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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

October...What a month.

So not much has happened since our last little post...oh wait.  I mean a LOT has happened.  Since that Moab trip we have been non-stop.  Anna has been busy with School and various and sundry after school activities including teaching zumba to the staff at Waterford.  I've Been SUPER busy creating videos for Sorenson Media and a new product launch.  check them out --->  HERE  ,<---, also,  --->  HERE  ,<---    After School and Work we would both work on our Laundry room, for which we again thank Anna's Dad Joe for all the help and support.  Its finally done!  Mostly.  Anna wanted to post pictures after we got the final shelf installed but We just haven't done it yet.  So here they are.
  We ripped up the old linoleum floor, leveled the floor, and tiled with 16 inch tiles.  Then added a dryer vent box and one whole wall's worth of drywall.  Then painted "harmonious" Blue and "Caribbean walk" white on the trim and sills.  New light fixture and Ikea shelf to top it all off.  In the very near future we are going to add another Ikea shelf above the first where we have white linen baskets for...um...linens. So that's the repair work we have been doing on the house.  Since a while back my car started making a clunking noise over bumps and while carrying heavy loads.  In Glacier this summer it got worse so i determined to fix it.  I first replaced the sway bar end links but that wasn't doing it, so i looked at the Strut top mounts next on a recommendation from my forum people...yup, I'm a car forum guy.  So I bought Group N rally mounts from my new favorite toy store RallySport Direct.  Its right down the street from my office!  Its basically a subaru Nutters dream house.  Anyway, so I rented a spring compressor and took apart my struts and put them  back together with the new top mounts.  I learned a lot about how struts work.  The front suspension of my car is only held on with 5...5! bolts.  Anyway that and new sway bar bushings solved the clunking problem but a new more scary noise surfaced so i took it to a mechanic to look at and he said it was my strut.  He wanted $450, which included $250 for a new strut.  Having just done my own strut work i decided against his advice.  I went and bought a new strut (for $150 from the dealer) and prepared myself for another strut re-build.  When I pulled off my wheel, however, I noticed this.


This is a swaybar endlink.  Its not supposed to look like that.  Its supposed to have a black bushing where that hole is and its not supposed to be all chewed up.  Found my new noise!  I took the strut back and decided I wont go to that mechanic again.  too bad, he used to be so good.  Anyway, RallySport came through again with the bushing I needed for $12 and i put it all back together...no more noise!  I did this last Saturday with my friend as we were looking as to why his outback was making such a racket.  Funny story, someone put his suspension on upside down.  While working on his car we noticed something loud and red coming up the street.  It was my parents neighbor with his new car.
Yup.  Ferrari F430.  To see the other pictures of this and his OTHER mid engine supercar, the Mercedes McClaren SLR.  click --->  HERE <---

Oh, speaking of new cars.  Here is ours!




 Its a 2011 VW Jetta SportWagen TDi.  We felt we got a pretty good deal on it and it gets 50 MPG highway and between 30-40 city.  Anna's venerable old  Passat had 107000 miles on it and needed $1800 in suspension repairs and it had leaking engine mounts and the check engine light was coming on...so we traded it in.  We got a pretty decent trade considering the repair needed.  All in all we got $4500 in cash for the dealer for the trade.  Anna is a little sad about saying goodbye to the old girl, but she really likes the new one.  So now we have 2 cars with sticks and turbos that take special gas (diesel and premium).  But the upshot is the $650 tax credit for alternative fuel vehicles.  Take that Prius!  Sad story is that we have car payments again...but such is life.  Oh, we also refinanced our house.


For Halloween Anna came up with a pretty rad costume.  Guess what it is.


 
 Need a hint?  Click --->  HERE  <---


We also had a great time at our friend Wades new place in West Layton.  Here are a few pictures.
Turns out I leanred two things at this party.  I blow.  Literally Bre had minute to win it games and the two I participated in were blowing games and i schooled 'em!  Second, Bre puts on a pretty good party and wade...you make a mean chili.  BTW, we want that recipe.  Thanks for the good times! 
Almost forgot, On Saturday the 30th we made dinner at the Ronald McDonald house with the Lee's, a tradition of theirs.  And then partied at their house after wards.  It was a lot of fun, thanks you guys for having a fun party.





So that was October, pretty crazy eh?   What will those Rich's do next.
p.s. check out the new video in the video player above.  There is some supercar madness and Halloween goodness. 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I work at NBC's Minute To Win It and noticed that you played Minute To Win It games at your Halloween party. NBC is always looking for fan videos to put in packages for commercial breaks. If you have a video and are interested in sharing please email me at Melissakmorkus@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Wade and Brianna said...

Dear Pat and Anna-Lisa
Thank you for coming to the party! So glad you liked the chili! I made it but wade seasoned it.. it was a team effort. here is the recipe http://www.nowwerecookin.org/pork/jules%E2%80%99-slightly-sweet-n-smoky-chili/

Your post was great!

Stapletons said...

Such fun to see what you are up to! I love to see all your fun trips and parties! I have GOT to make it up to Glacier one of these days.
KT