Ben Benner’s Blog

I am going to be heading out to Dallas here shortly. However, this is just a quick day trip.

I will try to do a real post when I get back home tonight.

Laterz

I was worried that the Corolla was going to need some major exhaust repair, which would make me question whether or not I should get it repaired, much like we did with the Achieva.

I currently have about 187k miles on the Corolla and I want it to make it to 200k, that is the line I have drawn in the sand as to when I want to look for a new car. I think 200k is a good run for the Corolla, not to say I will put it out to pasture, if it is in decent condition still by that point I am sure someone would buy it for a couple of thousand dollars.

Well, as I stated earlier today I had to drop the car off for some maintenance and there was obviously something wrong with the exhaust system as it had gotten quite loud recently. I had been really hoping something had just come loose, but the likelihood of that seemed to be pretty slim.

I got the call from the mechanic a little while ago and as it turns out the bolts that connected the ‘lower pipe’ or something to the exhaust manifold had come undone (disappeared is what the mechanic said). He got it all reconnected. He charged me like $43 bucks in labor for getting it all fixed up.

Needless to say I am very excited by the news that it is just merely something that needed to be reconnected and not totally replaced.

Now, I just need to get some new tires, it is definitely getting to be about that time. Oh yeah, I also need to call around to some junkyards and get a new seat-belt re-tractor thing, as my belt doesn’t retract properly right now. A new one is like $400 bucks or so, just for the part.

I am pretty confident at the moment that the Corolla will see 200k miles.

Back to the grind.

Laterz

And I don’t have any real plans.

I need to get the house straightened up, finish doing some laundry and what not.

I just got the call that my new glasses are ready, my prescription changed a little, like -.25 or something in each eye. I was almost talked into getting these black plastic frames with little skulls on the sides. However, I think that would only work if I was in a band or was back in college.

I am debating about what to do with my current glasses. I could keep them as a spare pair, or I could get new lenses (tinted) put in them for about $70. Because, I would really like to have a pair of sun glasses again, though I am quite used to being blinded when I go outside.

The Corolla needed an oil change so I dropped it off this morning. However, a couple of days ago the engine started to sound really LOUD, at first I thought maybe it was just because it needed an oil change, but the volume was significantly higher than just a rough idle.

I could smell just a wee bit of exhaust fume from when you open the hood, so after some searching on the Internet and Jeremy hearing it too, I am convinced it is something to do with the exhaust assembly in the engine area. I am really hoping that it is just something that has come loose. But more likely something has a hole in it.

Which makes me think that a 14 year old car back in Michigan would like be on at least it’s second muffler and likely it’s third one. I have never replaced a muffler on it and the car was only 4 years old when I bought it so it is unlikely that was replaced back then either.

I am awaiting the call from Brake Specialists to let me know how much it is going to cost.

In the meantime I am installing Asterisk 1.4 for a work project. Fun, Fun I love installing from source.

(I really mean that, btw)

Back to the grind.

Laterz

Gina is in the Philippines, so I haven’t been sleeping too well. Several reasons why.

1. With no curfew, I find myself staying up later than usual.

2. The dogs go nuts with every little noise and usually wake me up in the middle of the night.

3. Cuz I miss her. (I just heard someone say ‘awwww’)

I have neglected my blogging.

I should have drank another red bull and headed down to this networking party that Jeremy is at tonight. But I have to save my strength for the networking party on Saturday. I hope I don’t miss anything too cool at the party tonight, but I definitely need to get some sleep tonight.

I had a maintenance window last night that had me up late and tomorrow morning at 8am I have a conference call with some folks in UK or somewhere in Europe. Good times, good times.

Well, I wanted to do a little update before going and passing out.

Laterz

We arrived home at approx 8pm last night, this was about two and a half hours earlier than my original estimate. My original estimate was off for two reasons.

1. I didn’t know exactly how far away Memphis was from Little Rock.

2. Gina is speedy.

We got to Memphis at a decent time the other night and stayed in a swanky La Quinta. The decor was much more modern and had a mix of carpet and what appeared to be hardwood floors in the room.

I was very proud of Emma Lou, this entire trip she managed not to have any accidents in the hotel rooms. In the past she would immediately christen the room.

We made pretty decent time along the way from Lansing to Memphis. There was this one stop for gas where I thought we might not make it out. The area was a backdrop for an ’80s slasher film. We pull up and there is a seedy, run-down looking motel (a couple of the doors had plywood over it). There was only one other car getting gas and there were some crazy looking clerks in the gas-station store.

