I was under the weather today and the air conditioning went out. Not a good day. But then, during one of the 16 minutes today that my email actually worked, I received a batch of new baby pictures. The care and feeding of Grandma NanNan doesn't require much. Just that email works.
Forget that my windshield needs a good cleaning. Remember why I said I needed to use a real camera for my other blog's pictures. I love the messages the universe sends at just the right moments. This one was on the tire cover of the vehicle in front of me yesterday, as I tried to find my way home from... I still am not sure where I was. Tripsy was noticeably absent.
It started with the need for groceries and my desire to make a bank deposit. I Googled for bank locations first and viola! I got a bonus. There was an ATM in a Harris Teeter only 10 miles away in Selbyville, Delaware. Since I have been longing for a store that might have some of the foodstuffs I crave and unable to find one, I decided I'd kill three birds with one stone. Make a deposit, grocery shop, and meet my goal of discovering something new in my new "neighborhood."
I drove right through Selbyville and two other towns before realizing I'd missed my mark. My cell phone rang.
Daughter #1: Hey, Mom. What are you doing?
Me: Trying to find the Harris Teeter.
Daughter #1: Really? They have one out there? Where?
Me: The one I'm trying to find is in Selbyville, about 10 miles from my house.
Daughter #1: Oh. Where are you now?
Me: I...have...absolutely...no...idea. Somewhere in Delaware.
Daughter #1: (Hysterical Laughter and then) DELAWARE? What are you doing in Delaware?
Me: In fairness, Delaware is only 10 miles from Berlin, MD, you know. My finding my way out of here is no laughing matter. I've been driving in circles I think. All these cornfields look alike and obscure the signs.
Needless to say, there was more hysterical laughter.
In time, I saw a sign for Fenwick Island, MD. I know how to get home from there so I headed in that direction. Wow... there was the Harris Teeter. It was the best Harris Teeter I've ever seen! I saw ingredients I'd never seen before. And the people were so friendly. I asked one of them what town I was in. "Oh, there is really no town around here. But, you're not far from Selbyville and Fenwick Island." I had a strange feeling that if I left, like Brigadoon, this particular Harris Teeter would sink back into the mist until some other lost soul discovered it 100 years from now.
And that is how my 10 mile trip turned into a 3-1/2 hour adventure... with groceries. I forgot to make the deposit.
On the way home, I spotted the vehicle in front of me. Yes. Life is good.
I fight the urge to tell you what I did yesterday because I did it (partly) for my "other blog." Why am I not posting about it there? Because despite my chipping away at it, I haven't completely set up the template for the blog, written the editorial plan (yes, that's what I said), or figured out all the categories. The new blog is different than this one. It is, as a friend of mine said, "a serious blog." She means by that statement that the new blog is not about "me." Thanks. Sometimes I'm serious here.
I could, I guess, go ahead and draft an entry there and publish it later; but, I tend to forget things and sometime a year from now I'd discover the "drafts" button and discover a whole bunch of entries I'd never published. That would make me crazy. Okay, crazier.
The real reason I am not writing or publishing an entry about yesterday is that I need to get some pictures and... I can't find the battery charger for my camera. I could use my cell phone, but somehow cell phone pictures don't seem "serious" enough for "a serious blog." So there you have it.
So, instead, I sit here typing this and digging through the boxes in my office to see where my charger is...oh, look, there's that missing earring.
For those of my friends who lined up in front of the Apple or AT&T stores early this morning waiting to pounce on the new iPhone 3G being released today, I offer this. I heard it on NPR a couple of weeks ago and nearly drove off the road laughing.
It speaks to those of us with stiff and clumsy digits, bad eyesight, and other challenges, which make appearing intelligent or even coherent in SMS nearly impossible.
Enjoy Brian Unger's A Letter to Steve Jobs Mourning My iPhone.
My new place is just a couple of miles from Ocean Downs, where you can place bets on your favorite harness racers. It is a great place to take the family, too, apparently. I just found out that my father took my two youngest to "watch the horsies" when they were quite young. They made a few bucks when my dad realized that my baby (at the ripe age of three) had a penchant for picking the fillies. I think my mother put a stop to further visits when she learned of this, so I never got a chance to go.
Still, I drive by all the time. Shortly before July 4th weekend, my Ex and I were on our way to Home Depot for yet another can of paint... or maybe it was for the bottle of wine I promise him for each room he paints (I drive a hard bargain). Either way, as we rolled happily by the track, I did a double-take.
I said, "Did you see that?" He said, "I think so, but it's definitely worth a second look."
He made a quick (and legal) u-turn and I snapped this picture with my Treo. Not sure if this was a prank, they ran out of Ls, or whether someone just didn't know how to spell. But, it made my day and made us wonder, "Who is Bud Clydesdale? Why would we want a viewing? And, what do people not familiar with the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales think upon reading the sign?
