02 January 2012

Can you hot-wire a car?



Happy 2012!


It’s a bright shiny new year. 365 days stretch ahead of us like driven snow—sparkly clean and unmarred by our passing.

It’s a time for optimism and hope—unless you happened to catch Armageddon Week on the History Channel. If you did, you know 2012 could be the year of a catastrophic economic meltdown, communication blackouts, The Four Horsemen, and the zombie apocalypse.

Even if none of this happens, it’ll be an election year—which is always rough.

With impending doom and election gloom in mind, it seems to be a good time to go for resolutions that are a bit more practical than get in shape or drop five pounds. So in the spirit of Thomas Cromwell’s “Trust God but keep your powder dry,” here are my resolutions for the year:
  1. Learn to hotwire a car. Hey, you never know when you’ll have to forage through an onramp of abandoned cars to get out of town.
  2. Read more. I have to whittle down my “to be read” pile. Otherwise my personal Armageddon could happen when it collapses on me.
  3. Plant a garden. I like fresh veggies too much to go without when the inherent flaw of “just-in-time” inventory becomes painfully obvious. (And if the year passes without apocalyptic incidents, then I’ll have saved money, been a bit greener and found a way to avoid a few hours of the 24/7 election news).
  4. Go someplace I’ve not been before. Prague sounds good, but I’m open to suggestions.
  5. Practice kindness. As a verb, not an abstract idea. Even if the year doesn’t turn out to be a wild ride, we still need all the kindness we can get.
What about you? What are your goals and resolutions for 2012?


17 comments:

Mona Risk said...

Happy New Year Keena. These are great resolutions. Ten years ago, my daughter and I took an on-hand class on trouble shooting a car problems, changing a tire and hotwiring. The instructor ended by telling us, still you better call AAA.

Unknown said...

Akk is a go..except #3. I avoid all things gardening. It's too hard here in Texas, anyway, unless you own farmland. Plus I'd have to erect a 12 foot fence to keep the deer from believing it's all for them.
Prague is good. Berlin, too, is a very interesting city. Vienna...we discoverd a whole other Europe by going to those countries that were once called "Eastern Europe." Now it's called "Central Europe."

Callie said...

Hey, Keena, About the only resolutions I made are pretty much a repeat of last year: write, write, write, read, read, read. Between marketing the books I have out there, and working on a new, exciting project, and working on the 2nd sequel to my first book, I'm putting in 12 hour days. But there's always time to read as well as write.

Happy New Year everyone, may this be the year of your best seller!

LK Hunsaker said...

Hm, with my non-penchant for all things electronically inclined, I think I better just start walking more to build up my walking muscles. ;-) That'll be a good thing either way.

CathyP said...

If I can find an older, straight drive in that pile of abandoned cars... hmm, better stay with the walking program.

My resolutions are pretty simple: read every day; write every day.

Oh, and keep the deer from eating the new trees.

M.V.Freeman said...

Keena,
I love your resolutions! I think they are quite good. Personally I think hotwiring a car is always good knowledge. As for growing things--I'm horrible. I've had gardens and between the bunnies and me its been a disaster, this year I am supporting my sister in law with the garden (win win in my book)
Goals this year: get an agent. Write.
I also like that you have travel and kindness on your list--very important. (Hope you do go to Prague!)
May this year be a good one for you!

Ally Broadfield said...

Great list! I love the idea of traveling somewhere new. I'm also in TX and can't afford the amount of water it requires to keep a garden going here, though we used to have a great one in VA. My goal is to be more efficient this year.

Maggie Toussaint said...

Cool resolutions! The first reminded me of my wedding gift from a favorite aunt. She gave me money to buy china or silver and I used it to buy a pair of deluxe jumper cables. Since we moved, they've been stored in the cabinet over the dryer. If all this mayhem is coming, I better put them back in the car!

This year my resolution is to carve ME time out of all the other stuff. I forget to take care of myself because my to-do list is always longer than my arm. I'm going to eat better, relax more, and keep on pace with a walking schedule.

Or at least that's the plan!

Happy New Year, Keena!
Maggie

Keena Kincaid said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Keena Kincaid said...

Hi, Mona, I don't know if AAA will be out and about in the event of a zombie apocalypse, but they would be my first call in any other circumstance. :-)

Keena Kincaid said...

Thanks for the suggestions, Mona. My college is organizing a trip to Prague this spring. I've never been on a "tour" before. Can't decide if it would be fun or not.

For the Texans, can you pot gardens? Just tomatoes and peppers or other veggies like that on the back porch?

Keena Kincaid said...

Cathy,
I have heard modern cars are harder to hot-wire, if not impossible. I suppose if worse comes to worse, I can always steal...er, borrow a Vespa. Of course, they're not all that good if you've adopted the "be invisible" strategy.

Keena Kincaid said...

Maggie,
What did your aunt say when you showed her the jumper cables?

Jannine Gallant said...

I like #5. The world could use more kindness. If the politicians kept it in mind, election years wouldn't be nearly as painful!

Keena Kincaid said...

From you mouth to God's ear, Jannine!

Sheryl Browne said...

Nice five, Keena, particularly No.5 – definitely a case of give to receive. Not sure I would be up to hotwiring the car. Maybe I’ll pump up my bicycle tyres instead and ride a little more. Every time I look at my lovely bike stored forlornly in the garage I want to hop on it. Never quite get around to it though. Good luck with all your endeavours – and have a good one!

Stephanie Burkhart said...

Keena, you're #1 had me chuckling. Back when I was a MP in the Army, I learned how to slim jim a car. It was a much needed skill, trust me. Americans in Germany often locked themselves out of their cars.

Smiles
Steph