angel of transmission death, checking in

So, it's been forever and a day since I've blogged (blahgged). I just had to post once I figured out how to even find my blog again (many computer changes in the last couple of years) and how to sign in to it....that yes, the angel of transmission death has claimed yet another victim. I was on my yearly jaunt to ATL/Lexington and decided to go through North Carolina on the way back to visit a friend. My transmission gave up the ghost about halfway up my friend's (SCARY AS HELL mountain, but that's another topic) mountain. It wound up costing me about 10 days and 4 grand. Needless to say, I'm in LOVE with the brave lil' toaster (the name I've given the rodeo with no AC since I'm in Florida) all over again. I figured I'd better be since I just sank FOUR FREAKIN GRAND into it.
For any of you who go HOLY SHIT, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SUNK FOUR GRAND INTO THE RODEO, DOTTIE.....
a) I was stranded on a mountain in North Carolina with a buddy who has a life and obligations etc. and didn't have time to traipse my ass an hour up and down the mountain looking for a used car
b) I could've gotten mine rebuilt for half that but
I) mine was already a rebuild from 4 yrs ago when Reese's here in Dead Twig rebuilt it, and it was NEVER RIGHT after they rebuilt it.
II) the warranty on the rebuild would've been 10,000 miles/1 year and ONLY good at JimBobJoeBob's shop in North Carolina vs. the warranty on the brand spankin' new transmission (since we were in Transylvania county, I've dubbed it Dr. Frankenfurter, the sweet transmission from Transylvania county) was 100,000 miles/3 years.
So, to sum up.. I am STILL the angel of transmission death.
BUT
It could've been a LOT worse than it was.
a) my buddy I was going to visit was following me, so I was never stranded on the side of the road.
b) I could have been somewhere where I didn't have a buddy to stay with for 10 days.
c) I was able to make a decent amount of money whilst stranded.
d) the bank of mom, as much as i *shudder* hated to call on it, was there for me. (yay mom!)


And, on other notes....I plan to make other notes. I have ideas for several bloggy blog topics, even though I don't think any of my faithful few even follow this blahg after my being absentee for the last few years lol. I love you guys, but I'm doing this for me, lol.

Match stick Elvis

Am I the only one who LOOOOOVES this? Elvis died on my brother's bday, and was one of my mom's favorite artists.......I LOVE LOVE LOVE the matchstick elvis head!

So, dogs....

Jesus (Harold, Harrison, Hubert,Howard, Jumped up on a Pogo stick) Christ!!!!!! I mean, really.....I just don't understand having this MANY dogs EVEN if you're a breeder/trainer. For those who aren't up to speed, I've been doing time (yeah, it feels like that) house/dog sitting for (evidently) a crazy bitch....I've been dogsitting FIFTEEN DOGS yes, one-er five-er FIFTEEN freakin dogs (and one cat, who went missing out of a closed bedroom, but that's a whole other chapter). I'm in the final countdown now (cue the Europe song from the late 80s) I'm done on Tuesday, thank fuck. The past few weeks have definitely underlined a few things I already knew, mostly a) I'm WAAAAAY more cat people than dog people and 2) I'm REALLLY glad I haven't paid for cable in the last 12 years....there's nothing on except Scrubs, NCIS, CSI Miami, CSI, CSI New York, Law and Order SVU, and Grey's Anatomy.....seriously! I've had access to full cable for three weeks now and the only thing I tune in for is my *shameful secret* story....yknow....vampire soap opera True Blood. OK...I have LOTS more ranting and "is it Tuesday yet?"ing to do...but, (get ready for a SHOCKER) I must let the dogs out/let the dogs in now.

Holy Frijole!

( I always wondered why someone would say holy beans) I just realized that I haven't blogged since Happy Hallmark Marketing Day/The Day No Transmissions Would Live! I'm gonna poke around and make the bloggy blog look different, then come back and lay down some thoughts and rants and dear god, is it Tuesday yet?s

AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH

SO.....Today has been an emotional rollercoaster/meet you at the mood swings kind of day. I woke up at early ass thirty to go work day two of a festival and its raining...bout 30 min after I woke up, the guy who I was working for's wife called and said, because it's raining, we can't use you....which SUCKS because I need the money, but I understand, they're losing out on big bucks, BUT I have to drive all the way over there to get paid for yesterday, not real happy about that, but it is what it is....SO, I get there, and the rain let up for a bit, and he did wind up needing me for about 4 hours (BONUS) plus I networked with a couple of other vendors and set up a BUNCH more work for the next couple of months (BONUS) ....so I leave, and as I drive back ( in a BORROWED vehicle, my truck is in the shop getting a new transmission) to my town, the borrowed mini van overheats....I pull over and almost stall out on the railroad tracks (the stuff driver's ed films are made of!!!) but luckily made it about ten feet past the railroad tracks, but still IN THE ROAD....I walk ( reeeeeeaaaallly fun after the last two days on my feet) about a half mile to the closest jiffy mart, and buy two gallons of water.....all the gallon water was ice cold, so I pour my three bucks worth of cold water out and fill it up with tap water, trek the half mile back to the van, fill er up, at which point a friend's husband drives by and sees me and stops (RAVE, go Joey!!) and he has me crank it and then add more water, which I wouldn't have known to do....it cranks fine and the temp gauge looks ok, so he pulls off...I put it into drive and NO action...nothing....motor running, absolutely no motion....so I call Joey back, and we puzzle over it...he checks the transmission fluid and it's like TOTALLY empty ( the guy I borrowed it from rarely uses the minivan, which is why it was available to borrow in the first place)...Joey drives to the jiffy mart and gets two quarts of transmission fluid, comes back....we have no funnel....luckily there was a thank you card on the dashboard of the van that someone had sent to Dan, thanking him for vending at some fest or another (RAVE for etiquette, that thank you card helped a lot!) so we used it as a funnel....still NO action....Joey is pretty mechanically inclined and he fiddled around and finally got it to go......but only in reverse....so, he helped me get it out of the road and gave me a ride home. I'd been calling Dan, owner of the van every few minutes giving him updates, and finally had to call him and tell him that in Joey's opinion, the transmission is shot (I'm the angel of death for transmissions, it seems)....I have to call him and give him this news after he's been sitting in drizzling rain losing money at a festival all day. He was realllllllly good about it (RAVE)..I mean, I KNOW that I didn't do anything to cause it, in fact, it's Dan's fault for never ever checking his transmission fluid, but STILL.....I freaking hate that this happened while I had his vehicle! luckily, he has roadside assistance through his cell phone company(RAVE), so it won't cost anything to have it towed to his house, because I would feel responsible for paying for that, and I can't really afford it.


so, AHHHHHHHHH i feel better just having typed/vented it all out....but it still sucks....and dear god I hope my vehicle is ready Monday morning so that I dont miss work Monday!
thanks for reading my rants and raves
Dottie
(better known as the angel of transmission death)

ps...did I mention that I had JUST filled the gas tank on the borrowed vehicle??

my crazy ass dream

OK, so...Friday night (actually Saturday morning, as it was one of those dreams, where you wake up and doze back into the dream for an hour or more) I had the craziest dream......quite possibly the craziest dream I've ever had.......It starts off with me, my folks, my brother and his "wife", AnnaMarie, Lushious, Josh Gregory(who has a long scraggly "o brother where art thou" type of beard going on ), and some other random people that I know.....all having this HUGE fuckin RAGER of a party (think college, think rock n roll) here.....and me and my "sister in law" Liz (the real one's name is Connie, but in the dream, the "new" one was Liz) go out to get *something* from the house next door, and as we go out on the porch, we see, coming down the driveway, a chick driving one of those stand-up lawn mowers, with the circular deck....and there's another chick dancing on the circular deck. Well, they come down into the yard and begin weaving around the two circular flowerbeds in a figure 8 type of thing....and as that happens, the circular deck on the mower expands and grows until it's a full stage.....WITH A FREAKING CIRCUS ON IT....but that's ok, because all the circus folk join the crazy rock n roll college styley party (with my folks, yet!!)....crazy weird dream party sequences.....a limo full of black people, dressed kinda like the parliment funkadelic PLOWS through my back yard, which is midshin high with water (NOT an uncommon event for this yard) and wind up crashing and getting stuck. I stick my head out the back door, and ask if everyone's ok, do I need to call 911 or what? and a young black boy comes up and says, "oh, we're all alright, but could we have some soda?" So, I go to the very back of the house (where no fridge really is) to get them some sodas, and realize that it's all good even if someone IS hurt, because, hey...here's a whole room full of police and EMTs gettin down college type rock n roll style party style!.....random crazy weird dream party montage....then it's the next morning....and the house looks like ARMEGEDON hit.......and Josh Gregory is wandering around with HALF a scraggly o brother type beard and SEVERAL jackass style buzzes of baldness on his head.....NO CLUE who the culprit was......and that's pretty much where it ends........
SO..........................I can understand AnnaMarie and Lushious being in my dream....it was Fri. night, and I was planning on seeing both of them on Saturday....but the rest of it???????????????????????? I just don't know.....and it was SOOOOOOOOO real.
Anyway...meanwhile, back at the farm...that was my crazy dream....and honestly would probably be my craziest dream EVER except for a weirdo recurring dream from my teens that knocks it out of the running.
OH>>>>>> and the BEST part.....how I KNEW I was dreaming, now matter how real it seemed.....because I was drinking Newcastle beer, and LOVING it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All Praise the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Ramen. I re-watched Religulous by Bill Maher, and it just amazes me what the religious nutcases get up to! And while I'm sure that there was some creative editing done, as with any "documentary" of that type, the FUNNIEST things and the most ignorant things spouted were done with both Bill and the interview-ee on screen, and I don't see how those could have been edited, or quite honestly how someone could make that shit up!

Oh, and yeah, I know I've sucked at blogging lately, but I have been writing....the old fashioned way with a groovy roller-ball pen (yeah, i have an office supply fetish, cool pens are like crack to me), and a spiral bound notebook. I'll blog more in the coming year, I'm sure...in fact, later today, I need to make a blog about the CRAZY ass dream I had Friday night!