Received the actual detailed repair estimate this afternoon via email. In round numbers: ~$6000 parts, ~$3000 labor, ~$500 tax, total of ~$9500. There were about a total of ~50 hours of labor, ranging from ~$30 to ~$80 an hour depending on the type of labor (paint/body/mechanical), with a total "days to repair" being 20. Specific areas included: Rear Wheels - replace Rear Suspension - … [Read more...]
Archives for 2015
Comic-Con and Lailah
May 4, 2015 By
So. I was having brunch at Lucky 13's yesterday, with Lailah, her GMR, her GG, her dad Jordan, her uncle Reece (and his GF, Katie2), Lailah's mom (Katie McCormick aka Katie1) was working but she flitted in & out during our meal, and I remembered hearing that Comic-Con being in town. So, after having brunch, I made an executive decision, and headed up to the convention center to see my very … [Read more...]
Lailah and silverware
May 4, 2015 By
Very, very short Lailah story: To set it up, I have two different sets of eating utensils, one set with blue handles, the other set with brown. I'm feeding her breakfast this morning, and apparently, I was using a blue fork for myself, and had given her a brown fork to use. She starts to pout, and says: "I wanted the blue fork!" I love her!! … [Read more...]
“Stomp the American Flag challenge” – F*CK
May 4, 2015 By
I love the Internet, I hate the Internet. I love social media, I hate social media. I love Facebook, I hate Facebook. The world has shrunk so much these past twenty or so years with the Internet, these past five to ten yrs with FB, etc. Yes, I knew there were people not as as me. Learned this a little bit in HS, then more and more throughout my thirty-five plus yr work life/career. I am … [Read more...]
Lailah’s turned three!
May 3, 2015 By
Today was the celebration of little Lailah's third birthday (which actually occurred earlier this week). Problem was, the party was at 1pm but my Saturday class doesn't end until 3:30pm. So, after class, I flew home, changed into a pair of shorts, and drove to the park between her parent's house and mine. Parked my (new rental) car, and started walking toward the pavilion - I hear my name being … [Read more...]
My Aunt Laveda’s passing
May 2, 2015 By
I want to take a minute to mention my Aunt Laveda (in SCS, Michigan) passed away this past Tuesday. She was my mom's older sister and had been in good health until just recently. Due to having class today, I wasn't able to attend her funeral yesterday, but she was always my favorite aunt since my family lived only about three miles from her and my uncle and my two cousins. I've not seen my cousin … [Read more...]
Lailah – thoughts on her turning three
April 28, 2015 By
Exactly three years ago, my entire life changed overnight. I met and fell in love with a beautiful baby by the name of Lailah. She turns three yrs old today and has become a beautiful little girl. She is smart, sassy, beautiful, gorgeous, witty, funny, and have I mentioned how smart she is yet? She cracks me (and everyone else) up with everything she says or does. There is nothing I wouldn't do … [Read more...]
Lailah – making introductions
April 15, 2015 By
True story: I get a text from "Lailah" at around noon today, asking if she can babysit me at 3pm. Of course I say yes. Picked her up and drove home to my place, got the wagon, and we walked to the park down the street, dragging the wagon behind us. She takes my hand and holds it most of the way there. We get to the park, and usually we're the only ones there, but today, there was a 5-6 yr old … [Read more...]
Lailah – Playdate together
March 31, 2015 By
As I mentioned earlier today, I had Lailah this afternoon. When I pick her up in the mornings, we usually go to my place, and play inside, then (when it's a warm day), we walk over to the park (sometimes she pulls the wagon, sometime [ok, most of the time], I end up carrying her). Today, we drove straight from Lailah's house to the park, and we parked on the street, and unbuckled her from her car … [Read more...]
Recent thoughts about Lailah
March 11, 2015 By
Had the little girl today, and will have her again tomorrow as well. I think this is either the second or third week of having her twice a week (of consecutive days), and I really like it. Jordan and Katie always are so concerned over whether they are asking too much of me, and I always try to reassure them, that I love having Lailah babysit me, and would love to do it more than once or twice a … [Read more...]
