Road Trip

[][1]100k miles, again. I’ve owned a few Ford trucks. For a long time, I was very brand loyal to Ford– but that’s another story. This story is about my ass sitting behind the wheel for 100,000 miles, again. It may be the first time that this truck hit the 100k mark… but it’s not mine. 🙁 The first car I took past 100k was my 86′ Toyota Celica. Got that car used in 1990 (30k miles) and drove it until the axle disintegrated around 150k. I bought my Ford Ranger new off the lot in ’96. At 150k, I traded her in towards the Expedition I’m driving now. Bubba was a good ride… protected me when I got hit by a Greyhound bus, and Forrest just loved sticking his head out the rear window. ...

Spirit Airlines drank some Kool Aid and decided to charge passengers for carry-on bags that do not fit under the seat. The fee will only apply to bags placed in the overhead bin. “Bring less; pay less. It’s simple,” Spirit’s Chief Operating Officer Ken McKenzie said in a statement. (Which by the way beats their first attempt at the slogan: Bring less, pay less, fuck you.) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, although this time I’ll say it differently. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved everything about flying. After taking someone to the airport, my family would walk to the window and we’d watch (from the gate) as our loved one’s plane taxied out to the runway and would stay until we saw that plane leave the ground and take off into the sky. When I’d actually get to fly, I looked forward to it. I’d pick out a good magazine, try to get a pillow, and look forward to some pretzels and a nice drink. ...

[][1]Curb Appeal? Not so much. Thanksgiving 2009 involved family, a road trip, and lots of yard work. Although Yeni and I made yet another trip to Florida, we sadly did not get the opportunity to visit all our friends and family “on the list.” While traveling to sunny Fort Lauderdale, we took a pit-stop in Gainesville and checked out the house. The condition shocked us. It looked absolutely horrible and had what could only be described as negative curb appeal. We headed down to SoFla and knew we had to return and get down to business on some serious yardwork. Borrowing a chainsaw from the old man, we quickly got to work on the thickest of foliage decorating the house. ...

[][1]My girl (with my grandmas rolling pin) It’s that time of the year again… the time where Fred decides to: Talk about himself in the third person Change the website design Look forward to Thanksgiving Digress Well, we all know that #3 and #4 happen all year long. Man I love some Thanksgiving. (uh oh, looks like I’m talking in the first person again) So what’s been happening? We recently purchased a Kitchen-Aid mixer; sadly, something Yeni and I always wanted. Well, maybe not so sad I guess. I mean we both love to cook and she’s been cooking up a storm. We’re talking homemade cannoli, homemade cakes with fondant, and did I mention everything is 100% homemade from scratch? I’ve only used the mixer a couple of times to make bread, but it really does keep with our theme: Dreams come true. Even the small dream of owning a Kitchen Aid mixer can come true. (pictures) Of course, all of these homemade amazing yummies isn’t helping me lose weight, but did I mention homemade cannoli? I mean Yeni is my dream girl already, but who knew she could make homemade cannoli?? ...

[][1]Baby Forrest and Thin Fred Ah… getting older. I’ve noticed that as I have aged, the hair line recedes and the gut expands. Not truly the look I dreamed about as I pictured myself approaching forty, but the look I’ve achieved nonetheless. Speaking of forty… Jimmy Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty” remains one of my all time favorite songs. I don’t know why, but for more than 20 years I just have simply loved that song. The thought of now being closer to 40 than 30 brings a different appreciation of the song… and well… just is simply an odd feeling. Anyway, as usual I digress… So, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve well… I’ve become more rotund. I’ve posted and written about it many times. Hell, I even have a website called Fat Freddy Says. But the reality remains, that I’m bigger than I want to be and it’s not my coat that makes me look fat. The other month, Yeni and I bought a ...

To celebrate my youngest cousin’s high school graduation, Yeni and I headed to Albany to join the celebration. Instead of flying, we packed very lightly and took the Harley 650 miles east from Ann Arbor to Albany, mostly following I-90 (we were going to go through Canada, but that’s a different story). The trip to Albany was amazing and covered parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cities included Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany. Normally, when traveling on the Interstate, you really don’t get to see much, and with this trip, we set that as our expectation. Gladly, we were wrong. I had never been West of Albany (yes, I’m one of those type of New Yorker’s) and ...

[][1]More pics... Yeni and I just got back from a quick trip to Chicago… visiting her brother as well as celebrating our first month of married life. 🙂 It was a short drive (few hours) from Michigan to Chicago, and figuring the parking in Chicago would be interesting, we chose to take the Versa instead of the Expedition. Although, if we hadn’t have needed the trunk space, taking the Harley would have been much more fun....

I’m still in Florida, but headed back to Michigan on Wednesday. I’ve been enjoying the warm weather, although it was 98 degrees yesterday in North Florida… much, much higher than Ann Arbor. Anyway, this last weekend I: Celebrated mom’s birthday with my family (including my sister and our spouses) Had an AMAZING meal at Joe’s Stone Crabs (but, when do you not?) Celebrated Mother’s day with the family Worked a little in Boca Raton, FL Enjoyed a nice afternoon on the beach with my wife....

[][1]Remember when flying was fun? As a boy, I loved going to the airport. I remember being fascinated by the TWA terminal at JFK, awed by the escalator down from LAX, and excited to see the ocean immediately after take off from Fort Lauderdale. Airports also meant seeing family, visiting new places, and let’s not forget all the cool planes. I associated air travel with very positive emotions. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Detroit… Today’s world finds me loathing any experience with airports, airlines, or at this point just air travel. For the third time in a year, US Airways cancelled my flight. I like numbers, so let’s look at it this way… I’ve taken 3 trips on US Airways since April 2008. Each of the three have had a cancelled flight, and, two of the three delayed overnight; requiring a hotel stay. So, in percentage… 100% of trips on US Airways have a cancelled flight and 67% delay arrival by a day or more. ...

Yes, thank you. Our speed matches the temperature which is 29 degrees, lots of snow and lots of trucks. We are 40 miles south of Toledo.