Catching Up
It is Saturday night, and I had a fun last few days, and tomorrow I get to see Novalí. Life is great for me right now. This blog is playing some catchup on the last few days.

Thursday
We chilled. Becky came over and Hermen help her wash her car and peel some stickers off of the back window. I finally started on doing my custom taillights for my NX. I think the NX will like the new lights. Now while we are talking about the NX, I want to clear something up. Yes the NX is female. Many of you have asked me (not commented on my blog about it) why I call the car a "she". Well there are a few reasons for that. The NX is tempermental, she gives me headaches, causes me trouble, costs a lot, high maintenance, I like showing her off to my friends, and no matter what happens I still love her. The NX is a woman, and we are in a committed relationship. My life is sad, I know.

Back to my story... We ended the night with a trip to my favorite eating place in Allendale, the Country Cupboard. Yes, I know mostly retired people go there, and the food is mediocre at best, but I like it. I feel at home, like a regular customer. As many of you have noticed I now have started to like that country feel. So I had the smelt dinner, some great homemade desert and got punches on my Country Cupboard diner card. Yes, I am a "regular".



Friday
Homecoming at WMU! This year WMU honored a Latino as one of the Distinguished Alumni. So of course I had to score some tickets to the dinner, the Betas and Gammas also scored tickets and got a shot out from the MC during the program. Nice to see Vic and Colleen representing. I love knowing the school thinks highly enough about our fraternity and sorority that we get free tickets to such a high profile event.

Then we went to the Firehouse. This was one of my usual hangouts when I was living in Kalamazoo. The place was packed, we had to park on a curb, wait in line for too long, and heard the same music from the same DJs who worked when I was there. The fun part was seeing all the old faces from WMU. Of course I saw Megan, and my Brothers Vic, Geo and Rey were there as well. It was great, running into old friends from campus and saying hi, asking what they are up to, and exchanging short stories in a loud bar. It was fun.

The night ended with a trip to Big Burrito for fatty Mexican food late at night. I felt at home again.

Saturday
I slept in. I should of gone to the parade with the Betas and Gammas, but I was tired. I deserve one day that I can sleep. So I slept.

Around 2pm I finally decided to do something. I was thinking of heading to the game, but I never went as an undergrad when the tickets were free, why would I go when I have to pay as an alum? So instead I made the trip to Waldo's to see Megan. I drug Colleen with me (all my Brothers were in the game) and it was great. While in line we made friends with some drunk Irish guy, he needed a lighter and he thought it was hilarious I was in a Latino fraternity and that I did not have a lighter. Once inside I saw tons of friendly faces, and was reminded of how many people I miss from Kalamazoo. I still never ran into Doogie, but I am sure I will catch up with him soon.




I then headed home to Allendale. The Latino Student Union was having a program, and between the dinner and dance portion the gang decided to swing over to the house. It was fun hanging out and relaxing. I was trying to get some homework done tonight, but they were a good distraction. They cracked me up, and Ramiro as usual admitted to crap most people would not admit to, like having overeaten reeses pieces and puking. Who does that? The other Neo, Santiago was dressed like an Old Cuban pimp, the light green polyester pants were great, he said it was for the island theme of the dance... no else was dressed up, so I think Santi just like the pants and did not want to admit it.

So now they left, I am going to try to study a little and then get some sleep. I am getting up early to go and spend the day with Novalí.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
For those who like old Western movies you get the title. Nothing like Clint Eastwood shooting up people. No shootings here, or dirty saloons, I just thought the title was fitting for todays post.

The Good:

My trip to Bolivia is official. I got my confirmation today, and I will be home bound in December. I will fly out of the Chicago-Ohare airport at 5:26 PM CST on December 15th. I will arrive in Bolivia the following day at 9:02 AM. Long trip, and this time I will do it alone. I can not wait to get there and see myfamily. It has been over three years since my last trip.

The Bad:

I got the NX running this morning. Took a few more tried to dry it out, and then I ran to Tolman Auto and had them shoot air in and spray some silcone sealer in there. She works now. But it looks like I will more then likely need new spark plugs now. The pic above is of the body kit I want to get... anyone want to sponsor me getting that body kit? I will put your name on the front of the car. I had to try.

The Ugly:

The Centellas family has bad luck with cars. Andy's luck ran out last week when he totaled his Civic. That is some impact there! Glad he was not at all hurt, and able to laugh (and cry) about it later. My sister Raquel totaled a car, Miguel totaled one in high school, and I totaled two so far. When it comes to cars, the Centellas kids have a bad record...

Go Team PLP!

Homecoming GVSU
Friday night started the weekend with a bang. The annual Lip Sync was that night, and I had been looking forward to the Betas performing with Delta Zeta and Lambda Chi Alpha. The event was great and they took third. Hermen, Ramiro and Santiago did an awesome job with it and cracked me up. Good work Bros!




The weekend continued as Team PLP flew into action. Saturday morning was car time and Hermen and I had big plans for our rides. I wanted to fix my rear bumper gap, reroute my seat belts, put in my side marker lights, paint my wiper arms black, clean my car, and start ideas on how I would redo the trunk. Well most of that did not happen.

For the new readers, you might wonder what is Team PLP. It stands for Parking Lot Performance. This summer Hermen and I started to race my NX, and work on our cars more. We worked on cars in my parking lot, and we tried to make our cars (or truck) have better performance, in my parking lot. Generally anyone pulling into my old apartment would see parts in my parking spots, hoods popped open, and one of us wondering how we managed to make those huge divets in the concrete with my car ramps...




For the old readers, I am sure you know the antics of Team PLP all too well. Saturday morning Hermen and I worked on the cars. I rerouted my seat belts to go through my new seats (looks great!). I started the work of realigning my rear bumper better, after a trip to True Value to get some hardware, she is done. Not perfect, but looks much better. I still have not gotten my front side markers back in yet, soon.

Then we ran into some issues. Hermen had the idea that we should clean our engines. That means spraying some Simple Green, letting it set, and then hosing it off. Generally not a problem. It was a problem. Both of our cars did not want to run well afterwards. Sputtering, back firing, and just plain acting up. Why you might ask? We were not sure. It took forever for us to try and figure it out. On Hermen's truck it was the PCV fitting that was loose. His truck is running fine now. The NX, that is another story. It is at least driveable, but not running well.

Team PLP did not know what to do. I posted a thread on my SR20 Nissan Forum online. Some guys gave me some good ideas on what could of gone wrong. We figured out that water got in my spark plug wells. I got it mostly fixed, I will mess with it more tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to finish it before I got to be to work. Wish me luck.




The rest of the weekend was laid back. Saturday went to the football game, it was my first at GVSU. I am not a big fan of being outdoors, in the cold, watching a football game from a terrible location. I had a good time out there with Hermen and the gang. Even the two SagiNAW people (Andrea and her friend) who also decided to attend and sit with us rowdy guys. And for the record, old school Louie was the bomb. We need to get him back for good, screw that new muscle Louie, he can't dance.

Saturday night was the homecoming dance. Nothing special.

Sunday worked on the cars some more. Got my wipers painted. Helped Ramiro try to figure out why his heat does not work. And then we all (four guys in the duplex) went to the store, bought some steaks and potatoes, cooked and had dinner together. It felt like I was home and mom called us all to dinner. It was cool. We watched part of the Cubs game.

Now I am in my office at GVSU. Trying to work on a paper, but perfering to Blog. I better write this paper...