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July 18, 2004
Presenting...the next Tiger Woods
Another day with no noticeable progress toward Sweden, but no matter. I spent the day with a friend who introduced me to the sport of golf. Who knew it was so much fun?
After a lovely lunch, we hit the driving range where I proceeded to hit most of the balls without a hitch (I'll just skip over the several embarrassing incidents of whiffing)--one even went 125 yards! Lily assures me that I am a natural at the game (SO much better than my first forays into the exciting world of chinese checkers) and we're going to play a round of 9 holes next weekend. After that, I plan on going straight to the Masters. I wonder if they have golf in Sweden...I may need to mosey over to Iceland for their all-night golfing fun.
Back from the golf course, we lolled on the couch for an hour and watched surfing and cheerleading competitions on TV. To be clear, it was two SEPARATE competitions, not surfing cheerleaders. Feeling very smug with my golf abilities--and firmly believing I have yet more untapped talent--I have also decided to take up professional surfing. Or perhaps I will just fly to Fiji and attend the next tournament as a spectator. Whatever.
And then, my most Sweden-related accomplishment of the day. I cleaned out my car!! (Follow my logic closely.) Before I leave the country, I need to sell my car (thus ridding myself of an unneeded automobile AND saving unnecessary car insurance payments). If I sell the car to Carmax, they will give me the Kelly Blue Book Value. If I sell the car myself, I will get an additional several thousand dollars--clearly the better choice. But to sell the car directly, I need to do additional work normally left to the dealer. For the most part, this is not a problem; the car works great. There is, however, a small problem. It's FILTHY.
Today, as part of my 12-step car-selling process, I cleaned out all the junk from inside the car. Now, dear reader, you might ask yourself how much stuff could possibly fit into a Miata? I'm glad you asked, because I've compiled a random sampling of items retrieved:
1. A cooler (empty, except for a fork and a knife) used in last weekend's camping trip at Cunningham Falls
2. A trench coat (you may remember this coat from yesterday's journal entry), worn on my golf outing today
3. Two baseball gloves, accumulated during this season's softball games
4. A pair of flip-flops, from last week's pedicure
5. A navy blue zippered sweater, a standby in case of cold weather
6. A white wool zippered sweater, another cold-weather standby
7. A pink trench coat (barely recognizable because it had been stuffed into a little ball for several weeks)
8. A grocery bag full of clothes (gleaned from my wardrobe MONTHS ago), meant to be given to my company's last clothing drive, but forgotten until now
9. A pink beach towel, which I had been missing for weeks
10. An obi (sash for a kimono) hangar, given to me by my father LAST YEAR, but forgotten until now
11. A baseball cap, used to capture flyaway hair when the convertible top is down
12. A set of my cat's x-rays, from her last emergency vet visit this May (she ate audio tape, silly girl)
13. A manila envelope containing vital COBRA information about continuing health-care after I quit my job (um, a little late, since I am now 3 weeks without any form of medical coverage)
14. A box of energy bars, left over from last weekend's camping trip
15. A pair of mittens, from last winter, I suppose
16. Miscellaneous papers, receipts, and trash.
And that's just a sampling. So, if you are interested in a surprisingly spacious Miata for your VERY OWN, do I have a deal for you!
Once I had a cleaned-out car, I realized just how BADLY it needed to be vacuumed. Thus began the car-vacuuming epic of 2004. For those who haven't vacuumed their car recently, I can testify that it is a most gratifying experience--I highly recommend it. Of course, there are still a few pieces of leaf and grit that just REFUSE to come out of the floor mats, but I prefer to believe that just enhances the car's character.
That's about it--the evening mainly consisted of watching the finals of the Mercedes-Benz US Open Series finals (tennis, people) and Mystery on PBS. All very highly entertaining to watch, not entertaining to write about later.
Tonight is dedicated to plowing through Numbers, having decided this summer to read the Bible through from beginning to end. I started strong, but got bogged down on the construction of the Hebrew temple at the end of Leviticus. Yawn. If I remember correctly, there will be a lot of "smiting" coming up. Until then, I'm stuck counting the troops composing the 12 tribes of Israel. Double yawn.
Tomorrow--the Swedish embassy and paint-your-own pottery!
