Slicing and Dicing

So I carved some pumpkins with my brother Chris. Here's how they turned out. We have Pocket Aces, Mike from Monster's Inc. and, what else, a Giraffe.

Let's play Dress-Up

Okay, so Halloween is coming up in a couple of days, and I'm trying to figure out what costume to wear this year. Last year I was a toilet.

Here are some ideas on my list so far:

1) A U of O Graduate--pretty much a hippie with a tassle
2) Foosball (Table Soccer) Player--one of those small red or blue guys attached to the pole
3) A trucker--mullet, Ashton hat, and a cut-off flannel shirt
4) UPS Delivery Guy--I did this one five years ago, but I would add the tight brown shorts and thigh-high socks this time

So, what are your thoughts? Or do you have any other ideas? Or cool ones you've seen at a party?

Flat Tire Blues

No “flat tire” story ever goes this:

“So I was driving on a mildly warm Saturday afternoon, when I got a flat. I said, ‘Gosh darnit. Fricken A.’ Luckily I was next to parking lot, and I pulled in. By pure luck, a AAA truck guy was eating lunch in his truck, I waved him over, and he happily agreed to help me. Whole thing took five minutes, tops.”

Not that there’s anything over the top about that story. No Playmates were involved, no findings of a fifty-dollar bill or winning scratch-it tickets.

It’s just that in my experience, changing a tire doesn’t involve sunny weather (or daylight for the most part), quick response of AAA (if called), or an adequate shoulder to pull off a freeway. It is a time-consuming process that happens at the worst time and gets your clothes dirty. And it usually involves a small amount of swearing.

I’ve had a few bad ones:

1) The time back in high school when I got a flat on the first day of owning my car. And having learn how to change a tire for the first time, on gravel and on a hill nonetheless.

2) The time I had a blowout on I-5, pulled over to the gravel shoulder, had a RATTLESNAKE greet me while I was lying on the ground! Yeah that was fun. Not to mention semi trucks blazing by at 70 mph three feet from me. Always a safe feeling.

3) The time we were driving to our Wednesday night poker game on a rainy night in Eugene. I pulled into a Red Lion parking lot to change a tire in the rain and got drenched. Had local rent-a-cops, Securitas, question what I was doing. What does it look like I’m doing at nine at night in the rain under my car with a jack and a lug wrench? F U Securitas. Oh and having Kirk, Jolly, and Hocka watch me change the tire in the rain. I don’t know if I ever thanked you all for your help.

4) So that brings us to last night. JJ and I drove to our casino, Chips Casino, up in La Center, WA. (Talk to Will, mention our names, and he’ll hook you up.) Anyways, it’s 2am and we’re on the highway a quarter-mile heading out of town and we hear “that noise.” Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Awwww fuccccckkk.

Nowadays, I have AAA, for situations just like this. We call and then say they can probably be there in an hour. I decide that I’m too tired and impatient to wait that long, turn them down, and try a go at it myself. After getting out the jack, cranking down the spare from under the car, and all that stuff, I find that my new Explorer has independent rear suspension, not your regular wheel-and-axle setup. Well crap, I don’t know exactly where to put the jack, and I don’t want the car crashing down on me, so fuck it. We drive back a quarter-mile to the casino, park in front, and wait an hour for AAA. Didn't get home until after 4am.

But there is some good news to this story I guess. JJ went back into the casino to play Pai Gow for that hour, and won back most of the money he lost earlier playing poker. And today, Les Schwab Tires didn’t charge anything to fix the hole in the tire. Les Schwab rocks.

Giraffe. What.

Hoop Dreams

So I started a basketball team at my family's athletic club, the SAC. The team is composed of JJ and Terry (my roommates), Brian (college roommate), Houston and CD (old co-workers), Bryan and Jack (highschool friend and his friend), and myself. The eight of us are LOS WOMBATS.

Last night was our first game. This week, some people had some conflicts. One had to work, one had family in town, one was on vacation, and one had concert tickets. That left only four of us to play the game. Terry, Jack, CD, and I were ready for the challenge.

Not only was the other team younger than us (young college-aged guys), but there were nine of them. We played them four on five AND THEY HAD FOUR SUBS. This didn't phase us. After some positive thinking, strategizing, and successful practice shots, we were ready for them.

Two minutes into the game, we let 8-5. That's right youngins, you are about to get whooped by four random dudes.

Long story short, we lost 95-42. In a 50 minute game, we couldn't compete with one less man and no subs. I was happy with my playing. I made some good shots, some good passes. I made 3 of 4 foul shots. I decided not to dunk this game. I didn't think it would be the right thing to do at a family athletic club. Maybe next game. I pretty much played my ass off and carried this team.

The other guys on my team played well too.

Also, we have sweet green and white reversible jerseys.