Dave's Junk

Well, now with the forthcoming arrival of our third child, it has become necessary to get another vehicle.  We need something with more room, third row seats, DVD player, and good gas mileage.  Anyone know of a muscle car that fits that description…how about a sports car?  Any body….please…..sigh.  So we went into town and bought a minivan.  Yes that is right we are that family now.  I will have to say that it turned out to be a better looking vehicle than I had feared.  I had already pictured us in a proverbial cracker box on wheels.  Instead we purchased a 2004 Pontiac Montana.

This is a stock photo as it was too dark to take a picture for this entry.  I will add a real picture later.

This thing is awesome in the way of creature comforts (compared to what I am used to).  It appears that all of the stuff works too (amazing).  It has an automatic sliding side door, sliding doors on both sides, 3 rows of seats, a DVD player built into the back, rear heating, folding down back two rows of seats, a backup assistant (Becky already found this one to work fine), and all kinds of other stuff that will take another year to find.  It is like a treasure hunt on wheels. 

Another thing that I do like about it is that you don’t see too many of these out there.  It seems that the roads are flooded with Dodge Grand Caravans and their brethren.  My sister in law also falls into this category.  I like those but it is good to be a little different.  I am also impressed with the sportiness of the van.  It has that “I am a soccer mom that will run your butt over anyway” look.  I attribute this mainly to the position of the fog lights which also work splendidly. 

All in all, I am not totally sold on it but I do not hate it either.  It definitely is what we are needing though.  Becky is happy and that is what matters.  It IS  her vehicle, and what she wanted.  As the saying goes “Happy wife, happy life”. 

There is a joke that goes:

“Did you hear that in the seventies the Chevy Nova was no longer to be sold in Mexico?”

“No, really, Why?”

“Well in Spanish, Nova means “No Go””.

So taking that into consideration, if you figure

Slush+Morning sleet and rain+1993 Chevy Camaro = Nova

So I just got back from an outing, figuring with the multitude of road trucks that I have seen working, that I would have no problem making my rounds.  WRONG!  It all began with my driveway, which I have to admit was the worst of my troubles, and went from there.  I spun all the way out….sideways.  Which I have to admit was fun.  I also made a decent rut in the slush and ice just digging down to get to the gravel.  As long as I remained on major roadways I was fine, but to venture off was nothing more than to sit still spinning my tires…wheeee!  I did, however, make it back home safely and without incident.  I was actually delighted that I even made it back into my proper parking place ( a pet peeve of mine is not being able to be in my parking spot, so stay out of it). 

I have once again been blessed by the “brother does not need it anymore” fairy.  Yeehaw!  Nathan was overcome with anticipation for the latest cell phone…The Droid.  So overcome was he, that he went out and bought it and passed along his Blackberry Storm to me.  I have piddled with this for over a month now and have come to one decision.  MAN I love this thing.  How did I survive before having a Blackberry.  The apps are so cool.  The ability to access internet and emails is understatedly convenient.  And I can’t get my wife to leave the games alone on it, she is killing my battery.  And it has a 3.2 megapixel camera.  Sweet!

Yeah sure there is a newer version of this phone out, but I am ecstatic about this one.  You can read about his first decision to buy this phone here on his website.  I have been surfing apps like crazy.  Some of my favorites have been:

Obviously the email links directly on the Home Page

Web Browser (so much better than the standard Smart Phone)

Facebook

WBIR

Instant Messaging (this one rocks)

The Calendar (highly programmable and useful)

Calculator

Google Maps (just plain cool if using it with Latitude)

got’cha LIGHT (turns the flash of the camera into a flashlight)

Adorno Multi Alarm (phone only comes with one alarm, I need three to wake up)

Level (The Storm is sensitive to how it is moved, using this makes the phone into a virtual level…cool)

EBay

Quick Pull (reboots the whole phone automatically during the middle of the night, or whenever you tell it to, so to keep the phone less burdened)

Bible (a free eBook of the entire Bible in 23 versions)

Storm Taser (turns the phone into a virtual Sabre 120,000 volt taser complete with electricity flying from prongs, vibration, and blue lights.)  I love to act like I am using at my wife, he he

Whippho (turns phone into a virtual whip)  Again using the ability of the phone’s moving response, hold phone on side and make a whip motion with hand…….whippow….whippow.  Love to use this one at my wife too.

Slacker Radio (like Pandora, but no so memory intensive)

Radio Companion (stream any major radio station from a large city without having to adjust an antennae)

I love this thing.  You can arrange your apps anywhere you want and in any folder.  Best of all, almost all of the ones mentioned above were FREE!  You got to love that.  One last thing that is impressive to me is that lack of all the lights and music that happens in mere function of the phone.  Push the power button and it starts up.  No quirky music, just a loading screen.  Text messages are not followed by BEEP BEEP BEEP!  It is the adult phone of its predecessors.  It just has cool stuff too.

