2000-12-06 - Night
I�m told I�m not a proper citizen of Diaryland until I mention my cat. So there. I�ve mentioned it.
***
A new poster has suddenly appeared all over town. It depicts simply a Eurasian soldier ... well, actually it depicts Florida Mistress of Elections and Zsa Zsa wannabe Katherine Harris. Beneath her scowling visage, in bold, blocky type, run the two words: NAKED AMBITION.
Ugh. Hands up if, before now, your brain ever put the thoughts "Katherine Harris" and "naked" right next to each other. Is your hand up? Go get help.
As for me, I think I need to buy a big stack of Andre the Giant posters and a big tub of glue.
***
OK, so I take my van in on Friday to have some work done on the lift, which was dying. At this point three things must be said about places that do van conversions and repairs for differently-fucked-up persons like myself: 1) They have no competition; 2) You, the customer, can�t just hop on the bus or walk to the doctor�s office or the supermarket--or climb out of your van if the lift breaks down while you�re on it--and are thus in dire straits without transportation; 3) The first two things mean that they can charge whatever sphincter-stretching prices they want and provide whatever piss-poor service they damn well please, and you, the customer, must smile gratefully.
In the course of fixing the lift (or telling me they�re fixing it--it still seems only slightly farther away from death�s door than it did on Friday), they tell me my van needs a new battery. It just so happens that they have one right there that is just the right one for the van, and they�re willing to part with it--for $75. Since this is, like, 2.5 times as much as my regular mechanic (a Vietnamese guy whose shop is right down the street from me and who is among the Coolest People Alive) would charge me for the same battery, I tell them no, thank you--with a smile, of course--and that all I want them to do is jump-start it so I can get the hell out of there. I�m already $120 poorer than before I came in.
On the weekend I go to the cool Vietnamese mechanic, who tests the battery, gives me this incredulous look that is weirdly, vaguely sort-of French (I suppose Vietnam was a French colony long enough that its people could have picked up all manner of Gallic shrugs and facial expressions) and says, "What do you mean? Your battery�s fine. I�d be ripping you off if I replaced it now."
Some experiences in this life can affirm my faith in human nature and yet make me even more cynical about people, all at the same time.
***
Woo-hoo! Only 13 more days till Krispy Kreme comes to San Diego! Christmas is here early this year!
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