Unleashing the Awesome

So I've been sweating the cost of the struts for the Subaru, which desperately need done. If I go with Car-X, the price is going to be about $1600.

I can get aftermarket, better-than-OEM hardware for $500 for the whole thing. And found a mechanic who will do the work for $100. (And I'm going to toss in a case of beer.) How awesome is that?

Got the fluid swaps done today — radiator, transmission and differential. She's shifting a lot more smoothly.

Fuel filter won't be happening — it and the fuel pump are located inside the gas tank. To change the filter would cost about $400. Per the dealership, it's a lifetime filter and shouldn't need changed.

Going to do the sparkplugs myself.

Thinking my shocks are the suspension issue — going to get it into Car-X for a quick check-up soon.

• Working on a great post for DB.N entitled "Greg LeMond's Dipshit Idea", which I hope to have posted this weekend
• Getting the radiator, transmission, and differential flushed-and-filled tomorrow, and doing my own spark plugs
• I've had "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot stuck in my head for the better part of three days now
• Trivia last night at the bar rocked, going to spend my share of the winnings ($12) on a box of spoke nipples for the new road wheelset
• I got a really sweet goodnight text message from Kate last night as she was headed to bed — have I mentioned I'm crazy-in-love with her? — and it really made my night.
• Had dinner at mom's place last night. Her cat, Lucky, was all over me. Maybe in a bid to be adopted? Yeah right. We don't need another cat.
• A few weeks ago, I bought one of those tiny R/C helicopters as a new form of cat toy. It didn't go over so well. Scout was terrified. Vinnie was terrified. Happy left as soon as I crashed it near him. Only Calvin remained, and I think that that was more out of stubborn curiousity than anything. I might try to rig up a duplicate of the controller on an Arduino board so I can fly the thing with the laptop. That'd be interesting, anyway. Big problem would be the lack of data coming back ot the system from the helicopter.

Windsheild's fixed. Cost: $0.

Saturday, full inspection to determine what needs done (and figure out weird suspension issue), plus transmission flush/fill, and radiator flush/fill. Cost: $225.

Saturday, July 11th: new spark plugs, new fuel filter. Cost: $300.

1. Terry kills himself.
2. Mooch euthanized.
3. Alex has metastasized breast cancer.

Let's add:

4. Mom got admitted to the ER last night with chest pains and has a "hiccup" on the EKG.

It would appear that I am a very dangerous person to know.

The problem isn't so much with the car as it is with the fact that I've been pounding on it for four and a half years now.

So, I'm getting ready to get this sucker fixed and back up to running condition.

To do (in order):

1. New windsheild. That happens Monday.
2. Full tune-up, and the replacement of the two struts I blew on potholes this winter.
3. New foglamp on driver's side and passenger side front marker light.
4. Full clean/detail job, including buff-out of the paint scratches.
5. New set of wheels and better tires than the ones I have on there now.
6. Cold air intake.

Going to get this sucker back to like-new condition while I still can.

• I have me an ingrown beard hair and fuck it hurts. Upside: RIVER OF PUS.

• Now that we've got the social niceties out of the way, we can get on to the interesting/weird. All three of the institutions I bank with have called me in the last week and offered to extend me lines of credit. Clearly, the ongoing campaign to improve my credit report has started to pay dividends — either that or they're getting skittish about the new banking regs that are coming along and are extending credit as fast as possible . I very methodically compared all three of the offers and accepted one of them.

• I'm friggin' tired as hell and Kate's home, but she's spending time with Allie tonight ("Kate and Allie" -- tee hee), so I'm going to play trivia with f_o_n_y and cashbox at Keegan's tonight. Love me some trivia. And the social function will be good — I've been kinda withdrawing from the world since the situation with Mooch went down.

• Beyond that, not much to report. Got some household projects I want to do in the near future -- going to build a home-made cat tree because there's no fucking way I'm going to pay $300 for one, and I'm going to do the wall o' bookshelves in the office (which will necessitate moving the chaise lounge elsewhere).

• Family camping trip this weekend. Taylor's Falls. Going to have to take my climbing gear with me.

So, let's recap the last 30 days or so:

1. Friend/former co-worker, Terry, takes his own life.
2. My cat/BFF diagnosed with bone cancer and is euthanized.

Pretty rough month, yeah? Well, why don't we throw another fucking log on the Royal Bonfire of Bullshit?

3. My sister-in-law just diagnosed with breast cancer that's metastasized to her lymph nodes and liver.

THIS. IS. FUCKING. BULLSHIT.

CANCER CAN SUCK MY BALLS.

ALSO, FATE/KARMA/GOD/WHATEVER CAN RIM ME AFTER A NIGHT OF CHEAP TEQUILA AND TACO BELL WITH FIRE SAUCE.

• Been rockin' the to-do list since last night. Did a metric assload of laundry, hit up Target for some minor necessities, and took advantage of the "all men's shit half-off" sale at Old Navy. Still got more laundry to do, some clean dishes to put away, litterboxes to shovel, and a new pair of shoes to locate and purchase. But you know? Not half-bad. I'd like to have the place looking awesome before Kate gets home tomorrow night, but with my shift at the shop tonight, that's a tall order. Still going to try to make it happen.

