January 2, 2004

• Garden Journal Special Edition

  HAPPY NEW YEAR 2004!

  …Brought to you by the BlogCam™ Pix-n-Flix hidden photo and video digicam

  (The
  BlogCam is a hidden camera Blogbat uses from time to time. At some
  point, I may be able to upload these directly to Xanga or another site
  in real time, so stay tuned. Not all shots are neccesarily taken by
  Blogbat)

   

  Twas
  quite a holiday for the ‘ol Blogbat, who visited friends and family far
  and wide and even somehow got stuck in Arkansas for a day. And not just
  any metropolis in this bustling state, but the busy college town of Brinkley (dripping with sarcasm).

   

  But
  not to worry, the local hayseeds were in plentiful amount and ready to
  save the day. It was of course greatly comforting to be able to call
  AAA when one of the belts and a related part gave up the ghost.

   

  

   

  So
  a Mr. McBride (a local Baptist minister) of AAA (his address is in the
  phone book) shows up and confirms my fears, but offers to quickly fix
  my car so that I can be off again the next day. I agree and find a room
  for Dogbat and me at the el-cheapo (but locally VERY fancy) Super8
  hotel across the way. The next day Arrives, no car. So rent a car to
  complete my trip on Christmas day with the comforting assurances my car
  will be fixed as soon as Christmas is over and the parts can be
  over-nighted. Of course, Mr McBride became more and more dodgy over the
  phone, appearing irritated when we called at scheduled times to get
  updates on his progress. When we finally called the place he was to
  order the part from and discovered it had not been sent (this was on
  the 29^th) I decided this cat had run out of lives and
  McBride was McDone! So, I rented a trailer to tow my poor car back to
  my stomping grounds of relative civilization here in Nashville.

   

  But
  to my dismay upon arriving in McCrimesville I found that not
  only was my car waiting for me in a muddy lot with engine parts on the
  bare leather seats (and smelling dandy, too) along with dirt all over
  the floor, but this character wanted to charge me for keeping the car
  there even though he never said he would do this in spite of the fact I
  asked on numerous occasions what charges I could expect. Needless to
  say, this did not stop his lovely and graceful wife from brazenly
  asserting that they did not tell me there were these costs because I
  did not ask. He also wanted to charge me for taking the engine parts
  out and making his diagnosis (the latter which he made on site
  Christmas Eve as part of the original AAA call---for which he is paid
  by AAA). The total price he wanted to charge me was more than what I
  was charged to actually get it fixed elsewhere- parts included. 

  <>  
  

  Naturally,
  Blogbat made a heck of a lot of noise about it both to him and to AAA.
  In the end, he finally realized he wasn’t going to goose me and I drug
  my car home where it was worked on and fixed in about three hours
  total. Hey, maybe I can have him featured on the Budweiser commercial
  spotlighting “Real American Zeros”!  Naa, I'll just let the Better Business Bureau and the Arkansas Attorney General pass the good word on to Bud

   

  Here are some other worthy shots from the holiday scrapbook...

   

  

  If you ever get stuck in Brinkley, Arkansas, watch out for this vulture

   

  

  Dogbat had a few things to say to the folks at McBride, too

   

  

  But for the most part, the trip was pleasant and Dogbat did what he does best

   

   

  Speaking of train wrecks in Arkansas, apparently someone had a little difficulty discerning the “Welcome to Arkansas” sign from the foam firemen put down to slow the progress of bumpy, firey aircraft landings...

   

  

  Yes, you can’t really see it, but that is…er…was a somewhat large road sign

   

   

  It was good to get back to Tennessee,
  as well as have my convertible back. I will be sending my
  recommendations to Army HQ that they transfer all live fire exercises
  from their location on the beaches of Puerto Rico to the more provincial spot of Brinkley, Arkansas. Sure, Arkansas State is there, but honestly, can’t kids learn to read at one of any thousands of sylvan learning centers across the country?

   

  All
  in all however, Blogbat had the time of his life this year. And the New
  Years festivities were no exception. Though the long drive to the
  remote lodge where hundreds of friends and acquaintances were gathered
  was a bit blah, the party was spectacular (even if also the
  overabundance of quiche and the under abundance of good parking were
  not. And I am only commenting on the presence of quiche since it is
  widely known that real men in fact do not eat quiche, and so its
  presence was, as is the case for all, er, most  men,  unsettling.
  Yet again, it also was a source of energy for the girls I danced
  with…and it is a healthy snack, or so I am told). So perhaps it was
  merely the parking and the length of the journey I was at odds with. At
  any rate, it wasn’t New Years at Big Ben this year, but it was a lot of
  fun.

   

  

   

  Hope you had a safe celebration

   

  -Blogbat

   

  

   

   

   

  • 12:31 am
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