Five More Weeks

So, I'm getting married in five weeks from tomorrow. It's hard to believe it's almost here. The past few month's have been so crazy planning the wedding, the honeymoon, and our house that I haven't had any time to think or do much of anything. I know I've let my faithful legions of blog readers down by not posting in so long, but I am going to try to be more diligent.

Anyways, we finally got around to ordering the tuxedo's the other day. I'm not a big fan of tuxedo's because they never quite fit right and I can't stand pleated pants, pleated shirts, stripes down the side of the pants, and all the other junk that comes with them. They just look cheap. Anyways, I'm excited because that is the last major thing we had to do in the planning. It should be pretty smooth sailing from here. Just have to work on the actual ceremony (odd that is the least important part in planning) and pick out some songs ... oh, and get a marriage license. After that, we are done ... maybe.

House ... yes again

OK, it's been a very long time since my last post and since I know no one cares about my house as much as I do, I give you permission to stop reading now.

For those of you still reading, you are either 1) really bored, 2) agree with me that my house is the coolest thing ever, or are 3) supremely bored. Anyway, in my last post I was frustrated because they still had not done a #$*# lovin', (&# beatin, @#% stinkin' thing. Well, now am I more AND less frustrated about it. I'm less frustrated because they finally poured my foundation and are beginning the framing next week, which is totally awesome, but I'm more frustrated because I had to give in to a 30 day extension to the closing date to make it happen. I guess when you move to a sleepy, little town outside of Raleigh you get a slow moving progress and little concern for deadlines. Now I'm getting concerned that it will not be done in time for my wedding. House is scheduled for June 30, wedding for July 15. That is razor close in my book and am more than a little nervous about it. Speaking of weddings, guess I should talk about that too.

Wedding planning is going good. We are starting to wrap up all the plans and get everything in order. The main things we have left are invitations, ceremony music, and tuxedo picking out. The invitations are becoming an all-consuming force of their own. Who knew that picking out wedding invitations had to be any more difficult than picking out a Hallmark card. Honeymoon planning is also going good. We are almost done booking everything for that and it is looking like it will be frickin' awesome. I'll save that for another post though.
Till Then,
Later!

Oh yeah, check out our wedding site!

Frustration

OK, its been a week since I last talked about my house and I still have no new pictures to show. Why? Because they still have not done a dang thing!! They are moving so slow that it is beginning to get frustrating. I don't know how they're going to be done by May 31st at this rate. They better get moving.

So, what else is going on in my life right now? Not much, wedding planning is still going along, we are finalizing our last few decisions. Sarah is on a Spring Break cruise this week, and I am getting ready for a fun weekend at MB with Rob. I can't wait for that! I need to have some fun. Other than that, same old, same old. Job is going good, still living with the sister, etc... Hopefully next post will have something a little more interesting.

Pics of House

I finally got around to putting up some early pictures of Sarah and I's new house. All I have so far is floor plans and a few pictures of what it will look like since our lot is still just a giant mud pit.

Our house will look alot like this one except our's will be more on a hill. I can't wait til they finish so I can move in!

Check them out: (More at my flickr page)

New House

I just realized its been over four months since I last talked Sarah and I's quest for a house. Well, there is good news! After a very long, exhaustive search and equally long and exhaustive negotiation period, we have found our house! That is to say, we have found our lot and a floor plan. We decided to build a house in a neighborhood in Holly Springs called The Oaks at Avent Glen. We are very excited and can't wait for it to be done. Our estimated closing date is May 31 so in the meantime, I will try to keep everyone updated on it's status.

The Idiotic Nature of Commuter Rail

For this post, I've decided to comment on how stupid Raleigh is for building a regional rail system through ONE route in the triangle. Let's begin by looking at the facts. The Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) wants to create a single, 28 mile railway that begins in Downtown Raleigh and goes west to Cary before heading north to Downtown Durham. OK, so maybe they do cover a FEW of the popular areas in the triangle. So, lets say I live in Cary and want to go to Downtown Durham to see a Bulls game. Right now, I jump in my car and head up 55 til I hit 40 and head into Durham. Once we get this wonderful train, I'll be able to jump in my car, head to the nearest train stop (10 miles away or so), park, buy a train ticket, wait for the train to come, ride to the nearest stop to the ballpark (at a blazing 34 MPH), wait for a bus to take me from the train station to the ballpark, and ride it to my stop. Of course, this all assumes I delicately planned out my trip beforehand, being sure to carefully plan what routes take me where and at what time. I for one welcome the opportunity to diversify my commutes in such a fashion. What used to be a boring trip in a boring car on a boring highway is now a wonderful adventure through all that modern transportation has to offer. I get to explore a diverse culture of interesting people on my train ride, I get to brush up on my street smarts to avoid muggings on the bus, and most importantly, my knowledge of the triangle will increase significantly because of the necessity to make sure I don't end up on a bus to nowhere.

