Tom Is So Great, Tom Is So Great
7/9/1

Man, oh man. It�s Christmas week.

Not really Christmas, but lots of stuff I�ve been looking forward to is happening this week. But first, the past:

I made a CD for TC. How cool is that? �Very, Postwood. It�s very, very cool.� Yes, it is. My CD Burner works. Oh, but further back in the past. The Kronos and Camry meltdown.

Friday morning, if you read the Stuffo, you know that one or more spark plug wires was slipping off the Kronos and I was losing power big time. The car was running like pud-uh fuh duh duh puh dud dud dud dud phruf pud-uh fuh duh, etc. I had to pull over twice and push the wires back on the plugs.

After work on Friday, I went by the AutoZone on South Parkway. It was actually heading directly away from the house, which I thought was not too good an idea, but I wasn�t going to go to the AutoZone which is most convenient, since it�s in a bad part of town, and not like I�m scared of crime, but I don�t feel like hanging out with the riffraff.

So, I get the wires, plugs, dielectric grease and anti-seize compound: $26. I start going home.

I have to stop in the parking lot at Haysland Square and plug in the wires.

I have to pull over not a � after that to plug in the wires.

I crank it up, but it�s still doing the same thing.

Time to do some roadside repair. Actually, I was in a Dentist Cul-de-Sac off the Parkway. I pulled lightly on the far left wire and, with no click or resistance of any kind, it came off the plug. I looked in the sleeve and, sure enough, the clip was completely gone.

I got out the new wires and replaced the old one. While I was doing it, I burned my left index knuckle on the hot engine. To add insult to my injury, a butterfly landed on the EGR valve thingy, and stayed there watching me. Jerk freak mutant butterfly.

So, that covers the Kronos, so what about Aisai�s Camry. I got a call Friday from her saying that he car was loud. I asked if there was any loss of power. �No, it�s like there is more power.� Hmm, I asked if the sound seemed to be coming from under her feet and the answer was yes.

I picked up Aisai from work at The Undergound Lair on Friday. She didn�t know that I was planning on stopping by and checking out her car and then deciding it didn�t need to be driven except to the shop. A person who she used to work with who now works at another Underground Lair in Kentucky was there, just visiting.

We hit the road and were hungry so we went directly to the Subway in Madison. Andy was working. He is a deadhead that hangs out with the people who were my friends in high school. I got out of that scene when they started doing grateful dead shows.

After subway, and an odd event that I�ll not mention, we went to Movie Gallery.

Oh, and just to clear something up, I�m never really depressed. When I write sad or pensive Stuffos, it is always because of �The Reality of Evil� hassling me. That is was that odd event was. Imagine a puppy farm in an old sport utility with filth everywhere. Now, change the puppies to humans. That is what was in front of the Subway when we left. With only the few seconds that the Kronos�s doors were open, the funk of that car got into my car and didn�t leave until the next morning. That woman should be locked up for what she�s doing to those kids. I leave out details intentionally. Evil, I tell you. It�s just plain evil.

We rented the DVD of Soldier, that Kurt Russel flick, which we haven�t� even popped in yet, and I also got the game Fur Fighters. It was a very unpolished game. I played it for about 2 hours. The cover art is misleading. They aren�t stuffed animals.

At around 8 p.m., I �took a nap�. I intended to stay napping until around 8 a.m. the next day. However, Aisai woke us up around 10 p.m. and we went and got her car from in front of her work. I was so sleepy.

When we got back, Aisai wanted to watch Farscape or Charmed or something. Uh, sleepy sleep. Must do the sleeps.

I slept. I think she read.

Saturday we took the Camry to the muffler guys and they replaced everything behind the pre-muffler, which is now trendy to call the resonator. Whatever. It was all rusted out and it was only $130. I accidentally broke one of those Plexiglas frames with some promotion thing in it while jostling the coke machine that stole my money. I would have slinked out after paying, but I felt obligated to let the guy know that I broke it. He said that people were always knocking it off and breaking it. I explained that I broke it, broke it, broke it. He said, �Well, as long as it stands up still.� Well, it did�when I leaned it against something.

I tried to hook up with Tom since he is the computer guru of the family. I took my computer completely apart and hooked it up with the old power supply with only the old parts, all spread out on the table in the library. No dice. Tom called and we wouldn�t have time to meet since our schedules conflicted. He suggested me pack it all in a box and drop it off.

We did this, but he wasn�t actually there when we showed up to drop it off so we took it to Aisai�s mom�s house down the street.

That night, we had dinner at my parent�s house since Aunt Ina was in town. We talked and had smoked turkey. Yum.

When we got back home, there was a message from Tom saying he�d fixed it. I had tried everything I knew for two weeks to try to figure it out. Tom said there was no way I could know but there was a jumper on the other side of the motherboard (not the bottom, just the opposite side from the power supply) that told what kind of power supply you were using.

Hurray.

Sunday was Sunday. The only difference was we cleaned up after communion for someone since they are out of town. Also, Fish may tap me to teach Sunday school next week since he and most of the rest of the class will be in Atlanta, or actually, during services, at Peachtree City Church of Christ. Aisai and I didn�t want to go. I�d do the Six Flags thing and she�d do the shopping thing.

As it is, we may go to Nashville to see some movie that�s in limited release. I think it�s the Jean Reno French Serial Killer movie.

Oh, and I spent $20 at half.com on Friday. I got Stevie Wonder � Fulfillingness First Finale (or whatever it is), Nirvana � En Utero [Edited], Hole � Live Though This, and K.D. Lang � Absolute Torch and Twang. The Hole and K.D. Lang are mostly Aisai�s type music, but I like her so I got them. The Stevie Wonder and Nirvana are obviously mine.

Oh, and I also won an auction for 99 cents for Gran Turismo 2 Extended Score �Groove� on Saturday. CDNow.com has it for $41. I get it for $3.99 with shipping. I have no idea what is on it.

Now, the future, and I�ll make this quick:

Tuesday, Gran Turismo 3 A-spec ships. Wednesday, Final Fantasy Movie opens, but we have church so I�ll see it Thursday at a matinee if I can swing that. I�ll probably get my 50 CD spindle before I get my Gran Turismo, but I�m hoping that EBWorld will ship 2-day air like they did my Playstation 2. If they do, I�ll take Friday off so I can play.

It�s like biorhythms. My Playstation line, Computer line, Movie line are all up while my Stuff Being Broken line is down, finally.

But again, kudos to Tom. Now, I need to make five CDs of �cat music� so the cats can be soothed with tunes during the day.