Driving stick.

Well, I have recently learned to drive stick. I went to see my sister a few weeks ago and Tim wanted me to take the Fit because it gets better gas mileage. I had taken the Fit out a couple of times this year in the MCC parking lot. When I first drove home I was freaking out because all of the sudden there were other cars around me.. aaand there were hills. So, I took a break for a couple of months, and then quickly needed to learn for my Allison visit.

I was doing ok the first couple of days driving to work and having Tim coach me through everything. However, on my third day, my boss needed me to drive both of us to a meeting about 15 minutes from the office. What a disaster. I was pressing the clutch and letting off the gas pretty much the whole time. It was horribly embarrassing as we bumped down the road and stalled about 20 times, no joke. We did make it there and back, but she has since to suggest I drive anywhere. We were laughing, which helped, but boy, what a failure. I did not drive the next day, I refused.

Well, needless to say, I did get the hang of it by that Friday, drove all the way to Philly by myself, and the only time I stalled was in bumper to bumper traffic, which was no biggie. I am now an accomplished stick driver, only stalling when I have a brain fart and forget to turn the car off before letting off the clutch. Do I enjoy driving stick? Heck no. I don't want to have to think so much when I drive. Currently, I am trying to learn how to not use the clutch while coasting to a stop. Good luck to me.

Meant to be a rock star

I have found a new calling in life. Thanks to a going away party for one of my coworkers, I have discovered Rock Band, and more importantly, I have discovered a passion for drumming. It's only a matter of time before I get my own set.. OK, not really, but I do think this game is awesome.

I have always been avert to having a lifestyle centered around video games (now that I have a house anyway), but I have come to justify this one game. It's not your typical multi-player game where everyone is sucked into mindlessly shooting their way through various levels, but it is centered around people's desires to rock like the musicians they've come to love, play in awesome bands, and with their friends nonetheless. I may be trying to over justify this video game.. but I think it gives people a confidence (though it may be unfounded..) they might not have outside their home, and it doesn't require the dedication to really learn how to read music and play an instrument. OK, so maybe I've revealed a character flaw in my lack of patience and steadfastness, but you can't just pick up instruments and play with your everyday friends - but with Rock Band, you can. It is a chance to channel your inner rock star and allow all those shower singing and air guitar moments to come to life where you can really shine! Well, maybe not in real life, but according to the Rock Band rating system, you're a Top Performer! Hey, and that may be all you need.. it works for me.

All joking aside, it is a great group activity that allows people to open up quickly because it's not just a video game, it truly is an experience you can say you've shared. We've had a great time cutting up with friends and pretending like we're rock stars. I'd say it was at their houses, but no, we are now proud Rock Band owners :)

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle

So, tonight something moderately interesting happened. Ok, so it was very interesting and really cool.

One of our neighbors works for a local GM R&D facility. He specifically works on hydrogen fuel cells. Well tonight he comes driving home in one of the fuel cell vehicles, a modified Equinox I believe, and starts giving test rides to some of the neighbors. I had never met him before but right around 8pm Kat was out working in the flower beds and he comes pulling up in the driveway asking if we'd like to give it a drive...

Uhhh....YES

So first off he shows us what's underneath the hood. Really not much but a big plastic guard over the fuel stack was visible since it's still in development. After he gave us a little overview of his job and the vehicle I hopped in the driver's seat and Katherine hopped in the back (like any good wife should...kidding sweetie!) and we took off. I took it kinda easy cruising around the neighborhood (you know, kids and all), but then we hit one of the main roads and he said, "Go ahead, punch it". So I did. Very impressive. Turns out, and I don't know why I didn't know this, that the vehicle is powered by electric motors and the fuel stack just converts hydrogen to electricity. The electric motor impressed me a lot with its near-silent operation and instant torque. I would definitely love to have a vehicle one day with it, regardless of the fuel source. The whole SUV felt really good and solid too, especially for being a sort of prototype development vehicle. Kudos to GM for putting together the car and for letting us drive it. I'm really interested to see where this whole alternate fuel push ends up.

What does everyone else think? Will a certain technology win out? Will there be a fuel of choice in the future or will it be somewhat of a mix of fuels?

Cleaning house

Well, next week we will have reached one year of home ownership. Is it what I thought? Not at all. It has been more work than I ever thought it would be. I don't know that it is different from renting a house, but we definitely have more pride in the place and try to keep it looking pretty nice, though you probably can't tell:) It's such a fine balance to clean house and enjoy house. When we get home from work, the last thing we want to do is clean, but if we put it off, it always winds up being worse when cleaning time comes. So, with all of the frustration with cleaning house, we have now devised a cleaning schedule. I know it's not for everyone, but I'm hoping it makes things manageable for us. Sorry if I come off as complaining, we are definitely blessed to have a house, we're just working through our first year of home ownership. I welcome any tips:)

Well, here goes...

After looking at John and Corrie's blog, I had to make one for Tim and me too. I've been wanting to create some kind of online journal/photo site to share our lives with our friends and family back in Texas, Pennsylvania, and across the rest of the country. Things may look a little rough and un-user friendly, but between Tim and me, I'm sure we'll figure it out. Feel free to comment on things, we'd love to hear from you:)