Like a serial? Part One here.

Running this week in my finger .plan at work:

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Thomas Dolby Never Sounded So Good
or
We Blinded Me with Low-Level Engineering
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CHAPTER ONE, In Which My Car Antenna is Broken and I Seek Alternatives

It wasn't a dark and stormy night; it was an afternoon like any other at MR, except for the fact that somebody busted my car antenna off. Either that or it broke off cuz it was a power antenna and it'd been bent and had stopped retracting properly, so maybe the strain of the power antenna motor trying to do that caused metal fatigue and it broke as I turned off the ignition that day. It'd make a better story if I just went with somebody breaking it off, but I'm all about the veracity, dudes.

So I went out that evening and suddenly had no radio reception. Finding the metal wand hanging from the side of the car but the greasy white plastic cable running from it still attached, I found a way to roll the detached antenna up in the rear window so I could drive home without generating the kind of static electricity that can cause spontaneous combustion if you're not careful. Having not taken any steps to address the problem a day or two later, I thought it best to find another temporary broken antenna lodging so's to keep from putting a permanent indentation in the rubber window seal. I was fortunate not to need duct tape, as the thing ended up fitting snugly in the groove of the roof rack, with a slight adjustment thereof.

What to do about the antenna, though. I wasn't looking forward to figuring it out. Smelled like some bucks'd be leaving my dominion over it, fer sure. Some poking around the ol' internet was definitely called for.

{to be continued, of course}

Like a serial? Part One here.

Running this week in my finger .plan at work:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thomas Dolby Never Sounded So Good
or
We Blinded Me with Low-Level Engineering
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CHAPTER ONE, In Which My Car Antenna is Broken and I Seek Alternatives

It wasn't a dark and stormy night; it was an afternoon like any other at MR, except for the fact that somebody busted my car antenna off. Either that or it broke off cuz it was a power antenna and it'd been bent and had stopped retracting properly, so maybe the strain of the power antenna motor trying to do that caused metal fatigue and it broke as I turned off the ignition that day. It'd make a better story if I just went with somebody breaking it off, but I'm all about the veracity, dudes.

So I went out that evening and suddenly had no radio reception. Finding the metal wand hanging from the side of the car but the greasy white plastic cable running from it still attached, I found a way to roll the detached antenna up in the rear window so I could drive home without generating the kind of static electricity that can cause spontaneous combustion if you're not careful. Having not taken any steps to address the problem a day or two later, I thought it best to find another temporary broken antenna lodging so's to keep from putting a permanent indentation in the rubber window seal. I was fortunate not to need duct tape, as the thing ended up fitting snugly in the groove of the roof rack, with a slight adjustment thereof.

What to do about the antenna, though. I wasn't looking forward to figuring it out. Smelled like some bucks'd be leaving my dominion over it, fer sure. Some poking around the ol' internet was definitely called for.

{to be continued, of course}

Michigan Undecided

Zipped out of the office this afternoon to deliver a book needed by a certain grad student instructor for class today; beat her to the steps of Angell Hall, so sat there for a few continuing my own read of said book (which I'm hoping to procure for upsidedownblue, so won't name here). At some point I looked up to see an older straight couple sauntering by, looking at me most curiously; that's when I realized that today I happen to be wearing my MICHIGAN UNDECIDED shirt. Their mildly aghast faces seemed to be saying, "That gray-haired undergrad STILL hasn't picked a major?!?"

In most contexts of my life I think it's fairly clear to folks I'm going for an alternative meaning with those words. (As you can imagine, I don't spend a lot of time reading on the steps to Angell Hall.)

Michigan Undecided

Zipped out of the office this afternoon to deliver a book needed by a certain grad student instructor for class today; beat her to the steps of Angell Hall, so sat there for a few continuing my own read of said book (which I'm hoping to procure for upsidedownblue, so won't name here). At some point I looked up to see an older straight couple sauntering by, looking at me most curiously; that's when I realized that today I happen to be wearing my MICHIGAN UNDECIDED shirt. Their mildly aghast faces seemed to be saying, "That gray-haired undergrad STILL hasn't picked a major?!?"

In most contexts of my life I think it's fairly clear to folks I'm going for an alternative meaning with those words. (As you can imagine, I don't spend a lot of time reading on the steps to Angell Hall.)