Driving

I feel that I'm a pretty patient person (except maybe grocery store lines, where I have been known to switch 3 times to save thirty seconds). The one thing I have a problem with though is driving and other drivers. I've never went as far as road rage but some drivers can really test my patience. Here is a list of some of them.

1. Sir brake-a-lot. This person is constantly hitting the brake while driving. Being in back of them is trying. They brake on the slightest curve. The brake going down hill. They brake going up hill. They brake approaching a green traffic light. They brake if there's a car coming out of a side street. I'd hate to see how often they need to get their brakes replaced.

2. Mr left lane. This person drives in the left lane of a multi-lane road and never moves over. It doesn't matter that they are going slower than most of the other traffic. It doesn't seem to matter that everyone is passing them on the right and flipping them the bird. I can almost imagine them singing to the tune of exodus - "This lane is mine, god gave this lane to me". Hopefully their days are numbered since you can now get a ticket for driving in the left lane when you are not passing.

3. Little miss blinker. This is the person whose turn signal is constantly on. I never know where they are going to turn if they ever do turn. I just see the constant "blink, blink, blink".

4. Mr no blinker. This is the opposite of little miss blinker. This person thinks that turn signals are for other drivers but not him. He'll be in front of you when all of a sudden he'll make a turn into a side street or driveway and expect you to slam on your brakes so you don't run into them.

5. Mr change lanes. This driver is on a multi-lane road and keeps changing lanes to pass other cars. He'll go from the middle lane, to the right lane, back to the middle lane, and then to the left lane. Sometimes he'll go from the right lane directly into the left lane. All of this lane changing might get him ahead of two or three cars. It's especially frustrating in heavy traffic where he will squeeze in front of you if you leave more than ten feet from the car in front of you.

6. Joe slow. This is the one who drives under the speed limit and it's usually on a road where it's very hard to pass. So you're stuck in back of him for miles. He might be on the turnpike where he makes everyone change lanes to pass

To be continued....

Breakfast

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. I think I realized that when I was around five or six years old. We lived in a multi-family house at the time right next door to my Nana. I would get up early and have breakfast at my house. It was usually eggs and toast, white Wonder bread or rye from Tyburski's bakery. Sometimes it would be oatmeal. I can still remember the names of the oatmeal we would get. It was Maltex or Maypo. I liked Maypo more because it was a little sweeter. We couldn't afford bacon very often being a family of seven with my dad working in the local mill and my mom at home taking care of all of us kids. After breakfast, I would go next door to Nana's where I would have a second breakfast. It was at this time at the age of five I started drinking coffee. I can remember my Nana having her cup of tea and I would have a cup of coffee. I've been drinking coffee ever since. There were usually some muffins to eat too. And if you were good, you could go into the pantry and help yourself to cookies from the cookie jar. My kids can still remember that special pantry. I have fond memories of coffee perking on the stove and waking up to the smell of that strong coffee. Even when I went into the Navy and boot camp at Great Lakes Illinois, one of the memories I have is waiting in sub freezing temperatures at six a.m. to get in the mess hall for breakfast. I never missed it! After I had kids of my own, I usually was in charge of making breakfast for them. It was usually eggs or cold cereal. They loved the sweet cereals of the time like Coco Puffs or fruit loops.

Today breakfast is still my favorite meal. I usually get up, make my coffee and fix myself an egg. I always have to fix one for Zoey our golden retriever too. She likes hers over easy just like me. If I break the yellow on mine she gets that egg. She doesn't seem to mind. Sometimes I'll fix oatmeal for Susan and I or have cold cereal. We usually go out for breakfast at least once a week. Our favorite place is the Apple Barn and my favorite breakfast is "Nana's french toast". I wonder if my Nana had something to do with that being on the menu. It's the one meal that I get together with my kids the most often too. I guess in instilled my love for breakfast in them too.

Water, water everywhere

It's been a rough few weeks here at home. It started about a month ago when we noticed some water leaking into the basement. It's been a very wet fall and winter so we figured it must be due to the high water table. We'd clean it up with the wet vac and hope for the best. It didn't get any better. It was coming in the room we just finished last spring. We noticed that water was under the floor that we had put down. It's a fake wood floor so it wasn't damaging it but we didn't know how much water was under it. So we ripped up part of the floor and saw where the water was coming in at the base of the foundation. We still thought it was ground water so we would put down towels to soak up the water and use the wet vac when it got too bad. This went on for over two weeks and we started to wonder if it would ever stop. Then, last week we were doing a wash and noticed that the water got a lot worse when the washer was running. I started to wonder if it had something to do with the pipes coming from the well. I decided to test it by doing another wash and watching the leaking water. Sure enough, the water came in fast while the pump was running. To make a long story a little shorter, I called a well company to check it out. They discovered there was a leak in the water pipe and a bad valve on the pump. They came out the next day and dug up the yard. We'll have some landscaping to do this spring! They found the leak in the pipe and repaired it. Finally, after spending quite a bit of money, we have a dry basement and better water pressure. Ah, the joys of home ownership!