02-03-2026 — Driving me cray cray

Howdy all. It was a balmy 25 degrees when I got out of bed this morning. Hey, that feels balmy compared to negative numbers we’ve been having. The temperature varied little all day. But, it was snowing (flurries) almost the whole time too. 27 right now. I don’t think it got to 30. Snow on some surfaces has been melting. That’s good for my walkway especially. I know at least a couple more inches fell on it today.

I took advantage of the uptick in weather to get a couple of things done.

It made for a very long morning.  I spent it mostly driving. First off was the required 2 year emission testing for my F150. This would be my 4th time (year’s 0, 2, 4, 6). I can never find the drive to that emissions testing place, until I pass it once or twice. And they really need to plow the snow out of it.  My truck was having problems getting in and out the steep entrance from the road. I almost gave up while leaving and stopped to use 4WD.   But now, the truck is now signed off for the next two years.  

Then I switched on the GPS and did a search for a destination with the word “taxes” and took off.   Only to end up at the prior tax person’s office.  — She retired and gave a recommendation for a new person / company. Duh, her side of the office building is totally empty now.  

As I was driving in the parking lot, my brain was telling me something was wrong. And when I opened the outer doors, I was sure of it. As I was staring at her empty offices, the new owner of the building, came over from the other side, and asked if she could help me. Told her there was no help for me. And stumbled through the words trying to explain why I was standing there. Felt like a huge fool.

So, I get back in truck and find the right taxes GPS entry. I had to travel another 25 minutes to get to new tax place.  

There I signed my life away, and prepaid for my tax return so I don’t have to drive back this year. They will call me within a week to confirm I agree, and then they will mail the forms back to me.

Back in the truck again. I hit “home” GPS entry and off I go into the snowy winter land.  

The traffic was a bit slow and snow/slushy in spots, or just wet roads.  This 50 or so minute drive was going fine until I was halfway back to the house. 

I get a funky alert on the GPS. It thinks the main road by me is closed and it sends me off in weird directions. I don’t know why it thought that. It was certainly open when I used it to get to the freeway.   After a bunch of silly turns, I gave up and found my own way back to the freeway, and then to the house, using that said closed road ( Route 20 ). No accidents, no closures, shoot, not even any maintenance happening today. Just wet and sometimes slushy.

I use up just short of three hours for this adventure.  At least I won’t need to do either trip again this year.  

My next outdoor excursion is to the dentist on Thursday morning at 8 am.  Ugh, that is early.  

Oh, and the 2018 Ford F150 truck is now at 29,870 miles.  It is getting close to the big 3-0. Maybe in 2 months?

I really feel for those people that are still driving to work each day, or, even worse, driving as work each day. Not a good way to Enjoy Life.