Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

Today’s cool discovery

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Now, maybe everyone else in this area drives a whole bunch more than I do and they already knew about this, but I just discovered one of the coolest features of living in this area.

So there we are, driving up Highway 17, heading to 85, and then to Simon’s preschool when BAM! Someone throws something at our car.

Except there aren’t any other cars around. Hmm.

On the connector between 17 and 85 the car starts driving funny and I think, “I bet this is the situation people refer to as ‘a flat tire.'”

I pull out the phone and call the preschool to let them know I’ll be late. Then I dig out my AAA card and get ready to call.

A tow truck pulls up behind us. Oh great, think I, a freelancer. I tell Sophia to remain belted in, just in case. In case of what? I don’t know. But it seems like the prudent maneuver.

The guy comes over to the passenger window and says that he’s with the Freeway Service Patrol and he’d be happy to change my tire for free. Which he proceeds to do in about 15 minutes. He asks me to fill out a little survey form and mail it back at my convenience. And then we’re all done and I continue on my way. I end up being about 10 minutes late picking Simon up.

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

And I don’t have to use up one of my AAA freebies.

If you drive in the Greater Bay Area, you need these guys’ brochure in your glove compartment.

Counterfeiting in our time

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Sorry, haven’t been around much — both kids have been off school, and I have done such things as go to Bonfante Gardens twice in two weeks. (And boy, are my arms tired.) And now after our break it’s time to get ready for school, which involves running around and getting the list of silly school supplies required (TWELVE sticks of glue?). And every fall the kids get new lunch boxes.

Simon took approximately 0.000000004 seconds to choose his: the Batman lunch box, which came complete with cape on the back! Sophia chose the Lil Bratz one, mostly because it was pink. (I’m fairly sure she doesn’t have any Bratz dolls.) And they’ve been very excited about their lunch boxes since we brought them home.

And then Simon mentioned that the Batman box’s cape was all wrong: it had a straight edge instead of points. I thought it was funny that he noticed such a detail about the cape.

Then he mentioned that the Bat symbol on the front was different.

I looked at it, and yup, he was right, that’s not the Bat symbol. The Bat symbol has one points in the middle of each wing; this lunchbox’s symbol has two points.

Damnation. This is a counterfeit lunch box. And it’s probably not really Thermos brand either.

The weird thing is, I didn’t buy this at a corner off Capitol Expressway, I bought this at Target. You know, major corporation, central supply facility, etc. You’d think they’d have buyers who would, you know, notice these kinds of things.

Now, Simon loves his lunch box, and I realize that this is not the end of the world. But am I supposed to mention something to Target — “By the way, you’re selling fakes!” Am I supposed to take this from Simon and try to return it?

Happy birthday a moi

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I spent it flying. With two kids. It was even more fun than you can imagine. (As John Rogers and George RR Martin put it, that’s the point. I was so clearly the harried mother of two in the pre-board line that the attendant letting us on let me go on without having to go through the pre-board search. So I walked on with two bottles of water. So much for TSA Security.)

After a few days away, I am so happy to be home again. The odd thing is, I feel as though I was away for weeks. I keep wondering why Mel Gibson is still on the cover of People. Have the shops in town changed any?