I Hate Cold Weather

Today is Tuesday, January 27th, 2009, and it is actually somewhat cold here in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex, as the high temperature today was 32f (proof global cooling exists!) and it sort of sprinkled. Of course, this is relative, because in most of North America this weather would be a mild winter day. However, the weather projections last night on the news were "ice storms," but I have not seen any ice. Actually I can count on one hand the number of times there has been ice on the ground in DFW since I moved here over 12 years ago. Sidebar: one New Year's Eve it iced really bad, and I spent the night at Kurt's house. Things "worked out" for me in his hot tub with a young lady named Gabriella or something. Anyway. Last Friday the high was 77f (proof global warming exists!), so we don't really suffer much during the winter months, but I still complain.

The complaint is about the other people in the DFW area. They overreact like we have just been hit by a blizzard, when really, nothing has happened. Less than a year after I moved here, it snowed about 1/4 of an inch, and they closed schools all over the metroplex. People came in late to work because they "couldn't even get out of their driveway," which was a lie because I lived in an apartment, and my car was uncovered. I barely turned the defroster on and the snow melted away so quickly that I loudly accused the flakes of being imposters.

The meteorologists in the area predicted "ice storms," and we got mist. That did not stop 200+ organizations from closing or postponing after school activities for fear of the ice. http://www.nbcdfw.com/weather/school_closings/ Tomorrow is really supposed to be bad, because "ice threatens DFW," or that is at least what Jennifer Lopez of NBC claims. http://www.nbcdfw.com/weather/stories/NBC-5-Forecast.html Check out the current forecast:

NBC 5 Forecast Ice Threatens DFW.
By JENNIFER LOPEZ
Updated 7:18 AM CST, Tue, Jan 27, 2009

An Ice Storm Warning is in effect for the Metroplex and all of North TX through Wednesday morning. Temperatures will be falling into the upper 20's by the afternoon. Moisture will move in from the south and west throughout the day and night and come up & over these 20's readings and freezing rain is expected to fall. This could cause ice to build up on power lines, roads, overpasses, etc.
TUESDAY: PM Freezing Rain Likely . 4pm:28 Winds: N 15-25mph
TUESDAY NIGHT: Freezing Rain expected. Low:25
WEDNESDAY: AM Freezing Rain, turning drier by the afternoon. . Low: 25. High 44.

Liar, sensationalist, fear monger

High of 44f?! I guess why I hate the cold is not really because it inconveniences me, but because it becomes the number one story in the area, when really the bad weather barely even exists. I WANT BAD WEATHER. I WANT TO STAY HOME FROM WORK AND PLAY VIDEO GAMES. It just sucks when they promise doom and gloom, and all we get is gloom. Come on clouds, ice this bitch!



This was a really bad weather day back on Thursday, November 30th, 2006. It snowed half an inch.

My Top 10 Albums Of 2008

I am a huge music fan, and some major albums came out during the calendar year, including releases from legends. Please check out my list and feel free to disagree, or even sample some of their music with the handy links I have provided.

1 – The Raconteurs – Consolers Of The Lonely – March 25th



When I got the idea to do this post, there was no doubt that this album was going to be # 1. This is the second album from The Raconteurs, which features Jack White from the White Stripes, and three other ringers who I never heard of before they joined up with Mr. White. Consolers is a complete album, that ranges from classic rock, to sweet, to borderline country, to hard rock. These guys have it all, and when Jack White trades falsetto verses with Brendan Benson, they are almost like rappers passing the mic. My favorite song is Five on the Five, which is a rocker!! Every song on this album is fantastic. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/theraconteurs



2 – Slipknot – All Hope Is Gone – August 20th



The masked metal band from Iowa dropped another bomb on the world with this one, and this album has some serious heat. It starts off with a typical one minute intro, featuring the garbled vocals of Corey Taylor ranting, which leads into the brutal Gematria (The Killing Name). Gematria is clearly a sarcastic song that should be taken as anti-war, but to some listeners (like myself) it comes off as bad-ass pro-war. Lyrics such as "we will burn your city down, America is a killing name" sound like Mr. Taylor is criticizing the U.S. for a shoot first attitude, but to me it also sounds like they are threatening other countries with certain fire if the offenders do not obey. The next two songs Sulfur, and Pyschosocial, continue the thrash, but the real surprise is track # 5, Dead Memories, which is basically a ballad and provides a nice break in the action. The rest of the album continues this pace, several brutal songs in a row, then something soft (like track # 11 Snuff), followed up by pure aggression, including the finisher and title track All Hope Is Gone. Mick Thompson and James Root (guitars) play like their hair is on fire, and Joey Jordison (drums), in spite of the substance abuse problem he overcame during the recording, is once again the MVP for the rhythmic backbone he provides. This is the death / thrash metal hybrid stuff that I love, and no one does it better (in my opinion). Hear more at http://www.myspace.com/slipknot1



