Breathe
Today I relaxed. In what was to be one of the worst days for me, I got to breathe and relax. My trip to Vincennes, IN was put off, I need a break and I can do one of presentations later. It worked out well.

So today I figured I would relax, get my car from the shop, get insurance, finish up some school work, and sleep in. However I got a phone call at 8 am so I didn't get to sleep in, then I find out my shop did not get the part in for my car, and I can't find a good deal for insurance.

I was surprised that no one had horror stories about the Secretary of State. What? Every time I go it sucks, the old ladies behind the counter are all mean, and I have to wait forever. This time was no exception.

You go, and then you wait in a line. But the first line is just for you to tell some lady what you are there for. She gives out the ticker number, and whatever paperwork you need to fill out. Why can't they just post signs, which tell me to grab a number, and what forms I need. I can get my own number, I do it at the deli, I think I can do it at the Secretary of State Office. Then you sit and wait, wait for the numbers to go until they get to you, and for some reason you get excited when it is the number before you. Even though you know that number will take the longest, just because it is the number before yours.

They call my number, I hand them the form, which asked me three important questions, one of which was: Have I ever had a seizure while driving? NO. And if I had, would I seriously put Yes knowing it would mean I would not get my license? Then it asks me to write down height, eye color and weight. I could write anything I want. There was no scale, no tape measure... Come on now...

Finally I get up there, they ask for a few bucks, and then have to check my vision. "Are you wearing contacts?", the lady asks. Once again, they believe whatever I say and ask me to look in the little black box. Oh well, I got a new license coming in the mail.

Now I just need my car back, and find an insurance company. Wish me luck.

No car. No license. No fun.
The car did not get done today, the part came in late so I get it tomorrow. Then I decided I better just rent a car to drive to Indiana for my presentation on Thursday. So I go to www.enterprise.com to rent a car (I get a super discount through GVSU), when I am filling out the form it asked for divers license expiration date, so I take out my license to look...

I did not know your license expires when you turn 25. Seriously, I did not know. I plead ignorance on this and I mean it. So add another thing I have to do tomorrow, getting a new license. Tomorrow will be packed.

I have a Division of Student Services meeting in the morning, hopefully this one will be more exciting then the rest. Then I get to run to the Secretary of State Office, sit there forever waiting to get terrible customer service, take an ugly picture, have them lie to me about how long it will take for me to get my new license in the mail, and wonder why I bother paying taxes for such crappy service.

After the exciting trip to the Secretary of State Office I more then likely will have no desire to do anything else, but I still have a packed day. What will keep me going is that I have an exciting presentation on Thursday. The presentation I will be a part of at Vincennes University in Indiana is the first trial run of a new program from CampuSpeak, the company I am doing research for right now. If it goes well, it could mean more traveling and public presenting and speaking for me.

Well I got to run and get some rest, long day tomorrow. Feel free to share your success stories at the Secretary of State Office on my blog.

Productive
I wanted to see Novalí this weekend. Because of my car I was not able to, and did not have enough time to look into the train or other transportation. Since I did not get to go to Chicago I figured I would stay in and be productive.

I got a lot done. Washed the huge pile of clothes that took over the corner of my room. I am now practically done with all the paperwork for my internship class. Finally got to Walmart and picked up the last few apartment things I have been needing to get. I cleaned the kitchen with Hermen (he is the other clean roommate), we even tossed all that old crap in the fridge out. I read some research articles for one of my classes. Completed paperwork for my practicum class, and got closer to getting that finished.

For fun stuff, no I did not go out at all, I went to Best Buy and spent the gift certificate my parents gave me for my birthday. I got my amp, so now I got all the stereo stuff for my car, just need time to install it.

Sorry there is nothing funny in this post. This is the typical, boring story blog from Sam you all grew to love. I was not in the mood for funny this weekend.

Tonight I am trying to get more school work done, then get some rest and hopefully get some good news about my car in the morning. Keeping my fingers crossed, I need some good news right about now...

McFlurry and Pizza
Finally my shop got my car done! The seats are in, the suspension is installed, and I went to pick it up. I was all excited, glad to have my car back. So I went to Holland to get the car, paid Speedwise (one of my shops) and headed back to Allendale.

On the way back the brake light went on, never happened to me before. A few seconds later I lost pretty much all feeling in my brake peddle. I was able to drive it just slow enough to pull into a garage in Allendale.

