November 4, 2009

I have really fallen behind.  After our trip to Ohio, I struggled to get readjusted to the work routine.  The increasing darkness doesn’t help.  Just as soon I as I got my internal clock readjusted to Alaska time, we changed the clocks.  I have been just too tired in the evenings and falling asleep early.

Life can change quickly.  We know that intellectually, but every once in awhile something happens that drives that point home.  Last week the H1N1 flu hit close to home.  Kris’ sister was put on a ventilator, fighting pneumonia.  She appears to be headed in the right direction now, but as always, there is no certainty in life.  It left us feeling a little helpless, but there is little that we can do, even if we were 4000 miles closer.  It is an event that brings out sympathetic feelings.  I can only imagine how difficult it would for me if Kris were in intensive care.

It also prompted some conversation here.  Facing the harshness of reality provided a test of our convictions, but our convictions in life are based in part on the harshness of reality.  It is strange that something scary can reduce your fear, but our path only seems clearer now.  We aren’t getting any younger.  We need to live our lives to the fullest and never pull back in fear.

And that is a good conclusion to come to the week after making a small financial commitment toward our future plans.  We purchased a new vehicle, well a used vehicle.  It is a 2001 Chevy one ton cargo van.  It will play a critical role in transporting us into the future.  The van is a lot older than I wanted, but the price was a lot lower than I was planning to spend as well.  The vehicle has only 28,000 miles and I have crawled under every corner and stuck my fingers into every dark corner looking for evidence of fraud.  The underneath side of this vehicle is like new.  The top sides have a few dents and dings, but without any salt on the roads, it doesn’t have any rust.  It has some minor problems.  The interior is a little beat up, a torn seat and some broken trim.  The van has been running quite well.  The only problems have been an occasional ticking lifter when starting up cold and one day the check engine light came on.  Naturally the latter problem occurred on my way to emissions testing, but luckily the light cleared once the engine warmed up and it passed the test.  In its defense, it was 12 degrees and I hopped into a cold vehicle and just drove away.  I haven’t had a problem since.  I am not at all concerned.  We got 13.5 mpg on our first tank which is another indicator that things are in good order, really not too bad for a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a wooden crate.