The Melbourne Post

Yesterday Sarah and I headed out to Melbourne beach to hang out on the water with Sarah (work-Sarah) and Neil and to help move Jenn’s overly heavy furniture into her moving Pod. She decided last week she was moving back to Chicago on Tuesday…short notice. I was a shame to see her go even after the short time I’ve hung out with her, but I know her absence is going to be hard for Sarah and Neil who have known her forever. We hung out together at the apartment and grabbed some lunch at a steakhouse down the road. Then we grabbed desserts from a little market and hung out on the beach. The weather was far from delightfully sunny (as one expects at a Florida beach) but we had a good time walking along the shoreline and just chilling for a bit. Ali (a friend of everyone else) was there with her son Devin who was pretty adorable, so we spent some time throwing shells into the water and talking about Ninja Turtles (as adults do) though he did seem a little afraid of Squid-Man-Tree (see below). After a long and overly sweaty carried back we called it a night. After stopping for some pain killers for my blown out back of course (damn you all-wood-furniture and narrow stairways!).

The Scene It Post

Last weekend Sarah from the office, came over with Neil and Jen for pizza and Scene It-night. I don’t often get to entertain at my apartment so it was nice to have the round. It was extra nice because I finally got to break out Scene It on the Xbox, which hasn’t had any attention in a long time. (It requires more than just me and a cat to play properly). After trouncing them in a few rounds of redundant trivia we watched some Christopher Walkin SNL and had a few rounds of Mario Kart. Fun night, I need to have people over more often. It was a great way to spend an evening during the crappy weather we've been having thanks to good old Fay.

The My Car Hates Me Post

Yesterday I try and start my car to no avail. Instead of a throaty engine grumbling to life, I get a lovely ticking sound when the key is turned in the ignition. Looks like the battery is a goner- so I call up Sarah, Jen and Neil (whom I was going to go meet up with if my car wasn’t dead) to let them know I was going to have to pass on the movie (we where going to see Get Smart at Downtown Disney). They kindly offered to come and pick me up and see the movie closer to me, which was very appreciated. Even further appreciated was that after the movie Jen to us to WalMart got a new battery, which Neil then installed for me. Problem solved! Well no. Turns out my aftermarket security system likes to reset itself every time the battery is disconnected and blare obnoxiously as soon as a new one is installed. Not being able to find the security-manual I was forced to leave the battery partially installed while I try to tack down the instructions on how to bypass the alarm. By this point it was getting dark and the guys had to go. I resolved to call AAA in the morning because the manual was nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, in a last ditch effort to re-re-search the car for the book, I found it stuck to the inside picked of another booklet (Florida heat isn’t to kind to things kept in my glove compartment apparently). Not wanting to disturb my neighbors any more late at night, I opted to make it tomorrows issue. So first thing today I run down, hook up the battery and commence the wailing of my alarm, while I follow the steps to reset the security system. After a few attempts I figure it out and shut the damn thing up. Wanting to make sure the battery is in properly I drive down to Jiffy Lube and have them take a look at our handy work. They offer to scrub the battery connects to get rid of some of the nasty acid buildup from the old battery and tighten up the connectors. They where pretty helpful and friendly guys. After my oil change I head off to get some errands done. Little did I know my car troubles where not yet over. TO BE CONTINUED…