Our Olde House: September 2026

I was thinking that what Our Olde House needed was another vehicle, but a ‘fun car’, not just transportation. After looking for a while on all of the internet car sites I found a car that looked promising, in Alabama. Miss Sherry and I drove there with a cashier’s check in hand; the car looked perfect – right color right engine very low mileage – so we drove it around a bit and decided to buy it. Miss Sherry drove her car back to Clinton and I drove the fifteen-year-old ‘new to me’ car, and it was completely, absolutely and incredibly fun to drive.  

I went to Raymond to get a Mississippi Title and Tag using the paperwork provided by the Alabama car dealer, and all was going swimmingly until I requested a personalized tag; this smooth process came to a screeching halt when I requested a Tag to read ‘RED FOR’. Pens dropped, glasses were adjusted and an official form was presented to me. I was required to explain, in writing, what Red meant on the Tag. Being somewhat confused by the question I wrote and signed below, “It’s a color, the car is red”. Fortunately, this answer was satisfactory since I did not have any other explanation, and I got the Tag. 

I should briefly explain our car tag pattern. First, all of our vehicles are red, so all four tags start with RED, which apparently is the confusing part. Lastly, the second word of each tag is a homonym or abbreviation for the numbers one thru four spelled out. So, the first red car’s tag is RED WON, I used won to commemorate my retirement from the rat race. The second red car’s tag is RED TOO, because this vehicle is also red. The third red car’s tag is RED SAN, because it was actually assembled in Japan, and san is the English spelling of the Japanese word for the number three. And the fourth red car’s tag is RED FOR, because for is a three-letter abbreviation for the number four. Well, it makes sense to me. 

Our fun car is a 2011 red Dodge Charger which is entered in the Clinton car show on Saturday. Miss Sherry and I will be at the show and may have some free giveaways of ‘We Are The People’ hats, and our screenplay ‘Velma and Lucille’ books. The hats are left over from my wildly unsuccessful 2022 Congressional campaign, and we wrote the screenplay when the tree fell on the house as a distraction to the chaos to keep our sanity. I always ask the DJ at the car show to play “Sherry” by the Four Seasons; I even bring my own 45 record. This year I will also request “Little Old Lady From Pasadena” by Jan and Dean. 

I was sitting on my rowing machine in our dining room thinking that the sun coming in through the window on my back was very warm. Apparently, Fuzzy agreed because she was laying on the floor where the sun heated one of her napping spots. My renewed attention to the efficiency of our air conditioner made me think that we should install a window blind on this window to keep this room cooler on hot days. 

Miss Sherry agreed and put her Amazon skills to work to find a window blind. I measured and she set out to find a wooden window blind with two-inch slats since this window was not in the kitchen. She picked an option with the correct width and length, and an estimated delivery date in two weeks. After four months the blinds arrived and somewhat surprisingly, we remembered that we ordered it, and which window it was for. I decided to install it inside the window frame like I have with all of the other blinds. Unfortunately for me, this window was made enough years ago that an inside mount was not practical. 

The bottom window pane would have blocked the blind from descending all of the way down, unless the blind was pulled out and over the lower pane, so no. I did an exterior mount and the blind hangs vertically from top to bottom. Miss Sherry and I are both pleased with how the blinds came out, but there is a dissenting grumpy opinion from Fuzzy who lost one of her warm napping spots, but she will get over it, or not, certainly not yet. 

I have heard the expression “mid-life crisis” directed toward me and this car, usually accompanied by a smirk. I realize that this comment is not meant to be entirely complimentary, but on the other hand that would mean that I have reached just the middle of my lifespan. While I appreciate their confidence that I will live until I am one hundred fifty years old, I have my doubts about that, but I do know for sure that for all of those remaining years I will have a fun car to drive, no crisis involved.