They inspected the brakes, come to find out a hose got loose and fluid leaked. However, in the time it took for the brake light to come on, and me to find a garage to put it in, I ruined the master cylinder. So now I am facing a major repair to my brake system, and I have no car for the weekend. Normally I would not mind so much but this was my weekend to see Novali. It has been three weeks already, now it will have to be four since I can not make it.

It was a stressful day. I am tired from this long week, my car had to break down, I won't get to see Novali (unless by some miracle they get my car done tomorrow), I did not get caught up on work stuff, and I am just plain annoyed with school.

On the plus side, I got to eat a McFlurry today, those always cheer me up. I love McDonalds McFlurries with oreos. Yum yum, thanks Becky. Then Hermen took me for Chicago style pizza at this place in Grandville. Nice to have good friends around to fatten you up to try to make you feel better.

A Year in Review
Thanks to Mom and Dad for dinner last night. The Japanesse Steak house was awesome as usual. Miguel, Andres, and Raquel it was good to see you three. I wish we all could get together more often.

This post dissappeared, not sure what went wrong. So here it is again, or for the first time for those who did not see it during the brief time it was online.

** original post **
Yesterday I got nostalgic. I was replying to a birthday email, and I started to think of all the great things I got to do this year. So here is my year in review.

Last Birthday I got to hangout with Dishwalla and the Verve Pipe all day. They were in concert at GVSU, and I had to work the event. So my assignment was to drive the bands around. How cool was that? Good start to a great 24th year on the third rock from the sun.

One of the real exciting parts of the year was all my traveling. So let me telling you all the places I went, in order of appearance. I am leaving out trips to Chicago, cause I go there often for various reasons.

Lawrence, KA. - spent four days there at a conference.
Columbus, OH. - conference again.
Arlington, TX. - got the big Texas trip compliments of UTA.
San Francisco, CA. - conference. Compliments of WRGA.
Santa Barbara, CA. - 2 day stop on Highway One.
Los Angelos, CA. - vacation.
Philadelphia, PA. - went to visit my younger brother Andres.
NewBurg, NY. - Vic's sister's wedding. The old roadtrippers back in action.
San Francisco, CA. - Board meeting. Compliments of WRGA.
Cape Cod, MA. - vacation.

Those were some fun trips, meet fun people, and ate some great food. I remember places by the food I had while I was there. I also learned how nice it can be to travel on someone else's dime, very good.

What else have I accomplished this year, besides getting free trips you might ask? Well here are some things.

I started graduate school. Meet new challenges, rose to the occasion and succeeded. I was part of the team that won the GVSU case study competition, nice plaque for the collection. I was also nominated, and placed on the Board of Directors of the Western Regional Greek Association.

My start up company, OutSight Design is doing very well, not a millionaire yet but business is good. I have done websites for CompuCraft, real estate, Greek Life, shirts for the Betas in Michigan, shirts for Gammas, brochures, flyers, etc. You name it, I can design it, just send me an email at, sales@outsightdesign.com.

I also started racing this year! Did my first AutoCross event in June and had a blast. It is my new hobby, and once my car is back I plan to get back into it. Very relaxing, and one of the few things in life that makes me get jittery the day before. I love my little Nissan NX 2000.

Novali is bigger then ever, got her back to Saginaw a few times this year. Her use of the Spanish language is amazing and I hope she keeps it up. She brings a smile to my face everyday (her pictures are in my office), and I wish I lived closer so I could see her more. I hope she knows how much I love her, even though she would not sign Happy Birthday to me yesterday. No song.

To my family, I am trying hard to make you proud. I know I don't make it home as much as I should, or call much. But I blog, and I email. Your support has made me successful, thanks.

Another year in grad school, then who knows what will lie ahead for me. I don't like to plan the future anymore, I just let it happen and go for the ride. It was a good ride this year, and I feel refreshed... even though I am in my quarter life crisis now. Did I mention the motorcycle I want to get?

What happened to the song?
Yesterday was long, I started work at CompuCraft at 8am. Then worked at GVSU for a few hours before my long 3 to 9 class stint. After that a meeting with NPHC, then off to meet my Brothers and friends at our campus hangout, BFE. Long day.

It was a long day. So long that my phone battery died, I got so many calls wishing me Happy Birthday that my phone died. That was nice. Thanks to all those who called, or emailed me.

