A very merry holiday for the auto body shop

Well, the dust has settled and the auto body place has determined that to fix my car it will cost just under half what it cost me to buy it three months ago - so fix it they shall. I guess that's ok as it's guaranteed and all, but I'm a little miffed. Anyway, the upshot is the body shop said they take pictures throughout the repair process and they'll send them to me so I should have some to post here - kind of like on-going metal surgery, which is kind of cool in a way. I think they'll come through too - this place calls you no less than every other day to let you know the status of your car. I'm almost surprised they don't put a giant plastic band around the hood like you get when you go to the hospital.

 

While that sounds kind of stupid, so does the idea of a 'hospital' for dolls. If you think that's kind of foolish, you've obviously never heard of American Girl dolls. They have such a hospital and people (Shadow) pay for such services like replacing legs and arms that have been ripped off by older brothers. When the doll comes back it's in a little box with a plastic wrist band and a get well balloon and some other stuff. At the very least, however, AG dolls are actually quite collectable and if they're fixed at the AGHospital they retain their value pretty well - which isn't insignificant I might add. (well, at least as far as dolls go, so don't get all weirded out about it)

Today, Saturday, also marked the end of my first semester of doctoral classes. I'm pretty sure I ended up with an "A" in both classes -- 6 credits down and a whole lot more to go. Unfortunately, there will be a year break between now and my next class until I figure out what's happening with potential deployments later this year. But the deed has been started, and successfully as well, so it will carry on. Might take a few years, but hell, it took me 14 years to get a 4 year degree. The oral final was interesting but it went fairly well - it is as I imagine a job interview will be in a year. (Oh, by the way, if you know of anyone who needs a public affairs person or a corporate training/development person, do let me know)

It appears that a reader has correctly guessed the photo put up with the last posting - it is, in fact, a hummingbird feeding out of a red plastic feeder. I told you it was easy. I'll have to make the next one more difficult so I won't have one this time. Next time around though, there will be something there.  This photo was taken at the house of a friend of mine in the woods in New England. Wonderful place - lots of space, and trees (and hummingbirds of course) and sap lines running own to a sugar house. Very idyllic.

The Air Force has also decided that this week was a good time to promote me, so that was nice. Still, next year's promotion to "Mr." will be even more exciting. It's very interesting listening to all the people who have left the service and continued on in the civilian world - a little nerve-wracking, but I think that's what makes it even more exciting/ interesting. I'm really looking forward to the change. It's not often you get to see a lot of the world and retire while you're still young enough to do something else for another career-span, so I'm actually quite grateful for the opportunities I've had in the last 20+ years, but it's just time to do something new.

Here's the full photo from last week. Thanks for reading, and don't forget if you'd like to click the 'share' button at the top if you think your Facebook friends would enjoy reading. And if you have any ideas of something you'd like to hear about, let me know. Now that I don't have classes, I'll have some extra weekend time to go check things out in the local area.

Cheers for now.