The Continuing Adventures of Zippy the Wonder Car

Zippy's Doppelganger

My beloved Little Blue Car is finally getting fixed RIGHT. (Lesson Learned: The dealer may cost more but they know more about the car than the neighborhood fix-it place and may end up costing less by fixing it the FIRST time.) El BeeCee had been refusing to start and was smelling of gas and making the garage smell like gas-- very disquieting in this fire season.  To get El BeeCee fixed meant that it had to spend quality time with the dealer mechanic. So- I needed to rent a car and that car turned out to be Zippy the Wonder Car.

The Zipster is a sub-sub-compact.  It is very responsive, loves to do tight turns, gives one the distinct impression that it takes corners on two wheels,and has some mysterious stuff on its dashboard the function of which is a mystery. I sit higher in the driver's seat. It's similar in color to El BeeCee so it's not too disorienting. But Zippy also loves gas (drinking up half a tank of gas in four days), the horn doesn't work right, and its main drawback is that it is not El BeeCee (easier on the gas, horn works). 

Originally, Zippy and I were to be together four days and then part on amicable terms. There were delays in getting the fuel injectors here to install and then El BeeCee wasn't running as smoothly as the mechanic had hoped. I do want El BeeCee to finally run right. The extra time with Zippy won't cost me any more. But- the novelty has well and truly worn off.  I keep reaching for window openers that aren't there, auto door locks that aren't there, radio settings that aren't there.  I want my elderly, "lived in", scratched-and-dinged car back.  El BeeCee doesn't zip like Zippy but it has a more solid feel when I close the door. I feel safer in it.

Update: Finally got the LBC back after nearly a week and am acclimating myself to sitting lower, A/C that works well, taking corners on four wheels,better sounding radio, and non-Zippiness.  It's amazing that you can get used to a car in a such short period of  time.

Taming the Wild Tansu (or Kaidan-dansu)

I'd been eyeing the picture in the catalog for years. It depicted a piece of furniture that was attractive, multi-functional, and unique. I'd even researched the tansu. The tansu step-chest (kaidan-dansu) was used in Japanese households as a storage cabinet and as a stairway to another level. The Japanese were taxed according to the size of their home. Forewarned of the coming of the taxman, a homeowner would re-assemble the stairway into a mild-mannered cabinet and, thus, disguise the fact that there was more to the home than met the eye. The tansu step-chest wasn't just a piece of furniture; it was a form of subterfuge.

So, finally, I caved. I was not scared by the Assembly Required. I am a veteran of the furniture assembly wars. I'd assembled most of the furniture I own and everything's all still together. I'd downloaded the instructions from the catalog website. It didn't look too daunting. How hard could it be?

The tansu arrived in two huge heavy boxes. One came up to my shoulders. One was chest-high. I wrestled them into what we townhouse owners laughingly call a foyer. I regarded them with awe and trepidation for the better part of two weeks. Monday, I squared my shoulders and took the assembly plunge.

What is there about catalog copywriters, instruction makers, and packers of boxes that conspires against the end-users? Odds are that the purchasers of the tansu are going to be using it as a way to deal with living in a small space-- much like its original use in Japanese homes. Why then, were the pieces scattered among the two boxes instead of with the levels together? Why then was the description in the catalog different from the instructions and the piece of furniture (not five drawers but, instead, three drawers and two cabinets masquerading as drawers)? Why then, were the instructions so illogical? You build from the ground up, right? This is a heavy piece of furniture as demonstrated by the heft of the shipping boxes. You need to put the base level where you want the furniture to go- preferably with sliders underneath it in case it needs to be moved. Why then, would the instructions start with the top level? Do they think we have room to safely place all the finished parts until it's time for the final assembly?

I shuffled through the instructions looking for a reason why it was in this order. Since it was a print-out, it was easy to put it in the order I needed. When I was skimming the instructions I found the words: Two people may be needed for assembly. Oh, great! Now they tell me. It takes a village to build a tansu? We'll see about that. Five-six hours, some swearing, and a sore back, hands, and legs later, I was almost finished. I'd coped with there just being one of me to put it together. All I have left to do is put on the backing and fasten the levels together. This is something that goes against the original purpose of the tansu- but it's not big enough to reach the next floor and, besides, the taxman already knows the size of my place.

Early in the process, my cats -uncharacteristically but correctly- surveyed the situation, opted for self-preservation, and found a place to go until the danger has passed. Against my predictions, they have avoided the tansu- so far. I fully expect to come home to find them playing a game of "King of the Mountain". Or find that one of them has discovered the sliding panels and climbed inside. Yes, I'd considered all that before I bought the thing.

