more normal than not

Man.

It’s a dangerous thing to do early in the morning….to start looking at old pictures.

I could start to get sentimental if I didn’t watch myself.

It’s pictures like this one….little guys now grown….

Pretty wild to see some of this old stuff.

People grow up.

That is what they do.

And the only time that thought even comes close to freaking me out is if I start thinking that “people grow up….(or, at least, older)….and go away”.

It’s the “going away” part that just about kills me.

Of course, when one is pulling your hair and one is spilling your coffee, you might think, “Gahhhhhhhhh…..could you just GO SOMEWHERE?!! LEAVE ME ALONE FOR A MINUTE?!!! GIVE ME SOME PEACE?!!”…but you know you don’t really mean that….really….

It’s an empty request….until they grow up… and grow away.

Who wants to think about people going away, anyway?

That’s not something good to think about.

Of course, there are all sorts of levels of “going away”, too….but that’s something that would be really morose to get into.

What a buzzkill to be reminded that life needs change to be living.

Speaking of change….I changed the spark plugs in the Cherokee for the first time since I bought it….what? 3 years ago.

Man….the old plugs were in bad shape.

With 200,000 plus miles on the car, it makes sense they’d be kind of fried.

It runs a lot better now.

It’s funny how my head works (or doesn’t….work) sometimes.

I was running through all the bad potentials and something simply like changing the plugs fixed a lot of the negative possibilities that were swirling up in my head.

I don’t know why it takes me so long to discover and fix the “real problems”.

Maybe I like that the “suspense is killing me”?

Maybe I’m a low-level masochist?

Maybe that’s why I look at these old pictures?

I reminisce so that I can torture myself remembering all the things that have changed?

Nah…..”torture” is the wrong word.

It never hurts to remember something good.

 

 

 

It’s interesting to see some of these videos.

I don’t know who these people are….but watching a video is a fairly painless way to check out their world.

It’s nice to be able to turn off the video if I get tired of them.

Here’s a house that the narrator just called “ridiculously awesome”….and I guess that it is… sort of.

I know folks who’ve built mansions for a really low cost….in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (!!), no less.

So, to profile a couple who built a cool place in an area of the world where costs are low, and who didn’t spend a lot of money to do it, doesn’t really impress me all that much.

(There was a lot of hard work that went into these folks’ home, though.)

What does impress me is that there are areas of the world (or even in our country) where, if you’re willing to think a little outside of the “norm”, you can build something that’s comfortable and “nurturing” (for lack of a better word) for a small amount of money.

Your home doesn’t need to be compromised in design to appeal to a later market.

You don’t need to always design with “resale” in mind.

You can build in an way that’s specific to your needs and the needs of your family.

You can build your home if you have the vision and the energy to do it.

I’m blessed to know people who’ve taken that path.

It’s a good path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmX8pGBJyvo

Man….first it was bicycles and touring on a bike….which is extremely cool….now….here’s a dude on a motorcycle taking an epic road trip.

There’s a constant in that equation….the road trip…getting away and seeing some unusual stuff.

Sometimes it’s all about getting on the bike…and staying on it.

There’s no mystery….just a fair level of endurance and a willingness to put up with the discomfort that might come with the adventure.

And…it looks like you need a GoPro camera….that’s a must…. these days.

Remember when all you had to document something like this was a couple of pictures and some good memories?

It’s fun to watch these movies…I’m glad that there are fancy cameras in the world.

Awwwww, man…..”lovin’ Lloyd”?

Really?

That’s super freaking creepy.

I’m just kidding around, anyway….what I should have called this post was “liking Lloyd”.

That was more appropriate.

I was going to say I should have called it “likin’ Lloyd”….but that looked too much like “lickin’ Lloyd”….and that was SUPER FREAKING CREEPY.

This dude is what I aspire to be when I’m older than 64…I think that Lloyd is in his mid 70’s now….still riding a skateboard….still putting out great books like “Tiny Homes” and “Builders of the Pacific Coast”….still curious about his world.

So great….Lloyd Kahn.

I like the dude.

Check out this recent video by Kirsten Dirksen…you’ll see what I mean….

See what I mean?

Did you watch the whole thing?

Nah, me either….but I will.

This guy is pretty darn interesting.

Check out some of his books….all of them are great….even the one about septic systems.

OK….so here’s the deal.

While trying to make a bad situation better, I broke the part on the car that made things bad….and in the end, only made things terrible.

Of course, “terrible” is relative.

“Terrible” is really when the shark has bitten off both of your arms and you can’t paddle your surfboard back in to the beautiful but deserted beach.

“Terrible” is when the flesh-eating bacteria has eaten most of you….most of you….before they find a cure.

“Terrible” is when you are trapped underground all by yourself while doing something that you didn’t tell anyone you were going to do…or where you were going to do it.

“Terrible” isn’t when you can’t drive your car for a while.

“Terrible” might be if the car had blown up while I was trying to fix it….that would be terrible.

I learned that you can’t trust what you read on the internet.

There are all sorts of goobs writing blogs out there…spreading misinformation about cars and a whole lot of other things.

You can’t trust them.

(I’m not talking about me, of course. Jenny just asked me if I was a goob. I’m not.)

Anyway….I ordered the part from the local Dodge dealer to expedite things…and when I went to pick it up this morning, the guy at the parts counter told me that the part for the order wasn’t ever picked down in Atlanta….and that it wasn’t on the truck.

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I was H.O.T.

With a capital “H”.

His response….instead of trying to help me by fixing their mistake…was to say, “It’s not our fault….we did all we could….there’s nothing we can do.”

LAME-O.

I hate that kind of attitude…..and that’s why I will never do business with Hendersonville Dodge again.

There’s too many other options out there to try and support a business that’s come up so short so consistently.

This isn’t the first time some weird outcome has been provided by these turds.

So….on the opposite end of “customer service”….the end with good and successful customer service, I called the dealership down in Spartanburg….they had the part in stock….they told me it was 101.00 instead of the 110.00 that I was quoted in Hendersonville….and that they’d hold it for me.

When Zoe and I got down there, the parts guy said, “I gave you a little break on the price….91.00 including the tax.”

So I ended up saving 40 dollars by getting the part in South Carolina.

(And here’s another mystery to ponder….why does a quoted 110.00 part end up costing 131.00 after tax at the Hendersonville dealer? What happened there? Was there some kind of mysterious butthead tax? Was there a service fee?)

So…I got the part to the mechanic and we should have the minivan back tomorrow.

But why does it have to be so hard?

Why does it have to be so consistently bad an experience at that Hendersonville dealership?

Spartanburg isn’t that far away.

I know where I’ll be going from now on.

(And this is a beautiful lesson for any future entrepreneur: Be the person who seeks solutions to a customer’s problems…even if they aren’t problems that you directly caused. People remember customer service that goes the extra mile…..and….they will never forget the guy who says, “it’s not our fault….we did all we could…there’s nothing more we can do…”)