Just a Few Hours Left

until I can turn the phone ringer back on, the volume back up on the answering machine, and reset the answering machine to pick up after more than two rings.  I love having the freedom to vote.  I hate the barrage of phone calls at obscenely inconvenient times that precede elections.  I also hate what the uncertainty of elections does to mom & stepfather's investments.  Hopefully the stock market rebounds after the elections.  Secure lock down 24/7 assisted living does not come cheaply.

It Might Be Possible

to actually die of old age while waiting on hold with the billing department of the local newspaper.  Stepfather's subscription rate has jumped dramatically ($61 last month compared to $36 only 2 years ago), while at the same time the newspaper is offering a 6 month promotional offer of $13/month.  So is someone at the newspaper embezzling, or are they just robbing their current subscribers to pay the difference in price between actual operating costs and the promotional offer?  Of course getting a real person on the phone to discuss such matters seems to be impossible!

Someone finally answered the phone, and offered a very slight discount. The next option will be to cancel the Sunday paper.  He doesn't really read the Sunday comics, and it isn't like stepfather needs the coupons and advertising flyers to go shopping.  Letting him out of the building unsupervised would be very bad, especially with winter just around the corner.

Strange Times

Hubby had yesterday off work, so after running some errands we decided to go to the usual Chinese restaurant downtown for lunch.  Parking was available next to an Oldsmobile "Premier" mini van that had seen many better days and looked like it was being held together with hippie stickers.  After lunch we returned to find that it had managed to wander off, and in its place was sitting a Rolls Royce drop-head with coach doors.  What a way to name a gorgeous car, but in normal speak it would be called a convertible with suicide doors.  I really should take the camera with me on more occasions.

Instead of driving straight home after lunch we stopped off at a local car dealership to play the all too serious game of stump the salesman.  Having just received our automotive insurance renewal, it hit me that our insurance company thinks our cars are pretty worthless if they are charging <$700 for six months of coverage on two cars - even with the you're getting older and you own a house discount.  Since we are heading into the season when bucks frequently commit suicide by playing in traffic chasing does, we decided that perhaps it is time to see what is available in used cars to replace the 2004 Honda Element and the 2005 Honda Civic.  So the  poor salesman had a look at the inventory, and sure enough they had a few cars with manual transmissions, very few cars.  They could sell me a Corvette, a Camaro, a Mustang, or a Subaru Impreza.  Our reply was that the first three weren't very good for winter driving and the Subaru was seriously overpriced.  The options for a replacement for the Element weren't much better.  If anything suiting our needs finds its way into their inventory, the salesman will email us - not holding our breaths there.

Finally we headed home to find a family in an old, rather worn looking SUV stopped in front of our house.  We helped them push it to the side street as they waited for a friend to come give them a tow.  The kids got a head start on Halloween candy, and as they were about to be pulled away by their friend, I asked the wife what she thought was wrong with the car.  To which she replied that she thought they were out of gas.  If only they'd told us right off, I'm sure the gas can in our garage would have had enough in it to get them to a gas station.