Some of you might remember the post where we happened upon a Clean House yard sale and purchased the “big ticket item”, refresh your memory here!

We eagerly awaited the airing of the show.  It aired on Friday and…WE.WERE.CUT!  What the hey-ho!  Niecy Nash actually went so far as to say, “…with no big ticket item there it will be difficult to make the goal…”  WHAT…There was TOO a big ticket item, and we purchased it and I can see it in qwendy’s house!!

pffttt…  Dead to me!

As a kid I remember going to automotive stores with my dad; the smell of rubber and new car parts is a familiar scent for me.  There was always a kindly, somewhat dirty man behind the counter (you know, the one in the way back) who would be happy to help help him, some even knew him by name.  My dad would show him a part, they’d mull over the problem and then he’d disappear into the storage room returning with exactly what my dad needed.

Those days are over…

This is Steeeeeeeve (yes you have have to spell/say it that way).

Ever since I got him a year ago I’ve had problems with the battery holding a charge, but since it is not under warranty (BLERG!) I’ve been limping along recharging often.  Last night I had a meeting at the church and since I’d just charged Steeeeeeve to 100% on Sunday I decided to take him.  The battery gave up the ghost when I got there…  Luckily, Linny was there too and she and I went off to Pep Boys to get a new battery.

I trotted to the back counter looking for the kindly man my dad used to deal with, what I was met with, though, was a kid.  I asked the kid, still hopeful, if he had small sport vehicle batteries.  I held mine up so he could see what I was looking for and he said, that’s all in Japanese, which I could tell, and then waved at a wall of batteries and said I’d have to look through them and match what I had with what they had.  A little confused I walked over to the wall of batteries which all seemed to be LARGE CAR BATTERIES.  I squinted and took another look thinking that perhaps I’d missed somthing, nope.  I walked back to him and said, “I’m looking for a scooter battery, those seem to all be car batteries.”  Not saying anything he walked over to some shelves around the corner and which looked to be a “behind the counter area” and pointed to some recreational vehicle batteries, “you’ll have to just look through them.”

Linny and I opened and compared for about 5 minutes and finally found one we *thought* might work.  I took it to the front counter to the girl paying no attention and said, “hi.”  She turned around with what looked like a snear on her face, as though I’d interruped her.  I then said, “I’m not sure if this is the right battery, if it doesn’t work can I return it.”  To which she responded, “You can buy the warranty.”  To which I said, “I don’t want a warranty, I’m not sure this is the right battery.”  Her response, “Let me call the manager.”  Baffled I just said, “you know what, never mind.”  And left.  Apparently, Pep Boys has been taken over by the ne’re do well children Schmoe and Slack…

Avoid Pep Boys AT ALL COSTS.  Especially the one located at:
254 W. Olive Ave.

We then headed over to Kragen at 677 N. Victory Blvd., when you go ask for Kyle, he’ll help you right out.  He took my battery, looked at the part number, matched it to what he thought might be right, WENT AND GOT THE BATTERY FOR ME off the shelf, opened it to compare, talked to me about it and then, THEN, he charged up my old battery enough to get me started.  See, that is what I’m talkin’ about, that’s how I remember it!

Thank you Kragen and Kyle, you have my undying gratitude!

*as a side note, this Kragen is changing names to O’Reilly.  Look for them, they are great!

I have the best friends ever!  Really, I do!!

Qwendy and I in particular have a bond.  We like to be in the know and in the thick of things, we don’t like to miss out on anything…

cimblog(tm): qwendy
cimblog(tm): get in the car
cimblog(tm): go NOW
cimblog(tm): NOOOOOOW
cimblog(tm): Metrolink train hits car in Burbank on Buena Vista and Vanowen
Qwendy: what?
Qwendy: when did that happen?
cimblog(tm): I don’t know
cimblog(tm): it’s the breaking news alert on abc
Qwendy: awesome
Qwendy: ok.. heard sirens 5 minutes ago
Qwendy: I am on my way.
Qwendy: they will re route me
Qwendy: don’t you think?
Qwendy: but I’ll try
cimblog(tm): well, walk
cimblog(tm): park the block before
cimblog(tm): and walk
cimblog(tm): take a CAMARA
Qwendy: ok
Qwendy: but I have AK
Qwendy: so if it’s too gory
cimblog(tm): oh
Qwendy: you have to pay for therapy
cimblog(tm): hmmm
cimblog(tm): okay
cimblog(tm): i can do that
Qwendy: that’s why I love you
Qwendy: “c’mon kid it’s just a dead body”
cimblog(tm): buck up kiddo
cimblog(tm): there will be a lot more in your lifetime
Qwendy: actually she has been running away from me
Qwendy: which I keep saying she’s gonna get hit by a car
cimblog(tm): oh
cimblog(tm): it’s a teaching moment then
Qwendy: maybe this is a good life lesson
Qwendy: ok
Qwendy: leaving
Qwendy: stand by
cimblog(tm): standing
Qwendy: I will call

So we brought it around for a life lesson.  We are always looking for ways to teach, we’re givers that way.