True (Lame Brain) story [My Life is average!]
March 11, 2015 By
My kitchen table has had a set of "items" for me to mail out for more than a few weeks now. I finally broke down and bought some padded envelopes to stuff the things in. While stuffing them, I used my iPad's whitepages.com app to look up the various addresses needed. I noticed that one of them felt a bit heavier than the rest, but didn't give it another thought at the time. Took them to the … [Read more...]
Bullying
March 8, 2015 By
This is in response to a newcast/article about some kids bullying an older man they had seen dancing on the subway. http://7online.com/society/internet-celebrities-rally-behind-dancing-man/549327/ How do bullies become bullies? Who the f is teaching them this crap to these kids - their friends, their parents, their teachers? I wonder what the parents do when they see their (young) kids bullying … [Read more...]
MRR – Flea Market Event
March 7, 2015 By
As some of you know, one of my hobbies is Model Railroading. Over the yrs, I've accumulated some stuff (magazines, "locomotive equipment", etc.), that are either duplicates or no longer wanted - there was a time where I would put this unwanted stuff on eBay, but haven't done that in the recent few years. About a month or two ago, I became aware of a local MRR flea market that was being held … [Read more...]
Cameras – new camera in my bag
March 7, 2015 By
This is the guy (professional photog) who has helped convince me to start moving away from my Canon DSLR to the Sony A6000 "mirrorless" (which I bought & have used as my main camera since last June, BEFORE seeing his you-tube posting). The autofocus is much, much faster than the ("more expensive") Canon, the camera is physically smaller and lighter on weight, and I really enjoy using it - I'll … [Read more...]
More on Lailah
February 28, 2015 By
Some silliness: Based on the recent huge success of two short videos of Lailah (with one of them being a "music" video), the decision has been made in the Williams' household to glue a movie camera to a football helmet and wear it around the house while she's over at my place (babysitting me). I was wondering the other day if I could invent something to record her from my point of view and came up … [Read more...]
Friendship – Linda Dowell – part two
February 24, 2015 By
My friend and former colleague, Linda Dowell passed away today. I hope she knew she was loved by everyone in her life. I will miss her. … [Read more...]
Bullying – Blog posting from Jason Lanier (professional photog)
February 21, 2015 By
I'm into photography, been into it since end of HS. I came across a professional photographer a few months ago who gives photography advice over YouTube. He has (to me) a great personality and knows what he's talking about photography wise. I was just reading his blog and read this (recent?) posting, regarding what he calls "haters", about people who leave (very) negative comments on his YouTube … [Read more...]
Friendship – Linda Dowell – part one
February 17, 2015 By
A former Wells Fargo colleague of mine, Linda, is in the hospital and needs some extra love. A month ago she went to have knee replacement surgery, which was successful. However, a couple of days later due to unusual sleepiness and headaches, a CT scan revealed a baseball size brain tumor. On Jan 24th the tumor was removed during an 8 hour surgery. The tumor was found to be a malignant … [Read more...]
Lailah – she tires me out!
February 13, 2015 By
Not really sure which tires me more: Taking all of Lailah's toys, books, playthings (castles, pirate fairies, stuffed animals) out and putting them around the house to make sure she sees them and plays with as many of them as she wants, Playing with Lailah all day long, Collecting everything off the floor after she leaves and putting the stuff away. I know it's not the second choice, and … [Read more...]
Lailah – sick!
February 6, 2015 By
I'd heard yesterday that "my" little girl (AKA Lailah) was pretty sick, so I knew I probably wouldn't be seeing her today (her "regular" day with me). Realizing that I saw her on Tuesday has "helped" (somewhat), but I am sure hoping she's feeling better since it's really really lonesome here without having her to babysit and play with me. Lailah - It's not the same, looking at the (thousands of) … [Read more...]
