I spent some quality time at the local Pep Boys shopping for a new battery yesterday, a store I loathe particularly for its emphasis on selling dumb fake chrome shit one can glue to the side of one’s car instead of actual auto parts. The Saturn suddenly decided it didn’t want to start reliably last week, giving me a little bit of a scare when I was just barely able to get it running in the parking garage late one afternoon. At first I thought it might be the busted taillight somehow shorting out and draining the battery, given all the rain we’ve been experiencing, but an entire day to dry out in the garage yielded the same result. In the meantime, I was traveling with the battery from the Scout and a set of cables and giving myself hillbilly jumpstarts in order to get going. After replacing both batteries in the driveway last night, all is right in our vehicular world, and I have a UPS tracking number for our new (used) taillight.

My intent was to drive the Scout in this morning and take advantage of the lovely weather, but I got a late start this morning. I overslept and woke up with a giggling Finn on my stomach—which is not a bad way to start the day—but barely made it out the door with a cup of coffee (thanks Mama) and clean clothes.

Mixed Messages in Advertising Dept.:
This morning I passed a minivan sporting a large white decal of the Tasmanian Devil, applied to the back window, containing the words

Get In
Sit Down
Shut Up
Hang On

On the side door of the same van was a magnetic decal advertising the Happy Feet Daycare center.