3 – Girl Talk – Feed The Animals – June 19th



The genius that is Gregg Gillis decided to "give" away his album for whatever you wanted to pay ala Radiohead, and what a gift. This mashup is even better than his last album, and shows that Girl Talk AKA Mr. Gillis is just going to continue improving until all other mashup DJs quit. The man takes 300+ samples and somehow works them all into a flow of songs. It is really hard to explain, you just have to hear it. My favorite moment is when he combines the innocent Lil Mama song Lip Gloss with Metallica's iconic thrash from One. If you want to dance then click here http://www.blogger.com/www.myspace.com/girltalk



4 – Cavalera Conspiracy – Inflikted – March 24th



When word of this album started circulating on Blabbermouth.net, I could not wait to hear what it would produce. For those not in the know, brothers Max (guitar) and Igor Cavalera (drums) formed the Brazilian metal band Sepultura back in the early 80s, and their albums continue to inspire bands today. However, something caused the two brothers to stop speaking back in 1996, and Sepultura broke up. Max went on to form Soulfly, one of the best bands in the world. In 2007 Max and Igor got on the phone and hashed things out. They then decided to drop one of the roughest thrash metal albums, which features Marc Rizzo (guitar) from Soulfly, and Joe Duplantier (bass) from Gojira. A month or so before the album was released, samples on MySpace came out and salivating started. The lead single, Inflikted, showed that they had dynamite, and the rest of the album followed suit. I was so impressed and am so nerdy that I pre-ordered the CD and got an autographed copy. So worth it. Get your ears blasted at www.myspace.com/cavaleraconspiracy



5 – Metallica – Death Magnetic – September 12th



The legends of metal are back with their best album since And Justice For All. This is pure greatness, and the addition of Robert Trujillo on bass did not hurt. If anything, it helped them get back to the type of music they were playing on Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning. Excellent work Metallica! Oh by the way Lars, I downloaded this album for free before it was even released. In your face! You can't stop the internet Lars!! Make friends with Metallica at http://www.metallica.com/



6 – Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III – June 10th



A few years ago I hated this guy, and really didn't think he had any rap skills. Now, a few years later, and he has greatly improved. Along with broadening his subject material, Lil Wayne AKA Lil Weezy AKA Dewayne Carter took his abilities to an entirely different level with Tha Carter III. "A Milli" is one of the best rap songs I have heard in a long time, and it features some witty rhymes like "I'm a young money millionaire, tougher than Nigerian hair." The song "Phone Home" is another standout that is not the norm when you think of Weezy. Total complete great album. Hit up Wayne at http://www.myspace.com/lilwayne



7 – Soulfly – Conquer – July 23rd



Max Cavalera, hot off of the success that is Cavalera Conspiracy, and feeling confident for appearing on my list twice, found some inspiration from the recording of that album and just went f*cking nuts on this Soulfly album. One listen to the songs and you can hear a revitalized sound, more groove metal and thrash breakdowns, less high pitched guitars. The tribal sounds are still there, which make for great interludes to balance out the heavy. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/soulfly



8 – Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy – November 23rd



Holy cow, this album actually came out. 15 years after their last studio album, GNR comes back with one of the more epic albums of their career. Well, I guess for Axl Rose's career, since he is the only guy from the original line-up who is still in the band. Anyway, the songs are fantastic, beautiful creations that frequently have huge ranges from hard rock, to soft falsetto, to incredible lead guitar parts. You might accuse Axl of over-producing these songs, because if you read the credits you will see 5 guitar players credited on almost every song, but the fact is that Axl is a genius (musically) and this album is their best outside of Appetite For Destruction. Offer Axl a rail at http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses



