I got up to go to the bathroom this morning and there was sunshine! Sadly by the time I finished washing my hands, the sun was gone. Now, it’s 2:30pm and it’s dark. It feels like evening.

The trees are still beautiful and my son spent a ton of money getting our brakes fixed so we could travel. Except we aren’t because it’s raining. Still and again.

As far as those really expensive brakes go, it’s because our Jeep isn’t a Jeep. It’s a Fiat 500 that is stamped “Jeep.” I like the car very much, but because it isn’t an American car, so any time we have to fix something — even a parking light — it costs scads of money. How do we KNOW it’s a Fiat 500? Because it’s says so on the door frame. Hard to ignore the stamp saying “Fiat 500, made in Italy.” I would never have noticed, but my son’s a gear head and he notices everything.

Since there’s no such thing as climate change (I heard this from someone on Fox so it must be true), I guess this bizarre weather is nothing to worry about. It has been raining pretty much every day since the end of May. It rained EVERY DAY in June and most days in July and August. Our summers are normally dry. We usually have only traces of rain from the end of May through late August-early September. By October, barring hurricanes, it’s usually the best weather of the year.

So when last week we got three whole days without rain, I thought maybe the siege was over. Until I saw the forecast and realized the Not Climate Change weather had returned. Since then, we’ve had three days of a nor’easter — basically a local hurricane. In the winter, we call them blizzards. Add to that two MORE days of heavy rain with an hour’s break early this morning during which time, the next round of leaden gray skies came for a long weekend visit. 

It makes traveling unattractive. I don’t actually mind rain when we after we arrive where we are going, but driving through rain makes Garry, who doesn’t want to drive anymore into a nervous wreck.

I can drive, but I also have little events of vertigo which, if I can’t get my head down in a hurry, turns rapidly into passing out. I had one of these little events and passed out on my way home from the grocery. Luckily, there were no other cars involved and I was going slowly, so the car got damaged, but no animal or human was hurt. Unsurprisingly, this makes me reluctant to drive.

I’m not sure I should be driving and I’m pretty sure if I admitted that I fainted while driving, that would be the end of my license. While I rarely drive, I need to be able to use a car if I must. There’s no public transportation here — not even a taxi or an uber. 

I feel defeated. It cost so much more money to fix the car too and if we hadn’t been planning this little vacation, we’d have let them go until we could better afford to fix them.. The brakes weren’t exactly worn out, but they are the car’s original brakes. Six year old brakes are old which accounts for that nasty rumbling noise that screams “fix me.”

There are things I will let go (like a parking light), but brakes? Going is fine, but stopping is even more important.

We are home. Garry doesn’t feel up to a long drive through pouring rain. Meanwhile, my son gave me a permanent birthday present, the online version of Photoshop. I’ve been using the old one I have from the last job I worked — in 2010. I’m pretty sure a couple of Microsoft upgrades hence, it will give up and become a digital ghost.

Having finally decided to use it today, i discovered it’s pretty much the same program I’m already using, but honestly? I like the old one better. The differences are surprisingly minor. Ten years and this is as far as they have come?

Using it is not very different than using the old one except that they don’t seem to have a way to put rulers along the edges. Maybe they do and I haven’t figured out how? Otherwise, though, all the functionality is pretty much the same. Exactly the same.

The interface is more complicated and even less user-friendly than it was. Adobe’s interfaces are as unfriendly as any in the business. But since I’ve been using it, I already know where they tuck tools. I’m hoping I find those rulers hiding under the color bar or something.

If I seem distracted, it’s because I am distracted. I also have a pile of books I’ve promised to read for authors I know and whose previous books I loved — and I feel like every day, I fall further behind.

At least I know I’m not going to have much trouble using Photoshop. It’s still the same clunky program it was 10 years ago, just with a lot more tools I’ll never use.

Categories: #chipmunk, #Photography, Anecdote, climate, climate change, House Finch, Weather, Wildlife

Tags: #chipmunk, #Photography, House Finch, life in the slow lane, Marilyn Armstrong, Photoshop, Wildlife