I got a cake at work at CompuCraft, carrot cake, yum. A nice card from the gang, no song. No cake at GVSU, we like to act real corporate like and we have one birthday cake per month for everyone. Does anyone remember the Sienfeld episode with Elaine and all the cake parties at work... Classic. I got a nice card from the group there, but I wanted more cake. Once again no song.

Class, was long. One from 3 to 6, then the other from 6 to 9. Announcements on the birthday were made, people said congrats. No card, no cake, and more importantly no song.

Then BFE with the gang. Drove over with Becky (still no car, bitterness continues... it will be done "soon"... I hate soon I want now). All the GVSU Brothers were there, many friends, and a waiter to gave my Brothers suggestions on the worst things to give me to drink. I think one of them was actaully gasoline, smelled like it, tasted like it. Thanks for spending my Birthday with me, cheerin me on when I went bowling for barstools, and just being my friends. It was fun, I feel fine today, but I still wonder... what happened to the song?

Just pictures
Well there is a little more then just pictures on this post, but mostly pictures. Just the final recap of the trip.

After Anne took off on Monday for Albany, NY Becky and I decided we would cook dinner. So we went and ran errands and got food to cook. We made swordfish Shish-Ka-Bobs. I love to cook, I rarely do it, but it was a good time.

The drive back was not too bad. We stopped to see Becky's Grandma which was a nice stop. Good old stories, she compared the University of Alaska to a gas station. Funny story, Becky should blog about it, wait, Becky still does not have a blog.

I arrived just in time to catch a short nap, and then head off to Campus Life Night at GVSU. This week is going to be insane for me catching up and getting ready for the semester to really get rolling. So for those who have been getting slow or no email replies from me... I will get with you as soon as I can. Be patient. Thanks.

I just compiled the pictures from the trip. Here they are in living color, enjoy.

www.centellas.org/sam/pics/capecod03/capecod03.html

This one time... at band camp...
This weekend has been a reminder as to why Becky and I became such good friends. Each night we have stayed up late, talking about why we are both over educated and undermotivated, the reason relationships are impossible, how far away Mexico is, the benefits of me going to Bolivia and never coming back, why neither of us have tangible goals anymore, and the status of my battle against this little cold sore on my mouth (as of this morning I am winning, even though I thought the tide had turned last night).

Those conversations make me thankful that the great cubicle gods made Becky and I neighbors. In all seriousness I would never have chosen Becky as a friend. From the outside she looks to me like the typical bougie New Englander.

Went to expensive boarding school, drives a Honda that was given to her, has a private school sticker on her car window, shops at Ann Taylor Loft, parents own land on Cape Cod, and has been to as many places as Marco Polo. But the Becky I got to know; her parents worked multiple jobs and slaved to pay for those boarding schools, her grandpa left her the Honda when he passed, went to private college to play sports, no excuse for Ann Taylor, dad after moving from Germany to the US worked hard to barely save enough to live but never be fully excepted on the Cape, and has traveled because of school opportunities or jobs. We actaully have a lot in common, but only on the inside, not the outside. Glad we got to know eachother.

The Konowicz family took me in, made me feel at home, and I want to thank them. Thank you. This afternoon Becky and I will hit the road back to Michigan. Here is a quicky recap on my last two days. The rest of this Blog will have less sap.

Saturday - We did not end up going out. Which was fine with me, we stayed in a discussed politics and education. It felt like I was in the Centellas house, except without my brothers to start a heated debate or my mother to ask us over and over again, "are you boys sure you don't want more coffee, it would only take a second." The Konowicz are so well traveled and educated that it made for great conversation. The fact that Anne works for the Democrats in NY added a lot to, felt like a more "official" political debate. We rented Frida, didn't watch it, Anne went to bed early, and then later the younger adults went to bed.

Sunday - Ran errands. I love running errands. I feel so useful. Went to the bookstore, to Best Buy (of course on a trip I get into upgrade recommendations for people, more RAM for Konowicz family computer), the mall to fix Anne's watches, and home to hit the beach again. We walked to the beach right near the house. A short 5 minute walk and I was staring at the ocean. The weather was great, sand was hot, the view was remarkable, and I sat there and read a car magazine (the new issue of Super Street was out).

