Sharing a birthday with Romans, Stan Brown, maintenance worry …

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Updated Jan 26, 2015

We’re at home for my birthday, patiently awaiting our Precious to have her new guts from Pittsburgh Power. I remarked that I felt like I was waiting for our child to give birth, or something along those lines, because every time the phone rings I feel like I’m going to faint from anticipation. There should be some kind of cautionary rule against becoming as emotionally attached to an inanimate object as I have become to that truck. The only comfort I take while she has her vital organs torn apart is that she’s with Bruce and Pete and in the extremely capable hands of their techs and mechanics at Pittsburgh Power. Other than that, I’m a mess about it.

George leaving the baby behind…George leaving the baby behind…

To avoid pacing and fretting and calling our friends in Pittsburgh eleventy-hundred times a day like a creepy stalker, I’ve entertained myself by looking up people from history I have a common birthday with. I was inspired by the really awesome comment I got on the “Bureau of Terrifying Things” post from Stan Brown – I just want you to know comments like that are cherished and I’m happy to share my special day with you, Stan. (Let that in no way give away a license to eat the last piece of cake, bro.)

Anyway, I know it’s not much, but you’ll have to forgive me because “truck in shop brain” automatically kicks me into “oh my god we’re going to starve to death” mode, which tends to make me a little less focused. I know in my real mind it’s not going to happen, but it’s an ingrained response I can’t help. Bear with me.

So the first and most notable person Stan and I may or may not share a birthday with is Messalina, third wife of Claudius, Emperor of Rome and the second cousin to Caligula. She was also related to Nero. If that’s not a pedigree to make you run the other way, you didn’t pay attention in history class. I say we may or may not share a birthday with her because she was born in AD 17, and as good as the Romans were at keeping records, that was a long dang time ago, so no one is sure if she was born on the 17th, 20th, or 25th.

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It bears to be noted the Romans were one of the first civilizations to have a highway system, used primarily for ease of transport of military troops and equipment, which is also one of the reasons highway systems were developed in America. Bam. (Transportation of freight is the Kevin Bacon of the world – you can loosely tie it to almost anything.)

Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759, and was a prolific poet and songwriter, most famous for the catchy, once-a-year favorite “Auld Lang Syne.” No one really knows all the words to this song, yet it’s sung with fervor and abandon by drunks all over the world, once a year. That’s quite an accomplishment, if you ask me. And although I can’t directly tie Robert to the transportation industry, I will tell you the 11,875 pound ball they drop in Times Square while they sing this song every year is hauled in by heavy equipment operators and wouldn’t happen without them, so yay again for trucks.

I could probably prattle on all day here – Etta James and Virginia Woolf were also born this day – but I still can’t get my mind off the truck. It’s decidedly an illness.

Hi, I’m Wendy, and the last time I smelled diesel was a week ago….

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