Service Department

I'm sitting in the dealership service department right now waiting for my car to undergo it's 12,000 mile check-up. I brought my laptop along as I figured it would be a good chance to write a little blog update to help make the time pass. So without further adu...

- The blue leather chair that I am sitting in is pretty comfy, except that it is so low to the ground that I feel like I'm a little kid. It's kind of like the effect you get when you sit in a chair where your feet can't touch the ground... except in reverse. I don't know if that makes sense, but if you have ever used the men's bathroom in the University of Redlands athletic center, you probably know what I am talking about.

- There is an older couple sitting across from me (I'd venture to guess they are 80+) and the old man is reading the newspaper to his wife. I get the sense that this is an everyday occurrence for them. For lack of a better description, they are extremely cute.

Note: The word cute will never be used on this blog again.

- A lady just sat down with her complementary cup of coffee and breakfast bar. Her attempts to open up the breakfast bar packaging quietly are failing miserably. Just open the damn package already.

- I watched 24: Redemption last night. It was a last minute decision as I wasn't sure if I wanted to devote the next 24 Monday nights to watching Jack Bauer yell at people. Then I remembered the amazing invention known as DVR.

- Another reason why I am choosing to watch this season's 24... My boss/dad definitely had "New 24 Season Starts" marked down on his calender. He is addicted. I haven't seen him so into a show since the X-Files. I look forward to dropping random Jack Bauer references into our conversations over the next few months.

"Jon... Jack Bauer is on line 1. He says it's urgent."

- There is a sign by the complementary coffee stand that says "This costs more to maintain than a BMW." Apparently it hasn't exceeded the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty yet.

- I ran for the first time in 3 weeks on Saturday. I am happy to report that my foot was pain free. Just in time for the 3 Turkey Bowls that I am playing in this week. Food and Football. What could be better?

- Can't think of anything else to write about right now... time for another cup of coffee.

- Okay. I'm back! Wait... this blog isn't in real time is it? Nevermind.

- I really want to sneak a picture of the old couple sitting across from me for the blog, except turning my macbook towards them isn't exactly subtle when they would be able to see themselves in the picture preview. Then again, the lady is now snoozing with her head on the arm of her chair and the old man is thoroughly engaged in his newspaper.

- Nevermind. My car just pulled up. Ugh... It looks clean. I forgot to tell them not to wash it. Last time they washed it they put about 1000 new swirl marks on my car. Hopefully they vacuumed.

Alright. Time to go to work.

-dunkie

Dismissed

Back in August I received a speeding ticket for going 92mph in a speed zone that was less than half of that. Honestly, I deserved the ticket. If I was a better man I probably would have conceded that fact and just paid my $411 fine. Sadly, the prospect of being bent over by my car insurance wasn’t to appealing and I decided to go with a traffic lawyer to fight the ticket.

When I contacted my traffic lawyer I originally thought my ticket was for 72mph and not 92mph. At this point I was told that I was lucky that I wasn’t cited for reckless driving and that my chances of getting out of the ticket were slim.

A week later I received a phone call from my lawyer informing me that my ticket was actually for 92mph. So not only was I extremely lucky for not receiving a reckless, but I was lucky that I didn’t end up in jail that night. The only reasonable explanation for why I lucked out is that the officer probably had somewhere else to be (talk about being lucky). Needless to say, at this point my chances for having the ticket dismissed went from slim, to very “this is a complete shot in the dark” slim.

Worst case scenario, I was looking at a $411 fine, sky high insurance rates, and a second ticket on my record (I currently have 0, but if this one stood, a deferred ticket that I received a few months back would have been added back on. Best case scenario, I was looking at a $250 lawyer fee and the not-so-great feeling of knowing that I probably deserved the worst.

Well, as it turns out, I received a call from my traffic lawyer today informing me that my ticket was dismissed. While I am surprised and somewhat elated by this news, I still have that not-so-great feeling of knowing that I just dodged a whole round of bullets.

