Fanciful Friday: Odds And Ends
“Take a moment, enjoy a moment and be a moment”
― Aiyaz Uddin
Moments Count
Small things each day can add up and surprise you. I subscribed to Kindle Unlimited several years ago. For those who might not know, it’s an Amazon monthly subscription service that lets you read unlimited ebooks for free from authors who have made them available in the Kindle Unlimited collection. This means many independent authors want to get their books seen, along with some well-known mainstream books and authors. It currently includes thousands of books, and new ones are added all the time. I read almost entirely for entertainment across a variety of genres, and I use an Apple iPad Mini and the Kindle app. This makes it easy for me to always have a “book” to enjoy for a few minutes.
As I finished one book and prepared to start another this week, the Kindle app displayed a statistic that shocked me. It seems I’ve unintentionally built a 1,349-day (3.7 years) reading streak. Some days I might have read only a few minutes, but at least enough to turn a page. I knew I read a little almost every day, but I had no idea it had been so long since I missed a day. Heck, now I feel pressured not to ruin my streak! 🙄
Goodness Yet Survives
This week, Bonnie went to assist her brother in Jacksonville, Florida, for a few days while he underwent a minor medical procedure, and I stayed home with Bentley. Our car is still under warranty with an e-monitoring service. So, a couple of hours after she left on Sunday, I got a text message from the monitoring service that one of the tires was losing air pressure. I called Bonnie and walked her through how to bring up the tire pressures on the instrument cluster, and sure enough, one tire was down to about 15 psi. Long story short, she ended up stranded in an empty lot in a very small town in South Carolina on a Sunday. No passerby, of which there were few, stopped to help. AAA gave a time of a little over an hour, and it would just be for a tire change to a donut tire, which wouldn’t get her to Florida. Using the car’s online GPS locator data, I searched the area for a tire dealer that was open on Sunday. After a couple of calls, I found a very small business and an extremely good person who ended up closing his business, driving 12 miles to change the tire. He then had Bonnie follow him back to his business, and he fixed the tire and put it back on. The trip was completed safely. Strangely, it turned out a key (like a padlock key) punctured the tire.
So, goodness survives, and good people still exist who will extend a hand to help someone. Thank you, Chad!
Flashback Moment
I came across an old photo of the first new car I ever purchased and owned: a 1974 Honda Civic. The Civic was first introduced to the U.S. in 1972. In 1974, the Civic’s straight-4 engine grew slightly to 1237 cc, and power rose to 52 hp (38 kW). To meet the new North American 5 mph bumper impact standard, the Civic’s bumpers grew by 7.1 inches, increasing overall length to 146.9 inches. It had 12-inch wheels and a four-speed manual transmission and would get 40mpg on the road. I loved that little thing, and the engine would rev quickly like a motorcycle engine. I put a lot of miles on it with repeat trips from upper Vermont to Western North Carolina. I even took it to Miami, Florida, and forged through a 12-inch snow blizzard in Vermont. Good moments turned into wonderful memories.
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I had a Honda exactly like that but without the CB!!! I bought it used but in very good condition. I traded it on a new 1984 Civic and that was one of my favorites. They couldn’t sell a car like that today in the US (no automatic, power windows and air!!!).
The original MSRP was around $2,500 for the basic 2-door hatchback in 1974. I remember paying $75/month for two years after a trade-in. You’re probably right that you couldn’t sell a car like that today. Cars aren’t only about transportation anymore, and people aren’t as practical as they used to be. Seventy-five-dollar-a-month payments and 40 mpg fuel economy — are we sure we’ve made progress? 😂 Thanks, Ken!
I love both the quote and the image. I have been using the kindle paper white for many years now. I bought it when I was working as a flight attendant where I could carry books no problem. I read almost every day also. But I do not know of any kind of option to know how many consecutive days I do read. It’s probably part of that kindle app.
I’m glad that Bonnie is safe and that you found a good soul that would go out of their way to take care of it. I did not know that cars had that kind of technology. That’s how old my car is. Thank you, Chad!
I have heard nothing but good reports about anyone who has owned a Honda. And I doubt seriously, if you could order a car today that did not have all the bells and whistles that we consider essential on a car. My first car had the old vacuum windshield wipers. If you accelerate it and took away from that vacuum, the wipers would stop. As I think about it, those were good days!
The consecutive reading days notice was in the Kindle app, but I’d never seen or more than likely paid attention to it until this past week. It surprised me!
Yes, Chad was a lifesaver who went beyond what many would have done. Let’s say he was rewarded appropriately afterward.
There are a couple of pretty basic small sedans people can still buy. Still, they’re not big sellers, and the auto media reviews them pretty harshly compared with better-equipped, more costly models that don’t really address the same issues—basic, affordable transportation. While this 1974 Civic was my first new auto, I’d had two used autos before it.
I hope you’re having a good weekend, Monte. Thanks!