I think most of the time our brains operate on autopilot. We walk, we drive, we talk without ever really noticing many of the things around us. Sometimes when something out of the ordinary occurs, there's a moment where we're confused for a couple of seconds. I think that might be our brains shifting back from automatic to manual mode or something.

I decided to go for a walk this morning before work, so I began my normal routine. After getting dressed and getting my MP3 player ready I walked out the front door. I made it halfway down the driveway before something in my brain clicked and I noticed there was a stranger's car parked in our front yard! However, the mystery was quickly solved -- the pool people showed up early this morning to get started on replacing our liner. I left for my walk at 6am and they were already out there working. Good thing we don't, you know, sleep in or anything. I can't blame them for wanting to get started before it gets hot(ter). At 7am this morning our front porch thermometer read 85 degrees.

And on a semi-related topic, owning a double gate in your fence is apparently an open invitation for people to drive and park in your yard. I didn't even put the gate in, it was there when we moved in. But every time we've had someone out to work on the pool, they insist on driving right across the front lawn (which involves backing up over the curb and then up our fairly steep lawn) to get to the fence. On second thought maybe it's not the gate -- maybe pool people just like driving on people's lawns.