Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sign of the Times

Lets hope this is not a sign of the times.

I was getting gas this afternoon and they were messing with the sign. Being an optimist, I was hoping gas was going down from the $3.05 per gallon I was paying.

However, I didn't have time for them to finish doing whatever they were doing. So, I went ahead and pumped the gas.  Tonight I see it's still $3.05 so I guess they were just playing with the sign. For a few minutes I thought maybe it was going down to $2.99 but I didn't have the time to wait and see. But, I guess not.

Still related to cars...

Have I ever mentioned I love my mechanics? Well, today I do.

Today on my way to meet Trish - at noon - in the 90 degree plus heat - my car's fan decided it wasn't really interested in disbursing the cool air from the AC throughout the car, or even the few inches to me. Of course, I discovered this after the car had been superheated by sitting in the sun for hours.

A few weeks ago it stopped when I turned a corner and then was back to normal when I next started the car.

So, today I called them from the restaurant and asked if they could look at it and any chance they could replace it by 3 when I had to leave for a meeting in a neighboring town. Did I mention it was over 90 degrees?

They very kindly told me to come in and they'd try, although they had a very busy afternoon. Well, the phone was just ringing off the hook when I walked in and Jason told me he'd have Steve look at it between appointments. He came up front and pulled it in and looked at it - it was nothing! Just a loose connection. He fixed it in less than five minutes.

I was so glad I had waited instead of taking off as I had thought about doing when they were so busy. They didn't even charge me. Jason said the paperwork would take longer than it was worth.

I was sooooo happy when I was cool while driving to Kingman an hour away this afternoon, directly into the baking hot sun.

I promised the guys more baked goods. I take them goodies every now and then, and they definitely deserve some more. Jason requested no peanut butter - other than that I think they're open.

Thank goodness Mama taught me to cook. It's amazing how much goodwill a bundt cake can buy. Of course, only homemade will do - not cake mix - from scratch. After all, these guys did me a big favor - they deserve something better than a boxed cake mix.

Maybe I'll make brownies... I do have the absolute best brownie recipe... it cooks up quickly. It's what I make when I have unexpected company.

Brownies (Patsy)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup flour
4 T cocoa
2/3 cup pecans (optional)


Bake in 8 by 8 pan at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

I double the recipe often and cook in a 9 by 13 pan. Don't overcook them. My mom was a fabulous cook but could not make cookies because she wanted them "done!" and "done!" with anything cookie-like means it's overdone. You'll have to cook them a little longer in a double batch but keep your eye on them.

In other news of the day - very important news - almost as important as me not roasting while driving to Kingman - Greg and I reserved a copy of the new Harry Potter Book. We will pick it up at midnight Friday and immediately begin reading. Greg is a night owl so the plan is he'll read at night and I'll read during the day. We'll have to work out how to get the book between his house and my house unless he just sleeps on my couch during the day. Then if he falls asleep reading it I can wrest it from him as soon as I wake up and come downstairs. We both want to get it read as soon as possible before some fool tells us something we don't want to know.

DO NOT TELL ME ANYTHING! I WANT TO KNOW NOTHING!

There will not be any spoilers here. I want to enjoy every last word of it and I won't deprive anyone else of that joy, either.

I guess my weekend is pretty much set.

Speaking of upstairs... I've decided I want to rearrange my bedroom - and I want to get a new mattress set. Of course, this is my life, so it's not simple.

1. will a queen sized mattress go up my stairs?
2. how do I convert my antique headboard and footrest to accommodate a queen? - it probably involves a frame, which I also don't have
3. oh... and they need some minor repairs, too
4. then there's getting the old ones out
5. and I want to rearrange how the bedroom is set up - orienting the bed a different way

At the moment I wouldn't let anyone see my bedroom - it looks more like a storage facility since I moved things around the last couple of days. I was thinking I'd address it this weekend, but... of course... there's Harry. Ah, Harry...