Atlantic City, recap

Currently listening to: Coheed & Cambria - The Light & The Glass

Woah. So we're back. I went to Atlantic City yesterday with Amanda Morrison and Dave Lavery and had a freakin blast. Here's a bulletized recap of the trip:

• Went to JD's in Manchvegas late Tuesday night. The bartender gave me a free Gin & Tonic. I knew this trip was starting well already.
• Woke up and flew to Philly at the crack of dawn. Tim doesn't like waking up early. I then get searched by the TSA guy and almost make us late becaue I forgot to take off my belt. What an idiot.
• Ate a delicious McDonald's McGriddle for breakfast. While delicious, it turned out to be the worst decision of the day (I was sick all day afterwards)
• While waiting for Dave in Philly, I realize that I know all the words to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. I proceed to sing it.
• Drive from Philly to AC in Lavery's car. It's a 1997 black-on-black-on-black Mustang GT. It was awesome. We bore Amanda with our talks of mountain climbing and robots to the point where she falls asleep in the back. Loser.
• Lavery begins the day with a joke/story about a guy getting his left nut ripped off while climbing a fence. The mood of the day has now been officially set.
• We walk up and down the boardwalk dodging seagulls, eating about 5 lbs of candy, and taking pictures with a dude dressed up as a crab.
• Lavery plays black jack all day while Amanda and I play slots. And by slots, I mean the penny slots. We ventured into the nickel and quarter slots for a few, but that shit was too rich for my blood and we quickly evac'ed.
• I got two free Gin & Tonics from the hott waitresses. Amanda would call them "skanks", but I'm sure they are really nice girls with good personalities. And hearts of gold. And big boobs.
• We eat lunch at the House of Blues. I get attacked by the faucet. Dave and Amanda now think that I'm crazy.
• On the way back to the airport, Lavery almost drives through a toll gate at about 50mph. The thing almost hit the windshield. I yelled "oh shit" while Amanda almost crapped her pants. It was ridiculous.
• Amanda and I, because we're running late, book it all the way from Lavery's car to the gate. We made it in 6 minutes flat. I'm pretty sure that's some sort of record.

All in all, a fantastic trip. I hope to repeat this and similar trips/events in the near future.

And for something completely random

Currently listening to: Pink Floyd - Money

So it looks like I'm going to Atlantic City tomorrow. For a day.

Amanda and I are flying from Manch to Philly and meeting Dave Lavery (NASA engineer who does a lot of work for FIRST) at the airport. We're then driving to Atlantic City to gamble for a day, then fly home.

So so random, yet so so awesome. I can't wait.

Do you still do FIRST?

Currently listening to: Coheed & Cambria - Delirium Trigger

I'm currently being interviewed through email for an article about FIRST and my involvement. It's mainly focused on my high school involvement and how that contributed to my college experience and getting a job.

One of the last questions is "Have you continued with FIRST?"
I'm wondering if I should answer "yes" and list what I do, or ask her to rephrase the question to "Have you continued with anything that's not related to FIRST". It would be much easier and quicker to answer the latter.

Audrey! We're in a fight.

Currently listening to: Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

Aside from her initial purchase price, and weekly demands of premium gas, Audrey has been pretty low maintenance. The only time she really gets expensive is when I find fun after-market items to add to her, but that's my fault, not hers. It'd be like a husband buying fake boobs for his wife and then blaming her for the high price tag. Or something like that.

However, the little girl has been having some weird noises come out of her steering lately, and a little bit of a shimmy when I hit speeds higher than say, oh, 85. I figured I need to get the wheels aligned, and would be out like $40. So I bring the little miss down to Clinton Tire and have them check it out. Come to find out, the little punk has worn out her tie rods.

I researched how much a new set of tie rods would cost, and they're on average $65-70 each for an S4. I figured that with mark-up, labor, and the subsequent wheel alignment, I'd be out $400. Not happy.

I call Wagner Motors (the dealership where I adopted my beloved) to see if for some reason the warranty would cover this. It does not, as expected seeing how it's from wear/tear, and they quoted me $500. Even less happy.

WOAH! As writing this, Clinton Tire called me back with their quote of $314. I'm still not enthralled by this, but that's way better than what I was expecting.

Loved by the old, ignored by the young

Currently listening to: AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

The other night my friend's mom said that she wanted to marry me because she was so impressed by me having my own condo, nice car, and good job at the age of 25. She's like 50.

How come girls in the 18-30 bracket aren't impressed by this?

The Black Parade

Currently listening to: My Chemical Romance - The Sharpest Lives

So I finally sucked it up and bought the newest My Chemical Romance cd the other day, The Black Parade. I know it's been out in a while, but I've been a good boy for the past few months and have bought literally nothing that didn't have the words "condo" or "mortgage" associated with it.

I must say, I like it. It's pretty good, catchy, keeps me going at work, and overall enjoyable. It's true to their typical styles. I've been listening to it for the past two days now and I thoroughly approve.

Weird

Currently listening to: My Chemical Romance - Disenchanted

So I woke up this morning starving. Like, really hungry. Normally I can skip breakfast and just go to work, but this morning I was hungry, and hungry for certain things.

I had a donut that I got last night at Dunkin, and, get this, a pepperoni & cheddar sandwich. For breakfast. I don't know why, I just needed those ingredients to get ready for my day.

I think that I'm pregnant.

IRI Roadtrip of Doom 2007

Currently listening to: My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade

It looks like I'll be leading a caravan of robotics goons across the country again this summer to the IRI in July. Last year's trip was ridiculous and I hope this will top it.

Also, I'll be reffing Mayhem in Florida in September and possibly Wonderland in Toronto at the end of September as well.

This should prove to be a pretty eventful summer.

Ouch!

Currently listening to: Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secret Silent Earth:3

So Metal Fest was this past weekend. Between Friday at 6pm to Saturday night at 11pm, I worked 19 hours. 19 hours at my 2nd job. Ugh. However, the 2 days were broken up by bits of fun, as drunk concert go-ers can be quite entertaining.

#1 We had these wrist bands to put on people to let them pass in/out all day. They were only good until 6pm though, at which point re-entry was limited to people I liked, cute girls, and band members. These two guys walk in (extremely blatantly gay), and I take their tickets, put their bands on, and rattle off my now-fully memorized line "These bands allow you to come and go until 6pm, at which point there will no longer be re-entry". When I said "re-entry", they both giggled and looked at eachother. It made my freakin day it was so hilarious.

#2 This kid comes up to me in pain and I ask what was wrong. Apparently, he had been in the pit for a really long time and just felt tired. I then asked why he looked like he was in horrible pain, and with great pride, lifts up his shirt to show me his bruises from the mosh pit...