Went to the Como Zoo this morning and looked at a bunch of caged-up animals. I feel bad sometimes walking around looking at them and then saying “poor tiger” or “poor birds.” But in actuality, this zoo gave most animals a lot more room than I’ve seen in other zoos… Omaha in particular. Actually, Omaha is the only other zoo I can recall… but they seemed to have very large open areas for small numbers of animals.

Then the plan was to go to the Science Museum. We found a place to park and then attempted, in vain, to find a cheap place to eat. Ended up going to the “St. Paul Grill.” They did have a couple things under $10…. burgers. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, and we were told later of a couple better/cheaper places to eat. But the burgers were good, even if we felt underdressed in such a ritzy place!

The science museum was ok. I wouldn’t say stellar, but there were a bunch of interactive exhibits that we got to play with. My engineering desire to play with toys came in a few times. And I taught Amanda a thing or two about calculus and slow pendulums. 😉 Electricity too… something about resistors and capacitors. Like I said… it was okay, but we might have enjoyed it a little more if we were younger or had kids with us.

Back home, we treated our hosts to TGIFridays, and then Amanda and Julianne beat Michael and me three times in Sequence. 🙁 I still think they were hiding jacks up their sleeves!

Tootsie rolls must be making a killing this year, as the majority of candy obtained at the parade was regular, chocolate tootsie rolls. But we got a bunch. Mom and Dad were feeling self concious because people kept dropping candy at their feet. We did pull in a bunch, despite an over-zealous mother next to us. More often than once she sent one of her kids to the other side of the road or up to a passed float to get “more stuff.” From pencils, to balls, to shirts. Only a couple of times did she grab something in front of us that I was reaching for. Meh.

Then we were invited to grill out at my sister’s in Waterloo. We missed the Waverly fireworks, but Amanda and I had already seen plenty this year. Actually… on the way home, we saw at least 3 different fireworks displays on the road. Kindof interesting… couldn’t decide what was so special about July 17, but it was fun to see flashing lights in the sky.

The first half of my day was spent trying to mount my inverter under the hood of my car. There is practically NO space under a Ford hood for something that big. Plus we didn’t have enough ramps to get under the car and find a way through the firewall. So it’s back under the dash and wired up to a switch. My computer speakers (for the mp3 player) are plugged in directly, and I also have 2 AC outlets in the front of my dash now. And no more random cables hanging out of the ashtray compartment.

Then, as I’m waiting for Amanda to get here, she calls and, almost cheerfully, though it was probably more mild shock/hysteria, tells me that she hit a deer. Thankfully, she was fine, save for a couple tiny cuts on her lip and face. I sped down to Independence to pick her up from the hospital and get the rest of the things from her car. Wow. The front windshield is almost IN the driver’s area, and there’s glass and deer hair all over the car. Of course, I, Mr. Cammera Addict Wannabe, didn’t have my camera, but hopefully we’ll get some pictures from the body shop. The majority of damage is just two windows and a side mirror. A couple of other dents shouldn’t be too hard to fix. But I’m really glad she’s all right!

As of 5 o’clock this afternoon, I am finally starting my week-and-a-half vacation. Unlike previous summers where I’ve just had a lot of free time, this summer I’ve been working at least 20 hours a week and taking a class. But now I have a full week-off paid from CyRide, and am spending it all with Amanda. First couple of days we’ll be at my parent’s in Waverly. Heritage days is going on this weekend, so there’s at least a parade and fireworks. Next week we’ll be staying with my sister in the twin cities. No definite plans as of yet except for going to Chanhassen dinner theater on Thursday night. Front-and-center two-person table to Annie! I’m sure we’ll hit Valley Fair, the science museum, a zoo, and The Mall too, but we’re planning to “play it by ear.” It will be a nice break from the real world, and some great time spent together. A bit longer than the 2-day weekends we usually get! Hopefully I’ll actually remember to use my camera once in awhile!

So for the first time this summer, Amanda actually came down here for the weekend. Got to show off my surround system.. yay! 🙂 That, along with a projector checked out from ITC, turn my room into a virtual theater…. nice. Anyway, Amanda and I fell into our old habit of eating out way too much, but it was all good food! We also went to the first Ames 4th of July parade in 30-some years. It was interesting, but really long. Like Nick said, there were no bands in it, but it was fun to see some of the sights. Amanda and I picked up about 10 pieces of candy total. Some annoying kids sat down in the street right in front of us 😉 . Guess we’re not considered as young as we wish we were, huh? Then last night we saw the fireworks because I really wanted to take her to fireworks. Granted, we stayed in my car to make a hasty exit (Iowa State Center and RCA traffic gets insane before and after fireworks!), but the fireworks were… meh. Nice. Not terrible, but nothing super-spectacular either.

Can’t remember much else. We went to see Spiderman 2. We took Theresa, Amanda’s sister, and a friend out to Great Plains pizza, though it wasn’t the best Great Plains pizza ever. Amanda thinks it’s funny that two of her sisters also “like” guys who are into computers.

This weekend was definitely filled with movies. Saw Shrek 2 for the second time… didn’t really see anything new except for the end clip in the middle of the credits. Also Around the World in 80 Days was pretty good. We also watched several movies at Amanda’s house and a couple at her sister’s apartment. Finally, I borrowed 6 movies I’d never seen and bought 2 from Blockbuster (wow, Blockbuster is a much nicer place to buy ex-rentals than Hastings: No ugly stickers on the discs, and a lifetime guarantee), so I should be set for… at least the next couple of days.

Continue reading Weekend: Movies, Cars, and Relationships →

So I’m getting my oil changed in Dyersville (First time I’ve had some place do it), and we found a library! Yay for feeding my computer addiction! Plans for the rest of the day: Pizza with the rest of the family, then Shrek 2 for Becca’s birthday.

I think I’ll enjoy the half hour of peace and quiet I get now….