Putting things in perspective

Okay, so I had a crappy day today, as detailed in the post below. I spent all afternoon sitting in the car with no brakes but the engine on so the air conditioning would work. I had my car towed away to a shop that's run by the mechanic friend of a guy I work with and I am still not sure that my car even made it there. I'm a little worried about having had it towed off and left somewhere with the key inside and a full tank of gas. I mean, I guess even if someone tried to take it, it's not like they could stop. First red light, stop sign, car braking ahead...BAM!

But in other news, I've been thinking about the hurricane and the associated damage. Some things my sister told me today made me particularly sad, but grateful that we're not further south than we are. The father of one of her neighbours lives/lived in Gulfport, MS about 5 blocks from the beach. They had been trying to get him to evacuate, but he was insistent about staying at his house. Apparently the last they had heard from him was sometime on Monday and he was in the attic of the house, trying to avoid the rising water. So my sister's neighbour is worried and he left yesterday for MS to go look for his dad with a truck, a small ATV-type vehicle, and a 100 gallon diesel tank. His family hasn't heard from him since he left. And then on top of all that, his wife, who stayed behind, got a call this morning from the paramedics that her niece and daughter were in a severe accident on the way to school and were being taken into the hospital to get checked out. Her niece and daughter are fine, but I know she must be a basketcase.

Compared to that...my problems are inconsequential. We're all safe and sound. Although my brakes failed in the car, nothing was damaged, no one was hurt. And frankly, even if something happened to my car, I have insurance to replace it.

I just can't imagine what things along the coast must be like right now. I really feel for those people and if there was more that I could do to help, I surely would do it.

Enzo loves fútbol

He "played" this afternoon with some kids from the apartment complex. I took some photos and videos. This is Julian's favourite photo. I'll try to link some of the video later.

Quiz Time - Politics

I don't remember if I already took this before and posted it at some point, but I'm posting it again anyway.

My friend Jon had his results from this OkCupid! Politics Test on his blog. I felt inclined to take it as well.

And the results are...

You are a

Social Liberal
(71% permissive)


and an...

Economic Liberal
(13% permissive)


You are best described as a:

Socialist


You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.
loc: (81, -138)
modscore: (8, 43)
raw: (1140)

Okay, this isn't the graph that generated with my results, but I fell just above where the word "Socialist" appears on Hillary's chest.

I have had a crappy day

I woke up much later this morning than I had intended. Like 2 hours later. I woke up about 15 minutes after I should have already left for my appointment this morning.

I went to the doctor this morning, and was about 15 minutes late. Other than the tardiness, everything is fine on that front. Or perhaps I should say that it was fine until he checked me out and told me he'd see me next week. I looked at him blankly and asked if he had changed his mind about the surgery Friday. Then it seemed to click in his head. I understand he's a busy guy, but damn... He called the hospital to make sure I was scheduled and I am set for surgery Friday afternoon at 2 pm. I have to be there at noon and I'm not allowed to eat anything after 6 am. Fun.

After the appointment, it was about 11:15 and Enzo said he wanted a cheeseburger. There's a Burger King across the street from my doctor's office that just opened, so we went there after a quick visit to Wal Mart for a replacement headlight bulb for the car. They got almost all my order wrong, didn't put cheese on my son's cheeseburger, didn't put cheese on my burger either, and forgot the toy in Enzo's kid meal. The only person whose meal came out totally correct was Julian. Then Enzo decided that he didn't like his chocolate milk, or his fries, or his burger and refused to eat. He only wanted the toy. We ate, got in the car, and were going to head home. And that's when the brakes died.

As I was pulling out of the Burger King, the brake pedal went all the way to the floor and made this horrible metal on metal grinding noise. Barely stopped. The entrance to Burger King opens into the Wal Mart parking lot, so I went back toward Wal Mart and parked. "What to do?" I'm thinking. I know I'll need to get home somehow and I'll need to get the brakes repaired. At this point it's about 12:30. I called my mother. She had to work today and had to be there at 2:00. She lives a good distance away from where we and the car were located. She said that she didn't think that she could make it to come pick us up and make it to work on time so she suggested calling my sister. I called my sister. She called a mechanic who told me to check the level of brake fluid. It was a little above the minimum fill line, so that was eliminated as a cause of my brakes failing. He suggested that I not drive it but have it towed. No shit. That's why I pulled into the parking lot instead of trying to drive it home. Sis then asked if towing was covered by my insurance. No clue. Car insurance is in my mom's name since the car is registered in her name. Called mom back, she wasn't sure, had to call the insurance agent. In the meantime, it hit me that I have roadside assistance on my cell phone. So I called them, got a tow arranged. They paid the first $50 and I paid the rest, which ended up to be $27. So here we are: 3, soon to be 4, standing in the parking lot of the Wal Mart supercenter with not one but two carseats waving goodbye to our car as it's towed off. The early afternoon sun was blazing in the sky burning holes in our scalps. My sister was on her way to pick us up but had not arrived yet. We walked back over to the Burger King and I purchased a pie and a soda. We had been sitting there for just a few minutes when my sister pulled up. We loaded up the Durango and off we went. I got home about 3.

I had some financial matters to take care of with the bank, so I called and got that straightened out.

I've managed to find a ride to work in the morning, but I'm not sure how I'm getting home. My sister is going to come to town tomorrow afternoon to pick Enzo up and take him to her house. There's a possibility the car will be ready tomorrow afternoon. If not, it will probably be Friday. The timing on this is impeccable.

At least all the drama with the car today kept my mind off baby-related things for a bit, although I do have a headache the size of Texas.