I Spy a Subie

Some people play I Spy a little differently.  Amanda and I invented a new way to play that is very specific to Evanston. I Spy A Subie.  The entire town of Evanston is smitten with Subaru cars and suvs.  We try to see how many blocks we can go before we pass one without a Subie.  Our trip home from downtown, we went 16 for 16.  I told you this town is smitten.

Ever heard of a pneumonia front?

I remember when I was a kid my mom would say "it's pneumonia weather out there."  She was so far ahead of the National Weather Service.

...PNEUMONIA FRONT MOVING DOWN WESTERN LAKE MICHIGAN...

A PNEUMONIA FRONT CURRENTLY IN FAR SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN WILL CONTINUE TO RAPIDLY DROP SOUTHWARD INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND INDIANA TONIGHT. THIS FRONT HAS BEEN MARKED BY A DRASTIC CHANGE IN TEMPERATURES AND A STRONG WIND SHIFT. TEMPERATURES ALONG THE LAKE FRONT HAVE DROPPED FROM THE LOW TO MID 70S TO THE MID TO UPPER 40S AS THE FRONT PASSES. WINDS HAVE SHIFTED FROM BEING LIGHT AND OUT OF THE WEST TO OUT OF THE NORTHEAST AND GUSTING UP TO 40 MPH AT TIMES ALONG THE LAKE. THIS FRONT WILL BE INTO LAKE AND MCHENRY COUNTIES BY 10PM...COOK... DUPAGE..KANE...DEKALB...AND BOONE COUNTIES BY 1045PM...AND THE REST OF NORTHWEST INDIANA AND NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS BY MIDNIGHT CDT.

A PNEUMONIA FRONT IS A RARE... METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA THAT IS TYPICALLY OBSERVED ALONG THE WESTERN LAKE MICHIGAN SHORELINE DURING THE WARM SEASON. THESE FRONTS ARE DEFINED AS LAKE MODIFIED SYNOPTIC SCALE COLD FRONTS THAT RESULT IN ONE HOUR TEMPERATURE DROPS OF 16 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT OR GREATER.

Gender Debate

So we had a great discussion this morning about the process of buttoning jeans.  This is one of those discussions that couples can only have on a lazy Sunday morning. 

Amanda's Stance:  Women will zip up their jeans before buttoning them.

Jon's Stance:  All people will button the top and then zip up. 

Agreed Upon:  Button-fly makes this a non issue.  

We need multiple third party opinions to settle this debate.  Please post a comment and weigh in. 

A couple of Jelly Bellies at the Jelly Belly tour

Amanda and I went to a party for an associate of mine that is transferring to another store and graduated last week.  It was up in Wisconsin and while on the way home we saw that there was a Jelly Belly factory and they offered tours.  It is off the same exit at the Prime Outlets Pleasant Prairie and a Culvers.  One exit, one day, one hour away.  

We were pretty psyched, after we enjoyed Butter Burgers and Frozen Custard we headed on down to the factory.  Walking up, I can be quoted as saying "Alright, old people are here, this tour is going to be awesome."  We walked into the front, nice long line, we had to wait a few minutes and were the last ones on the train to..... the.... 

LAMEST TOUR EVER!!!

Uberdisappointment was abound as we went around the outside wall of a Warehouse, not a factory, and got to watch how they made Jelly Bellies on televisions mounted to a wall.  We did get to see them loading and unloading pallets of beans to put on a truck.  Even the tour conductor hated her job.  If it weren't for the cool guy at the sample bar making Amanda a Cherry Vanilla Coke combo, we would have been pissed off by a free tour.  

As you would expect.... outlet shopping was quite fantastic.  Amanda got some new "high performance" polos from Columbia's outlet, I picked up a new waterproof jacket for auction trips, it is hard to find waterproof and lightweight for those 85 degree rainy days.  I got some more work shorts at Eddie Bauer.  We both hooked up some new smelly good juice (cologne / perfume).  Amanda got Burberry and I got Issey Miyagi.  Shopping is such an uplifting experience, damn advertisers.

Music cues up memories

Ever find yourself driving and are suddenly thinking about someone? I often think I should make a list of songs and who I think of when I hear them. My biggest worry about creating such a list is that I will color what that person thinks of the song. Seriously, what if I pick a song that makes me think of you and you hate that song so much it offends you?

This list might also not be so good because it may be a love song, or the lyrics might not really apply to how I feel about that person. Sometimes songs are background music to a very funny joke that all play in the same memory. You say you want an example, fine, an example you shall have.

Sara, every time I hear Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back" I think of her. The main reason, when we were talking about her then-pending wedding she gasped and said "that is it, I am walking down the aisle to 'Baby Got Back.'" The lyrics don't really apply to how I feel about her, but I cannot help but see her bootie dancing down the aisle in her wedding dress.

So I am still thinking about making such a list, I am also super curious of what songs remind you guys of me.

The List:

Sara - "Baby Got Back" Sir Mix-A-Lot

added 5-26

Dhara - "Push" MB20

Ashley- "Angel Of Mine" Monica

Andy- "Meterossa" Mellow Man Ace

Mom- "A pirate looks at 40" Jimmy Buffett (The first Buffett song I remember her playing)

Merph- "She's always right" Clay Walker

Kelli- "The Promise" Tracy Chapman

Aunt Annie- "King of somewhere hot" Jimmy Buffett

David- "What would you say" DMB

Tim- "Boondocks" Little Big Town

Dad- "Pretty Woman" Roy Orbison (my dad used to actually sing this song in the car... funny)

Amanda- "If you're not the one" Daniel Beddingfield (among a million others)

Dhara- "Pepper" Butthole Surfers

I will add periodically if I think of more... and I will.

Randawesome

I just made up a word, randawesome, its something awesome that happens randomly.  Something randomly awesome just happened to me.

So I went to work for two hours worth of meetings and I happened to get a phone call while I was there.  A gentleman who used to work there was on the line, I was suprised to hear from him.  This guy happens to be working on the Speed Racer movie, he did all the soundtrack and sound mixing stuff.  They were working on the music for the DVD extra features and wanted to make a song for/about the car.  

Me, him, and another dude are supposed to get together in the next week to write a song about a car.  They needed a subject matter expert who also writes poetry, rock on, finally my dual skills of automotive knowledge and mastery of prose has paid off.  By paid off I think I get a t-shirt or something of that nature.

Milwaukee Mile

I got to share the track with the legends. Foyt, Andretti, Earnhardt, Ricky Bobby, and Jon Bradshaw have now all conquered the Milwaukee Mile! I had to get up early, we met up in the North Shore and motored up to Milwaukee. We met at the fairgrounds, five Chicago MINIs with about a dozen Milwaukee MINIs.

Today's Drive The Mile was also a food drive and car show combo. There were all kinds of cars, from a replica Mystery Machine to a replica Dale Earnhardt, no really, this guy looked just like him. We got to do three laps, I lollygagged and was able to get a few hot corners in while playing catch up. This was a corner at about 80 mph.

Tamara has my new favorite Cooper, she wasn't wasting time with dull vinyl overlays, no, she went air brush with the snow leopard.

The best in show was this classic cooper, those are 10 inch rims, he called them "Half-Dubs." He wins best in show in my heart because it is all original, all MINI, and most of all proves that small is the new big.