And there's the paper type of book, too. I have all the novels of E M Delafield. You know, the Provincial Lady series, full of comic characters whose counterparts we know in real life. Doesn't matter that she's writing from the viewpoint of a specific group at a specific time in English history. Her characters live. She's the writer Nancy Mitford thought she herself was.
So after a debate with another aficionada, i realized I got two characters mixed, and decided it was time to re-read.
Pulled out The Provincial Lady, opened it and it exploded into many pieces.
Glue fatigue. I had been putting favourites onto my Kindle before the virus suddenly changed everything, including donations to the Little Library. So I decided this was a sign to continue, and see if I could get a Kindle version of the PL. Checked and found that Amazon not only was offering the lot, all five for .99c, a crime, really, such a price for such work. Anyway not only that, they said I had a 99c credit.
So her entire oeuvre is loaded now at a cost of zero.That was last evening.That was then.
This morning came auto related tests and challenges. Starting with braving the post office to send back the old car plates to the mvc. Trying to understand each other through masks and Plexi shielding, we managed more or less. Sign language a bit.
Then, back in the car, I noticed the gas gauge hovering near empty, since I haven't added any in the few weeks I've had this car. Soooo to the gas station, now down to two pumps, oriented parallel to the road. Managed to get the car situated near the nozzle, it being differently located from my old car, though thankfully on the same side.
Then to find the gas cap release. Then to push, pull, turn, until finally it opened. With the door opened, dark down there. Then, door closed, struggle to locate window opener. Finally able to ask for gas. NJ doesn't permit anyone not employed at the station to pump gas. There's a funny back story to this having to do with the gas station owners' lobby and liability.
Theeeeen on the way home, a sudden big alert, beeps and display telling me the keyless remote was nearly out of juice. Bar diagram showing barely a breath in the battery. Which was news to me, that it even had one, let alone it was nearly dead.
Long struggle short, several YouTube videos later, plus credit card, screwdriver, thumbs, knife all employed to "pop"(!) the fob open, remove battery, discover, amazingly, that I had a replacement in that drawer of all sorts of stuff, reassemble it all, snap it shut, noticing the mechanics in the videos had mitts like Godzilla, easy for them, anyway, tested same, works fine.
I also discovered you can still unlock and drive the car even if the fob quits. so the keyless idea is just some engineer's toy, really. None of it's intuitive, though. There's a key hidden inside the fob. And a backup starting chip. Those of us in the know will show you, for a small fee.
Much learning this morning. This afternoon is about weaving and drinking tea, to Heyer's Bath Tangle audiobook. Later a Princeton Art museum lecture. It's all go.
A good cup of tea for you sounds in order.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of replacing the battering of my car key thing, makes me swear.
Beeps going off while driving, is an annoyance, and unsafe to startle a driver. I don't need my car to tell me it can snow.
If times had been more ordinary, I'd have learned all these things a while back, under less stress. I'm thinking that my backup supplies of tea were a good investment.
DeleteYou handled things better than I would well done!
ReplyDeleteNo choice really. I don't have anyone who can safely handle this kind of thing for me. But it came out okay in the end.
DeleteWhen our 25 year old Honda died in a collision with a deer in the middle of Nowhere, Montana in 2016, two days from home at the end of a 6,000 mile Road Trip With Dogs (but I digress), several wonderful angels got us to a town with a car rental agency. Reserving the car was easy. Figuring out how to unlock it, turn it on, etc etc etc took several trips back to the counter for assistance from a bemused clerk. Dear Lord, how cars had changed! We feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for our library to open back up ...someday...! so I can look up several of the authors you recommended.
And lastly - made your Sparrowgrass soup yesterday. Blew my husband's socks off. Will make it again for his upcoming birthday, with another batch of asparagus from the farmer's market (which has figured out online ordering and Saturday pickups, thank goodness!).
I'm working up my nerve to try making blueberry jam from blueberries in the freezer. You make it sound so easy!
Cheers,
Chris from Boise
Yes, that transition from a old Honda to a snappy high tech one is amazing. I keep trying to shove the fob into the ignition still. And something as simple as power windows, which I've always avoided, but now you can't, arghghg.
DeleteVery happy you liked the soup. The secret is buying fresh from the farm, really. Same with your forthcoming blueberry jam. Cooking really isn't as hard as professionals, anxious to keep their mystique and their jobs, would like us to think.
I haven't bought gas in two months. At the rate I'm going I won't need any until around December.
ReplyDeleteIm starting to wonder if gas can go rancid!
DeleteWow - somebody to actually pump gas for you at the station. We haven't had that in a bazillion years - well, at least 40 years.
ReplyDeleteA while back I was visiting friends in NYS, and needed gas. I asked if someone could come and show me how to pump! Whereupon the husband said gimme the keys, I'll do it, it's quicker!
DeleteI wish I could figure out how to disconnect the automatic locking feature in my Toyota Highlander. I've been told the only way is to take it to a Toyota dealer - a costly and long-distance venture. It's quite unnerving to be in the middle of loading something or making multiple trips to unload something or even just walking by the vehicle and suddenly hear the locks click. I can't understand why a design team ever thought this would be a good feature. Someone at the garage where I've had a lot of work done told me that her car had once locked itself with her baby inside. Crikey.
ReplyDeleteOne of those solutions in search of a problem. Engineers trying to stay on the payroll even if it kills us.
DeleteAnother chapter in the ongoing sage of happenings at Chez Boud - always interesting. Good to know that the battery can be replaced in the key fob though - I'm sure that knowledge will come in handy one day.
ReplyDelete