I have always pretty much hated myspace, but doing what I do it's been a good tool to have. A couple days ago I switched to facebook and I can't describe how much better it is! I had myspace for the student ministry aspect, but I'm doing facebook for myself. I don't feel dumb for having one of those, like I did with the other. The reaction I'm getting from friends is like "Bout time you became a member of the world!" Two thumbs waaay up!

You know where I am right now? HOME! Why is this so great? Because for the past 6 months I've been 3 hours from home every Wednesday and Sunday! It's over!

I think I'm getting weirderer. For some reason, I don't mind those Scion xB cars anymore, if they're done right. And I think the new ones look nice too. I guess it's because I love sharp angular cars so much, like Jeep Cherokees and old VWs.

And David, if you decide not to travel to South America to sell a kidney in order to buy your Mazdaspeed3, you could always look into these Accord Wagons. Look here too. I'm not into air rides, but if toned down a little, I like the look of some of them. I'm getting too old if I'm checking out sexy station wagons.

It's easy to spot a Florida boy. We're the ones who look like we will most certainly die from cold if the temp drops below 50. Today I woke up and the thermometer read some number I haven't seen in about 11 years since I moved from Georgia. Not sure what it was but it started with a "2". I've been wanting a Carhartt jacket for a while now and thanks to a sizing error I ended up getting a brand new one from my in-laws this weekend. I think they saved my life today.

I took JonMichael fishing in a local pond on July 3rd, 2007. I bought a little tub of red worms for bait, and since we didn't use all of them I put the tub in the back of the refrigerator and forgot about them until tonight. Nearly 7 months later I pulled them out and could not believe that they were still alive! Not like nearly dead either, the suckers seemed to be pretty happy! Feeling sorry for them I took them outside and dumped them in the leaves and sand in the backyard. They'll probably die now.

One can be found here. Does a full body picture really take longer than a head shot?

The other one happened yesterday on our way to Crestview. I stopped to get coffee and Jolenn announces she's got to tee-tee. I went ahead and took her in the gas station with me and then realized that there was no way I was going to let her sit on the men's toilet in a nasty gas station. Too many guys just can't aim, and even with the seat wiped off, we're talking about my baby girl! So without thinking twice I just breezed right into the women's room (it was a single seater so it's not like I would be meeting up with anyone in there) in search of a dry seat.......no such luck. This is my second experience in a women's public restroom and let me just say that the ladies don't seem to be any cleaner than the men.

I've got a very important job interview tomorrow morning at 10:30 CST so keep us in mind. It's an initial interview so I don't know how much I'll know when it's over, but I'll let you guys know something if I can.

Jolenn just about has this potty training thing whipped, no accidents all day or on our 3 hour trip we took tonight!

Everything is running smooth as silk on the car. It certainly should after receiving new...clutch kit, 1 cv axle, axle seals, synthetic tranny fluid and engine oil, brakes, 2 wheel studs and nuts. I did a little bit on the paint tonight when I got in from the marina this afternoon, which is the next big thing I want to work on. It has a few very small dings so I'm looking forward to learning a little bodywork. In all I'm very happy with how things are going with it.

What is it about me...working outside...and rain?

Or even those without kids, what tv shows are your kids into these days? I love how they can change from time to time. Currently, Jolenn is into Dora and JonMichael is into The Backyardigans (I love this show!)

The most recent show that they were big into was The Little Einsteins. I liked these guys at first, but they quickly got on my nerves just like Deigo.

So what's playing at your house?

Mostly anyway. There were a couple seals and a cv driveshaft that had to be ordered and won't get here until the morning, but the clutch is done and the transaxle is back in the car! It should be on the road tomorrow barring some major catastrophe, like rain. Would have been done today but I could only work until 2 yesterday since I had to drive to Alabama.

A quick funny story - This morning I was under the car, transmission completely unbolted, just getting ready to start sliding it off the shaft and lower it down. Suddenly I heard this awful crashing sound that rattled me pretty good. After taking stock of the situation and finding everything was ok, I realized it was the neighbor's basketball goal being blown over onto his driveway by the wind. Nervous laughter, proceed with even more caution...

And now for the injury report - 2 very small scrapes and one tender fingertip that got whacked by something or another. I'm sure my lower back will be tender in the morning, but other than that I'm pretty good! I was just talking to Audra about when I pulled the tranny on that Jetta and how cut up my hands were after that one. Everything was so seized up that I had to pull on the wrench as hard as I could on everything, so when it would finally let loose my hands would fly until they met up with a stationary object. Over and over again. That was awful. That car never did get a whole lot better after that now that I think about it!

