Karate and Rainy Day Blues

Miles did great in his mid-term graduation ceremony yesterday.  As promised, here is some video and pictures. His next graduation will be in January/Feb and he will get the Blue belt.  These graduations always get Dylan fired up and ready to start karate.  We plan to start in the Fall of 2009 when he starts 3rd grade and I am going to do it with him using my company fitness incentive funds, which are still paying for my Bioforce gym right now.

Karate Mid-term

Karate December 2008

After working some more in the yard (in the light rain) to finish the pressure washing of the basketball pad and the back deck, I headed out into the masses for some last minute Santa-zing and to take back some stuff for my sister Susan (big shock there :-0, love ya sis!).  The traffic was just unreal at Woodruff Road for the quick stop at Best Buy (which I could have taken care of Tuesday but was trying to help a local record store instead of going to BB but it didn't work out). So, I got in and out but had to walk a little in the rain; but, it make my drive out easier.

Then I headed downtown Greenville to one of my all-time favorite store, Mast General Store.  In case you don't know, Mast is like an LL Bean of the South and we are lucky enough to have 1 of the original locations in Greenville on Main Street in our great downtown area.  So,  I did my exchanges for my sister, got something for my Mom and for Tricia.  Did pretty good and was ready to head home as this head cold was really starting to kick my butt and felt exhausted, even after that grande Gingersnap latte (thanks Amy).  That's when the fun started.  I had to get a jump for my car on Tuesday when I went to Best Buy but just wrote that off to maybe one of the boys leaving the dome light on or something earlier that day.  On the way to Mast yesterday, my radio was shutting down and the rear defrost would not stay on.  That seemed to indicate something was shorting electrically or my alternator was needed some CPR.  I think the alternator is the issue since my battery is probably not even a year old and the alternator is responsible for electrical power when the car is running.  Well, my diagnosis didn't help much once I got back to the car.

Luckily, I was in the Richardson Street garage right behind Mast and the parking is free on the weekends.  I can't turn the starter due to the dead battery so I back the car out of the parking area and into the garage lane.  I pop the hood and get out my cables for a jump.  A very nice young lady with a baby in the back seat obliged my request for a jump start and I thought I was ready to go.  Unfortunately, when I connected the jumper cables to her battery, the power came on in my car and locked the doors.  At that moment, my head cold felt like the flu and I felt like an idiot for shutting the door.  Lesson learned.  Red-faced, I unhook the cables and thank the kind young lady.  Now, it's time to call for help.  My head cold felt like Typhoid fever at this time.

So, I call Tricia and tell her about my situation.  Long story short, I had used her keys to put some windshield wiper fluid in my car while Miles was pressure washing the basketball pad and didn't put the keys back in the correct spot.  I left them in the garage by my toolbox.  Not good.  It took Tricia about 30 minutes to find the keys where I left them.  In the duration, I tried calling a few close friends for help (thanks Cliff) but had to spend most of the time waving folks around my car and helping others to back out around it.  I think I said "no, I don't need a jump start" about 100 times yesterday.  At least I was dry and someone did remind me of that small blessing.  Tricia found the keys and luckily the garage was in the GPS and she made it to my aid. 

Quick jump start and I was on my way home.  

It was a short Santa trip that turned into an extended period of humbling and vulnerability.  God was working on me, right?  Well, I made it and I have so much to be thankful for despite minor automotive setbacks and necessary repairs at Christmas time.  I'm off to help setup at church and hope the car cranks for me this morning.  I will need that nap today, 100% positive on that.

See ya!  Ho Ho Ho