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mallorys_cameraExcept now more things are going wrong with the car.
On Friday, it lurched and slowed on the way back to the cement bungalow. I was just grateful that the malfunction happened on an isolated country road and not in town. Clogged oil filter, I thought. Or maybe the new fuel pump was too healthy – like transplanting Jeremy Lim’s heart into the ancient, sagging carcass of Rupert Murdoch: the pressure differential was simply too much for the old girl. Old automobiles achieve a kind of functional homeostasis, you know. If you do too much maintenance, it fucks the balance up.
But no. Yesterday when I took it for a test drive, the “check engine” light started blinking. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn. Also fuck.
My research pointed in the direction of something called a coilpack, part of the ignition system. Will attempt to get the poor old girl to NAPA auto supply in Dryden tomorrow to get the codes scanned and proceed from there.
Automotive dysfunction comes at exactly the wrong time what with anxiety attacks over the pending move, and all the things that have to get done, and all the $$$ that has to get made.
To cheer myself up, I think happy thoughts like:
Hey! You’re not taking a shower at Auschwitz!
Hey! Your clitoris wasn’t surgically removed at birth!
Hey! You have more fashion choices than, “Beige burka or khaki burka?”
Hey! You weren’t recently diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, nor was your husband just in a horrible bike accident that destroyed half his brain. Several of my acquaintances actually are in these situations.
Who are these people for whom life is easy? I mean, I see them on the street all the time. But I don’t know any of them. I’m forced to conclude that they’re robots deployed to provide background clamor.
###
Then there was the Facebook IPO. Personally, I think the Facebook IPO was a huge success, given that the company doesn’t actually have a product it’s selling. I mean – what? How many billions of dollars did the company raise from snake oil alone? Lots and lots of billions. That is success.
I’m not sure how one goes about monetizing Facebook frankly. The killer apps in this context, obviously, are apps that would let you spy on old lovers and celebrities. But there’s absolutely no legitimate way to do that, of course.
One of the smartest things FB ever did was to become a gaming platform. In another decade, the digital revolution is going to shake out into just two electronic devices: game consoles and smartphones. I suspect the smartphones will be closer in size to today’s digital tablets and the clothing pockets will change to accommodate them.
###
Two scenes I will always think of years from now if my mind happens to wander back to my time in this place. The fairy dell that for two weeks every spring is alive with spring flowers – are they phlox or Dame’s Rocket, I wonder? And the swamp with the drowned forest. I think the beavers drowned the forest, but I’m not sure.
On Friday, it lurched and slowed on the way back to the cement bungalow. I was just grateful that the malfunction happened on an isolated country road and not in town. Clogged oil filter, I thought. Or maybe the new fuel pump was too healthy – like transplanting Jeremy Lim’s heart into the ancient, sagging carcass of Rupert Murdoch: the pressure differential was simply too much for the old girl. Old automobiles achieve a kind of functional homeostasis, you know. If you do too much maintenance, it fucks the balance up.
But no. Yesterday when I took it for a test drive, the “check engine” light started blinking. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn. Also fuck.
My research pointed in the direction of something called a coilpack, part of the ignition system. Will attempt to get the poor old girl to NAPA auto supply in Dryden tomorrow to get the codes scanned and proceed from there.
Automotive dysfunction comes at exactly the wrong time what with anxiety attacks over the pending move, and all the things that have to get done, and all the $$$ that has to get made.
To cheer myself up, I think happy thoughts like:
Hey! You’re not taking a shower at Auschwitz!
Hey! Your clitoris wasn’t surgically removed at birth!
Hey! You have more fashion choices than, “Beige burka or khaki burka?”
Hey! You weren’t recently diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, nor was your husband just in a horrible bike accident that destroyed half his brain. Several of my acquaintances actually are in these situations.
Who are these people for whom life is easy? I mean, I see them on the street all the time. But I don’t know any of them. I’m forced to conclude that they’re robots deployed to provide background clamor.
