Category: Life News

Don’t you love it when someone you’d been thinking about but haven’t been able to find for years all of the sudden calls you out of the blue? I know, it probably doesn’t happen to you often, but it happened to me last night. My best friend from my high school days called me. I had lost track of him several years ago. Both of us moved a few times and somewhere in there missed a phone number or two and we lost contact.

It would be very weird, I suppose, if he turned up to be living in Northern Virginia, but that would be stretching things a bit too far. Anyway, I’m most glad to have heard from him and look forward to talking to him again.

I have a new tooth. I got it yesterday afternoon. The very last tooth in the back had a chip on it. It wouldn’t really have mattered except that it made the tooth sensitive and painful. So: enter the new crown. I had to wear a temporary for little over a week before the final crown was ready. I can now say that I have a gold crown. Not that of a king, mind you, but one in my mouth. Oh, I know it won’t look all nice and white, but who’s looking on the inside of my mouth?

My jaw is still sore and the tooth is still sensitive, but I can already notice a definite improvement. I can now chew on the right side without pain. It’s definitely worth its weight…

This weekend, Laura is visiting her family in North Texas while I’m stuck at home alone. Funny thing, though: I seem to have more to do this weekend than I usually do. I have a list, you see. This list is not a “demand” list but a simple list of things which I could do to keep myself busy… It’s strange how many of those have me doing yard work.

Anyway, my new data server motherboard has arrived and I promptly installed it this morning [yes, it arrived TODAY – a Saturday delivery. Gotta love those ASUS server support folks.] Of course, it doesn’t work fully. I can get to my mirrored C: drive, but not my large RAID 5 array, nor will the network interface work. Back in the box it goes.

I was so upset with the board that I actually went outside and weeded the whole front and side flowerbeds. Guess it was a good thing Laura made that list…

Thanks to friends of friends, my parents, Laura and I got to tour the White House on Friday. We didn’t get to go into the West Wing, but the East Wing instead. You would think that the house is big – and it is if you consider it just a residence, but for what it is, the residence and offices and ceremonial and diplomatic greeting rooms of this nation’s CEO, it’s really rather small. Some of the modesty of our first president is reflected in its construction, but there is also style as well.

I feel honored to be able to walk in the halls that our current and former presidents have walked. The sense of power is almost tangible.

We rented a pair of Harleys to ride on Thursday [which was a blessing as we had to use them to go car shopping!] and that happened to be the day of the best possible weather for the whole week. We [my father and I] took the girls [Laura and my mother] for a ride through some parts of the countryside. I have to say that there is much more to Northern Virginia than I thought and it’s not your typical urban sprawl. There are some very picturesque secenes which we rode by that Laura and I may have to go find again and take pictures of.

I loved the bike, too. I think I’ll have to add the HD Heritage Softtail to my list…

In order to properly deal with our vehicular disability, Laura and I purchased a new car. We had previously been car shopping and evaluating with the idea that we would need to make the purchase at the end of Summer. However, that time was pushed forward to this week. We had some specific criteria when it came down to chosing a new [new to us, that is – we weren’t just looking at new, but used as well] car. Those critera were: 1) the human-driver interface [seat] must be supportive and comfortable, 2) it must be dependable and have a good longevity record, 3) have all wheel drive, and 4) be blue. [the last one was somewhat negotiable, but, hey – it’s on the list.]

In the course of the last 10 years as a travelling consultant, I have had the opportunity to drive quite a large range of cars from a variety of makers. One or two of these makers we have eliminated on philosophical grounds [due to issues the companies support and promote that we do not] or based on bad service/reliability records. Many more, however, we have eliminated due to the fact that sitting in the seats for any length of time made my back hurt. There were a few, however, that both Laura and I found acceptable: BMW, Subaru, and Mitsubishi [although they don’t have many all wheel drives, their seats were quite comfortable]. Having owned a BMW before and driven Laura around it in, we were both in agreement that those seats were at the top of the list.

So, first stop was the Subaru dealer. While the seats we okay, they were not stellar and the car she liked, the Outback, was somewhat hesitant off the mark. So, with the immediate demise of the car, we didn’t have much opportunity to look elsewhere, we knew a place that sold certified “pre-owned” BMW cars. We had long been looking at the X3, which is their small SUV and took this as an opportunity to drive it. The seats were wonderful, but for some reason, the X3 was not built as solid as is usual for a BMW vehicle. We had to pass.

On our way out, Laura suggested we test drive the 330xi, which is the small 4-door sedan with all wheel drive. I was a bit surprised, and immediately agreed [I am a fan of the 3-series and just love them]. We took it to lunch. There was no denying that it was extreemly sollid, no rattles, very stable and in all ways a BMW. The seats were so comfortable and included a power height-adjustable lumbar support and had seat memory [bonus!]. Laura loved it, so we bought it. It’s a 2002 and has 40,000 miles on it, but the lifetime on a car like this will go well past 250,000 miles if treated properly.

It’s not what Laura had her mind set on, and I told her that I would take this one as a hand-me-down so that in due time she can get her some kind of wagon/hatchback car. Oh, the things I must suffer…

Ever have one of those days? Yes, I’m sure you have. Today is one for us. It started out okay – until we actually got in the car to take my parents [they’re visiting here] down into DC to sight see. About one mile from the house, the car exploded. Not in fire, but in antifreeze. We began to inhale vast quantities of antifreeze steam through the car’s ventilation system. Something has broken in the cooling system and it’s not any of the hoses that we can see. It looks more like a water pump or seal – that’s going to be expensive. So expensive, in fact, that we might just have to ditch the car and buy a new one this week. So much for “European Delivery”.

In a lighter vein, we have rented a pair of Harleys to ride around the area. Only, now, we’ll be riding to our closest dealer to test drive some cars…