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Hells yeah, you read that, 1983 Mongoose Supergoose. I have owned this bike all it’s life. It is a 1983 model, but I think we got it in 84 or 85 I can’t recall. Maybe we did get it in 83. Anyway, was a long ass time ago.

My Dad won a raffle, the prize was a new fangled Mountain Bike thingy. Well it was way too big for me or for my sis. So he took it to a bike shop. Since Mountain Bike’s were the new thing the shop basically said, pick something. When my Dad came home I about pooped myself. An honest to God BMX bike was in my posession. So long Huffy, hello big time.

The old Huffy was so heavy I couldn’t ride it up big hills, but with the new Chromoly and Pro Class lightened wheels I could ride all day and pull off sweet ass jumps.

This Goose has been hanging in the garage at my parents house since about 1993 - 1994. I succumbed to the mountain bike rage in 1992 shortly before heading off to College. Then you wouldn’t be caught dead on a BMX. 12 years later they are hot as ever.

My plan is to at least bring this bike back to it’s former glory. While I see dollar signs just looking at it, my intention is to restore and enjoy. Maybe after awhile I will sell it. It should fetch about the same it sold for in 1983, maybe more.

I found this great site called BMX Museum, so even if you’re not restoring a bike but want to relive some memories and see what people have done to bring some classics back it is a great resource. You can check out my bike there too: 1983 Mongoose Supergoose.

Here are some pictures in it’s current state:

It’s been about a month now, it’s time to get back to normalcy here with my blog life. Adjusting to life without Jasper has been tough, I think it’s tougher now than it was after a week. I keep thinking he’s coming home, but he’s not.

We have been keeping busy though, not to forget, but so we don’t dwell. A week ago we entered the Audi in to Dubs Along the Rockies, which is a Vw/Audi show in Colorado Springs. We brought home the best in class award for “Other Audi.” Since my car is a little old, it didn’t fit into another class. However, I did have some stiff competition, a 2003 Audi RS6, my friend Andrew’s Audi Allroad with many many upgrades. There was also a nice Audi 90 CS and an Audi 90 Coupe.

Renee and I began work this weekend refinishing the pergola out back. It covers our entire back patio. The previous owners were odd. They were very creative and it appears things were well engineered, but when it came to choices in products to use and finishing the work they were very half-assed.

While removing slats from the top of the pergola that provide shade we found them all to be bad. Well all but two. Why two? Well two were wood, the remainder were all MDF. Yes, Multi Density Fiberboard. This stuff is not designed to be used outside. I mean if you sealed the hell out of it it might last. I don’t even think they primered these babies before putting on a light coat of paint.

They were all warped and were about 1/2 to 1″ thicker because of water retention and rot. We had to replace 62 slats. The remainder of the pergola is wood, so some power washing and scraping to remove old loose paint. We picked up some Behr Premium Plus Ultra™ Exterior Semi-Gloss Enamel from Home Depot. Initially we picked up a 5 gal can of Primer only, but found this and so far we like the look. Lets hope it holds up. We have been applying about 2 coats to the old painted wood and will be doing about 3 -4 coats on the new wood slats.

We hope to wrap this project up by the end of the month, however, this weekend we are heading to Salida for Kolorado Treffen. This is slated to be the first of it’s kind event in Colorado. Not a show, not a brand specific event, but a way for auto enthusiasts to get together and talk cars, have fun and go drive.

The following weekend is Guy’s Weekend in Breckenridge. Renee isn’t too happy about me being gone for a few days, but it will be fun to hang with the guys and watch them get wasted.

That’s it for now, I will try and get some in progress and after pictures of the pergola if I remember to.

I started writing this 6 weeks ago and couldn’t bear writing more knowing where things were going…..

07/03/2007
We have recently been forced in to the reality of accepting that we outlive our pets. Our oldest cat Jasper aka JJ is seventeen and was just diagnosed with Lymphoma and renal failure. He spent last weekend at the Animal Hospital Center near our home to receive IV fluids and run through tests to come to these conclusions.

It was a pretty emotional weekend, Renee has had Jasper for 16 years. She rescued him from a shelter when he was about a year to a year and half old while she lived in New Mexico. This cat has been one in a million that’s for sure. I have never seen a cat behave the way he does when he is around her or even me.