Before we packed up to leave I started to once again to make fun of the ladies Cosmo magazine. My compliant with the magazine is on the dating tips. Seriously, a magazine, written for women, by women, about women, will never ever give you good dating or relationship tips. They had, "Fifty Ways to Keep Your Man Interested", and it was a joke. Each 20 word description I could boild down to 4 words, or cut it out completely cause it was crap. Here is a short excerp:

#20 - My girlfriend knew that I loved Christmas. So one year, a few weeks before xmas she snuck into my apartment, and decorated my bathroom with tinsel and christmas lights. (I parafrased this)

If some girl did that to me, I would call 911 and say I had a pyscho break into my house. End of relationship. What guy wants tinsel in his bathroom? Most guys so rarely clean their bathroom that I am sure that tinsel would still be around for many months. Secondly, what guy wants his girl all over his bathroom? Not me. Another:

#5 - Greet me at the end of the day with an article you clipped out of the paper for me, or a new candy bar I might like. I love knowing that you think about me when I am not around.

Honestly now... they were digging deep with this one. This is what a girl wants. A guy wants a fat steak on the dinner table when he gets home, that will show him you were thinking about him while he was gone. And all the other ones about leaving notes on pillows, and funny voicemail message, come on now. Girls want that, don't write a magazine about what girls want and disquish it as tips on how to keep a man. One more, okay two.

#33 - Worry about me. Whenever I talk to my girlfriend from my cell phone in the car, she reminds me to wear my seat belt.
#50 - MY fiancee sometimes wakes up earlier than I do and does my dishes or puts away my clothes, but she never mentions it when I get up. It's so cool that she does that stuff just to be good to me and not because she wants the credit.

My mom should be the only women telling me to buckle up. If I want a maid I will hire one. Stop reinforcing the male dominated society and telling women to pick up after us. When I ask you to help me with chores, that is different, if I don't ask you, don't touch my dishes or underwear in my room. And this never mention it thing... just seems like ammunition for the next fight. "Well I get up and pick up your dirty clothes... blah blah blah." Ladies, do not pick up after us. If we wanted that we would move back home and have mom do it, don't try to be my mom.

Enough about cosmo.

I might ad more later, maybe. Well at night then we ate like kings again. Great chicken Mrs. Konowicz! Then we watched Frida, too long, okay acting, decent historical references, Salma Heyek.

Enough about Frida.

Today - I got up early to Blog. Wanted to keep you all updated on my trip. Having breakfast/coffee with Becky, Anne and Elisa (Becky's friend with the Jeep at the beach). That should be nice, then relaxing a little before starting the drive home.

I am excited to go back, my birthday is soon. As usually I am not a big birthday person, generally I never even go out or do anything real special. I don't even know what I want from anyone.

Late idea. What about a theme blog, critquing Cosmo every month? Something to think about...

I got to run... need to iron my shirt. Adios.

The Cape
Vacation. I needed a vacation. So I am on vacation. Becky and I drove through the night on Wednesday after Bronco Bash. Let me recap the last few days.

Wednesday - Skipped class to go to Bronco Bash. I love Bronco Bash, I hate class. Easy choice. It was fun, all my chapter Brothers were there (we miss you Orlando, Steve and Alex) and some GVSU and UoM Brothers. It was fun, meet some new freshmen who might be SLB material, had a good time at the new house. Went for a nice walk in the new neighborhood, thanks.

Thursday - Then Becky and I rode out of Michigan at 1am. If you thought Canada was boring during the day, imagine riding through it at 3-4am. Boring. It redefined boring. They do not even have fun billboards to read while you travel. Just plain out Canadian boring. Almost more worthless then Ohio, almost.

The Cape is great. Despite getting poor customer service everywhere on the first day I stayed positive. Had a great meal with Becky's fam, and then caught up on sleep.

Friday - Becky's friend Anne showed up. She works in politics, I don't hold that against her, she is pretty cool. First things first, I needed a hair cut. I think I broke a world record. They dropped me off to get my hair cut and then went next door to get some coffee. The lady who cut my hair did so in about 30 seconds, I think it took longer for me to explain what I wanted then it took for her to cut it! I then paid, and walked to the coffee place. I got there before they even got their drinks! World record, where is Guiness or Ripley's when you need them. I could of been famous. By the way, the haircut looks great.

Then we shopped, of course I bought new shoes. Then off to Provincetown, enjoyed some New England culture, ate a huge sunday. Then went home and ate more fish at Becky's house. They sure eat a lot of fish here, people who like to eat dumb animals would love it out here. I could really get used to this life. As much as I love smart red meat, nothing beats scallops and salmon.

