelting the tent canvas. When folks started to stir in the morning, the rain had moved on but the cool air remained...a beautiful blue sky and bright sunshine where with us to start the day.

Later in the afternoon on the second day, the group took a ride to Mongo - a pretty area to visit and spend a little time....they arrived back at the campgrounds just as the second round of storms rolled in...this one much the same as the last, but with more wind...enough to flex the sides of the tent substantially...but after it was over, the beautiful calm restored, and folks were treated to cooking by Evan on the new grill as we sat around the campfire talking and laughing once again.

 

After another great night of fun around the campfire, we retired to our tents once more....the campground residents however, continued on throughout the night, with music, laughter and fireworks, into the wee hours of Sunday.

On Sunday morning, everyone broke camp early, the threat of rain again in the forecast. All the camping supplies once again stuffed in the Honda, I bolstered my courage to once again take a stab at the whole "shifting thing". To the amusement of the few remaining campers, and of no surprise to any of them, I started out to stall immediately, then with a buck and jerk, headed out on the second attempt. Tracing the steps back home, but with the comfort of nearly empty roads on an early Sunday drive, it was a great trip back...and I think I may actually be getting the hang of this whole shifting thing, just a little bit.

Well....that's it for now...hope you got a chuckle....until later, much love to you....

 

v

Eddie Boggs

In a very happy coincidence, and a perfect follow up to the post yesterday about \"genuine\", the Toledo Blade today ran a comprehensive article about a friend of mine, Eddie Boggs.  He is definitely a person that the word \"genuine\" fits.

I came to know Eddie in my time working in the schools, and found him to be a very easy-going guy who got along extraordinarily well with kids.  He was well respected by the staff who worked with him, and was always a pleasure to talk to, always pleasant and smiling.  It was not until I saw him perform at a local function that I came to know him as a performer, and the person I saw interacting with the audience was an amazing, engaging and talented musician.

Eddie has retired from his position in the schools, and now pursues his music as his job.  At 63 years old (and really what does that mean in this day and age)  he is going strong, and the Toledo Blade article informed that he will be performing with the New Christy Minstrels, locally this coming Friday at the Maumee Indoor (recent venue for a screening of the movie \"Glass City\")  and will also be accompanying them on several performances on the road.  If you have not yet planned your upcoming weekend, I recommend, in the strongest manner possible, that you take the opportunity to see this show, and get to know this great local talent, if you aren\'t already familiar with him.

If you are interested in reading a little more about Eddie, his life and his music, please follow this link to the Toledo Blade article online from this Sunday.  You can also visit his own website at eddieboggs.com which has tons of information about him, including how to contact him and a schedule of public appearances, if you are interested.

Hope you take a minute to check Eddie out...he is a pretty cool guy, a great Northwest Ohio asset, and just really really interesting. 

That\'s it for now....till later, much love to you....

v

gen·u·ine /ˈdʒɛnyuɪn/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[jen-yoo-in] –adjective

possessing the claimed or attributed character, quality, or origin; not counterfeit; authentic; real: genuine sympathy; a genuine antique

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It seems that in recent days, I have developed a real sensitivity to this word. It is bandied about in such a diverse variety of circumstances, and when taking into consideration its definition, its use does not always seem suitable. In the olden days, it was commonly used by hawkers of all manner and form of \"snake oil\" (yessiree folks, here it is, the \"gen-u-wine\" article). I can almost hear the addendum to that sales pitch...\"accept no substitutes\"....

I am relatively new to \"corporate culture\", having become truly immersed only a few years ago, as I have become acquainted with folks who have been navigating the big machines for many years. Early on in our conversations, I became aware of a certain set of \"buzz words\" that were prominent, heavily used, and seemed to carry a significant amount of impact when they were used. One of them was \"genuine\"

When a person has the moniker of \"genuine\" attached to their presence within an organization, it is understood that their behaviour is to be trusted, is of quality, and is always well intentioned. To attribute this behaviour to yourself is good, but the attribution of this characteristic by others to you is really the only opinion that is impactful and has value. This serves as validation that you really are behaving in the manner you believe you are ....For a person like me, who is very trusting, \"genuine\" is not a trained behaviour....it is just the way I am....I know what my intentions are, and believe that the intentions of the folks that I encounter are \"transparent\" (another great buzz word) as well. I am not a person with an organizational agenda....I know what I feel the job I have been given expects of me and my goal is to do it to the best of my ability. I like what I do and the people that I serve...I feel no necessity for agenda....

It is unfortunate that genuine and \"authentic\" seem to be a few of those words that can be \"leveraged\" (another great word) to excuse behaviours....\"I want to be genuine with you....let\'s be transparent.....\" used as the precursor to interactions that are, in all honesty, neither GENUINE or AUTHENTIC...they are oftentimes agenda driven, and the result...sometimes questionable at best....

This ramble?....the result of my first participation in a \"360\" process....self-assessment, assessment by my manager, and a group of people within the organization that I selected to assure that the information gathered would serve the purpose of the exercise. I have been struggling through the self-assessment, and as I do, I have been wondering about how my selected participants will be responding to those same prompts....it will be interesting to see if I really am living what I intend, and feel I portray....I hope there are not a lot of \"big reveals\" (another one of those buzz phrases), but if there are I will be very grateful to the people who participated for their candour and caring enough to be honest....

