Something in July

 * One thing I've never been able to get into, that a lot of places seem to do, is "Christmas in July." Several of the cable channels do it, including the one that had previously shown the old Murder, She Wrote and Columbo re-runs. 

And most of these are either rom-coms or meet-cute type movies and while I can tolerate one or two of those during December when I'm tired from a semester of classes and also when Christmas is coming. But in the summer, when it's hot, my mind is on other things, somehow "Christmas in July" rankles a bit.

I suppose some people enjoy it?

Some places used to do Christmas in July sales though I don't see them as much as I once did. It kind o makes sense for a craft-supply store to do it; if you're making stockings for your kids or a bunch of tree ornaments, you need time.

But especially here when summer is amazingly hot to the point where a 90 degree day feels like a big relief, it just....doesn't seem to work.

* I have to take my car in tomorrow. Late yesterday afternoon I noticed it chatter when I pulled a left turn. It was worse this morning driving in, so I called the local dealership. I have an appointment to drop it off tomorrow morning.

I'm HOPING its something like worn brake rotors or another simple to fix and not outrageously expensive thing (this car is 13 years old but I've kept up with maintenance on it and I am NOT ready to buy a new one. I have just over 65,000 miles on it so I think it should be good for at least a couple more years?)

I also hope they can find the problem and fix it tomorrow; being without a car wouldn't be great over the weekend (but I ran out to Wal-mart despite the chattering and got food ahead so I should be okay). I can walk to church (though if it's storming? Maybe I text someone and ask them to pick me up). Monday morning the secretary said I could call her and she'd pick me up if the car's still in the shop. .

* Added a few more rows to the corner-to-corner blanket. I brought some reading books home - stats and also Uncommon Nature - so I think tomorrow when I'm stuck here at home I'll read and maybe try to set up and knit while I do; I also carried the little wire book-holder frame home with me. 

* Fall classes start on August 21, which is later than I thought it might be. Which means I have a couple weeks once my summer class ends, so I should have time to get everything together for fall. It'll take more time because we're switching to Canvas as our LMS (from BlackBoard). There was a training session and it came at a bad time (when I was in the middle of prepping the systematics class) so I mostly skipped it. (And anyway: the first session, which I did watch? They went SO FAST and into detail far beyond what I needed - it was for people teaching fully online - that I got very frustrated with it because it was literally 4 pm after a full day of work and my brain refused to absorb any of the information. And anyway: I am a "give me a freaking MANUAL" person, I would rather read the stuff I need to know than have it told to me at a faster rate than maybe my brain can process). So I guess I'll figure it out on my own by trial and error, and maybe the first semester will be kind of rocky, but whatever. WhatEVER. At this point I've had so many semesters of feeling like I'm flailing and not equal to the task I'm asked to do that I'm used to feeling like a failure.

I wish I didn't, though.

* One other minor annoyance: first, I got a "rate us!" e-mail from my dentist's office. For the ten-minute visit to pick up my mouthguard. I ignored it but if they keep hassling me, I guess I will. Then, today at the wal-mart, apparently you now have to give them a 'star rating' before you can use your credit card to pay for your stuff. Annoying. Especially to someone like me who *craves* validation and works in a career where you have to assume you're doing okay if no one is screaming at you about how you screwed up.

And anyway, those things are all but useless. If you complain that you didn't have a "good experience" (at wal-mart? Hardly, though the worst bits came after I paid today) they'll keep spamming you; if you just hit "five stars" then I guess they complacently think everything is great.

(When I was leaving the store - there is an exit door and an entrance door and YES  it matters to me - a couple women pushed their way in the exit door as I was leaving, colliding with my cart, acting like I wasn't even there. Sometimes I really DO wonder: do I, like, not actually have a physical form, given that people seem to push past me or run into me or talk over me?

And then, in the lot - a woman stormed out of the store, screaming. I slowed waaaaaaay down with my cart so as to not be within "hands-throwing" distance of her (I doubt she had a weapon other than her hands, but still: these days you have your head on a swivel). And she was ranting and screaming because apparently she wanted to light up a joint in there, and they threw her out (well, of course: the wal-mart does not need to stink of pot smoke, too, and they don't let people smoke REGULAR cigarettes in there). The violence of her anger bothered me, though - I tend to interpret that kind of anger as the next step before violence, though I guess her friend (?) who met her in the lot got her calmed down. But yeah - it's just always a circus here and while I'm lonely, also, sometimes when I get out among people, I wonder why I even did that - apparently the wal-mart will now deliver to your house for a fee, and of course there's always pick up at the curb).

*IF I get my car back - or if it seems like the weather is favorable enough to walk - I might go to the little bookstore downtown; they moved in May and I haven't been in since their move.