Last night, around 8, John and I went on a walk. We were going down a gently sloping road in the dark when a old red VW, without headlights on or without the engine running, started to move in reverse almost keeping pace with us. A little confused, I asked John if there was anyone in the car. He said there must be. We looked at the car again, then at each other, then at the car again. THERE WAS NO DRIVER! We ran into the street to stop it from rolling into a nice looking white SUV looking thing parked on the other side of the street, but in the direct trajectory of the momentum-gaining runaway car. We got it stopped, in the middle of the street. And now what? I went and rang about 6 doorbells trying to find the owner of the car.

A door was finally answered by a nice man (who kind of looks like the crazy Dr. from Back to the Future) who found a piece of wood we could jamb under the tire so John didn't have to stand there, holding a car, in the middle of the street. Another neighbor came out a few minutes later and gossiped with us about who it might belong to, and who wanted to call the police to get them to send a tow truck around.

Then one of the men had the great idea of seeing if the door was open. He tried the passenger side. Locked. I tried the driver's side. Open. The seat was broke and tilted back almost to full reclining. The emergency break was ON! I climbed in (eeew! stranger's car germs!), put in the clutch, and the three dudes pushed the car up the hill until it hit the curb. Of course the steering was locked. I put it in first, put the emergency break back on, and got out before it decided to roll back again with me in it. The wood block was inserted under the tire, just in case putting it in gear didn't work. The car totally blocked a woman's driveway, but the guys seemed to think it was probably her car anyway.

They thanked us for doing our civic duty, and we made our escape.

Veterans Administration

I was cataloging at the Library today and came across a pamphlet called: A Hypothesis of Schizophrenic Behavior from 1951. There were some amazing pictures showing how fat people are less likely to develop schizophrenia because they had a coping mechanism of eating, how burly people might develop schizophrenia when they are unable to find someone to beat up and then can become paranoid, and how skinny people are very likely to develop schizophrenia because they have more books than friends. Does not bode well for me. I hope to post these diagrams someday. They really are priceless.

There was also a pamphlet on librarians in the Veterans Administration. They had this bookshelf on huge wheel-chair like wheels that they took to the wards. And in reading a book the veteran "forgets all about the hospital" and his missing appendages. They even had a machine that projected books onto the ceiling for those who couldn't even sit up. Wow. The technology of the '60s.

Girl Scouts

I serendipitously encountered a pair of girl scouts a few blocks away as I was taking my constitutional. They had a wagon full of girl scout cookies and I inquired if I could have a couple boxes. The girls were sweetly demur but the dad told me I could, for $4/box. When I was a girl scout they were much more affordable... But I bought a couple of boxes anyway. The girls were excited that they had made a sale without leaving the driveway. And I got cookies. Happiness.

I'm glad I'm not a girl scout anymore. Actually, I don't think I ever made it to girlscoutedness -- I gave up as a Brownie. What horrible experiences. That's what happens when you get a bunch of pre-teens together. They pick on me.

Sleepy mornings

I'm half doing homework while drinking coffee with Sapphy on my lap. It's one of those lovely February days that makes you think Spring is right around the corner. These days always end in heartbreak when the cold sets in again and the rain comes in sideways for another 3 months. So I'll enjoy the sun by ignoring it the best I can and patiently wait for September.

So I've started a blog as another attempt to procrastinate. Just what I need!