Happy Friday, RISERS! I hope this week has been good to you. It has been Fall Break here in Knoxville, and my family has enjoyed the time off together.
Quote of the week: “There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.” —Mark Twain
Movie of the week: This week I want to suggest another one of the “horror” movies starring Vincent Price. House of Wax is about a man who makes tremendous wax-figure creations, so real that he views them as actual people. Enter a greedy partner and a fire, and you have a good scary movie. It also features the first screen appearance of legendary tough guy Charles Bronson. House of Wax is another one of the movies we make sure to watch every October. I hope you like it!
Joke of the week: Why did the art thief’s getaway vehicle run out of fuel? He had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh…
Nugget of Wisdom for the week: The wisdom I wish to impart to you this week is regarding the thrill of challenging the Distance to Empty (DTE) indicator for your vehicle. In cars without a digital display screen, it’s simply called a gas gauge, which shows approximately how much gas is left until the tank is officially empty. On Sunday, I drove to my mom’s house in South Georgia to visit her before her heart stint surgery. I had made the same trip back in June and boasted that my car could get to her house on one tank of gas. Well, my car kept showing me that the DTE was 20 miles shy of the distance I had left to travel. I started living the opening line to the song “Hotel California,” but instead of being on a “dark, desert highway,” I was on a dark, country back road that had absolutely NO gas stations anywhere. My “tank empty” warning light came on 13 miles from the next turn of my trip, where I knew for certain I could find fuel. I had no idea if I had enough reserve gas in the tank to make it to the closest gas station. I could not have pushed my vehicle up the hills in that area, and my phone had no cell reception, so I couldn’t have called anyone if I had run out of gas. Lesson learned! I want to advise you to NEVER play chicken with your gas tank light. Your safety is not worth it.
Have a great week. Remember, you are most awesome and YOU ROCK!
Marion Rhines is a foster-turned-adoptive parent. She lives in Knoxville, Tenn., with her husband and five children. She has written and published two children’s books as well as two foster-care-themed novels. She has a Facebook blog, Tips from the FLIP Side, and enjoys working with children of all ages.