Lessons learned?

• You forget the frustrations of furniture assembly over time. This loss of memory keeps the manufacturers of pre-fab furniture in business.
• There is a reason those little camlocks have arrows on them- even though the instructions don't bother to point that out.
• Nor do the instructions tell you what you were supposed to have done with that tiny bottle of glue.
• Following the instructions when they don't make sense isn't always a bad thing.
• Cats don't always react the way you predict they will. It's part of their job description.
• Sometimes, what the product description gets wrong turns out to be just fine. I like those two doors disguised as drawers. They give the piece a sort of tromp l'oeil feel by deceiving the eye.
• Asking yourself "How bad/hard could it be?" is never a good sign. The Fates have their time-honored way of answering that question.
• Though... sometimes that answer isn't too awful.

(Update: This past Monday-I put the back pieces on the tansu, bolted the parts together, and slid the tansu into place.  The instructions were sorta fuzzy, so it took two hours. Not "the easy part" I expected it to be.)

On the nature of miscommunication

So- a friend and I talked about going to brunch together after church. We both had some things to do at the church that wouldn't take long. I mentioned that I would be going to see my mother at the nursing home (near the church)after she had her lunch. She mentioned something about just meeting at the brunch place- since it was close to my home. I mentioned something about just meeting at her place- not far away from the church and we could just go together. I drive over to her place and wait, parking in front of her building. Her car was still there at the back of her building. No sign of her. I check around front- then check back- and the car is gone. I start driving over to the brunch place when common sense hit me. Call first, dummy- and, while you're at it- think this through. So, I look up the restaurant's number in my mighty Kindle and call. She's there. They let me talk to her. She says-"I thought you misunderstood what I was saying." I reply that it just didn't make sense for me to travel in and back several times in one day-since I still needed to see Mom (it's Mother's day) and then I wished her a good time. So- I went to see Mom instead before her lunch. And-of course-fumed about it.

And here's how my fuming went:

• When will I ever learn? This is the same person who -when I could barely walk- took me to my orthopedist and then informed me I needed to find my own way home. or wait 4 hours for her to swing by and pick me up. Then she felt bad about it (5 hours later) and called to see if I'd made it home. And tried to tell me that what happened was my fault.


• Given what I related above, I might have had to get a cab or bus ride back from the restaurant if we'd gone together.


• If she thought I'd misunderstood when we were originally talking about this, why didn't she clarify? She walked right by my car to get to her place. What did she think was happening? What's really going on here?


• My life is more complicated than I'd like it to be at the moment. My paying job is either going to drastically change or I may be forced to retire before I want to. My mother is newly in a nursing home and I visit her everyday. I'm trying to get my life back on track after the events of the last seven years. Going out to brunch with a friend would have been a treat-but does even that one thing have to be so complicated? Probably not.


• If I had caved and went toodling off to the restaurant, I would have been traveling 40-45 miles today instead of the 18-20 mile roundtrip. Not smart in to travel 2 days worth of mileage in one day- especially in these days of nearly $4 a gallon gas prices.

Did I come to any conclusions? You betcha. Cut down on needless drama. I have enough without inviting more. No more spur-of-the-moment plans. No more planning without clarification, clarifying the clarification, clarifying the clarification of the clarification.

Three Forbidden Topics of Discussion in the Workplace or Why I'm Glad the Election is Over

My staff and I share a workspace with another department. When we talk among ourselves, we don't touch on the three celebrated forbidden topics of polite conversation: sex, religion, or politics. But the staff sharing our workspace 5 yards away from us, has- since we started sharing workspace- has talked politics for what seems like eons (since election talk never stopped after the last presidential election). They all seemed to share the same views but -if a staff member had an opposing viewpoint, I think he or she would be hesitant to join the discussion. It's distracting when we're trying to concentrate on our work or trying also to listen to customers on the phone. However, there's another consideration-- the door to their public area is always open. If we can hear them, the public also gets an earful. Should we have to put earphones on and block the noise- also blocking hearing colleagues that are trying to get our attention for work-related reasons?

It may affect me more than others. I've seen seemingly strong long-standing friendships and relationships fall apart over politics and witnessed that heartbreak at close quarters. Time and again I've seen politics get in the way of good government and good public service. I always looked as voting as voting for issues, voting for people who can make a positive difference- not voting for a party. In the past, when I've complained about the invective-laden and uncivil political discourse in the workplace, it's been assumed that I was objecting because I disagreed with the views being expressed- not because I thought that the discussion of politics had no place in the workplace. So, people incorrectly assume that they know what I believe. And they don't. Not - I suspect- that they're even curious.

