Author: Heath

What sad state we’re in. Jess’s Teeth have really been bothering her lately (she has a dentist appointment next week), and apparently two nights ago I slept in such a way as to make my neck reject the rest of my body. It’s completely stiff. I can’t turn my head at all and if I move the wrong way, the back left side completely seizes up and shoots pain throughout me for about a second or so like the Emperor’s force lightning in “Return of the Jedi”. This makes driving quite interesting. You never really realize how much you turn your head until you can’t do it. It also makes sleeping very difficult, and changing positions while sleeping becomes a huge and painful production. My band gig tomorrow should be interesting.
The truck was leaking coolant since we got back from L.A. and after spending $300 to replace the water pump, now the left side of my car stereo’s display no longer works. It appears that I’m listening to “7 FM”. Luckily we’re ordering a Toyota Prius. Wooo!
Despite all this, life is pretty damn good. We’ve both got good jobs where we’re happy and bringing in decent money between us, and can’t really complain in the big scheme of things.
Since I got this job, I’ve been so much more appreciative of everything. I’m constantly thinking about the people I deal with in any given situation. The guy who made my sandwich, the person in the retail shop, the waiter at the restaurant, etc. I know how lucky I am and really appreciate the people who are most likely doing jobs they don’t really want to be doing, as most of the world probably does.
This isn’t any kind of judgment such as “Oh you poor pathetic sandwich shop worker.” It’s more that I really wish everyone could be doing something they truly want to be doing. I want everyone to have full, happy, satisfied lives. Maybe the guy at the sandwich place is genuinely happy. Maybe he likes to make a little money, joke with his co-workers, and go home to play video games or something. If this is the case, then excellent. If this is not the case then I do appreciate the position he’s in and hope he finds something more fulfilling as I have. I always try to see the other side and fully appreciate the people I’m dealing with. I think it’s probably far too common and easy to get wrapped up in our own business, our own lives, and forget about our “fellow man” as it were.
All in all, most of us probably have pretty damn good lives, even if our necks cause us to erupt in violent bursts of profanity due to waves of pain.

As I mentioned, we had a blast. Everyone ruled. One person I failed to mention was Will’s friend Shelby who was also totally cool. I could easily see him as a friend.
I didn’t see one single famous person while I was there. I feel gypped! Next visit I’ll have to actually do the shameless tourist act.
Our plane landed early which was nice because we wanted to make it home in time to get our packages from the office and beat rush hour. Since we had arrived twenty minutes early though, the gate was not yet free so we had to wait around for about 15 minutes until the plane could pull up to the gate. By the time we got our bags and caught the shuttle to where our truck was parked it was now about 5:00. It would most likely take 45 minutes to get home and the office closes at 5:30.
As we drove along, I found it a bit hot and turned on the A/C. After a few minutes I noticed that it really wasn’t cooling at all. We also started hearing a very weird noise and smelling something that did not seem at all right. We saw a little smoke from under the hood, too. I immediately pulled over and turned the car off. I popped the hood and thought that maybe a belt had broken or something. That would explain the noise, and possibly the smell if it was rubbing somewhere, and could also explain the A/C not working if it was the belt to the compressor or something like that. Under the hood everything looked fine. I turned the car back on to see if I could hear the noise or see anything going wonky, but all seemed alright for the moment. I wondered if maybe the A/C compressor had burned out or something.
We got back on the road, kept the A/C off and after just a few minutes we detected something amiss again. This time I noticed that the temperature gage was pegged on the “hot” side. Doh! We pulled over again and seeing a gas station just down the road, Jess set off to procure a bottle of coolant for the radiator. By the time she got back the engine had cooled sufficiently to investigate and sure enough, my radiator was bone dry. We have no idea how or why this happened, but giving it a big drink of coolant seems to have saved the day. Since then I keep checking for leaks and such but all looks good.
There can be only one explanation: The Chupaveh�culo. While my vehicle sat helpless for 6 days the Chupaveh�culo skulked the airport parking lot under cover of night, drinking the fluids from the various vehicles there. It’s really the only logical explanation.