AveMaria22's Blog

Well, my son bought himself a little sports car to help out his gasoline bill going back and forth to college.  One day he drove his larger SUV.  My van was in the shop and the Mercedes has a sticking throttle (lots of fun if you don't mind hair raising rides...it's like having a ghost pushing the accelerator to the floor, while you steer and hold on for dear life...unable to stop)....so I decided to drive HIS little car.  Well...first of all, I got in the car and found that kids today drive from the back seat.  I had to find the seat controls to lift the back of the seat.  Then, since my legs were not long enough to reach the pedals, I moved the seat forward.  Since I am short, I had to find the control to raise the seat.  Satisfied, I buckled the seat belt, then realized i could not reach the door to close it.  I unbuckled the seat belt, closed the door, then re-buckled the seat belt.  I examined the controls, and satisfied that I understood all of them, turned the key and the car's nice little motor purred to life.  I put the lever into reverse, then as I started to give it a little gas, realized the emergency brake was on.  I sat there, searching for the emergency brake.....didn't find it....noted a little lever low on the panel to my left and pulled on it.  The trunk lid flew open.  I turned the car off, unbuckled the seat belt, got out of the car and moved to the rear, and closed the trunk....beginning to use a bit of the vernacular in the process. I got back into the car, forgetting  to close the door, buckled the seat belt, and started the engine.  I scanned the dash for an emergency brake lever...then suddenly the light bulb went on...it was on the console.  Kicking myself, I put the lever back into reverse and was about to back out when I realized the door was open.  I sighed, shut off the engine, unbuckled the seat belt, got out of the car and went back into the house...exhausted.  I decided to have a nice nap.   

Well...when you retire, you have to be careful to avoid falling into the dead end world of ease and comfort without spending money...at least anymore than you have to spend.  I recently went to Micro Center to purchase a cell phone and a teeeeeny little iPod do-dad caught my eye...it was one of those little iPod Shuffles.  Since my son was with me...and they know everything about electronics...he quickly filled me in, I bought one along with great headphones and I've been rockin ever since.  I'd be willing to bet the little iPod Shuffle has been out there (I already own the bigger iPod...seldom use it...too big and does too much to suit me) for a couple of years and I'm just finding out about it.  I brought it home and filled it with over 200 of my favorite songs from my iTunes library.   Dishwashing and mopping goes quicker, now.  When I'm tired of these songs I shall go and grab another in a different color and fill it as well....I love these little do-dads.