2 + 2 = 5

I've been having some annoying troubles with my car lately. I love it to death, but as a young gun, I didn't drive it so nicely. That's not suprising, especially if you know me. Well, to make a long story short since I don't feel like recanting the entire saga right now, I got a rebuilt trans, new exahust pipe including a new cat, and a new clutch set-up. All was well for a few weeks, then on my way home from class, something seemed not quite right. It sat in the garage for a week or two until the mechanic could finally have us bring it in, he adjusts the exhaust (which the shifter was hitting) and he things that should have solved the problem.

Well, this whole situation was based entirely on my experience with the car. It popped out of gear a few times, and when I shifted, it seemed to "fall" right out, without much of a push from me. Sometimes, it plain wouldn't go into gear, i.e. sitting in the parking lot once, it refused to stay in first, I had to let go of a the clutch a few times and really push to jam it in there. So we called our reputable mechanic, yadda yadda. Well my dad, the mechanic, his buddy, no one could really feel what I was describing. It made sense to them in a way, and I suggested the alignment on something was off, I suspected the collars. Regardless, they're convined it's probably fixed. So I drive it home, and it feels no different than before I took it in. It still feels like it won't really "lock" into gear. The more I play with it, try putting it in different ways, how I rest my hand on it and how I push on it (mind out of the gutter, people), the more I wonder if I was even feeling anything wrong in the first place!

I'm providing a lot of superfluous information, as I often do. The point is, this got me wondering. The whole "am I just crazy?" scenario reminded me of Orwell's 1984. For those unfarmiliar, Wilson has many unusual thoughts in a very restricted, controlled society set in the "future" in "Britain." Enjoy the "quotes"? I do. With thoughts that go completely against his society, his government, the world he lives and was raised in, he begins to wonder if he's insane. If one person thinks something totally different from every other person, does that make him wrong? Does it make him crazy? He meets a girl, she thinks the same way, he's convinced he's not crazy; he's very much certain that even a single person can maintain his/her sanity while the rest of the world goes bonkers. Throughout the book, this comes back into question and towards the end there are some very intriguing mind games being played, both on Wilson and the reader. With a surprising ending (in my opinion), it of course makes a great read provokes thought from any intelligent reader.

Well? What if you were convinced of something? You were picked up by a UFO, the government planned 9/11, Crab-People have their own society underground and are planning to take over the world by turning everyone metro, or maybe something on your car just doesn't feel right. No one else can tell. Everyone knows you're wrong.

Are you?


We say Good-bye, only to look forward to the next Hello.


p.s. I'll feel really stupid if no one gets the South Park reference.
p.p.s. I feel even stupider now, because I'm really writing this to no one.