No good deed....

Earlier this weekend, I had promised to take my sister to Oboeworks (www.oboeworks.com), provided the owner sent her an email with an appointment. She called at midnight monday confirming that she had an appointment at 5, in Arlington. This meant that I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn (10am), shower, take care of loose odds and ends, and then head to Delauter's garage, where I was meeting her (she was getting an oil change, hence why she was available to go this day- Les Mis practice is all this week so she got reamed already for missing it previously). I was hoping to get there early enough to see if Keith could look at my car, just to make sure everything was okay. It's been running kinda funny, and with the trip in May, I wanted to make sure that things would be ok on it. That and she really does need a tune up. Unfortunately, they were extremely busy.
Kate arrived and we dropped her keys, and headed down. Oboeworks is a really cool place, and Kate actually got complimented on how well she cared for her Oboe, figuring it was 3 years old and only needed minor adjustments (other than the repair she needed, which she also got complimented on temporarily fixing with a piece of paper).
Right as we were leaving, my friends Gregg and Trish called.. I had tried to hook up with them this past weekend, since I haven't seen them since my grand return dinner in November, but they didn't get the message until today. So we made arrangements to meet tonight. So on the way back, we picked up kitten and my sleep stuffis and headed home.
Seven Miles short of Delauter's, my check engine light came on, out of the blue. Weehooo. Mom and dad have said they'll pay for like 50 dollars worth of service (IE a tuneup), but I don't know if they'll cover a major problem. I'm really trying to keep positive about everything, but its like, all this crap is building up. I don't even know if Delauter's will be able to look at my car tomorrow, which means I won't be able to drive home yet. I don't know what the problem is, which means it could be anything from a bugged sensor to I've screwed up my engine by treating it badly. Which I guess is highly likely. I dunno. Right now I'm torn between being grateful that I was near Myersville when it happened, and pissed because its another thing that's coming to challenge me and make me upset. And I'm getting rather tired of it all.. And I don't want to be tired. I know what happens when I'm tired.
Oh and to make things better, my lightbulb for my enlarger is waiting at the apartment. And I have tons to develop!!!!
Maybe I should just go to sleep. hopefully things'll feel better in the morning. And if not....we'll go from there I guess...

Day two of Frederickgate

Well the car is in bad shape, but not bad considering I havent had it in for any real service ever, and she has 85,600miles on her. A new fuel filter, a fuel injection flush, transmission fluid, new spark plugs (I think the term keith used was 'completely destroyed'", and some other thing he mentiioned first, which was the problem with the check engine light. All in all, 300 dollars worth of service, which will be done by 3:30 this afternoon. Mom talked to dad, and they're going to pay for it, and I've offered to pay them back when money starts coming in. I just feel glad it wasn't anything severe, like needing a new transmission or something. Months earlier I had thought something might be wrong with the fuel injection- she wasn't picking up the way she used to, but now things are cool.
Being here wasn't too bad though- Robbie Williams was on Trio today- the Live At Slane Castle show that you can't get on DVD here, and mom and dad have a scanner, so those people who've been asking about my pics, you'll get to see some of my better work.
Oh, and mom made Chicken Fried Steak last night, so that'll be my lunch. Mmmmm chicken Fried steak.
Okay, its cold down here, so I'm going to scan these pics and head back upstairs. I have rants forming about war and stuffis, but I don't have them together yet.
Blah blah blah, yackity smackity.

Note to self:

My parents need high speed internet access- non AOL, and a CD burner.

In Memoriam

He was a very silly man, my grandfather. Always had a joke or a trick, and his aoooga horn on his truck always made the kids at school look funny as I climbed in on days I was going home sick. He taught me how to fish, taking me to the pond at Detrick, then going home and scaling them for me. And he always had soda at the house. I remember eating Brown's Pizza there, and sub night, and butcherings, riding my big wheel around his house, and the dirty sock full of money we would all get for christmas in addition to our gifts. And Muffy, his Boston Terrier that was named after Today's Special, because us kids always watched it at his house. I remember eating his ice cream at John's Hopkins when he had his bypass in 1982. And visiting Mom Houff at the nursing home, then getting Arby's for lunch in the summer.
As I grew and changed, so did he. His memory began to slip, his driving began to slow. It soon became apparent that he could no longer take care of himself. Muffy had died at this point, been run over, which I think was what sent him over the edge of Altzheimers. I guess it was 1999 when we put him in the nursing home. Selling the house was harder on me than it was on anyone else; I guess Im nostalgic like that. Even now as I drive by I look, hoping that I'll see my bigwheel sitting out, or his truck. Now, I don't know if I'll be able to drive by for awhile.
He doesn't remember any of us if he sees us; he remembers memories from years past, but not the individuals involved. He has problems speaking, walking, a lot of things. We knew this was going to happen; it was really only a matter of time.
Saturday night as I taught my sister how to use her darkroom equipment, I glanced over at his one good suit that was kept for his funeral. I remember thinking to myself that I hoped we didn't have to use that too soon.

Tonight, As the president announced war, my Grandfather died. We got the call at about 11:20pm. I think I need to stop hoping. Dad doesn't know yet; he's out of town. We're waiting for him to get his cellphone message. Figuring it's his dad, it's not going to go over well.

I find it highly ironic that a man who went through WW2 on a destroyer in the South Pacific, would die on the night that we begin attacking Iraq in what could end up becoming WW3.

I'll be in Frederick for the next few days. Tomorrow I'm going to run down to the house to tie up a few loose ends and pick up some necessities that i'll need while here. My cellphone is dead currently; the battery went dead this morning, so I'll be getting my charger if anyone needs/wants to call. I've never been through this at an age where I comprehend what's going on, so if you can lend a shoulder, I'd be grateful. I'm truly in a state of shock right now. I guess I know why my check engine light came on now.

In Memoriam- Ray Judd Clift - Oct. 3, 19 (something before 30)- March 19, 2003.