Category: A Day In The Life…

Last night, in a mammoth reading marathon, I finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It’s a big book, and a bit intimidating to pick up (600 pages! and NO pictures?!?) but a librarian friend suggested it and all her other suggestions so far have been right on, so I decided to give it a go. The book has reoccurring threads of tragedy but is satisfying overall. Steinbeck’s writing is pretty amazing throughout the book. He does an amazingly good job of capturing the human spirit and drive. If Steinbeck had a blog, I imagine it being very popular.

There’s a running theme through the book that parallels the Cain and Abel story… good, evil, and the choice between the two. I would consider myself an amateur reader and probably didn’t pick up on a lot of the depth in the book. The most exciting ‘easter egg’ that I found was that the two generations of brothers in the book: Charles & Adam and Cal & Aron, both share the same first letters and characteristics as Cain & Abel.

This might seem extremely obvious when explained outright (especially considering that Steinbeck opening discussed Cain & Abel in the book)… but it was a major “Whoa!” as I was reading the book. I bet there was a lot of really deep symbolism too… but I just stink at finding it.

I always disliked my high school teachers who tried and get us to try and find meaning in books. I always believed that it was far more likely that the writer just wanted to write a story, than the possibility that all this deep symbolism was legit. I still believe that the biggest reason for reading fiction should be for enjoyment… but I’m beginning to understand that the author’s purpose may very well have been to share an idea not just a tale of adventure.

I wish my English teachers had spent some time addressing this*. Without that understanding I often times pushed their knowledge off as rubbish.

*it is quite possible that they did discuss this and I just wasn’t paying attention. I disliked English class profusely.

Today is Shaun L’s birthday and on the ride to work we got a special treat: There was an accident on the on ramp to 91.

Not wanting to delay the trip to work, I did a quick 180, ran over a short section of curb, and started down a new route to work. Things were looking good. And then: THUMP THUMP THUMP… the tire went flat.

I brought the pulsing car to the breakdown lane and got out to survey the damage. Shaun and I (both highly trained mechanical engineers) were able to determine that yes, the tire was flat.

I opened up the trunk and pulled out the donut spare. I also got my toolbox and the pipe of justi—- “OH NO!” I gasped in both shock and horror “I don’t have the pipe of justice*!”

Shaun L. was the first to take a stab at the nuts. He threw the wrench onto the nut and cranked… to no avail. It didn’t budge. We jumped on the end of the handle… still nothing. Also, the tool for raising the jack seemed to be missing… this was going to be a challenge.

we took inventory:

Toolbox full of various small tools
Ratchet set
Deep socket set
Two shovels
Two Double Dutch T-shirts
Frisbee
Giant block of wood
Two gloves
Climbing rope
Box of Tissues

First we tried the ratchet with the deep sockets. Still, the nut didn’t budge.

The shovel! By jamming the handle around the end of the wrench we could increase our leverage by 3 feet! We tried it… and the shovel bent to the point where we feared it would break. Giant block of wood?

Shaun L. stepped back… I raised the block of wood high over my head and pounded the handle of the wrench. It moved.

And with another 40 or so slams, all the nuts were loosened. Who knew that the giant block of wood would prove so useful?
We then took a small screw driver and jammed it through the end of the jack. By twisting the screw driver we were able to raise the car inch by inch. 25 minutes later… the donut was in place. Success!

We made it to work about a half hour late. Not too shabby considering the circumstances. And really, we were quite lucky. The weather was beautiful and the breakdown lane was vast. Unfortunately, it looks like my lunch will be spent seeing if I can get a patch for the tire.

*a pipe, that has saved my butt on numerous occasions by providing serious leverage for removing stuck nuts.

One of my reoccurring problems is how I deal with sleeplessness.

If I’m tired, and can’t fall asleep… I stop trying. Instead, I get up and do something productive.

The other night at quarter to twelve I started cleaning my room. After I get started I become a cleaning zombie. Suddenly it’s quarter to two, I’m completely exhausted, and I have no problem falling to sleep.

Unfortunately, four hours later the alarm goes off. I think I need to put more effort into sleeping before throwing in the towel and hunting down the vacuum.