Saturday - Today we went to the beach. We drove right out on the beach, never done that before! It was sweet, let some air out of the Jeep's tires and drove it right out there. The weather was not the best, either way of course I am not tan, and I got sand in my eyes and down my shorts. The highlight of the day was using a handicap port-a-john, that thing was huge. I will be talking about that for years to come. I got some shells for Novali as well, I hope she likes them.

Tonight we go out again. Very different then Midwest out, no hoochie white pants (well there is always "that" girl), no shinny shirts, no cookie cutter looks, and no 44 oz beer pitchers. I do enjoy those things, but in modertion of course. Not saying the Cape is better, just different. Here it looked like a big Abercrombie ad. In Michigan the guys look like slobs at the bar cause they don't care, here they look like slobs and you can tell they tried hard to make it look like they did not try hard. My typical quote, "where's the logic in that?". The girls out here prefer old money to new money, and since I have no money, I felt all out of the loop. Plus I did not go to boarding school like the "special" people...

I got to run and shower now, going to use the outdoor shower. Kinda excited about that, totally new thing, kinda like the handicap port-a-john. Off to find all the places that the sand found. Hum... I will write more, and post pictures very soon.

More then just news
I am getting complaints on my blog. First I hear that I am not funny enough on my blog, or tell good stories like my brothers. Then I am told people hate to hear about my life on the internet in public instead of over the phone.

Here are my replies, to those comments about my blog, not left on my blog but emailed to me. Also, please see July 20th, 2003 about what I think about comments not left on my blog in the comments section.

Well I am not funny, generally I am more goofy and uptight then anything. Which in itself makes a bad non-funny combination, let alone bad stories. On most days lately you will hear my slaughtering the words to "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got" or the "Ali Ababuwa (SP?)" song from that Disney movie... you know.. "Prince Ali, Ali... Ali Ababuwa... dah dah dah... something something." Whatever. See, so not funny.

I live a public life, I work with fraternities and sororities. I might as well be live on TV 24-7 since it feels like I hear more about my life from other people then my own mind. So I choose to just Blog it up... Don't like it? Then call me after 9pm cause I don't have a lot of anytime minutes. Good luck reaching me at home, my phone works terrible at my place, I think all the corn kills the signal.

Story telling, well I do not have funny stories. All the funny stuff that happens in my life I usually con Hermen into doing it. So I can not write about it hear, I should tell Hermen to get a Blog and then just link to his funny stories. Like our trip to Meijers (riding little kid bikes, buying no heat bikini wax, our new welcome mat, and trying to find Cinderella), and the last time we hung out at BFE.

Here is one story though I thought I would share, hope you all enjoy this.

I work at a computer place. Generally I do business consulting and websites, but sometimes I get to work in the service area and fix computers. This one day I had a flat panel iMac on the bench, the write up said that the mouse did not work. We did not get the mouse in, so I tested it and our mice worked fine. I called the guy to see if he could explain the problem, sounded strange so I asked him to bring in his mouse. He had the standard optical mouse all Macs have come with for the past 2 years. I tried it, it worked here. So I am wondering... what would cause this? I talk to the guy again, and he explains the problem to me again. So I said, all I can think of is that maybe the optical mouse does not like the surface you are working on, it needs to be reflective enough to work with the infrared laser. then he says... "so you mean I should not use this on my glass desk?". Some people are just slow, or too old to use new technology. If you did not get thise story, you are one of them.

Some News:
Well not a whole lot of new stuff. The apartment is finally cleaned, painted and set up. Got tons of rain in my room when I left my window open during a storm. Novali used her potty for the first time last night (yeah!). And tonight I am going to Kalamazoo to help the Brothers with Bronco Bash, then leaving for Cape Cod.

Alright, you are wondering about Cape Cod. I guess I have been forgetting to tell people about this trip. Becky (from GVSU) and I are leaving tonight for Cape Cod. It is her home town, and she needs to take her car home to get it state emissions tested and get new tires (her dad insists she get it done from "his" guy). Since she did me this huge favor of helping Parking Lot Performance with a loaner car all summer this is the least I can do, plus who doesn't want a vacation to Cape Cod? So I will be gone until September 2nd, on a much needed vacation and break from Michigan.