Joys of ILL, Part 1: Explaining Why We Can't Get A Book

My Interlibrary Loan Borrowing staff (and I- since I help out with that) have a high success rate in getting books customers want that are eligible for ILL. A small percentage a Because there are so many ILL Management Systems (like ILLiad) out there, there are a handful of one-to two word reasons that come through for NOT filling an ILL request. Some are direct and to the point: NON-CIRCULATING. Some are a bit more elusive: BRANCH POLICY. Some are downright evasive: OTHER. There used to be one called UNSPECIFIED but OCLC killed UNSPECIFIED off earlier this year- but ILLiad users won't see OTHER and UNSPECIFIED gone until the next upgrade. So- for the time being-in ILLiad-land, the UNSPECIFIED reason gets transmorgified into OTHER.

I'm glad it's soon to gone. Glad, I tell you, glad, glad, glad! BWAHAHAHA! Its use gave rise to many an unproductive conversation with customers:
ILL: "They wouldn't lend the book to us."
Customer: "Why?"
ILL: "They wouldn't say."
Customer: "They wouldn't say? What does that mean?"
ILL: "The reason they gave was 'Unspecified'."
Customer: " 'Unspecified'? What is that supposed to mean?"
ILL: "They wouldn't say."

I think that 'Unspecified' was -at times- a way for the lender to say:"We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you." But I may be wrong. After all- they really wouldn't tell us why. "They wouldn't say."

Encouraging the Heart:In praise of stickers

I've been having some problems with the computers I work with (my laptop is still spending quality time in IT), so I've been camping out in the workroom so I get some computer time. It's given me an opportunity to observe what's going on. Staffers troop in with ILL Lending fills and -if they found everything we asked them for- I often heard the phrase: "Don't I get a gold star?" Well, I thought, why not? But gold stars are just so early 20th Century, y'know? So, I got a bright idea. I'd been putting smiley faces on the stats spreadsheet every time everything was found. Why not smiley face stickers to celebrate staff finding everything we asked for? I thought that they would be easy to find considering the rampant 70's nostalgia out there. It wasn't as easy to find them as I thought it would be. Starting in September, I began handling them out.

It's been interesting seeing the reactions of staff. Some staff seek me out to get a sticker. In one department, it's an excuse to brag (and -according to one staffer- rub it in to other staff that had bad luck finding fills) . One staff member displays the stickers on her book truck like WWII fighter pilots displayed "downed enemy plane" counts. A tiny minority of staff aren't enthused.

It's been an interesting exercise. I wonder how they'll react to the smiley stars I'll be handing out in December.

Maimonides' Day

If you go to the U.S. Capitol, you will see twenty-three marble relief portraits over the gallery doors of the House Chamber depict historical figures noted for their work in establishing the principles that underlie American law. You'll recognize only a few of the names. Among them, you'll find portrait of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204).

Maimonides was a physician, a philosopher, a theologian, a commentator, etc. --a Renaissance man whose life pre-dated the Renaissance. (Would that make him a pre-Renaissance man?) One of the books he wrote which is still being read today is A Guide for the Perplexed. (Wonderful title! It could be used today as a subtitle for a wide number of books on any topic. The Internet: A Guide for the Perplexed. Modern Life: A Guide for the Perplexed)

A few years ago, I came across the text of a letter Maimonides wrote to a scholar who sought an audience with the He wrote the letter to dissuade him from making the trip to old Cairo to meet him. Instead of merely saying "I just don't have time to meet with you", he tells the scholar about his day. You can find the text of the letter at: http://www.jpi.org/rambam.htm - scroll part-way down to see the part I'm referring to. His day is so jam packed full of the demands others have for his time. He manages to squeeze in some study and write. He barely has time to eat. Part way through the letter, he states: "When night falls, I am so exhausted that I can hardly speak. " Even as night falls, his studies are interrupted patients and visitors. The Sabbath brings little relief. He died when he was 69 - a ripe old age, I suppose, at the time. If all his days were as chock-full as he describes, it's a miracle he lived that long!

I think of Maimonides' letter when I feel there are too many demands on my time and energies. It puts my experiences into perspective. As a child, I heard adults complain about the stress of the modern world and a longing for the "good old days". I don't think things have changed so much through the ages. There's always something new, some change that causes us concern or distress. Even when the good stresses that add sweetness to our lives come our way, they leave their marks on us. At times. it seems that the only humans who always embrace change are babies- and that's just when the change involves their diapers! The trick to dealing with stress seems to be discovering how to handle it, finding out what matters most, and benefitting from lessons learned.