2004

Jul122004

Removing the Headliner and Assembling Treatment Tables

This morning I finally got around to a project I had been thinking about for quite some time. The foam in the headliner had disintegrated as it's about 20 years old and the cloth was falling down, which is quite a nuisance. I spent about four hours on the car today. First I had to cover the interior to make cleanup a job within reason, then remove the cloth headliner, and of course, remove all of the disintegrated foam glued to the ceiling of the car. I used a plastic canister vacuum attachment to remove most of the foam, and then used a steel brush for the rest. It was quite a messy job, exacerbated by the sweltering heat outside, but it needed to be done and I'm glad I did. After all the scraping and such I removed the sheets and other coverings and vacuumed the inside of the car. It looks rather nice now, with the exception of the rather ugly ceiling. I intend to have the headliner replaced before long. After that I washed the car. Not long after cleaning up I went with my dad to the west bank office to rearrange some furniture and things to convert some storage areas into a small office. We were there for a couple hours moving bookshelves, filing cabinets and such. We also assembled a couple of treatment tables. Later in the evening I made pork chop casserole for dinner and started watching “Gallipoli.”

Comments Off

Jul112004

Sunday

I don't think anything happened today. I remember church though.

Comments Off

Jul102004

Out of the House

Thankfully, I spent most of the day out of the house with Bianca and Toni. We left around 11. Bianca wanted to show us a rock and gem shop in the Quarter and we hung around there for a while. It was a neat little place with lots of interesting stuff, but nothing that I could imagine serving much practical purpose so I didn't buy anything. After leaving there I suggested we walk down Royal St. so I could deposit my check. It tool a little while to get to the bank, but it was closed and I could use the ATM so we just walked back to St. Philip St. and back to the car. We drove a rather short distance to a McDonalds on Canal St. and ate there. After eating we drove back across the river with the intention of seeing a movie. We had over an hour to kill so we wandered Best Buy for a while. I got my first look at the Sony F828, which I've been reading about for quite some time now. After hanging around there we stopped in B&N so Bianca could buy a trashy romance novel. After that we made our way to the theater. They hadn't seen Spiderman 2 yet so we say that. Toni had some trouble with a voucher and we got in later than I might have liked. The show was crowded but we still got decent center seats. I can't say seeing the movie twice made it seem any better. On the way home from the movies Toni mentioned a broken computer at her house and I volunteered to look at it so we went over to her house. After a short while we decided a format was the best option, since there was no valuable data on the PC anyway. I needed a copy of Windows 98 among other things so she dropped me at my house for a few minutes to gather some things. While I was doing that they went to Bianca's house to get some school work so she could hang around with us while she pretended to study. After getting back to Toni's place I started work. We were there for a few hours talking and whatnot. I was back home at about quarter of 11.

Comments Off

Jul102004

Waiting for Friday

Again, I havn't posted during the week as there hasn't been anything to speak of. I had the 2nd conversation in as many months with Shani that ended with her yelling profanities. I went to work with my dad today, some reports needed to be done. I watched “The Grapes of Wrath” this evening.

Comments Off

Jul052004

4th of July

Today was a rather quiet fourth of July. I was only out of the house for Church. I talked to Khadijah and Ami on the phone in the evening.

Comments Off

Jul042004

Visiting Grandma

Not too much went on today. We went to visit my grandmother at the hospital who is recovering rather well from a triple bypass surgury. THings were quiet atthe house in the evening as my parents went out.

Comments Off

Jul032004

A Week of No Consequence

I've neglected to log again this week as there has really been nothing to speak of. I've been at home and havn't been doing much. I was concerned about my TOPS award this week but I spoke with someone and I can sleep now. I spoke with Jessica this week. I learned that she did not recieve my letter, which is somewhat upsetting since it was probably withheld by her parents. I went to work with my dad this Friday. Over the course of the day I got a few reports done. Late this evening I saw Spiderman 2 with my family. We got there early and there was already a sizable line. I wasn't expecting anything like that a few days after opening. Anyway, the movie was rather good, almost as good as everyone is saying it is.

Comments Off

Jun262004

A Little Bit of Work

I went to work with my dad this afternoon. On the way we saw and heard about a sizable explosion in Chalmette. A train collided with a fully loaded gasoline tanker. Over the course of the day I got some reports done. My parents went to visit my grandmother this evening and I watched an older movie called “The Apartment.”

