I Died And Didn't Go To Heaven

Where has the time gone? Been busy doing stuff and not blogging. Okay, quick wrap-up of the last few weeks.

April 9th, we threw Mia her 3rd birthday bash. It was good times and nobody got hurt too badly. So, now I've got a 3 year old little girl who is just growing more amazing every single day.

The following Friday night, I went to poker and won me some money. $17 total. Then, on my way home, the clutch in my pickup decided not to work any more. I called a drunk Douglas to get his girlfriend Kelly to drive down and pick me up from the side of I-5 so I didn't have to freeze my figs off. When the tow truck came, I had to walk back from the Monkey Ranch down to my vehicle. Yee Haw. Walking along I-5 at 3am is not as much fun as you'd expect it to be. On my way there, a cab driver pulled over and asked me if I needed a ride. No. Some other dude pulled over while I was sitting in the truck, waiting to be towed. He said he pulled over just because of my obvious affiliation with the University of Oregon. I have a UofO Ducks hitch cover and he had a gigantic Oregon Ducks window sticker. I guess if I was a Beaver fan, he would have kept going and spit at me. Strangely, he didn't speak much english (or was really, really drunk), and when I got the point across that I didn't need any assistance, he stood there like he was waiting for something for what was a really uncomfortable amount of time. It was like we were both at a party, our wives were talking and becoming great friends while we didn't know anyone and didn't really feel like talking to each other. So, we continue standing there on the Terwilliger Curves of I-5, not talking, as I am making the motion of walking back to the busted pickup saying, "Okay then... thanks." Finally the guy shoved off along with the weirdness. It was probably Bill's carrel guy.

Anyway, the tow truck took me to the mechanic and I hopped a taxi from there home. The cost of the cab ride was $17. The night's poker winnings were a wash.

That Monday the mechanic told me the clutch had been "grenaded". I guess that's bad, because it cost me $1300 worth of parts and labor to get it fixed. I had to pick the truck up after hours, and when I got in and started driving it, I found that that the odometer and speedometer weren't functioning. This would be great if I had a new car that I wanted to rack up some free miles for a better resale value, but with a 16 year old truck, there is no gain.

I just had one of those weekends that almost felt like a summer weekend. We got a whole lot of random projects done, but didn't spend any time in the yard since it was raining the whole time. I've also rebuilt 2 computers in as many weeks. I'm getting prepared to resurrect the HTPC project.