BBQ’s and cell phones.

June 18, 2003

How time flies. Only a week until my court appearance downtown for my speeding ticket. People keep telling me that I should just write and plead “no contest,” but frankly, I’d still rather go down there. I figure that it’ll probably make a better impression if I go down anjd do it in person instead of just writing a letter, plus, as I keep saying, it’s something I’ve never done before, and I think it may be kind of interesting. In any case, I hope they take out of state checks, or else I’m in trouble. I’d have to cash a check from my Beloit checking account beforehand and carry all that money with me down there. Maybe I’ll do some investigating.

Sunday was kind of a nice day. My Mom, Dad, stepmother, my sister and I all got together for a combined Mother’s Day/Father’s Day BBQ since I graduated on Mother’s Day and was out of town before we could have dinner. When Heather said “BBQ” I figured we’d get whatever we wanted, so I got some Gardenburgers before I realized that everyone else was having kabobs. When I hear “BBQ,” I think different kinds of foods. If we were going to have kabobs, she should have said “kabobs.” So anyway, my family was curious as to why I had Gardenburgers. Was I not eating meat anymore? Did I not like kabobs? Man, you do one thing and they’re all over you. Having Gardenburgers when everyone else is eating meat doesn’t mean you’re a vegetarian, it just means you misunderstood the meaning of the word BBQ. Yes, at this juncture in my life, I’ll choose a real Gardenburger (not a Boca burger) over a patty of ground beef, but that’s not because I’m giving up meat. I’ve actually come to like the taste of Gardenburgers a great deal since I first started eating them last summer (actually I started liking then when I first tried them last summer), and ground beef is so high in fat I’ve been avoiding it as much as possible. I still eat beef and chicken (though my aversion of seafod is still in place, but that’s not a dietary thing), mostly chicken, quite a bit. I mean hey, give me a nice juicy steak and I’m happy as a clam. But while Boca burgers are meant to simulate the atste and texture of a ground beef hamburger, Gardenburgers have a distinctly different taste, plus they’re and Oregon product, so it’s like eating something different altogether. A friend of mine (who has never had a Gardenburger, I might add) likened it to the Coca-Cola commericial that says “Can’t beat the real thing!”, but I likened it instead to getting a 7-Up instead of a Coke. Something totally different, not like Coke at all except that it’s carbonated and cold. Um…not that Gardenburgers are carbonated and cold, but you get the idea.

This Friday, my sister and I are taking my Dad to a baseball game downtown, which hopefully won’t get rained out or anything. It’s supposed to rain today, but it’s been sunny all week so far, so you never know. Danged Oregon weather. So unpredictable. I can wear the Portland Beavers shirt that I bought last summer, but I think I’ll hold off on the hat unless it’s either very hot and sunny (even though it’s a night game) or if it’s cold and about ready to rain. So…I guess I only have a small window in which I *won’t* be wearing the cap, given recent weather.

I picked up a cell phone this week. I don’t have a steady source of income coming in (except for my generous family who keeps paying me to do various things like fix computers), but I think that I can afford the monthly fees before I go broke from not working. It’s only $30/month, and just for safety’s sake I decided to pay an extra $36 to not lock myself into a two-year contract. I chose AT&T Wireless as my provider since my whole family uses it and I haven’t heard any complaints, but I get the impression that it doesn’t really matter too much. I used Sprint three summers ago (was it really that long ago?), and I hated it, so this is a welcome change so far. I think technology both on the provider side and the phone side has developed a lot since then, so I’m getting a better tdeal for the same amount of money. I picked up a Nokia 3595 phone with a color screen, polyphonic ringtones (actual melodies, not beeps and blips), and other nifty feaures. The phone cost me $50, but there’s a $50 rebate attached to it, too. Now I just have to send it off and wait for it to come back…. Oh yes, and I guess the most important thing, the number. I’ll always have it with me when I’m out, but I may not hear it in the house, so you can leave a message or try me on a landline if I don’t answer. The number is (503) 887 - 4127. I have free nights and weekends (after 9 PM every night, all weekend after 9 on Friday), so feel free to bug me as much then if you just want to shoot the breeze, but since I only have 300 minutes a month, I’ll screen my calls during the day. Just kidding. Maybe.

And so that’s about all I have for the time being. Definitely a more timely update than the last one. Maybe I’ll write after the game on Friday. Talk to everyone later.

Why do they make these things so BIG? I mean, it’s bigger than my head!