By Hook or CROOKS

Last Friday Mr. Fixit and I decided to do a bit of exploring. When we began our little trip, we had no idea where we were going. I wanted to be home by 6:00 pm so we decided to head down to Columbia, SC.

On the way back, I stopped to get gas. We have been checking our mileage since we bought the car, and I thought we should be getting very good mileage on the highway. When I stopped, I had an eighth of a tank. When it gauge gets down that low, it usually takes about 10 to 10 ½ gallons to fill it up. When Mr. Fixit told me it took a little over 12 gallons to fill it up, I didn’t think too much about. Mr. Fixit figured out the mpg, it was a little over 24 miles to the gallon. I told him that must be an error because when driving around town, I get about 30 mpg. Half of the gas had been used for stop-and-go driving while the other half had been used on the highway to Columbia. He checked his figures, and there was no error.

Then it hit me. I have never put 12 gallons of gas in that car. I always fill it up when the gauge shows there is an l/8 tank left, and it always takes about 10 ½ gallons. Mr. Fixit checked the little book where I figure the mileage and saw that it usually takes 10 or 10 ½ gallons.

I suggested he figure the mileage using 10.1 gallons instead of the 12.1 gallons indicated on the pump. Using those numbers, my mileage would have been about 31 mpg. That seems more likely.

The only explanation is the pump was wrong. What I don’t know is whether the pump had been tampered with or if there was some malfunction. All I know is that the gas was $2.46 a gallon. If that pump had been deliberately tampered it, someone stole almost $5.00 from us. I wonder how many people use that pump in one day. The service station was a major chain station with about 10 pumps on a major interstate highway. Someone could be making a small fortune on the side.

Things like this make me so angry! Even if I could discover the right agency to report these people to, I know I have no way to prove what I suspect happened.

A Young Realist

Levi, Mr. Fixit, and I were riding on the highway when I saw an obviously dead animal lying on the shoulder. I said to Mr. Fixit, “Was that a coyote?” (I was very surprised when I learned that coyotes are found in this part of the country. I thought they were only found in the West.) He said he thought it was a baby deer. I began giving Mr. Fixit my “look” so that he wouldn’t mention the baby animal again. I was afraid that Levi would get upset about a hurt baby deer.

Levi, being three years old, asked his usual “why” question. “Why is it on the road?”

Wanting to no upset him, I said, “Maybe he’s taking a nap.”

Levi then offered his opinion. “I think he’s dead.”

So much for tender sensibilities.

He's Back

Governor Sanford returned today and confessed that he has been in Argentina with his paramour. Many are calling for his impeachment. While I find his actions scuzzy, I can't think of any legal reason to impeach him. There is, of course, the small matter of the stolen SUV which belonged to SLED. I would also like to know who paid for his various trips to South America during the past year. If his mistress came here, who paid for that? Can an official be impeached for bad judgment? I have no idea. I'm sure that the members of the State Legislature could come up with something if they really want to go forward.

I don't really care who he has been "seeing." His private life is none of my business. Okay, maybe I do have a little problem with his hypocrisy. And it makes me think that if he could break his marriage vows, maybe he could break his oath of office.

It seems funny to me that all these philanderers always bring religion into their confessions. It's sickening.

The thing that really amazes me is the fact that they think they can get away with anything. Are they just plain stupid or what?

Yoohoo! Where Are You?

The Governor of the State of South Carolina is missing and has been missing for at least four days. His staff has had no communication with him; his wife says that she doesn't know where he is but is not concerned about him; SLED (State Law Enforcement Division) who provides security for him has no idea where he is; the Lt. Governor doesn't know where he is; and I don't know where he is.

Of course, there is much speculation among the citizens of our state concerning the disappearance. Some wonder if he has suffered from some sort of mental breakdown after the State Supreme Court ruled against him in the matter of accepting stimulous funds from the federal government. Some wonder if there is a more salacious explanation. I must say that I am suspicious of this disappearing act and the timing. The Governor and his wife have four sons, and he picks Father's Day weekend to "get away from the children so he can write." Hmm. . .What could cause a father to miss spending a holiday with his family when it is within his power to do so.

His disappearance was reported by local media and even the national media earlier in the day; however, one local media outlet posted a short story about an hour and a half ago. Why was the Greenville newspaper so late in reporting? Do the powers that be at the newspaper think that a missing governor is of no interest to the citizens of the state? Or is this simply a newspaper not wanting to report anything that may cast the Governor in a bad light? Could it be explained as a Conservative cover-up? That makes me sound a little paranoid, doesn't it?

As a citizen of the State, I would like to know why the highest elected official in our State would disappear without letting his wife, his security detail, and the Lt. Governor know his location.
The Nosy Parker in me would like to know why he left on this particular holiday weekend, where he is, what he's doing, and who he's doing it with.

Another "Sign" of Aging

My old car had several extras that the new one doesn’t have. For eight years, I never had to lock the doors because they locked automatically when you put the car into “drive.” My new car doesn’t have that option, and I can never remember to lock them. Mr. Fixit brings my forgetfulness to my attention every time I start the car. This is another one of my “signs” of old age posted on the steering wheel of my car. Now if I could just remember that the gear shift is on the floor and the lever on the right steering column is the windshield wiper control, I wouldn’t turn on the windshield washer every time I want to put the transmission in “drive.”

My Life in Pictures

The last few weeks have been hectic around the Fixit household. There have been games to attend, end-of-the-school-year ceremonies, and running hither, thither, and yon.


Owen's flag football team won first place. He is very proud of his medal.

This is the best picture I took of Levi's program at his "Mother's Morning Out" daycare at church. It's my obligatory shot of the floor. It's funny, I don't remember the carpet being hot pink. Anyway, the other pictures were too dark even after editing.

I will always have a picture of the back of this lady's head to remind me how cute Bella was participating in her school's awards day program. All of the ones of took there were too dark, too.

The azaleas and the lilacs have all bloomed and gone, but aren't these pretty?

At the instigation of our younger son who wants to bring back the fedora (I would like to give him a smack on the back of his head ala Gibbs on NCIS), Mr. Fixit bought this hat. I told him he could only wear it when I wasn't with him. When he wanted to know why, I explained. "If you wear the hat with one of you Hawaiian shirts (He loves his loud, flowery shirts.), you will look like the guy on the beach waiting for the ganja plane. And you could be arrested by the fashion police."