I got the tailgate lock fixed today, got the mouse repellent put in the trailer and the truck, and I got the water system in the trailer winterized. I gotta try some other things on the check engine light problem, but I do have an oil change and service appointment set up already. It needs an oil change no matter, but if I can fix the other myself that’ll save a few hundred dollars. If I cannot figure it out by then, they can do it. It is getting worse gas mileage and running a bit rough so it needs fixed.
After I made some stir-fry for lunch, I took the dog for a walk and we went to some ponds to see the birds that were hanging out. He was very interested in them – he was more curious than wanting to get to them. We got in about two miles just on that walk, but I have logged a total of five today. I am trying to get a lot more active to be healthier. I have walked all over Seattle several times, and all the places in Europe we walked several miles. I kinda put it aside for a bit but I am getting after it now.
Tonight it is Lebowski night. Yep, “The Big Lebowski”, one of my favorite movies. The Coen brothers, just like Wes Anderson, do some great movies and I like most all of them. I have “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” also; this just may turn into a Coen brothers night!
One scene in the movie in particular is kind of personal to me. Sit back as I tell you my tale. And yes…this story is true (I told you I have a lot of stories; some are pretty wild, but some will never be spoken of). You might not want to drink or eat anything while reading it…
I used to mow grass in a huge cemetery. This one elderly lady had died, and her husband came to the gravesite every day. He would sit there in his car several hours, sometimes several times a day, and stare at the mound of dirt where she was buried. A very touching scene. I believe it was mid-June when this happened.
One day in July he didn’t show up. He died, probably of a broken heart. They had been together for a long, long, LONG time and it was really sad but it was nice to see that kind of love. His ashes were scattered on her grave. They were together forever. Until…
It was a really humid and hot Kansas day (over 100° F). I had no shirt on (back when I would not get a ticket for that) and I was sweating bullets. It was a brutal day. Mowing in a cemetery you are always closely watching the edging along the gravestones and markers so you don’t tear them up but minimize the trimming. So, there I was mowing along and “POOF!”.
When it happened I thought I had hit some loose dirt – it was a good-sized cloud, and it happened to us often every day. Boy, was I surprised. I came to a stop, sitting there motionless for a moment after I saw it wasn’t soil stuck on me – like a person on a hidden camera show. I was covered in human ashes and looking like a powderded donut, laughing incredulously/nervously at what had just happened to me…all while spitting out and wiping stuff from my mouth and eyes. I had run over the ashes with the mower and the wind blew them back all over my sweaty body and face. Of course the upper part of me got it the worst. When I finally realized what had happened and discovered the morbid truth I got over to the water faucet pretty damn fast. That Lebowski scene when they go to commit Donny’s ashes to the sea reminds me of when it happened to me for real.
Not sure what tomorrow brings yet. I will probably try to look at the truck problem again but probably not much else. It is the weekend and it’s going to be crowded. I don’t want to take part in that. Rather, I won’t take part in that.
Have a great Saturday everyone!
