Blackstone to Hampden-Sydney to New Orleans to San Antonio to Houston. And Back
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This just appeared in my inbox, on tax day. I’ve been getting email from my online tax software for a few days now, and this one made me look twice. If you get one of these, or something like it, please do not click on the attachment.
Friday evening around 8pm I walked out to the office parking garage, started my truck, and wondered why it was suddently so loud. As it turned out, someone stole the catalytic converter from my truck. On one side of my truck was a Lexus, on the other, a Porsche. Both were untouched.
The catalytic converter is a small device that sits between the engine and the muffler. Without it, your car or truck is loud. Really loud. I only had to drive about 3 or 4 miles home, but it was an embarrassing 3 or 4 miles. In the picture on the right you can see where it is missing.
It’s about $60 – $120 to buy a new catalytic converter for a Nissan pickup truck. Honestly though, I would have preferred that they just asked me for the cash to buy one if they needed it so badly.
Burglar: Hey, I was gonna slide under your truck and unbolt your catalytic converter, but I’m feeling lazy. How about you save us both the trouble and just give me the $100?
Me: You got it.
At least then I wouldn’t be inconvenienced and have to deal with this.
Apparently, there was a period when Cadillac bumpers were a hot item, and then later truck tailgates were a frequent target. But everyone who I’ve told about this agrees that it is a pretty weird thing to steal.
Update: Apparently catalytic converters are the new hotness. free poker moneyholdem pokerfree online poker tightpokertexas holdem poker,online texas holdem,texas holdemtexas holdem poker strategyinternet poker gamefree online texas hold emlive online pokeronline casino poker tournamentbest internet pokerdraw pokergambling pokerpoker strategytexas hold em pokerfree poker site7 card stud tipsmultiplayer poker online7 card stud lowonline poker 7 card studtexas hold em gamefree video poker gameinternet gambling pokerpoker tip7 card stud poker rulesplay free pokervirtual pokervideo poker strategyplay video pokerfree online texas holdem gameplay texas holdem free,free texas holdem poker play,play texas holdem online freepaying off credit card debtamerica bank card credit studentbest card credit interest rate,best credit card interest ratebad card credit credit offerback blue card cash credit,cash back credit card,cash back visa credit carddebt reduction credit card consolodationcredit card consolidation servicesonline merchant credit card services,credit card merchant,first national merchant credit cardbest card credit deal0 application apr card credit,0 apr credit card applicationcalculator card consolidation credit debtuk aqua credit cardcard consolidation credit debt free loan refinance,card consolidation credit debt free,free credit card debt consolidationbest card credit rate transferreport credit card fraud,credit card fraud center,credit card fraudprovidian credit card application,application card credit providianmerchant account credit card processingwashington mutual credit card servicesdebt interest credit card consolidationcredit card debt management services
I’m 28 years old, and yesterday I got braces.
Ouch. These things hurt.
So what did I do this evening? I went to the mall, of course.
It took me about 45 minutes to eat my bowl of tomato basil soup at La Madeleine, which was the only real food I could eat with my teeth in such pain. Even the biggest bowl of soup wasn’t able to fill me up, but I was so tired of sitting there that I had to leave, which is when I spotted Smootie King.
I walked up to the counter, and said “Hi.” I noticed the guy look down at the counter in disgust, and that’s when I realized that I had spit something out onto the counter. A small piece of tomato basil colored soft wax (used to protect your tongue from the metal) was on the counter between the two of us, and each of us saw it. It was pretty embarrassing.
A little while later I was in a store, and I asked the girl working there about the sizes available for a piece of clothing.
Me: “Is this all you have in?”
Her: Blank stare……… “yes sir, we are open until 10″
That’s when I decided it was time to come home.
It’s going to be a long two years.
I just read that Edgar Allan Poe, the poet, is credited with being the first person to conceptualize what we now call “Space-time,” that is, the idea that space and time are one in the same. From Wikipedia’s entry on Space-time:
The origins of this 20th century scientific concept began in the 19th century with fiction writers. Edgar Allan Poe stated in his essay on cosmology titled Eureka (1848) that “Space and duration are one.” This is the first known instance of suggesting space and time to be different perceptions of one thing. Poe arrived at this conclusion after approximately 90 pages of reasoning but employed no mathematics.
Next Monday I’ll be flying home for Christmas on Continental Airlines, so I think I’ll try out their new electronic check-in option, which is being tested at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Finally, an electronic boarding pass that isn’t paper.
This year I will be driving to New Orleans again for Thanksgiving, like I did last year. Last year I made the drive in 4.5 hours and it was pretty smooth sailing. Unfortunately, it looks like this year is going to be different:
A 55 mile-stretch of a major interstate corridor from Houston to New Orleans will remain closed until at least Dec. 4 — forcing vehicles onto alternate routes during the year’s busiest holiday traffic season — because of a burning natural gas well.
Wonderful. Of course, this is the kind of thing that could only happen in Louisiana.
The decision to wed or not, of course, is between you, your intended and your conscience. But you should realize that from a coldhearted financial perspective, the U.S. tax code and Social Security rules don’t necessarily come down in favor of marriage for people with a substantial amount of assets.
Its well known that I enjoy taunting my married friends about being married, although not often for financial reasons.
I just read an interview with Merle Haggard in Time magazine that I thought was really good. While I haven’t decided on a candidate yet (not much to chose from), Merle says some things that I think a lot of people have been thinking:
“The folks don’t have a say-so anymore. They’re being force-fed–music, yeah, but every other darn thing too. I supported George W. I’m not exactly a liberal. But I know how that Texas thing works, who those oil folks are and what they wanted in Iraq … I’m a born-again Christian too, but the longer I live, the more afraid I get of some of these religious groups that have so much influence on the Republicans and want to tell us how to live our lives.”
and
“The thing that gets under my skin most about George W. is his intention to install fear in people,” he said, after walking me down a hallway lined with gold and platinum records. “This is America. We’re proud. We’re not afraid of a bunch of terrorists. But this government is all about terror alerts and scaring us at airports. We’re changing the Constitution out of fear. We spend all our time looking up each other’s dresses. Fear’s the only issue the Republican Party has. Vote for them, or the terrorists will win. That’s not what Reagan was about. I hate to think about our soldiers over in Iraq fighting for a country that’s slipping away.”
You go, Merle.
