It’s back for a limited time, McRib that is. That means it’s time again for the McRib challenge. This time starring Casey Thorpe who has vowed to eat ten McRib Sandwiches in the span of one hour. I don’t think it’s possible, but I’ll be there for the spectacle trying to take photos.
Lot 328: a pair of embarrassing trousers “You are bidding on a mistake. We all make mistakes. We date the wrong people for too long. We chew gum with our mouths open. We say inappropriate things in front of grandma.
And we buy leather pants.”
I beebopped out to my car this fine, crisp like an apple morning and noticed the back right tire was flat on my car. Hey, no problem! I’m an expert at changing tires. It’s one of the five essential manly skills, second only to bug squashing. Ha! I laugh in the face of the whole concept of flatness.
I took all the crap out of my trunk (why are there Christmas lights in there?) and pulled out all the odds and ends necessary to get the job done. Spare… check. Tire tool… check. Dinky scissor jack… check. Then I loosened the lugs and starting jacking that bad boy up. I got the flat tire off and pushed the donut onto the hub. Then I started the lugnuts back on. Wait a minute, that spare looks a little low. Jesus, it’s completely flat. That means I did all this for nothing. Oh, you have won this time, flat tire, but I’ll be back.
The lesson here is always check your spare before you get too excited.
Capote: 
Great movie. Is really less about Capote and more about the events surrounding the writing of In Cold Blood, the true account of the brutal murder of a rural Kansas family. Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal is top notch and the film itself is beautiful and often funny. I left feeling heavy with thought and emotional stillness, which to me is the sign that I have seen something worth seeing. This feeling persisted. Highly recommended.
Today I received the best form letter ever. I’m thinking about getting it framed because things like this never happen. It was completely unexpected in the sense that I have never heard of this. Read the full letter below.
Dear NTHEA Borrower:
North Texas Higher Education Authority (NTHEA) is a non-profit student loan secondary market. Because of our non-profit status we are able to offer our student loan borrowers benefits that other agencies / lenders may not. One of these benefits is rewarding student loan borrowers by forgiving the remaining balance on their student loan(s).
We are pleased to inform you that the remaining balance on your student loan(s) owned by NTHEA and serviced by Nelnet, Inc. have been forgiven. Your loan(s) are now considered paid in full and will be reported as such to all appropriate parties.
Because this forgiven amount is less than $600.00 you do not have to report this amount as income to the federal government, and you will not be receiving a form 1099 from us.
NTHEA thanks you for your business. If you have future student loan needs we encourage you to choose an NTHEA lending partner.
If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-366-4372 or metro 817-461-2333.
Sincerely,
North Texas Higher Education Authority
www.nthea.com
This means I am completely without debt of any sort, which has not been true since I started college almost exactly ten years ago. That’s quite an anniversary present. Thank you, student loan gods. I only had the equivalent of two payments left, but this is a very welcome surprise. I had been doubling and tripling up my payments so much that my next loan payment was not due until June of 2010. The funny part is I just started snowballing on the student loans as soon as they had online payments. Before that I just waited for my statement each month. What’s my secret? I made it a habit to pay a little more each time I thought about it, even if it was only $25. That adds up.
What does this mean for you? Pay off your student loans ahead of time and you’ll pay less in interest and maybe even get a little parting gift at the end of it all.
Josalyn came down for the weekend and it was relaxing. We were able to visit with a few of our friends, something that never seems to happen enough but is always beneficial. Saturday night we went over to Mike’s, who was in town from San Mateo for the game conference. I used to work with him over at Origin Systems / EA before they closed the studio and shipped everyone out to California. It was great to see him again and I enjoyed meeting his friends from Austin. It’s nice to go to a party where people nerd out and have intelligent conversation about topics like the differences between the various Protestant denominations without it descending to close-mindedness or polemics about faith or the lack thereof. I’ve reached a point where I can respect political or religious differences without judgment for the most part. I just try to listen what people have to say, and if I find myself in disagreement I try not to make an issue of it since everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter how ridiculous.
It just so happens that two of Mike’s female friends attended seminary, one as a Presbyterian and one as a Baptist. I learned a lot about the Presbyterian belief system, which is very different from my experience being raised as a Baptist. They actually do communion and have creeds, which is something you don’t hear about in Baptist church, not to mention the fact that the Baptists do not have female ministers. The party was the perfect opportunity for my well-worn Baptist joke: “Question: Why do you take two Baptists with you when you go fishing? Answer: If you take one he’ll drink all the beer.” If you don’t get it I can explain. All in all, it was a lot of fun even though we just sat around the kitchen table and talked.
Sunday we called Sab and woke up the hungover Courtney and Phillip for lunch. We ended up going out for coffee afterward and talked until four or five in the afternoon. It was very nice. I’ve noticed that I’m in a lot better mood if I spend time hanging out with people and talking. We humans, as social creatures, have a need to rub our brains like stones against the brains of others.
That time of the year has arrived. That’s right. It’s pecan season. My mom and step-dad own a pecan orchard, Boenig Pecans, near Seguin and they’re offering this year’s crop for sale. If you’re a pecan or nut fan you will love them. You can order from their site if you’re interested. If you’re not interested I guarantee your grandma probably is.
Pecan pie is the best variety of pie. If you don’t believe me then you haven’t had good pecan pie. And, everyone I know says “pee-kawns” or “puh-kawns”, so don’t go around talking about “pee-cans” as in “there is too much pepper on my poppykosh…but I’d be proud to partake of your pee-can pie!”.
I will be revamping the Boenig Pecans website soon, although I’m not sure if they should keep their motto, “Because our nuts are bigger.” This is a reference to the joke my mom repeats tirelessly about Jim winning an award for the biggest nuts in Guadalupe County. Groan.
The news was all over this morning about Bush’s new pick for the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito. Like everyone else, I don’t know anything about him aside from his support for spousal notification with regards to abortion, which is likely to create a lot of controversy. Ideological considerations aside, it is interesting to me that there would be two Italian-Americans on the Supreme Court if he is confirmed. We are legion.
On the McLaughlin Group on Sunday, John McLaughlin put forth the compelling theory that Bush withdrew Miers’ nomination to swap in a more ideological Conservative so that he would have the motivated support of his base in the event the Plame-gate damage gets worse.
When I go home from lunch I’m amazed how the commercials are always lowest common denominator stuff.
