Phew, what a week.

I was inundated all week long with buyer's guide questions, problems and solutions. Next week should be even burlier. Bring it on.

The car is a dream. The tiptronic shifting is pretty sassy in tight spots. I enjoy every minute inside the rig. I'm still trying to muster up a good road name for him. I need to personify him as much as possible so we can keep the communication lines open between us. I have a couple I'm tossing around.

The mattress is for dreaming. I have been sleeping pretty good in it. It's hard to get up sometimes. I made a good purchase.

It's gonna be a busy weekend. Lots of freelance endeavors to fulfill.

Hear ye, hear ye:

Everyone out there put those hands together for my little sister Sarah. She finished her Audiology doctorate a couple weeks back, graduating from Central Michigan University's pretigious audiology program. The Draplindustries factory floor is unified in the sense of pride we feel in her accomplishments. The DDC parents are ecstatic. She's gonna go on to do good work, helping good people hear. So congratulations to my little sister Sarah on her achievement.

Now go make some bucks, sister.

She's an Angel straight from heaven.

All merconium aside,

Congratulations to Erin and Megan Campbell! Their little project has come to completion, after properly incubating for 9 long months, she shed her vernix membrane and made her way into the world. Readers of this questionable gazette, lay your eyes on this little angel: Hannah Elizabeth.

And make sure you take a look at some of the other critters in the nursery directory. Bunch of little chimps, man. That Hannah, she's the best lookin' one.

Official DDC Factory Floor stats: May 11th, 4:35 in the PM, 6 lbs, 7 oz, 19" long!

Hannah's our first "Draplindustries Factory Floor Sanctioned Birth Deal." We'll be there for her in the formative years, offering advice (arts-n-crafts, matters of the heart and automotive) along with monthly progress reports.

She's got a good set of parents. They'll instill some good values in her. This is where we get a little emotional. We'll have to pick up this celebration later on. Check out the link, or else. Rejoice in the little mound of creation that is Hannah Elizabeth Campbell.

For now, some quotes on these wonderful matters:

"Think of stretch marks as pregnancy service stripes." -Joyce Armor

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." -Carl Sandburg

"Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare." -Ed Asner

Little Kris

Little Kris Okins made it in. Melissa is excited to have her sister/best friend here for the summer. They are connected at the hip. Our little apartment is overrun by chicks. Earl the guinea pig doesn't have much to say, so, I don't count him in on the battle. And those god damn cats, well, they are on Melissa's side of course. As long as those cats keep clear of me, things'll be cool. It'll be a good summer for Melissa. It's good to have Kris here for her.

Kris is also settling in at Snowboarder. She's gonna be my intern for the summer. She has excellent organizational skills, which are bringing nice touches to otherwise cluttered, obliterated stacks of random books, reference pics and stuff. And once things get rolling, she have her little hands full with page designs too. Cool.

The rig is amazing. I filled 'em up with Premium yesterday on Nunez's advice. Man, the difference in power is remarkable. Premium gas is $2.25 a gallon down here. God Bless America.

I'm trying to settle on a name for him.

In Love

Man, I love that rig. Been driving real fast, accelerating around slower rigs, jumpy. I have to watch out for the fuzz.

Kris Okins is flying in today. That's Melissa's little indie rocker sister. She's coming out for the summer to be my intern at the mag. I'm gonna limit her to 10 questions a day, just for sanity's sake.

Thanks to Embry for the barbeque action last night in beachside Encinitas. A good time was had by all. I shot the shit with all the TWSnow meatballs, met a cat from London and chatted with a 3rd grade teacher. The shishkebobs were the best.

Passat!

I wake up in the morning excited to drive to work.

Settled it.

Comes a time when a man has to make a decision. A decision that could make or break a good livin' situation. Pinch those pennies, live high on the hog…whatever one's path, we're all crunching through the cogs in the big gearbox. In this advanced culture the horse and cart have sadly fallen to the wayside. We are forced, through involuntary participatory involvement, to adapt to the demands technology and progression place on us. Walkways, driveways, parkways, freeways, highways. And this is California and man, you gotta have a good rig in this dump.

Comes a time when a man needs to settle his transportation woes.

The last couple months, as torturous and unsettling as they may have been, have resulted in a final moment of completion.

