N'awlins at heart

Monday, September 17, 2007

DIDYOUMISSME TOO?

Sorry for the less than brief hiatus. Working like a crazy man. Where to begin? It's been since before our Vegas trip so probably better to back track.

Saturday morning we were up at the (butt) crack of dawn. I called Mobil One on Thursday about installing some much needed (and wanted) stereo equipment in W1's car. I was informed they opened at 8:00 AM and it was "first come, first serve". They don't do appointments. So we got up at 6:30 AM and were there by 8:15. Unfortunately, they don't open until 9:oo. So we went in search of breakfast. We returned around 9:10 and were informed by the manager there were 4 cars in the bay, 2 waiting, and 2 more appointments on their way. (Yeah, I assume the appointments they DON'T make). I asked and was told they weren't actually "appointments". Must be that friend of a friend thing. He told us to try back that afternoon or on Sunday at noon when they opened. (Does that mean they open at 1:00 PM? I was too pissed to ask.)

So we headed home and I made a few more calls 2 were no answer, and 1 said there was a 2 week wait, and I had to make an appointment. As W1 put it, I had the look of determination that only BB can match, and headed out to W1's car. Thanks to Big Boy for installing my stereo on numerous occasions so I didn't go in there totally blind. Sometimes it apparently does help to watch others work. Approximately 4 hours later the job was done. I must say it is a very clean and professional looking install. And it sounds great. Now I want to do my truck.

We had about 2 hours left before we headed out to a friend's birthday party. We were shooting for 8:00 PM, so we arrived around 9:30 PM. Not completely my fault, I blame Google Maps for some of it. We hit a couple of clubs and had a really good time. I did not bring a camera so i have to rely on others to send me pics. (Maybe later?)

Last week was basic work days. The new stuff I'm working on is very annoying, but it's not audio testing so I can't complain. Thursday was W1's birthday and we had a really nice night together. We went to Outback for dinner and the waitress dogged us. Twice. The first time was when I was ordering and she said "Boy, you sure are hungry, aren't you?". The second time was after we ate and she asked "I know you guys don't want dessert, do you?" We did, and we did. I don't remember exactly what we had but it was some apple cobbler thing. It was fabulous and highly recommended. (Just ask for the dessert that I liked so much. I'm sure they'll know what you're talking about.)

The previous weekend: Saturday we got up nice and early, and prepared for a nice ride. My friend Russell rode up and met us, and we headed out to meet up for a ride benefiting children with cancer. The ride was nice, and altogether we put about 160 miles on the bike. It was hot, and we were exhausted, but it was a good ride. There were at least 250 bikes and I only counted 2 cruisers. There were freeway wheelies left and right. See here. It was a fun ride, and someone posted a short video where you can see Russell riding behind Hannah and I. It's a little shaky, but I thought it was cool the guy only posted 2 videos from the ride, and one of them was of us.

Memorial Day: I took my bike to get new tires after I was so lucky to get a flat. The guy charged me about $50 more than he originally quoted me, which was more than it would have cost to order them myself online. But H1 gave me a good outlook. It was only about $16 more than I could have gotten them online, and he also tightened my chain, adjusted my throttle, and polished both of my (filthy) rims. So the amount of extra work he did more than made up for the price hike.

I rode in Tuesday and something just didn't feel right. I brought it back to the shop and he rebalanced my front tire. After I left it felt a lot better, and have been riding like crazy ever since. There is more stuff I want to touch on involving our Vegas Trip, but this is long enough for now. We love and miss everyone lots, and will be in town soon to visit again.