mounted dead animal heads

fucking cold!

Chicago is like 16 degrees today. 16 degrees is too cold to ride a bike. everything becomes too brittle in 16 degree weather. one time in Wisconsin when I was about 17 years on a 4 degree day, I went out to start up my parent's car to warm it up. I flipped the wiper lever and the fucker broke with zero effort. the plastic was too brittle for my 17 year old arm strength. I can't wait until it's 35 degrees again... I can ride my bike in 35 degree weather.

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I drive a 1994 Saturn two door with a sunroof. It is a tiny car made of fiberglass that can squeeze into any parking spot. I've owned it since 2000 and never drive it. I drove it 8,000 miles in 2003. Right now it registers 112k. It has never given me any trouble until recently when the clutch burned out. A buddy got me in contact with a mechanic who's shop is in my neighborhood. Last thursday I took the day off to take care of some shit and called the mechanic. He told me that he'd tow it to his shop for free. That sounded very reasonable so I let him. After the estimate I learned that the car was otherwise in tip-top shape, but needed a new clutch. He told me that the clutch was going to run about $285 (sigh of relief), but was going to take some effort to get at and replace... at $65 an hour = $546... totaling around $830 (shit).

$830 is just an asshole amount... not hard to come up with, but a bitch to part with. especially considering that it's for a car that my friends laugh at and that I drive once every ten days. for real, yo. I'm 6'3". this car is tiny and built for people measuring about 5'8". It's comedy to see me get out of this car.

I decided during this latest fiasco that it's time to part ways with this car. It costs me around $85 a month to keep it insured and parked on the street. And this is with a totally clean driving record... my last speeding ticket was in 1998, the only other prior was in 1993. A city sticker is like $90 a year and registration is somewhere around there also. Also I never drive. I'm on my bike 4 seasons of the year... and I'm getting another bike in the early spring. The only time I use the car is when I'm leaving the city... so that's like once every other month to Wisconsin, and maybe two, three (tops) road trips a year. So, I'm going to sell the fucker.

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my friend Rick and his girl Heather came over on saturday afternoon for the evening. they're back in Chicago. I'm real happy about that. Heather admired some of the new art I've collected, and Rick was stoked to see my new chess board. After a small dinner of Aldi's frozen pizza and an $18 bottle of chiraz, Rick pretty effectively kicked my ass at a game of chess. Next, we moved to the foosball table where I took an early five point lead. Rick quickly closed the deficit for the win. We then decided to find a neighborhood bar with a pool table. Rick beat my ass after a pitiful break to Ennio Morricone's theme to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly to complete his trifecta of domination. It's good to once again have a worthy opponent.

Heather and I commented on the mounted deer heads on the wall of this particular bar. We both agree that it's weird, but that it's not unusual. I'm from Wisconsin, she's from Michigan... two cultures cut from the same cloth... divided by a Great Lake. mounted dead animal heads just make sense. I have a thought on that matter however... I believe that the only reason that you should hang a mounted dead animal head is if you kill the beast yourself. None of this "I bought it at a garage sale" shit. You have to have killed it yourself.

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selling the Saturn will partially fund a tattoo, a new track bike and a trip this summer.