Smells Like Teen Spirit revisited

So I am driving down the road, windows open, Smells Like Teen Spirit comes on the radio, so of course I turn it up. But it got me thinking, because it's 2015 now, and the song is 25 years old. I wasn't even 25 when I first heard it, which was probably driving in my beat up '85 Impala, heading to Moraine Valley Community College or maybe just driving aimlessly with no particular place to go. So some things were the same, but I am driving a relatively new car, and I have 2 kids riding in the back seat who no doubt think this music is lame. I moved through 7 states, finished 3 degrees, learned to scuba dive, fly a plane, went to war, came home from war, lost both parents, along with many aunts and uncles, and changed jobs several times. So much has happened in those years, so much has changed, and yet here I am, rocking out to the same song, at around the same time of year, juggling school, work, family and friends. Not sure what that was all about, but felt like writing it down.

Light dusting my @$$

I was told that this is a light dusting compared to Chicago, but this is starting to look like mountain weather at this point-it has been snowing for close to 18 hours now. I think there is a good 12-18 inches on top of this truck.

The snow drift next to the truck is a Mazda 3 (for scale):

A view down the driveway-shoveled clear before noon, completely covered again by 5pm:

Stairs, also cleared at noon, completely covered again by 5pm

Still snowing and no sign of plows, I wonder if the Mayor's last name is Bilandic...

UPDATED (again): All hail the frakin' hail!

Just had golf ball size hail hit here in Texas. I believe when they say that, that is meant as some sort of average hail size. Something much larger or much faster than that hit the rear window of my car and shattered it. Something else hit one of my rear view mirrors, cracked the plastic housing, and knocked the housing off the car. Will update with photos of horrendous damage in the morning when I have some light (and no rain).

Did I mention that I just had hail damage fixed on the car late last year?

Frakin' hail!

UPDATE: Now with pictures! It took about an hour to clean up the glass and water. I am glad I wasn't on the road with the kids, because glass shards covered the car seats and back seat area as well as the hatchback/trunk. My insurance company has mobilized a catastrophe team for the region. No rental cars until after 1430 local time. My car determined to be unsafe to drive until an adjuster can inspect in person. Guess I am on the motorcycle for a while today.

The place where my rear window used to be....


One of three spider web cracks in the windshield....


The roof of the car simulating the dark side of the moon....


UPDATE 2: Got the insurance appraisal. Initial damage estimate is $6200. Holy impact damage, Batman. All that from some falling iceballs. Frakin' hail. Car has been delivered to the body shop. There were about 20 cars parked on the grass. The owner's wife had to start working there just to keep up with the paper work. I heard they are hiring a huge number of paintless dent removal techs (if they can find them).

Back on four wheels (at least sometimes)

I finally bought a car. It is a black 2006 Mazda3 s touring 5 door. Here is some tech data:

Mazda3 specs

I have only had it two days, but so far, I like it. I got the 5 speed manual because I always wanted one, but never owned one. It is pretty fun. I am not real skilled with first gear (seem to keep lighting up the tires). Low speed is the hardest part. I am getting the hang of it. Riding a motorcycle no doubt helped a little, but the body mechanics are different (shifting with my hand and clutching with my foot instead of the other way around. Different hand too!).

Anyway, if you are on a Texas highway and something small, loud, and black screams by your flank, I apologize in advance for spilling your coffee.

Sold!

Finally, some good news. The Connecticut house has sold. It is now someone else's moneypit. I wish them the best of luck and hope nothing breaks while they own it, but let's face it, it is a 50 year old house built using tecnologies that hadn't changed too much in the 50 years preceding it's construction. If I ever have to buy a house again, it will be the (que tv announcer voice) "The Home of the Future". Automation built in from the start, cat 5, coax, phone and any other connections built in. Robot vacuum cleaners (hmmm-should get one now since we do not have a dog).

Side note-I now have to go spend some of the equity on a car. My target specs are 200-300 horsepower, turbo or super charged, all wheel drive, stick shift, 4 wheels, at least 2 doors and at least 4 seats and a trunk. My target price is less than $20000. This will be a tricky optimization problem, as I would prefer to buy new. I may need to reduce my target horsepower and I may have to drop all wheel drive from the specs as well. I hate not getting everything I want.