Those Little Ups and Downs

[LauraJUnderwood]

The ups: Wandering Lark is working its way through the editorial process. I am doing my own cover art.

The Downs: Well, first off, the alternator in the truck went out, and I shelled out cash to get that replaced, and not 24 hours later, the clutch died as I was going to work. Most likely candidate is the Master Cylinder, but just as likely, the clutch plate has broken.

So...I will be shelling out More Money for that.

And to make matters worse, I had to sit in the hot morning sun on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck (they said one hour at the earliest--they were backed up and busy), and when I got out of the tow truck at the mechanic's, I fell. Yep--was stepping out, had one foot on the ground and one on the stepup, and my bag slid out of the cab and hit me hard enough to knock me flat on my rear.

I rolled, but I still managed to scrape up my elbow and my knee on the rough gravel.

The mechanics all suddenly "disappeared." I crawled to my feet, dusted myself off, picked up my toys and sighed. The owner was there, watching me. He walked over and asked if I was okay. I told him I skinned my elbow and my knee, but I was okay otherwise.

He then asked if it was okay to laugh.

I said yes, because at that point, I was laughing at myself.

What else can you do.

At any rate, I called home and got a ride to the house, borrowed my mother's van and went on to work where they were Really Glad To See Me because of course, the other person who comes in was out sick, and the boss had to go to a meeting.

I am sore from my fall (hey, even big butts hurt when they hit sharp gravel), and amused because 1) the computers went down system wide the moment I arrived (is it just me???) and 2) they apparently have a groundhog living on the grounds who comes and goes past the back door where I now sit writing this.

Life goes on.

I have to keep laughing. ;-)

[Interference]

That's a heck-of an up -- or possibly down, I haven't quite made up my mind on it yet

At least the guy asked first before he laughed. Shows that there are still some gents left in this crazy, mixed-up world.

How big is that bag?

[LauraJUnderwood]

It contains a netbook, a Nook ereader, and a few other odds and ends. It's a small messenger bag.

Laura J. Underwood

[Interference]

There's some pun-fun to be had with something called a Nookiereader, but I 'll let it pass (apparently I'm only allowed two more puns this month and then it's back to the intellectual humour that I'm so ill-equipped for) and say, simply, "they grow their small messengers big in Tennessee."

[LauraJUnderwood]

I have probably made many more "Nookie Reader" comments than my friends can stand.

One friend who also has a nook and I have talked about "trading Nookie..."

We are a weird but fun bunch. ;-)

Laura J. Underwood