Your Typical Ups and Downs of Life

Well, this weekend started early with a golf tournament out at Park Hill Golf Course. Really early actually since we had to be there by 7:30 am. After a few shots at the driving range some friends from a group I see a mentor with and I got started. It was a best-ball scramble and a shotgun start with our team on the 12th hole. After a cool morning the day warmed to comfortable start as we stayed at par for several holes. As always, my play was pretty inconsistent going from hitting a ball into Colorado Blvd. on one hole to sinking a 8 foot putt to give us a birdie on another hole. Altogether it was a lot of fun and I even won a prize...albeit for being the first to hit a car, but I'll take what I can get.

The game theme continued Friday night as I went out to play at a poker tournament with my friend Brian. The inconsistency of my play continued as well with me winning some hands and losing others pretty badly. Again, even though I didn't place in the poker game I had a good time and rode home content.

Saturday started off great with sleeping in and a nice breakfast. The plan for the day was for Erin and I to go by her parent's place, pick up their bikes, and take them out to the Platt river trail. We got the tires filled up, tossed the bikes in the back of my truck, and parked by the trail. It was at this time that my truck died.

Now I have to admit, that I hate taking care of vehicles. I know how to change a tire, change the oil, replace a spark plug, etc., but I usually don't do anything with my truck until I absolutely have to. So when the truck died, I finally cleaned most of the gunk that had been developing around the battery posts. That gave us a little more juice for me to drive back towards a strip mall. We even made it over to a Checker auto parts store with a jump, but just barely.

I spent the next few hours trying to get the battery out so it could be charged and the system checked. When the battery post connector wouldn't come off I finally decided the battery was not salvageable and cut the cable to it. It was only after I had replaced the cable connector and put in a new battery that the parts store merchant was able to test the system to find...that my alternator wasn't charging the battery. If I had just had the truck jumped longer to fill up the battery they could have seen that when I arrived. So now I need to find a place that will replace my alternator.

Anyways, it turned into such a stressful, frustrating afternoon that Erin and I went out for sushi at Hapa (good sushi) and played some games at Dave & Busters. Today has been much more relaxed with sleeping in, a good breakfast, and a walk along Cherry Creek. Now with a storm rolling in its a good time to stay in, do work, and finish homework for the next week. Which I'm sure will include just as many ups and downs.