And now, the last 17 days of my life:

Ah yes, the first day of vacation. The plan? Kicking it in the Hamptons with Walter and "Sally." "Sally" couldn't drive out early in the day, so Walter and I drove out in my car. One block from Walter's house, A cloud of smoke poured from my engine. My radiator burst. Lucky it happened in the city and in the daytime. Walter came through for me, he found a garage close by. I was content on just standing there until someone picked me up, ha ha.

Bob's all smiles (this photo
was taken BEFORE the $812 bill)

This isn't my first radiator problem (in life), so I had a ballpark figure in my mind. I needed a few more things so that added to the bill. Anyway, about four hours later...Walter and I were on the road. Whew! What a crazy Fing day.

Day two; I woke up in the Hamptons, that's right, the Hamptons, you know, playground to the rich and famous? Anyway, it was a little too cloudy for a beach day. Instead, we just watched Live 8 and had a lovely lunch. We picked up Tom at the train station, and now we're four. The more the merrier. Fireworks tonight! Oh yeah, speaking of Live 8, did you see R.E.M.?

W.T.F.?

Day three! I can get used to this Hamptons lifestyle. Turns out, I'm really good at sleeping in and relaxing, ha ha. The fireworks last night were pretty good. We had a nice dinner afterwards. I had a salad with chicken. The chicken was very moist -- I wish I could cook a bird that well. Today, we went to the beach!

Sweet living!

After the beach, we had some Mexican food. I had a sausage quesadilla. Finally, a new use for sausage! I haven't been this excited since 'links' came out, ha ha. We had a BBQ later that night -- I just had a great time out there. I'm lucky to have such nice friends.

Day four. All things must come to an end. I was reminded of that when I left Monday morning. I could have stayed longer but I felt like I'd be pushing it as far as my cats were concerned. I got back to Hoboken around 1 PM and relaxed. Remember when I went to the beach? This is what they don't tell you about:

Sunburn

Wait a second, they do tell you about that, oops. I used spray-on sunblock. Now, I just thought you just sprayed it on, hence the name. But according to the burns in that photo, I should have sprayed and rubbed. Spray & Rub...sounds like the last dirty movie I saw...Ha ha...("Ewwwwww, Bob, you're gross!") Live and learn.

The plan was to drive back to Ohio when the sun went down. My car has no AC. I thought about it and decided against it. I must avoid traffic at all cost. I did go to the auto parts store to buy some AC coolant. I hooked everything up and then it hit me, I don't know what the hell I'm doing! A $30 mistake. But after spending $812, that's nothing. I'll just drive in the shade, ha ha.

I woke up around 7:30 AM and hit the road! The day after July 4th proved to be a great travel day, I'm glad I waited. On my way out of town I ran into Sal (mechanic) and he told me I bought the wrong kind of coolant, darn! I gave him my unusable (to me) stuff as a gift. Oh man, two days later and the sunburn on my arm is really starting to itch...my skin is freaking out! Anyway, the whole day was overcast, I couldn't have asked for a better day, at least as far as driving with no AC goes. Annoying thing? Well, with the windows down, I could hardly hear my radio. I replaced my rear speakers a while ago but the front ones are factory originals and they're blown. I got back to Ohio, hung out with the nephews/niece and made it a point to replace those speakers that night.


Behind the music

Damn trunk release gave me the most trouble but I finally figured it out. It was worth it, I can hear the music! What's on tap for tomorrow? Who knows.

I woke up around 10 on July 6th. About 10 minutes later, I get a call, "Uncle Bob? Can you come over?" The nephews had some free time so after playing, we headed over to Wendy's for lunch.


Mmmmmm, fast food
{L to R} Jacob, Lucas

We had a good time. I thought it'd be cool to go to a park afterwards and throw the old Frisbee around. We get there and Jacob starts to complain. "This park stinks, I'm no good at Frisbee." This sets me off. I offer to teach him the fine art of Frisbee throwing but he says no. I said, screw this, we drove back, I dropped him off, Lucas and I went back to the park (we had a fun day). I don't like complainers. I shouldn't talk about it but it just pissed me off. We played later in the day and he's really pretty good. I don't get it? Kids are confusing and I have two more weeks of this!

July 7th: the dreaded airport pickup. But, what can you do? My Mom was coming in from Philly (She was visiting her sister), the pickup fell to Jacob (the nephew I had the "problem" with yesterday) and myself. 12:20 the plane was to arrive. It got pushed back to 12:49, not a big deal, I mean, I haven't been to the Pittsburgh airport in years, there must be a ton of stuff to do. Oh yeah, there is but you need a boarding pass to check it out, darn. Anyway, the plane lands at 2:30! I have to say that Jacob was a rock, I give him props for that and now he's off my list. We had Chinese food for dinner. Later, my brother (George) and I went to the local casino to see a friend's band play -- shoutout to Tim! They were great, my brother didn't play the slots...I did and lost, damn.

summertime

Friday the 8th. The plan? George, Lucas, Jacob and myself are going to Benihana for lunch. Holy crap, that's good stuff!

Nick working the grill

We took two cars up because George had to get back to work, I followed him up. He left a little early and then when I left with the kids (we were on our way to see Batman), I wasn't 100% sure where I was going. And what seems to be a revolving story in my life, I got lost. At that point, I had an hour to get to the movie. I called George but he didn't know where I was. I turned around, missed my turn again and just kept driving. I finally started to know where I was. For the longest time, I had some worried nephews on my hands, ha ha! They couldn't have cared less that we were lost, they just thought they'd never get to see Batman, ha ha. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. That was a rough one, 45 minutes lost on those Pittsburgh hills, I'm driving a stick shift, with NO a/c and two kids that I know are pissed at me. Batman was SO great! They finally did it right.

