More car trouble :)

Car trouble is hardly like love... where it is better to have loved
and lost than to never have loved at all. :) (though my favorite
medical love quote is "love may come and go but herpes are forever.")
Cars breaking down are a pain. My sister's-in-law episode has triggered a
bunch of memories and rescues. :) And later, MUCH later, it can be
quite hilarious (usually when you no longer have to deal with said
delinquent car).

There was one time when I was in college and I was coming home with
a good friend from Austin to Houston in his car and his car broke down.
Holy cow! what a story that was! We were in the middle of nowhere,
found a farmer's house, went towards it, saw two large black dogs, so
turned back around and breathed a sigh of relief that there was a
fence. The dogs, crazy, crazy that they were went under the fence and
came out to greet us barking up a storm. I thought they were going to
eat me. My friend yelled don't run. Which really we couldn't as there was a
highway in front of us with the new and improved, higher speed limit.
So thankfully, when I stopped quaking in my boots (well, probably
sneakers) and opened my eyes, and no one had been devoured, I calmed
down a little bit. Then one dog decided he really liked my friend and
accompanied him wherever he went to try and get some help. I still
have a vision of my friend wading through tall grass to get to the other
side of the feeder road with this dog jouncing after him. It was
almost idyllic, a boy and his dog wading through the tall, amber Texas
grass. (However, idyllic was the scene not the situation. :) ) My friend in
the meantime found a truck full of cows, that gave us a ride to a gas
station so that we could make a phone call to get a tow truck. (My
god! This was before cell phones were the norm. How did we ever
survive!?) Then the truck full of cows took us back to the car. In the
meantime the Rover that had befriended my buddy, stayed guard at the broken
down car and was waiting for us when we got back to the car again. (At
this point I had developed fonder feelings for this dog, though it was
a little bittersweet as the initial terror had left me distrustful of
him.) The tow truck eventually came and then my friend and I squeezed into
the front seat next to the tow truck driver. The dog ran along with
the car for a little while then finally gave up And finally, finally
we made it back to Houston. phew! Crazy! Definitely glad I was college
age when it happened. Definitely would totally freak out if it
happened to me now. :)

Car trouble

My poor sister-in-law had some car trouble recently which reminded me that I almost missed out on medical school because of car trouble. It was the first day of med school. If you didn't show they gave your most coveted, hard-earned spot away. I was carpooling with my friend, the future neurologist. She said suddenly, oh my god there's smoke! I thought what poor shmuck's car was breaking down. I said who's car? Where? Then I started looking around, who's car is smoking??? Then I saw oh! It's my car. Yikes!

We pulled over. Called my infamous bug killer and the "house is on fire" babu and the medical school people. The bug killer took care of the car, the "house is on fire" babu came and rescued us and took us to school, the medical school people didn't give our spots away. (Aside, hyper-human had already become a reality, but not so much as pastrami sandwich reality, that was later.)

On graduation day, my friend, the future neurologist, and I carpooled again. This time she drove. :)

Reading

There is something about reading (and writing) that is a liberating, exciting, door-opening experience. It enables communication both obtaining and emparting on a more permanent level.

That is one of the biggest bounties of having a kid. Everything is fresh, new. The things you take for granted become valuable again.

There have been many milestones--but reading is almost more exhilarating than a first word.

Happiness

The first step toward happiness is to determine to be happy. ~ George Hodges

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too. ~ Mark Twain

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. ~ Dave Gardner

Happiness is activity. ~ Aristotle

I used to think happiness was easy, and needed no effort. It is time to continue as an American with Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.