My brother in law has posted some pix from this snow and all the fun that the kids (and adults) had.  HERE is a link to said post.  He really has a creative eye when it comes to his camera.  Hope you enjoy.

Well, we have gotten the largest snow in around a decade.  Schools closed, kids prayed, and Wal-Mart was flooded.  But true to the forecast we received at least 6 inches and more in other places.  Rory loved the entire event, as she went out and played in it and we made several journeys out to visit along the treacherous roadways.  Becky's Jeep did pretty well after being weighted down with two enormous spare tires from my Chevy truck being crammed into the back alongside two cinder blocks.  We only got stuck once and am pretty sure that if I had just taken the hill a little faster I would have made it with no problem.  There is something about having two daughters and wife in a vehicle that shudders the confidence and nerves of a guy.  I have made far more ominous journeys in a Camaro with less complication, but somehow this one hill stuck me.  Thanks to a friend with a Dodge truck, he pulled us the little bit of the hill that we had not quite conquered.

Traveling along the roads brought several things to my attention.

People are still idiots when the snow and ice are on the roads.  I saw several people traveling at speeds that far exceeded the safety range for driving on slick roads.  I had one truck to pass me while I was traveling around 30mph on a back road...idiot!

Four wheelers suddenly have free reign when these conditions become present.  There was one road in particular where the four wheelers had cut so many doughnuts that it caused a washboard effect when driving on it.

People suddenly dress with quite a bit less concern for fashion and more emphasis on WARM!  It is interesting to see how your usually "prim and proper" people suddenly get practical.

But all in all, the world did not come to an end, The kids loved the snow ... for a while and I have some cool pictures to post.

Well, my household is fixing to have an adjustment.  We (my wife and I) have found out that she is pregnant.  That will make our third child.  We are very excited about the entire journey.  It will be interesting to see how five people live in a three bedroom house.  Scary huh? 

Just to answer a few questions that keep coming up:

Yes, I do know how this occurs

No I do not know what it will be

I REALLY do not care what the gender of the baby will be.  I will love it either way.

I am excited and glad about this new addition.

NO...I am not selling my Camaro, truck, or motorcycle.

And yes three kids would be difficult to fit in the Jeep Cherokee, thus we are buying a 2004 Pontiac Montana minivan.  Becky gets the van she has been wanting afterall. 

So in conclusion, a new baby is on the way.  Good times are ahead.  I will be posting about this new one as things develop.  Also anyone want a good 2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic with posi-loc Dana rearend?  Cmon, we need financial help here, lol.

P.S.  Yes Nathan there will be ultrasound pix later.

Well, recently my laptop decided that it was far overdue for a virus.  Thus I have been without for quite some time as I tried to find a multitude of fixes to get back on the Internet highway.  Well, I have fixed that problem just to reinstall and forget the ever important password for my blog entry software, yay.  Here's hoping I figure it out soon so I can resume blogging in the old way.

We went to the Shriner’s Circus again this year.  Once again, it has proven to be a journey worthy of the trip.  We actually had missed some of last years performances and got the opportunity to catch them this time around.  This was one thing that I did notice, most (if not all) of the show was an exact duplication of last year’s.  Maybe next time I will ask if they have a DVD so I can watch it at home.  Just kidding.  Like I said previously, to watch it in person is worth the loading up of the family and going to see it.  I have brought some pix back just to prove my point.

Rory got a coloring book that featured all of the clowns in the circus.  You could then wander around the ring area and get their autograph on their designated page. 

We began with the clearing of the ring area and had the usual parade of classic cars, tractors, mini cars, and various other vehicles.  Shortly after the parade was the “Clown Wars”.  The clowns tried to pep the audience up for the forthcoming show and played tricks on one another.

Rory and Rachel get ready for the show as the lights go down.  For proper “circus preparation”, Rory had some cotton candy on hand.  I had a blue one for myself, but tasted the pink just to be sure that they both tasted the same….they did…both yummy.

With the main lights off, a brilliant display of lights around the rings and above them is accompanied by the many types of wands, globes, scepters, and other items that could be bought at EVERY part of the show.  Vendors relentlessly walked the aisles screaming that their items were for sale.  For a mere $20, you too could own a butterfly wand that glowed various colors.

Then came the “Rage of the Cage”.  I am not making this up, that is his name.  This man effortlessly guided six tigers into several interesting acts.  The most flamboyant was the tigers going through the hoop of fire.  

No circus is complete without elephant acts.  Hey someone has to work for peanuts around here.  

These pictures and a little dark, but the lighting and the angle did not work well for my camera.  These air acrobats were great.  Not just because of the apparel either.  My personal favorite was the motorcycle act.  Two motorcycles lined up and raced along wires while dangling a girl under of their bikes.  

And to end the show was yet more elephant acts.  The grand finale…get out of the parking lot alive.  It was not as bad as I expected, but it almost rivaled a rock concert.  This just goes to show how good the turnout was for this event. 

Positively a great trip for the family.  Again I highly recommend it for yours.