Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Tired and Cold

Ah, the end of January. We think we are going to do so much when the New Year begins and then it turns out to be tooo cold to even think of doing anything.

Ok, so the beginning of the month wasn't too bad, but it certainly has moved it's way to the 'Oh my it's cold", and it will get worse this coming weekend.

I think I have some more auto show pictures... But that was so last month now.

Work, lots of work...
Took the training class to be able to give the classes to the people who buy our cameras. WAY too easy... But then that is me... Trying to go watch someone teach the classes this weekend.

Some other stuff has been going on, people meeting here and there, and I just haven't felt up to going - or I am stuck working.
So, I apoligize to those who thought they would see me this month. Too much work in December spilled the illnesses that everyone had over break to us in January.... The whole store was basically sick.... Joy

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Autoshow day 4

Here is another car from the Auto Show.
I think this one was in the GM area.
Ok, bad name on this one - EFIJY - Yup that is one weird name.
Tom liked that the dash had the same paint job as the out side of the car. Obviously that is not an easy thing to do.
We liked the shape and the tires were cool, but getting them on and off the car would have to be a pain in the but.
Oh yeah, did you notice, wheel on the wrong side, some crazy from Europe designed it.
Ok, so that was a nice car to look at with horrible lighting around it. I wasn't the only one struggling to get that shot.


Then we looked at some normal cars. Ok, it is still a convertable and probably a pre-production car, but here is the 9 3 convertible from Saab. Could not touch this car, so it is probably a prototype also.

Have a great day.


PS - Piggie news. If you haven't heard, Tuesday night Winslow ripped a toenail off his front left foot. I had a bit of a wig out - but I properly took care of him. He is recovering nicely. I took him to the vet today and they were more worried about his labored breathing than his toe.
He is back on a few anitbiotics and I hope it makes him feel better. I know he is sick of medication.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Sorry, been sick - more Auto show

Day 3 of Auto Show pictures. Sorry I was sick and then yesterday (Monday) we had no power in the house from 6:30am until about 4 pm. Thank goodness I keep the basement warmer than the rest of the house, the piggies seemed to survive just fine.

Ok, the first car on the list today is the SMART CAR. Yes, the scary little two seater from Europe that you hear about getting stuck in the grill of a bus.
Actually the car sits up much higher than I expected. It is not quite as tall as sitting in a minivan, but you do not sit DOWN in the car. It keeps you at almost standing height, more like getting into a chair and not a car.

Anyway, it is adorable, starts about $15,000 and the biggest use they think there will be is people with Busses or huge RV's who need to drag a little car with them. No more Jeeps, you just open the back of the bus and drive the smart car up into a tiny space just for them.
I would not recommend them for Highway driving. Just not a good idea. Someone also said, no on Woodward, Hmm - I don't think Woodward is that bad. Parts of Telegraph are much worse than Woodward.

Anyway, that is the SMART CAR.
The last picture is of the Scion line up. I liked the wall of cars. We were looking for a couple specific cars and forgot to stop and take a look at the Scions. It didn't connect to me that it wasn't just a pumped up display of car Art, it was their lineup. They had a few on the ground, but I didn't get to look at any of them. Guess I might go back on Thursday.


Friday, January 12, 2007

Auto Show Day 2 of Pictures.

My last post was eaten by the evil Blog gods...
Anyway, here are some more pictures from the auto show.

These are pictures of what the Sebring looks like with the top down.
I like the look, yes that is one car. I hate silver it always looks funny. The show opens to the public on Saturday...

The second car that I have today is called a Maybach. I had never heard of one before Tom had been to the Auto Show in Los Angeles. They only had one at the Detroit show, as we don't have as many celebrities that want to be chauffeured around all the time. People in Detroit want to drive their own cars. Although I hear it is as cool to drive as it is to ride around in.
The car is about as long as a F150 truck. It has really awesome back seats. They fold out like first class airline chairs. There are LCD screens on the back of both front seats and probably separate cconnections for each. There are tray tables that fold out and lots of room for drinks in probably cooled holders between the seats.

Also the back door is probably 8 inches longer than the front door, making it really easy to get in and out of the car. Sorry, no price listed on that one...


Last but not least today. A picture of me sitting in a Mini. We did a test drive of them a week ago and really enjoyed ourselves. But I don't think we can afford one this year.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Auto Show

Hello and welcome to Detroit International Auto show. Yes, I got to hit the preview.....
Tom picked up tickets and we went for the afternoon yesterday.

Here is the car that Tom has been working on for over a year. Karmann makes the convertable hard top that is on this car. Since the Auto show is not open to the public yet, the models are not there to talk about the cars or show how they work.