Saturday the 9th. I just kicked it today. Woke up late, helped my brother move a desk and watched a full day of Myth Busters on Discovery. That show is pretty good. I really wanted them to make their jet pack work but sad to say, that myth was busted. Tonight, my Mom and I watched all the kids (4) while my Bro and Liz went to have a nice dinner with friends. 5PM to 12:20 AM -- What the F?! Ha ha, the kids were cool, I'm just not used to 100% energy.

Sunday the 10th. I'm not going to lie about this one: I spent ALL DAY in the local casino (with my Mom and her friend no less). TOTAL waste of time! I'm starting to think that there's no such thing as easy money. I have to say, I sure wish I had the money I lost. Dumb, Dumb, DUMB!

Monday the 11th. Vacation is moving along nicely, thank you. Today, I drove up to Pittsburgh to buy my Mom a cordless phone. Except, it HAS to be the right size and has to have a long battery life. I went to Best Buy, they had 1000 phones. I was looking for about 45 minutes. To put things in perspective, I bought my current car without seeing it or driving it. Anyway, I found the perfect phone! And I think she likes it. The caller ID, talks! How crazy is that? The future is now. On my way back, I picked up some gas and bought a case of Iron City beer to bring back to Hoboken. I like it but the main selling point? The bottles are aluminum! It's like drinking a beer from space! After that, I hung out with the kids. The plan for Monday night? Wings and Madden with my friend Tim. He won one, I won one -- good wings. On my way home, I picked up some ice cream and bought some scratch-off lottery tickets -- I won $50! Hello casino! Just kidding.

Tuesday the 12th. I woke up today at 11. I chilled, I got lunch at Wendy's and I chilled some more. I had dinner at my brother's house. It was very humid today but I still played Frisbee with the kids. TV all night until bed, which for the second night in a row is at 2 AM.

Wednesday the 13th. I watched the kids all day with my Mom. Thank the Lord for The Three Stooges -- that was a much needed afternoon break. Pizza for dinner. Then I went to their house to watch Rudy. That was the first time I saw it all the way through. Very good flick. I may have teared up once or twice -- the kid never gave up!

Thursday, July 14. I asked a mechanic this question today: "If there's a puddle of gas under your car, that's not good, right?" This Fing car is driving me nuts! I'm at the 'I don't know what to do stage.' Do I cut my losses, buy new, buy used or just go without for a while? The mechanic understood my problem of not wanting to put more money into a car that in his words, 'is falling apart.' There's a hole in the floorboard -- you can touch the carpet from under the car. I found a gas tank on Ebay but I just don't know if I want to keep doing this. I took a gamble that I'd buy a '91 and ride it until the wheels fall off but I didn't think it would cost so much. I could have gone the new car route and been ahead of the game. Could have, would have, should have. Speaking of gambling, I went back to the casino tonight -- What am I doing? I quit, I can't do this to myself anymore. Stupid car, stupid me. In other news, my Bro and family went to a water park for a few days and I'm watching their dog.

[L to R] Dog, Bob

I like dogs, they're like big cats except they like to lick and pretend to give a damn.

Friday the 15th. More gas-tank drama. Woke up and went to my brother's crib to let the dog out. When I got back, my Mom and her friend gave me a lead on a garage that could take a look at my ride. I went downtown, long story short, $350/two days. I don't have two days and I'm not sure I want to put more $$$ in it. That $350 was without factoring in the rusty fuel lines, if they break off, mo' money, mo' money, mo' money! The nice mechanic told me I should be OK driving back but he wouldn't park it on the street. I talked to four mechanics on this trip! Other things today? The car stuff just wore me out, I went back to my brother's house and played Batman Begins on x-box. Great game! I think I'm close to solving it -- I should be after six hours of playing, ha ha. I didn't take a shower today until 11:30 PM, that's a new one. Vacation is coming to an end, I must do something tomorrow...A haircut perhaps?

Saturday the 16th. Didn't do a whole lot, just had a lovely dinner with my Mom. My brother and family got back today and they had a great time. I played a little more of that Batman Begins game but I had to stop, it was making me crazy. I hit the road tomorrow. I have to say, I'm a little nervous. If I do happen to blow up, I hope all the people in my life know that I love them. And I'd hope that some kind of college fund would be set up for my nephews/niece, well, everyone excpet for Max (the smallest Borden), he'll probably be picking up a trade, ha ha. Prove me wrong buddy. OK, back to Hoboken.

Sunday the 17th. I'm back in Hoboken -- I made it...WE made it, can I get a witness?! My car did great, once I got rolling, I realized how silly the idea of my gas tank exploding really was. But it was always on my mind, I made sure to park far away from other cars/people. As far as the road goes, it was a rough one. Hot and sticky all day. Then, about 266 miles into my journey:


RAIN

It was the crazy type of rain, I couldn't see anything, so I pulled over until it passed. I didn't use to do that, I just kept going like an idiot, now I'd just rather wait. Huge rain hit me again as I was driving into NJ. I think I stopped a total of 6 times on this trip, a record for me. I even chilled on park table for a while. Crazy hot/humid. Over 400 miles with my windows down.

Could this have been my last trip in my Mazda? Only time will tell. (Sweet Lord, I hope so! Ha ha!)

So, that's it! Have a great day.

Always,

Bob