Where's the Fire?

... my mom used to say.

Well, there was none at one of our school's today, but it was a pleasure doing the signage for their specialty day.

Spring Creek hosts our only male kitchen manager.

I've put up his pictures before, his fruit and veggie artwork.

Made it, to cheers from the children, 10 stories high!

Eight of our city heros came to lunch today.

They just naturally sat, one to a table, and were surrounded by their admirers.

Life is Good ...

... even when you're sick.  Though, I must say, I must finally be feeling on the mend for those words to come out of my fingers.  Still highly contagious without a doubt, and so I'll feel good about keeping my germs to myself.  Not happy about missing Hayden's birthday celebration, that's for sure, but I'll take comfort in knowing I didn't make him/his family sick!  Wouldn't wish this last week on anyone.

Hayden's birthdays have been mile-markers for me, so I guess here's one more "notable" year to add, but sadly by virtue of absence.  The year he turned one was a bit more than a month after his grandfather's next marriage and since they were coming I broke my daughter's heart electing to stay home.  It was just all too "fresh".  Since then, I'd be fine to breath the same air for any event, and in fact look forward to that possibility for his baptism.  Haven't missed his birthday since, until now.  (Though, blame it on the miles, it's way better than my track record for Hazel and Lucy, of course.)  Another year of "note" was when it was celebrated early to fit on a weekend, and I drove home on his actual birthday.  Had a compact car, and after that experience, I'll never have another.  A freak snow storm hit and it was so extreme I didn't dare even pull over for fear a car would run into me. Big trucks would pass me on the left and throw heavy slush onto my car, and the blades actually cut a groove in the glass, dragging it back and forth, giving me very narrow tracks to (not be able to) see anything ahead of me.  My prayer was repetitious:  "Please don't kill me on Hayden's birthday!"

I say life is good mostly because though I'm missing the more important one, I take pleasure in the lesser completed preparation for my coworkers' birthdays, which I will celebrate all on the first one, in a couple of weeks.  There was a grand opening a couple of weeks ago for an emergency preparedness company in American Fork and they had a huge sale.  I got my three month 30-year freeze-dry bucket, which could actually last six months based on the number of calories it contains.  Also grabbed a 10-year life sleeve of triple-A batteries. So that reminded me that my 5-year life 72-hour water/food for my back-pack and my car, are overdue.  So then as I'm entering the order online for those replacements, it reminds me that I should get a set for my office.  So then I think about the pointlessness of that in that were I stranded there, so would my workmates, and the 72- water/ food would last less than a day (assuming we could toss some of it to each other).  So I decided to outfit each of us as birthday presents.  Then I decided to present them all together because that would be dumb, to outfit half and then something happened before the other two rolled around.  Besides, it would be more fun.  So.  For $20 each, including shipping:

Pretty cool, huh.  Tangerine for Colleen (who has a tangerine Honda Element),

hot pink for Jenny (who had the school district central freezer floor painted that color),

forest green for me, and black for Bill. 

Contents (all good for five years):

 Nine 400 calorie (3/day) bars, non thirst-provoking, lemon-vanilla.

No trans fat, cholesterol, coconut, nuts. Enriched with minerals and vitamins.

 Three x 12 hour light sticks.  N95 particulate mask.

Six (2/day) 4.227 fluid ounces of water.

Durable mylar emergency blanket, 54"x84", retains 90% body heat.

Now, we've all joked about at least having a whistle,
we picked up at some product show,

so clip that to a strap, and we're all set!

Whether stuck under our respective desks or for grab and go.

Just so falling debris or the broken dam doesn't beat us to it.

HONEST ONE?

So, what is a body to do if she "cheats" and the enabler refuses to undo it?

Got this in the mail, same as yearly usual:

Paid a visit to the auto shop and got these (notice the date):

 This is what they charged me (notice the name of the shop):

 So the next evening I get online, to register my car, and it won't work:

Their response Monday morning:

 I go back to "Honest 1" and they give me this

(notice the date):

Now, I was the very last customer of the day on the 21st.

I'm bettin' the very first customer of the next day paid my bill!

"Honest 1" claims there is nothing they can do about it

and no way to figure out this problem

unless/until that unknown customer comes back.

Baloney.  He had a "transaction number" just like I did.

I then took a trip to the DMV and they promptly gave me my sticker.

Even though someone else is driving around with the same sticker.

It was a slow day and so my teller and the tellers on either side of her

griped about auto shops who make mistakes

and that the state should fine them for it.

Now I could have had "Honest 1" do the registration part,

but they charge $10,  so why would I do that?

They grumbled that they should NOT be able to charge -

the DMV doesn't charge for online registration payments!

I made a trip back to "Honest 1" and they reimbursed me

for the DMV's replacement fee.

Since nothing has happened in the week since,

I am assuming either customer #2 is oblivious, or

customer #2 realized he'd saved himself some money.
Na, that can't be it - though he got the sticker, his car wouldn't be registered.
I don't know what Utah does about that, but eventually it can't be good.

Now, to "Honest 1"'s credit (lol), they DID remember that the person

who paid the $169.75/+$10 was a male and they just assumed

he must have been my husband, picking up the car.

I tell them there is no husband.

They say, "Well, it was a gentleman."

I tell them there is no gentleman.

Mine, nor possibly otherwise.

(In this instance.)