A Scattered Brain

Ok, so I didn’t quite win a new car, but I certainly got one yesterday.  My Saturn was starting to get to that age where things were going to start going downhill quickly.  A 5 year old American car, that’s what you expect.

So, it was either a $700 repair to fix the exhaust system or purchase a new car.  I’ve been wanting a new car since Kylah got hers last year so I finally decided to spring for it.

Spencer, what did you get?  I know all of you are on the edge of your seats so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.   I bought a 2006 Nissan Altima 2.5SL.

This thing is loaded to the hilt: leather seats, 6 CD in-dash Bose stereo system with 6 speakers, heated seats, trip computer and gas mileage information, storage galore, HomeLink (the ability to open garage doors from the visor instead of the remotes), 175-HP 4 cylinder engine, and massive seating and trunk space.  I had originally wanted to look at the 6 cylinder version but they didn’t have any and once I started driving this one, it had the power I was expecting out of a V6 but only in 4.  Oh, and it’s a gorgeous navy blue with a beige interior; very classy.

I also got a pretty good deal.  I was able to get the interest rate down to a measly 3% as well as getting near blue book on my trade.  They kept coming back with things that were just a bit high and I kept on saying I’d come back a different day because I’d have to discuss it with my wife.  Eventually they finally made the right push to give me all that I wanted (low interest and high trade value).  Of course, once they did, I said that maybe I could call my wife instead of going home to talk to her; I’m so sneaky!  All in all, not a bad deal and boy do I love that new car smell.  I’ll just have to be careful not to get any tickets as this thing has pep to it.

It’s nice to have a new car again, even if it does come with a payment.  Of course, this is the kind of car that should last a very long time (or so I say now; and yes I know the next car is Kylah’s)!  Yippee!

In memory of the tragic and horrific events that occurred five years ago, I want you all to remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard about the events happening on 9/11/01.  Here is my story:

I was feeling absolutely horrible and so I was going to work a few hours later than usual.  I arrived at work around 9:00 and started my daily troubleshooting of peoples’ computers and was working specifically with one of our Implementation manangers in his office when a woman burst in stating that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  At that time, I assumed it was some small commuter plane that had hit accidentally and went back to work.  Then our office became more of a buzz as the truth started to come out.

Someone found a small 13″ T.V. and we placed it in a corner office by the window so we could watch with reasonable reception.  In the business I was in, we had quite a few clients that worked in both buildings of the WTC.  I was still feeling terribly ill and went home around 12:00 to continue to watch the events unfold at home.  At some point while talking to Kylah in the morning, she stated that she thought it “was that Bin Laden guy” and I completely agreed.

Later, I found out that the very first customer I had talked to who worked for Janus Funds in Colorado happened to be at the WTC for a conference and was one of the 2,800 killed.

Please, never forget what happened that day even though the media refuses to show it; and always remember those who passed and those who have fought to help prevent anything like that from happening again.  And, please share your thoughts of where you were and what you were doing that day.

Greetings to all of my numerous fans who missed my bowling blog.  The new season has started and so I’m back, back again, guess who’s back, tell some friends.

So, this new season started off pretty well.  My goal average for the entire league is 190.  Tonight, I started off with a 547 series; 182 average.  Not too shabby to start out 30 pins higher my first week over my first week of the summer.  We’ll see how things go as the weeks progress, but out side of my first game where I couldn’t get a good read on the lanes at all, I was pleased with everything.

Here are this week’s results:

Again, not bad except for the first game before any of the oil broke down.  I’ll have to figure that out but it’s tough to practice for that because very seldom do you get to bowl on fresh oil when you come to open bowling.

This league is huge, too.  The summer league had only 24 teams.  This one has 38!  Plus with more money going into the pot, the payouts should be much nicer so that’s all good.

Well, that’s all for tonight.  Have a great one everybody and take care!