Trapped

I accomplished next to nothing today. I visited with my grandparents in the morning. They came down from northern Wisconsin to visit. I was supposed to work on the house today, but I got so frustrated with everything that I thought for sure I would crack up if I even saw the house. So, instead I was a lazy slug for most of the day. They other several hours of the day I was in my car. Trapped. This, of course, has been the other 25% of my stress. My car is less than a year old, and has given me nothing but trouble in the last couple of weeks. It has gotten progressively worse-now to the point that I don't even try. The ignition has been sticking, forcing me to sit in my car until I can convince it to spit out my key. Damn it. The car has a mind of its own, and for some reason it doesn't realize that it is in park. The key sticks in the half-on position and holds the key, acting like it does if you try to stop the car when it is still in drive. So, needless to say, every time I tried to get out of my car, I would have to sit and wait 15 minutes (or more) until the car would give up its fight and hand over the keys. I think this is the most quality time I have spent with my car-ever. I was probably in the car, not including driving, for a couple hours cursing like a sailor. Someday, maybe I will have time to take it back to the dealership to get fixed before the warranty runs out.

I was ready to take a sledge hammer to the car when I finally got home, so instead of giving the car what it wanted, and waiting for it to give in, I simply took the remote off the keychain, threw a jacket over the steering wheel, and locked the keys in the car. Problem solved (unless, of course, somebody tries to break into my car).

Around 1900, when I was just starting to relax, I got a phone call from the fire house asking me to come in for shift. There was no medic on duty on the schedule, and nobody that was on the schedule (as firefighter, EMT, engineer, and officer) was a medic. I gave in. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I refused to come in, there was no medic, and something terrible happened. I dragged myself out of bed, into the shower, and to the firehouse. No calls. Absolutely nothing. I checked out the rig, watched part of a movie with the guys and hit the sack.