OK, I'm not a mechanic

and I'm OK with that, but the bottom line is, Kyla's car didn't get fixed. I did take one side apart as far as possible til I realized that I didn't have all of the correct tools needed to finish the job. Naturally. So here I sit, on my butt in the hotel parking lot at 8 am Saturday morning. And not just any Saturday morning, but the day before the Packers- Vikings game at the Metrodome. The biggest day in professional sports in Minnesota. A) I don't know how we even managed to get a hotel room at all, let alone a nice one. 2) Our hotel was packed. And it's a little unnerving to try and attempt auto repair in the parking lot with cars whizzing by, inches from my out-stretched legs. So, I decided to bag it, and walk away while I could still walk. Kyla's coming home this weekend, and we'll try it again in a more suitable enviroment this time. But the rest of the weekend was fun, we shopped, went to the aquarium, went out to eat,ect. But the most fun was the Halloween scene we went to in Shakopee. It was really fun, like a Halloween amusement park. Check it out, www.trailofterror.com. But the worst part was, Jeannie discovered Ikea, the giant Swedish home furnishings store. This doesn't bode well for me.

Ready to go

Yesterday was Wyatt & Kyla's birthday. To celebrate, we're going to the Cities tomorrow to celebrate with Kyla. the weather has been really beautiful and I hope it lasts through the weekend. Kyla has some fun stuff planned so it should be great. I am taking my tools along and am going to attempt to fix the brakes on her car. My long-distance diagnosis is that it needs front rotors and pads. I've never tried this in my life, so it only makes sense that I'm going to attempt it in a suburban parking lot, sitting on the ground. I can remember one other repair I made on the old Celebrity, R.I.P., in the dorm parking lot at Hamline U. I did make the repair though, after several trips to the auto parts store. I do remember it was a Saturday morning, there were like 2 other cars in the whole lot, and Kyla backed into a light pole with my van. Wow. Lets hope we have better luck this time. The Norwegian is going along, and another exchange student, Vereena from Germany. Those 2 spend a lot of time together and I know they are really looking forward to the trip so I hope they have fun. What's not to like, right? We have been toying with the idea of getting another dog lately. I don't know if anything will become of it, but it has been kind of fun just looking online. I defy anyone to go to this site and not want a cocker spaniel- www.zimfamilycockers.com. Update on my mechanical skills next week.

why do I have to be a hater?

Tonight I was surfing and I found this advertisment-

"Y! Music Unlimited"
"over 5 million songs"
"5 bucks a month"
"this is huge."

and right next to the word "huge" is a picture of Missy Elliot. I just about feel out of my chair from the ironic deliciousness of this. Hey, I've got some weight issues myself, but I ain't shakin' my fat ass on MTV either.

The way things work

Sometimes, the way things work out is just hard for me to fathom. I'm still shaking my head over this one- The first week in August, I bought a '98 Sportster from a guy in Sioux Falls. I needed a bike so Wyatt and I could take our motorcycle trip before he left for Africa. The time was right- Sturgis had already started and this guy knew buyers were growing scarcer by the day. I made him a pretty ridiculous offer and he took it. So- now I've got the bike, my friend and I basically give it a major tune-up for the trip. After a small breakdown on the road (we made it as far as Chamberlain) we're back on the road and the Sportster runs flawlessly for 2,800 miles. So, we're back home and now I own 2 Harleys, which I have made my peace with. I bought it right, I know I can sit on it 'til next spring and make some money. But- as long as the snow isn't flying yet, there may be a buyer out there. So I set the bike in my friend Wayne's driveway with a for sale sign. Wayne lives by Sioux Falls and has tons of traffic by his place. What the heck, right? One day, the phone rings-"this is Oscar. What can you tell me about the bike? I'm really calling for my brother, Hector". 10 minutes later, Hector calls. I repeat the story and encourage him to come look at it. "Well, I'd really like to but I'm in Dallas". Dallas, as in Texas? Yep. As it turns out, Oscar plays in a band that travels around the country. They were playing in or around Sioux Falls and Oscar was killing some time driving around. Just as Oscar is driving by Waynes house, Hector calls and says to his brother, "I'm thinking of buying a Harley, sure wish I could find a nice one." Oscar hits the brakes, and the deal is hatched. Long story short, and 33 emails later, Hector flys in to the Sioux Falls airport with hundred dollar bills in his pocket, we have lunch and do the paperwork, and he's on his way back to Dallas on the Sportster. Is that crazy or what? Hector turns out to be a really nice guy, he absolutely loves his new Harley, and felt it was karma that Oscar was looking at it the second he called. He felt he was destined to own it. And it was karma for me too. Our motorcycle trip is a great memory, the moneys in the bank, and I have a new friend in TX.

Autumn is here

It's Monday morning, typical Monday, stuff has to be set in motion for the rest of the week to fall together. It was a fun weekend, for the first wwekend in Oct. On Sat., J & I rode the Harley to Big Stone City to see her dad. I took a different road, one I'd never been on before so I guess you could say it was the one less traveled. ;-) The wind was strong from the south but it blew us all the way up, what a nice, leisurely relaxing ride. Of course we had to pay for it on the way home. But my only goal was to be home by dark so 60-65 was all the faster I rode. Pushing that fairing into a stiff wind is tough, like pushing a wall. Yesterday J & I drove to Mitchell to spend the day at Deb & Brians. We ate tons (baked ham &cheesy hashbrowns) watched the Viqueens lose to the Falcons, drove out to see Erik & Joleens new acreage. It is located south of Mt. Vernon, so it's a ways out but what a cool place. Really nice ranch house with hardwood floors, huge machine shed, barn, grainery, lays nice, they are really lucky. If they hadn't been working with a Realtor, they never would've gotten it. She called them and they bought it before it ever got on the market.
The last interesting thing that has been happening lately is our Norwegian exchange student, Amalie. She is having issues with waking up in the morning for school. As in, about 3 days out of 5, she over sleeps. So Kristin sits in the driveway and honks the horn, while Amalie slumbers. It is starting to tick me off. She refuses to use the alrm clock, and I refuse to wake her up. I never woke any of my own kids up for school, and I ain't going to start with this one. Which I've told her several times. So, I'm sure it'll resolve itself, it really doesn't concern me, so I'm just going to stand back and see what happens. Kristin will get tired of coming in the house and waking her up, is my guess.