RIP Mailbox

So I am out walking Nicki out front this morning and I notice something looks odd.  I realize the odd thing is our mailbox was no longer there.  As I scanned the scene I saw parts of it strewn down the road.  I also noticed that our garbage cart was across the road in the neighbors driveway.  It too was severely damaged.  As I got closer to the road I saw very clear truck tracks that veered down onto our property.  From the tracks you can see the vehicle was completely off the road.  The driver evidently plowed into our trash bin first and then hit the mailbox straight on, obliterating it. 

Of course my first reaction was anger.  I assume some asshole was drunk or just an idiot.  I have had our mailbox hit at least three or four times since we have lived there.  Each time I have been able to put the battered box back together.  However all of those hits were glancing blows.  This time the driver hit the box dead on, snapping the landscape timber it was attached to and shredding the plastic mailbox structure.  The only satisfaction I got was knowing that the driver surely had some considerable vehicle damage thanks to the two large rocks I had on the lead edge of the box.  The tire tracks would have taken the vehicle right through these rocks.  I hope it snapped their suspension. F’in jerks. The mailbox that I proudly installed when we first moved in and that I carefully resurrected after previous impacts is now residing in the broken garbage cart.

The mailbox slaughter means I have another project to do this week end on top of fixing the mower deck on the Cub Cadet, replacing a broken sprinkler head and performing some exploratory surgery on the one Roomba.  I have a long mental list of other things to knock out as well.  It’s going to be another hellishly busy Saturday for me. 

Trying to do these repairs without aggravating my tennis elbow is going to be next to impossible.  My left forearm is starting to feel like it may be developing it’s own case of tendinitis.  It sort of feels like the right one did for months before it became chronically sore.  I really need to try to baby it.

I love my Iphone.  I grabbed Shazam for it the other day.  Shazam is an app that lets your phone “listen” to a song and identify it for you.  The capability has been available for other phones for a little while but I had never seen it in action.  I had it identify a bunch of songs, it tagged every single one.  Once it is identified it gives you direct links where you can add it to your collection for the low price of 99 cents.  There are SO many apps coming out for the Iphone.  I have not spent one penny on any of the fantastic apps on my phone.  It’s just a great little device.

This post last year about the Turkey Bowl is funny, especially Randy Romero’s comments.