Or at least it will seem that way after I change the clutch master and slave cylinders, as well as the whole clutch assembly. Fun times are ahead.

My car has a non-vtec 16 valve 4 cylinder making 130 hp. That's more than enough for me, I didn't care much about racing (on the street) even when I had my Mustang. The vtec version that comes in my generation Accord makes 15 hp more than mine, not a huge amount. I had never driven a Honda/Acura with vtec and have always been curious as to what it felt like, since you're supposed to really be able to feel a difference once it kicks in. I got my chance last week when our neighbor and good friend bought a really nice Acura.

To put it in the most basic words, what a vtec system does is chance the timing of the engine once it reaches 4500 rpm. It really is a magnificent system, but the only problem is that for everyday driving, you should never have a reason to use it. When is the last time you wound your engine that high? If you are passing, or if you are really thumping the engine, you'll reach it. Aside from that, you'll never have a reason to push your Honda that hard.

But just for kicks, I wanted to see what it was all about. This car I drove is a super sweet '04 Acura TL, V6 with vtec, and automatic. Did I mention it was super sweet? I took it out on the highway and since it's an auto I hit the gas pretty hard to get it to down shift and reach the magical number. 4500 rpm. The best way to describe it would be to say...everything changes. Literally. Instantly the engine takes on a whole new sound, the rpms and speed race away, and you are pushed back in your seat as you scream down the road! It was completely unexpected, I had no idea it would be that drastic of a change.

So of course that experience has me thinking. One really cool thing about having a Honda is that if the engine ever dies, I can get a used one for pretty cheap. Japan has such strict emissions laws that they pull perfectly good engines and replace them with new ones. Those used ones are sold to us for pretty low prices. I could replace my current engine with one that has about 25-30,000 miles for about $400. For another hundred dollars, I could put in the vtec engine. OR, for about $750 I could put in the H22A. That's what they put in Preludes. It's a vtec 4 cylinder that makes 200 hp. It will bolt right into my car using the same transmission and motor mounts. The only thing I would have to do is wire in the vtec since my car isn't already equipped with one, but that's not a major thing. Get a H22A header and I'm all set.

Realistically would I do any of this? No, probably not. But it's still pretty cool that I could. I never saw myself as a Honda guy, but I'm starting to see that there's something to all the hype.

So here she is, finally unveiled to you guys. See? I told you it was nothing special, just a plain '95 Accord. I tinted the windows and that helped the appearance quite a bit, not to mention made it much more comfortable. You can see from the interior why I was willing to drive 5 hours to get it. All the cars I looked at around here were trashed inside, but everyone said "Well it's in really good shape for it's age!" No, it's trashed, it's disgusting, there once were or still are dead things in there, and I'm not buying it. But as soon as I saw this one I knew that as long as it ran on at least 3 cylinders, it was mine. Well it was nearly perfect inside, and as a bonus it ran on all 4. There was some heavy oxidation on a few places, which I've sanded down and will paint as soon as I get a chance. I'm also taking that ugly pinstripe off too. There are a few little door dings, but other than that it's good. It's really comfortable, even with all 4 of us in it. It averages 30mpg - so far my high was 34 but I think I can squeeze one or two miles more with a little bit of work. All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase.

i'm going to commit this time, i think

I do believe I'm going to pass on getting my Cherokee back and just keep the Accord. We have a very good idea of where we'll be heading next and I just don't know how much driving I'll be doing for the job yet. I do know it's a much larger city than PSJ, and I'd really hate to go through the hassle of selling and then buying, only to feel the financial strain again. Plus, I plan to start my masters work ASAP and there is a chance I'll be having to make about an hour and a half drive one way one day a week for that. So I'm trying to do the mature thing and wait until I know I'm good and stable before I get another 4x4.

I'm still glad I sold the Jeep in the first place though, but I didn't know just how glad until a few nights ago when I did the math. I keep meticulous mileage records so these numbers are accurate. I've only been driving this Honda for 2 months now, but I've put over 7,000 miles on it during those 2 months. I've averaged 30 mpg, versus 17 in the Jeep. That came out to a savings of $900 in 2 months. So yeah, I'm glad I did it.