DEADMAN'S CURVE

 Mother Nature is as fickle as they come.  April showers never showed up and May flowers are lagging way behind.  There is nothing but green in my back yard, which in my case is good because it means I haven't killed anything ..... YET!

Afternoons have been warm, but not hot enough to require shoes on the concrete patio.  That's a plus.  On the other hand, not even the birds are happy about the weather because not a single one is singing.  Not even the mockingbirds that dot the landscape.

OH LOOK ... BREAKFAST!!  Not really, but this one came close to living at my house for a month or so.  This is an Elvis special!  Banana, chocolate chip, PEANUT BUTTER!!!  I mean really, what could be better?  The next time I see this one, I'm buying THREE pieces.  One to eat immediately and two for good measure.  Actually that would be very nice since I woke up with a cold.  Where it came from, I've no idea, but I can feel the miserable coming on!

I did actually get out of the house for a time on this day.  I was on the very last day of that Amazon return, so there was no choice in the matter.  THIS became the problem of the day.

I truly have been staying home because fuel is so expensive.  I haven't been regen driving the rig either, because $7.69 is just not acceptable, even if I CAN afford it.  Oh, and by the way, our lovely governor whose name I refuse to speak has raised fuel taxes once again in California.  

Anyhoo ... I went to my regular station, not for diesel, but for gas to fill the Jeep.  It's less expensive, but not by much.  The cheapest gas was $6.79 a gallon.  I pulled in any way, just to get enough to get around town.  I put in my credit card.  CANNOT READ CHIP.  Oh here we go ... it's why I HATE this station.  I put in another card.  CANNOT READ CHIP.  I put in my debit card.  CANNOT READ CHIP.  I went inside, asked why their readers never work, and the gal just stared at me.  "I don't know" she stated.

Thank you, I'll go to another station.  Off I went, passing three more with signs reading $6.99 and up for gas.  Finally, in a last attempt to find SOMETHING, I stopped at the last Arco station.  At least their pumps worked and this was the price.  By the way, California ONLY buys foreign fuel, even though they can produce MORE THAN ENOUGH for their own state.  I'm guessing there are Governor kickbacks included in that.  That and more fuel tax to pay for the new teeth Los Angeles wants to give all Meth addicts so they can look pretty, as well as free diapers for every baby, and it's enough to make you scream.  

I know, I should move.  But where?  Prices for houses everywhere are through the roof.  I would have to make all new friends, move an entire huge house full of furniture .... and at my age, that just does not sound like fun!!

I continued on my way, to be stopped on a narrow two lane road behind the creek.  A BIG creek.  This is Dead Man's Curve.  It was home to the last moments of a few of my high school friends who decided to drink and drive too fast.  This guy almost killed his wife and two kids.  He tried to say it was a tire blowout, but I don't think anyone believed him.

This turned into a fun extraction.  The tow truck, plenty big enough, backed up WAY too close to the edge, not giving himself enough room to maneuver.  Nor did he or his compadre really want to get in the water, mostly because of the blackberry bushes.   No kidding, they threw the hook and chain over the roof rack and pulled it right of the car.  Needless to say, the car didn't budge.

In desperation, the truck DRIVER finally jumped in himself, shoes and all, and dove underwater to hook it up, losing his ball cap in the process!  

This guy is the one that didn't want to get near the bushes.  At any rate, they were finally able to get it out far enough to let the water drain and hook up a second cable.

You know how you just want to go over there and tell them???  Well no one did, and so they ended up here.  No cable left, the truck too close and the car still mostly down over the hill.  While they contemplated that, I finally turned around and left.  I'm sure they got it out somehow.

Just another fun day in small town California.

I had DEF on my list, but really didn't feel like a Walmart adventure, so I headed back home to my kid who was happy as a clam to see me, as was the weird one.  Does she not look like the Day of the Dead?  I see half a black mouth and half a skull with teeth.  

The skull side even has the white eye!!  She goes out about 3:00 am, then comes running back in with a little mew?  Like she's calling my name.  I "mew" back, and she comes running to me like I've got a big piece of steak for her.  Alas, she does not get people food because she won't eat it.  That's weird too!

That was it ... my entire day in a nutshell.  Not so exciting when fuel has become unaffordable.  Except for your neighbors who had a party yesterday from noon until 3:00 am this morning.  I'm thinking concrete wall .. you know, like the ones along the freeway?  I wonder just how TALL they will let me build it?