Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Keeper of the Car-Keys

Today I got pulled over by this cop who was rather stuffy looking. "License and registration, Miss?"... Scribble scribble scribble. "Know why I pulled you over?" I shake my head, "No sir, I do not." "You were doing 84 in a 65..." Scribble scribble. And then he leans over my windshield and goes, "Awww Miss, please do NOT tell me that THAT is your inspection sticker...." He pulled down his glasses and made this scrunched up look .... "It is from 2005!!! "

And so it goes....Finally dropped my car off for the NY State inspection.

And of course, they called me a few hours ago asking for the ransom that

shall have to relinquish. $885 worth of repairs and three days without my car. *ka-pow* Take that!

Went for a long walk last night and it felt like I was the only person alive. It was so quiet, like someone just pressed the pause button. Sometimes I feel old... I feel young too - all at once. Like a ghost.... In fact, sometimes I feel more like a ghost than a person, but that heartbeat in my ears starts fluttering - reminding me that I must be alive - at least a little bit. Strolled by my old place. Took my shoes off and walked around on my old lawn, I would have worried about the people inside the house, but everything was on Pause anyways, so it did not bother me much. Kept thinking about all the dead animals buried in that old backyard, mostly gerbils and small mice. Used to be desperately afraid that my pets would come back as zombie rodents and try to get back into the house through the wall under my bed. I probably thought that because I watched Pet Cemetery too often when my mom was not home...

14 comments:

Victor said...

So I fix the brakes and you get the old girl locked up. What were the repairs? Sorry I did not have enough time to give the old girl a good once over. Have fun with the bartending. Still missing you here. Eli says Happy Halloween,Jessie.

vikingman said...

Oh dear,.....
feel so sorry for You!

Did I get it right,that they need 3 days to fix it and want this sum for the job?
No cheap way round it?
As the brakes were newly fixed?
Lights? brake tubes corroded?
major leaks? worn steering knuckles....
uggly words with even more uggly prices to fix, (doesn't really matter now, I agree!)
Uffff!

Never forget:
.....
"Is that the one thing I still needed to know?"
"No," the alchemist answered. "What you still need to know is this: before a
dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned
along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in
addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up.
It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of
thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'
"Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the
victor's being severely tested."
The boy remembered an old proverb from his country.
It said that the
darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.....

my favourite writer.....P.C.

Just a little mental support, hold out, sun will come up again quite soon!

Agree on NOT having seen "pet cemetry" makes the nights and the dark
much friendlier.....
Loved "Christine" though!
How can one feel like a ghost?
Any exercisable description would be highly appreciated!!!

G said...

What... the pony got put on lock-down?

"Hello... I'm Mr. Policeman and I have a quota to fill"... "May I just piss on your day today?"

That just bites! Anyway... I Hope bartending class was fun?

Yeah... you got to watch out for those Zombie rodents... but...
sounds like that walk might have enlighted you about something last night...

Be safe... Jess!

PD said...

Some things that never fail:
1.Cops will always get you at quota time.
2. Cars repairs/bills always come at the wrong time.
3. But, wouldn't have been drop dead funny if he was crapping his pants? It might have made the ticket a little easier.
As long as you dont hit fast forward. You dont want to miss anything that might be really good.

Kev said...

Ah, yes, the yearly state-mandated car inspection. In Texas (yes, they have it there, too) we called it the 'Lazy Mechanic Employment Act,' because every year I had to fork a hundred bucks over to one of them to keep my car on the road. If they couldn't come up with a real repair for me to pay for, it was always 'Well, your headlights are out of alignment.' Every year. The third time it happened, I said to the guy, 'You adjusted them last year. Can I get a refund on that?'

Zombie gerbils sound pretty nasty, but I'll bet my werewolf kitten could take them.

London Andrews said...

Oh V, shush....you saved me a bunch of cash!! If you had not worked on the brakes and all the other nice stuff you did... it would have cost me double, easily.

Repairs, in order to drive the car away from the lot are: All new tires (like you mentioned, guess the back two were trashed), tires ties? Guess they are messed on both the outside and inside parts of the wheels and need to be replaced, which comes with an alignment, need to replace the oil thingy that has the cork in it from New Mexico that everyone always complains about - oil pan.... and then of course, I need new wipers, oil change, and the all mighty-NYS inspection sticker....

I hope they finish today - I cannot sit at my grandparents any longer. A girl has things to do... With my cell phone dead like this, with all my numbers in it... I cannot even call someone to come get me.... AJ where are you?

I have come to the conclusion that we were put here for the Soul's need to experience.... to Experience everything.... I am happiest when I am experiencing, even the bad things... you'd be suprised, but it is true.

How does one feel like a ghost? Hmmm... Well, picture a night where you are walking down a dark road and there is no one else around... totally dark, quiet, 3am. You feel the night just wrap around you and you are alone. And you realize that you could jump in the air and scream like a chimpanzee.... or you could sit down and lay in the grass and count the leaves on a tree... or you could pick your nose and see how far you could fling your boogers... I don't know... but you could do anything, because no one is there to see you. Nobody will judge you. It is like you are invisible to the world, because there is no one else around.... those are the nights where I feel like a ghost, and I wonder if I am really alive at all....

