“So wait, let me see if I got this right: you went to Sweden to buy a car?”

Yes.

“Why?”

The above exchange has been happenening for the last few days, over and over. It’s a neat story.

Way back in February of 2006, Joy and I decided to start researching a new set of wheels to replace the aging and deteriorating 1995 Cavalier. I wanted to move a little more upscale, so the first place we stopped was a Saab dealership, where we test drove the 9.3. Except for the fact that it had no non-leather option (neither of us like leather upholstery), it was a fantastic car.

Our next test was a Volvo V50 - Joy pointed out that a sedan was not going to cut it for two kids and a dog for the frequent long-distance trips we take. We nervously moved into station, I mean “sportwagon” territory. The V50 is not your mama’s Volvo. There’s no boxiness here, just sexy curves and beautiful lines. Plus a 12-speaker sound system, upholstery that feels like wetsuit material (sweet), and a pile of other nice things. Our biggest complaint was that the storage compartments are a little skimpy.

Finally, we checked out the VW Passat wagon and the Mazda 6 wagon. The Passat was nice enough, but it had so many extraneous gadgets, it actually turned us off. I mean, really, why do I need to adjust the brightness of my footwell lights? Just more stuff to go wrong. The Mazda, after the other three brands, was rather uninspiring inside. Nice enough, but didn’t compare to our other options.

Over the next several months, we continued to research and discuss our options. One sunny July afternoon, we laid the four brochures out in the backyard and made our decision. We were going to get the Volvo. And not only that, we were going to take advantage of the Overseas Delivery Program. In short, Volvo will knock 8% off the price, plus give you two round-trip tickets to Gothenburg, Sweden and a night at the Radisson there.

We walked into Fields Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo in Waukesha in October and told Susan exactly what we wanted. By the end of all the paperwork, we had a price that was roughly $3,500 under what you would pay in the States (the package we added was running a discount in addition to the 8% off the top). For another $900, we upgraded our travel to include 3 nights in Barcelona, Spain.

So why did we go to Sweden to buy the car?
Because when you add it all up, we saved $7,840, that’s why. If we had bought the car here, then taken a 5-night trip in Europe, it would have cost about $34,500. Our actual total? $26,660. And that’s STILL far less than the cost of just a V50 here.

Joy behind the wheel

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Just about a year ago, I posted announcing my intent to run the Lakefront Marathon on Milwaukee on the first of October.  Since that time, my training runs have increased from eight miles a week to sometimes thirty or more.  Back then, five miles was a 46-minute ordeal.  Two weeks ago, I ran an enjoyable five miles in 37 minutes.  That’s less than seven and a half minutes per mile.

Over the summer I ran two half marathons.  Neither was spectacular time-wise, and the first one was pretty much hell.  The second was much more enjoyable, and I think I’d like to continue running them in the future.  In late July, I registered for the marathon - only hours before registration filled and closed.  As the summer wore on, I managed a horrific 16-mile run, followed a few weeks later by a 21-mile run, from which I took several days to recover.  All of it leading up to the marathon.

Now really, I would have liked to get a few more long runs in there.  Maybe another 16, an 18, and another 21.  But as is often the case with long, difficult, and time-consuming activities, I got burned out.  And is often the case with physically arduous activities, I suffered injuries.  One of the bones in my foot is no longer aligned correctly.  It usually hurt so bad after a long run that I limped for days after.

Two weeks ago, however, the pain went away.  I was still nervous over the lack of additional long runs, but my foot was feeling good.  I had been waffling over whether I could run the marathon, but I finally decided.  I was going to give it a shot.  My foot was feeling better than it had in weeks, and my short runs (you know, like 7 miles) were becoming quick and easy.  But this past Tuesday, it all went downhill.

Oh, the agony of defeat.

I caught a cold.  Here I sit, a mere 14 hours before the gun goes off in Grafton, and I’m coughing, sniffling, and sneezing.  It was with a touch of depression that I picked up my race packet today at MSOE and turned in my timing chip.  I was further saddened when I walked back out to the Jeep and saw that the car in front of me had one of these on the back. 

Man, do I want one.

So it is with a heavy heart and a hearty sigh that I announce that I have dropped out of the marathon.  I guess one can look at the bright side, as this will allow my injuries to heal and for me to concentrate on getting my distances up.  I know that there are marathons in Eagle River, Green Bay and Madison in May…

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I enjoy Zack’s writing, and I also enjoy pictures of crazy people’s inventions, so I’ve been interested in this since it was announced. To support his endeavors, I swiped this from the somethingawful.com forums and altered it a tiny bit for promotional purposes.

I am pleased, and a bit nervous, to announce that My Tank is Fight! is now available for preorder from Amazon.com. Who the hell preorders a book? You, hopefully! Ever preordered copy of My Tank is Fight! boosts our sales stats through Amazon and will increase the exposure the book receives. I’m not expecting a number one seller from this book, but I’d sure like to beat out “A Grandmother’s Guide to Fonts and Borders”.

