General Update
The past couple days have come and gone in a hurry and the upcoming week looks to hold the same fate. This past Friday my brother and sister-in-law came to Grand Rapids for a softball tournament my sister-in-law was playing in. Holly and I went and watched a game with my aunt, uncle and cousins; afterwards everyone came to our house for pizza and beer. After most of the crew left, Matt, Melissa and I went downtown to join some friends from work for cheap drinks at McFadden’s.
5:30 Saturday morning came way too early - but I made it out of bed in time to drive to an official Get-Together for the VW TDI club hosted by Marty Bergel (http://martinbergelllc.com/). I was due for the 40K maintenance on my car and the dealership didn’t instill a great deal of confidence when I asked about the work I wanted done so I sought out a specialist. I thought I was in store for a transmission fluid flush but I left 12 hours later with a DSG transmission flush, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter, and chipping by RocketChip. If anyone ever needs work on the VW TDI visiting Marty in Michigan is well worth the trip.
Saturday night I made it back to Grand Rapids in time to spend more time with family, which for some reason means more drinking. Sunday morning Holly and I went to church for the first time in months and then we rounded out the weekend with dinner at another couple’s (Kevin and Allison) house. Hanging out with them is always a good time - they have two fun kids and a new labradoodle puppy so the evening was energy-filled.
Monday brought the start of the work week and I gave blood in the morning - this seemed to drain all remaining energy so I worked from home in the afternoon and ended up passing out on the couch for about two hours. I woke up in time to attend an evening meeting at Spectrum Hospital to discuss the new temporary AeroMed landing site near our neighborhood - the temporary site was needed as a result of this past May’s helicopter crash on the top of the hospital. The meeting was interesting, but the people whining about the noise made me crazy. I wanted to ask how they would feel if their complaining resulted in a death because of the added commute for patients who have to be driven by ambulance from the GR airport. This was a classic case of NIMBY - Not in my backyard.
Today was a more somber day - I attended the visitation for a friend/co-worker’s dad’s funeral. His dad’s passing was sudden and unexpected - my thoughts/condolences are with his family.
So - the week ahead brings a couple vacation days that will be spent up north at the cabin with the entire Rapin family. I expect about 40-50 people to show up; the crowd mixed with predicted extreme heat and consumption of alcohol should make this a weekend to remember. Holly and I will also celebrate our 6th anniversary on Sunday so we’ll take a break to visit the Middle Island Keeper’s Lodge (http://www.middleislandkeeperslodge.com/) for the night. This unique lodge is on an island a couple miles off-shore from Alpena so Holly and I will be the only people there. Of course, this plan hinges on “Captain Mike” calling me back with information on when/where to show up. As time passes I am growing more concerned with the whole deal so hopefully this all pans out well.
That’s it for now - look for the blow-by-blow of this weekend’s events next week when Holly and I get home.