Matt knows what I am talking about when I talk about that - because the two of us are usually together when it happens..... like when we were at Burning Man this year and we were creating our own universe in a sand storm, away from the city, cut off from all the dust - and no one else was there, and if they were - they would have thought we were insane, digging up rocks and talking about planets. Or the time we went for a walk on this unsaturated gray rainy day - and we saw no one and no one saw us, we found a treehouse, and we sat up there for hours... I like days like that....

Bartending class is going well - There are four students. So far I have learned how to make a million martinis, manhattans, and robroys... tonight we are blending girly drinks in the blenders and learning how to cut our fruit correctly... Already got a good hang on my speed rack - and I am the fastest in the class... I hope I don't get a job where I need to make martinis all day.... yuck.

Headlights! Kev, you gots to be kidding me! They aligned your headlights - you should align theirs... that sounds ridiculous... but then again, when it hits inspection-time, I guess anything goes, huh?

Anonymous said...

...if they tell you manhattans have bitters in them, tell them to fuck off - that's an old fashioned - somehow since I started bartending a couple decades ago these 'schools' have tried to change them...

Got it?

London Andrews said...

I will be happy to report, Timothy... : ) My instructor said the same thing, "No bitters in the Manhattans, dammit!" haha...

So your Manhattans are good with me... if I can the cheery right from the limes....

We made Old Fashioned's last night... got to muddle some fruit... : ) You would have been all proud of me and stuff.

I sure do have a lot of bartenders that read my blog - that should be fun, we can all relate once I have a job too! hahah.. yay!

Anonymous said...

...you're gonna make crazy insane tips, trust me...

vikingman said...

Oh WOW !
a real

"how-to-feel-like-a-ghost"!
(for newbies and beginners....)

Written by someone who really knows all the good tricks!
So easy and enlightening!
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!

Found that it helps enormously if one gets nose and the boogers to glow, before flinging them out into the dark, then one actually sees, where they land.....
(Hope this little contribution is not held against me!!)(Really appreciate this description and feeling).
Of course I had to try at once....

For the moment those ... crutches still stop the complete testing procedure,
(ever tried to climb a treehouse with crutches...?)
but not forever! Never surrender!!
anyone seen ghosts on crutches yet??

Hello Ghost World,
here 's one of You, I'll eventually be on my way to some ghost-meet-and-greet!

Delighted to see You ALL there!

Further practising starts soon, I'll be back if there should be more help required,

thanks a lot so far!!!!

yipeeeeeeeh !!!!!!

This is sooooooo nice to be a ghost!!

There are said to be annual international ghost-meet-and-greets
deep down in some Norwegian Valleys in the woods, so dark that no moonlight ever gets through the trees, no human soul ever appears there at night and it is so quiet, that the only sound is the blood thundering in one's ear.
Stars sparkling in the clear black sky, grey wolves howling the invitation across the world:"....see You soon, You know where......"

XO

Anonymous said...

HELP WANTED

Austin needs good bartenders

Please move down here and apply!

Anonymous said...

London,
It is a terrible loss to have you gone from the modeling world but I understand and I will be patient. I had no idea your shot in Pottstown, PA was so close to me. You were only 1/2 hour away. That's how it goes. I won't ever give up on having you pose for my "Galatea" painting. Someday when you are ready. I'll be here. Check out my "Odysseus and the Sirens" painting. Only six more days and the final shot will be on my site. It's friggin awesome. You're painting will be even better! Take care and all the best in your pursuits. I'll keep tabs.

Eric
http://www.ericarmusik.com

Dubbayoo said...

I feel your pain. I have now spent $1,200 in the last 3 weeks on my car and it sucks! That money was supposed to be for Lasik surgery! GRRRR!

vikingman said...

Taking up the ghost subject once more, still crutches, walking for miles without trouble now, wheeeeeeeee!!!

Sunday night 10.45 pm, a quiet part of town, mostly houses and gardens around.
walking home from a friends...

temperature below freezing point, small patches of snow around, some bare areas on the road.
The cold and dark taking a closer gripp around the body, causing the body temperature to sink enough to be realized.
Suddenly it happens:

The pause button is pressed, no more movement anywhere.

Cars on the road express the vibes of being abandoned for quite a long time, at least this entire night.
Lots and lots of houses are completely dark and I am the only moving creature in this film.....
Houses too are dark, no lights and no sign of being inhabited.
There are no other moving creatures or sounds in this usually populated area, all is dark, quiet and cold.
The snow is frozen hard on it's surface.
Gradually trodding home, this feeling stays all the time, so quiet, peaceful and inspiring.
I can feel it.ghostlike, You were right.

The centre of town has still some cars moving, so it's not as quiet and paused as the other area, but nice seen through a ghost's eyes...

Thank you so much for this little how-to, I really liked it and had to give it a first time try, no ghost-mate yet... ,still very impressed by it.
Will try again...