New doors for the Wrangler

A while ago I posted about getting caught in a downpour with the doors off.  Friday I received my cure for that problem.

2-piece canvas doors.  Getting caught in the occasional downpour wasn’t enough to justify buying an extra set of doors, but the cool mornings and beautiful afternoons were.

I haven’t been taking the doors off because it can be a little chilly driving to school at 7 in the morning.  But then by the time I head home, I’m thinking it would be nice to have the doors off.  These new ones fix that, because they are easy to take off and store in the back.

They come apart in two pieces, mainly so you can drive around with just the bottom half-doors, but the 4 pieces fit perfectly in the back behind the seats (I have the back seat out).  So they can easily be on in the morning and off for after school. 

They are not the epitome of luxury, you have to unzip the windows and fold them down by your side and they’re a lot noisier than the metal doors.  But they will be perfect for spring and fall days when I have to be somewhere when it’s still chilly yet it’s warm enough in the afternoon to want them off.  Well worth the $400.

⁰IIIIIII⁰

Stealing a scooter from a kid…

I was hanging out with my little brother and his family this evening.  Their two boys (12 and 8) had headed out to go play at the nearby school’s playground, and we decided to see what they were up to.

They were there, with their scooters, just sitting talking.  My brother hijacked one of the scooters and took off around the building.  I, of course, had to hijack the other one and follow him, yelling things like “Pull over, let me see your license.”  Well, at least until a small rock ran right out in front of me and jammed the front wheel.

Picture a husky, 6’-1” 53-year-old flying over the handles, landing flat on his face in front of the scooter.  If anyone around there had their cell phone out. you may get to sometime soon on YouTube.  Now that the physical pain is subdued, and the fractured ego is healing, I can admit it must have looked hilarious.

But it didn’t feel very hilarious at the time.  Just like they say, I can still see it all happening in slow motion.  Especially the part when 3 fingers on my left hand (I’m a leftie) bent a full 90° the wrong way.  I remember thinking they were going to pop right our of their joints.

But alas, I lucked out.  Skinned my knee (it looks glossy because I smeared Neosporin all over it) and simply sprained my fingers. 

Well, I’m off to take my 800mg of ibuprofen and hope it numbs my aching fingers enough to get some sleep.

No wonder none of the pictures on Google showed anyone over 20 riding one of those things.

Fall is in the air, duh, duh, da, da, da.

A cold front came through this weekend.  Dropped the afternoon highs down to the low 80’s and the overnight lows to the mid 50’s (That’s the high 20’s and the mid teens for you Celsius people).

I was sitting out on my front porch tonight and I swear I smelled autumn in the air.  You know, a cool breeze with a crispness to it?

Yup, summer’s over.  Not that we won’t see the 90’s again before it snows, but it’s still different.  I kind of like it.

Don’t get me wrong, I always dread autumn.  But for one reason only, it’s the harbinger of winter.  And other than the first couple snowfalls, winter sucks.  I’m not a big fan of cold, much prefer the heat.

On the other hand, I don’t think I would like living somewhere that didn’t see all four seasons.  Monotony drives me crazy, which is one of the reasons I didn’t become an accountant and make three times what I do as a teacher.  And why in the 19^th year of my career I’ve been at 6 different schools, ranging from the highest income one in the district to the lowest one, and just about everything in between.

But I digress.  The weather.  I love summer.  I love spring.  I’d love autumn if it didn’t lead into winter and I’d love winter if I could stay home, wrapped up in a blanket in front of a fire watching the snow fall outside.

I was sitting on the porch swing, cool breeze rustling the leaves and it felt perfect.  One of those moments when the street was quite, the swing was swaying and all was right with the world.

So, winter is right around the corner.  Big deal, I’ll deal with that when it comes.  For now, though, I think I’ll head back out to the porch swing and enjoy the crispness. And I hope you all have a perfect moment like that sometime in the next 24 hours.

Convertible Time of Year.

I can't imagine not having a convertible. They're great and you might think there's nothing better for the summer. Au contraire, mon frere! The best time for a convertible is right now. Slightly cloudy so you don't have the sun beating down on you or in your eyes. Cooler days, because no matter how fast you're going, 110 is hot even with the top down. Now, summer evenings are kinda nice, but for daytime it's got to be spring or fall. And early fall and late spring afford the greatest comfort zone for the convertible - nights are not too cold and days are not too hot. So give me a call one of these weekends and we'll go cruising in the beast, she's got 5 working seatbelts now.

Ah, the signs as the end of summer approaches.

Got "That Letter" today. The one all teachers dread, the one from the principal that starts with "Dear Staff" and ends with "School begins at 7:30 am" and with all that stuff we're going to be doing the week before the kids show up sandwiched in between. The first sign of fall. That's ok though, because I've been watching 3rd Rock all morning and it's one freakin' funny show. Well, gotta get back to them, they're not gonna watch themselves, ya know......