equip.

Yard Sale. Andrea and Matt came over early this morning to have a yard sale. We had several tables set up in the driveway and Matt put this rope across my front porch. It was great for hanging clothes. I only ended up having two zucchini ready in my garden and only one of them sold. Most of my snickerdoodles sold (Andrea, Matt, and I ate a few too) and I sold my toaster so I can get one that takes up less counter space. Matt and Andrea gave me a TV they were going to sell so I put mine out for free. (The picture had been messing up a lot.) I didn't realize it until this afternoon, but the remote control I gave away with the TV was for my converter box (d'oh!)... so now I can only change the channels on the box, one at a time. So frustrating. I am trying to find a replacement remote on eBay.

We ran an extension cord out to the yard to run a fan because it was hot. Fortunately I have a great tree in my yard that shaded us most of the morning. I still got a little sunburned on my face and shoulders. Margaret came over from across the street and we convinced her to take two Christmas stockings for free. Throughout the day, Matt did a nice job haggling and translating prices in Spanish. As the morning progressed, we were practically giving everything away. Around 12:30 we were considering wrapping up early since we hadn't had too many customers in awhile, and the clouds were looking gray. Then without much warning (no thunder or anything) it began to pour on us. We frantically grabbed everything we could and threw it indoors. All our neighbors were standing on their porches watching us run around in the rain. Overall, the sale was pretty successful. I made a little chunk of spending money and Andrea and Matt earned enough to buy a mattress for Baby M.

Brake. A couple of weeks ago, my e-brake light on my dashboard came on. It would turn on when I braked and turn off when I accelerated. I figured it was no big deal but after a few days it was on more frequently than it was off. Oh, great. I thought, I'm going to have to take this to a mechanic and he is going to recognize that I am an incompetent female auto owner and charge me way too much and maybe even lie to me about what is wrong. I hate knowing I am being taken advantage of. So I did what I do when I feel overwhelmed or helpless: I avoided it.

I tried to ignore it. It's not easy ignoring a glaring red light on your dashboard, though. I finally decided to Google it. The development of Google has revolutionized the independence of single girls over the last few years. Google has been there for me before so I was not surprised that it told me just what I needed to know today. I found this forum describing my problem exactly, along with a proposed and confirmed solution.

So this afternoon I went down to my local auto parts store and bought some brake fluid for $3.27. Then I got out my owner's manual and found an illustration highlighting where to put it. I added brake fluid to the MAX line, started my car, and no e-brake light! That was easy! I must say I am pretty proud of myself. A mechanic would have gladly charged me at least $30 to do the same thing.

Finally, Miles is (as always) being super cute today. If I weren't in the middle of doing laundry, I would join him for a nap. Enjoy.

Equip and conquer,