A Mile Stone...

This picture is blurry because I was trying to drive and take pictures at the same time, probably not very safe.  Tonight, though, while I was at work my Jeep hit 130,000 miles.  It's not really that significant except that I like to see all the zeros in a row.  Also, when 130,000 came around I was on my way to try and catch up with a police chase through Salem, MA.  

A man stole an ambulance from a local hospital and led the police on a chase through four cities.  I eventually caught up with them in Lynn.  The police had already arrested the suspect, but I was able to get some pictures of the stolen ambulance, which was all banged up because the guy hit three police cruisers and four other cars along the way.  And I got some pictures of Juan and Joseph, two brothers, who found the guy in their back hallway after he tried to get away on foot.  It felt like an episode of Cops.  

130,000 miles also got me thinking about all the fun places I've driven in my car.  When Stephen lived in Farwell and Mt. Pleasant and I lived in Wyandotte and Kalamazoo we would take turns driving back and forth every weekend which always made the weekends really fun.  We've also made a few trips between Massachusetts and Michigan in it.  I spend a lot of time in my car... commuting back and forth to work, not to mention driving from assignment to assignment all day long.  I wonder if it'll make it to 230, 000. 

Price is Right

It certainly isn't the hippest thing to do in this world, especially on a Friday night, but the Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular is a fun show. They aired one last Friday, and some dude won $1 million. 

There is another one Friday (Feb. 29th, which, of course, is a date that happens just once every four years). The Fruit Street Free Press encourages anyone who has nothing better to do at 8 p.m. to tune in to CBS.

It is a good time.

To be Fair

Linsey (I think)

Linsey, in a moment of apparent boredom, took these pictures with our computer's "photo booth" function and -- again, apparently -- forgot to hit the erase button.

Fat Flakes

It is raining now -- at about 9:45 p.m. -- but for several hours today, some of the largest, fattest and wettest snow flakes I've ever seen fell from the sky. Walking through the flakes was like submitting to a continuous barrage of tiny snowballs thrown by some sort of cloud elves.

Happy Birthday Linsey

At 26, Linsey is now closer to 30 than 20 and closer to 50 than birth.

She shares birthdays with: Drew Barrymore (1975), Michael Change, the tennis player (1972), Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin (1962), George Washington (1732), Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts (1857), and, probably the person she most admires in this world: Sen. Ted "Don't Call Me Chapaquitic" Kennedy (1932).

Feb. 22 is the 53rd day of the year, leaving 312 left until 2009. 

On this day...

... in 1920 in Emeryville, New York, the first dog track to use an imitation rabbit to entice the dogs opens. Men in button up, floral-patterned shirts and blue dock shoes show up soon afterward.

... in 1923, the U.S. starts its first transcontinental air mail route. People immediately begin longing for the old days, when letters traveled by land and, sure they took longer, but they meant more, didn't they.

... in 1856, the Republican Party opened its first meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Somewhere in Delaware, one of the last remaining Wig party members finally removed his white, powdery headdress in defeat.

.. in 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill to make North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington states. A man in Virginia is quoted as saying, "Geez, we'll let anyone in these days, won't we." 

The Kindle

Even though one my most favorite activities is browsing the shelves of bookstores and buying books, I think I could become a big fan of the Kindle, the electronic book from Amazon. 

The thing is neat: 100,000 books, all about $10, downloaded right to the device through cellular technology, special screen "ink" that makes the words look like ink on paper, newspapers downloaded every morning and many other special features.

The downside: no more physical, tangible, book-shelf-lining books; the Kindle is first generation, which means the it WILL get better, so a $400 price tag is most certainly not worth it at this point; and, lets be honest, a book is really, really, really nice to have.

Any additional thoughts out there?