Friday, August 8, 2008

Murray Lives!

Les came over this morning and accomplished two big things:
1) Fixed the lawnmower. I was quite sure it couldn't be the solenoid, since I had just replaced it last year. Well, it was the solenoid--a bolt had shaken loose and needed to be tightened down onto the frame to "ground" it. Totally unrelated to stalling out. Hopefully, this is the last you'll hear of the Murray saga.
2) Helped carry to storage all the big furniture that I couldn't handle alone--and he brought a trailer with a ramp, so there were no tailgates to get over! Les is a wiry bastard, stronger than he looks, and maybe smarter.

You discover some things while packing up:
* I wondered where that heavy duty flashlight had got off to! (It was behind the big TV in the entertainment ctr.)
* I gave up trying to find my plaque from the 1995 State Championship team when I moved into the AD's office (it was inside this little cubby in my early 70s Mediterranean style console radio/phonograph--no IDEA how it got there!) Fortunately, I had enough memorabilia, certifications and stuff that the wall looked okay. IMHO.
* Amid the disgraceful clutter of my desk, the best Chinese fortune ever: You have inexhaustible wisdom and power.* A bunch of keys. Actually a bunch of bunches of keys. I don't feel right throwing away a key--I may need to get inside again, even if I don't know the lock it goes to. (Remind me to tell you sometime the story of the key deposit and the free sofa.)
* A shadowy nostalgia lurks behind every picture frame, underneath every piece of furniture--oh, nevermind, that's the original color of the wall, or carpet, shielded from eight years of grime and dust.
* Beyond the dustballs and spiderwebs, I wonder if I am doing the right thing? I'll know in three and a half months, I guess. Still, I plan to make a go of it, what with my inexhaustible wisdom and power, and all.

In blog news, I have been added to http://www.expat-blog.com. I find myself continually returning to read the adventures and hardships of those who travel abroad.

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