Mille Borne

Our apartment has kind of disappeared lately. I don't mean like Deathstalker and his invisi-blanket, though. It's more of a Millennium Falcon/Star Destroyer disappearance. Our living room is here, but hiding in plain sight, more or less. We're getting everything in our place packed up for the big move in a week (yikes!) and right now our carpeting is buried under a massive pile of boxes, packing paper, and rolls of tape. It's been slowly working its way to this point for a few weeks, but wow, now that our stuff is actually more in boxes than on shelves...well, it's kind of an odd thing to have happen. There's still a lot left to pack up, but it's probably a good thing we started when we did. And thanks to everyone who has given us boxes! So far we haven't had to actually go out and buy our own, which has been awesome.

Tomorrow I'm going to the auto parts store...kind of. Our black Corolla has two radiator fans, and one of them needs replacing. Well, to be specific, it's the fan blades that need replacing, not the fan motor itself. It's a very cheap part, but no place actually sells them. You have to purchase the entire fan/motor/bracket assembly, which is a couple hundred dollars. So I'm gonna give the salvage yard a try and see if I can yank one out of a car sitting on the lot. I'm also going to change the oil in our other car at my friend Sarah's house. Her dad always lets me use his garage, for which I am heartily grateful, and it will be nice to see her parents one more time before we move too.

I had a looong road trip this weekend: 1600 miles in four days, all by me lonesome. There were plenty of podcasts to keep me company, though, but it sure is good to be back home. It's past my bedtime, though. Time to hit the hay.

"One Hundred, K?"

Our 1998 Corolla, William, hit 100,000 miles today. Awww... The little guy's been so good to us for the past few years after we rescued him from his former owners, and we hope to drive him for at least double his current mileage before sending him out to pasture many years from now.

Well, that's the hope, anyway. And with any luck (and continued frequent oil changes, thanks in no small part to Sarah's dad's garage, and my dad's garage too) we'll get him there.

We made our special chili the other night, and while it might not be up to Andy's standards, it suits us just fine--especially when coupled with a large dosage of corn bread and crackers. Even better, it tastes great even as leftovers, so one night's feast turns into a week's worth of lunch for me at work. Aw yeah.

Oh, and get this. I lost not only my copy of The Two Towers, but also my new water bottle, on our trip to Georgia last weekend. Major drag, huh? But Sunday afternoon we rectified the book situation, and tonight before dinner we made a quick trip to REI to pick up another of their cheapest water bottles. Since we don't go hiking or snowbooting or whatever, we had to hide behind a stack of Power Bars to get away from the clerks who were stalking us and trying to sign us up for memberships. Thankfully we made it out alive without any caribbeaners or Columbia pants--just a simple water bottle, thank you very much.

Time for bed.

Treading Lightly

Two weeks ago I, um, kind of biffed one of the tires on our car. I didn't exactly see part of the curb as I was pulling in, and, well, you can probably see where this is going. Anyway, I hit the curb, got out to check things, and found a nice little bulge in the sidewall of the front passenger tire. No big deal, really, but not something I wanted to drive on during my half-hour commute (I once drove for weeks on a tire on which the tread was hanging on by a couple pieces of hair-thin rubber). Thankfully, we had a warranty on it, so $9 later our little black Corolla, "William," was nicely outfitted with a brand-new rubber sole.

Trouble was, it turned out that the other three tires were nearing the end of their round little lives. So today I took him in to get new kicks on the rest of his little 14-inch rims. Even though the bill was higher than I was expecting, it's nice to know we're all set for a few years of tooling around town in our little car.

I also started watching Band of Brothers again. I tried watching this series many years ago, but only made it through the first disc or two--not because it was boring or poorly-realized, but I think I stopped out of sheer apathy. And in the meantime I have, off and on, been meaning to give it another go. So this morning I started up again, and so far it's pretty good. I appreciate how much time it's taking to get things rolling, in fact. It bodes well for the rest of the tale, knowing that the filmmakers will have the freedom to really explore the relationships between the characters, and how they change throughout the course of Easy Company's time in World War II Europe. I know plenty of guys who say it's the definitive World War II chronicle, so here's hoping it can hold its own next to Saving Private Ryan.

Quick Recap

Highlights of the past few days...

• Changed the front-left headlight bulb in my car, which involved removing the battery as well as a few other minor parts. Thanks to my dad, who taught me years ago to not fear the underside of my car's hood, and to opt for prayer in lieu of swearing when doing auto maintenance and repair. I also topped off the air in my wife's car tires for good measure.

• Spent Friday evening with my cousin Beth and her boyfriend, which involved walking to a nearby coffee shop and playing some Wii Sports before turning in for the night.

• Heard the acoustic guitarist at said coffee shop play The Rainbow Connection. I haven't heard this song since Gavin played it on the keyboard back at Alpha Sigma Sigma.

• Picked my wife up from the airport this morning. I love it when she comes home from a trip.

• Went out to lunch with some friends (hey you two, is it OK if I use your names here?) at "Tasty Pizza," a restaurant that lives up to its namesake rather well. Lunch was followed by two games of bowling at the Brunswick bowling lane near the restaurant. We all stink at bowling, but that's not really the point now, is it?

• Made liberal use of our new space heater. Good golly it's nice. I'm also on my second cup of hot chocolate for the day as I write this. mmmm...