Kim’s dad was in town for a few hours yesterday. After work we took him to Stroud’s for dinner and then dropped him off in Topeka later on. Stroud’s was awesome! Add that to my list of places to take people while in town. They are famous around here for their pan-fried chicken, which was amazing! They serve everything family style, so you order a few things and then they bring it all out in huge portions. I have so much leftover food I’m not sure I can finish it at lunch today.

I’ve been following the stories from Hurricane Katrina as close as I can. It’s such a sad story for so many people, including people close to Kim and I. Kim’s good friend Gabe has been living in New Orleans for awhile now. She and her boyfriend Brad live in a house fairly close to the water. Gabe also worked as a teacher in the French Quarter. Here’s an email she sent out recently:

Thank you ALL so much for calling and e-mailing. I can’t believe this is happening. Brad and I are safe and sound, we are currently at Brad’s parents in Piqua, Ohio. I have talked to some of you during this ordeal, but now my cell phone is not working (sometimes I can call out, but I cannot receive any calls, and I cannot call any New Orleans area codes.)

We boarded up the house on Saturday morning, packed up the car with important papers and stuff too important to leave, and got on the highway around 2:00pm heading towards Memphis. We got caught in about 30 minutes of slow traffic (never gridlocked) and then had fine traffic the whole way up to Memphis. We stayed Saturday night, and then Sunday morning was when the mayor of New Orleans got on CNN and issued a mandatory evacuation. At that point, we didn’t know what to do – should we just drive up to Ohio/Michigan, or should we just chill in Memphis? We had to take into consideration that we have a house that if it gets minimal damage, we need to get back right away to start insurance processes, and start clean up. And also, Brad’s work – at a chemical plant – will be needing mechanical engineers to start maintenance, etc………so we didn’t know what to do.

We decided to stay in Memphis one more night, Sunday night. We woke up on Monday morning, and at first, the damage to New Orleans was not THAT bad. It was bad, but we thought there was a possibility that our house could be ok. So we didn’t leave Memphis until about 6:00 Monday night, when we finally heard that no one was going home until at least Monday or so.

So we drove to Ali’s in Cincinnati last night, and now we are in Piqua. We are watching footage right now and it is just unbelievable. I am just sick…….people being rescued from the roof, thousands of people stuck in the super dome…..ugh. I am sure the house is gone, along with all our furniture, prints, appliances………..I know it is all just stuff but this is crazy. What about school? So many unanswered questions. For now, all I know is that we will be having a Labor Day weekend at home! Not so bad, when you think about it. I will keep you posted. Talk to you all soon!

It makes it all so much more real to hear a first hand account of it. Please keep Gabe, Brad and everyone else in your thoughts.

All this damage is actually causing problems for us, even though it’s on a much smaller scale. Our cruise on the rock boat was leaving and returning via New Orleans. The boat that they use has already been re-routed to Galveston, TX for the next couple of cruises. I was really hoping to go to New Orleans for the first time, but unfortunately it isn’t looking very likely at all.

The ‘War on Drugs’ is pissing me off. No, I’m not a pothead, I just want my Claritin-D, which contains pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient for methamphetamine. I ran out of pills yesterday so I attempted to stop on my way to work and pick some up. I would have stopped at the Walgreen’s by our house, but the pharmacy doesn’t open until 8. So I decided that I’d stop somewhere close to work since it would be just after 8. I go to the grocery store right down the road and their pharmacy doesn’t open until 9.

Dammit, just give me the pills! I don’t care who sells them to me, I don’t want more than one box, and I actually just need one pill to get me through the day. But no, I have to settle on the generic Claritin (non decongestant) that is still on the shelves. What really amazed me is that these pills are only $5 for 10. To get 10 Claritin-D (or the generic brand) it has to cost me at least $10, maybe even more. So I have to pay double for one extra ingredient? Someone is just trying to make meth more expensive to buy.

While in the store I found out that the makers of these drugs are all finding ways to make their pills using another decongestant ingredient. I cannot wait until they figure out how to do this, I will finally be able to buy my over the counter pills over the counter. While they are at it could they please figure out how to build a 24 hour pharmacy somewhere between my apartment and my office?

What possesses the birds on our street to dump all over freshly washed cars? On the rare occasion that I actually take the car through a wash I always awake a few mornings later to find it covered with piles of bird droppings, thus rendering the wash useless. Perhaps I should simply never wash the car, but that doesn’t fly with Kim. She kept the car extra clean up until the day I took it over.

The inside never really gets dirty since I really only drive to and from work each day, so I never really think to clean it. Well we took it through one of those car washes where you actually get out of the car and watch it go through a series of cleaning stages on Saturday. We had a little extra time to kill between the wedding and the reception. Anyway, I get in the car this morning to drive in to work and notice the back driver’s side of the car has large piles all over it.

