Some Days

Did you ever have one of those days when you think perhaps it wasn't really worth getting out of bed? I had one of those days today.

The day started out okay. I was a little sleepy and was having a busy morning. The car belonging to The Man of the Place was still in the shop so I was drove him in to town. A very expensive turbo charger in his car broke on Monday. This caused his lovely blue BMW to emit billowing clouds of blue smoke. . So, I drive him in and he will collect his car later.

Because my morning routine was disrupted, I didn't go through the ordinary leaving the house checks. e.g. lock all the doors, put phone in handbag, water dish for dog, check food and water for chickens . . . that sort of thing. I managed to get the animals checked on and Henry had locked the doors . . . did I forget anything? I've got my diary and my handbag . . . .

I was headed out to Stranraer again. It is about 95 miles from the house and so with half a tank of diesel in the car, I thought I'd just top up the tank on the outward journey so that I wouldn't have to do it at the end of the day when I am often much more tired.

I pulled into the Shell station on the outskirts of Dumfries. I use this particular station almost exclusively. I have Shell fuel card and this is the Shell station closest to the house and conveniently right on today's direct route. It was busy as I pulled in and the only pump not in use was the one on the far left. I usually go to the pumps on the right or centre and for some reason, never usually go to the left side of the forecourt.Hmm. . . what shall we put in the car today . . . .
I get out, and start to fill the car. Just when I'm almost finished, I look at the pump and notice that the prices have gone down even further. The diesel was .99 pence per litre . . . wait a minute . . . it hasn't . . . I'm putting unleaded in the car!! Bugger! *groan*

This is going to screw up my day a bit . . . Okay. . . first things first. Go pay for the fuel I don't want. I went up and paid for the unleaded petrol and informed Alex, the nice guy who works there, that my car prefers diesel rather to the 35 litres of unleaded that I have just put in it.

Alex smiles. He's been through this before. It is early, I was a little distracted and I was using a pump that I don't normally use. It happens all the time he says. He comes out from behind the counter and gets the big orange traffic cone. He tells me not to start the car and places the cone behind my car so that nobody will queue up behind me.

I then go to call the AA breakdown service (the UK equiv of the AAA). Wait a minute! Where is my work phone? I can't find it. Then realization hits me. I have left it at home. It is in the pocket of the jacket I was wearing yesterday. Arrgh! Never mind. I will use my personal phone. . . . that isn't charged up and dies in the middle of dialing the first number. Bloody bollocks!

Alex kindly offers the use of the phone inside. I phone the breakdown service. "Wrong fuel in the car" I tell them. No problem, but the wait will be two hours. (What?!) Apparently there are a few jobs on the go for the drivers this morning. In fact, while I am waiting an AA driver comes through the Shell station. he says that I am probably on his list but he can't reshuffle the jobs. He will get to me in due time. I am starting to think that I am not going to make it to my 12.30 appointment even though it is only 9.30.

I can either get all worked up and Type A personality about this or I can just relax and enjoy the wait. Polly, who had a bath the night before was behaving perfectly (asleep on the back seat). I bought a coke and a couple of magazines and went back to my car for the wait. I listened to the morning radio and flipped through glossy magazines showing how fabulous the party for Prince Charles was. I was so engrossed in the lifestyles of the crowned heads of Europe that a knock on the car window caused me to practically jump out of my skin. I was being invited inside for coffee. How nice!! Who else has had a free coffee from the Shell station?Here are Alex (on the left) and Shane - the guys who work the morning shift at the Shell station on the outside of Dumfries. They are really nice guys.This is the AA guy (also a nice guy) who towed me to the garage to get the contaminated fuel drained from my car.
The process of removing the unwanted fuel from my car isn't as straightforward as it used to be. There are anti-siphon thingies in cars now. The back seat had to be take out!! I don't know why. It took hours.

I had to call The Man of the Place (another borrowed phone) and ask him to phone my Stranraer appointment and cancel for me. *sigh* There was nothing else I could do. I walked Polly. At lunch we found a burger van. I had a bacon roll and Polly had a sausage roll with no bun. I read my magazines and just killed time. At about 2 pm I was finally in the car again with all the windows open. The car was filledwith diesel fumes. Good thing I don't smoke anymore!

I was back home by three having seen NO customers and even LESS fuel in the car. Sheesh! I have comforted myself with a nice hot bath and then have a nice hour or so whacking people on Mob Wars on Facebook. Tomorrow will be better . . . almost Friday.

If You Love Your Country

Then VOTE!

Please vote on Tuesday the 4th of November!

Voting is about the people we know, the family we love, the National Parks we visit, the library books we check out, our soldiers in foreign lands, the clean water we drink, the air we breathe, the traffic we sit in, our children's education, the money in the bank, the news we listen to, the health of our businesses, global warming and the friendship of other countries.

Voting is also about the fish in the rivers and bears in the woods, surviving a tornado, medical care for the elderly and keeping the freedom that our forefathers struggled so hard to win for us!

Not voting means you really don't care.

If you haven't voted then don't come whining to me when you disagree with what the government is doing.

Miracle Bathroom Cleaner

Did you know that toilet bowl cleaner is magical stuff?
If one squirts a liberal amount into the toilet, swish the toilet brush about a bit and flush, the entire bathroom can be declared clean! According to some reports it can even get the floor behind the toilet!

Sadly, I never seem to get this right. I always clean the mirrors, sink, shower stall and bathtub first. I should just add in the toilet cleaner, brush and go on to the football game like everyone else.

Any Noun Can be Verbed

One of the things I do in my (ha!) spare time is watch birds. I have loads of bird feeders here at the house and supply the local birds with a variety of foods. Because I'm interested in birds, bird watching and conservation, I look in on a couple of bird watching blogs.

One disturbing trend I have discovered in US bird blogs is that the word bird is now used as an intransitive verb. "I am going to bird on the weekend." I never heard the word being used as a verb before I left the US fifteen plus years ago. Back then it was just a plain old noun. It looked odd and wrong to me and I kept seeing it happen.

It was the use of the word bird as a verb in a blog where the language and grammar are very good that led me to investigate further. I looked it up in my dictionary here at the house, the Oxford Concise Dictionary and the word bird is listed as a noun only. I was all set to flame a hole in a bird blogger when I decided had better get another source just to have all my facts. I used an American based online dictionary and lo and behold the word bird is not only a noun but a verb as well. Oh my God! That use of the word is in common use!

I will now hold my tongue and not blast the bird blogger for using the word bird as a transitive verb, however I will still hold on to my private view that using the word bird as a verb sounds uneducated, awkward and just plain wrong. As my friend David says, "Verbing wierds lanuguage." Perhaps it is living in the United Kingdom for so long that makes me bristle at people playing fast and loose, verbing nouns willy nilly.

For me, I will never use the word bird as a verb. I will go bird watching because I am a bird watcher. I will not bird because I am a birder. Through my investigations I have discovered that it is a perfectly acceptable and recognized use of the word, I will not flame anybody for using bird as a verb. Be warned however, I will think to myself that you are an ignoramus and right down there with people who end their sentences with prepositions.