Tales Sauvages

Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord .. Poster courtesy of Corner Productions

by Trebor Snillor
JOURNAL UPDATE

This blog has become as much a diary as an e-zine anymore.. We are back to having “freak show” weather with thunder showers, wind and weather alerts. In the last week, my 2001 RAV4 developed a bad leak in the moon roof and a short in the electric window wiring. I’m now re-repairing things that were fixed fairly recently -- to the tune of $200. May be time to find the RAV4 a new home.

LYFT

I used Lyft for the first time, going back to pick up my RAV4. The total fair for 9 miles was $11. That’s about half of a regular cab fare. The driver was a pleasant young man in a new Sentra and the iPhone app gave me progress updates of where he was in the approach to my house. Seems almost too good to be true – probably is. Uber drivers in San Francisco are apparently suing Uber to recover car repair expenses. I hope nothing happens from that to destroy this most excellent business model we have.

MERCEDES BENZ

For the first time in my life, I visited Park Cities Mercedes. I wanted to look at the new GLA crossover that retails for $34K. They had one in stock (Jupiter Red) and it was very nice, at the advertised price. I couldn’t get the attention of anyone but I did get to look it over. Very impressed. The dealership was crowded like an Apple Store; you would think they’re giving the cars away. There was a mixture of West Texas farmers in ball caps, rich housewives and Arab business men sporting more jewelry than Liberace. A young man in Prada was scolded by his Dad for looking at models deemed too inexpensive. The waiting room looked like a plush Hilton lounge with 72” TV and a coffee bar fitted out better than Starbucks. It’s enough to make me hang out and pretend my car is in the shop.

DOG PARK

The White Rock dog park has been beautifully revamped with new fence, drainage, landscape, lights and a water ramp for dogs to fetch toys out of the water. I visited Saturday evening as part of my evening walk. There was a boxer with a backpack, an amorous Yorkie and a black lab with nails painted white. As interesting as the dogs were, the owners were at least as interesting. Whoever would give her black lab white toenails has got to be interesting. I love dogs but don’t own one – the dog park is a great way to get my dog fix without all the fuss of ownership. Lazy I know.

WILD TALES (Spoilers follow)

I just watched an Argentine movie, Wild Tales, with 6 vignettes about violence and revenge. Each story presents a situation of righteous anger and indignation. The characters handle these situations variously and for the most part badly. Most would be remanded to anger management rehab. You do not get to crash planes, run people off the road or plant bombs as a reaction to life’s insults and injuries. The last vignette is the best because it features a nuclear melt-down followed by ultimate redemption. It was so excellent I may have to watch it again. There is a stereotype of Spanish people being filled with passion and bigger-than-life emotions. This movie plays into that image marvelously – sometimes we need those big emotions to wake us out of our comfortable American numbness. This move was a new addition on iTunes – well worth $3.99 and two hours of your time.

© 2015 Snillor Productions

Where the Day Takes Us

Where else? .. - "Original Starbucks" by Postdlf from w. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Original_Starbucks.jpg#/media/File:Original_Starbucks.jpg

by Trebor Snillor
THE WEATHER IS HERE

June has given Dallas pleasant, dry sunny weather. We already have forecasts of scattered showers next week, so some of the earlier weather weirdness may come back to visit.

NO TOPIC

Today, I have absolutely no topic – guess I’ve been struck speechless. I’m having to sit outside of Starbucks, there’s actually a crowd. A very sweet yellow lab pup is sniffing around my feet. It’s 94 degrees and I ordered a hot Chai Latte. Not the best choice I’ll admit.

I cannot believe it’s already June. As last I recalled, I was negotiating for a new kitchen and just back from Christmas break. Time flies even now when you’re not having gobs of fun. I’ve had a busy 3-day weekend which has included a haircut, a trip to Goodwill and yard work.

In my older age, I’ve very nearly quit working out, going to many 12 step meetings or visiting previously favorite night spots. I’m not depressed or anything like that – I just think the comforts of home fulfill my needs. Sometimes these things are cyclical; maybe I’ll get the lead out again at some later point.

My 2001 RAV4 has a vacuum leak – it’s already cost me $300 and counting. I went looking at cars yesterday – was surprised to see GMC sold out of the new Canyon pickup. Was surprised again to see Ford with 25+ new Mustangs in stock. Alas, my 2013 model is already out-of-date. My new kitchen set me back a lot, so there won’t be any new cars for a while to come.

My job is busy as Hell – it pains me to think of everything waiting for me tomorrow. I guess it’s nice to be needed. It’s nice to have a financial pipeline to pay for all my spendi-ness. At some point not far off, I’ll be on a fixed income and won’t even have the options for kitchen or car.

A man just stepped out here wearing a long-sleeve denim work shirt, jeans and boots. He’s young and slender, clearly wired differently than me. Because I would be having heat stroke in that outfit. But I digress from whatever point I was making.

I guess that I really am rambling here. I need to buy a hanging plant, pull weeds and trim a hedge. How’s that for excitement? I may follow thru with a trip to Luby’s or a walk at White Rock. I’m starting to have rivers of sweat flow down my body from the hot drink and the 94 degrees. I’ll sign off by having gratitude for my topic-less blessings.

© 2015 Snillor Productions