Day 24: Whatever tickles your fancy

Have you ever noticed how a piece of equipment/machinery can evoke rather strong emotions from within you? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has been sorely tempted to throw their computer out the window when it froze in the midst of writing an extensive paper (and of course you hadn't saved it and this was before automatic saving by the word processor). Ever had photos get lost/corrupted? Ever had your GPS steer you wrong and you got totally lost when OF COURSE you had to be somewhere very important?

Now granted, the real anger/sadness/frustration comes from the loss of time or other valuables, not the machine itself. But you still find yourself glaring at that machine with utter loathing...for at least a few minutes.

I have an almost obscene dislike of one such machine, and that would be my brother's truck.

All of my brothers love this old truck, and will defend it til the day it makes its way to the great garage in the sky. But I rather despise it.

Let me give a few little experiences I've had with this truck to shed some light on the matter:

• The truck once stalled TWICE in the middle of an unprotected left turn. Pretty sure I saw my life flash before my eyes.



• The gas gauge didn't work, thus resulting in one LOOONG, cold night spent on the side of the road in middle-of-nowhere Utah before either my brother or I had cell phones. We ran out of gas around 2:00 in the morning, and it wasn't until sunrise that I could flag someone down to help us. Mis.er.ab.le.



• On a trip home to California, the clutch overheated multiple times, each time resulting in a long, hot wait in the car until it decided to work again. And, of course, most of the road between Provo and my family's home in the high desert is, in fact, desert. Hot, blistering desert.

My brothers insist that such occurrences ONLY happen when I'm in the car. That their dear, beloved car can somehow sense my dislike and acts up on purpose. Maybe they should name it Herbie???

My younger brother came home from college this week, and what's the first thing he did? Take a picture with said truck. He seriously missed it??! It boggles my mind. But in any case, I've vowed never to ride in it again. If they insist on loving this blasted machine, then I suppose that's their business!