perspicacious.org

I am still carless, and without any idea what is wrong with the thing, either. I had the car towed to my local mechanic (R's brother), who will hopefully, hopefully be able to diagnose (and repair?) it. I'm holding onto the hope that it might be something simple, like the transmission filter. But I'm realistic that it might also be the end of the transmission. And thus the end of transportation as I know it. Thank goodness for R, who deserves all of the thanks I can give her for carting me around town.

She's also been teaching me to drive standard because I am, in fact, 26 years old and have never really learned. People have tried to teach me before, but I never followed through. Necessity makes things happen sometimes, I guess. I'm doing pretty well– I only stalled twice yesterday.

The upcoming move is on the forefront of our minds, too. We have to be out by the end of May. We've been sorting and getting rid of things and packing, but there's still tons to do. We have no prospects yet for a new place. And I have no job for the summer yet. It never rains but it pours, something about s@#* hitting the fan…

Well, you know, at least I've got my health. And according to a forward I got yesterday, with money in my bank account and spare change in my car (wherever it is) I am one of the top 7% richest people in the world. It doesn't feel like it, though.

It's snowed buckets this week– probably more than 4 or 5 inches in a couple of days. I watched it some down all day Sunday and Monday, complete with a nice wind from the south. It's cleared up now, but the roads are a mess. I didn't drive yesterday, and the melting and freezing over the past 48 hours froze my tires to the ground. I was stuck in the dirveway this morning. I called R to get me, and I only ended up being a few minutes late. Still, not the way I would have liked to start my morning. Hopefully, the ice will melt by this afternoon or I'll be able to think of anyother clever way to get the van unstuck. Poor van, it's probably just protesting another Alaskan winter with cold temps and lots of ice. It had better get used to it.

Edited to add:
Wishful thinking. It's the transmission. The engine runs fine, it's just that the wheels don't turn when you hit the gas. The car not being worth the cost of a transmission rebuild, I'm not altogether sure what I'll do. Crap.

Weird week. I had the first graders of doom yesterday– they were pretty unbelievably awful, despite extensive bribery. I hear that having a different sub the previous day, and a sketchy one at that, didn't help things. Still, not my finest hour, subbing-wise. The previous day was full of ornery 6th graders doing standardized testing. They were slightly better than the first graders– at least they didn't actually crawl on the floor. Too much.

R and I are going out for fancy dinner tonight. Fancy for Fairbanks, anyway. We went to the same restaurant last year and had appetizers and dessert– yum. They have a gorgonzola pine nut pizza that I've been dreaming about ever since. I think I had some enormous dessert, too. Some brownie sundae thing, maybe? I remember that I couldn't finish it. We've been sort of on a diet, but forget it. I'm just going to pig out tonight.

I've been doing Iris paper folding, and I made R a weird card. I bought these really cool mesh origami papers in bright rainbow colors, and filled in a heart shape with them. I like the technique, but my card turned out funky. I think I need more practice. I got a great book of card making ideas last week, but I haven't had a chance to try any of them yet. Someday, after we move, I'll have free time.

Yep. Sadly, we found out last week that we have to move out of our place by the end of May. Alas. No way are we going to find another place with a garage and a washer and dryer and dishwasher that will let us have pets. Now we're trying to scrounge up the money to pay a new deposit and first and last month's rent. So, if you have some extra cash lying around, or know of any nice places for rent in Fairbanks, Alaska, let me know.

Yesterday was the anniversary of this website. I posted the first entry here on April 3, 2002. I've been writing online since August of 2000. So, almost 5 years now. At this point I'm keeping it up just out of habit.

The dreaded time change has come, and now we're all tired and it's still snowing out. It's pretty cool this morning, about 15 degrees, and breezy. Spring can just go ahead and make an appearance anytime soon. However, since June first is the accepted date for planting your gardens here– after then there are no more frosts expected, I may have to wait.