Carol's random babble

So, my car has been running fine since Monday night's incident. But I'm still planning to replace it. Kent and I went to H&R Block to get our taxes done (for the last time ever !) Wednesday. We didn't qualify for Rapid Refund or Refund Anticipation Loan. So we have to wait 8-15 days for our refund. There was no benefit at all to going there instead of going to the guy we usually go to - an AARP tax aide who does the return for free. And we are out a couple hundred dollars for this service. Yikes. But I'm now in a position to start looking for a new car. If I say "new" I mean "new to me" rather than actually new. So, a different car for me. After nearly getting stuck in the snow Monday night, four-wheel drive looks better and better. I do need something that is a little higher to get into, to make it easier for Mom to get in the vehicle. So a van or SUV maybe. Kent had a Blazer a couple of years ago, which would have been fine except when t...

This is what your engine looks like when you drive through a bunch of snow. The car started this morning and Kent drove it to the convenience store. This chunk was up inside the front of the hood. So now, I'll get ready for work and run a couple of errands for Mom.

The good news is that I made it home in one piece. The bad news is that I'm not so sure about the car. We had an early deadline and I was able to leave work at 9 p.m. Travel wasn't too bad most of the way home. Highway 169 was mostly clear, with some areas of blowing snow. County Road D33, though, wasn't so nice. After I turned from 169 to D33, a truck passed me. I followed it all the way into Otho. When the truck went through drifts, I followed in its tracks. There was one spot where the visibility was so bad that I just plowed through as best I could, but almost got stuck. The truck stopped and nearly backed up, but the driver saw that I was following, so he went on. (This is a shot of the taillights of the truck I followed into Otho.) There were some more drifts just outside the city limits and along North Highway Street. That's when the car started acting odd. When I turned onto my street, it died. It would not start again. The truck came back and came ...

But I still stay up too late most nights. Sometimes too early, if you get what I mean. Last night I was on the computer for way too late, then went to bed and read "Unseen Academicals" by Terry Pratchett. Not the whole book, although I've done that before - even recently. So now I'm going back to bed for a nap before I go to class. Kent will take Cayla to school - she has some math thing two times a week where she has to be there at 7:30. I'm in no condition to drive. Later, Kent will take me to class, then head over to Mom's so he can work on her computer. It's loaded with viruses. I brought it home Sunday, but it wouldn't recognize my mouse and keyboard, so we couldn't do anything. So he'll take it back and reformat it there. Loads of fun.

Tuesday was like three different days. In the morning, there was fog and hoarfrost. It was like fairyland. I took Cayla to school and picked Mom up to go grocery shopping. I didn't take any pictures, sorry. But Wednesday morning might have fog, as well, so another chance for pictures. I took a nap when I got home, and when I left for work, it was sunny. Everything looked crisp and crunchy (snow crunchy). The air was brisk. Between 4 and 5 p.m. I learned about the earthquake in Haiti. A former co-worker lives there, working for a charitable organization. I couldn't check on here because my computer at work has Facebook blocked. (I didn't go on Facebook at work often, and it was usually to check to see if the latest dead teenager had friends who started a Facebook group or what would have been in this case - to check on my former co-worker because Facebook is my only contact with her.) So the rest of the evening, in between proofreading two papers and laying out the o...

I think the girls know it's my birthday ... I dunno. Anyway, one co-worker gave me a granola bar and money for a soda - it was kind of a joke, but she gives me a Christmas present every year, so no big deal. I modified her desktop wallpaper - jazzed it up a bit, added a calendar. Wait 'til she sees next month - I didn't tell her I was going to do it for every month. Another co-worker gave me a bag of Ghirardelli chocolates. Ummm, chocolate. Kent said he won't be able to give me anything, which is fine. We are still married but haven't lived together in over a year. He gave me some jewelry and roses for Valentine's Day last year, which was awkward. Anyway, it's fine. Right now all I want is a good night's sleep (which isn't' happening tonight - it's nearly 1 a.m.) UPDATE: Amanda said Happy Birthday, but Cayla apparently didn't remember until Mom said something when I picked  her up for church. We got there late (somebody was trying...

We've had three bad snowstorms in two-week intervals. By bad, I mean schools closed, travel not advised, etc. The first two cut into my pay because we had early deadlines adn I couldn't make up the hours. I'm expected at work today, but haven't shoveled my car all the way out yet. I was standing in the plowed part of the street. At this point, the plow had done one lane down the middle of the road.  I park near the end of the driveway and shovel a path from the house to the car and around the car. Here's what I had on one side of the car. The snowplow has been by again, so I'll go out to see what it looks like now. UPDATE: I'm  not going to work today. I got stuck half a mile from home, called work, called Cayla to have her bring a shovel, some people helped pushed me out. Cayla was nearly where I was, so I brought her home. She thought I was still going to work, so she locked the door when she came in, and I yelled at her about it. Sorry, Cayla....