I can’t really put into words how much he means to her, or to me for that matter. It does seem a little odd being so attached to a pet, but you know, at the same time it doesn’t. They never judge you, their love is unconditional.

JJ at the hospital on July 1, 2007

08/09/2007
JJ Passed away yesterday morning. He started slipping away during the previous 36hours and by 4am Wednesday morning he was in really bad shape. We really tried to do everything right, but you can’t help beating yourself up. We were able to be there and say goodbye, which was very important to us, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

JJ at home August 6th 2007

He was a real joy and really enhanced out lives in a way I can’t even put into words. Renee was like the Sun of his universe and he rotated around her. I was kind of like a moon that gravitated nearby. As a family we had our little routines, things that occurred on a daily basis that you don’t really think about until they stop.

Waking up this morning was difficult. Almost more difficult than going to sleep last night. Though I chalk that up total physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. The house seems so quiet now, so empty, yet we still have Elvis-cat and Kona-Bob the dog. Every morning JJ would wake up and start “talking” right away to get us up and going. He would stick with us while we got ready, seeking attention which we would promptly give. He’s also try and draw us back to bed. There is nothing more he wanted in the world than for us to spend the whole day in bed.

Our lives were thrown into a crazy spin when we found out he was going to die soon. We spent a lot of time with him, enjoying his company and taking care of him. He needed medications twice a day and we had to administer sub cutaneous fluids first every other day, then daily, then twice daily (smaller amounts twice a day). Taking care of him took a lot of time, it was still only six weeks, but I would love to still be caring for him.

To a lot of people a pet is a pet, and to an extent they are. However, many people grow a special bond with their pet(s) and they become an extension of the family. When you have a strong bond it is similar to losing a human family member. I can’t say it is as hard as losing a parent, sibling or child, but it’s pretty damn close.

I guess I am jumping all over the place, I could write pages about JJ’s life with us and all the great things. Right now, all I can really say is we miss him terribly and would give anything to have him back with us. If you are the praying type, please say a prayer for his soul and that he is a happy place, with no suffering.

After doing some arduous work on the Scout this weekend I decided it was time to go to Best Buy to use up a gift card I got for my birthday. Along with that I needed to pick up a gift for someone. Prior to heading into Best Buy I looked up the item I wanted to gift to make sure they had it and to see the price. I was excited to see the price so reasonable for a recently released popular television series season box set. The price on the web is $44.99

Off we go to the Park Meadows Best Buy location. Immediately we seek out the item and notice the price is $59.99 on the box. I am not shocked, in the past I have often bought sale items which still display the full price sticker. I figure it will all be straightened out at the register. After perusing the DVD aisles looking for some movies to spend my gift card on we proceed to the checkout.

The girl at the checkout stand rings everything up, my two DVDs and the gift box set. Now my two DVDs were $9.99 and $14.99 and I had a $25 gift card. So if the box set rang up right after tax I should still be under $50. She tells me my total is $60 and some change and I was like WTF? So I look on her screen and mention the box set is only $44.99 on BestBuy.com.

She gives me the option to wait for a manager or buy the items and we can go to Customer Service and price match. I wait for a few minutes for a manager and no one shows, I see a line building up so I said, fine lets finish up the transaction and go price match, I know I’m right.

We take the newly purchased items over to Customer Service and she pulls up the website. Now I know a few things and one is the stores use a sort of Extranet, so it is made to look like the BestBuy.com website, but it is not. On top of that I have heard of price discrepancies like this before, but usually with big ticket items.

Anyway, she pulls up the DVD box set and it shows $59.99. Her explanation is well new pricing on Sundays. I mentioned it’s 2pm, I looked at the site at 1pm, I doubt the pricing changed. In the end she basically said I was wrong. I told her I would run home and this will get straightened out.

Yes I could have returned the product, but I was right, they were wrong and I was set out to prove it.

We hurried home because we had somewhere to be in an hour. I get online and bam $44.99. I call the store, talk to a kid in the DVD section, he confirms the discrepancy and comments on how “shitty” that is. Then he puts me through to Customer Service. I am totally calm mind you, just a bit frustrated. I explain my story to Customer Service, they wont help me and send me right to a manager. Now I have to explain the situation a third time and the manager is totally apologetic and works with me to get the difference with tax credited back.

