About Author

Karen Fayeth

I have served my debt to society.

(Gad, I’m *such* a drama queen….hee!)

: hand to forehead :

As of today, ladies and gents, I have fulfilled my obligation to God, humanity and the Superior Court of Santa Clara County.

You may recall that back in October, I ran afoul of one of California’s finest. Yes, our fair heroine was taken down by the CHP. She was only trying to get home after a terribly long day at work. And in order to get home sooner, she thought that going 90mph in a 65 zone was appropriate.

Now if you knew my hoopty of an automobile, pushing it at 90mph is no small feat. I’d considered going to court to fight it since the officer said he didn’t have a radar. Instead he set his cruise control at 75mph and said I was pulling away.

I came home and Googled the officer’s name and found out he’s a highly decorated and well-respected member of the force. So I knew that was a losing battle.

I also looked at the table of fines and realized I *may* have been doing more than 90mph, but he gave me the ticket at 90. Were I cited going faster than 90mph, the penalties (meaning the cost) went up dramatically at that clip level. So he kind of sort of did me a favor. Also, I didn’t have my most current insurance card in the car (I’d *just* gotten it in the mail). The officer could have cited me for that, but instead looked it up online (my insurance reports to the DMV so he can see if it’s current).

So after careful consideration, I decided to just pay the “bail”. And thus a point was assigned to my driving record.

A fact I’m cheesed about. Did you know that in the ten almost eleven years I’ve lived in California I’ve never, not once, gotten a ticket for speeding? A couple parking tickets, yes, but nothing else. Indignant! Yes I was.

Well, California offers the opportunity to take driving school and thus mask the point on your record from view (meaning your insurance company is none the wiser). They’ve recently begun offering the driving school online where you can work at your own pace.

So yesterday morning in the midst of the Storm To End All Storms, I decided to begin work on my online driver’s training. I had until mid-February to complete it.

Well…let me tell you…this online driver’s course was no easy thing. Time consuming. And BORING. True, I got to work through it in my jammies and in the comfort of my home, but DAMN!

About a third of the way through a very LONG day, I told The Cute Boy™, “boy am I sorry I did 90mph!”

So it worked. They got remorse out of me.

It didn’t help that the power went out after I’d been working on it several hours. Ugh. I finally finished at 9:00pm last night. It was a long grueling trudge to the finish line.

Today I went to the “in person” location and took the written test to thus complete the course and end this debacle. And because I’m such a freaking overachiever, not only was I nervous, but I got 100% on the test.

So now, gentle audience, it can be said that I, the criminal, have done my time, done my penance, paid my debt to society, suffered for my sins, carried the cross of my shame, and can tear the scarlet speed limit sign from my chest and begin to rebuild my life as a member of society.

(And to reward my hard work, The Cute Boy™ took me to see a movie. The Golden Compass. Yay!)

Thus ends the drama of the Nice Girl Who Turned Bad on Highway 280.

fin

Alert! Frosty down! Repeat, Frosty *down*

Yes, folks, the mother-of-all-storms, or rather, the middle of three mother-of-all-storms has passed over the Bay Area today. Oh what havoc it has wrought!

Accidents! Solo spin-outs! Semis toppled on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. Flights delayed! Manhole covers overflowing! Karen and The Cute Boy™ trapped in the bowels of Burlingame as parts of El Camino were flooded! Power out at the Casita Bonita!

And most telling of all, over at the Mediterranean restaurant two blocks over, the six foot plastic Frosty the Snowman, lovingly displayed out front, was torn asunder, carelessly tossed and laying face up on the front porch, top hat rudely ripped from his head, carrot nose cranked to one side, and little twiggy arms reaching toward heaven as though to proclaim “Oh the humanity!”

And at this sight, after a harrowing drive in furiously pounding rain and violent winds, amid the sound of sirens, The Cute Boy™ proclaimed “Frosty down! We have a Frosty down!”

It’s been a hell of a day.

We had to take the Cute Boy’s automobile in to be serviced. For making me get up early. In the inclement weather. And drive with the Bay Area loo-loos, I made him buy me breakfast.

Meanwhile, The Feline did this:

Extended coverage of Storm Watch is all over the local news. The news went an extra half hour in breathless anticipation. For the local meteorologists, THIS is the World Series.

Click here for photos of the utter devastation (except for Frosty. I shoulda taken photo but didn’t….)

Where I come from, they’d call this a certified frog strangling rain….(or the less couth would call this a turd floater, but I’m not so coarse as to say such a thing…*wink*)

This is supposed to blow over by Sunday. It’s gonna be a wild weekend……

Image via SFGate.com

The Little Prince. I don’t get it.