Update #1: Second Breaking news: 405 Freeway shutdown in Long Beach area due to police activity

I do not have anyone in that area to dispatch, Qwendy and I are now taking applications for people willing to be dispatched in an emergency…or at our whim, whichever!

Updated #2: There was nothing to see on the train tracks…a detached headlight and a lot traffic enforcement…that’s all.

If you watch The Amazing Race (TAR) but haven’t yet watched the finale, you might want to stop reading now…because I have a few things to say!

First of all, Phil has disappointed me and it’s going to take some time to get over.

Let me start by saying that I never liked Carol and Brandy…of the two, Carol (she’s the blonde, right?) seemed to be the less vile, she would at least bite her tongue on occasion and *TRY* to be nice-ish.  Brandy though, wow, what a piece of work, she’s got some serious deservatude, doesn’t she?  Then again, I never cared for the tantrums (OVER AND OVER) of Brent and Caite.

During the race Brent and Caite u-turned Carol and Brandy…all within the rules of the game.  Brandy was mean and nasty to Caite the whole race, so her decision was fueled by vengeance and not a particularly strategic move.  However, no rule says it has to be strategic.

U-Turn Ahead
Teams may choose to u-turn any team they wish, but they may only use the u-turn once during the race.  If a team is u-turned, they must go back to the Detour and complete the Detour that they did not complete.

It’s pretty clear that ANYONE can u-turn ANYONE ELSE for ANY reason.

This is what Brandy looked like when Brent and Caite entered the stadium for the finale mat, while everyone else is clapping and whooping and hollering…

Now that's real class, Brandy

Phil makes some small talk with Brent and Caite and then it happens.  Phil, Phil, Phil, why are you turning a lovely moment into a cat fight?  Why?

Phil: “You are the only woman to finish the race in the final three, but there are two women over there that don’t feel that…”

To which Brandy breaks in with:

“I don’t want to hear sorry from you guys.  You purposely whacked us, you said you wanted to be the only woman left standing and you are.  Logically, you u-turn teams that are stronger, the Cowboys should have been u-turned.  You can’t seem to think logically.  I don’t want to hear sorry from you.”

Caite: “Maybe y’all should have treated people a little bit nicer.”

Brandy: “Hey, I’m sorry you can’t handle it.”

And this is where I start liking Caite just a little bit: “I am handling it.  Obviously I’m the one standing here and not you.”

With that, Brandy folds her arms in defeat and tries to pretend she’s not defeated, which she clearly is.

Phil, I think we might be broken up a little bit over that, why give someone filled with such anger and hatred more airtime?  WHY?

In other news, if I have to hear BRO one more time, I might open a vein.  And where I started disliking the brother even more?  Here:

Cutting in Line?

Cowboys: “Are y’all gonna try to check in before us?  You wasn’t gonna do that, was ya?”

Brother: “Oh, yeah.  I’m standing right behind them.”

Cowboys: “Wow, they come in six hours after us, and here Jordan is gonna to try to check in before us.”

Brother: “Yeah, I am.”

Okay, so that just made me mad from the start.  1. it was unnecessary, there were enough seats for all three teams and there was no need to be nasty, 2. really, you’re going to revert to kindergarten and cut in line when it clearly doesn’t matter?  What mattered was getting into first class, which was a good move, but it didn’t matter because I didn’t want them to win anyway.

With the exception of a couple of teams, I did not care for anyone this season.  Which is sad…

Was it something I said?

It’s only Wednesday and the week has been hell.  If you’re having trouble reading this, it’s because I’ve found out this week that I speak some form of Alien that is impossible to understand.  Apparently when I say one thing, everyone hears just the opposite.  It doesn’t seem to matter how I say something, one thing comes out of my mouth, and completely different thing enters the ears of the listener (or eyes of the reader).

I’m perplexed and troubled by this.  I certainly understand a miscommunication now and then, with so many different people and so many communication styles there’s bound to be problems, but at every turn?  It’s killing me!

In other news I felt like there was maybe a problem between me and someone I’m working with on a task so I just sent a little email asking if we were okay.  The response, “yes, we’re fine…well, wait, now that you mention it, let me list 42 things that are problems with you.”  BAH!  What the crap?!

Maybe if I go to bed things will be better tomorrow…

As my friend and I were driving around LA this weekend we ran into the King of LA…I’m honored.

All Hail the King

The King is either a mock celebrity sighting, or a real one.  You decide!

King of LA

Lenny Kravitz