• Looks like, based on his interview on Joe Buck Live last night, that Brett Favre will be suiting up as the QB for my beloved Minnesota Vikings. I am okay with this. In fact, I'm better than okay with it. There are Vikes fans that are wailing about how awful this is, and OMG IF WE WINNEZ TEH SUPRBOL, WE WILL NEVR HEER THE ENDZ OF IT FROM TEH PACKERZ FANZ. Yeah, well, remember you can always rub their noses in their own short-sighted stupidity. My prediction is that if Favre does end up on Minnesota's roster that we'll make the NFC Championship, and after that, it's anyone's guess.

• I keep hoping that someone will invent a universal Whuffie system -- and that there will be insanely harsh penalties for "OMG FIRST POST!" commenters.

• Other stuff to do. More later.

...wait. What? Which one of you is posing as "anonymous" and paying for a 12-month update?

Thank you.

And I can take a hint: post more.

It has been awhile since my last update, has it not?

Things have been okay here, f-list. I went to NC this last weekend to visit Kate and that was good. Went to the beach, ate at Waffle House, watched bad TV, and finished reading Anathem on the flight home.

Work is work. The bike is the bike. Life is life.

There's not much to say of interest. Given the events of the past two weeks I haven't had a lot of free time or motivation. I miss Kate. I miss Mooch. I worry that I might be headed for depression again.

I need to screw my head on straight.

I'm all over the Internet:

http://twitter.com/fontosaurus

http://facebook.com/dan.bailey

http://www.delicious.com/fontosaurus

http://www.danbailey.net

It's account renewal time and that means I'm contemplating leaving LJ yet again. I'm growing a little weary of it, truth be told. I don't think it's worth the money. And I dunno. It has nothing to do with the quality of people on here...I just feel like I'm starting deviate from the need to ramble pointlessly at long length. Twitter allows for much more efficient rambling -- brevity is the soul of a blog, after all.

I dunno. Anyone else ever get like this with their relationship to LJ?

Gotta do the amateur edition someday:

My final farewell/eulogy for Mooch is posted over at DB.N:
http://www.danbailey.net/689/saying-goodbye-to-my-best-friend

Also, there's a bucketload of new pics of Mooch and me posted over at Flickr. digitech took them and they're really awesome:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fontosaurus

Must admit, I got a little choked-up again looking at those pictures. They really capture the emotion of the situation quite well.

I have a conference call with China tomorrow at 7 a.m.

All 1.2 billion of them. Simultaneously.

So I've got my final tribute to Mooch written. Waiting on the pictures that digitech was gracious enough to shoot for me last Thursday before I post it so that you have something new (and much better than I'm capable of) to look at. Also, if you're in the market for a pro photographer, check out her site: Glimpses of Soul.

The cats are having mixed reponses to Mooch's absence.

Calvin (who is currently very intent on the 10pm news on TV) is taking it the worst. From the time Mooch started going downhill on Tuesday morning, he'd been her shadow, and stayed nearby fairly frequently. This was unusual behavior as the two of them weren't super-friendly (nor was there a lot of conflict). Now that she's gone, he's a little more clingy and subdued.

Scout seems to be okay. He goes around from room to room, making his little peeping noises, and I think he's looking for her. Weird, given their rocky start and their later indifference. Beyond his curiousity about her location he doesn't seem overly upset.

Happy has been more worried about me and Kate than he is about Mooch's absence. He was always very curious about her and she was standoffish with him. So Happy seems to be focusing on the two of us. Last night, I woke up at about three, and he was curled up against my chest.

Vinnie doesn't care about anything -- except Happy. So clearly, he's unaffected.

Anyway, it's late. Not much else to report. I'm going to go crawl into bed and read for a little bit.

So someone decided to cover "Holy Diver" -- Avenged Sevenfold, maybe? Killswitch Engage? Whatever the case, that was one song that did not need a cover. Seriously.

Yesterday was tough, today was a bit better. Getting some Mooch-related ink soon. I miss my girl, but the house still feels like she's here.

Hope you're well, Internet.

Since I last posted here, Mooch and I spent a day hanging out. We had a nap, we tried to give her favorite foods, and we took her outside on a leash so that she could feel the grass between her toes. For the most part, she's been sleepy and uninterested in food, but when we were outside, her eyes lit up and her personality started to shine again. While MK was here taking pics, she started to clean her right front leg -- the afflicted limb -- acknowledging it for the first time since Tuesday morning.

And it gave me hope. The worst thing I could possibly have. The past 24 hours, my baby girl has obviously been in a bad way. Lethargic, no appetite, no spark of interest in her toys. But for short bits of time today, I could see my best friend again, and it gave me reason to doubt my decision to have her put to sleep.

You were so tiny!

( These are things I'll always remember... )

Kate's looking for flights home. Tomorrow, Mooch and I are going to spend the day together -- we'll feed her her favorites, brush her excessively, let her play with all the hair binders she wants, get some pics of the two of us, and say goodbye to her brothers. Once Kate is home, we'll take her back to the vet and help her move on.

I can't believe that I won't ever hear her little laugh-noise again.

I made a post over at DB.N, a hopeful one about Mooch, and right after that, the vet called.

She has spinal cancer.

And I am on the verge of coming completely unglued in the middle of the Quarterly Business Review. Now I need to make decisions about how to ease my little girl out of this world.

My heart is in a million pieces right now.