My Tank is Fight! is a humorous pulp-history look at more than 20 unusual or insane inventions of the Second World War. Each chapter features a detailed examination of the real history and technology behind each invention and all 19 chapters are linked by fictional narratives. The book is also lavishly illustrated, with 18 full-color illustrations by Josh Hass, and more than two dozen detailed black and white illustrations by Mike Doscher. My Tank is Fight! is not a dry analysis of the forgotten weapons of war, it brings those weapons to life.

My Tank is Fight! will be released on October 3rd and is available for preorder through Amazon.com. Amazon ships internationally so you foreigners should have no problem ordering a copy.

Please show your support and order the ultimate bathroom book for war junkies. My Tank is Fight! is also a great gift for:

• People who like tanks
• People who like airplanes
• People who like Hitler
• No, not that sort of people who like Hitler
• Single moms
• Single dads
• Single Hitlers

Remember, pre-order your 20 copies today! Get the word out!
Order it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806527587/104-6804011-8993544?n=283155

International Links:

Germany
UK
France
Canada
 Japan

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I ran my second half-marathon on July 15th. Once again, it was hotter than a snake’s ass in a wagon rut, but I somehow managed to have a good day. I shaved 11 minutes off my time and felt pretty good for nearly the whole run. I was happy when I finished, and began to have high hopes for October’s marathon.

Then a double whammy of a heat wave and a cold knocked me off running for two weeks. This past Monday, I hit the road determined to get my mileage back to where it should be. Monday night I pounded out 7 miles. Wednesday I dropped it down to a quick four.

Saturday was the real test.

I headed out for my first four mile loop, then stopped back at the house for water. Joy hopped on the bike and I grabbed Tes and we did another four miles, looping back to the house. More water, and a gel pack, then off again [leaving Tes home].

Now, I’d lost a lot of steam around the 7th mile, so I wasn’t really looking too fondly at the prospect of this next loop. But Joy rode behind me and provided silent moral support. Silent because, well, I sure as hell didn’t feel like talking. But I got back into my groove around mile 10, just in time to ease back to the house in mile 12. Once again, I hydrated [and threw up a little] and we set out for the final loop.

I was beyond “lost steam” at this point. I think I was only moving forward because my legs had forgotten how to stop. That being said, I probably walked a half-mile total during the last 2.5 miles. My legs felt like I’d been given a steel-toe-boot beat down. My feet were convinced someone had smashed them with a sledgehammer. My ribs swore that a steel band was tightened around me. My mouth was twisted into a sneer.

Some old people backed out in front of me and I yelled at them.

I was in pure agony. There were no endorphins to make me feel better when I hit the 16-mile mark. I could barely walk. There was nothing left.

Well, nothing except for an intense craving for sour cream and chive potato chips. Man, those were good.

A few days ago I checked the Lakefront Marathon website to see how many people had registered. There’s a limit of 2500, and I think it showed 2478. I’d originally planned on waiting to see how that 16-miler went before I registered, but something told me I should do it right then. So I did. By the time I got home, registration was closed.

But hey, I’m in now. Nothing short of a broken body part will keep me from this race! (oh please, something break)

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Captured! By Robots is a band of evil robots from space. They captured and experimented on the unfortunate human now known as J-Bot, and he is now forced to take the robots on tour to deliver the message of their hatred for all humanity through the medium of music. The tours are themed, and past tours have included a funk show, a reenactment of The Ten Commandments (the movie), a Death Metal Star Trek tour, and even a Richard Simmons-esque workout theme.

This year, the theme was “I got married by Captured! By Robots;” J-Bot is ordained by the Universal Life Church and is performing marriages at the concert. Bridget spotted the tour announcement email and suggested we get married by robots, and I enthusiastically agreed.

On May 21st, 2006 at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, Bridget and I were married by Captured! By Robots… and oh, what a wedding it was.

The place was packed, and a surprising number of our friends showed up to see us get hitched. The show was definitely one of the better C!BR experiences I’ve had — the music was awesome, and the banter between J-Bot and his verbally abusive mechanical captors (and occasionally the audience) was entertaining as ever. J-Bot even brought a wedding cake! What a guy.

Pictures
A short video clip [8MB]

If you see C!BR coming through your town, I recommend you check it out. Tell J-Bot that Toby from Milwaukee sent you.

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We went to the zombie bar crawl last night, and it was a great time. The Palomino (apparently, the bar doesn’t have a website, or at least not one that I can find) was good enough to host the beginning and ending stages of our groaning shuffle, and while I can’t clearly recall the names of the places we hit on our route, I do know that Cafe LuLu was my favorite stop. Have you ever seen a zombie hoarde doing the twist?

I got a few pictures, check out the gallery.

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I took the cold and nasty winter off. My body is simply not willing to be subjected to runs at well-below-freezing temperatures. That said, I have made a few runs in snowstorms and I got sleeted on once, but I generally don’t run below 30 degrees.

I started up again in early March, quickly ramping up my distance from 2 miles to 6. I managed to pull an 8-miler one Saturday. That 75 minute stretch was probably one of my worst runs ever. Feeling the pain from that, I turned to the Runner’s World website and got myself a decent half marathon training schedule.

Having a set, planned schedule has really helped. Previously, I would just go out and run whatever number of miles seemed good - and I had no restrictions. I should never have quadrupled my distance in only 4 weeks - I was just asking for injury.

Click to read more …

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