Bunch of savages in this town…

I neglected to mention this before but I am going to be a Godfather. My Uncle Andy (my Godfather) asked me to be the Godfather for his daughter Emma while we were at Karen’s wedding. It just so happens that the baptism will be the day after Julie’s Wedding, which we are already in town for. It couldn’t have worked out any better really!

Either I’m sick or the pollen count is really high today. Not much I can do about it now except pop some more pills and head on our way. We did get our campsite setup last night but did not get a chance to see anyone play. We are packed and have everything waiting at home so it can be put in the car and we can leave. On that note, I’m heading out of here. Hopefully I come back having nothing but good things to say…

The day is here! We’ll be heading out to Wakarusa (the first time) after work tonight. It’s a shame I don’t have an extra vacation day that I could use tomorrow, but that’s life. At least we will get the tents setup and our campsite ready so we don’t have to do it after work tomorrow, this way we can go straight in and join the party.

I’ve actually been taking a lunch break the past couple days. Yesterday I took the car over to a local Midas station to get it inspected. After almost two years of living here in Missouri, we are going to get Missouri tags put on the car. In order to do so it has to pass an inspection. Let me tell you that this is much easier and cheaper than the E Checks that we are used to in Ohio. I did have to wait in the lounge for a half hour or so, but it only cost $12. Now we have to fill out some forms and take them in to get it titled and licensed.

Today my mission was simple; I needed a rain jacket of some sort for the weekend. It’s looking like I won’t need it, but I’d rather be safe then sorry. Kim suggested I go to Target since that is where she picked up her latest jacket. I walked into Target and headed right for menswear. I walked through aisles of shorts and t-shirts, but no outwear. I gave up and called Kim to see if she had other ideas before heading over to Dick’s. She suggested a department store, so I then drove over to Kohl’s. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside a Kohl’s store before, so I immediately asked for assistance from an employee. She directed me to the outwear section, but it was all warm weather clothing. I gave up on this store and drove over to Dick’s. I figured they would have an entire section, but I guess it’s just the wrong season. I managed to find one clearance rack that had a few varieties, but only one that was less than $50. I finally settled on the cheap one on the rack even though it’s like sea green. I’m hoping it doesn’t rain all weekend so that I can just return it and pretend I never bought something of this color.

Delhi (a Cincinnati suburb on the West side of town) made national news on my way into work this morning. Apparently 22 year old Joseph Mundy was arrested a couple nights ago, charged with drunken driving while on a riding lawnmower. Here is the good part, “Police say he and a companion drove the mower down the middle of Covedale Avenue.” Two people were riding on the mower?!?!?! How exactly did that work out? Were they both in the seat or was the other one hanging on the back? I give the guy credit for not driving his car though, especially since his destination was three miles from his home. I guess there are a few smart people on the west side.

Full story

I forgot to mention that while we were gone Kim got a tow notice on the company car. She brought the car home after work on Friday so that she would have it when we got back since she was heading to the airport early the next morning (Wednesday). That means that the car was on the street for just over 4 days. It has now come to our attention that a vehicle is considered abandoned on the streets of Kansas City after 48 hours. 48 hours?!?! That’s fewer hours than there are in a weekend. We probably “abandon” our car at least 2 times a month. What a bunch of crap. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen these notices on our street either. The guy who lives next door typically has two cars parked out on the street and one morning I saw a notice on the car he drives less often. I wouldn’t be suprised if this is all the work of the “grandma” who just moved in above us. She had her son in law come down to our apartment on the night of her move to ask us to turn down the music. The problem is, it was like 9:30 on a Saturday night!

Exactly two months ago yesterday Kim’s grandmother passed away, and now Kim’s grandfather has passed away. I feel so bad for Kim and her family, especially her dad who has now lost both of his parents in two months. We saw Kim’s grandpa the last time we were in town and it seemed as if he had no desire to live without his wife. So I guess this is a good thing for him, but I’m sure is so hard on the family. Please keep Kim and her entire family in your prayers.

I guess I neglected to say that yesterday was the two year anniversary for me and Kim. Time flies eh?

I got a nice surprise towards the end of work yesterday, my free iPod shuffle! I’ve been following the shipping status on the FreeiPodShuffle.com website, but according to them the vendor was still waiting for more of the units to arrive. Now it is time to decide if it is worth keeping or not. I’m leaning towards keeping it since we are running outside more and more and it is always nice to have some sort of lightweight device to use. I guess time will tell.

If you didn’t already know, the conclave has been assembled to elect the next Pope. I really don’t know much about who the predict winners are and supposedly it’s anyone’s game, especially after seeing the brackets.