MikeSpike.org » Life

My car is officially bobo’d

Michael — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:28:42 +0000

My car as of last week is officially bobo’d (aka tainted).

With the car just turning 4 years of ownership and less than 6 months to pay off I get my first hit. While venturing off with Jen to feed our appetites at the local Ganache bakery, we barely made it in time to get a piece of my favorite black cow cake. Upon leaving the store I noticed Jen stalled from getting into the car. I hear a , “ummmm…. Michael, (you can tell it wasn’t good by the tone of her voice….) did someone hit your car???” I think at that time all this blood rushed to my head and a vein popped out. I said.. ” Doo wha(in so many words give or take)???” Yes, lo and behold someone hit my car and left no note. The best I can think of was it either happend the night before in my own parking lot or it happened in the cul de sac where I park it for the days I carpool. So no, my car I love so much wasn’t hit by an Elon student which so could have happened. Whoever it was…thanks for not fessing up.

First ride of the year

Michael — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:10:04 +0000

This New Year of 2009 started off with my first bike ride in the lower 40 degree weather. Biking hadn’t been something I’ve done in quite a while due to the short winter days, but it was way overdue. Matt and I headed out toward the woods at Hamilton Lakes in our multiple layers of warmth. I wore my balaclava which hasn’t been worn ever since I rode my motorcycle to work in 20 degree weather. Yeah, I can remember looking at the NOAA frostbite chart and seeing how quickly frostbite can occur in chilly 20 degree weather riding at 60mph. Never do that again….

So maybe this year will bring new challenges for me in my sporting life. Maybe a half marathon, or another 150 MS bike ride or maybe I’ll just learn to cook more exquisite foods. Yeah….I definitely could take up the sport of eating.

The Crest Challenge

Michael — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:22:35 +0000

With so many different brands of toothpaste and different styles that they come in. I’ve always been drawn to the upright “less mess neat squeeze” dispenser. Although this avoids constantly curling up a tube, I’ve always wondered if there’s any toothpaste left once I’ve used all my might to squeeze the crap out of the crest “dispenser.” My main method of extracting every last bit of toothpaste was using the palm of my hand to press all my weight onto the toothpaste against corner of the sink. Enough prelude, on with the experiment.

My tools:

The sissors met the crest tube. History will be made!!

I truly didn’t expect what I found after cutting through the tube.

As you can see it’s just a simple aluminum bag filled with toothpaste…looks like there’s still some left in the tube but not as much as I thought would be left. Who knows…after this little experiment I my change to tubes, they cost left and have more. You know every cents counts especially with crazy high gas prices.

Finding the little things

Michael — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:39:37 +0000

So in the daily routine of work, sometimes its nice to stumble across something that you always have known is there but forgot. My week so far has been full of solving problems but that’s what I do best and what I enjoy doing. But when everything builds up you need something, some type of “zen” to distress you. Just the other day as Jen and I were making order out of my chaotic room there seemed to be a pile of things on the side of my room that haven’t moved so I figured why bother. Then as we’re rapping up the late evening chore she asked to get rid of a paper bag which had been there sitting filled with things from Easter, yes the easter bunny still visits me…..don’t ask. So going though this bag I found an Asian lamp made from villagers in the Lanna region of Thailand. HOW COOL!! I totally forgot about this. After losing a bet on which light bulb would fit, I’m happy to say the articulate lamp is lit by a Meridian LED C7 light consuming a mere 1.7watts of light, rest assure I won’t have to replace this bulb for another 14 years. Now I’ll just have to get the trombone out and play it thanks to a losing bet. Until the next bet….

So much time so little posts

Michael — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:14:50 +0000

So once again I have let the time go and no new posts remain on my site. Now, the air is getting colder, the leaves are changing and the dreaded short days of sunlight have begun. It’s mid November and at the end of this week is the mass consumption of food, or as we call it Thanksgiving. As I reflect back on the months of 2007, I’ve had a lot to be thankful about. For one I’ve had the chance to travel to two different continents in the same year. South America, for one, will be an unforgettable trip. It’s funny to see what memories stick out when you look back at trips. Everybody has those times throughout their trips that they have unforgettable moments. I can never forget the times of feeling soo small traveling through South America trying to contemplate how far I was from home. I’m kinda a map lover (don’t ask) so I’m always trying to get my reference to things. Another time, I remember taking a 75 mile trip across the Chilean border which entailed riding in an old Buick tank car filled with four Hispanics and two Americans(me and Anna). Rest assure I felt comfortable after seeing a skeleton hanging from the rearview mirror. If my cuban mother could only see this to know her son was in safe hands.My trip wasn’t even complete after a 10 hour Bolivian bus ride equipped without bathrooms and puking my guts out three times. So much for my first real meal in the high altitude. Maybe the locals appreciated the little U.N. bag drops out the window. =) Needless to say I got use to bus rides from 8-14 hours, if you want to get around cheap this was the best way.On my European trip, things went great. I was fortunate enough to have friends to stay with which was a great plus when things were so expensive in Europe. Maybe I’m a penny pincher but staying with locals is the way to go for real life experiences.

Since my big travels I’ve been back to the weekly grind of working, making money and paying bills. The real life as they call it. But still I escape on the weekends to either side of my wonderful state that I’m proud to live in. Even though I’ve traveled thousands of miles away from home, I still find things in my own state that amaze me. One thing I can boast about is how spectacular the sunsets are. For some reason in this tarheel sky blue state, when the sun sets be prepared for a wonder sight.

I’ll have one more out-of-state trip for the year, New Orleans or the “big easy.” I have much to read about the city, I don’t know much besides the great devastation of the flooding year back. I’m looking forward to another family trip, it’s been long needed and I miss them. Those were the fun days of flying standby, my dad making it a game of seeing which flight we’d leave on. Dad had all the odds on a piece of paper, he’d always done his homework before our big family trips. Sometimes our trips were even altered at the last minute which I didn’t mind. It was great when we went to Chicago’s O’hare airport, the mecca for United Airlines. Looking at the grid of screens, there were a gazillion destinations for planes to fly to. Dad always joked about just picking any place on the screen, Tahiti, New Zealand or maybe Madagascar. Those days were the best.PS: I’ll try to post more often. =)