I took Velma (my car) to the spa for her pre-winter check up. I usually leave her there for a few days, a test for me to what it's like not to have a car. Velma may be old, and showing her age, but she's good to go for a while yet.
The spa is north of town, on a dead end country road, so there's no handy pickup service as I might have at a dealership. I got a ride out earlier this week and a free lunch.
Today I called my daughter-in-law for a ride, which worked out as she wanted to borrow the van for tomorrow. I hadn't driven her car before, hadn't driven anything but a van in almost ten years, but I figured it would be ok, as long as it was automatic.
The garage was closed at noon, but I had told them I was coming and asked they leave the key for me, and the bill.
We arrive and items were moved from the car to the van, all we needed was the key. We looked in the obvious spots, over the visor, in the cup holder, in the basket between the seats. No key. Not under the seat, under the mats, not in the glove compartment.
I figured the guys had forgotten to leave it. No problem as my daughter-in-law has the spare key. So we were good to go.
I get in her car, and looked about for the necessities. I adjust the seat, the steering wheel and the rear view mirror. Then I try and change the gear and get a spray of washer on the windshield. Oops. My car has the gear changer...the gear shift?...in the steering wheel, the car's is on the console.
Laughing, my daughter-in-law realizes what I've done and we laugh about how silly it was, but old habits die hard. I remember when I made the change the other way, was always reaching beside me used to the gear shift being on the console.
We had another laugh when she went to insert her spare key in the ignition and found my key. Who would have thought to look in the ignition? It was too funny and I laughed all the way home.
Friday, 27 October 2017
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
Kids Will be Kids...Not All Kids
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my car with my son watching his daughter play soccer in an inter-school tournament. There was a group of boys, from a local school, wandering along the edge of the parking lot, eating chips and, seemingly, killing time until their next game.
My son's truck was parked two cars over, where the boys were standing. I was startled when my son jumped out of the car and hurried over to the two boys, the third quickly distancing himself from his teammates saying "I want no part of this."
"What were you doing in my truck?" my son asked. He got the usual 'kid' answer...nothing. He had seen the boys reaching in the open window of his truck, where his phone was sitting on the seat.
There was little further discussion as the boys left, but their greasy (from eating potato chips) fingerprints were all over the window and door of the truck.
We kept our eyes on the group, as they kept their eyes on us. In fact, they seemed to delight in wandering by the car, pointing at us, taunting and laughing. They got others on the team involved and we had a parade of soccer players hovering near us.
I thought this was how mob mentality worked. One person, gets others involved until a situation is out of hand.
We happened to be visited by the coach of our team, a new teacher to the school who came to introduce himself, and told him what events had transpired. We fully believed the first two boys were intending to steal something from the truck...the phone, the smokes, or maybe a deeper search for money. Their efforts were thwarted because they didn't know the driver was two cars away and not down the field at the sidelines.
This teacher drew the coach/teacher from the boys' team aside and explained the situation.
Apparently the boys had told the team that a man had spoken to them and I was glad to be a witness or the boys could have caused even more trouble.
I saw the teacher draw the boys aside and speak to them, but what was said, or what was done as a follow through, I have no idea.
When your kids play on a team, and play with other schools, away from the 'home' field, you can only hope they behave in a responsible manner, showing respect for others, respect for property. It is difficult for one teacher to be aware of each child's behavior, especially when the area is crowded with other teams moving about.
Our kids were from a small country school, and I watched, saw that they stayed together except for trips to the bathroom. These other boys, from a school in town, wandered about, not staying close to their team 'spot', a dining style tent, or cover where they had snacks and could leave their gear.
It was a blight on what was otherwise an enjoyable day, a visit with my son and granddaughter.
It was disappointing to see this kind of behavior, the dishonesty, the bully behavior. But, it said well for the school my grandchildren attend and their teacher who was willing to stand up for what was right.
My son's truck was parked two cars over, where the boys were standing. I was startled when my son jumped out of the car and hurried over to the two boys, the third quickly distancing himself from his teammates saying "I want no part of this."
"What were you doing in my truck?" my son asked. He got the usual 'kid' answer...nothing. He had seen the boys reaching in the open window of his truck, where his phone was sitting on the seat.
There was little further discussion as the boys left, but their greasy (from eating potato chips) fingerprints were all over the window and door of the truck.
We kept our eyes on the group, as they kept their eyes on us. In fact, they seemed to delight in wandering by the car, pointing at us, taunting and laughing. They got others on the team involved and we had a parade of soccer players hovering near us.
I thought this was how mob mentality worked. One person, gets others involved until a situation is out of hand.
We happened to be visited by the coach of our team, a new teacher to the school who came to introduce himself, and told him what events had transpired. We fully believed the first two boys were intending to steal something from the truck...the phone, the smokes, or maybe a deeper search for money. Their efforts were thwarted because they didn't know the driver was two cars away and not down the field at the sidelines.
This teacher drew the coach/teacher from the boys' team aside and explained the situation.
Apparently the boys had told the team that a man had spoken to them and I was glad to be a witness or the boys could have caused even more trouble.
I saw the teacher draw the boys aside and speak to them, but what was said, or what was done as a follow through, I have no idea.
When your kids play on a team, and play with other schools, away from the 'home' field, you can only hope they behave in a responsible manner, showing respect for others, respect for property. It is difficult for one teacher to be aware of each child's behavior, especially when the area is crowded with other teams moving about.
Our kids were from a small country school, and I watched, saw that they stayed together except for trips to the bathroom. These other boys, from a school in town, wandered about, not staying close to their team 'spot', a dining style tent, or cover where they had snacks and could leave their gear.
It was a blight on what was otherwise an enjoyable day, a visit with my son and granddaughter.
It was disappointing to see this kind of behavior, the dishonesty, the bully behavior. But, it said well for the school my grandchildren attend and their teacher who was willing to stand up for what was right.
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