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• Before wifeGeeding and I headed to Georgetown, TX for a baby dedication, my mother accidentally ran the van into the house/garage.  Other than being an emotional wreck, she’s OK.  For right now we have to sleep with the garage door open.  At first I was concerned that something might get stolen, then I came to the realization that everything in the garage is pretty much junk and is just taking up space.
• I saw a bumper sticker that made me laugh, it read “In God I Trust, In Bush I Don’t.”  Which made me think, I can’t believe there are more tax cuts coming from Washington.  The government is in a deficit along with an ongoing war, and more tax cuts are coming?  This just doesn’t make sense to me.  If anything, raise the minimum wage.  I can’t imagine being in college working for minimum wage and trying to fill my car with gas for three bucks a gallon.
• Decided to listen to The Da Vinci Code on audio book for the drive.  I’m glad God made the iPod.  I’ve only listened to one audio book book on a drive and it almost put me to sleep at the wheel.  That book was the Colin Powell autobiography.  Great audio book by a great man, but an autobiography isn’t really something that can really keep your attention on high alert for about 4-5 hours.  However, The Da Vinci Code is pretty darn good, I feel like I need to finish it before the movie comes out.  Sorry if I disappoint you in that I’m listening to the audio book and will watch the movie.  I don’t feel like I’m selling out my faith in Christ, I just look at the book as a work of fiction, just like the Flying Nun or Indiana Jones (FYI – he really didn’t find the Ark of the Covenant). 
• There is a popular joke about La Quinta hotels, that translated from Spanish to English it means “next to Denny’s.”  Our La Quinta was not located next to a Denny’s, but rather a funeral home.  In case you are wondering, ‘la quinta’ translates into ‘the villa.’
• La Quinta had free Wi-Fi, I was happy that I brought my laptop.
• I ate in a park in which the Georgetown High School football stadium is located.  This was the same stadium in which Vasity Blues was filmed. I hear the locals still hear a lot of West Caan High Coyotes t-shirts, but I didn’t see any.
• Proof that I love my in-laws:  I sacrificed watching the first half of the San Antonio – Dallas NBA Playoff game.  That’s love.  Much thanks to Jimi for text messenging me the score from time to time.  Little did I know he was at the game, about two rows up from the floor.
• The church I visited had a person there named Raef.  Other than former Dallas Maverick Raef LaFrentz, he is the only other Raef I know.
• Whataburger is a popular fast food place in this area of the country.  Great burgers, and great breakfast.  I saw a billboard advertising a chicken biscuit, which means I’m going to have to investigate this further.  Although there wasn’t anything about this new breakfast item on their website.  Right now Chick-Fil-A has the best chicken biscuit for breakfast, I’m sure Whataburger will not disappoint.
• Watched the final episode of The West Wing.  It was OK, I guess I can say that the show left gracefully.  I think it did a good job showing the awkward and anticipatory feelings of one administration leaving and a new one just taking off.  I thought it was touching how they played one last little tribute to Leo with the framed napkin note, even though all us fans from the show saw it coming.
• Terry didn’t win Survivor Panama, but he went down with class.  Also, as annoying as Shane was, I think I finally realized that he was good entertainment.

The 2 photos above were taken at Volkswagen’s new storage facility in Wolfsburg, Germany. The actual space that the facility occupies is approximately only 20% of a comparable facility with the traditional design that is used primarily in the US. Not only is the German structure less expensive to build, but vehicles are also “retrieved” in less time and without the potential of being damaged by an attendant. 

Check out more stuff about this concept here.

Some people gaze into their navel for inspiration: I look into mine and see navel fluff. Also known as navel lint, it is that fascinating fluffy substance that forms mysteriously in the belly buttons of special people.  I’ve been collecting navel fluff (just my own) since 1984.

Visit this freak’s website here.

After decades of upgrades to a fleet of notoriously cramped Sikorsky VH-3 Sea Kings, the White House has tasked Lockheed Martin with a dramatic, $6.1-billion makeover of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, starting this summer. The goal: to fit a mobile Oval Office into the tight quarters of a chopper. The new fleet will consist of 23 VH-71 aircraft, each of which will have 200 square feet of cabin space, nearly double the Sea King’s 116.

Read more about it here.