Happy Canada Day.

Trying to think of what I'd be doing if I were over there with the rest of the Canucks.
Um....pretty much the same I guess.

Nothin'.

I always made sure I booked at least a weeks worth of vacation during the last week of school which would then typically straddle Canada Day.  Experience,  and most of it bad,  has shown that from the point of view of a Caretaker,  the last week of school can be just about the worst week of the year.  It's hot,  the kids are nuts and the teachers are either fed up or completely pooched.
Of course,  there was always a good chance I'd manage to show up for the year end staff party,  and that's certainly something I miss.  As for the rest of it,  not so much.

Not much going on here in Wienerland,  where it's another hot one.

By that I mean,  didn't even have my "German lesson" today.   About fifteen minutes before I expected the doorbell to ring (or whatever you call that thing visitors buzz downstairs and scare the crap outta me)  the phone rang,  and it was German teacher Dude,  sheepishly asking if we could cancel,  as he had been in a minor fender bender on the way over.

Ruh-Roh.

Seems he was changing lanes and well,  somebody else was too.

He admitted he was a little shook up,  although unscathed,  and was more annoyed that in 45 years of driving,  he had finally collided with another car.  I think I know that "pissed off" kind of feeling.
As it happened,  he had mentioned a little while back that he had a new car on order,  and fortunately it had not yet arrived.

As an aside,  I feel I have to mention two things.   First of all,  here in Yurp it's pretty rare to buy a car off the lot.  This is the underlying reason why the car manufacturers over here were not as heavily affected by the "economic crisis"  of a while back.  Just take a look at the acres upon acres of new cars sitting outside of dealerships all over North America,  and you'll get it.  Here, you pays your money,  and they'll build you a car.
I actually think I like that system,  since then at least I know the company will be around to actually look after the thing if need be.
There's room for a whole philosophical discussion on that one,  and we're not going there.

Secondly,  I just realized that I have a slight issue with some arithmetic.   He said he had been driving for 45 years.   I know he is 69.   Now,  I've been driving for 38 of my soon to be 54 years,  since I got my license just as soon as humanly possible after turning 16.
What this tells me is,  this guy didn't start driving until he was 24?
Holy moly!  And he didn't have an accident until today?   I guess that's not too shabby.  I always thought that folks who started driving at a later age were at a disadvantage.
Again,  another subject for a long discussion.

Really,  I started driving some sort of vehicle when I was old enough to reach the clutch,  which on a Massey Ferguson tractor puts you right around the age of six,  and was driving a pick-up truck on the back roads way before I was supposed to,  so maybe this fellow was really driving at an earlier age,  but didn't bother to get the license until much later.

Whatever.


Since I started this late,  I'm now done,  since dinner is calling.







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