What is the cost for this wonderful opportunity, you ask? Well, conservative estimates have pegged it at $631 million, a small price to pay for such a wonderful experience.

For those of you who may prefer the boring trip along the highway(don't know why), consider another option. Instead of spending $600 million plus on a train/bus combination system that won't even take us directly from our starting point to our ending point, lets invest that money into improving an already excellent system of transporting people to their destination. Its a wonderful system that can take you from your home garage to the mall garage without ever walking in the rain. It allows you to go from school to dinner to the grocery store without ever showing a ticket stub, waiting in line, or transferring from one method of travel to another. For those of you on the edge of your seat as to what magical system I could be talking about, its called roads. That's right, roads. They're everywhere. There's some in your neighborhood, they have them in every city in this country, and they even have to between cities! And best yet, they're all connected!

So here's my point; $600 million is a whole lot of money to pay for a giant headache. We all have cars and we all prefer using our cars over other slower, stinkier, more expensive methods of travel. Instead of spending all that money on some stupid rail system, maybe we should funnel that money into completing I-540 or investing in other road projects. There's only one reason to EVER build a rail/subway system in a city. When you don't have enough room to build another road, you can build a train. Any other reason will result in catstrophic failure.

The idea that investing money in regional rail will even remotely help the state of transportation in the triangle is perposterous. Lets rid ourselves of this idea before its too late.

Football Predictions

OK, now that week five is in the books and week six is rapidly approaching, I thought I'd give my playoff predicitions. I know you say, "But Andrew, its only week six, how do you know the entire playoff picture?" Well, to you I say, I just do! You can take these picks to Vegas cuz they are rock solid. Here we go:

Division Winners, AFC:

East - Miami, that's right, Miami. The AFC East has been an extremely weak division for a very long time, save that one team up in Foxboro led by Belichick somebody. Now that the Patriots defense is gone, the Dolphins with their rock solid defense and new, power running game will step up and take it.


North - Cincinnati. I hate to say it, but they are good .... real good. The Bengals have been an up and comer the last three season and with Pittsburgh's early season woes and thanks to a more difficult AFC Nort, Cincinnati figures to be the only team good enough to remain standing. Unfortunately, my Browns are not likely to see January football this season (Prove me wrong). The Bengals, however, will not go far in the playoffs with such a young, unexperienced team.

South - Indianapolis. This is a no brainer, nothing more to say.

West - San Diego. LaDainian Tomlinson is an unstoppable, one-man show. He WILL beat you, that's all their is too it. Their defense is pretty good too. Look to Denver for a potential wild card spot. Their combination of Denver's uncanny ability to turn anybody into a 1,000 yard back and their revamped defensive line will make them a serious wild card contender.

Wild Cards, AFC
Denver, Pittsburgh, and New England .... but since I can only pick two, Denver and Pittsburgh


Division Winners, NFC:

East - Dallas. This division is anyone's guess. Three teams have almost identical skill, Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys. They have similar records so far but none have beaten a great team, except the Cowboys. One things for certain, this formerly bad division is now too good to allow Philly to sail into another playoff spot. Look for T.O. to stomp off the field angry.

North - Detroit. Who really cares? The division winner will play a wild card team and lose to them the first week of the playoffs. I'd lake to say Favre can take a crumbling team to the playoffs yet again, but I just don't think he can.

South - Atlanta. They're good. They have Vick, Duckett, Dunn, and dare I say, a decent defense. Look for Carolina to make a decent run about the time Cadillac runs out of gas.

West - Seattle. Their decent defense will ensure that a few Josh Scobey field goals will be all it takes to beat the Rams, the Cards, or the Niners.

Wild Cards, NFC:
Someone from the East, probably New York and Carolina.

AFC Championship Game:
Indy and Pittsburgh, Indy wins

NFC Championship Game:
Atlanta and Carolina, Atlanta wins

And the Super Bowl winner is ....
....
....
....
Indy.


There you have it, my predictions. No big surprises but there are a few upsets.