ASID Awards

On Feb 5th, 2010 we went to the ASID awards in Milwaukee, WI. I was escorted by some co-workers from Strang. Lois, Jen and Amanda join me at the Grain Exchange Building. It was a wonderful event where we (Strang) won a Gold award in the Hospitality category for APT American Players Theater. I had to get up in front of the audience of 200+ and give an acception speech which I was totally not prepared for. My friend Becky captured the entire moment on my flip. You can see the video below. At the start of the video I am pleading with Lois to come up on stage with me. She said that is was tough love. I managed to stumble through it and accepted the award. It was a great night overall. We had tons of fun! Only a couple more months until the IIDA awards!

200,000 Miles down more to come

On Thursday Jan 14,2010 my car turn 200,000. Yes that is 200,000 miles on my 1999 Toyota Solara. I purchased the car in May of 1999 and it has run great! (knock on wood) There has only been a couple of issues. I broke my vanity mirror early on and it cost $200 to replace it so I told then that I was not that vain and never replaced it. I have replaced the brakes twice and the tires 3 to 4 times. The most major problem is that the check engine light has been on for the last 5 years. I took it to five different dealerships and all they could tell me was that it was an emissions problem. No one could ever fix it. After spending over $1000 for the dealership not to fix the issue I gave up. It has never been an issue other than the light is always on and I can live with that. I am very proud that I have driven my car over 200,000miles. It was a big mile stone for me. I am so exceited that I got my money out of the car. Everyone keeps asking when I will get a new car but I say why? My car run greats and I don't have a car payment. Why would I want to get a car payment. As long as it continues to be safe and inexpensive to drive I will continue with my great Toyota Solara. Now for another 100,000 miles!!!!