To Every Season . . . .

I think my long time raccoon friend has died. She had been looking rather ill and old. Three weeks ago I worked out of town for a few days and since I've returned - I haven't seen her.

But - life goes on. Last night I was sitting on the porch and low and behold - a new raccoon came poking around.

I put some food in the bowl and sure enough - any smart raccoon knows to never pass up a free meal.

It's Like Hockey, But Without the Action

Quote from my friend Jason. Talk about succinct. LOL

I’ve been watching the FIFA World Cup. Well, trying too anyway. I get bored so I end up doing stuff like unloading the dishwasher, starting a load of laundry, that sort of thing.

And, of course, the 3 teams I had picked to root for are out of the tournament.

America is a Ghana.

England was unable to repel zee Germans.

Argentina evicted Mexico.

If you want to have a good time – find a local Sports Bar (Sparks Mexican Cantina, Horner Blvd) that turns off the TV sound and instead plays the Telemundo radio broadcast.

You can’t help but get excited listening to Andres Cantor . . .

http://deadspin.com/5572603/now-heres-andres-cantor-calling-landon-donovans-gooooooooool


"Halfback passes to the center. Back to the wing. Back to the center. Center holds it, holds it . . . . holds it . . ." - Kent Brockman, The Simpsons

Interesting Graphic +Addendum

The Deficit has me worried. Really worried.

Actually, I've always kept a bit of an eye on the deficit. Hence, the National Debt ticker I've had on this blog for quite some time.

I ran across this very interesting graphic. Of particular note - Iraq war estimated total and the US Government worst case financial crisis cost (i.e. debt).

Here's the link:

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-billion-dollar-gram/

Also - take a look at the 'predicted' cost of the war - back in 2005.

I knew the numbers put out by the Bush Administration, especially Dick-head Cheney and Rumsfeld, were bald faced lies the moment I heard them.

Focus

No, not focus on the debt. My car - Ford Focus.

Wouldn't start this morning. But it didn't behave like a dead battery - it made some very odd electrical sounds and all the dashboard lights and gauges flickered and the needles started dancing around.

No time to mess with it at the moment. Used the truck to get to work.

Came home this afternoon to see if I could jump start it and get it to the Ford Dealer. I've jumped started many cars - I've never had one pop and spark like this one when I tried to hook up the cables. More like a ka-pow rather than a spark.

OK - this is not good. Let's call a tow and have it taken to the Ford Place.

I'll update this entry when I find out what the problem / repair is.

Addendum

The Dealer says it just the battery. I hope that's true - but like I said - I've never had an almost dead battery make the instruments behave like that before.

On the way home from work - I also had wondered if it was just the battery. So, I stopped by Advance Auto in Pittsboro to see if they had the right sized one for it. Yes they did - $92 plus tax. Get the car over to them and they'd put it in free.

Well - when I got the fireworks trying to jump start it - that's when I wondered if it was something more serious.

Bottom line - replacement battery is $189 at the Ford place. This does not include the towing cost.

I expected it to cost a little more at the Ford place. But over twice as much?

That's a rip off.

Wednesday Addendum

Final bill was $156 and change. About $110 for the battery and $30 for labor. Plus some miscellaneous charges. So, not as bad as I was told over the phone - but installation would have been free at Advance Auto.

Thanks to Dave S for helping me shuttle cars back and forth.

Walter +Addendum

Sir Walter Raleigh used to hang out on the Fayetteville Street Mall - back when it wasn't a street.

Now that Fayetteville Street is once again open to traffic - Walt has moseyed on over to the new Convention Center.

Sometimes he gets dressed up; often wearing a Hurricanes or NCSU jersey. One time I saw him in a chef's outfit when there was some sort of food convention going on.

Also, people will dress him up unofficially. And by people - I mean students / kids.

Driving home today, I noticed he's gone drag. Of course, his poofy balloon pants were always kind of gay anyway.

I don't know if this get up is official or impromptu. Or, it might be left over from KinkyCon held a couple weeks ago.

Addendum

He's dressed up for Komen Race for the Cure.

The street center lines in downtown have been painted pink as well (pink tape actually).