I'm beginning to get paranoid

Stopped by Best Buy this morning to pick up the new DMB cd (not convinced about the new producer yet) and made sure to park in the middle of the parking lot, away from any other cars, which was fairly easy due to the store only being open for 4 minutes. On the way out of the store, I look up from opening my new cd and notice a beat up old tahoe entering the parking lot….turning onto the same row….pulling in immediately next to my sparkling, aura-surrounded truck. “You better not….” I muttered under my breath. As I was walking around the front of my truck, the lady exiting the driver seat opens the door with careless disregard and it slowly swung open, easing pass the first notch and finally tapping my truck door.

That’s right, I got to witness my truck’s first door ding. Baby’s all grown up now. Thankfully there is no visual scar, but what conceivable thought could have been going through that woman’s head, when the parking lot is all but empty and she decides to park directly next to the newest car in the parking lot!

Quick update

My new tacoma finally came in today. Long story short, my 1996 cavalier blew up, I rented a car, borrowed a dealership truck, and (two weeks to the day) I now have the truck I have wanted for the last 3 years.

  • It’s blue.
  • It won’t let me lock my keys inside in the ignition.
  • It has a 110V outlet in the bed.
  • I could open our garage from the rear view mirror if our opener hadn’t been exchanged in a previous auto deal gone awry.
  • The compass said SW when I was facing North at the dealership, but has since decided to be true, although I haven’t yet checked the declination.
  • The passenger side airbag only turns on if you weigh more than 60 lbs, which should be just about everyone that rides on that side.
  • The CD player looks like it’s going to be a pain to replace with a bumpin’ aftermarket deck, so that might have to wait a while.
  • Miles of clearance and an off-road package, for all of that off-roading I do on my way to work.
  • Alarm. Don’t even think about taking my baby for a joyride!

First impressions are great of the vehicle, Toyota did a very good job with the redesign. I’m sure I’ll figure out what I don’t like soon, but for now you’ll see me driving around with a nice big grin on my face.

Save early, save often

If you learn nothing else about tomorrow’s celebrations, remember this: always save. You would be reading a charmingly sarcastic write-up about my tv habits and the new stephen colbert show (chock full of links) but I forgot to save. Then I closed the window, and didn’t save. So now you get to read a short little blurb about cinco de mayo instead. Don’t you wish I had saved?

Succintly, Cinco de Mayo, as near as I can interperet it, is really a American holiday. It was popularized by students in California in the 1960’s as a way to celebrate Mexican heritage. The hero of the battle of Puebla is Ignacio Zaragoza, who was actually from Goliad, Texas (okay, it was a Mexican province then). It celebrates a battle won, but a war that would ultimately be lost to the French and result in occupation for several years. That is, until the United States finished our own Civil War and began providing the needed arms to overturn the French government. Oh, and most people in America think that the 5th is Mexican Independence Day, which actually doesn’t fall on the calendar until September 16th. To top it all off, the day is observed in Mexico but doesn’t warrant business closure or school release.

So as you dip your chips and take your shot of Jose tomorrow, you now know the full story (well, if you linked to the wikipedia entry you do, otherwised it’s a mildly sardonic viewpoint) of Cinco de Mayo. Ol

Where'd everybody go?

You ever had that helpless feeling. Like you can’t do anything. Like the world is spinning around and you are disconnected from it all. Yeah, my email was down today. First time we’ve had an unscheduled interruption that I can remember, so props to Branden for that (and for jumping off, not out, of the plane and getting it fixed almost before he got back to the house). According to CNN, I was probably better off anyways.

Yeah, and they're from Akron, Ohio

Last night seemed to mark the beginning of music season here in Austin. Granted, some will argue SXSW is that tipping point to flag the beginning of better weather and more music. And while I have seen a couple of great shows already (notably Gomez, which I forgot to post about), yesterday evening was overrun with choices in every genre. J5, Word Association, Dr. John, Spillar, the list goes on and would be longer if the Austin Chronicle would allow me to search music listings for last night.

Limited websites aside, I do know who was playing at Emo’s, and that would be the Black Keys. For those unfamiliar, as I was not that long ago, the Black Keys play rock/blues that is just plain dirty and they fill up the sonic spectrum solely with a drum kit and distorted guitar. The stage at Emo’s never felt empty with only the two guys either. The club was packed and the energy was incredible. If you like blues, if you like Hendrix or Cream or early punk, if you like the way any of them did the blues, if you like taking blues and pushing it out the door with rock, if you don’t mind the exclusion of the bass guitar, if you love recordings and performances that might lack high fidelity but just ooze with soul and feeling, I highly recommend you pick up the albums (start with thickfreakness).

Headline gets it right

Superjumbo completes maiden flight reads the title. The Airbus A380 is gigantic. Stock 555 people. Flight distances of almost 10,000 miles. Wingspan that hangs the engines past the edge of the runway as well as requiring airports to reconfigure terminals just to accept the traffic. Huge. And most importantly, as the article reports, the largest airliner ever produced actually completed it’s maiden voyage. Can you imagine being the person furthest from the doors and waiting for everyone to disembark?