So a few weeks ago, The Cute Boy™ and I watched a movie, “My Dinner with Andre” that The Cute Boy™ (who is much smarter than me) had seen before and wanted to watch again. The movie is basically a long conversation between two friends having dinner. The conversation covers a lot of ground including theater, spiritualism and to some extent, existentialism (here’s where I get bogged down and need The Cute Boy™ to help explain).

In the movie, Andre discusses at some length the story “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I’ve stumbled across this book before in my life but have never read it. I recall that my best friend in High School loved it and reread it with some frequency. I have a friend I work with who is from Russia and she says it is her favorite book. In fact, her home is decorated with prints of artwork from the book (done by Saint-Exupéry).

I’ve taken a few “woo-woo” classes in my adult life and find that many of the women I’ve met in those courses quote the book and consider it to be an impact on their lives.

Ok, so after watching the movie and thinking on it, I went to my local library (which, I may have mentioned, rooooocks) and found a copy. I took it home quite expectantly and dove right in, ready to get my “wow” from it and my spiritual impact.

I read it through. I read it thoughtfully as I did. And when it was done, I closed the cover and said to myself, “huh…okay.”

It think my favorite part was when the Little Prince described that on his planet (which is quite small) you can watch the sunset every hour, just move your chair. And I liked that notion. I do enjoy sitting in a chair and watching the sun go down (especially over the ocean).

But I don’t consider that a “wow” moment. Or life altering. I just found it an amusing bit of imagination.

So, what am I missing? I consider myself fairly intelligent (six years and two degrees from higher education. Granted, from NMSU, but still, it’s a fully accredited college!). I’m sort of well read. Ok, I do tend to like throwaway fiction better than the classics, but I’ve read enough to know what I like. I’ve even read some fairly complicated stuff.

I just don’t get it? What does that say about me?

I’m going to read it again and see if I get something on a second read. Am I trying to hard? Or not trying hard enough? : shrug :

Maybe it’s just as The Little Prince says…that adults are just like that, they don’t understand. Hmm……

(meanwhile, in my Google searches I found a guy who got a Baobab tree tattooed on his arm?)

Here it is!

As promised, a photo of the New Mexico float in the Rose Bowl Parade, winner of the “Grand Marshal’s Trophy for excellence in creative concept and design”. w00t!

Here she is, the ‘Passport to Our World and Beyond’:

Image via.

More photos can be found at Only In New Mexico.

Happy First Day of the New Year

I’ll start off the first post of 2008 with what I believe to be a profound quote from an unlikely philosopher.

“The first step in creating the life you desire is stating just what it is you hope to accomplish and be willing to fail miserably in the pursuit of it.”

Yeah. I like it. I posted my obligatory resolutions list and have been thinking on them muchly since. The twist (pardon the pun) that Monk puts on it helps me calm down (the part about failing). So ok.

Onward.

Congrats to the team of New Mexicans (Jim Baca’s wife Bobbi, included) for putting together a humdinger of a Rose Bowl Parade Float which won the Grand Marshal trophy for creative concept and design (as reported in the ABQJournal)! Go New Mexico! Kicking the pants outta that parade! I did a quick Google but couldn’t find a photo online. Hope to see it soon. It makes me proud to be a New Mexican!

Hats off to the Las Cruces pecan farmers who are finally in full swing harvesting this year’s crop (as reported in the Las Cruces Sun-News). This is an “on” year for the trees, so they are expecting some 71 million pounds in-shell to be harvested. This is a late harvest due to weather so they are out there hauling tookus to get ’em all in. Hats off to my many friends who are making their living right now. I did my part, ordering way too many chewy pecan pralines from Stahmann’s and eating them with an evil cackle. The pecans of New Mexico, second in volume to Georgia but number one in my heart.

And finally, the Iowa caucus is but a few days away and I’m dying to see how our intrepid Governor Bill Richardson fares in the fight. He’s working it, really working it hard and I’m curious to see how this all goes. It’s just the beginning but sets a tone….just what note remains to be seen.

If for nothing else, Oh Fair New Mexico is in the national spotlight. Salud!

Well, the holiday decorations came down today. The Cute Boy™ and I sadly packed up the tree and ornaments and our rockin’ train and put them away. The living room seems so…empty. *sigh*

Time marches on.

As a final farewall, a photo of the train in motion. I adore it.

Photo by Karen Fayeth.