New Year's Resolution

I am considering getting one of these for my 50th birthday in 2011 (there is more to idea than just the old joke about a red sports car.) Obtaining such a vehicle is going to be quite the challenge. I have no credit and even if I did have outstanding credit, I certainly don't have the income to support the car payment. But who knows what might happen over the next 21 months? I could win the lotto. I could win a contest giving away a red BMW. I could land a high-paying job. Some one might even just give me one. Come on now, it could happen. Odd as it sounds, there are true stories about people being handed the keys and title to a vehicle from complete strangers.

Truth is, I have absolutely no idea where I might be standing in September of 2011 and to look at something I want and say, "Oh, there's no way I could ever have that!" is stupid. Stupid, but it's something I do on a very regular basis, and not just about red BMWs. So my New Year's resolution for 2010 is to at least consider the possibility that I could have a red BMW for my 50th birthday and get comfortable enough with the idea that I get up the nerve to go to the dealer here in town and look at one, maybe even sit in it. And if I find that I really do like the car, work up the nerve to test drive one. Sounds simple enough, but when one's head is as screwed up as mine is right now, it's much harder than it looks. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Xmas in Texmas
Cold today on Christmas Eve with big gusty winds. You just never know around here what the weather is going to be like this time of year. There are pictures of me as a kid washing and waxing my father's car on Christmas Day (my Xmas present to him) in shorts and a t-shirt because sometimes it's quite warm. But we are just as likely to have cold and nasty weather. Sometimes sleet, but never snow - at least not in all the years I've lived here. It did snow on Thanksgiving weekend one year when I was in high school and we all had high hopes for a white Christmas that year, but it didn't happen.

This year we had the usual Christmas Eve get-together with my folks, brother and his kids. The traditional dinner has changed up a bit - used to be just ham, but now there's brisket as well. Come to think of it, there's been brisket at both Christmas and Thanksgiving for quite a few years now. It's a fitting addition, not just because we live in Texas, but there's a family tradition of brisket cooked up by my uncles for the big extended family get-togethers that we no longer do over the holidays.

Now that we are all so much older, I've become the aunt and my niece and nephews have become the new extended family. In fact, we have a hard time all fitting in my parent's living room for the present unwrapping. As always, it's just a few simple gifts for each person; never been nothing fancy and certainly has never been about spending a lot of money. Just a bit of fun. No drama, no fighting, just good food and good fellowship. How it should be, I think.

P.S. Every year my mom gives me the best Christmas present ever - a batch of my favorite cookies that only she can make. And I know eventually there is going to be a Christmas when I do not get those cookies which makes them all the more precious. Warren Zevon once said, "Enjoy every sandwich." I plan to enjoy every cookie.

Learning to knit
The other day my friend Suzanne asked me if I wanted to learn how to knit and I said, "Sure!" and I am now making one hell of an ugly scarf. But I figure it's a lot like learning handwriting and I'll be the first to admit that my handwriting was absolutely horrible when I was in first grade. In fact, I spent many an afternoon staying late after school while my first grade teacher made me work on improving it. I'm pretty sure that teacher is, in part, responsible for my perfectionist tendancies, but anyway, back to the knitting. I spent a couple hours last night and this morning knitting a few rows, then unraveling it all and starting over before I finally decided that I was just going to trudge onward with it, mistakes and all. There are stitches that are too tight and stitches that are too loose and dropped stitches and stitches that aren't a knit stitch at all, but some sort of stitch that I have no idea what it was and a few odd loops here and there, but what the hell. This is, after all, not about creating a masterpiece, but just a chance to learn something new and have a bit of fun while I'm doing it.

Auto repairs
I had a headlight burn out on the Rodeo the other day so yesterday I stopped by AutoZone to pick up a new light and while I was there I had them do a check engine light test to see what was up with that. The check engine light being on is the biggest obstacle at the moment to getting the vehicle inspected and I may be in luck on this one because the error code indicates that the problem is restricted flow in the EGR system. I might be able to fix that by just cleaning the EGR valve and manifold passage so, weather permitting, that's what I'll be doing this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed because a new valve is about $150 and I'd much rather fix it for the cost of a can of O2 sensor safe carburetor cleaner, a skinned knuckle or two and some cussing. Because based on my experience of replacing something as simple as a headlight, I can guarantee there will be at least one skinned knuckle and a lot of cussing.

THE DILLO BULLET LIST

...fort hood enginners
...Bandidos
...Bambi
...Sally
...Officer malone
...The deaf school experience
...Commander Cody
...The Runaways
...AC/DC
...Thin Lizzy
...The Ramones
...The parking lot
more to come

Cardboard cuts (aka paper cuts) galore
My fingers these days remind me of me days working in Human Resources when filing, filing, filing was a major part of the daily routine. Not that I've been filing paper these days, but I have been picking up a lot of packages of gum out of their little cardboard boxes. You know, the cardboard boxes that hold the gum packets in place on the racks next to the checkout isle. And it's inevitable that I'm going to nick my fingers and cuticles on those cardboard edges from time to time. And if you multiply from time to time by the thousands of gum packets I've scanned this week then you end up with fingers ever bit as nicked as they were when I used to file reams of paper every week in 500 employee's file folders, also made of cardboard.

No real point to this post other than I was reminded of something I hadn't thought about in about 15 years. If someone had asked me last week what I remembered about working Human Resources, well, nicked fingers and cuticles would not have been part of the answer.

THE DILLO

Public radio (NPR / KUT) is doing a project...the oral history of the Armadillo world headquarters.
My best friend and drummer has already done his , and my dear friend Lauren has been riding me like a bicycle to do it.
It will end up in the library of congress...so it's kind of a big deal. Anyway , Lauren got this big idea that we should interview together...so we are.
I practically grew up there...first live show at 12 years old and the rest is history.
And as I anticipate this interview the memories are flooding in...there are so many.
onward to make a kind of history.