9 - Hollywood Undead - Swan Songs - September 2nd



This is a guilty pleasure of the highest order. These hockey masked rappers mix misogynistic party rap vocals with R&B hooks, and do it over rock-rap beats. Danny Lohner from Nine Inch Nails even helped produce some of their more badass songs, although Deuce The Producer, who also sings the hooks for every song, is quite a good beat-maker as well. Charlie Scene does such a good job of impersonating Eminem that I don't hold it against him, since he sounds better than the real Slim Shady has in years. This really sounds like Eminem meets Linkin Park. Get your boogie on at http://www.myspace.com/hollywoodundead

10 - AC/DC - Black Ice - October 10th

Another legend that released a bomb ass album during 2008, and they sound as great as ever. The band just sounds classic no matter what, and the vocals are surprisingly the same as back in the day. Solid album of classic rock.

I Fucking Love The Game Of Hockey

What's up internets? I fucking love the game of hockey, and I thought I would take the time to tell you about how that love started, developed, and has now pretty much turned into an obsession.

Once upon a time not long ago, when people wore pajamas and lived life slow, a few years after the move to Dallas was done, the Dallas Stars went on a serious playoff run. They even made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they played against the Buffalo Sabres, who they just so happen to be facing tonight. So that summer of 1999 I watched my first full hockey games. I always saw highlights on Sportscenter before, but I never really sat down and watched a full game, or gave the sport a chance. I watched all 6 of those games, including the final one which took 3 overtimes and saw Dallas Stars good strong player man Brett Hull score a goal (his skate was in the crease though, which at the time would have nullified the goal, now it doesn't matter) to win the Cup! In each of those games I loved how the goals pretty much could be scored at anytime, and when they did it was a huge explosion of emotion from all the fans. I quickly found myself jumping out of my chair and throwing my fists in the air while screaming "yes!" The puck is so hard to control, plus all the guys are on fucking skates, so with all those things working against scoring, when the puck actually goes in the fucking net it is scream worthy. It is kind of like a full release. Anyway, that was the start.

Soon I found myself watching hockey a little more, and on a somewhat regular basis. I really love the quick, constant action, the hitting, the skilled shooting and passing, oh and did I mention the fighting? Add in the hard rock that is usually played during timeouts, I mean could you come up with more of a formula for having me as a fan? If only they threw in some eye candy... oh wait the Stars have Ice Girls who clean up the goal area during breaks, and they now even have cheerleaders with pom-poms! Anyway, there are a good amount of hockey fans in the Dallas, but nowhere near the level of the other major sports. So that Championship 1999 season progressed from maybe watching 10 games the next year, to half of the season a few years later and even going to a few games with Jerry. Now I watch every single one of the 82 regular season games, and really have for the last couple of years. At Ticketstock last year I lucked into an autograph ticket for Brenden Morrow, who is my favorite player on the Stars, so I got my 8 x 10 glossy signed, and he gave me a pound because we are boyz. See, I am so nerdy now that I am wearing my Stars warm-up jersey because it is game night! Like I am going or something. I have been several times, and the last game I saw was November 22nd, 2008, and the seats I had, though expensive, were the best ever at the new arena (Ken and I went around 2000 and had awesome dead center seats back at Reunion Arena).


Check out my refrigerator! Julia and Spencer, my niece and nephew, Lorena (Jerry's daughter), Sara and Iain (my sister and her baby-daddy), and of course Brenden Morrow!


Brenden Morrow and I. Do you think he agreed to do stuff like this when he signed his NHL contract?


Anyway, it has taken a new step now, because I received EA Sports NHL '09 from Diana, my sister (thanks D!), and I am playing the shit out of this fucking game! Plus I am bad-ass!! And I am even filming me play on my Flip Video camera that I got Rebecca (thanks Rebs!). I feel like a NASCAR driver giving shout outs to my corporate sponsors. Or like I am winking ala Fake Sarah Palin, all like turing to the side and hip-checking the camera with a wink from behind my glasses. I would use those those stupid smiley faces or whatever, but real men don't use emoticons. Nevertheless, right now I believe I am like 25-0, and I am playing on the Rookie Level, but I haven't played a hockey video game since Blades of Steel back in the early 90s. I still find myself lost on the ice at times because I never played the actual game, as a matter of fact I can't even skate very well in real life. However, in the cyber world I am ninja. So please watch the YouTube clip below of me playing my new video game.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aJP8hvjEu4

REVENGE!

