Thanksgiving Protip:
Remove BOTH plastic bags containing the innards before placing in the oven (details and pictures inside).
Vote!
One of my earliest memories is going to Pointer Ridge Elementary school (I think that’s where we went? If I got the place wrong, I’m sure Mom will correct me - maybe she’ll also share who she voted for - my bet’s on Mondale) with my mother on election day to vote. The year was 1984 and I had just started Kindergarten 2 months before. I remember asking her when we were going to find out who won, and being positively amazed that they could count the votes for every single person in the whole entire country OVERNIGHT (!) and be able to tell us who won. I remember the Washington Post arriving at the house the next morning and marveling at the fact that, yes, it told us who the next president was going to be (probably not my first indication that there’s something to this “Your mother is always right” stuff).
Anyhow, 24 years and 4 Presidents later, I’m getting ready to leave the house and cast my vote for president in person on election day (I voted absentee in 2000 and 2004, being in Blacksburg and Norfolk those two years). Since that first Presidential election, the story has always been about the apathy of the American voter, and how turnout is always abysmally low. This year, things are going to change. I heard a story this morning while listening to WTOP that there were over 100 people in line at the polling place that they were at (30 minutes before their 0600 opening), and the first man in line had been there since 0330. So much for voter apathy!
Time for me to find a tie, put on my shoes and head out the door to VOTE. I heartily suggest that you do the same at some point today. Polls in MD open in 1 hour!
(My EC prediction: Obama 338, McCain 200 - make your predictions in the comments field, and the closest to the final results will win a prize)
Geico SUCKS!
It’s been a while since I’ve updated.
Since 9/12, I’ve met with the State’s Attorney, and learned that someone that witnessed the incident called 911 and apparently confirms my side of the story (thank God for random strangers!).
Sadly, it goes downhill from there. Geico sent me a letter denying my claim, based on conflicting stories and “insufficient evidence”.
Details inside.
Minor Fender Bender, Major Insanity
So, headed to Costco with Alexander after work today, and traffic was locked up tight. I finally get to the intersection where I need to turn left, and lo and behold, there are 2 (two!) lanes turning left to choose from. I hang back a little bit, wait for the car in from of me to select his lane and when he chooses the left lane, I opt for the right. Unfortunately, Mr. Honda Pilot (hereafter referred to as MHP) behind me, didn’t like that as he was hoping to get one car closer to the front by passing me on the right. Thwarted by my selection of the right lane, MHP decides to swing out into the leftmost lane going straight and pull up beside me and berate me for my selection of lane. Mindful of the fact that I had a 5 year old on the car, and not wanting to cause trouble, I shrugged at the guy and proceeded to stare straight ahead…
Camping Trip
Pictures from camping with Jenny and Mark over Labor Day weekend at Susquehanna State Park near Havre de Grace, MD.
OMG I’m gonna get sued!
So, as is usually the case, when someone does me wrong, I write about it here so we can laugh at the foolishness of others.
Some of you may remember the miserable experience that Tony and I had selling our house in Norfolk back in 2005-2006. Part of my post I recommended that people not use Rande Mason as their realtor. Now, 2 years after the fact, a “Mike Mason” commented here and in further explaining my experience has now threatened to sue me for telling my side of the story.
Edit to add:
I found Mike’s website - check it out, if you’re into blinding, headache inducing flash animations. Based on his resume starting in 2003, I’m going to guess that someone has a case of the sour grapes because I’m saying that his mommy is a bad realtor.
Also, I’ll drop a plug here for Brendon Spear, the greatest realtor in the universe here too. He helped us buy our house up here in Odenton, and we couldn’t have been happier. I guess I learned how to be a “good client” in the last 2 years.
A NEW CAR!!!!
So, with the oil consuption on Amy’s car reaching new highs, we decided to finally get rid of it before it died completely and replace it with something that was far less crappy. Since Amy didn’t want anything too big, and I wanted something that was comfortable enough for me to drive so that we didn’t have to take the Tahoe every time the 3 of us went anywhere, there was a very narrow window where our two desires overlapped.
Thus, I give you: the 2009 Toyota Matrix.
Found treasures
One of the neat things about my newly found presence on Facebook is a bunch of old college pictures posted by some old friends. However, tonight I found the mother lode of old stuff, which I’ll be scanning and uploading bit by bit.
First “picture” is after the break, not the oldest by a long shot, but maybe the funniest More »
Truck Update (and a new toy)
No, I don’t have any of my stuff back. No, I haven’t heard anything more from the police. I did, however, go out and buy myself a nice shiny new iPhone to make myself feel better and replace the iPod and GPS that I no longer have. After 2 weeks of using the iPhone, I’m now completely and totally Steve Jobs’ b–ch, and I’m completely OK with that fact. This phone does everything my Treo did, with none of the hassles, then it kicks it up a notch and does other things well with its built in iPod and GPS functionality, plus a host of nifty apps from the App store. Right now, the only complaint that I have is that using the phone constantly the way I do (not so much for talking, but moreso for listening to Pandora radio, MP3s, surfing the web, etc) is hell on the battery. But, I’ve got a charger at work and in the car, so I’m good to go. Apple also claims that the battery will charge from 0 to 80% in an hour, and while I haven’t tested it, it does charge damn fast, so even a quick hit of juice will last a long time.
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