Well, I discovered that I fell prey to “stupid girl at the mechanic” while back in LA.  Today, thanks to the lovely team at Valvoline, I learned that when my car was checked out and oil changed at Firestone in LA… they forgot to put back in the air filter.  Which means I drove 3700 miles across the country without an air filter.  And that, according to my mechanic friends, is not so good.  Fortunately, the guys today have written a nasty note for me to share with Firestone – and hopefully I can get Firestone to pay for the fabulous flushing of the engine or whatever it was that was done… again very girlie of me to not remember what exactly was done.  (It’s on a receipt upstairs.)

After solving my car problems, I was off and running errands in 20 degree weather.  Up until yesterday, I thought I was handling the weather rather well.  And then yesterday the windchill was around 10, and I discovered that I had not, in fact, acclimated.  Errands were painful, and walking the dog this afternoon was supreme torture.

On the positive front, I came across another amazing job opportunity in …. wait for it… Budapest!  I am intrigued.  And I have to write a 2 page article on the importance of media for impacting healthcare.  Something I actually know.  And they want someone who has knowledge of healthcare in East Africa – something I also know a little about.  So I am working on my article and refining the resume for another potential adventure.  That would be fun!  Although there was a slightly concerning and I am hoping typo fact about the job: willingness to travel often/10x per month.  That’s like 2x/week.  Is it travel all the time?  I guess it would be some great frequent flier mileage.

Tonight, I am about to risk a new occurrence – Verbal, my dog, had what we are calling fleece rage last weekend.  I was worried that he was getting too cold and so I put his fleece on him.  During the 24 hours of fleece wearing, Verbal chose to ignore me, turn his back on me, pick at his food, spit out treats, and sleep in the middle of my bed kicking his legs into back.  It took another 8-12 hours for a cheerful Verbal personality to reinstate itself.  So the dilemma has been do I let him freeze or do I insist that the fleece is what is best and risk more canine snubbing?

Just a tad bit chilly here in State College,

As ever,

K.  Quinn