The journey was long and it was ugly, you bet. Doin' battle with those parasite car salesmen can bring a man to his knees with each half-ass handshake and twinkle of the eye. The Draplindusties Design Company is pleased to announce the acquisition of a rig. We found ourselves a good rig, our #1 pick:

2001 Volkswagen Passat GLX V6 Wagon. The whole deal. All the little gadgets and niceties. Leather, sun roofie, heated seats for sub-zero arcticlands, healthy sound system, CD changer, Audi tiptronic shifting, cruise, tinted windows and even power seats. Whoa. Lap of luxury. Jesus as my co-pilot.

Brand new? Nope. A mere 7500 miles on it, making it "used." Hardly. The story goes as such, "The wife wasn't happy. She wanted an Acura. The husband traded it in after 5 months. You think a guy who makes 200 grand a year cares about depreciation?" Hmmm. We all know how those brand new rigs depreciate once they leave the lot. Well, were hopin' we beat that game a little bit. The price was good, fair and hard to beat elsewhere. Comes with a big warranty. It's spotless, articulate, spacious, dialed, ergonomic, precise…I could go on and on.

Guy who sold it to us was named Wayne. Go figure.

So wish us luck in this new chapter. We're starin' down what seems like a lifetime's worth of payments, but, that's the game. We did our best, laying down ample cash and fighting for a reasonable APR percentage. Being official first timers, we understand that the bastards have us right where they want us. Oh well. You can either get busy driving or get busy walking. Same goes for living and dying.

We're goin' cruising.

Mattress Action

Thumbs up! The monster didn't look that big in the showroom. Once inside the room it seemed twice the size! Maybe not the width and length dimensions...the height seemed to double! I have to climb up to it. I shopped around and got some sheets and even a new pillow. The deal is complete.Overall it was a good investment I'd say. Although, I dread moving the beast. The scariest part about this whole deal is the fact that big things like this, be it a stereo or couch or bed, they hold you back. Owning stuff like this means I'll have to load up a Ryder when I split. Gone are the days of loading my mini-van up and hittin' the open road. I miss that sort of simplicity.

I still want to go and ramble. Maybe someday after a bunch of years of workin' and savin' I'll put the house goods into storage and pack up the rig for some adventures. Just me and the rig, dialed in, traveling the land.

I'm sleeping real good. Special thanks to the pricks at the mattress showroom for selling me on it. It's feeling real good and if I may, I really hope y'all toss and turn all night long wondering about those slick sales procedures. Parasites.

Real Excited For Bed Delivery

The office rumbling has been reduced down to one cackling Kanter. And let me tell you, that voice can fill up a dead space right quick. The woman can chat. Yikes.

The silence is due to the Superpark festivities up at Mammoth Mountain. The crew is up there readying the area for the group of riders coming in from all points of the globe. Personally, the last thing in the world I want to do is hangout on snow, bored to the point of sympathetic, forced enebriation, watching dudes hit jumps. No thanks.

I'll keep watch of the post back here. I hope the conditions hold up and lots of ripper show up.

My mattress should show up tomorrow. Very excited to bed down in the new quarters. Expect a full report on monday.

So here's a question to the readers of this fine weblog: Who's reading this stuff? Testify. Drop me a line with yer thoughts: weblog_garbage@draplindustries.

Bedding Down

Went out and bought myself a mattress set last night. Way, way overdue. 8 years overdue or something. Last mattress I bought was in 1993.

I gotta say one thing right now, I pity the mattress salespeople of the world. I pity the car sales people too. More on them later. I just hope, just a couple seconds a day, that they feel the sort of undecided terror I felt in making a purchase as grand as this one. I hope it eats them alive. As the buyer, and the seller...or, the "needer" and the "provider of that need", the dynamic between the two makes me want to firebomb their store. They've got you right where they fucking want you. I mean, I'm the one who made the trip to their place to shop, right? I wish they would lug the things door to door to make the sale. Just to see 'em sweat a bit.

I walked into that joint with my favorite pillow under one arm, ready to go to battle. I think I got a square deal, and you how it goes, "You get what you pay for." Well, that had better apply for me too. I kicked down and got an amazing set. Luxurious pillow top, good coil count, and something like a bumper-to-bumper 200 year warranty that covers "everything" except normal usage results...huh?

I'm excited to do some good sleeping on it.

As I was signing on the dotted line I looked up and said, "If this isn't the right rig for me, I'll be back, and I'll make this place hell." I smiled, finished up my elaborate signature, shook his hand and hit the road.

They are delivering it on saturday. Very excited. You know what they say, "Hey, you spend a third of your life in bed."

Go figure.