Well, at least I'm better off than these guys...

I had to laugh when I read this article on Reuters Oddly Enough this morning:

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Two U.S. car thieves failed to make their getaway in a car they had just stolen because they couldn't figure out how to use its manual transmission, a witness said on Wednesday.

The teenagers armed with a gun approached a man outside a pizza restaurant in Marietta, Georgia, late on Monday. They stole his wallet and the keys to his Honda Accord, got into the car but couldn't make it start because it had stick shift, according to John Williamson, 18, a restaurant employee.

"The kid was just sitting in the car trying to start it but he had no idea what to do. He looked dumbfounded. The only thing he had going was the radio," said Williamson who witnessed the scene.

While the thief was trying to start the car, restaurant employees called the police who arrived and caught the teenagers as they tried to escape into nearby woods.

Unlike many parts of the world, the majority of cars in the United States are automatic and many drivers are unused to driving "stick shift" vehicles, in which a clutch pedal must be depressed to change gear.

Movies in the Park

I went to "Movies in the Park" tonight at Centennial Park. If you have never been to this family-friendly event under the stars, I highly recommend it. I have only been one time before tonight (to see Grease), but it was such a lovely experience two weeks ago that I knew I had to go at least once more before the summer season ended.

I got there around 6:45 p.m. (which is late, if you're trying to get a good seat, even though the movie doesn't start till 8:15 or so), so I didn't have too many blanket-spot options. It was a choice between either far to one side, waaaay in the back, or right up front. I went with right up front because although I knew the sound would be loud (it's turned up to concert volume levels so that all the people waaaay in the back can hear, too), I also knew that I'd be able to see well and that the loud sound would cut down on any crowd distractions.

Last time I went, I didn't bring any pillows and regretted it, as the grass is quite level and once you lay down on the blanket, you can see the stars really well, but you have to crane your neck weirdly to see the screen and even then it looks all distorted because of the angle. This time, I had an extra blanket for my head, so I was all set.

My friend Kenzie came with me and got to the park in time to grab a Rotier's sandwich and an ice cream cone (I'd had pizza earlier, but joined her for the ice cream experience), and then we settled in and got ready for the movie.

Tonight's feature was Singing in the Rain, a movie that I'd seen a few years ago, but couldn't remember the plot of at all . . . so it was basically like seeing a whole new movie. Of course, by the end of the first scene I was completely in love with the dashing Gene Kelly, and our on-screen / off-screen romance continued until the credits were rolling at the end. The American Film Institute rated this movie #10 of their Top 100 movies, and if you ever see it, you'll know why. Unlike some musicals, which have at least one somber, downer scene, this musical is light and fun and entertaining the whole way through. Great dancing and great songs! I'll be tapping my way to work tomorrow, while humming "Good morning, good morning..."

The highlight of my week so far.

A new ipod

Well, I took my little sad-faced ipod into the Mac store in Green Hills (yes, aren't you impressed that I'm driving a stick shift in Green Hills?!) after making an appointment online. I tried the drop-in method at the Mac store on Saturday night which just didn't work out well. So back I went today.

The upshot is that it looks like I'll be getting a new ipod. This one is fried, and he didn't think they could even save what's on the hard drive. Thank goodness for having a warranty that still has three more months on it. Now, I have to find the Keane CD (Under the Iron Sea) that I've been craving. It's not on our Mac right now because Les accidentally erased our entire iTunes library a few months ago, and I had downloaded the Keane CD before the Great iTunes Disaster of 2007. I guess I'll be digging through some boxes. Wish me luck!

Father's Day (my sister's perspective)

My sister is totally creative when it comes to cards and presents. She always makes her own cards out of family photos and then makes up her own funny captions (based on my other post about the difficulty I have finding Father's Day cards for my dad, it seems that I could learn something from my sister!). Sometimes she draws pictures or uses construction paper. I have not gotten any glue-and-macaroni cards yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one arrive in the mail from her.

