Go Cats!

This weekend I went to Chicago with JB, Kristie and Dad to see Northwestern play against the Wolverines. Of course, my loyalties were mixed, I decided to side with the family and root for the Wildcats. Our seats on the 50 yard line were AMAZING (Thanks Papa!) and the people around us would not have taken kindly to any utterings of "Go Blue" or "The Victors"! The first few minutes of the game were really exciting. Things went down hill from there, but the weather was beautiful and it was fun to be with the family for the game. As a side note, for some reason the UofM wasn't allowed to bring their band to the game. The NU marching band played "The Victors" after the game was over for a VERY classy display of good sportsmanship.

We also got to visit my Uncle Rory's store, The Grove, in Downers Grove. It was so clean and well organized, I wish he would open a store near me!

Tonight I will pass out candy for the first time in my house! Dave and I carved pumpkins last week. My kitty's face is looking pretty shriveled, but Dave stuck with the bleach water dunk method so Taz has pulled through like a champ.

Also, it sounds like Mom is feeling better after her tooth extraction. We're sorry she couldn't join us for the game, but very glad to hear that she's feeling better!

What a day... PART 2!

Dave and I bought a quad tonight on EBAY!! Don't worry Dad, I'll wear lots of safety gear!

What a day!

Today didn't start off very well. While driving up Prospect on my way to work, the car in front of me hit a HUGE deer and due to oncoming traffic, I couldn't swerve to avoid running over some remains. I straddled a large part of the deer in an attempt to save my tires. A brief system check after the impact revealed no evidence of damage, so I continued driving. It was still dark out when I got to work, so I couldn't see much.

A few hours later I got around to checking on my PT, only to find my driver's side rear tire almost flat. :( I jacked up the car to save the rim and started getting things organized to drop the spare. I kept winding down but it wasn't dropping, so I kneeled down to see what was wrong and EEEEWWWWWWWWWWW! The faint of heart should stop reading now. The underside of the car was covered in flesh and fur. From the front to the back, it was everywhere. There were intestines all wrapped up in the spare tire holding mechanism! YUCK! So I went inside and got rubber gloves and shop towels from the guys in the shop and went to work removing the interfering "parts". Eventually the tire came down and I got it on the hub.

At lunch I went to Discount Tire to get the tire repaired. They wouldn't even touch the car until I got it washed. TWO trips through the wash including underbody blast still didn't clean everything off, but they put it on the hoist anyway. Final diagnosis was a cut in the sidewall. Probably from a bone or something. Not repairable. So I made another call to my favorite used tire sales guy in Pennsylvania and ordered up a whole new set of tires, just in case, because it seems like my Focus luck has rubbed off on my PT tires. Oh yeah, I already had a tire on order for the front right because I puckered the sidewall on one of Detroit's Finest Potholes last week. Ugh.

SO imagine the PT limping around Detroit, puckered front tire, tiny donut spare on the back. It is VERY unhappy!

Playing a violin with three strings

"You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left." -Itzhak Perlman

My uncle Keith sent me this link. I think the story is pretty cool. Check it out... (click on the posting header)

Reason for concern...

This mornings edition of autoextremist.com (http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant) addresses the recent bankruptcy filing by Delphi. It touches on some of my thoughts about the effects on our economy. Without a doubt, it will effect the local economy in Detroit, but it is likely to reach much farther than that.

I am primarily concerned about the real estate market in Detroit and what it will do to the value of my home. I am a little comforted by the proximity of my house to the new Kia/Hyundai Tech Center and Toyota Tech Center (which just expanded) but the 1500 or so jobs supported by those locations can not single handedly support the housing market around them.

On a lighter note, I'm considering buying a humidifier for my furnace. I got my Amex cash reward this month and I think this would be a good use for the money. I'm starting my research today!

New additions to the landscape!

I'm trying a new font today to see how it looks...

So who knew that Dave was a scratch golfer?? ;) Mom, Dad, JB, Kristie, Dave and I all went golfing on Sunday at the cottage and boy did we have fun! JB (aka Tiger) was the anchor man for the scramble, but Dad, JB and Kristie sure had some nice shots! I did not fare so well, but when I managed to connect with the ball it went straight. Not far, but straight, so there is hope. Mom took pictures, so maybe I'll be able to post some of those when she sends them out.

I've decided I need a little more color in my backyard landscaping, so I did some shopping and bought new plants from Dutch Gardens! I tried a new feature they have which is the ready-to-plant garden. They pick all the plants and show you how to organize them. This one is specifically deer and rodent resistant and made for shade! I also bought Gold Lace Primrose and Revolution Hosta for under my Redbud tree. Everything arrived on friday so the clock is ticking to get them into the ground. I got a good start last night, planting the Gold Lace Primrose and the Revolution Hosta. I also planned out where the shade garden will go. That one will be a lot more work because I have to build a new bed next to the half-circle I have behind the patio. It won't be too bad because I'm going to forgo the fabric. It doesn't do a bit of good in the beds I already have, so why bother!

Ready for the weekend!

I'm really excited to go up to the cottage tomorrow! Dave and I have had plans to go up for Angie Provost's wedding for quite some time. Now it turns out that JB, Kristie, Dad and Mom are going up as well! We're also going to spend some time with Leah and Mike and I haven't seen them in a long time so I'm looking forward to that!

Here's some fun pictures that I'd like to share... Dave and I attended an SAE presentation on the STS-V and XLR-V at the end of August. Dave already knew all the things they were talking about... I think he just wanted to go so he could have a beer in the VEC!! The first picture is me in the lobby of the GM Tech Center sitting in a Solstice with a BEER! The other one is Dave with his friend Matt in front of THE engine.

Welcome! Thanks for visiting!

Well, since I'm sending out the link to my blog, I want to make sure there's more interesting things here for people to read!Tonight I'm going to help Dave take the transmission out of the Trans Am. Ok, ok, so I'll probably do more watching and tool fetching, but I'll learn something anyway. Last night Dave brought a new STS-V to my house and showed me how to flash in a new calibration for the traction control system. His computer was talking to the car and loading new software! We tested it out by doing big smokey burnouts in the new sub across the street!! He left huge black patches of tire rubber on the brand new street!

Of course, you should all check out the latest Autoextremist articles. Autoextremist is published every Wednesday and provides interesting reading for anyone curious about what's REALLY going on in the auto industry. This weeks letter requires reading last weeks letter, but its worth it. http://www.autoextremist.com/. Enjoy!