In the end, yes I proved my point to Best Buy and I got the difference back and they still got the sale. The deeper lying issue is what the manager told me. The little website they use shows local pricing for the store, the bestbuy.com site shows national pricing meaning local pricing could be higher (or lower, doubtful) than the national. This leads me to believe Best Buy profiles markets and knows where they can get away with ripping off customers and where they can’t.

There is a lawsuit currently in the works for this very issue, no not with this DVD box set, but the price discrepancy. It was filed by the Connecticut State Attorney General’s office, below are a few links about it.

ABC news: Lawsuit Claims Best Buy Isn’t Living Up to Its Name
ARS Technica: Connecticut lawsuit accuses Best Buy of bait-and-switch
State of Connecticut: Attorney General, DCP Commissioner Sue Best Buy For Deceiving, Overcharging Customers

My recommendation is if you value your money, as always do a little research. Obviously if you don’t care that’s what they are after. Better yet, shop elsewhere, you can find the same items at other locations for the same price. Everyone does price matching these days.

Back from another trip. This time we went with some friends Steph and her husband Matt. They first headed to Colorado for a couple days of fun then we all headed out to Vegas.

The drive out was uneventful, it was damn hot there as expected, about 106 when we arrived and stayed about that temp during the day while we were there. Since Renee and I go often we threw our usual routine out the window to make sure we were able to do everything Steph and Matt might have had their hearts set on. Not to mention it provided us the opportunity to do something a little different.

The first night we had some In n Out burger on the way into town then headed to Fat Tuesday (as usual) after checking in to get a much needed slushy beverage. They did finally change the Hurricane to the Cat 5 Hurricane. It is now as powerful as the 190 Octane. I now like to mix the two flavors, it is really good! Since this was at MGM we headed into the Casino for some gambling and things like that.

Monday was the walking day. Yep, up the strip. We had our sights set high We were going to walk to Circus Circus for a $1 dog and a $1.25 margarita. Well it was hot and by the time we got to Big Bills (formerly Barbary Coast) from the Luxor we needed food. Luckily they had a dog and a beer for $3. Got that and moved on. Not getting too much further down the strip we stopped at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for a…margarita…and some nachos.

Now we were serious about progress and kept walking. Bypassing most usual stops for Renee and I. Now I forgot just how far CC was. For some reason I was thinking it was by O’Sheas and Casino Royale, but as usual I was wrong.

By the time we were by the Wynn we were pretty tired. However, we had to press on. We crossed the street and headed past the Fashion Show Mall then onto the soon to be dismantled Frontier Hotel and Casino. I guess it is FINALLY closing down in mid July. It is being replaced with a new development called Tahiti Village. I believe the Stardust had been next door and already has been downed and cleared out. We did hang out in the Frontier for a few minutes since we knew it was the last time any of us would see it.

Now it was time for Circus Circus and Slotsa fun. Slotsa fun was really the place with the cheap dog and drink, but we still headed into Circus Circus to see if they had it in there too. They did not, but we did get to catch a couple of the circus acts they do, which are really just acrobatic acts. No clowns thankfully.

While everyone was taking a load off I headed over to slotsa fun to get what we walked all this way for. A 1/2 lb, foot long hot dog for $1.07 after tax. Then I got my $1.25 margarita and headed back in. We walked about 4 hours to get this damn thing. I ate only half of it.

After all that walking we skipped heading back to the hotel and caught a bus to Fremont Street. I haven’t been down there since just before they covered it and turned it into the Fremont Street Experience. I was looking forward to checking it out.

It was kid of odd at first because I started having some imagery flashbacks from the only other time I had been down there and was really amazed. I know it’s hard to believe that in the dozen times I have been to Vegas in the last handful of years I never went down there. 1995 was the last time.

I was impressed with what they had done and how it was done. Definitley made it a neat “experience.” We grabbed a $6.95 prime rib dinner at the Golden Gate. Can you believe it, I can’t remember the last time I got a $6.95 PR dinner in Vegas. It was decent, better than I had expected so it was a bonus!

The last full day there, Tuesday had us going back to Fat Tuesdays and laying low. We just gambled at MGM, did some gift shopping for our friends kids and the big point was to not walk everywhere.

We followed that up with an always fabulous meal at Nine Fine Irishmen.

I have some pictures and will have more soon from Steph and Matt!