On Vacations, Teen Drivers, and Other Extraneous Things

Talk about taking it easy: Yesterday I had two kids here, and right now I have three. Not counting my own, of course, five of whom are on Spring Break. Complete with capitals, yes.  You know that sacred institution of American education which serves only to tantalize school children with the promise of a real vacation yet two months off.

I don’t include them in my head count because, well, they wipe themselves if you know what I mean. They are pretty much self-sufficient. Somebody even took it upon himself to clean the kitchen this morning. Now that’s boredom for you–or a sort of pre-paid gesture of gratitude for the fact that I’m going to have to take him driving sometime this week.

Yes, that’s correct: I have another child to teach how to drive. Already.

Not to mention insure. Spent most of yesterday trying to find the least expensive way to do that, but it looks like pretty much no matter who you go with, and no matter how decent a student the kid is, you’re going to pay right around $100/month to put a minor behind the wheel of a car.

C’est la vie.

Can I also admit to you that even though I only have a smattering of children this week, and very iffy numbers in the future and even though tuition is due and my property tax bill arrived Saturday, I still went out and bought a computer? Yes I did. It was the cheapest one–not only on the shelf, but on Wal-mart’s shelf. However, it:

1)Not only has a screen that does not flicker and die even if it is not angled at precisely the hair’s breadth of that one position in which contact is occasionally still viable but a powercord that operates in all positions and temperatures,

2) Is not in thirty-seven pieces on my son’s floor, awaiting shipment of crucial parts from a dubious source in Hong Kong,

3) Is not larger, older, nor more erratic than myself and therefore can be used at any time of day, in any part of my home, or even while hiding out in the back seat of my van and

4) It has nothing but wordproccessing and research capabilities–which is all I need, but which makes it a fairly boring target for teens and small children. Okay, they could probably install those other things on it, and I’m certain they would, but that’s why Microsoft invented password protected user accounts.

It is also a hideous color of red, which  the floor model was not, but which might explain why it was so cheap.

Which reminds me that it still needs to be paid for and by extension, that there are interviewees to harass and articles to write.

Until next time…