Monday, February 18, 2008

I Said BRRRRRRRRR!

I woke up this morning at the crack of dawn. OK it was more like 7 am so not exactly the crack of dawn.... work with me here. I took a few minutes to get ready for the day and ran out the door only to be greeted by the -11 temperature and blowing snow. I buckled myself into the car and said a little prayer before turning the key. The car started and off I went.


J.R. gave me strict orders last night to not allow my car to warm up. The coolant light has been coming on and it was once again empty. I was told to go to the shop, go directly to the shop, do not stop for coffee, and do not turn the car off. Yes Sir! Not a problem. After dropping my car off I suddenly realized that it's 8 am. J.R. is toasty warm under the covers of the bed, and I'm ten blocks from campus. With the wind blowing at 20 mph I set off on my walk to campus. I walked around the lake, over the unshovled sidewalks with drifts of snow averaging around 10 inches, and wind blowing the powdered ice into my face. All while J.R. was toasty warm under the covers, the xterra sitting nice and warm in the garage, and my car in the shop.


And just think... I get to do the walk all over again later today to pick my car up. I love living in the arctic.


In other news, I am very sad to report that a second goldfish (Harriet) has died and gone to fishy heaven. I'm blaming her death on heartbreak after Priscilla's sudden passing. I'm sure you're all thinking the same thing as J.R.

"Wow, you should really not be trusted with any living creature."

For the record, the fish have a lovely, ginormous goldfish bowl. The thing is huge and they have two and a half beautiful gallons of room temperature water to swim around in (and they're itty bitty fishies). They are fed the right amount of food, and they are kept in a room that isn't overly warm, or overly cold. They should not be dieing. I still say J.R. is sabotaging my fish. Someday this week I'm going to Eau Claire and buying goldfish from the pet store. Maybe they'll last longer than Wal-Mart fish.


And now for the real news.

The Family and Medical Leave Act has a new policy! Spouses, parents, siblings, next of kin, etc... are now being granted 26 weeks of FMLA to care of a recovering soldier. AMAZING! Though this law is not yet perfect we are looking at a HUGE step in the right direction. I encourage everyone to take a look and read for yourself.

I'm so thankful that caregivers are finally being granted some added protection. It's time our country recognizes the sacrifices being made by families. We still have a long ways to go but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The battery on my computer is almost dead and I have a load of philosophy homework to review before class starts in 45 minutes.

4 comments:

Jenna said...

Hey Josie,

Some sponges have anti microbial treatments on them that are toxic to fish, if you are using a brand new sponge to clean out their bowl, that treatment could be leaving residue in their bowl....
Just a thought.

Gold fish aren't known for their longevity anyways.


Besides, you take care of JR and he is still alive...... :)

Anonymous said...

Josie,

Just another thought about your fish...
You mentioned that the fish have a great tank and are in clean, room temperature water; but do you use a tap water conditioner or leave the water sit for 24 hours??

I don't want to insult your intelligence in any way, but people will tell you that goldfish can live in tap water (which they can, obviously), but I was always taught to leave water sit for a full day before adding the fish so the chlorine evaporates.

Hope this helps!!
Sorry for your fishy losses!!!

Josie said...

Oh yes, the water has been all conditioned and left to see for at least 24 hours. They should be happy little fish! Also, no sponges were used in the cleaning of the tank...

Anonymous said...

Ok, by my own admission, I'm just a tad behind on reading these posts. Quite clearly my life isn't busy enough if I'm spending my precious time reading about your life 3 months ago at 11:37 P.M. when I have 12 hours of school awaiting me tomorrow. Anyway, this whole comment is to say...your car ran low on coolant, too? I keep a gallon in my trunk. I burn it as if it's gas. What's w/ these 99's (I know, you just warned me about this yesterday)

Come on baby blue, only 11 months more until I trade you for some Euros. You can do it! Oh, almost forgot to say - this is your cousin, Anna.