Sonic

JoLee and I have been enjoying the Sonic commercials. We don't care for the food, really, but we laugh at the commercials. In fact, we like the commercials so much that we wish we did like the food. Now that's targeted marketing. Last time we were out on the road in the middle of Missouri, we stopped by a Sonic restaurant. We both admitted to ourselves that the only reason we were there was because the commercials are hilarious. We approached the drive through and looked at the menu board. The lady kept pestering us to order, so we finally we gave in. We gave in to our disinterest, that is. We drove away. So, the Sonic commercials are really great, but I guess they still need to work on their food. By the way, we ate lunch at Appleby's that day. It turns out that their world headquarters is in Kansas City.

Ride Engineered

The 1980 Mercury Zephyr Aaron and I drove during high school has become something of a legend. The red vinyl seats, the oxidized paint, the leaky power stearing, the push pin ceiling, and the custom carborator gave the Zephyr a personality of its own. But it wasn't merely an old run down jalopy, which it certainly was. It was the vehicle that continues to drive many of our funniest memories. For example, the Zephyr caught on fire twice, once during a smog check. The Zephyr, old as it was, had a first rate stereo system via which we listened to Paul and Phil in the morning and got traffic reports from Commander Bill. The Zephyr carried the best car pool in school.

The beautiful thing about the car was that it never broke down. It leaked every fluid - water, oil, power stearing, brake, and transmission, but it never let us down. It seemed only fitting that it was taken away by a stranger in exchange for an easter basket full of worthless collectibles. I still hope that the Zephyr continues to cruise the roads looking for more adventures.

JoLee and I decided to name our cat Zephyr. Partially because JoLee wanted to name it after a greek god. Zephyr was the Greek god of the wind. Of course, I was partial to the name, and can only hope that the cat lives up to it (except for the leaky part). So far, so good. The cat is loud, rather hard to control, and appears to be bigger than it really is. We are getting used to the cat, just as we had to get used to the car. The only thing left to do is to get her ride engineered. This could prove difficult seeing how we don't really know what this means. One thing is seems clear, our cat will be as reliable and (hopefully) as maintence free as the car. We just hope we don't have to paint it blue some day.

The Zephyr was "Ride Engineered". I'm sure this was a great selling point for the car. I mean, who wouldn't want a car that was "Ride Engineered"?

I really wish we had kept the hood ornament. It would be nice to have a souvenier of our first car. I always thought this hood ornament looked a little like the end of a double barrel shotgun.

Our car was light blue, not a crazy mix of colors on this one. However, our car did produce it's fair share of flames and smoke. I know Dad didn't think this was very funny at the time, but it seemed like an especially fitting behavior for the car. No harm was done, I think it just had to burn off some fluids. At least it never exploded like a Ford Pinto.

The Zephyr name lives on. You can buy this one right now for $30,000. Apperantly, the guys at Ford/Lincoln/Mercury think that it's a name that should live on. JoLee and I agree.

Zephyr

Here's some pictures of our new kitten, Zephyr. She is pretty entertaining. She's a very playful and curious kitten. I think she's explored every inch of our apartment. She likes to chase anything that moves, and she can jump really high. We've also been pleased with how friendly she is. When we first got her she only liked to be in the study because she was unfamiliar with the rest of the house, and she would sit in there and meow for Nate and I to join her. Zephyr is surprisingly fond of being held. She meows for us to pick her up and is very content when we just carry her around the house. I'm sure this will change as she grows up, but it's fun to have a cat that enjoys our company.

Zephyr helps me with my homework.

Zephyr giving me a classic "cat look" from her favorite spot - my chair.

Tornado Day

On Sunday there were storms all over the Midwest. Lawrence saw its share of the action. Nathan and I, in Kansas City, thankfully, did not. The storm caused 6 million dollars worth of damage on the KU campus, largely to roofs and windows. Many trees also were uprooted or split. About 60 percent of the buildings were damaged in the 70 mph winds. Similar damage occurred to buildings and homes in Lawrence, luckily no injuries or deaths were reported. The Chancellor of the University has expressed gratitude that the storm struck so early on Sunday morning when relatively few people were on campus.

Here are some images from the campus:
(note: don't be too distressed, I chose the most dramatic shots.)

Lots of ruined tiled roofs.

Twisted and mutilated bleachers.

A disaster at one of the entrances to the music building.

The Chancellor surveyed the damage in a helicopter.

Class was cancelled on Monday while crews surveyed the storm damage, checked that it was safe for the students to return, and cleaned up the debris. So Monday, was a tornado day, rather than a snow day. Pretty wild.

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

You're the best Mom ever, and we're sure lucky to have you. Hope you have another fabulous year!