To quote my brother-in-law

Terry was describing a person whose leg had been amputated just above the knee. He put his hand just above his knee, to indicate where the amputation had occurred and said "His leg, from here down, wasn't one"

Jessica Rabbit

Here's my brand new ride. I just bought it today. It's my first:

• Imported car
• German car
• Car with remote keyless entry
• Car with MP3 player
• Car with switchblade key
• Car with alarm
• Car with 6 speed automatic transmission
• Car with Tiptronic transmission
• Car with trip computer
• Car with Auxiliary audio input

There may be some other firsts, but that seemed like a good start.

So long, old friend...

I bought my truck soon after Amy and I got married. It was January 2002 and I had just started seeing the ‘new’ Dodge Ram 1500s (that body style debuted in 2002). I was interested in a Nissan King Cab and I think it was selling for about $17,000. I then saw an ad for Maxwell Dodge in Taylor. They had a Ram 1500 for $15,500. It was a lot of truck for the money. It could easily (and comfortably) carry three people, which the Nissan couldn’t.

The RAM didn’t get very good gas mileage (about 15-16 MPG). At that time, it wasn’t a huge concern, because I lived just over a quarter of a mile from work and gas was 99 cents a gallon. Other than the mileage, it has been a perfect vehicle. It has never been back to the dealer for any service. I have had to have two brake jobs (at about 40,000 and 80,000 miles) due to the amount of stop and go driving. The back tires lasted about 70,000 miles and the front ones about 80,000 miles. I had to have a sensor replaced last year to pass Georgia’s exhaust inspection. The original battery is still in the truck, it’s never had a tune-up and it runs better than the day it came off the lot.

There is some wear and tear. Both the outside rear mirrors were missing their cover, so they look funny. The left outside mirror is busted, because I backed into a pole at work (only the mirror was damaged). The dash is cracked in a couple of places. The windshield is cracked almost all the way across. Someone broke into the truck a couple of years ago and messed up the passenger door handle and trim (before busting the window). There’s a bad spot on the right rear fender, where something rubbed the paint off and there’s some surface rust there.

It is as comfortable a vehicle as you can drive. We have driven it from Texas to Alabama and back with and without a trailer. It’s never left me stranded. It’s just gotten too expensive to drive. Recently, Amy has been driving my truck to the MARTA station about a mile from our house. I’ve been driving her Passat, which has resulted in a huge gas savings, but also additional wear and tear on her car. The Passat is 18 months old and has over 30,000 miles on it. We just can’t continue to wear out the nice car at this rate.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Atlanta Braves

We're at Turner field with Charles and Rosalie. Hopefully, the Braves will dominate them.

Toomer's Drugs

We're in Auburn, getting Will moved. We just went to Toomer's Drugs for lemonade.

The balcony is closed

The balcony is closed - Roger Ebert's Journal
A sad day for movie lovers...

This is our fire station...

Update: Oakhurst Fire Station

You may remember, that about four months ago, I blogged about the Oakhurst Fire Station. Well, it was there when I went to work, but when I got back, all I saw was rubble. I went to the city's website and apparently we're getting a new firestation:

Construction to Start on Decatur Fire Station No. 2 in Oakhurst Village

The City Commission has awarded a contract for the construction of Fire Station No. 2 to the low bidder, Ward General Contractors of Kennesaw, in the amount of $1,434,000. The new fire station is located at 356 West Hill Street in Oakhurst Village.

Construction of the new fire station is being funded by the City’s capital bond program. LP3 Architects of Decatur designed the building, which is expected to be the City of Decatur’s first LEED certified building. Construction is expected to begin during the week of July 21, 2008 and to last about 10 months.

Here's the artist's rendering of the new one.

The Bank Job

A week or two ago, I went out to Netflix and added The Bank Job to my queue. However, I meant to add The Bank Job. The The Bank Job rated a 3.3 on IMDB, so I didn't even watch it. I went back to Netflix and added The Bank Job. It rated a 7.6. Confusing, huh ?

Atlanta Roller Girls

We're watching the Atlanta Roller Girls ar the Yaarab Shrine Center. Our team, The Apocolypstix losing 51-41 at the break. When I say 'our team', I mean that one of our friends, Pocaheartless is one of The Apocolypstix jeerleaders.

35th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Amy posted the pictures from our Telluride adventure. Check 'em out!

More Social than Work: 35th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Well said ?

After being picked fifth out of six people, Jen (Hell's Kitchen contestant) said

"I definitely know that the reason I was picked second to last is because how strong of a leader I am and they don't want to be outshine by me in their kitchen, but that's gonna happen anyway."

Diesel Jetta

The 2009 Jetta TDI's will soon be here. Jim Ellis has one already for test drives. It's rated at 40 MPG. I've spent some time in the new Jetta's and they are roomy. Check out goodcleandieselfun.com for additional information.

"Smoking Alternative"

100_0697.JPG, originally uploaded by A Shipp.

Dietary Supplement
Lemon Flavor
Nic Lite
Nicotine Supplement
8 fl. oz (240mL)

What else do you need ?

Triple A Fastener.

100_0650.JPG, originally uploaded by A Shipp.

Apparently, they have quite a selection of fasteners. This was shot at Applebee Park in Lexington, Ky.

Same to you buddy!

100_0713.JPG, originally uploaded by A Shipp.

This is John and Marybeth's cat, Murphy. He's giving me a one-finger salute!

Clear Any Clogged Drain

Clear Any Clogged Drain | Plumbing | How-to | This Old House - 1

This worked for me this morning!

Don't talk to the police

A couple of awesome (long) videos about why you Don't talk to the police.

Tour de France 2008

Be sure and check out Google's content regarding the Tour de France 2008, They have Google Maps and YouTube stuff.

Drive-In, again ...

We're between movies at the drive-in. We just saw Wanted and in just a few minutes, The Incredible Hulk will start.

Art

I drew and colored this car tonight at Macaroni Grill.