For Father's Day, my sister got my dad his favorite thing EVER -- chocolate! She got him one candy bar for each year that he's been her dad. For those of you who don't know my sister, that's 30 candy bars! Around each bar, she wrapped a piece of paper with a memory of my dad written on it. When I read the list, I laughed out loud a few times and got a little teary by the end. Although I know some of these items are "you had to be there" moments, I am posting the list here for folks to see because I feel that it's such a great snapshot of the way my dad is and what a fun and interesting person we have as a father.

(1) Red wagon rides from the top of the hill all the way to the house
(2) Convincing Mom to let me go visit Jonathan (my sister's husband) in CA before we were married
(3) Getting the joke about 20 seconds later than everyone else and bursting out laughing, spitting tea all over me and the table in Russia
(4) Your Russian dances at your daughters' weddings
(5) Going to the Farm Show
(6) Hiking the Appalachian Trail with us in several states
(7) Making jokes when Lisa’s head got pooped on by a seagull at Sea World
(8) Saying that the huge Saint Bernard in a nearby yard would clean up after me when I got threw up on our road trip out west
(9) Waking me up with a drum made out of a Quaker Oatmeal container after a nap
(10) Rescuing a wild and weak stray cat (Twinkie) from the farm
(11) Going along with my great idea to vacuum Twinkie to reduce the cat hair around the house, then getting scratched by Twinkie as I operated the vacuum
(12) Asking if I needed money (деньги) in Russian
(13) Hiking up to Katadin with us to finish the Appalachian Trail
(14) Never making it through a whole movie without falling asleep, but talking about it as if you had watched the whole thing
(15) Cleaning up Twinkie’s puke for all those years
(16) Joking about sending Uncle Chauncey a video of stunt bike tricks after he fell off his bike and broke his hip
(17) Trying to keep Lisa and I in line during family prayers when we would always start laughing
(18) Staying up late to put all our Christmas presents together
(19) Stacking up change on the table to get me to eat my veggies
(20) Making me cry at every meal before we went to Russia, because whatever we were having was the only thing that they served in Russia, and if I couldn’t finish my plate, I would never survive in Russia. Interestingly enough it worked, and I ate everything in Russia while Lisa lived off Tootsie Rolls
(21) For always asking “What’s for dessert?”
(22) Helping me to get a clear version of Mona Lisa
(23) Taking care of Charlie (our dog) and making him fat and happy
(24) Being supportive of whatever it was that I was interested in or wanted to do
(25) For cursing when you found the moldy spaghetti sauce I had thrown out in the trash ("We can just eat around the mold...")
(26) Picking us up almost every night when we hiked the AT through PA
(27) Making sure the house is stocked with my favorite foods when we come home to visit
(28) Hiding in corners around your office to scare me when I was walking around
(29) Warming up the car for Mom and I in the winter time, so we wouldn’t be cold
(30) Cleaning off the porch of dead animal parts that the cats had left for us as presents before we went to school so that we never even knew about it

Dad, I hope you can feel the love, even if you don't read about it here!

Father's Day (a.k.a., I love you, Dad!)

Well, a person really can't let a Father's Day go by without posting a little something about their dad (even though my dad doesn't use the internet and may never see this).

My dad is a very unique individual. I am reminded of this every time I go to buy him a Father's Day card. He's not into normal dad things, or at least what it appears that normal dads are into based on the Father's Day cards available. He doesn't read The Wall Street Journal. He doesn't drink beer. He doesn't oogle at sexy ladies. He doesn't sleep on the sofa in a shirk-my-honey-do-list sort of way. He doesn't obsess about his yard, driving around on his riding lawn mower. He doesn't wear a lot of ties. He doesn't go hunting. He isn't into fixing cars or other stuff around the house. He doesn't grill. He's not into sports. He doesn't use duct tape to repair things. He's not really known for loving to burp and fart. When you have a father like my dad, buying a Father's Day card can be quite challenging.