Last night I walked into my familiar haunt, Rob's Billiards, and the first person I saw was William. He was sitting down eating some Pizza Hut, and had his light saber on the table, sheathed. I cautiously said hello, went to the bar to get some beer, and returned to the table for some polite conversation. We exchanged pleasantries, talked about the TV show 24, and discussed the blandness of his "Natural" Pizza Hut pie. Jerry soon walked in, and we merged over to the pool table for battle.


William and I played first, while I was still telling Jerry about the new (hed) P.E. album, and my friend / co-worker Ken thinking that the song Institutionalized was by GBH instead of Suicidal Tendencies. I wasn't really focused, but I did have a nice run to start the game, and soon I was on the 8 ball. I made a critical mistake, scratched, lost the first game, and surrendered control of the table. However, I was strangely calm, and unconcerned. I shook William's hand, and watched him destroy Jerry. Now it was time for revenge.


In the next 5 or 6 games against William, I did not lose. In fact, there were several games where he had 4 or 5 balls still left on the table after I sank the 8 ball. He was playing well, and a couple of the games ended with nothing left on the table other than the cue ball. I, on the other hand, was on fire. Banks, cuts, combos, it didn't matter, everything was dropping for me. After being handed 5 or 6 losses in a row, William decided that he had to get home to watch "House." Although, he did concede that I had the eye of the tiger, and I had raised my game since the other day. Revenge is mine, and I am back to being the Alpha male of the pool table!




BONUS STORY: So after the destruction of William, I routed Jerry 4 games to zero on the foosball table. Jerry and I went to the bar to sit and enjoy the rest of our pitcher. A woman walked into the bar asking people if they wanted to buy a rose to benefit a family who recently lost their home to a fire. Now I saw this same blonde, overly made-up, 50 something woman in the bar on Sunday, and she was telling the same story. I became suspicious, and decided that when she was on her way out, I had a couple of questions for her. So after she sold some roses to Trista, and a couple of other ladies in the bar, I asked her to come over. "Are you selling these roses for charity?" I asked. "Yes," she answered. "Do you have a tax write-off or tax deduction receipt for me if I purchase one of these roses?" "I sure don't, but I will bring some next time." What a liar, and what a horrible person. Why not just sell the roses? You don't have to add the story about a family who lost their home to a fire, and you don't need to lie about working for a charity. Watch for a future posting regarding liar rose lady, as the next time I see her, I will follow her around everywhere asking those same questions over and over until she leaves.

HAZMAT UNIFORM

At work we do not regularly bring in HAZMAT (hazardous material) packages because we are not HAZMAT certified. Basically what that means is no one at our company has gone through the certification class, so if you sell a HAZMAT part, we normally ship it from our vendor straight to the customer. Bringing it into the office means that we have to hire another company to take it off of our hands (literally) and ship it to the customer. This week Ken, my friend and co-worker, for some unknown reason, brought a HAZMAT and corrosive package into the air that I breathe every Monday through Friday. I like to clown around a little bit at the office, but I was seriously hiding behind doorjams and walking on the outside edges of hallways to keep the distance between corrosive metals and my eyes as great as possible.



What was he thinking?

Now then, the second most important thing to remember about a HAZMAT package, if you do choose to bring it into your facility, is that you SHOULD NOT OPEN IT!! What the hell? What is in there that you could possibly need? Well, the answer is certification for our records. I was still against this, as maybe we could have called the customer and asked them to fax us a copy after they received it. Whatever, Ken ignored my advice (look at the whiteboard in the background), and went on with taking a blade to the package. I took this picture and then ran to my desk where I hid for the remainder of the day. I guess the freight forwarder we used has the ability to seal the package after they take it from us. We all survived, and there have been no side effects from the exposure (yet).

I Fucking Love The Game Of Pool

I fucking love the game of pool. There is no way around that. I love the competition, strategy, the power, the touch (which I use better than most, thank you Uncle Scott Pruner R.I.P.), and the victories. It is a game where no matter what your size or gender, you are able to either be bad-ass, or suck-ass. At Rob's Billiards, my only rivals are Trista, the female bartender who beats me as much as I beat her (she does work at the fucking place), Jerry (who has been my rival for at least 6 years), Ray (who is the baddest bank shot artist of all-time), Terrell (the 9 ball ninja), and Kyle (the KMFDM fan, and also a 9 ball ninja). Now there is a new arch-enemy by the name of William. Against most of the above, I am over .500. Seriously, before tonight my worst record is against Trista, and she and I go 50 / 50 every time we play. Tonight was a different story.

