MeSoFun Blog

Daisy Duke, in a contemplative moment along a Connecticut river bank. The Indestructible Mazda has 185,000 miles on it and still runs like a champ. Except for the ABS light that came on about a month ago and the unmistakeable gravely sound the car has been making as it comes to a stop. Clearly, the IM needs new brakes. Daisy Duke and I girded ourselves for a cold jog back from the garage today. I put on a tight running shirt and a running sweatshirt; Daisy danced around excitedly to get her body temperature up before leaving the house. The car guy is about 2.5 miles from our house, if you take a direct route. Finding a good car guy is always the second-least-favorite thing about moving. No. 1 is finding a dentist. It's nice to feel like you know a guy in the business. Our guy doesn't rip us off and has done some small repairs for free. Can't beat that. Daisy Duke hopped out of the Indestructible Mazda and quickly extended the leash until it was tout. We were going downhill,...

This is the parking lot of the popular Mexican restaurant about 150 yards from our house. It's open for business, with nary a car in the lot. Also, this is where Hashtag famously enjoyed several margaritas. As a kid, winter was fun and I was the jackass kid in the neighborhood who always had too little clothing on. A neighbor famously told my Mom that she looked at what I was wearing out at the school bus stop, then put double that amount of clothing on her kids. A lot has changed since I went sledding wearing only jeans and a sweatshirt (Temps were only in the 20s! C'mon, we're Minnesota Tough here.) Not the least change is the  Reynaud's Syndrome  which I have a moderate case of. Goodbye, friends. My fingers and toes go numb at the hint of cold. This isn't because of anything physically wrong with me; it's because my brain can't figure out how cold it is. The brain just assumes any temperature below 70 is near freezing. The result is my digits go white-num...