Monday, September 28, 2009

What's going on

I figured I would write a post about everything that has been going on in the last couple weeks. It hasn't been long since my last post, but a lot has happened. My grandmother passed away on September 16th after having suffered a severe stroke on September 14th. My Aunt made a video that was shown at the funeral home (I will try and get that up on YouTube within the week) and my step father delivered a beautiful eulogy.

Mom mom hadn't had it easy these last few years, having suffered from pulmonary hypertension for the last 4 years, followed by a battle with cancer that she beat. The stroke came on suddenly, she had been playing Freecell, and won her first two games ever. Chrissy and I were supposed to be heading there for dinner on Tuesday (Originally we were supposed to go on the 11th, but they had to reschedule because they had a viewing to go for for a friend's death). Pop pop was home and was able to quickly summon help, but it was a battle she just couldn't win.

Heather flew in from Cairo (and brought a cold with her) for the funeral. She spent most of her time staying at our house and it was good to see her, just not under the circumstances (nor was it nice catching the cold). It was nice to see everyone in the same room for the first time in ages..the normal holiday crew and the folks from the hill.

Well, that is all I want to post for now...I will be sure to follow up again before too long.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

It's been a while

I have been meaning to update, I just have managed to distract myself with other things. Facebook Apps, PS3, fetching things for Chrissy (she has a broken Fibula). So, the Jetta is still driving crappy, I meant to work on it this weekend, but did an oil change of the Rabbit instead (it was due) and we went Grocery shopping, the Ravens game and the NASCAR race were on, and I have been feeling a bit fried from work.

Things I will be checking on the Jetta include the EGR and anti-shutter valves for build-up of residue and the timing. I also have Diesel Kleane in the tank, but we aren't driving it much right now because it is misbehaving. The Rabbit is running great but it is now at 39,000 miles because it has been getting so much use with the Jetta being problematic.

I did manage to get the Rabbit working with Amber turn signals (and will eventually enable the rear fog once I feel like climbing under the dashboard). I want to put front fogs on the car too, but all of the OEM-style kits are expensive (and we have a lot of other things to pay down right now). I did manage to seel a bunch of old PS3 and X-Box 360 games though, and rather than buying any new games right now, I am back with the Game-fly 1 game membership (Think Netflix for video games). I have already rented 2 games I would have seriously considered buying to find out they wouldn't have lasted long (Ghostbusters and Wheelman). Ghostbusters was an awesome game, but too short, and Wheelman was too GTA feeling.

The Ravens' game was great to watch. Flacco had a great start although they were a little sloppy at times still. As for NASCAR, it is a shame that Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn't make the chase, but it is great to see Mark Martin riding on top. I am not going to even mention the other Baltimore based major sports team....sad...just sad.

On the movie front, Chrissy finally watched Crank (I had gotten that on iTunes while I was still in Germany) and we watched Crank 2 today. They are very strange in some of their filming angles, and the plots are WAAAAY out there, but it is a fun ride and very entertaining. A couple other recent movies I have watched is Echelon Conspiracy and Dragonball Evolution. Echelon Conspiracy was a good watch, but Dragonball, well, let's just say I enjoy the cartoons MUCH more (even if they are just as strange and cheesy).

As a side note, I am watching a fellow MD alumni, Shaun Hill, beating the Cards! GO TERPS!

Well, that was a very ADD-ish post, I guess that is all for now. Just wanted to say, hey...still here...even if I don't update much. Honest. Plan to update more though. Maybe I will post my opinions of socialized healthcare...I have a scar to prove I have dealt with it (in Germany) so I have more insight than many Americans do.