Jerry uses the bridge


I started off playing against Terrell, a buddy from the bar. He has been off of work for a couple of weeks, and away from the pool tables for the same amount of time, so when we played, he was rusty. I beat him at least 5-0. However, at about game 3, a man named William came up and sat down to eat his Subway combo meal. Now, I met William a few weeks ago, but I believe that we played pool against each other for the first time last night. You might remember that as the night where I took pictures of me throwing the Horns down, and a sweet young lady by the name of Theo joining me for the photo opps. Anyway, after all those drinks and the games of foosball against Jerry, I played against my new arch-rival, William. He beat me last night at least 4-0. I don't remember how close I was, but I would guess he crushed me. Tonight was a different story.

Ray uses the bridge

Kyle uses the bridge

I beat Terrell pretty badly, and he walked away saying that he did not want to play anymore. William asked if he could play the winner, and that was me. I won the first game against him, but barely. He won the next 3 games in a row, and they were all close. I am not trying to say that makes a difference, because a W is a fucking W. He won the custom stick he was playing with in a tournament up at Rob's, and it is a quality cue. I, on the other hand, am playing with a "house stick," or in other words, the stick he uses to break with. So his stick is too good to take the beating of breaking the balls up. That is not a compliment to the sticks up at Rob's, because back in the day, you used to be able to pick one off the wall and it was true. Now, shit is like a handicapped hooker. You are not sure if she is going to rob you of an honest good time, or treat you like the $40 big baller that you are. Anyway, I won a second game against William, and it felt like a relief. Why? Because Jerry, Terrell, and I were watching the game, and he was obviously so good that it took everything I had to even get that second victory. In the end, William came out on top 4 games to 2, and I have to say that he is probably the best player I have faced. He won another game though, so that left me saying "I give up," and wondering "what does this man do for a living?" After asking him that question a few minutes later, I learn that he is a Geometry and math teacher at some high school in the area. WTF?! I am just saying. I think that his knowledge of angles, banks, and English (cue ball action for those not in the know), give him a significant advantage. Anyway, he said that my game caused him to "stay sharp," and that almost pissed me off. He and I were very respectful though, so he walked off knowing that I would face him another time, and at the same place. I promised him that I was going to practice, train, stretch out, and work out so that the next time we played, it would not be so one-sided. I will defeat him soon, and you will see that shit on YouTube. Believe it.

Dinner - For One

Sometimes shit just doesn't work out. Tonight I planned a nice homemade dinner for Jennifer, my girlfriend, and I, consisting of steaks and my world famous Spanish Rice with bell pepper, and I was even thinking of building a fire. We were also going to watch the Fiesta Bowl featuring the Texas Longhorns versus the Ohio State Buckeyes. I do not like Mack Brown, so I throw the Horns DOWN. Anyway, Jennifer's grandmother "GG" fell down again, so it got called off. I hope she gets better soon. I went ahead with the dinner and football watching party anyway!

After I got the text message from Jennifer, you will never guess where I went. Rob's! Had to get some pre-game in, and I got to play a very spirited series of foosball against Jerry. He won 4 games to 3, and a couple of the games went to overtime, so even though I lost it was still a lot of fun. Jerry, on more than one occasion, tried to get my mug filled too high with beer so that I would have to lean over to sip it, because picking it up would surely mean alcohol abuse. This is a reference to the incident a couple of weeks ago when Jerry kicked the table / trash can that holds our beers near the foosball table (while I was leaning down to sip the beer), and I played it up like "man you could have chipped a couple of my teeth." I even held my mouth and walked away from the foosball game, but I did not look back because I was laughing the whole time. Rob's waitress Jana, who didn't know that I was displaying my fine acting skills, jumped all over Jerry saying "you are so mean, you're not the person I thought you were!" Anyway, I never fell for the prank, but the buzz around Rob's was the excitement over the Texas game, and I ran into a couple of other people who do not like the Horns. Of course, in Texas, there were plenty of people who love the Horns, and they were not really happy with my blantant dislike for their team.

