The Colonial pipeline is back in operation. I wonder if some dude in a dark room coded our way out of this or if the ransom was paid?
It will be several days before everything is back to normal. Thatโs okay. The world needs to slow down anyway.
We have one station in town, Robertโs, that has any fuel in their tanks.
People arenโt making a mad rush for fuel. I was able to fill back up on the Ranger yesterday on the way home. The problem is that it has turned fake winter here again and I still havenโt replaced the heater core in the Ranger. So it was chilly riding yesterday.
Iโm working overnight tonight so I went to town to fill up the Escape, which has no AC but does have heat.
So here I am.
Time for a shower and shave. Iโm going to eat some lunch, watch some TV, and sleep the rest of the afternoon until they get home this evening.
Iโm a little hot right now and I usually wonโt touch politics on this blog, but never say never.
S.C. Governor Henry McMaster dropped the mask mandate for our schools but you have to opt out with this form.
The wording is sort of disturbing to me.
The wording in the second page as to what you agree to and โscientific evidence and research studiesโ is pure bull. There shouldnโt be any form required that needs to be signed to allow you to breathe free.
I canโt sign this in good conscience.
My child is not a political tool.
How can you opt out of something you were forced into in the first place?
Whereโs the opt out form for paying county taxes?
You people barely take responsibility for actually teaching my child anything useful or important. Youโd rather erase history and teach them that their truth is more important than actual history and facts.
I think Iโm going to hold off on this. Iโm going to see what the backlash is after a few days.
Just to be clear, I know there is a virus. Yes, it has affected people. Yes, a lot of people have died from it. Yes, the science and actual death toll from this is questionable.
A lot of this is fear and control. And the time for living like this is over.
So here we are again. Making our way through the world trying to find basic commodities.
Toilet paper didnโt bother me much.
I didnโt give a crap about hand sanitizer.
I have to have fuel. I work on the road between four different locations. This requires that I drive.
So now Iโm sitting in a line reminiscent of the 70s.
I was alive when the gas shortages happened then. I donโt remember much.
I remember the lines.
People are panicking and a lot of them donโt have anywhere to go. The word is that most of the public is unemployed at the moment.
So whereโs the rush?
Anyway, forty-five minutes later and two gas stations and my tank was full.
This whole country can be shut down in a relatively short span of time over something we take for granted. Things can be disrupted very quickly.
I know I wasnโt in a very good mood this morning. I got to my first store and had a quarter tank of gas. I wasnโt going to be able to make my second store. I pride myself on getting the job done. If the company sets me an impossible task, wellโฆ
But sometimes you just have to let things go and do the best you can.
For a Sunday it has been a stressful day. A shame it was Motherโs Day. She still had a good one but we handled what we had to as best we can. Just like always.
This found its way into my pocket today as part of my change. The girl at the tobacco shop thought it was a one dollar coin and I corrected her as itโs obviously a token from an arcade or something.
The building itself is at least as unconventional as its mix of tenants. The site was originally composed of a massive new-build S. Klein department store (over 200,000 square feet) and a smaller separate strip plaza housing an A&P supermarket and a few other stores. Beltway Plaza in its present form is the remnants of both original separate pieces with a newer enclosed mall bridging them. It has seen a succession of anchors and semi-anchors over the years, from discount department stores to two movie theaters to a Chinese buffet to a space offering computer workshops. It is now home to a church, several restaurants from Italian to African, one movie theater, a gym, an arcade/fun center, a supermarket, salons, and a variety of budget-oriented smaller stores.
I used to love malls. We had Eastland Mall in Charlotte, NC and Columbia Mall in Columbia, SC as our main go to malls in our area.
Now the malls that are left are a shadow of what these cathedrals of capitalism used to be. Itโs tiresome just to visit them.
Eastland had an ice rink and weโd go there with our youth group from church every year to skate and shop for Christmas.
From CharlotteAxios.com
One of my most favorite stores was The Intimate Bookshop.
I loved the creaking floors and the smell of the store. I donโt know if itโs was a piped smell or the book bindings. I miss that place.
And I canโt forget The Tinder Box. The smell of tobacco and all the paraphernalia that goes along with that. If youโve never been to one itโs not a head shop. It an honest to goodness tobacconist. I think thatโs the right word anyway. I donโt know if they still exist as a company. I enjoyed them though. (A quick bit of research and they do still exist!)
From st11.ning.com
Strange how a token found in a tobacco shop can take you on a stroll down memory lane.
For my friend Yoko in case he actually reads this. Yes, I know you so well. ๐
I cut up my day yesterday to pick up my son from school because my parents are gone on a short vacation.
I stopped working at 1:00 yesterday afternoon and then went back at 11:00 last night. I got home about 2:00 and caught four hours of sleep, got back up at six and started it all over again.
And here I sit trying to focus on a new show, Jupiterโs Legacy. It would seem itโs going to be very good.
I wrote about fixing my truck Sunday. As a part of this ongoing project (and yes, thereโs a lot to do) Iโm going to be posting here and there about it. This blog is my daily outlet. This is why Iโm here.
๐ผSome days are better than others…
Today was great!
Iโve been using OBDLink (Apple) with my OBD scanner. Itโs a nifty little tool that can drop all kinds of info on ya while youโre on the move. My primary concerns this week are engine coolant temp and the voltage on the battery. I replaced the thermostat several months ago. The battery was dead Sunday. So worth watching over. The MPG was a plus today.
I drove home with the A/C on this afternoon. I also fueled up at a station that may have had okay fuel. But as far as gas mileage Iโm pretty happy with either number.
Before I figured out the problem with the plugs it was getting 22/23 mpg. This is a huge improvement.
For a twenty two year old truck this is pretty phenomenal I think.
I have a little bit more mechanical to work on. I have some plans for the exterior and a few more improvements to the interior look and functionality.