Then there was the Facebook IPO. Personally, I think the Facebook IPO was a huge success, given that the company doesn’t actually have a product it’s selling. I mean – what? How many billions of dollars did the company raise from snake oil alone? Lots and lots of billions. That is success.
I’m not sure how one goes about monetizing Facebook frankly. The killer apps in this context, obviously, are apps that would let you spy on old lovers and celebrities. But there’s absolutely no legitimate way to do that, of course.
One of the smartest things FB ever did was to become a gaming platform. In another decade, the digital revolution is going to shake out into just two electronic devices: game consoles and smartphones. I suspect the smartphones will be closer in size to today’s digital tablets and the clothing pockets will change to accommodate them.
Two scenes I will always think of years from now if my mind happens to wander back to my time in this place. The fairy dell that for two weeks every spring is alive with spring flowers – are they phlox or Dame’s Rocket, I wonder? And the swamp with the drowned forest. I think the beavers drowned the forest, but I’m not sure.
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 12:15 pm (UTC)Hey! You’re not taking a shower at Auschwitz!
Hey! Your clitoris wasn’t surgically removed at birth!
Hey! You have more fashion choices than, “Beige burka or khaki burka?”
Hey! You weren’t recently diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, nor was your husband just in a horrible bike accident that destroyed half his brain. Several of my acquaintances actually are in these situations."
I do the same thing. It doesn't make me feel better, just ungrateful.
People for whom life is easy?? I often think of a woman I met online ten or 11 years ago. We both loved Scotland and a certain Scottish band, so, one spring, we flew to Scotland to spend a weekend in the highlands and see a show. (Of course she had a friend with a cottage there who let us stay there for free. Happy people find nice friends like that. lol)
When we came home, she decided she wanted to live there. So she and her husband sold their house (making a large financial gain since it was already almost paid off at the time, don't ask me how, they were mid 30s??). They built a new house on the shores of the east coast of Scotland, paid for in cash, got their children into school and of course both were getting straight A's after the first few months despite not having spoken any English before they moved...she found a job within weeks and her husband has been a happy stay at-home dad when we last spoke.
Nothing this woman did ever NOT worked out. Easy for her to have a cheerful positive attitude. Do things work out for her ALWAYS because of her positive attitude? Or does she have a positive attitude because all of her plans work out, always?
I can't express how envious I was of her. It's not fair!!
We were friends for some time and hung out in the same chatroom, her nickname was sunbeam, mine was moonbeam. She always tried to tell me that it's ALL about the attitude. I never bought that but it's easy to say that when you're always ALWAYS lucky.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 12:25 pm (UTC)I have a really bad astrological chart.
The sun does not revolve around the earth, but nonetheless I've always found astrology to be an excellent prognosticator.
I suppose bad luck boils down to karma. Either my karma is just terrible or in that disembodied waiting room in Bardo, I chose this lifetime -- heh, heh, heh -- because therewere lessons to be learned. Who can say?
no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 06:13 pm (UTC)And for having a house all to yourself. And close to the ocean! That to me just seems ultimate bliss.
I don't envy you in the bad way though...not in the "oh I wish she'd get hers already" way. Just in the "oh I wish I was in that boat" way.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 06:17 pm (UTC)While it does not seem to have made you happy, I envy you your open marriage -- the fact that your husband agreed to it.
Come and visit! I've got a few extra rooms. (Yes, I realize that you can no more afford to visit me than I can afford to visit you at the moment. Still, it's fun to think about.)
no subject
Date: 2012-05-23 07:53 pm (UTC)I have lots of friends for whom life is a Golden Parade passing by, but I know even more for whom life is a grind. Had a good friend tell me today in all seriousness that he was bone tired of struggling With It All and was looking for reasons to stick around. I mentioned his son in college and his daughter in high school; reminded him that he's their single parent. His answer was that he thought he could hold on until daughter got her degree. And so it goes.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-25 02:47 pm (UTC)Can't say that I miss FB much.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-25 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-25 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-10 12:17 am (UTC)the colors in the first are lovely, but the focus is problematic ... need to stop down the lens increased DoF or go the opposite way for more bokkeh.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-15 02:13 pm (UTC)