All right, so grab a cup of coffee in your favorite mug and set a spell. Got a lot of ground to cover today.
First and most importantly, Angela is doing OK! For those in the know (and we kept it kind of hush, hush so don't feel bad if you were left out) this Saturday some of you my have noticed I was inexplicably absent. Angela had to go in for some tests. The kind of tests that require you to be sedated. Forgive me if I am not more informative then that, but superstition prevents me from voicing it. Suffice to say, it turns out she has elevated blood pressure. (hmmmm, six kids running around the house? Go figure!) . We just have to try and make a few lifestyle and dietary changes and continue to monitor. SO, I took the weekend off so her and I could hibernated in the bedroom. Surprisingly I was only required to make a few interventions with the kiddo's in the remainder of the house to keep them under control. For the most part they were well behaved and the house is still standing. But we enjoyed a semi private "hotel-like" experience and I had the rare privilege of actually being able to take care of her for once! Far to often in the past when she needed me to be there I have had to work, and she always gets shafted, having to "suck it up, and press on!" It's the sad reality of the "working class". They talk a lot about the cost of medical service, but mention nothing about the cost of recovery!
Kaleb covered for me in the afternoon and I made a surprise guest appearance for about 15 minutes while I waited for the prescriptions to be filled. I also had to grab one of the DVD players from the shop as I recently picked up the complete set of "Lord of the Rings" (we only had VHS) and Angela has been asking for a marathon for some time now. I'll give Kaleb credit, he held the place down and actually cleaned up before he left. He also came in on Sunday but it was pretty much dead.
Thanks to Uncle Chip for his desire to help on Saturday, sorry the schedule didn't work out.
Of course, Saturday had it's flood of repairs and assessments come in so I know what I'll be doing today!
Of course, as expected there were a few SNAFU'S. I send out a heart felt apology to the gent who had traveled all the way from the wilds of Tampa to check out the GMC Denali we had finished and listed the day before. Oh, that was a cluster fudge! See, we try and be REAL good about opening and closing on the times that we have listed, and 99% of the time we make it. This Saturday being the exception. We had posted it on the blog and put signs in the door days in advance. Unfortunately this poor soul hadn't read that entry, and had not called ahead to confirm, so when he got here around ten am he found out. He called and talked to Kaleb, who explained the situation. Then he called me wanting to confirm when we'd be there. Unfortunately at this point, Angi had just gone in and as it turned out had a bad reaction to the anesthetic, and would have to remain past the estimated time to recover. We had posted we'd be open by 1 pm but as it turns out, Kaleb didn't get here until almost two. Shortly after getting Angi comfy in bed, I shot to the pharmacy and swung into the shop to grab the DVD player. There I found Kaleb (with the help of our good friend Daniel who had innocently come by for some adjustments but ended up staying on to help) as Kaleb, was SWAMPED!
I answered some questions and noticed that two gents were here, having just bought the Denali. But WHOOPS! As it turns out they were not the guy from Tampa! ARRGH! I asked if they wouldn't mind hanging out for a few moments as it was only right for me to call the gentleman from Tampa to see if he was still interested. As it turns out we could not reach him and after 15 minuets of waiting I had to let them take it. So, that being a long winded apology, sorry.
Then comes this morning. Reluctantly, I said goodbye to Angi as I had to get back to work. Once here, I discovered I needed to get something for Angi that Kaleb was going to bring home for her. As it turns out the store by us did not have what she needed. Making a run down to the corner of Sunset and Highland became a harrowing one!
I'll explain.
When I came up to the intersection of Union and Patricia the schools were still loading up and all crossing guards were in attendance. The light was in my favor, the crossing sign was lit in my favor, and the crossing guard was walking from the center of the road back towards me but still had her "Stop" sign up. As I approached the corner I slowed down and looked to my left to see if anyone was in the right hand turning lane. Sure enough, a police cruiser was positioned there. Now here is where I'll admit to breaking one of my cardinal rules. I DID NOT wait for the driver (police officer) to make eye contact with me. As the crossing guard was stepping onto the curb I went. The officer who had been looking to his left to make sure no one was coming, obviously was using his peripheral vision as he began to turn right when she stepped on the curb. As I was already a bike length in the road, he had to stop short to avoid clipping me. His response? Turn on his light and siren, (I was already on the other side of the road at this point) come up behind me, pulled up partially on the curb while blocking the East bound lane, To inform ME that I was at fault for not having checked for traffic!?!?! Of course, I have enough sense not to argue with a police officer, but merely apologized and acknowledged how stupid of me it was to cross a street, in a cross walk...with a crossing guard...with the crossing signal telling me I could. Furthermore, he was of course at NO fault for taking a right on a red without looking! Once satisfied that I was fully contrite in my egregious error he pulled away from the curb. Well...he didn't actually pull away from the curb. It was more that he drove up ON the curb, around the sign post, over the corner houses lawn and back out on the street. Yea, I'm sure the lady who owns that house was more then appreciative of the tire tracks!
Seriously. Both bicycle riders and pedestrians have told us repeatedly the varying degrees of disregard and contempt car driver have for our kind around here. And no bloody wonder when the very people who are supposed to uphold these laws don't give two sh_ _'s about us!
The only reason I can come up with is it's because police find it very hard to write speeding tickets for walkers and bike riders, so we are expendable!
ANYWAY!
Elijah returns today. All I can say is this evening should be interesting.
Now, back to work! See ya all soon!
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