Monthly Archive for August, 2004

Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Jetta

Published on August 31, 2004 in life events. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Back on June 12, Monica and I were smack dab in the middle of looking for a new house. We got up that morning, quickly ate breakfast, and took off to look at an attached home that just didn’t do it for us. As we mulled over that house, heading down the road to look at another house that we wouldn’t like, it seemed to be just your ordinary Saturday morning.

We were following our real estate lady on a divided four lane highway, but it was the kind that didn’t have turn lanes so if you wanted to turn left, you had to stop traffic in the left lane. That’s just what someone did in front of our agent, and she was forced to stop rather suddenly which in turn forced us to stop in much the same manner. After I came to an abrupt halt, I glanced towards the rear view mirror, something which I’m accustomed to do just to make sure the person behind me has stopped as well.

In the next half a second, I saw a very quickly moving grill of a car, followed by darkness, a loud crash, the rush of wind and glass, and the feeling of my head rest smacking me in the back of my head.

So there we were, seats fully reclined, looking out the front of my car, both of us in a daze. I knew immediately what happened, but Monica was a little worse for wear as she was a little out of it. Our agent wasn’t exactly sure what happened, but she pulled over and called 911 as she rushed over to see if we were okay. I actually got out of the car for a second to look at the damage (yes, I know you’re not supposed to do that), but my neck hurt badly so I got back in the car.

The paramedics and firefighters arrived and surveyed the situation which prompted this exchange.

“Do you want to go the hospital?”

“Uh, isn’t that your decision?”

So, yes, we did indeed want to go to the hospital via a ride in the ambulance. They even put neck braces on us and pulled us out of the car to set us on those stiff, blue boards After an eternity on the most uncomfortable surface known to man and many x-rays, we were released from the hospital with only sprains and bruises. It took a couple of weeks before we were really back to normal, but we thank God that we are alive today to talk about it.

Here are some photos of my car after the accident.

Why are we rock stars?

Published on August 24, 2004 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: .

Here’s a great quote from someone I never thought I’d quote.

From this article…which I found out about here.

WINNIPEG – In the eyes of Alice Cooper, all the rock stars campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry are guilty of one thing: treason. The shock-rock legend, a staunch Republican who attends NBA games in Phoenix with Arizona Senator John McCain, was disgusted when he learned of plans by Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, R.E.M. and other bands to hold a series of concerts aimed at unseating U.S. President George W. Bush.

“To me, that’s treason. I call it treason against rock ‘n’ roll because rock is the antithesis of politics. Rock should never be in bed with politics,” says the 56-year-old Cooper, who begins a 15-city Canadian tour on Aug. 20 in Thunder Bay, Ont.

“When I was a kid and my parents started talking about politics, I’d run to my room and put on the Rolling Stones as loud as I could. So when I see all these rock stars up there talking politics, it makes me sick.”

“If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we’re morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.”

Nice Day For A Mow

Published on August 19, 2004 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: .

I’m beginning to appreciate the joys of yard-work. Since moving into our new house, I’ve mowed the grass several times, and today I was finally able to weed-eat and edge. See, I tried to do that the day before, but my extension cord wasn’t long enough, and my weed-eater line was all used up.

So after another trek to Home Depot, I was able to resume my chores, and now the yard looks much nicer. The driveway and sidewalk could be edged better as the previous owners NEVER edged, but that will have to wait until I acquire an actual edger machine.

I can see how people really get into and enjoy yard-work; you get a real sense of satisfaction after you’re finished. We have big plans for the yard. Here’s hoping we actually make them a reality.

I Am Feeling Very Olympic

Published on August 18, 2004 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: .

Wow, we’re actually doing pretty well over there in Athens. Not that we usually do bad in the Olympics, but Paul Hamm winning a gold medal in the men’s gymnastics all-around, the first in like….EVER…is really something.

I’m really enjoying the coverage. What I do is TiVo just about every second of coverage and then watch it in the evenings while working around the house. I fast forward through alot of it, but it lets me see some of the events you won’t normally see on NBC during primetime such as archery, fencing, trap shooting, air rifle, table tennis, water polo, badminton, and everyone’s favorite, synchronized diving.

Synchronized diving? Who thought that one up? How long before there’s a synchronized version of every event? Synchronized basket weaving, anyone?

The King is Dead

Published on August 16, 2004 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Twenty seven years ago today, the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll died. Take a few seconds today to bow your head, and remember Elvis Presley by listening to some Elvis tunes and viewing some Elvis photos.

I’m A Big Kid Now

Published on August 9, 2004 in life events. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I’m starting to enjoy being a homeowner, and that scares me. For some reason, I get great satisfaction out of fixing the little things that are messed up around the house. Whether it’s patching a little hole or running some cable down a wall, I feel good after doing it.

Ten years ago, all I cared about was sleeping and partying, with some occasional studying thrown in for good measure. I wouldn’t have stepped foot into a Home Depot to save my life, but now I really dig it.

What in the world is happening to me?

I Don’t Care If I Ever Come Back

Published on August 6, 2004 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

We’re heading to a minor league baseball game tonight. I’ve been to a few Tides games in my life, but I haven’t been to one in quite a few years. Harbor Park is a really nice place to see a ball game…too bad Norfolk doesn’t stand a chance to get a major league franchise.

Monica’s mom came into town last night so we’ll get to take her along with us. When she’s not attending sporting events, she’ll be helping us unpack the rest of our belongings.

She came in via train to Newport News and then a short bus ride to Norfolk. For future reference, they don’t drop you off at the bus terminal so don’t bother getting directions to there like we did. They actually drop you off down the road at some random bus stop.

Wish we would have known that before hand. :angry:

Home Sweet Home?

Published on August 5, 2004 in life events. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It still hasn’t sunk in that we’re actually “home” now. I keep saying “back home” when I refer to our old place, but I guess it will only be a matter of time before home becomes where we are now.

And even though we’ve been in the new house for over a week, it still doesn’t feel like we own it. I mean, we’ve done a ton of work on it already (including a marathon painting session), but when I walk around, it’s still not that familiar yet.

I can’t wait until everything is in it’s place, and we can finally sit down and enjoy it and relax. Of course, the lawn will need mowing then.

We’re Baaaaack

Published on August 4, 2004 in life events. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Yes, we’re finally back online. We’ve moved into the new digs and are smack dab in the middle of unpacking and getting settled. There’s nothing like living out of a suitcase for six weeks to make you appreciate having closets (although to be honest, we did have one closet to use). Thanks for letting us crash at your place, Mom!

Our house is finally starting to look like a house, not just a bunch of boxes surrounded by some wood and sheet rock. Of course, this is after we spent six solid days and nights painting (thanks, Bill!), installed new carpet, and unpacked a huge POD (thanks, Dad and Marlene!). It was a little scary thinking of everything we owned being in a box on our driveway, and then transferring so that everything we owned was in many boxes in our garage.

I know alot of you are dying to see it so I’ll post pictures of our new house online soon (as well as some of my poor, old Jetta and new new Envoy).

And for those of you wondering, Monica finally found the flatware. Woohoo!