According to Albert Einstein,

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Respectfully, I find that I must disagree with this statement. Expecting to get off scott-free every time I decided to drive like a complete donkey is insanity. Knowing that one day I’ll probably be handed a “worst case scenario” is just the reality of some of my bad driving habits.

What’s really insane is that even knowing all of this, I’ll probably continue to speed. I’ll probably find some way to justify it to myself and even feel good about it from time to time…

Ugh… is this what alcoholics go through?

“I can handle my driving.”

“I’m not hurting anyone”

“It was just that one time I drove to fast (and got caught).”

I suppose it is…

Being good at driving fast is just about as awesome as the ability to take a large number of shots, down a beer-bong, or shot-gun a beer. It’s all great and fantastic until you wake-up the next morning in the hospital, having no recollection of the previous night, with nothing but your boxers and a pair of dress socks (that you got for free with your tuxedo rental) on. Not that this has ever happened to me before…

-donkey

RIP Curvy

My poor Blackberry Curve is dieing. It keeps passing out on me and won't eat anything. I am guessing that it has something to do with the number of times that I dropped/submerged the poor thing.

On the bright side, the Blackberry Bold was just released for AT&T. I guess all that is left for me to do is to bury my Curvy mistress and choose between the Bold and the iPhone.

I'll probably end up going with the iPhone just because that is what all the cool kids have. Well, that and it's a lot cheaper than the new Blackberry.

RIP Curvy. I'm sorry that I abused you so much. Thank you for making me a better text message-er. You deserved a much better life than the one that I gave you.

-dunkie

Dear Great Pumpkin,

- I didn’t make the 40 laps around CWA needed to run a marathon on Saturday. In short…

• After 28 laps my thighs cramped up.
• After 32 laps my joints couldn’t take the pressure from running on concrete anymore.
• After 34 laps my walking was reduced to a pathetic waddle.
• After 36 laps my body called it quits.

In total, I made it 23.5 miles before my body decided to stand up for itself and tell my brain to shut up.

While most of my body has returned to working order, I think I have a stress fracture in my right foot. Either way, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be running on cement anytime soon.

Note: I should probably add a blog label for all the posts that involve me doing something stupid... ugh.

The last thing that I will say about trying to run a marathon is that my biggest regret isn’t that I wasn’t able to finish. It’s that I made the poor choice to wear cotton boxer briefs instead of spandex.

- I really enjoyed The Simpsons Halloween parody of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Come to think of it, I think I enjoy almost all things Peanuts related.

- Last Friday I went to watch the CWA Football Team take on the Life Christian Eagles. Long story short, the CWA Tarriers scored on a 4th and goal play from around the 3 yard line (with seconds left in the game) to give them the victory, 39-35.

My favorite part of the whole ending occurred during the timeout prior to the ensuing Tarrier TD. From the Life Christian huddle I heard one of the players yell:

“Just like last year, guys!” (Last year being the year that Life Christian stopped the Tarriers on a 4th and goal play from the 1 yard line to seal the win.)

Needless to say, those words would probably be burning a hole in my head if the Eagles had made the stop. Thankfully, they didn’t, and CWA came away with the victory. GO TARRIERS.

- I’m still uncertain on who I will vote for in the 2008 Presidential Election… which is today. Here is what I am certain of:

I, Dunkie, will support the next President of the United States of America, regardless of which nominee wins, until such time that he gives me a legitimate reason to lose all faith in his ability to make intelligent decisions that impact my life and the people I care about.

That’s about as far as I will go into politics here…

- My body is adjusting well to adding a Crossfit workout session in the morning. I think this is mostly due to the fact that I don't actually have to wake up an hour earlier due to daylight savings working in my favor.

- Safeway has extended their sale on Stompin’ Steakhouse Chili through the 11th. Exciting.

- Lastly, in honor of the Presidential Election and The Great Pumpkin, I leave you with this quote:

"I've learned there are three things you don't discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin." -Linus van Pelt, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

-dunkie