Theo and I throw down the Horns at Rob's

Zaul and Rick flip me off while throwing up the Horns

Then it came time to go home for the game and cooking. I threw down with a chopped up bell pepper, then mixed my spices together (chicken bouillon, cumin, paprika, garlic salt, pepper), along with 2/3 a can of tomato sauce, and covered the 1 cup of rice for a quick 15-20 minutes on medium. The Foreman grill got to handle the beef chuck steak, and then after getting pulled off the grill, I dusted the steak with a Cajun Creole seasoning. It was seriously one of the best steaks I have cooked on the Foreman.

Prep work is done, time for the actual cooking

The finished product!

Another great part to last night was the game! Holy cow, Ohio State pretty much lead the whole game, but at the end, with 16 seconds left, Colt McCoy throws a touchdown pass to win the game for the Longhorns. Moral to the story? When life gives you a dinner alone, use the Cajun Creole seasoning on your steak.

Dinner for one

Fantasy Football $$$, and a stuck car key

Hello America! Happy 2009. I know we all make resolutions around this time of year, and I have several. Stop smoking, drink less, exercise more, ... and expand my online presence. "No one cares about your online presence." I agree. So don't take any of this too seriously, and neither will I. This is just going to be about random funny stories, current happenings in my life, and the music that gets played when I have control.

This weekend was interesting, so here is the story. I went to Boomer Jack's http://www.boomerjack.com/BJG/index.html on Saturday afternoon for some 3:00 beers, and to pay off the winners of our fantasy football league. As the commissioner, I am tasked with holding onto almost a thousand dollars for 3+ months, and then handing it over to my friends who have taken my fantasy heart, thrown it on the ground, and stomped on it Wu-Tang steel-toe boot posse beatdown style. I went 5-9 this year and finished 8th out of 10 teams. Jeff, Jason (and Heather, his wife), and Roman finished in 1-3, so they got their money. We were also joined by Scott, who impressed us all with his wit and alcohol tolerance.

Jeff flaunts his 1st place money

Jason gets 2nd place, and some scratch

Roman collects his 3rd place scrilla

Ok so everything is going well, we watch the Arizona Cardinals beat the Atlanta Falcons, and we do our $20 ridiculous playoff edition of the fantasy football draft. I don't even know who I have other than Peyton Manning, and he is gone since the Colts lost later that same night. Anyway. So my homie Jerry shows up to Boomer Jack's, and eventually most of us made our way over to my home bar, Rob's Billiards. http://robsbilliards.com/ Pool was played, Heather talked smack about how great she was at foosball, and promptly got smashed 5-0 by my buddy Ray.

Now it is getting time for me to head home, so I invite Jason and Heather over to watch some Dexter season 3 on demand. I go out to my car, put my only key into the driver's side lock, twist it to unlock the door (which worked), ... and then the key got fucking stuck in the door. There is no unbalanced feeling like the sharp kick to the temple that is caused by anything that immobilizes your car. I panicked, and tried to pull the key out with all my might. I am literally bowing the door lock out away from the car. I invite Jason to give it a try. Nothing is working. We even hit the unlock button inside the car over and over, just in case that might make a difference. I ask my friend Bob from Rob's to come out and give it a shot. Nothing works. So I give up, and catch a ride back to my house with Jason and Heather.

The next morning I call Ray and ask him to give me a ride back up to Rob's so I can try to retrieve my only car key with (hopefully) the help of some WD-40 and needle nose pliers. After spraying the WD-40 right on the key grooves, and watching it gently slide into the lock, I go for the needle nose pliers to pull out the key and ... nothing. Financial panic kicks in as I had printed out a list of locksmiths before I left the pad, but I really did not want to give them any of my money. Ray decides to break out his travel kit of tools, and he selects the magical super air compressed full size pliers. He clamps on the key, pushes in and twists, and pulls the key out! Obviously the magic in that single set of pliers is greater than the evil that resides inside my driver's side car door lock. The weight lifted off my shoulders was so significant that I offered to buy Ray lunch at the Oasis http://www.theoasisrestaurant.com/ where he had the Chicken Diablo, and I had the Blackened Tilapia. Both were great, as the meal after getting your car situation fixed is always the bomb.

Moral to the story? Ray, on the left, is a good man to know if your car key gets stuck in the lock, and you should probably have more than one set of car keys. If you don't, maybe think about getting another set made.