Some of the other companies had people there, for some reason we did not see anyone from Chrysler hanging about to talk about the cars.
Tom talked to a couple people about the car. We ran into a couple guys who work at Karmann, one is a paintball buddie. So they spent their day wandering around taking measurements and all kinds of notes on the different cars.

I hate to say it, but I was dissapointed in Ford. They had no notes on gas milage or even price on any of the cars.
Over the next week I'll share a car or two a day. I got some decent pictures. I need some more practice on using my new flash.... Enjoy..

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS to me....

FINALLY-

My present from Tom arrived in the mail last night.

Nikon SB800 flash....... OH YEAH...

HAPPY NEW YEAR....

Ok, so I am finally getting around to posting everything......
Got a couple pictures.

New Years Eve was even more insane here than ever.

Got up in the morning, cleaned the piggie cage.
I got ready and worked most of the afternoon.

While I was at work, Tom ran to the grocery store to pick up the wine that eveyone ordered. (Oh dang, I have a check to cash.)

Once I got home we delievered the wine in the RAIN. Oh what rain. So, yeah, we saw Carrie for a hot second and then drove to TOLEDO in the rain.

Got to the place about a 1/2 hour late. Mike's phone had no service and we were sort of lost.

I drove on guessing that my instincts would take over and they did.

The Food was ok, not great, the drinks were good and the band was very entertaining.

Actually they really enjoy what they do and overall they sound good. Need to go work on their sound for them. I don't know that I am up for that. It would be cool if I could get my friend Nick or even Kurt Thoma to drop by a show and fix the sound....

Anyway, here are the pictures.

On the way home, the weather was much better. There was an insane game of Trivial pursuit going on at Carrie's house, so we drove over there.

Even with Tom and My help it still took till 2am to get the game done.
Hope all of you had a great and safe New Year's Eve and a very Happy New Year.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Merry Christmas

Yes, I'm late.

I worked a lot of hours the week before Christmas. Let's just say it was finally a nice check for too much work.

This year, like others we spent Christmas eve (after I got off work) traveling to my aunts house in Lincoln Park. This is Aunt Pat and my cousing Joe.
Then we drove to Monroe to visit Kathy and the 4-H crowd. It was a lovely evening. Especially since Raymond flew in from Germany without telling Kathy that he was coming. It was funny, they managed not to tell my mother also.

Here are a few pictures from the evening. Kimmy is now dating a guy that was in my class at SMCC- Eric. Um yeah, you figure out the age difference. Ok, it's not tooo bad..





Raymond had found the whip that used to be the beating stick when he and Trina were young. He carried it around all night. I have some rather incriminating photos of Eric, but I thought would be nice and not quite post them here. I will find another way to share with those who were at the party. Then they can share them with others....

Then Christmas day, we started at Mom's house. She made all kinds of breakfast food and my Aunt Cathy came over. It was great to see her.

I got Tom some slippers, he wears size 13. Everyone was trying them on. So he tried on Mom's shoes. Now that was funny.


I got some more cool ornaments for the tree, more in the blue and silver vein and then Tom got me a couple of kitchen things. Mom is getting me some storage for the kitchen...
The afternoon and evening was spent at Tom's parents.
They added a lot of Ostrich feathers. It was really cool. No they didn't kill a bird. Friends of their's have birds and they shed them.
We also found a horrid hat for Uncle Tom.
On Wednesday, Schawna and Mike made their way over to our house. We haven't seen them for probably a year and 1/2. Last year we just didn't connect and this past summer they did not make it to Michigan. Everyone was going to Alaska to see them.
So, we sat around and played with Piggies. Then we made lunch, venison- hmm did I mention we had someone bag us a deer this year??? Anyway - then we took them out back to shoot up the trees. Yup, have to share the paintball guns with everyone. Now we are out of paint and air.
I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, or what ever holiday you celebrate there...
New Years is next..... Sure I'll get to it...

Casino Royale

Sorry, been working too many hours.

For those James Bond die hard fans. I have to tell you this was a really good movie.
I wasn't sure I was happy about changing out James again, as you know I ADORE Pierce Bronson.
The new guy - I should really learn his name - is HOT. Not that oh he is sooo cute and soo British that just looking at him makes me crazy. He is the "OH MY GOD" when you get some clothes off of him Hot. They have a nude scene, ok you don't see any equipment, but oh does he have some awsome bicycle rider thighs....

Overall, the story line was good. It wasn't an easy give away and they did a good job of moving the world forward, but keeping the essence of Bond alive.

It was the new beginning for Bond. Sort of the first big job that he took on. So we see the birth of a 007 agent. I liked it and so did Tom, sooooo go see it.
Althougth you might have to wait for DVD now.