My poor little girl....

Ruby is dead. That's my beloved, trusty 1990 Jeep Cherokee (XJ). Bought from my Dad before I moved to this place. I've had it for about 4 years now. So many countless hours and dollars spent in upgrading it. Completely custom engine cooling system. Badass electrical and ignition upgrades. Differential cover armor on front and rear. Real armor-plating on the skidplate under the transfercase (being in the steel industry grants you access to all kinds of metallurgy). Countless interior mods...more lights, gauges, new front seats, on-board air compressor, 110 volt inverter. Massive front and rear bumpers, engineered and built by me. After a 40 and 60 MPH impact, the rear bumper is still fine. The front only has scratches from bashing on rocks. Both are airtight and served as air tanks. So many cool, once-in-a-lifetime stickers on the thing. So many memories. Acadia National Park in Maine with the best woman ever a part of my life (save for my Mom). Cross-country with an amazingly-overweight trailer. So many places out here that God only has seen before Ruby and I ventured out. I rememeber so many things like it was yesterday with her. My mother told me this morning, "Memories are what we all have and thankfully we have so many good ones to build from." Still doesnt' cut the pain. I guess it's good there is pain. It mean I was attached. Better that than the option.

You wanna see the poor little girl that got hammered in the rear by another drunk (her second one in 3 months)? Well, I tried. Blogger seems to be against me tonight as well. Seems everyone is against me lately. Well, not everyone. But so many people on so many fronts. And none of them are against me in the one way I wish someone was against me. That's my own self-pity destroying the validity of anything else that is happening in my life. So that's the end of that!

Must be the gay guy trapped inside of me...I'm sitting here, blogging while drinking what's left of a nice bottle of Penfold's Koonunga Hill Cab Shiraz while listening to Norah Jones. Oh yeah, with 3 cats wandering about the house. I must be gay. I defer to an old friend Nelson Frias : "Why are men gay when pussy is so good?"

You see, for a while I liked the notion of this book I bought. A Book of Answers. I thought...if there is a need for a book of answers, there MUST be a need for abook of questions. So I started asking. I wanted a question that the person wanted an answer to, but had none. I got many many replies. It's still going. So chime in.

Was there any good news today? Yes. It's Halloween. It is my favorite holiday. Back home, the folks do up the whole house like a cemetary. Fake iron fence, tombstones, sound effects, they dress up like zombies, a fog machine, the whole 9. They usually get 5-700 trick-r-treaters. But even that is sad. It's the last one for them. They are moving out here, into the mountains.

Any other news with some good-ness? Sure. I finally got my new boots in the mail. Nice, safety-toe Matterhorns. You GI folks know them well. I always liked Matterhorns. That sleek lace-to-toe design. So comfy and warm and durable. You see, life seemed to finally be treating me well. So in addition to saving for a fat down payment on a house, I began some much needed upgrades to my life. New boots. Some new clothes. Some new sneakers. A new TV (I still had the one I had in high school!). Making my life a lot less plain. Enjoying my money. Seems odd, but what's $600 in the grand scheme of things? An upgrade from a 19" TV from 1989 to a 32" from this year. Life is so much bigger and more important on TV now.

OK. I must go. I still haven't really eaten food yet. But I had to write. Glad I have this. Nite you fine folks. Talk to you soon.

-Rich