duck-shaped pain

There was one yard sale that I had high hopes for, since it was being held by the owners of one of my favorite houses in town. [1] It's a huge grey house in my town's stretch of historic houses, and it's one of the more impressive ones on that street. For some reason, I always assume that the people who live in these houses are going to have better things for sale. For some reason, I'm usually right. But not today -- the people in the Martin House seem to read nothing but Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Sigh.

So, it was a completely useless morning. I should have just stayed home and read the paper.

Last night, the dog met the crab. It was sort of interesting. Whenever the crab vibrated Hoover would tilt his head and look like he was thinking very hard about what was going on. Eventually, though, he just got freaked out by it and went back outside to eat bugs. There's always been a weird relationship between my dogs and any inanimate stuffed things I owned. My old dog, Gopher, used to be terrified of this big yellow stuffed bear I had when I was a kid. Then again, he also used be afraid of vacuum cleaners [2] and sprinklers. Hoover just seems to be afraid of the hose.

Everyone's buying trucks these days. I went out to dinner with my aunt last night, because she wanted to show off her new truck. My mom just bought a truck. My dad just about bought a new truck. My friend Z. keeps threatening to buy a new truck. I don't know what's going on here. I,however, have not thought about buying a new truck -- Little Honda seems to be working perfectly fine. It doesn't look as good as it once did, after someone smacked into the side of it a year ago and left a big ding. I haven't had the money to fix that, unfortunately, but since it doesn't affect the way it runs. Part of me would like to get a new(er) car, though. But, then again, I could think of things I'd rather do with that much money...go to New Zealand, drive around the US, etc., etc.

[1] "A two-story Craftsman dwelling with walls finished in Kelistone, a trade name for a mix of crushed quartz and fine pea gravel coated with stucco. The low gabel roofs have wide eaves with prominent brackets. Heavy windowsills, caps and lintels enforce the horizontal lines. The interior makes extensive use of golden oak in floors, stairs and built-in furnishings." -- Thomas J. Noel, Buildings of Colorado, page 507.