Other news. Car still not done, yes I am pissed. Started classes, same old stuff. Working at GVSU, still too many meetings. Working at CompuCraft, nothing exicting to work on. End of news.

Alright, this is a long post. I expect some comments on my blog, not emailed to me. Thanks.

Getting settled
There is nothing I love more then getting into a routine. Some might find this boring to do, but I like having consistency in my life. I also am enjoying having roommates again (I lived alone for over a year) and our neighbors. Here are some updates on what is going on in my life.

Washing clothes. Today I washed at our new place, well not just at our new place. We have an interesting system with the girls next door, our washer is broken, and their dryer is broke. So naturally, being the nice broke college students we all are, we found a way to make this work. We all wash at their place, and they dry at our place. It works.

The Nissan. I wish I had better news here, but I don't. The project is still way behind, Becky returns on Thursday and needs her car back, and I am not sure what I will do for transporation. How much is a bus pass?

Summer classes. My internship project is going well, finalizing some of the things right now for all of that. The practicum research project... pretty much dead in the water for now. Everyone is too busy right now to help me, I am too busy to help myself, and I just plain out don't know what to do anymore. Ah.

GVSU work. Back to the grind. The grind it is, I am having trouble with the IFC/NPC Recruitment booklets, IFC recruitment planning is falling behind and everyone is swamped. I have Greek life presentations I need to get done for tomorrow, got an outline and some powerpoint slides done... hope it is enough.

PLP. We are looking at moving into some new avenues for Parking Lot Performance. Hermen and I found a cool old motorcycle we could work on. I am thinking this would rock, plus I could drive it while my car gets finished. Plus everyone knows I have always wanted a motorcycle... we will see what happens.

Family. Raquel called today, she is having a girl and from everything they know now the baby appears to be healthy and doing well. Andres is in Puerto Rico, after his accident in Chicago involving his car hood opening at 80mph on the high way. Miguel is getting ready to move out of Kalamazoo, he has been there six years now, but he is looking forward to an awesome year in Bolivia! My parents, enjoying having the house to themselves, swimming, riding the trator, Dad playing tennis then complaining that his arm hurts, and Mom walking around in flip flops cooking on the grill.

Personal. I am stressed. I have not been this stressed in a long time. Too many things on me at once right now. School starts soon, behind on my summer projects, behind on fall event planning, behind on many things. I know it will all work out in the end, but right now it is hard to stay positive about it all.

Thanks for checking in with me. Someone please sign my comments... Thanks.

Everything is almost done, almost.
Well for those who have been following the saga of the Burgandy NX... she is almost done. The fiasco with the colilovers appears to have been solved, the seats that have been sitting in my living room since February will be installed this weekend, and early next week all that audio equipment eating up space in my storage room will finally be in the car and functional. Now just need to get my lights and trim finished up and she will be ready to roll, any day now, any day now...

On another note, the apartment is also almost finished. The basement painting is pretty much finished, my room just needs a few things hung up, the wireless internet will be in soon, the storage room is close to be organized, the kitchen and bathroom are clean, and next week when we all get paid we will get the last little things for the place and I will be able to call it home! Can't wait.

Lastly, class work. This is also another almost on my list. Yesterday I got a ton done on my work for the technology internship with the GVSU Office of Student Life. I also got some feedback on the research I am doing for CampuSpeak as well. So things are moving along, slowly but surely... and almost done, kinda.

As you can see, right now my life is full of many "almosts" and I can not wait until I have those items off my list. Things are going well though, I am starting to feel a little more in control of all the things going on. That is a good thing, I felt a little out of control for a few weeks, especially when I was sick for that week.

Thanks for tuning in to my Blog. I will hopefully be writing more now that things are starting to settle down a little.

Ciao Ciao!

New home... almost
Moving is a pain, a royal pain. Painting walls with bullet size holes in it, chipping and scratching your furniture as you struggle to get it around that impossible corner, trying to figure out how you got that futon down in the basement, and realizing all the worthless crap I have just down right depresses me. Oh well.

The moving is almost done, hopefully tonight after work I will get the rest of my little things out of my old place and be done with Holland. No more tupils for me, or heated sidewalks, or that tiny thing called a mall. Now it is all country, cow smells, living next to a trialer park, well water, and loud crazy girls next door. Which will I like better? Time will tell.

Along with all this moving... we have a birthday to celebrate. Tonight Hermen will be the big two-one! We are heading to our favorite towny bar and having a grand old time. This will for sure be an adventure, Happy Birthday Hermen!

