OK, getting on with life!

OK, now that I've gotten most of the new motorcycle giddyness out of my system (and the fact that it is raining outside), I though ya'll might be interested in what else is happening down here in Greenville. I've got quite the collection of interesting topics to share! First and foremost, the great blizzard of '09, Well, for the northern readers, what you're about to see will probably not impress you. You've seen worse, and I've seen worse. I've even gone to work in worse. About three weeks ago, a major winter storm system rolled through the southeast states and left us some nasty gifts. I was kind of suspicious that I had not seen an ounce of winter weather since I moved down here last February. It was too good to be true! When that storm passed through on a Sunday night, I had no idea that it was going to be so significant. By the time I woke up and saw the snow, I realized that it probably won't be a workday. Erin knew for sure school was canceled, but there was no definite word on City Hall. Unofficially, we were going to start at 11:00, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get there from Simpsonville. Since Dennis was there and bored to tears, I took a personal day and stayed home with Erin. The first thing we tried to do was make a snowman. The snow was too powdery, so we tried to make some small snowballs to throw at the dog.

Here's our driveway, begging for some shovelin' love. Most of my neighbors were trying to dig themselves out with little garden shovels. I looked like a pro when I took out my giant snow shovel and cleared off the driveway and sidewalk within a hour. I knew it would probably start melting soon, but I didn't want any car tracks to compact the snow or the water to refreeze. I've been there and done that.

As you can see by our street that it was a mess. The area does have some snowplows and salt trucks (which I didn't really know), they are few and dedicated to opening up the main roads and highways. I saw hundreds of drivers on the news who were stuck on I85 for over 12 hours since the night before. Scary! The official amount in Simpsonville was 6 inches, which I'm told I won't see again for a very very long time.

Well, the temperatures came back up and the city JUST picked up all of the damaged trees and limbs yesterday. Last weekend, I drove up to Winston-Salem, NC for our Barbershop Harmony Society district contest. Being cheap (or Frugal as I prefer), I didn't want to pay for a hotel, so I decided to drive up the morning of the competition. Leaving at 5:00AM, I got to the meeting place at 8:30. Not bad, I think! It was a nice, quiet drive, though. I will never go back to Winston-Salem, though for reasons I'll keep to myself!

While in the warmup area, I spotted these ginormous chandaliers. Yikes! What poor soul has to change out those bulbs? How??

On Main Street in downtown Greenville, the PW dept is removing some old trees and replanting. It's interesting to see how they are doing this. When the sections are complete, they look the same as before, but with younger, smaller trees! I guess I'll have to wait 10 or 15 years to see those trees tower over the road again.

Speaking of downtown, on St. Patrick's Day, I spotted a lot of interesting colors out front of CH. I didn't stop to see what they were talking about, but I had a hunch it was related to the holiday.

Oh, I found my next clock radio. I want one for my iphone, so I can charge it there at night, and fall asleep to music or white noise from my phone. This thing kicks butt!

Well, Target finally listened to my great idea. (ok, so I never officially told them my idea) They finally made a BAKED version of salt and vinegar chips. They're really good! I've already been through two bags of them. Well, they're not that big to begin with. Now, if they'd only bring back the frakkin Fiery Habenero Doritos!!

There's a coffee shop down by Falls Park that I've been meaning to try. It's called Spill the Beans. Dennis and stopped by one afternoon to grab a drink.

I got a frozen mocha type drink. It wasn't bad, but nowhere near as good as Liquid Highway! I am now completely addicted to my Liquid Highway...and a small roadside stand in Simpsonville was just changed into a new one! Anyway, here's the one from Spill the Beans. It's okay...it reminds me of a malted milkshake.

Since last Sunday was such a nice day, I took the fizzer to downtown Greenville to test out the commute. I ran into one big snag, though...the parking deck gate won't recognize the bike. Luckily, the head of parking maintenance has agreed to meet me there one morning to tweak the sensors. While I was there testing it out, I grabbed a few shots from the top.

Now that the bike has taken so much of my attention, Erin has found the perfect way of getting messages to me.

While I was at a shop on Main Street, I found out that my company makes furniture, too! Okay, so it might be a different ATS, like Advanced Table Services or something.

I don't know why this struck me as odd. Have you ever seen a Hyundai piano? I knew they made tractors, cars, and some electronic components, but pianos? I bet it's backed by America's Best Warranty...10 Years, 100,000 notes!

Oh, and in case anyone cares, I helped setup a new Smart Board system and projector out at the police pistol range. I really like the Smart Boards. There's a PC connected to the board and you can draw and write on it. Pretty slick!

I was driving downtown after the big snow storm and saw this beautiful, big old tree uprooted. It doesn't look big in the picture, but that bottom part is about 15 foot tall. Just last week, a company came to remove the tree and place soil and grass back where it used to be.

Well, now I've officially run out of things to tell you about. The weather lately has been dreadful for us. Lots of rain and wind. I know I won't get any sympathy from you folks up north, but it is really frustrating when you finally make it to the weekend and it rains 24 hours a day for days at a time. I can't go out for a run, can't start the desparately needed yard work, and worst of all....can't ride my motorcycle! Grrrrrr. So, I took the opportunity today to do some maintenance on my car and to go see the Watchmen. If you're thinking about seeing that movie, you should do it. I'll warn you, though, it is surprisingly bloody, sad, funny, and has a couple adult moments. I closed my eyes, mom, I swear.