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Blogs by Marge B. Fulton
Legos and Life in America
10/2/2008 3:55:22 AM
A car and an economy made of plastic,
I stopped by an auto parts store yesterday for a bulb. My left brake light had gone out. We bought this car new in January after the convertible was totaled. It seemed a little early for a bulb to blow. When you live in the mountains, your brakes get a workout. So, I guess it made sense.
The guy who waited on me seemed reluctant to step outside and help. Yes, the weather has gotten nippy here,but the sun was out. But he followed me outside like a brand new puppy. The "H" in Hazard must stand for helpful.
I watched as he worked on the black whatchamacallit. Actually, he asked me if this car had been wrecked. Boy was I taken surprise by that question!
The back bumper was crooked, something I had not noticed before. It was at that point I learned the name for that "thing". The same gadget that unhinges the light cover holds up the bumper. It is made of plastic and is a simple pushpin.
This moment felt like the V-8 commercials where one gets bonked on the head. Our zippy Dodge Caliber, white as a snowball, is put together with pushpins! No wonder it gets good gas mileage. Plastic makes it fly like a bass boat.
And to think, I am still running on the same tank of gas I bought the Friday of Hurricane Ike! If we coast some and stay home, we might make it a month on that tank. I had just bought the gas before it jumped thirty cents.
Maybe our country is held together by pushpins too. You know, plastic is the glue that holds our economy together. I wanted to buy a little bag of those pushpins to straighten my bumper. He said they were out of them. Could be that cars all over the place are popping pushpins.
America has been unfastened this week. Lets hope the fasteners are available for us as well. Whether they come from the super rich or the working class, it needs to happen.
This is a personal statement. I am due to go to our local newspaper's office in about an hour for an interview. I have things to share about my book and the writing process. Maybe my bumper will not fall off on the way downhill. My car and the economy seem nothing more than a pile of Legos. The book is guaranteed to not fall apart unless you read it a million times. Maybe a billion even. We hear that word often enough!
http://www.hazardgal.com
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More Blogs by Marge B. Fulton
• Chew the Fat - Wednesday, January 21, 2009
• Alphabet Blog - Tuesday, December 23, 2008
• A Mountain of Praise - Friday, December 19, 2008
• Despite the Black Ice - Friday, December 05, 2008
• A Book in the Hand is Worth Millions! - Thursday, November 13, 2008
• WKCB Interview - Sunday, November 09, 2008
• Book Sales in a Small Town - Friday, November 07, 2008
• How Do You Like Dem Apples? - Wednesday, November 05, 2008
• Holy Smoke! - Monday, November 03, 2008
• The Deep Blue Sea - Friday, October 31, 2008
• Glimmer in Appalachia - Saturday, October 11, 2008
• Floody-Floody - Wednesday, October 08, 2008
• You Betcha! - Tuesday, October 07, 2008
• Feast of the Mind - Saturday, October 04, 2008
• Legos and Life in America - Thursday, October 02, 2008
• Main Street Revisited - Monday, September 29, 2008
• A Rebel With a Cause - Sunday, September 28, 2008
• More and More Credits - Friday, September 26, 2008
• Evocative T-Shirts - Thursday, September 25, 2008
• Lighting My Fires - Wednesday, September 24, 2008
• Writing is Like Apples - Tuesday, September 23, 2008
• On Making a Book Trailer - Sunday, September 21, 2008
• A Tap on the Back - Friday, September 19, 2008
• September is that Magic Wand - Thursday, September 18, 2008
• Thoughts from a Coal Town - Tuesday, September 16, 2008
• Boss Hogg in America - Monday, September 15, 2008
• Safe from Storms - Sunday, September 14, 2008
• The Invisible Forces of Nature - Friday, September 12, 2008
• Buying the Farm - Wednesday, September 10, 2008
• My Subject Becomes Palin - Wednesday, September 10, 2008
• Stimulus Check - Tuesday, September 09, 2008
• Overnight Trip - Sunday, September 07, 2008
• It Pays to Have a Dog - Friday, September 05, 2008
• Crazy Quilt - Friday, September 05, 2008
• Drill, drill, drill! - Thursday, September 04, 2008
• Head in a Box - Wednesday, September 03, 2008
• Greasy Beans - Tuesday, September 02, 2008
• Under the Grip of Gustav - Monday, September 01, 2008
• Too Many Meatballs - Saturday, August 30, 2008
• The Up and Up - Thursday, August 28, 2008
• Trees Turning Too Soon - Monday, August 25, 2008
• Proofs and Peaches - Friday, August 22, 2008
• A Little Corny But.... - Wednesday, August 20, 2008
• Over 500 and Rolling - Tuesday, August 19, 2008
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