Everyone I know has a travel horror story from this summer. I know multiple people who have gotten to the airport to learn that their flight was canceled. Others who couldn’t return. Many people who lost luggage, stood in long lines, or had their lodging reservations dropped once they reached their destination. We were super lucky because our outgoing flight was canceled, but we were able to make a second reservation at a different airport immediately. But that’s the thing: it’s completely random. And you don’t know.

It makes me want to stay home. Travel is supposed to be fun. Relaxing. It’s not supposed to be multiple weeks of nail biting, wondering how long you’ll need to spend on hold with customer service just to get from point A to point B.

I can accept that reality in so many facets of life. But not vacation time.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “A Delightful Recommedation” (Finding a Different Path)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Barreness begins with a story about a lost purchase, and it becomes a frame for things feeling small and close-in when she wants to see the path forward. She writes: “I am finding that my sights are set to a myopic level as of late. I am having a hard time seeing past the present.” It captures the frustration of the moment.

The Road Less Travelled is remembering her daughter, who would have been 24 years old this year. She begins by realizing what was happening in her life when she was 24. Job, marriage, new apartment — it is hard thinking about what her daughter didn’t get to experience. She writes: “My baby girl would be 24 later this year, in November, had she been born on or close to her due date. She never drew a breath, but her presence still looms large in our lives.” Abiding with her.

Lastly, Dear John has a powerful post about feeling like she’s in a state of waiting, even though she knows that what has happened has already happened. She tells him, “A few weeks ago, I felt like you were near – like you had your hands on my shoulders. I don’t feel you any more though. Maybe that feeling will return.” It’s a moving piece on loss.

The roundup to the Roundup: Staying home. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between August 5 – 12) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.

An update about the car situation. The mechanic called us yesterday. I was correct. There was a gas smell. This was because a squirrel ATE THROUGH THE FUEL LINE.

The mechanic thought this was due to the fact that I don’t drive the car very often. Apparently squirrels like dormant cars. But I know better. A few weeks ago, a squirrel was being sexually assaulted by another squirrel in my yard. I ran outside, clapping my hands loudly, buying the one squirrel time to scamper away. I believe it was the bad squirrel who came back to mess with my car. I cannot prove this, but it helps me to direct all of my ire at that squirrel who attempted murder.

Because that’s the outcome of driving a car with a chewed through fuel line — it can potentially catch fire.

The mechanic is replacing the fuel line and has given us a list of things to try to deter squirrels, including driving the car. Imagine that. A friend passed along an article from the New York Times about rats chewing through car parts. And Josh found this article of a few more things to try.

Because I’m not going to stop coming out there to break up rough squirrel sex on my lawn. That isn’t an option.

The twins and I needed to run an errand, and I said I’d drive. We piled into the car, I turned the ignition, and we were immediately flooded with a very strong scent of gasoline. “Do you smell that?” I asked, as if anyone could not smell the gasoline. It smelled like we were taking a gasoline shower.

I turned the car off, and we got out. You could smell it strongly on the outside, too. We took the twins’ car, ran our errand, and came home to deal with this strange problem. By which I mean that I waited for Josh to come home and deal with this strange problem because I did not feel like dealing with this strange problem.

The body shop told him to get the car towed. So he called towing who said they would not come out unless the fire department came out and said it was safe. So he called the fire department who came out and said they didn’t see any reason not to tow it, called the towing company who came to pick it up, and called the body shop to discuss the issue. They said they would check out my towed car on route to their shop… in six days.

It’s not as if I could have used it between those six days — clearly, I wasn’t driving the car. And I should probably mention that prior to starting the car and smelling the gasoline, it had been 18 days since I last drove it. I just don’t drive my car very often because I don’t leave the house that often. And when I do, someone else tends to drive. I often wonder if I should even have a car. Do I really need something I use so infrequently?

And yet, I couldn’t stop moaning about not being able to anywhere. I sang songs about it that I made up on the spot. If the car was fine, I wouldn’t have used it. But since the car was not fine, it felt like a grand old time to take care of all those small tasks I put off because I don’t leave the house.

This experience should tell me something deep about myself.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

I read something that I found lovely and horrifying at the same time. When returning Tupperware or a bowl or a dish, fill the receptacle with food instead of returning it empty. So definitely lovely on the thought-that-counts side. It is very kind and shows appreciation.

But I do not like to receive food, and because we keep kosher, I wouldn’t even want to receive my storage container back at all. I try to package things so I don’t need anything returned. Or if we’re making a meal for someone, we purchase new storage containers and ask them to donate them afterward.

What do you think of refilling their Tupperware?

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

We need to declutter. I think about it daily. We need to declutter our storage space first, and then once there is room, move some things into storage while giving other things away (or, unfortunately, throwing out). There are a lot of things in this house that no one uses anymore.

I say this a lot because I think about it a lot. My biggest fear is that I’m going to wait too close to when the twins leave for college and be unable to do it, emotionally. But I’m not really motivated to set aside relaxation time to declutter because I have so little relaxation time. So I feel the pressure of time from two sides, and in the end, I declutter small spaces here and there, leaving untouched the real work that needs to get done so I’m not surrounded by old toys and middle grade books.

I love the idea of slow decluttering, and I think that it works well for tackling the rest of the house once we have the storage space. But the storage space requires a weekend. I’m positive that I will be so much happier and settled once I take care of the storage space. It’s just finding the motivation to give up a weekend or half of two weekends.

But I have to do it. I cannot spend the rest of my life staring at unplayed board games.