That is all for now. And for those wondering... no my car is not done. Long story... even too long to blog about. I am a little bitter. Don't ask.

Next of kin
Alright. Enough is enough. Ever since I was a small child I have had problems with my tonsils. Several times a year they would get infected, I would think I had strep or mono, go to the doctor, and then be sent home and told to just wait cause it was a tonsil infection. Unlike everyother childrens doctor, my doctor did not want to take my tonsils out. So for years I suffered. I stopped even going to the doctor when my tonsils would swell cause I knew they would not be able to help me, and that is was not anything bad like strep or mono.

I have been sick. It started a week ago with guess what? My tonsils got all swollen. I figured usual crap, wait a few days, it will blow over. Well that was six days ago, and I have run a fever every night since then. One night my fever was so bad I got fever blisters in my mouth. They hurt, I can barely eat.

So Sunday at Midnight I took myself to the emergency room. I had almost a 102 temperature when I arrived (mind you this was after a cold shower). They checked for strep, and guess what? None. Then they drew all kinds of blood, and guess what? No viral infections or namely the famed mono. They sent me home with a bottle of stuff to gargle with to help my tongue and throat not feel so bad.

But before sending me home I had to fill out more paperwork, and it asked for my next of kin! Did they think I was dying? I might since all they gave me is some stuff for my throat, I mean nothing to actually stop the infection, just make it hurt less. Medicine makes no sense to me, doctors cured my moms cancer, but can't tell me why my throat hurts. Where's the logic in that?

Since when do doctors no help cure the problem? They just gave me some crap to help my throat not hurt, told me to rest, and wait to see what happens. They ask for my next of kin, then tell me to go home and wait. That was very reasuring. Oh yeah, and at least they recommended me to a doctor to look at my tonsils... and maybe get them take out.

Despite being sick today I went to work (I did leave early). I felt like crap, I have barely eaten in three days cause my mouth hurts so bad. I am tired cause the fever keeps me up at night. And no one can help, not even the doctors.

I have an appointment with this other doctor on wednesday, if I live til then. If I do not live, Novali gets all my life insurance money, and Mom I listed you as my next of kin.

Moving... kinda
Well as many of you know, I am supposed to be moving next week. However, after rolling about 2 gallons of paint onto walls in our new place, then wrestling with a Wagner PowerPainter (definately not powerful or useful) for three hours, and trying to paint in the semi dark I gave up.

I selected the room that was the "fixer-upper"... man did I get more then I can handle. The room will look good if it kills me, if I have to quit my job to work full time on finishing the paint, or even if I fail my two classes cause painting was more important. I am resolved that the room will look good... end of story.

On to other news... there is no other real news. Well except that this week I am heading over to Saginaw to visit with my mother and father (and do laundry of course, no I am not driving 2.5 hours for free laundry... well maybe I am), then dropping three fraternity Brothers at Midway airport, and finally spending time in Chicago will my little one. All this when I am supposed to be finishing an internship project and my practicum research. Ha... like that important stuff will get done!

I am actaully going to bed before midnight... no productive stuff going on over here! Goodnight.

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Good race day and Mexican food for Team PLP
We did it. My car got back from the paint shop last night at 9:30. After an early rise so I could her back together (at least enough for the race) we headed to the course. Today we were at GVSU, it was a beautiful day, we also all got some tans (or burns, not me, I actaully worn sunscreen).

Getting the cars ready was more stressful then last time. My magnetic numbers fell off on the way to GVSU (we lost one). At the race we needed to strip the speaker box and amp out of Ramiro's ride and get all that crap out of the car he keeps in there (if I didn't know better I would swear he was homeless and lives in the backseat of his car). Big shot out to Hermen, pit crew chief for Team PLP, for making sure tire pressures were good, numbers were on, and cars were ready.

Ramiro ran first (Honda Accord). You can see him lined up for his first run, I know he was nervous... I remembered the feeling. He ran some good times, we had confusion on the course and I am putting in a compliant on how they worded the directions. Once we got the course correct Ramiro was able to finish with a decent time, 29.0 seconds. He really would of had a 27.2 but he missed a cone so it did not count. But according to Team PLP... he ran a 27.2!