Comments Off

Jun252004

To NORCO and Back

I took the bus to Delgado this afternoon. Before my driving lesson I had time for lunch. I went to Subway again. To my surprise the manager remembered my screwed up order yesterday and I got a free sub. For today's little excursion, we took Jefferson Highway and the River Road all the way out to NORCO refinery and back along I-10. I suppose the last three days have been successful as I haven’t hit anything. The instructor frequently reminded me about my speed, which he said was often too fast. I suspect that wouldn't have been much of an issue if I would have had a working speedometer to look at. The class this evening was just book work. Afterwards, I went to Jessica's church thinking I might see her there, but no such luck. Perhaps the pouring rain had something to do with it. When I got home, I found that my grandmother had made it through her triple bypass surgery.

Comments Off

Jun242004

To Chalmette and Back

Today was the 2nd of three driving sessions for class. Today we drove out to Chalmette and back, mostly highways of diffrent widths and some city streets. It rained some of the time, which was more unnerving than any narrow bridge. We stopped for a little bit to try parking, not exactly a high point of the day. The class afterwards consisted of almost two hours of old videos, mostly about poor driving conditions.

Comments Off

Jun232004

Driving for Driver's Ed.

After getting up this morning I started dinner, we had slow-cooked spaghetti tonight. Today was my first day actually driving for my driver's Ed class. I wasn't nervous like I thought I'd be, maybe because I was preoccupied leading up to it. We ended up driving over the river and down the length of the westbank expressway through Marrero. We then crossed the Huey P. Long bridge, which I suppose could have been worse. After making it back to the eastbank there was some rather slow traffic getting to Airline Drive, then to Metairie Road and back to Delgado for class. Overall, I thought I did rather well. As for the actual class, we spend the whole time in relative silence with book work. I found out this evening that my grandmother on my dad's side has a heart blockage problem and will undergo a triple bypass surgery this Thursday. One can only hope for the best.

Comments Off

Jun202004

11th Hour Crawfish Boil

After church we went to visit my Aunt, Uncle, and Grandmother in Metairie. Uncle Larry had a crawfish boil, odd only because crawfish aren't quite in season anymore, they were rather good anyway. While there we went to visit some other family who live a few houses down. Later in the evening we went to tour the USS Razorback, a WWII era submarine. We were too late for a tour, but ended up hanging around to watch a cruise ship depart, a rather unusual means of amusement. Later in the evening I submitted a renewal FAFSA form and watched “Office Space.”

Comments Off

Jun192004

Better Days Easily Recalled

After getting home last night the Internet was down. Later in the day we found it was because the service had been canceled due to a filesharing complaint. Suffice it to say my dad was none too pleased and I no longer have internet access on my computer. So once again I have a $100 paperweight on my floor. As yet I am unsure how severely this will hamper my efforts to maintain this log as well as my many other Internet endeavors. I suspect I'll manage. This evening I watched “Rebecca.”

Comments Off

Jun182004

After 13 Months, We Get Four Hours

Earlier in the week I received an automated phone call informing me that my high school yearbook for last school year was finally in, a year late I might add. Anyway, this morning was pickup day so I went and picked up four copies for me and some friends, two of which no longer live here so I'll be shipping them. After that painless stop, I went to work with my dad for a while. There wasn't much to do aside from some filing. Dad dropped me off for school around two, giving me a couple hours before class. Driving Instruction is supposed to me Monday through Thursday but we had to make up a day or some such BS so there I was. The school is closed that day so it was much harder to amuse myself. I found an unlocked door and sat in the air-conditioning for an hour or so and browsed my fresh yearbook. It really isn't an impressive publication, but my low expectations prevented disappointment. Class started close enough to on-time. There were a couple of substitute teachers today. The one who spoke the first half of the class had a comical and equally stupid voice that almost had the class in tears. We just sat around and poked at some tests the other half. A few of the other students were interested in the yearbook so that was passed around. After class I went down to Canal Street to meet Bianca and Toni for the evening. I met them at McDonalds, where we ate and talked for a bit before leaving. We walked down to Decatur Street as Bianca wanted to how us some shop, but it started raining before we reached it so we ducked into the Jax Brewery, where we stayed for quite some time. We stopped in a few of the shops, and later had a seat to wait out the rain. After the rain stopped we left and walked down towards the French Market and then cut across to Bourbon Street and walked the length of it back to Canal, only stopping for some jewelry store. We eventually made it back to the car and decided to see a movie. We crossed the river and made our way to the theater. I convinced them to see “The Terminal,” even though Bianca wanted to see “Day After…” …again. “The Terminal” was very amusing and entertaining. Tom Hanks had a good performance as usual. We went home after the movie. I think I talked to Khadijah after I got home but I can't quite remember.

Comments Off

2004

Recent Posts: