Redneck Woman

Here I go, falling behind again. The last few days have been really hectic. My car is nearly 10 years old and I've had it in and out of the garage for the last month. They've replaced my power steering pump, water pump, oil something-or-another, rack and pinion... etc. Saturday evening my car over heated and I found my anti-freeze was low. So back to the shop I go. This time for a new radiator. My credit card is now maxed out but I'm certain nothing more could go wrong with my car. I mean I've had it in five times in 4 weeks. Surely nothing more could break, right? Wrong. Wedensday during my lunch break the car overheated again and released a river of anti-freeze across the parking lot. I called the garage and they said they'd send out a tow truck for free and check it out.

I tell ya, by this point the mechanics are dreading my calls and falling all over themselves to help me. I've used this garage for years and they're really trustworthy. I know they aren't trying to screw me, I'm just having a real run of bad luck. Anyway, I got a call back this morning. Turns out when they installed the radiator, the wires to the engine fans got pinched and they weren't coming on to cool the engine. When it over heated, the coolant boiled over. So, they fixed it for free of course and I now have my car back again. Hopefully for good this time.

On the home front, I finally caught one of the racoons that have been tearing into my roof. The guy had to set kill traps this time around. Animal control guy said it should kill them in a minute or less, so they won't suffer needlessly. He set them on the roof Monday night at 7 pm and at 11 pm I heard one go snap. The trap is in the corner on the side of the house where there are no windows and right next to my bedroom. I went to check on Jack, because he was just going nuts in the back yard. He's standing there, eyes big as saucers, ears at attention barking like crazy at this coon that's hanging from my roofline. But to my surprise, the coon's not dead. Oh no. He's hissing, snarling, scratching, and banging on the side of the house like a banshee. I'm thinking, "Poor thing, he'll die soon." After fifteen minutes, I'm praying, "God, let that poor thing die soon!" Finally after thirty minutes all I hear is an occasional soft hiss. I wanted to cry for the poor critter. I heard another coon briefly on the roof that night, but he didn't get trapped and I haven't heard him since. I'm hoping he's a smarter critter that knows when to head for the hills permanently. When I left for work Tuesday morning I could see the dead coon hanging from the roof, like a bandit strung up in the old west. The thought crossed my mind briefly, that my house now resembled a Jeff Foxworthy joke. "If you've got coons hanging from your roof... You might be a redneck!" Thank goodness the animal guy came back and got him right away.

Tuesday night was another great American Idol show, but Wedensday's elimination made me sad. I was shocked by Ace and Elliott's appearance in the bottom three. I'd really hoped Paris would go home, but she just keeps surviving some how. I wanted Bucky to stick it out at least one more round. I'm really sad to see him go. I hope he nails a contract, I want to see him go somewhere big.

Farewell Bucky,
A.