Fish, donuts and other things jelly

A couple days ago my truck turned 150K. For his birthday he gave me a busted water pump and a flat tire. The thing spilled all my antifreeze yesterday morning and I just barely manage to make it back home after dropping off my dad at work. The thing was getting hot and the last thing I needed was to blow a head gasket. So far so good on that account, but the bearing seals on the pump were definitely gone. Of course, since it's the only car I've got and it would have taken me half a day just to get out to the auto parts store and back by bus, I had to wait for my dad's wife to get back in the evening to go get a new pump. So there you go, a whole day of sitting on my hands--can't stand that!

Well, all's well that ends well. Old and new pump pictured below. The new one actually had a cast impeller which I liked better than the stamped galvanized thingy in the old one.







And finally, here's me looking very debonair in my Dickies coveralls. The picture's actually a couple years old, probably a little chubbier here.







I think I'm going to lay off on talking about cracked aquariums and checks in the mail and the like. Writing about what I'm feeling helps me work things out, but my feelings are apt to change. So, invariably what happens is that I'll write something maybe out of frustration and disappointment and then I'll calm down and change my mind. Of course, by that time, my writings have already confused people and I've already sent ill-advised checks. It just hasn't worked out too well and I just can't afford to have my alter-ego Anchovy conspiring against me. So, at least for a while, I'll just keep my writings to myself and friends whom I care to share with directly. You can always ask; I like to hear others' perspectives.


Did you know there are exactly 8 capital letters that look the same when they're flipped upside down? (C, E, D, H, I, K, O, X)

My friends and I had an impromptu get-together a couple nights ago. If I look miserable in the following picture, you should have seen me in the morning--the morning my water pump broke, incidentally.

It all started with one of these--Maker's Mark bourbon with homemade blackberry liqueur.