Thank You

I have always believed that even though a deed is as small as a dime, we should never forget to say thanks. Life comes at you and me quite fast, often times because of our hectic schedules, simple but important things tend to be taken for granted.

A couple days ago my good friend Jo & his wife left for Colorado, it was a sad day but they have to move on and take the road they have chosen to start a family. If there are two words that I will always treasure during our conversation, it would be...THANK YOU

"Thank you for your trust, trust is not something you can get just anywhere but it is something that you have to earn."

"Thank you for respect, in order to be respected, one must know how to respect not just another person but also himself."

"Most of all Thank you for your friendship, to open oneself to a total complete stranger is a virtue set on courage, tolerance and acceptance"

Having acquaintances is a good thing but having good friends is not just good to the ear but a comfort for the soul...and I am thankful to have found such many good friends they are God's special angels, they might not have wings but they make your spirits high.

Thank You, such simple words but undeniably have such a great meaning.

Thank You, Salamat, Gracias, Grazie Mille, Domo Arigato Gozaimasu, Danke, Merci, Shei-Shei

May come in any form or language but if it comes from the heart, it is a universal language understood by the soul.

To all my friends, acquaintance and people who have inspired me...,

...THANK YOU

Sitter for a day...or two

Friday Morning 9:00 a.m. -

Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, My cellphone is crying out loud calling me...
...it stopped ringing...
...Then it made a couple beeps telling me that someone has left a message.

To make the long story short, the message is from my friend Teresa asking if I could pick-up a couple corgis arriving from Alaska and babysit for the weekend.

...who?!... me?!...babysit dogs?!...

...SURE!!! Our home is always open to good doggies :o)

Saturday morning

I left home around 8:00 a.m., went to AK Airlines Cargo Dept.

" Are you Neil?" asked the clerk," I said "no, I'm Johnny...just kidding...lol, Yes I'm Neil", "I have two cute dogs for you"...got the dogs, loaded them in the truck and drove home.

Aside from my 4 beautiful babies at home, I now have six(at least for the weekend), the best consolation though, is that these guys are very well behaved, everybody is just getting along really well and ran their hearts-out in the yard, so now, I have 6 dogs who are pooped and sleeping.

The best way to babysit corgis...sit under the maple tree and write your blog :o)

P.S.: Having three intact Male show dogs in the house "Priceless", It is a show to behold, A Pee'ing-Marking Extravaganza!...Oh my poor boxwoods!

I bought a lemon

Sunday:

It was a blistering sunny Sunday, The temperature is up to the nineties, I walked towards the main street to get our mail in our rural mailbox cluster, I know that Sunday is a no mail day, but since I didn't get the mail yesterday (busy preparing for a party here at home) I am just now going to check the surprises in store for me in the mailbox.

Being the curious person as I always have been, I cannot wait till I get home to browse through our mail; junk, junk, junk, catalog, junk, junk, catalog, "Car Auction Sale! Hurry!, Hurry!, while supplies last!"...hmmmm, that caught my attention.

As much as I hate to admit it, my Old Ford Explorer is in its last leg, I have been really really good to it, The first year I bought it, it had a whole make-over, New paint job, Sway-bars, Fender trims, Deflectors, Sound system, I mean the whole creature comfort enchilada, Maintenance is always in check however as nice as it is to look at and with all the additional accessories I added to it, My old '91's internal organs are dying; leaking power steering fluid, a/c blower is shot, aggravating noise especially on the freeway, doors, seats and quite a few more on the list...sigghhhh.

A couple days later...

...Here I am sitting at a Hyundai Car Dealership Office, " How can I help you today Sir?" asked the nice gentleman (Car salesmen are generally nice AND persistent). " I am looking to replace my Ford Explorer, something more up to date", "I got a flyer from the mail last Saturday that you are having an Auction/Used Car Sale today" and the story goes on and on, my Explorer got traded in for a reasonable amount (seriously I almost got teary letting "Ole Fordie" go) but to make the long story short...I bought a Fire Engine Red 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada.


Oldsmobile Bravada's are considered luxury SUV's, it is a step above Chevrolet Trail blazers and GM Jimmy, It ranks the same as a Buick with Cadillac as the next step above it.

The Interior is in Excellent condition, Good A/C, All Power ( Seats, Window, etc.),Auto Trans., and very well detailed. It has all the creature comfort that I could really enjoy and I think the thing that I will like the most is that, there is very little road noise inside when I'm on the road.

Ok, after the negotiations and so many $$$$$$, we finally agreed on a price that meets my budget, this baby is paid in full (ouchhh, my pocket hurts so bad)...It's time to bring the latest addition home.

The following day...

...After running around town for a while, buying groceries and stuff, I felt confident and happy driving this Bravada, it rides and handles really well and again being redundant - there is less road noise, I looked at the fuel gauge to see how much fuel I have left, The fuel gauge says "full", In my mind I thought "Cool, this car is very fuel efficient" thinking about it now, The day I took it out of the dealers lot, the fuel was also full...hmmmnn... After a few more stops, I decided to come home, I was happy and just enjoying my new ride and then it happened...

...The Bravada just stopped...

...What the heck?!, the fuel gauge says full - then half a tank, then zero, then full again...now this is scary, Used car guarantees are different from a brand new car guarantee - based on my research, Idaho Law only protects NEW cars from cases such as this...so...this is a bit scary for me especially after shelling out thousands of dollars for this SUV.

...After messing around with it, I realized that my fuel gauge is broken, with the pointer pointed to full, I kinda have this notion that I'm ok and of course that the fuel is full but unfortunately that was not the case, I called the dealer yesterday and told them what happened...

..."I had to be rescued today, the Bravada just stopped, the fuel gauge has gone cookoo" anyway, They took the car to be serviced and repaired and they called me today asking " Oh, the car's fuel gauge will cost $600.00, are you willing to split the fee?" Ok, I was frustrated and infuriated so I just let this guy have it, I told him "You know what, I don't want to pay another $600 for something that you guys could have prevented, I bought this car with the thought that it is in decent shape and for you to ask me this amount of money is just ridiculous.., I think I'll just get my Explorer back, will that be Ok?!?!?!" he replied "Ahh...let me talk to my boss", the boss called me back and said that he'll take care of everything.

Obviously they don't wanna lose business and I am not one of those guys who will simply keep their mouth shut if treated unfairly, I will report their ass to the BBB.

Sigghhhh...Now I am worried, I traded in my Explorer hoping to get a decent, good-looking, nice SUV, after spending so much money...I am afraid that I might have bought a lemon...Oh gosh, I hope not!