Also, I have to mention that the bathroom was possibly the WORST I have ever had the unfortunate pleasure of using. I mean, when I first walked in the stench hit me in the face. I wonder if the place has ever really been cleaned, let alone just a quick cleaning recently.

There were flies, mind you no windows in this restroom. I mean we have stopped at highway rest stops that have flies (or bees) due to the fact that they don’t have A/C and the windows are open. No windows in this bathroom.

Anyway, I got out of there after scrubbing my hands very well (luckily the soap dispenser was completely full). I used my foot to open the door (which had a level handle instead of a round one).

“What about the ‘Burrs within 60 seconds’ ?” you ask.

We got home, let the dogs out into the backyard, unpacked the car. And when we let the dogs back in, they had burrs in their fur. Which means that they immediately managed to run though the few burr plants that have cropped up in the backyard while we have been gone (one or two were likely there before we left, behind the shed).

Emma, Buddy and Curly all have burrs. I will be mowing the backyard today and weed wacking behind the shed. I am also going to powerwash the deck, its a bit dirty.

As long as I don’t have to go into the office on Monday (pretty sure I won’t have to), I will be taking some time that day to replace some fence boards.

I need to get my bag unpacked and get settled in a little.

Laterz

Now, some of you may or may not know this term. I just learned it myself, from my father-in-law.

It is the hole or break in the bad weather (or clouds) that gets folks to think that the weather is finally shaping up and is going to be just fabulous, therefore they get their swimsuits on, they load up the boats or jet-skis and head out onto the lake. Then it hits you, the clouds roll in and most likely the rain starts.

Ummm, so we were all packed up (I mean the car was completely loaded and we were like five minutes from loading dogs) and then it got sunny and the weather turned nice, so very nice.

You guessed it, we stayed another day. I even got the silver floating lounging blow up thing and was in the water, I borrowed the anchor and tied to the lounging thing (don’t worry Tom I returned it to the boat when I was done, right were I found it).

However, the weather was only nice for about an hour or so, then it started to get cloudy and about five minutes after that, it started to rain, about 10 minutes after that it started with the thunder and lightning.

Major suck.

The storms blew threw after about two hours, resulting in only a mostly cloudy situation. We went back out onto the dock and hung out for a bit. I was too cold (seeing as my shirt and shorts were still wet from lounging in the lake earlier. Gina on the other hand stayed out there for several hours.

We had dinner at The Club in Central Lake, they have by far the best burger I have had in Michigan (there are a couple of contenders down in Texas for Best Burger Ever).

I woke up and let the dogs out and found the lake covered in a pea-soup like fog. An hour later the fog had burned off, the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky, the lake was crystal clear and calm. Gina jumped in and had a quick swim and began the debate on whether or not we were going to stay up north just one more day.

I told her we should probably head down state today and remember the lake being beautiful rather than staying and possibly being sucker holed again, though I am sure with our luck it was gorgeous all day long.

Well, we are back in the Lansing area. We have done our shopping for MSU gear and had the chance to  hang out with Joe Kursch at Buddies in Okemos (or whatever town is out near the Meridian Mall).

Tomorrow morning we are having breakfast with my mom and then lunch with my pops down in Pleasant Ridge (near Detroit).

I need to wrap this up and get to bed, morning is going to come too early and breakfast is at 8:30.

Laterz

After breakfast I took a “30 minute nap” (it is in quotes because in real world time it lasted about two and a half hours), I woke up to find Gina outside sunning herself. The weather had turned out to be quite nice. It was still a little chilly but had gone from being mostly cloudy to just slightly cloudy, so in the sun it was quite nice.

I managed to get a wee bit sun burned, even though I had sprayed myself with some SPF 30 misting sun screen. I suspect that I did not spray enough on.

I sat out there for about three hours or so, we listened to the radio and read books. I am just about done with Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae. There was probably another hour left of sun, but both Gina and I were feeling a little crispy, therefore we decided to head into town for dinner.

Gina wanted Pizza from Short’s Brewing Company, the Pizza was good. I had the Bellaire Brown, which in the past has tasted really good to me, this time around it was a little bit harder to finish the pint, I think I should have gone with their Chocolate Stout.

Gina checked her email and had a pint of their Locals Light. From what I overheard Short’s is doing really well, apparently they have started distributing their beer to restaurants and they are expanding their operations from 7 barrels to 30 barrels.

We had been hoping today would be nice. However, it is looking like it will actually be a windier day than yesterday. The wind opened up one of the screen doors to the cottage.

We are packing up and are definitely going to head down state today, though the sun is tempting us even now breaking through the clouds, urging us to stay one more day here at the cottage by the lake.

I am going to grab a slice of leftover pizza and start packing up.

