Oh my aching muscles.....

This grey mare ain't what he used to be, ain't what he used to be , ain't what he used to be.... Oh, hello. I did not realize anyone was watching , er , listening to me. LOL...

Well, since I am a man, not a female, thank goodness, I am not a mare. I guess that makes me a STUD.... Hahahahahahahah Well, anyway, onto the thoughts for today.

Our youth group had a lock in last night at church. I went up to the church around 9 Pm and we loaded up 10 teenagers into several vehicles and made our trek down Hwy 78 in Summerville to Ladson road (in Ladson of course) and ended up at the end of Ladson Road near Dorchester Road where Oakbrook Lanes is located. I am not sure if the owners of this establishment cares about residual income. In other words, you cant find the place unless you know exactly where they are located. At night time there are NO lights or lighted signs telling you that this is in fact Oakbrook Lanes Bowling Alley. Maybe if they put up a sign or two they would get some extra customers not to mention assist those customers that are trying to find them. Ok, enough of that rant for now.

We bowled until we hurt. Of course, seeing as this STUD is not what he used to be, I was worn out on the third game and we stopped. The OLDER adults bowled three games and I think that the youngsters all bowled about 10 to 15 games. Oh well. We loaded up and went back to church where we began to consume the rest of the pizza, chips and Dr Pepper and chocolate cake that we left since we had all worked up a good appetite. I miss being a teenager. When you are that age you stay hungry , can eat all the time and never gain a pound. I guess it has something to do with being in perpetual motion all the time. This also goes to show you that children do not burn calories through the use of their brains since it is painfully obvious to me that children rarely engage cognitive thinking skills during a normal day. LOL... Why did you do that , we ask. They say, I dont know. Did you think about what you were doing before you did it? uhmmm no, I guess not. What were you thinking ABOUT? Nothing... Who did this? I dont know? Did you do it? NO. LOL.... I am starting to feel like a rerun of a Bill Cosby episode so I will stop for now.

Once the food was consumed the children escaped to the game room which has recently been equipped with some high tech play stations and other games such as foozeball etc.
Several of the children tried to turn the hallways from the back of the church near the Sunday School room up to the foyer into a race track but I quickly stopped that nonsense. I know, party pooper is me. LOL...

That left us adults to our own devices. For the longest time I sat in a metal folding chair listening to the sounds of my bed , blanket and Katy calling me home where I belonged. This was approximately 1:30 am. I found that I had brought my two favorite pillows but I was very ill equipped to spend the night per sae. Not only that but I did not have a blanket, sheets or mattress of any kind. My pastors wife, Earlene, was kind enough to loan me one of her air mattresses. Sadly enough the mattress that she loaned me did not hold very much air so when I did finally try to lay down at 2:30 am I felt like I was laying on a sick joke for a new circus ride. When one end of me would settle the other end would pop off the ground as all the air rushed to one end or the other. Of course this scene brought howls of laughter from Earlene and Heather as they took this spectacle in.

Did I tell you about how NICE the air mattresses were for Earlene and Heather? Oh my gosh, can you see Neimen Marcus color coordinated air mattresses that held TONS of air and looked oh so comfortable? I had to giggle at Earlene because she had a hard time judging how long her body is and how long the mattress is as she wound up on the very end of the air mattress with part of her body on and part of it off. hahahahahah

I gave up at 2:30 am and came to the house where I managed to get some shut eye. Katy had gone to bed around 11 Pm so she was able to get up when the alarm went off and scooped up Kristina who had recently gone to bed. I hear that the children finally crashed and burned around 6:30 am and at 7 am Earlene and Heather found the loudest noise making bell they could find and gleefully brought the children back to consiousness. LOL... Its too bad I wimped out and was not around to tape that episode of bringing the dead back to life. LOL

This morning after Kristina arrived home and passed out in her own bed we lounged around and were totally worthless for a few hours. I had to almost trick Katy into getting out of the recliner so that we could get on with our day. We picked up the station wagon and brought it home to rest for a spell and then we had a spot of breakfast and then launched ourselves in the direction of some car dealerships. We chose to go to Ashley Preferred where someone told us that they had recently been able to obtain a car loan even though they did not have great credit. I figured, hey, if they can get a newer car with their credit then maybe there is hope for us. Basically, we found out that no matter what our credit is if we have the right amount of cash to put down for a down payment anyone will finance us. To make a long story short we filled out the credit application and it will be submitted to the finance companies via fax tonight and then by Monday afternoon I should be getting a call telling me who accepted us and how much moola they want to put us into a car.

Now, at 6:07 Pm I am once again sitting in my comfy computer chair banging on the keyboard eating a fruit pie and some coffee. Yummy yummy for the tummy. I am glad that I went out earlier this afternoon when we got back and rode my bike for about 3 miles. My leg muscles are telling me all about it. Whew.... That is NOT the only thing hurting but that is a story for another time... :)

Time to retire

I got the Cadillac out of the shop today for the second time this month. The car required a tune up. Apparently the spark plugs got wet and that is why it would not start. I was told by the mechanics that the car is OLD, OLD, OLD and that there are too many things wrong with it at this point to keep pumping money into it. Sigh.... Well, it does have over 218000 miles so I guess it is getting close to the time for me to sell it and move on. NO more repair bills. Repeat after me, NO MORE repair bills. LOL...

It appears that there are 4 or 5 motor mounts that need replacing and because it is a Cadillac they are liquid filled motor mounts therefore the cost of those are around 85.00 apiece plus the labor to put them in. Once that is fixed then they will be willing to replace all the hoses and fix all the oil leaks. What happens is that the engine is moving around more than it normally would with the proper motor mounts and this movement is causing tension on all the hoses etc and causing them to have holes and leak or just come loose all together.

Katy's car is still on blocks waiting for the funds to fix it. Where the heck is that money tree that I used to have behind the house anyway? Honey, someone stole the money tree. We need to put out an all points bulletin on that sucker and get it back ASAP....

My pastor was kind enough to loan us his 93 Ford Escort Station Wagon which happens to be for sale. :) I think that Katy has her heart set on it. Poor dear, Katy needs a car that wont break down nor cost us an arm and a leg for gasoline. We will either fix her 83 Chevy Station wagon or I will sell it and put that money towards a different vehicle. Stay tuned for further updates to this car maintenance nightmare we have been sucked into. LOL..

Car repairs are us

Here I sit waiting once again for Spivey's wrecker service. The Cadillac is dead and Katy's Chevy needs the brakes repaired. The pads are probably worn down to nothing and the rotors are probably deeply grooved. That means new rotors and pads. So much for having a few extra dollars to last us until next payday. How am I going to pay for two car repairs? LOL... God knows we need a miracle. Maybe he will bless us with the fact that the car repairs are not going to be as much as I am afraid that they will be. It looks like I might even have to miss a day at work over this whole mess which is not a good thing. We can not afford to miss one single day from work. One thing at a time though, got to get the cars to the shop and find out what is what. No sense in pushing the panic button until they tell me the repair is more than I have to spend. LOL... Like I ever have money for car repairs.... It is like the old saying, you either pay for the vehicle in payments or in repairs to keep them running. Go figure.....