"The Apple and the Tree" or "Do What I Say, Not What My Behavior Says or Especially What I have Written About Doing in a Stupid Blog!"

Date Line Ithaca, January 30th, 2011

Ordinarily, I revel in the idea that someone, anyone, might be reading these electronic scribbles.  I love looking at the number of page views for Road Work and when I see that I have had a reader from Poland, Singapore, Russia or Malaysia, I get pretty excited.

Who knew I'd ever regret that someone in my house had actually read it.

But a little back story.  In the first Road Work post, I wrote about a little adventure occasioned by a lack of attention paid to the gas gauge.  In short, the post was about running out of gas and my unfortunate propensity for and history of doing just that.

You can see where this is going.

So when the phone rang with my daughter on the line saying she had run out of gas on her way home, I found myself in a bit of a quandary.  I WANTED to lecture her on responsibility and paying attention and planning ahead...

Disclaimer: I couldn't entirely help it. I HAD to say something about looking at the gauge.  And I'm sure she got some "I am mad" vibe through the ether.  And why not? After all, we make mistakes so that our kids don't have to; so they can learn from and avoid our missteps.  Of course, by that logic, humanity should have eliminated error several millennia ago.  


I did pay for my unfairness immediately as all of my many gas cans are in the shed, which was of course frozen shut.  A crowbar, kicking with heavy boots and swear words came into play before I finally got it open.  On the plus side, I worked out my anger AND managed to break a pretty good sweat, despite the 17 degree temperature. 


....you should take better care of mom's car and tell her to walk home and walk back with the gas that she would have to pay for and...

But of course I couldn't (see disclaimer above).  After all, I had forced her to read my blog, leaving me without a gas can to stand on.  Caught in my own electronic web!

Sarah was the one to go pick her up, but when the daughter got home, I gave her a high five and said "Welcome to the Club".  What else could I do?  She knows my secret.

Although I did tell her not to do it again......



 Of course, I can't finish a post without at least one picture, so here it the saving gas can.

Yes, it is a repeat image.  But it is cold and dark.
And my foot hurts from kicking the door.

And a few Big Monkey pictures, just for luck.

See, the Big Monkey even makes the Hudson River Look good.
Don't those pedestrians look startled?

Only the SR-71 Blackbird is as cool as the big Monkey.