Monday

Glad to hear from 1 on the road.

4 headed over to IC today to get a few hours in on the job this week. After a Summer of out-flow, she needs spending money.

Somewhat to 4's displeasure, I made her stop by the office on her way out of town so that I could go with her to the auto parts store to get the brake light replaced on her car. I had tried to get 3 to make the repair before the trip to Europe, to obviously no avail. And had suggested to 4 after the wedding that her friends ought to be able to get the switch made. Let's see. How many college kids does it take to swap out a brake light?

It was a 10 minute repair for us that had an out-of-pocket cash expense of $5.35. And five of the ten minutes was a do-over on one of the plastic butterfly nuts that wouldn't quite catch the screws. Even 4 recognized that we weren't doing brain surgery. And to top it off, one of the sales guys came by and asked if we wanted him to finish it up.

So the question becomes, did I fail again as a parent? A fairly simple request was made of my kids for what was a definite safety issue on the car. (Don't the cops still give out citations for defective lights on a car?) But it was low drama, with no "come hell or high water" theater. So I was essentially ignored. In the end, I fixed the problem, and no disadvantage accrued to the child. Not that I had a huge disadvantage, other than the $5.35 and a slightly sweaty shirt after spending those 10 minutes in the heat and humidity.

Actually, you could spin this another way and recognize that young adult children tend to consult with their aging parents on perhaps equinox regularity, so an event like this might be a child's subconscious concession to family bonding. Dare I say, left-handed FFF?

Lots in the news today about Tom Glavine winning his 300th game last night in C-town. He's a class act. Maybe a guy I'd walk across the street to greet, but probably just one I would wave at from afar. He was on an Atlanta pitching staff in the 90's that could one day have three guys in the Hall of Fame: Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz. Glavine and Maddux are locks. Smoltz probably needs a couple more good years.

3 had her first real day on the job in C-town today. You go girl!

Enough for today. I am anxious for the smaller cast.

BCOT