Here, then, are the topics for Father's Day cards that would work for a guy like my dad (Hallmark, I hope you're listening):
(1) A picture of a dad sitting at a table with all kinds of empty dishes around him (my dad loves to eat).
(2) A picture of a dad cuddling with his kids, reading a book (my dad was the sweetest guy when we were litle -- and he still is today).
(3) A picture of a dad having fun with a dog (my dad is great with pets).
(4) A picture of a dad out in an open field (my dad grew up on a farm and loves nature).
(5) A picture of a dad holding up an empty wallet and smiling in a "yep, that's how it is" kind of way (my dad will always give his girls all the dollars in his wallet before you head back home).
(6) A picture of a dad wearing a funny hat and glasses (my dad loves attention and loves to ham it up).
(7) A picture of a dad riding down a hill on a sled or in a little red wagon (my dad was just a big kid when we were little and loved to play with us).
(8) A picture of a dad shaving with a little girl (not just a little boy) looking up at him (my dad loved to chase us around the house asking us for kisses, with a shaving cream filled face).
(9) A picture of a dad carrying kids on his shoulders or piggy-back or both at once (my dad was a jungle-gym in human form when we were kids).
(10) A picture of a dad tossing a little kid up in the air (dads just know how to have the most fun ever).

Even though I am reminded at least once a year on Father's Day that my dad isn't a "normal" dad, I am so glad to have someone as unique and funny and creative and special in my life. I love you, Dad!

Money for Nuthin'

My friend Lisa (not me, another Lisa) and I have decided to do some walking after work to get a few extra steps on the ol' step counter. We're supposed to be doing this to burn calories, but on our first trip we walked to Sonic for root beer floats and on the second trip (today) we walked to get Mexican food, so I think it's really more for fun than for dieting thus far. We usually walk about four miles each outing, but I don't know that four miles is enough to burn off a large root beer float and some onion rings, though I must confess that I haven't actually done the math.

As we were walking back from the restaurant, I suggested that we cut through an vacant lot just for the sake of adventure (in general, Lisas love adventure). As we stepped off the road, Lisa (not me, the other Lisa) said, "Maybe we'll find some MONEY!" Just then, I looked down to see a crisp $1 bill on the grass right near her feet. I said, "Look! Money!" Lisa (not me, the other Lisa) was so shocked that she fell down on the ground and started laughing hysterically. "Quick," I said, "Say something about finding a husband out here!" Lisa (not me, the other Lisa) has determined that this is the year she's going to get married, but she isn't even dating anyone at the moment so I thought this magical vacant lot wish fulfillment was worth a try. She said, "I hope I find a husband out here," and we looked around on the ground but didn't see anything that seemed promising.

A friend later pointed out that you probably shouldn't consider a guy laying around in a vacant lot good husband material. I think that's a pretty safe guideline to live by, but you never know...

Postcards Post

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have a postcard collection. I can't really remember how it started other than I've always loved sending postcards (on road trips I usually send 50-100 postcards a week . . . while Les drives, of course!) because they're just the perfect amount of space (even though I do try to cram a lot in) to say a few things and then be done and on to the next one.


Because I've always enjoyed sending postcards, I guess I just collected free or artsy ones as I traveled to have a ready supply. Slowly my collection grew. Then I inherited the postcard collections of my grandmas and Les's grandmas after they passed away. In just a few years, my collection grew from 100 postcards to 700+! Of course, not all of them are cool postcards, but sometimes that's just the fun of postcards -- a small snapshot of cheesy Americana.

The cool thing about inheriting postcard collections is that some of them were already written on, sometimes sent to and sent from people none of us had ever heard of. It was interesting to see how much it cost to send a postcard back in the days when my Grandma A was still single (1 cent) and to see how vague some of the old addresses were on these cards (Mr. & Mrs. Karpenko, Kief, ND), although I must add that all of my family members have always lived in small towns, so that kind of addressing would probably still work today!

Here are a few excerpts from my collection...

From my Grandpa Laubach to my Grandma Laubach, dated June 6, 1992, from Heidelberg: "Honey, I wish you were here. I miss you. I'm on their fine train, but got a wrong ticket and I wound up in Switzerland!"

From my Grandma Laubach to their employees at the Stihl Chain Saw Shop, no date, but the stamp cost 13 cents, from Los Angeles Airport, probably on their way to Hawaii: "It better be great weather where we are going -- cause we just got here by 9. This is to be a hard day -- just like work or probably a little worse. The crew says the isles are great cause they were there 2 weeks ago."

