A two week that should not have been...

The Well
A blown motor, so 970$ later, we have water, but the septic line is leaking again.

Yay Me!
Was able to replace the whole right side brake ssytem on Logan's car: rotor, pads, caliper AND the caliper and pads on left side. I have the confidence, but not the cash, to do a rear brake job on the BlackVan Falcon.

The Gym... ups and downs
Tuesday the 21st:
Front Squats: finally got the monkey off my back: 275 and 295 for 5. Abandoned the pads and just let the weight sit on my arms.

Thursday the 23rd:
3 Boards: 365/385 for 3 with a miss at 405 and then a single with it. Christan gave great handoffs.

Saturday the 25th:
Deadlift: sumo off plates: 455/475 x 3 four or five misses with 500... so depressed I did not finish my workout.

Have not been back yet, continue reading.


Three to Six days of vacation
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were glorious... no work, no work phone... wonderful. Did not get a call on Saturday, so that was nice.

Derek got in Friday, it was odd.

Went ovet to Dad's on Sturday and drank beers, argued religion and played poker with Ian and Cecil. Had a good time.

Christan reported back on Monday, under the bullshit veil of looming furloughs, to find that her serp belt was gone from her engine. I went in for an hour and then went and ordered a belt to pick up when we got back from Atlanta.

Derek and I got gone for Atlanta at a little after 10. Picked up Rolling Rock in Smyrna and pulled up to the Hotel just as Gil and Suzie Gibson did. I think we had all gotten a nice pre-buzz before heading over to the Lounging Leprechaun for dinner. Had a great time at dinner. food was good but a bit steep.

Tool concert was solid: see later review.

Slept in a little Tuesday, went and saw "E' and headed back. So sleepy. Did not sleep well. Heded back to the big town at 10.

Gotr back to where all the ways cross at 2:30, went and picked up the belt then Chris, then said goodbye to Dare and then put the belt on surprisingly easy. Of course, the belt would not stay on. Called Terry, we diagnosed a loose idler pully (the one Howard and I replaced a year and a half agao). No sweat, just tighten that puppy up... and the bolt broke off in the block. Hell yeah.

Went and got what I hope are the tools to fix the damage, but have to get a bracket off that does not want to come off. This is so depressing. The well, Logan's brakes, the septic line, the weird Friday night, the expense of the Tool show and now this. Cannot take much more.

If I fix this, I will be THE man.

Yard Work
Wednesday: mowed the grass
Thursday: started the last bit o' the front yard... me and the boys moved the AC from its two and a half year resting spot. Fun.
Friday: FINISHED the front yard... except for the smilex field.
Saturday: The smilex field was freakish: prolly 25 pounds of smilex root. Crazy. Broke the shovel. But the front yard is done and done. All that remains is the back 40. Cannot belive we finished it. The front yard was a pain in the ass.
Sunday: we rested.

Tool
July 27th, 7:30 at the Gwinett Center in duluth

Setlist: predictable but solid
Jambi... A little rough, but a good start.
Stinkfist... would stand as the highlight until the second half.
46 & 2... pretty good.
Schism... really dissapointed in schism, just did not feel right.
Lost Keys *new audio*... filler, blah.
Rosetta Stoned... was looking forward to this, but MJK bailed on the scream. I had trouble hearing him during the first half of the show.
A short intermission...
Flood... blew me away. Best they sounded as a band all night.
Aenema... freaking awesome, great light show, incredible energy.
Lateralus... did not dissapoint. The drum battle with DC and the Tweak Bird drummer was special. It was amazing to be singing lateralus with 10,000 other people. They really should have ended on this note.
Vicarious... For me, the energy was spent. Vicarious was a downer after the Flood/Aenima/Lateralus set. Then, and this hurt, MJK bailed on the final part of the lyrics... the best part of the song.

And then it was done. Maynard spoke four times during the show and stayed a silluoette the whole show. Nowhere as engaging as Springstein.

The music drowned out the vocals, especially for the first part of the show.

Had a great time. 87/100. Would like to see them again... if MJK is going to be part of the show.

Tonic Immobility
Slowly making my way through. Cannot seem to build up any steam. Hate reading it. Not happy with it.

The Broken Thread
An opportunity has arisen that I hope I can take advantage of. Between the well and the cars, I am strapped, but this is the best chance The Thread has had, so...