The R.A.N III Experience

The Blend Air Actuator

I spent last weekend, well most of last weekend, fixing my car (like 7 hours).  My 2007 Pontiac Vibe was making a loud clicking noise from inside my dash board somewhere when the internal air circulation button was depressed (not circulating air inside the car – fresh air coming in).  I took some videos of this which does a lot better job explaining it all and what not so if you wanna see whats up you can click below. Also, I’d like to give a shout out to this guys website: Pontiac Vibe/Matrix Owners, without this I probably would have never known that I needed to take off the passenger side airbag in order to get the dash up. Lastly, big up to the roomie LC! Carrie helped by holding up the dashboard while I unscrewed the actuator and without her it would have been SUPER difficult.

Just found out my homegirl, Bobbi, is damn near close to going into labor early.  I don’t want drop personal things she’s told me in relation to this but lets just say we are going to FINALLY meet Avery sometime in the next week.   I can’t wait!

I also updated the 2011 album with some random photos taken over the past 2 weeks or so, including my doomed drive to the Uinta Mountains where I couldn’t find Matt for the Diaper Party, although that day sucked, the photos are b-e-a-utiful.

Just a Matter of Time…

It’s funny, when I started at my new job in January I really thought that making more money and having a bit more of a high-profile job in downtown SLC would really change my perspective on Utah.  Don’t get me wrong, having more money is great, working downtown is okay (meh on the drive), but it’s still Utah.  It’s still weird as hell here, don’t even get me started on the female talent pool – what a joke (same with the overall mind-set of Utahns but this is all another story).  When I was home for Mark and Megan’s wedding in July I barely had any time to see my friends (other than the ones who would be at the wedding) and it really sucked!  Not to mention, making my whole family get together on a Sunday just to see me for a few hours doesn’t seem fair (to them).  It wasn’t long after I got back to SLC that it officially struck me: I’m over Utah.

When I first moved out here I thought for SURE that I would be here 2 years max, of course, I am not Nostradomus and I had no way to predict the ultimate collapse of the economy and thus the ever-rising unemployment rates throughout the US.  At the end of next month it will be 4 years of Utah-life and I have now decided that I refuse to be here another full year.

I hate the fact that I’ve only been at my current job 8 months and I’m already trying to dip.  I know it’s important to stick with a job and learn as much as you can.  I’ve learned quite a bit here in the short time, however, even learning another language (HL7) so I hope that this will allow me to continue down my current health care/IT career path but just in the mitten state.

As of last week I have officially began my search for a new job in the D.  It’s time to go home, save some money, and maybe even buy a house (trying to not get too far ahead of myself here).  I miss everything Michigan and I’m sick of having to use my “vacation” time to go the D instead of like, oh I don’t know, the Caribbean or Mexico.

I know that it’s only a matter of time before I’m gone.  I hope that I’m around long enough to at least play Uncle Robbie to baby Avery for a little bit (only a few weeks to go!).  There certainly are a handful of people, that I know I will miss dearly when I leave, but I FULLY expect that they come visit me in Michigan (cough cough MB&A).

Definitely not excited about driving on I-80 through Nebraska and Wyoming (for the 3rd and definitely FINAL time), especially in a U-Haul with the Vibe being towed in the back, but definitely ready to be in the D for good.

Katy Perry – I Love You

Yesterday I was randomly offered a ticket to go see Katy Perry at Energy Solutions Arena downtown.  Normally I wouldn’t jump at this offer but when I found out it was going to cost me 50% off the ticket price (which was $50) I really couldn’t resist.  $25 bucks to see Katy Perry, I thought, was a pretty good deal, plus our seats were great; lower bowl, 18th row, left center.

Katy came on at about 9:05 PM and opened the show with “Teenage Dream”.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she was actually singing the songs and not lip synching like other pop stars do, it also helped that she sounded really well.  My favorite jam right now from her is “E.T.” , with or without Kanye (although, I prefer the Kanye version) so that was the only thing I really wanted to hear.  She didn’t let me down, she rocked it out about 5 songs deep into the set.

During the concert this movie would play up on the 3 big screens they had.  Mostly, this happened during her costume change, which had to be at least 6 times.  The storyline was sort of a Wizard of Oz type deal where she’s in this Oz land and she is searching for her cat, Kitty Purry.  The concert as a whole was actually really good, the stage was great, the lights, the theme, the story.

Towards the end of the show Katy did a little karaoke and sang an array of songs, notables were Jay-Z and Rebecca Black’s “Friday”.  The final song of her set was “T.G.I.F” which I kinda enjoy.  After the curtains closed the lights remained off and the crowd began to chant “Katy!” over and over.  A few minutes later the curtains opened and she returned to the stage to play her encore which was “California Gurls”.

I have to say I had a pretty good time and I was really impressed with Katy’s abilities on stage, including dancing, acting, singing.  I was also surprised at how long she played.  If you recall she came on at 9:05 PM and her encore ended at about 11:15.  Over 2 hours for a pop star?  Pretty awesome.   I put a few pictures in the 2011 album, they aren’t spectacular as they were all taken with either my phone or Carrie’s.

The Wedding

So I just got back from Detroit on Monday night and I’ve been kinda down about being back in Utah! I was only there for a seemingly very fast 5 days but I was busy non-stop. As you may know I went home for Mark’s wedding and oh yes, it was a good time.

On Friday, I went to the rehearsal and dinner, both of which were lovely. The dinner was at Adiamo’s in Bloomfield hills (also known as the Red Fox Inn, the last place where Jimmy Hoffa was seen alive). After dinner I had to run over to CJ Mahoney’s in Rochester as I was meeting up my wedding date, Erin (whom at the time I had actually never met in person) and Ryan and Erika. I have to say, I was pretty happy that Erin was legit and not some crazy broad. She was very nice, classy, and easy to talk to.

The next day was the wedding. I’m not going to give a play-by-play here, I feel like looking at pictures will do you justice enough to see what happened (and because I want to watch Franklin and Bash on TV). The one story is that the best man forgot the rings which ended up being drama for all of 2 minutes (all before they even needed the rings). Oh ya and the cops being called on us at the church, but that’s another story.

As I said there are wedding pics now available along with 3 other new albums in the new 2011 album (took me a while to update eh?). Anyway peep out photos of 2011 so far here: 2011 Photo Album

Wedding Bliss

In a week and a half I’ll be back in the Murder Mitten to stand up in one of my best friends’ weddings and I have to say, I’m pretty freaking excited about it. Mark is marrying his girlfriend, Megan, the two have been dating since approximately 2007 and I’m thrilled for them both. Since Mark’s brother is the best man and will be giving a speech at the wedding I figure I’d use this time now to say some things about Mark and what his friendship has meant to me.

I have been friends with Mark since 5th grade (that was 1993, 18 years of friendship if we’re keeping track!). We spent our elementary school recess time playing four-square outside of Mr. Smagaczs’ classroom and after school checking out Mark’s epic Lego kingdom that he had built in his parents basement.

During the middle school ages, things were bleak (just like in the real “middle-ages”). I don’t recall too much of my middle school time but I do remember a few things. Mark was actually the middle-man of getting me my first girlfriend ever. I recall him speaking on the phone with Kathy and getting the ball rolling on that front. Granted, the Robbie-Kathy era only lasted a few months, but to this day she is still one of my favorite people back in Troy (and I can’t wait to see her new daughter in a few days!). I also remember 6th hour of 6th grade in Ms. Watkins class singing Danzigs’ “Mother” at the top of our lungs (and how about messing with the substitute teachers with my remote control watch?).

High school was a whole new world for Mark and our group of friends. With high school came getting our licenses which meant absolute freedom from our parents. I remember Mark and I (and usually Ryan and Erika) taking trips to Canada in his Crown Victoria on almost a regular basis, not to mention Ann Arbor and DTB (downtown Birmingham)! We went all over the greater metro-Detroit area really doing nothing but driving, mind you this is when gas was in the 1 dollar range.

I could go on for paragraphs of stories from back in the day but that isn’t really the point of this post. The point is, Mark has been there for me for 18 years, always. He has provided me a plethora of advice, everything from life (“This is why no one likes you!”), school (MSU > U of M), dating (yikes!), and lest us not forget politics (“I’m voting for Bill Clinton to cancel out your vote!”). It’s no secret that over the course of my life friends have come and gone but Mark has always remained a constant. I know that he is the one person I can always call and talk to about whatever is on my mind.

So, Warko, I want you to know that I am absolutely thrilled for you and Megan to begin your lives together. I am so happy that you asked me to stand up at the alter with you when this all goes down, I promise to not say/do anything (too) ridiculous and I hope that one day when I get married (trying not to laugh at the thought of that) you too will be up there with me.

-Wobbie