Then it was my turn. Since I was not able to get the car back together before the race I had to improvise a few things. On the window sills I had to put some napkins in between the window and door so I wouldn't crack my windows. It looked kinda ghetto... but you got to do what you got to do when working in a parking lot. But hey... no broken windows!

I ran some good times. I am pretty happy. The course was very tight and short, which for me was hard because of my super stock suspension set up. I did not stay on my course my first two runs, but the last five I kept uping my speeds and substantial increments. I ended the day with a 24.2 second final time. Once again I only beat one car in my class but if you think the fastest time in my group was something like 22.4 I was not that far behind. Plus I was driving so hard I had my car on three wheels through the back end of corners 3 and 4... that is what I call Driven...



After the race we got some good Mexican food and all passed out from a long day. Being out in the sun wears you out. We are all a little darker now and more experienced in Solo II AutoCross.

It feels good now that the paint is finally done. Once the car is completely put back together I will post some nice pictures on my NX page along with the seat install which will be done this week. The paint looks sharp for a budget job and Team PLP is looking good.

As usually after a race I got to give a few shot outs. To Team PLP; Hermen "Pit Crew Chief " Diaz thanks for the help, next time you better get out there and drive. Ramiro "Accord Driver #68" Padron good job out there, you better do it again. To all the supporters, Oso and Lisa for coming out to watch Ramiro run, to Becky again for letting my borrow the Honda (it will be returned in better condition then I got it), to my landlord for not getting mad about all the cars ripped apart in the parking lot, to all those who emailed me good luck and well wishes, and to the Furrin Group for teaching me all I know about AutoCross. Thank you!

Almost show time... where is my car?
Tomorrow we race. Parking Lot Performance will debut our Honda Accord at the event. Today we took Ramiro out and gave him a crash course in how to shift so that he gets the maximum power and hits the proper shift points. Hermen will ride along with him during his first event to help give him tips after each run.

I am glad to see we will finally be running the Honda... however it is not looking very promising right now about the Nissan. I have not heard from my paint guy, and I am starting to get worried (it is my nature to worry). He knows my car needed to be done for tomorrow, and I hope I still get it sometime tonight. I won't have a lot of time to prep it before tomorrow... but at least she will be on the road for the AutoCross tomorrow if I can get her back tonight.

We installed the rest of the interior pieces in Ramiro's car today. So it is finally all assembled... and no pieces left over! However we forgot to plug the clock back in, always got to forget something. When he gets his new console trim and shift boot ready to install we will fix it then when it is taken apart again. But his car sounds great now with the Polk 12s in the trunk, and with the custom trim this car is really coming along.

Well off to do a tune up to the Hondas. We got the 96 and 98 Accords ready for full tune ups. Man we are running a little mini garage in our apartment... oh wait... no its' just Parking Lot Performance!

Life is good, except for that whole school thing...
Things are going well. Today was fun (and we haven't even gone out yet). I went by Speedwise to drop off one of my MOMO Seats to finally get fitted for my car. Got a hair cut, the girl there only charged me for a kid hair cut again (4 bucks off!). Had lunch with Hermen at Taco Fiesta. Got a big project done at work. Also went and looked at the progress of the leather work on my door panels and it looked great! And tomorrow I get my car from the paint shop... so I am excited. Everything is coming together well.

Well Saturday Parking Lot Performance will be racing, and this time we have two cars! The Nissan should be ready and Ramiro will debut the Honda. We have been teaching him how to shift and we think he is ready to take on the Solo II AutoCross. We will find out this weekend.

School... that is another story. Not going well. Behind on both my practicum and internship. However I know I can get it done so I am not overly worried. Plus right now I don't really care.

Also today pictures of Novali got posted on her site. So check it out, link to her site is on the side.

Alright. Got to get ready to go out.

Wires, Camera, and the DMV
Well good news and bad news. For those who asked, yes Parking Lot Performance (PLP) is the final name of our team! It is very fitting. Example, today we hooked up our first amp. We got it working right and everything (of course doing everything the long way) except for that we did not have enough speaker wire so we only hooked up one of the subwoofers. All I can say is... that was so PLP!

Bad news... I can not find my digital camera. I am not sure in which place I used it last. I have a feeling it was my hotel in San Francisco (I will call them tomorrow) or in one of the planes on the way back (calling them tomorrow as well). I fear it is lost forever, and for those who know me that little thing never left my side! So of course I need to get a new one.

Finally got the Mercury reregistered. Don't ask. Now I just need to call about that ticket.