A trip to get the oil changed

It was just a trip to Handy Andy’s Auto Service to get the oil changed this morning.

The snow had stopped (yes we got a light dusting this morning, but, again, nothing stuck.) Garry and Andy were ready to take the RAV4, giving me an hour to kill in Multnomah Village.

Ah, the joy of it!

Life is good.

I figured I’d wander over to the Multnomah Arts Center, plunk down in an easy chair and read today’s New York Times.

Richard from Annie Bloom’s book store stopped me on the sidewalk to congratulate me and the Hillsdale News for our scoop on the Multnomah Farmers’ Market.

Annie had a green Remington #3 portable in the window, so I let Richard and the clerk know about my typewriter collection. They seemed interested in a window display. I referred them to my Back Space Typewriters site, where there’s a page devoted to my current University of Portland display.

On to the Multnomah Arts Center. Turned out that the Loaves and Fishes/Neighborhood House rummage sale was in full swing. I’m a sucker for all things rummage. The voyeuristic hodge-podgery of it all.

Alas, no typewriters (which is probably just as well) but I did score a tin, recipe box ($1), of which I have several now (don’t ask); a 304-piece jigsaw puzzle of Monticello (25 cents) and one of those floating compasses for mounting on the dash of the car ($3). (see photo above)

So I escaped for $4.25. Not bad. Never did read the Times.

Back at Handy Andy’s to pick up the RAV, I noticed a 1951 Chevy Deluxe sedan parked next to the garage and decided to feast my eyes (and camera) on the chrome and patina (cracked paint, rust spots).

"It won’t start," Garry says, but he and Andy are going to try bring it back to life for its owner, who bought it dead on a whim.

I told Garry that my mom had a primrose yellow 1952 Chevy convertible back in the dawn of time. He didn’t seem impressed. He and Andy, who hale from those days, have seen 'em all.

And now you’ve seen this one.

To think that this all started as a trip to get the oil changed.

The Internet and the apostrophe's demise

Around our house this weekend we spent more time than I care to admit chewing over how, or whether, or where to insert an apostrophe in the name of the "Queen of Diamonds Jewelry," a local business.

I made a cavalier statement about the punctuation in an earlier post. I knew I'd be in trouble....

So, should it be as it is above and on the store's sign, or should it be "Queen of Diamonds'" (perhaps...see Shawn Levy's comment), or should it be "Queen's of Diamonds" (no way!)?

No wonder this one falls into the "gave up trying" category mentioned in the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves."

I was settling into acceptance of the vague when I spotted a bus with a "Powells.com" sign on the front of it. Certainly Michael Powell would know better than that. Indeed he does, as the store's sign clearly shows. The inconsistency is apparent on the Powell's home page. One header, two punctuations.

Consider Annie Bloom's, our Multnomah Village book seller. Same problem. It's "Annie Bloom's" on the store but "Annieblooms.com" on the web.

The missing space between the given and proper names begins to get to the problem. The Web, in its techno-wisdom, doesn't like apostrophes (or spaces) in URLs. And that, fellow nit-pickers, could be the beginning of the end of apostrophes as we know them.

"Starbucks" was just ahead of its time.