Have you seen these 'TLC Life Lessons'? They're pretty funny. I couldn't help but think of this particular life lesson as I changed the brakes on my '91 Honda Accord Wagon on Saturday. I've changed brakes before and it went fine but this one was a bit of a bear. My brake pads went from working fine and no signs of problems at all one day to grinding metal on metal and no pad left the next. Crazy stuff. So I thought, "I am man. Me fix stuff. Me strong." A brake job costs in the neighborhood of $90-$120 depending on the place and assuming nothing extra/typical has to be done. The parts cost under $30 and the labor shouldn't be too bad but everything I do turns to ruins so of course the 90 minute project took me about five hours and didn't even work. I replaced the brake pads- that part isn't too bad. I needed my rotors turned but I couldn't get them off. Those suckers were practically welded on so there they'll stay. Then when I finally finished the brakes didn't work. What the heck? As it turns out I let some air and or moisture into the brake lines in the process so now I have to bleed the brake lines, which is another project. Oh joy. That's hopefully going to be done tomorrow. The brakes work a little bit right now. If I pump the brakes, pressure builds up in the brake line and I can stop. I can't STOP, but I can slow to an eventual halt. So I've been driving around since Saturday with my hand resting on the E-Brake and at the ready. I know- I'm not too smart. I learned what mistakes to avoid for my next brake job, though, so that's important. My next brake job will be in the very near future since our van is in need of new brakes, too. Happy day. I really shouldn't be blogging right now because I have three final projects due next week and I haven't started on any of them. I've got time... right? Sure I do. Nothing is late yet and I'm a quick worker. I get in my zone and start producing. Next thing you know it, it's midnight and I have a semi-crappy product to turn in. Yippee.
So guess what Saturday is. Our SIX YEAR ANNIVERSARY. How cool is that? Six is not a significant number or anything but I'm pretty excited. I just did a quick search and apparently this is our Iron Anniversary. Talk about special! Iron- whoa. It's not every year that you get to celebrate your Iron Anniversary, eh? Next year is the much anticipated Wool Anniversary! That's gonna be special, huh? Who comes up with this stuff. I think this year will be our Play-Doh anniversary since I've acquired a bit of dough around the middle and Anders loves Play-Doh. Yeah, that's way cooler than Iron.
I've got something worked out for our anniversary this weekend but of course I can't divulge it on the internet. That would certainly ruin any chance of surprising Katrina. Nothing special but I think Katrina will like it. OK, OK- I'll tell. I got her a one year subscription to the Spiderman Comic Book.. er.. I mean.. Illustrated Novel. She's gonna love it. I'm kidding. I got her a huge tub of laundry detergent and a new iron. Kidding again. Perhaps I should go to bed before I start getting hate mail.
In a few weeks (sometime in early May) I'm going to go to a huge conference in Chicago for retailers. They have a marketing segment that I'm hoping to learn a lot in. I'm going with the President of our company and the IT guru dude. That should be interesting. The president's name is Darrel and he's like a 40 year old teenager. He's the nicest guy ever and is as generous and smart as they come but he constantly puts meetings on hold with his... his... how should I put this... Stanky Farts. He also plays paintball for at least two full work days every week and he talks like a fourteen year old when he's in a good mood. He's very intelligent so I know he's just having fun but it's kind of funny. He started the company 23 years ago and now he's somewhat wealthy and doesn't have to be at work if he doesn't want to be. That would be cool. So I'm curious to see how this trip goes. I've work with Darrel a lot but I've never actually traveled with him. We shall see. I've been to shows out of state with the IT guy, Don, and he's pretty cool. Also a smart fella. Then in June I have another conference that I'll be attending but I'm going on my own. I plan to meet up with York (my brother) one of the nights and I'm going to meet a friend of mine who lives in Chicago another night. He's a retired Chicago PD officer and we've never actually met but he's just a really cool guy that I know through work. This guy spends hours making pens and other cool stuff on his wood lathe so that he can then give the items away to people that are having a hard day or people who he thinks deserve a gift. He recently returned from Iraq. He wasn't called to go over or anything but he volunteered because he saw a need. He helped the Iraqi police force with their training under their new policies. How cool is this guy? I hope I can be as giving and humble as he is someday.
Speaking of role models, my Dad isn't doing too hot right now. Poor guy. He found out he had Prostate cancer about a month and a half ago and then had surgery to have his Prostate removed about a week ago. He's been in bed and in a chair for most of the time since his surgery and then he was told that the surgery had spread outside his Prostate, so the surgery didn't even do the trick. The cancer was very new (he's checked every year) but it's obviously quite aggressive and has metastasized quickly. So now he's sitting at home with a catheter (which has got to be as cool as having your arm steam-rolled, or something), staples in his organs and a tube in his stomach. The guy is as optimistic as a recent lottery winner, though. He's never down. He doesn't waste any time with pessimism or negativity. He'd rather just learn from life and enjoy the lessons. I'm not sure how he does it. Personally I enjoy the occasional wallowing in self pity session. It helps me feel good about myself for some reason. Gotta love that pity. So if you're reading this, keep my dad in your prayers. He's an excellent man and is much too young to deal with any debilitating illnesses. On a positive note, my likelihood of getting cancer is about 90%. My Dad, my Grandfather, my Great-Grandfather and many of my extended family members have had cancer. It gives me a challenge to look forward to, right? So I'll be getting tested quite often starting a few years from now. I'm only 27 now so I should have to check for at least 8 or 9 years but it doesn't hurt, right? Well- maybe it does hurt but it's still good. Isn't it?
This is the longest blog entry ever. I had better turn this computer off. If you've read this far, get a life. Just kidding. If you've read this far you're obviously named Katrina and you're checking my post for accuracy. Otherwise, my hat's off to you. You're a brave and bored soul. Until next time,
-Nizzle Foschizzle in ya Hizzle.
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