Day 1362

The Defender isn't exactly filling me with confidence. The engine vibration seems just as bad, or even worse, than it was before I took the car in for repairs. If the rattle wouldn't get any worse, I could easily live with the rough ride, but what if it does get worse? Since we have already eliminated all potential problems outside the engine, it's a safe guess that something inside the engine is causing the problem. Is it a worn main bearing? Has the crankshaft become unbalanced? Will the engine just seize up on a busy freeway someday and leave me stranded? Have I mentioned that I don't like uncertainty?

Unfortunately life is full of uncertainties. I've actually had more car problems with brand new cars than with old ones like the Defender. The problems in life that I anticipate never seem to materialize. I'm always blindsided by something out of left field that I totally failed to consider.

Cars. Health. Work. It's all the same. You worry. You plan. You try your best to keep your ducks in a row. Whatever you do, life just continues unabated on it's predetermined course. Some days you get lucky. Other days you get screwed. I'd probably be a lot better off if I buried my nose in a complex project and didn't have time to fret about whether my car or my liver was going to fail in the near future. Historically, work has always been a refuge for me. I need to find something to throw myself into again. But what? I really don't know. I've got a real bad case of "Been there, done that."

Maybe it's just the heat. It shouldn't be this hot in September. I must have let the dogs outside ten times this afternoon. They'd go out in the back yard, immediately discover how hot it was, and want to come back inside again. Once inside, they'd look out the living room window and decide that it looked pretty nice outside. Back and forth we'd go. I know they wanted the sunshine and fresh air, combined with the cool air conditioning from the living room. I don't think they ever figured out that they couldn't have both.

I'm kind of the same way. I want a lot of mutually exclusive things. Rationally, this kind of attitude doesn't make sense. If you want to make a lot of money, you don't simultaneously do your best to avoid all contact with other people. If you like to write songs, it doesn't make sense to never listen to music. If you love go anywhere vehicles like the Defender 90, it doesn't make sense that you never actually go anywhere. Hey, I've never let rationality stop me before. Why start now? I'm about as rational as a Dalmatian on a hot day.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day