That\'s what is on my mind this day...that\'s it for now...till later, much love to you....

 

v

 

Is there such a thing as \"too nice\"?

Apparently there is....

I just received a call from a person I have been \"friends\" with for about three years.  He was calling me, after a very long lapse in conversations, to let me know that he \"may be getting married\".  I wished him well, and politely asked about how this came about and his future plans.  He shared with me a few minutes of his typical rambling conversation about trials in the relationship and other issues, and then proceeded to inform me that this call was to give me the assumed sad information that he was not going to contact me anymore.

The reveal, which I feel sure he made with the full confidence that it would be devastating to me, was taken by me in a matter-of-fact sort of fashion.  In my opinion, we had not had much conversation lately anyway, so less than little is none, and seemed like a rather small step, and not one that needed the fanfare of a formal announcement.  It got me to wondering....how is it that he still felt that I would be so highly invested in his presence in my life that I would be upset with this big news....then it dawned on me....he felt that he had made the decision in the first place to distance...which I let him think...further, it seems that he assumed that I was waiting patiently for his return to my realm of experience...when in fact, if he wanted to return, I would have been fine with that...if he did not...well....I was fine with that also. 

I am glad that he felt that he was making the choice...and he had control of the situation.,...I get the impression that it was important to him, so I\'m glad that I was not snotty during the call and let him have his moment of \"power\"...he feels he \"did the right thing\" by me, and its all OK with me...

That\'s all for now...much love to you (really! ;)  )

v

It Could Be Worse

It seems that the storms of last night have left a number of folks without electicity in their homes. I have been spending a bit of time on the line with TolEd today, in an effort to get the straight scoop on how long our little cluster of folks in my neighborhood can expect to be without.....

The answer was a little disappointing - the promise is to have everyone in our effected area with service again by tomorrow MIDNIGHT!!!! The only things that make this even slightly tolerable are the fact that it is not ungodly hot and that we have a portable generator that we can use to try to keep refrigerator cool so we don't lose food......

All in all, we are doing OK....definitely an inconvenience by modern suburbia standards, but what the heck? Some folks live like this just fine every day. The only pisser? Because of the way the grid is, when night falls we will be able to look across the street and out our back windows and see folks around us who have power.....needless to say, THAT'S a little aggravating! Ah well it is what it is....that's it for now....much love to you...enjoy your TV shows tonight....we will be playing HANGMAN or cards. :)

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Sent from Vicki's Blackberry handheld device (please excuse the typos :) )

It is a weekend in summer in Ohio

The Old West End Festival is this weekend...so it seems that summer in NW Ohio has officially kicked off, at least as far as I am concerned.  There will be lots of folks chowing down, walking around and enjoying the historic properties in what was in years gone by the affluent part of Toledo.  There are lots of beautiful old houses there, and some of the residents are generous enough to open their homes to folks to show off their \"turn of the century\" opulance.

The firstborn and his Ann will be there, helping out for her church, as they take this opportunity to help the Old West End area take care of the huge influx of visitors by providing assistance with parking, cold water to take on their walk around, and some musical entertainment, provided by the group that Ann and others from her church are members of.  I will be going down a little later today and will no doubt post photos....loop back with me a little later to see some...

Storms from last night appear to be over....the heat is coming on and the humidity is likely to get worse...but that is summer in Ohio...and it is all just fine with me...

That\'s it for now....much love to you....

 

v

Better Days

Our friend Jay and his family are making progress....he was in office with his wife and doggies to see us yesterday and was back to work today.  They have been working with their insurance company to get everything hashed out regarding settlement of their claim and rebuilding their house.  They are staying with family now, but will need to find a temporary place to live for awhile, but even with all of that, while they were with us yesterday, Jay and his wife still seemed really grateful...that they were not hurt, that the dogs were safe, and they had a lot of supportive friends and relatives.  Their lives will never be the same as they were a week ago, but hopefully, as time passes and their home is rebuilt, things will be even better.

It is wonderful to have Jay back in the office with us...keep him and his wife in your prayers...

That\'s it for now....till later, much love to you...

 

v

Such sad news

To all my friends, Rootish and otherwise....

In the possibility that you are not aware, I wanted to let you know that our friend and fellow Rootster, Jay Berning and his lovely wife and doggies have had a horrible tragedy befall them over the weekend.  The home that they have just a month and a half ago acquired, after much work and struggle, went up in flames on Sunday evening - the current opinion is that home and contents are a total loss.  Thankfully Jay and his loved ones are safe, and currently residing with a relative, as they try to figure out what happens next.

The lovely Veronica, has already mobilized her generous and giving spirit to get Rootsters moving on a monetary collection for Jay and his family, to help them to cover expenses as they regroup.  We are also looking into collections of clothes and other things for the humans and the doggies to help make their lives a little more comfortable during this very difficult time.

If you, any of my dear friends who are NOT Rootsters, would like to help out, please feel free to send a donation to Root Learning, 5470 Main Street Suite 100, Sylvania, Ohio 43560 - Attention Veronica (to help Jay Berning and his family).  Any thing you have to share with a fellow human in need would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this...that\'s all for now.....till later, much love to you

 

v