From someone named Ruth to my Grandma and Grandpa Karpenko, dated October 13, 1940, from Sidney, MT: "Yes, I landed way over here for a change. Yesterday we visited the sugar factory. My, it's wonderful to watch them make the sugar. Well, we must be going to church now. Will see you soon. Nice scenery."

From my Great Uncle George to his sister (my Grandma) Anne before she was married, dated July 7, 1935, from Twin Falls, ID: "Dear Sister Anne, Your both letters are received. The one was addressed to Boise got here about 5 days sooner than the last one. I ain't working yet but may in a short time as I just got in touch with some people around here. Everything is okay with me and was glad to hear that all is fine and well at thome. I may write a letter in a few days or after I'll be someplace else, but you can use the same address yet."

Right now my postcards are organized by state (my favorite state postcards are the ones that show a drawing of the state with all of the regional exports or activities drawn on the map), and then the non-US postcards are together with some other miscellaneous ones. It's been great to live in another part of the US because I've gotten postcards from new areas as we have traveled around a bit down here. And now Les is traveling quite regularly, so my postcard collection continues to grow. It's so much fun to look through them and see all the interesting places people I know have been. I really does give you an urge to shake the dust off your shoes and head out to do some of your own exploring.

On one of Les's recent trips, he bought some funny postcards made by a company called Duckboy. I checked them out online and laughed out loud at a couple of them. My favorite is "Row vs. Wade: The Great American Fishing Controversy." It shows a man fishing in a rowboat and another fishing in waders. To me, this is postcard humor at its finest.

As I've been looking through these old postcards, I've been motivated to write more to people. It's a great way to jot a line to someone and then perhaps leave a snapshot of your life for future generations.

Stuck in Neutral

As an anniversary present, Les took my Honda down to Florida to get it painted. Its original "eggplant" clearcoat has been eaten off by both the Florida and the Tennessee sun rays, and it's only getting worse. Fearing that rust is next, we decided to invest in a new paint job before it was a total crisis situation. Les had a little time off and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to be sweet to me and also visit his mom and sister in Florida in one trip.

The bad news for me is that this leaves me driving our other car, which is a stick shift. I hate driving stick shift. I'm passable at it, but not good, and I don't feel like I'm getting any better. Getting into first is the worst. Getting into first on a hill is the worst of the worst. As a result, the sight of a red light strikes fear into my heart. The sight of a red light where I'm on a slight hill is even worse, and if a car pulls up behind me and inches ever closer to my bumper . . . well, my hands start sweating, my left knee starts shaking violently, and I am convinced I might spend the rest of my life stuck at this light, coasting back ever closer to the car foolishly hugging my rear bumper. Due to stress, I either stall out or totally squeal my tires in these situations, which only makes me more nervous and more likely to stall out again.

To make it worse, my car is the SVT model (although no one outside of Detroit probably knows what that means) so theoretically the driver of my car (me, in this case) has purchased this particular car for its low-pro tires, six-speed transmission, premium gasoline guzzling engine with 178 hp worth of performance . . . not because it's a good "learner car." It's the equivalent of seeing a muscled-out mustang with a blower, two tailpipes emitting flames, and a bumper sticker that says "Born to drag race" stalling out in front of you. Or to put it in Music City terms, it's the equivalent of going to a singer-songwriter performance and noticing that the next performer doesn't know how to tune his guitar.

Although everyone has told me that if I just drive a stick shift for two weeks, I'll become a pro before I know it, I don't know if that's really true for me. I don't feel like I'm making any improvement. Besides, maybe I'm just not meant to drive a stick shift. Maybe my body just isn't made for it (annoyingly weak left leg!).

What if this is just like playing the piano for me? I took lessons for eight years, practiced, did recitals, and at the end of the day, I'm just not good at it. Sure, I can read music and plonk things out, but I still don't understand the general concept of how chords work, how progressions progress, or what makes some notes sound better together than others. Because I'm not technically good (as in, my technique is poor) at it and I also don't understand the theory behind it, I'm just not a lover of playing the piano even this many years later. There's no joy in it for me.

So, I have to accept that I may never be good at driving a stick shift, no matter how long or how often I drive it. I am thinking about becoming a mechanic so I can at least enjoy the technical side of things. But someone might have to drive the stick shift cars I work on into the garage for me.