How I Spent My Summer Vacation

For one thing, I didn't.

There just wasn't enough time. Between...

...getting Paul situated (after his mom decides it's my "turn" to look after him and so elopes with some unsuspecting fellow and moves back to Cleveland),

...getting "Sal" relocated from California and back to the East Coast (where I can keep an eye on her),

...two auto insurance claims (including living proof that one major company is on their own damn side, thank you very much!),

...the Hilton Hotel empire screwing up my reservations (if only to ensure that the heiress to the Hilton fortune will never have to make another porno film again), and

...straightening out my tax situation for the last two years (after an attempt to start a Catholic magazine failed and the editor left me holding the bag -- and the bank account),

...it's been quite an eventful summer without having to run off for two weeks in Bora Bora.

But I did buy a car.

I got a 2005 Scion xB, one of three in a line of cars which Toyota is marketing to appeal to the under-30 market -- eventually replacing the Echo, which didn't. After all, it's not enough to sell young people a cheap, hip car. It needs to be a cheap, hip car that can carry their big stuff to college and bring it back, and also make the road trips.

As those who hit the link will see, the xB is a very boxy-looking thing, ugly enough to be endearing. But despite it's appearance, it's classified as a compact (after all, underneath the hood, it's still and Echo), and the passengers get to sit up. Maybe it's a sign I'm getting on in years (egad, did I just say that?), but I like an automobile I can get in and out of without hurting myself. I'm sittin' tall in the saddle now, with satellite radio and all the security measures that money and excellent financing can buy.

At the same time, it LOOKS so damn practical. That's because it is. It's gonna be good for my road trips, and real easy to park. Maybe that's two of the reasons why Consumer Reports recommends it. I wouldn't buy a car that wasn't. I wish it came with "suicide doors" (the ones that open out from the middle on each side, like the similar and heavier-classified Honda Element) and a rear seat that really folded down flat. The former would probably affect the structural integrity of such a small vehicle; the latter was probably unlikely given the seating height in the rear, which is very comfortable.

And speaking of road trips...

After a hiatus of just over thirty years, I have rejoined the Scouting movement, this time as an adult volunteer, or "Scouter." My assignment will be as a Unit Commissioner for the Chain Bridge District, which covers the County of Arlington and the Town of McLean, as part of the National Capital Area Council. As part of my field experience, I'll also be helping out the unit at my home parish, Arlington Troop 111.

I'm also told I look pretty snazzy in uniform. But of course.

Now then, I'm also thinking of ending fourteen years of living in basement apartments, and buying a place of my own. This would require moving above ground.

I could probably use the sunlight. Stay tuned...