Shouting Inside

Car dealers think we’ll purchase vehicles based on the match between a car’s attributes and the image we want to reflect. After choosing a vehicle, we’ll decorate it with bumper stickers that highlight particular aspects of our personality, or our likes and dislikes.

On Wednesday, I spotted an interesting bumper sticker. The white van’s back window sticker read: You’re just jealous because the voices are talking to me. Some statements seem funny at first, but after living long enough, even the most innocent comments cause us to pause. Let’s not lose our sense of humor. Here’s someone not taking themselves too seriously:

                                         https://youtu.be/W_EfKoAmxOw

Even if that message made you smile, someone somewhere is flooring the gas pedal or cutting another driver off. A lot of people are struggling to overcome their hostilities, how do you do it? 

On a Renovation Ride

It feels like it’s Gas Station Renovation month since at least two main stations in our area decided to improve their facilities. They’re still selling gas, so we’re not in crisis mode yet as long as we can figure out how to navigate around the orange construction cones to reach the pumps.  

Maybe you’d like to renovate a room to prepare for guests arriving during the holiday season. We appreciate home renovations, but some turn ugly when we dive in alone or too fast. Take a look:

                                     https://youtu.be/c5tCdj1cStU  

Since no one cheered, I suspect the big drop probably wasn’t part of the plan. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help or bringing in a more experienced person who might have used a different technique. If you’ve got a lifestyle change in mind, whose help will you request to help you make that renovation?

Holy Smokes, Batman

Holes must have magnetic force fields. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I spot one I want to run over and peer into it. They show up everywhere—in space, underwater, and lately, they’ve been opening up in the middle of roads and towns. There’s a quarry in our community and whenever I drive by I’m convinced the company could make a fortune charging folks to look into their massive hole. Wander up to a hole and you never know what you’ll find in it. No one expected to see this:

                                     https://youtu.be/c-RyrBJ4jWA

Whether deep or wide, made-made or natural, regardless of how incredible a hole is, we secretly believe that something more incredible waits inside, something that made the hole. We almost expect to lean over the edge and glimpse a mythical creature or ominous monster from the deep. Holes transport us back to our childhoods to a time when anything was possible. Even today, incredible experiences are still possible. What’s the most incredible thing you’ve seen or heard?

Free to Fall

Banking on the GSP’s promise of a gas station not far down the road, we set out on an unfamiliar, alternative route toward the Californian beach. The road twisted and turned through a mountainous region. Before long, we realized we picked the road with only  occasional guardrails separating us from heart-stopping, sixty feet drop-offs. Besides that, directions for the “promised” gas station led us to a right hand turn and a sign that said “road closed.” Duped by the GPS again.

 So, we inched along a long, windy mountain road with only a quarter tank of gas, and due to the elevation, no GPS reception. But, after several more miles, we located a gas station, regained the GSP signal, and exited the harrowing mountain road. Looking back, I’m glad our drive on I74 looked nothing like this:

                                             https://youtu.be/BA8G4Tg0sZw

It’s amazing what we’ll endure to get to where we want to go.  As you heard, thirteen guys in   China paved their own road, although several men didn’t live to see the end. Robert Frost’s well-known poem implies that choosing our own road takes courage. What’s the scariest road you’ve taken?

 

Need Some Help?

Does state law allow you to sit in your comfy vehicle while the gas attendant pumps your gas? Not here! Unless you have a good friend along who will spoil you, you’re a DIYer (do-it-yourselfer).  Given the soaring gas prices, shouldn’t someone offer us a free side of fries with our gas? A soft pretzel or a nice beverage would hit the spot. I’ll settle for a coupon that sends me elsewhere to pick up the treat. Instead we get nothing, zippo, nada, except a receipt that rivals the cost of a four-person dinner. (Insert sniffles and tears here) Where’s the love?

If pumping our own gas is our biggest problem, we’re doing fairly well. After all, we’re a nation of self-reliant pioneers who pick themselves up by their bootstraps and carry on. The home improvement industry capitalizes on our American get-it-done roots. Our DIY projects generate lots of business for places like Lowes.  In addition to stores, books and cable channels that provide advice on home repairs, here’s DIY advice from a few experts:

At least we’re qualified to pump our own gas, maybe. Have you ever spilled the gasoline? I did. Afterwards I went into the gas station convenience store and bought a bottle of water to wash away the flammable liquid. Thinking about it now, that water should’ve been free!  

Despite the potential dangers of DIY, we’ll still tackle them. So, what almost impossible do-it-yourself task have you attempted? What difficulties did you face along the way?