Vivian visits Lincoln

On Saturday, Vivian drove down to spend the afternoon with me in Lincoln! After a quick lunch at the Green Gateau, I took her for a tour of the Capitol building, but it was unfortunately closed for the day. No wonder it was so easy to find parking. We did manage to get a good look at the statue of Honest Abe out front.

On the drive back home, Viv wanted to see where I went to church, so I took her by North Star High School where we're meeting until we can raise enough money for a more permanent building. The large parking lot had been plowed recently, leaving a few giant mountains of snow in the middle of the lot. I climbed up on one and got to play King of the Mountain for a few minutes.

I took Viv by my brother's apartment so she could meet him for the first time. We broke out his MacBook and took turns playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on an emulator. All three of us had grown up playing that game, and it brought back some fond memories. It was funny to see how much we each remembered about that game, like where all the secret items were hidden and which levels contained a secret Tanooki Suit.

After we were done visiting with Nathan, Viv and I went to have dinner with my old friends Mike and Bekah and their children Drew and Alexa. I also let Drew take a couple pictures of Viv and me with his sister Alexa. Not bad photographic skill for a two-year-old!

In other news the snow from our weekly blizzard is melting, and the forecast calls for above-freezing temperatures all week, which is indeed a blessing. I'm really looking forward to spring.

Auto insurance: it really HERTZ

Last July I spent a week visiting Dusan Jeftinija, a friend living in Lexington, Kentucky who does the web comic introduced me to swing dancing. While I was in town, I rented a car from Hertz because I got a 10% off coupon from my auto insurance company. Unfortunately, on my second day of exploring the city, I managed to get rear-ended by this guy.

He wasn't watching where he was going, and he admitted the accident was his fault right there when the officer arrived to take statements. I naturally assumed his most of the damages to his car, less a $500 that my agent tells me I'll probably never reclaim.

Then there's Hertz, who have been sending me, personally, nasty letters demanding money ever since this event transpired. I've passed these along to my insurance agency, but yesterday I received this little gem in my mailbox:

That's right. They've added on a few cute little "charges" to my total bill for an accident that was someone scot-free when he rear-ends somebody.

Anyhow, I have a little extra time to take care of these details today because have a delightful snow-day here in Nebraska. Our weekly blizzard tore through the state last night and left the roads hazardous to close schools and businesses for the day, so my original plans to go dancing with friends from Omaha at the Pla-Mor for Swing Night were unfortunately canceled. In the meantime, I'll catch up on comics, freelance work, and figuring out how I can get out of paying a couple hundreds bucks to an auto-rental company that really HERTZ my checking account.

Taco Party: The Video

While the guys were outside sledding and throwing snowballs at us, I set my camera to video mode and recorded some of their antics to share with you. And that wraps up the infamous Taco Party! It was a weekend I'll remember for years to come.

Taco Party: Part 2

I'm still recovering from what turned out to be an exciting, snow-bound weekend in Omaha. As I mentioned in my last post, a blizzard that wandered through Nebraska Saturday night left a couple of us held up in Vivian and Jenny's apartment overnight. I knew the snow was coming before I drove up to Omaha, but I wasn't going to let a little weather keep me from a fun-filled Taco Party.

We started the evening off with a little dinner and dancing, all in the kitchen. Once everybody had gotten their fill of delicious make-your-own tacos, Eric and Vivian took the floor for a little swing dancing. She's a very special lady.

Next came games, which included an intense game of Jenga. Every time someone took a block from that tower it felt like they were about to defuse a bomb. If you check out Eric's blog, you can see the video from when the tower finally came down.

As the snow started to accumulate, some of the guys took to the hill in the backyard to try some sledding. Unfortunately, the snow was too wet and the slope was too flat for them to get very far, so before long they gave up and started attacking the back door with snowballs. A few of them came through, causing massive damage to the wall and the side of Jenny's head. (In all fairness, the guys felt bad about the mess they made and cleaned up the kitchen to say they were sorry. They're nice guys.)

The party started to thin out around ten o'clock, but the rest of us stayed up until around 3 AM watching Quantum Leap and hanging out. Hugh, Natalie, and I opted to spend the night rather than risk the slippery roads to head back home. It was probably a wise decision, because on my drive home to Lincoln the next morning, I-80 was littered with stuck semi trucks, vans, and cars that had slid off the road during the storm. Hugh and I crashed in the living room overnight and I woke up the next morning with a severe case of bed head.

Vivian and Jenny were nice enough to make us all waffles for breakfast the next morning! I was hungry again around 3 PM, so Viv and I got to make Chicken Alfredo together. I had the strange feeling that we'd done this sort of thing before. Deja vu!

All in all, it was an awesome weekend at Vivian's. I'm looking forward to the next big blizzard.

Wild night in Omaha

In case those of you in warmer climates didn't know, those of us here in Nebraska just got pelted with something of a blizzard last night. Five to ten inches of the white stuff fell to the ground just overnight, and I wound up snowbound in Omaha at a taco party held at Vivian and Jenny's apartment. I had seen the forecast coming up here, but on the drive up to Omaha, the weather was simply gray, rainy, and definitely above freezing. I definitely didn't want to miss out on this party, either. We had tacos, games, and an impromptu snowball fight from the inside out that left the carpet soaked. Viv and Jenny let a couple of us spend the night rather then venture back out onto I-80 for a hazardous trip home at 2 in the morning.

A year of changes

2006 was an interesting year for me. Aside from taking up swing dancing as a hobby, which is something I wouldn't have predicted I'd be doing in my wildest dreams, I also happened to grow a goatee and start wearing contacts instead of glasses as I had for the last 15 or so years. The pictures above are almost exactly one year apart. The funny thing is that most of my friends from swing dance only know me as the guy on the right.

Back in Nebraska

It's been another terrific week back in Nebraska, despite the shock of walking into blowing snow and sub-zero temperatures after a week or basking in the balmy glow of 60-70 degree days in Las Vegas. Vivian and I got to learn some Balboa thanks to some of our lovely Jitterbugging friends. Then Vivian drove down to Lincoln to visit me and my bible study on Thursday. On Friday, our whole gang crashed a very busy Fuddruckers and had a good time making a mess of the place:

Eric and Jenny yell at each other after a game of Cruis'n World.

Eric and Vivian have a very brief smackdown.

Don't I look cute in Vivian's hat? No, I don't.

On Sunday I returned to Omaha again to attend Terra Nova with Vivian, which was wrapping up their three-part series on relationships. Tonight, I zip back to Omaha to take more Lindy Hop lessons with Vivian and then take a Balboa class. Naturally, I'll be back in Omaha tomorrow to celebrate V-Day. You've got to wonder why I don't just move on up to the Big O.