Laterz

I only sort of wish I had a kite. It would be interesting to try to fly a kite off the end of the dock. It certainly has been windy the last couple of days.

I think the temperature on the thermostat here never read over 69F yesterday, today It hasn’t broken 65F.

Gina made breakfast this morning. I have to do the dishes, right after I finish this post.

We are pretty sure that we are going to head down state later today instead of Wednesday. I think we will be heading back to Texas on Friday morning.

The sun is peaking out from behind the clouds here and there while I am posting this, but the temp is just not hot enough to sit out and get a tan. Bummer.

We saw Hancock on Friday, it was pretty good. I really liked the first half of the movie, it felt very original but just as the storyline was getting good they started wrapping it up, they managed to keep the movie to an hour and a half, but in doing so the whole ending felt rushed.

The little theatre in Bellaire is really great. It has two screens. They had just done a fresh batch of popcorn so I had to get some. I have gotten into the habit of buying the kid’s packs, that way you get a little bit of popcorn, a small drink and some candy. Normally the candy is something really small and not always that great. However, the Bellaire theatre offered you a selection of candy from the bottom row, which was cool. They had a good assortment to choose from. I got peanut M&Ms.

I found out that the family that owns the Bellaire theatre, also owns the theatres in Gaylord and Petoskey.

The BBQ on Friday turned out really well, everyone really enjoyed the pork, coleslaw and chicken. Mary Wight brought over her famous spaghetti salad, it was very, very good.

Well, I better get the dishes cleaned up.

Laterz

“See the bay and buy a Wii!”

So last year Gina and I saw that the Traverse City Meijer’s had several Nintendo Wii video game systems. We didn’t buy one when we saw it, stating that we were planning to be back in Traverse City the next day and if they still had some we would buy one then, because then it would be kismet.

However, we did not make it to Traverse City the next day, and therefore did not purchase the Nintendo Wii at that time.

This past Monday, we went to the Traverse City Meijer’s with the intent of purchasing groceries for the bbq tomorrow and some other foodstuffs. Before we set out on the trip north Gina and I had stated that we would need to check to see if that Meijer’s in Traverse City had a Nintendo Wii available, as there have been NONE available in Austin. (They sell like hot cakes, or are secretly diverted off to eBay.)

Well, they did have a Nintendo Wii available, two of them in fact. We purchased one, it is still in the box. Since they were having a sale we also purchased a second Wii-mote, that came with the latest Wii-Sports game disc.

I asked the clerk if they get regular shipments of them (Wii systems) delivered. She told me that they get a delivery about every 3-4 weeks, and that they usually get 20 units. However, this last time they got 50 units.

From what I have been able to get out of some (ToysRUs, GameStop, etc) clerks down in Austin, they get a shipment every 1-2 months and only a handful of units (5-10). So 20 units being shipped to a Meijer’s in a town that is a decent size, but known for being a resort town seems to be a little off.

But as I tried to say with a straight face to Gina, “It is a by-product of attempting to have an equal distribution of product across a chain of stores without taking into account the the regional demographics.”

I said that mouthful before I found out that the latest shipment had 50 units, of which they had already sold 48, err 49 with our purchase. So regardless of Traverse City’s reputation for being a resort town, that Meijer’s can sell some video game systems. The clerk informed us that one lady purchased three systems. Leaving the store and returning each time, therefore fulfilling the “limit one per purchase/visit” policy.

So I definitely think that given the trouble the tourism industry is having in northern Michigan, that Traverse City should do a promotional campaign and promote the fact that the Traverse City Meijer’s has Nintendo Wii’s available (fairly regularly) as a way to bring in more visitors to the city to have them see the Grand Traverse Bay.

Ok, time to shutdown and go to bed.

Laterz

I am waiting for my brine to cool down enough to put it with my pork shoulder (also known as a Boston Butt).

I made a nice spinach salad tonight, consisting of spinach, carrot, celery, green bell pepper, onion, and cherry tomatoes. The salad went nicely with the chicken thighs that I grilled. After dinner Father Anthony asked me to make some stove-top popcorn. I burned the first batch just a little, like prolly 15 seconds too long. The second batch was pretty much perfect.

I made the coleslaw for tomorrow right after eating dinner and before I made the popcorn. The coleslaw is from this Texas BBQ book Gina bought her dad a while back, the slaw is pretty much the same as the slaw you get at the Salt Lick. Only difference I think is that the Salt Lick uses more vinegar in theirs.

I am going to be smoking pulled pork, chicken and some sausage (which reminds me, we need to buy some sausage).

All for now.

Laterz