Monthly Archives: June 2008

Fletcher

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A local coffeehouse is one of my customers and I like to stop by to patronize them every once in a while, even though they are a little out of my way to do so.

On the counter by the register was a CD by a band called, “Fletcher.” The photo on the front is three guys in jeans and tee shirts. On closer look I realized that they looked a lot alike, so they must be brothers. But two of them looked a LOT alike and I realized that they are twins.

The coffee shop clerk told me that they are indeed brothers and indeed two are twins, that they like locally and he is helping them out putting their CD out on the counter for sale. They have a southern rock sound, which is something I like.

I struck a deal with the clerk – if he can get the brothers to autograph the CD for me the next time they come in the store then I will buy one along with my iced coffee. Let’s see how that works out – I’d like to give them a listen.

Van Adventures

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Last year we bought a full size Chevy van from a used car dealer that advertised online. We were looking for something to use at the warehouse and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it – just something mechanically sound with no frills.

The one we found was a good price and since we were in a hurry, we agreed to buy it. That meant someone had to fly out to California to pick it up and drive it back, which wasn’t a big deal. The hardest part of the plan was figuring out how to get from the airport to the dealer, which involved a cheap hotel room on the way because of the flight schedules. That all worked out and a few thousand bucks later we had the keys to a van.

I have full coverage insurance on the Tahoe and the Mazda, so I called my insurance agent to let him know that we bought the van and needed to add it to our policy. Since it was the weekend, all I got was his voice mail. Since we made the decision so quickly and had to buy it quickly – good deals never last – we had bought the van and driven 1,200 miles before Monday morning when the insurance agent got my voicemail. I was worried that if something bad happened on the way back we might not be covered by insurance. But thankfully the trip was uneventful in that regard, and as it turns out my full coverage insurance policy covers a new vehicle purchase for the first few days anyways.

The great thing about having that little insurance umbrella is that we were covered for the trip back but when we got back I had the chance to make some calls to get competitive quotes and also go online to find the best price on Van Insurance. We ended up paying a little under $100 per month for the van’s coverage by adding it as an additional vehicle to our other insurance. But it is always worth checking and getting new quotes it’s time for renewal.

This reminds me that I took some great snapshots on that trip back from California. Let me see if I can find a few and post them on the blog to share – it was a great trip. And we’ve got a good work van, now.

Summer Storms

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Heard on the news this morning that the midwest has had even more severe weather. It seems like Kansas especially has been hit by tornadoes this year and now a lot of the midwest states are having flooding, too. Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma are all having a hard time this year.

When I decided to move here, the mild weather was one of the main attractions. Tennessee has all four seasons yet all four are relatively mild. The worst weather we have in the summer is the threat of severe thunderstorms with hail and high winds, and sometimes the threat of a tornado. In the winter we have the threat of an occasional snow storm or ice, but they usually only last a day or two and the past several years have been very mild with almost no snow at all.

With all the bad weather hitting the midwest, I’m glad that I chose Tennessee when I moved, instead of Illinois or Missouri. I’ll just go to those states for vacations and hang my hat here in Tennessee for most of the year.

Survival Books

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While shopping today – my goodness we spent a lot of time and money in the stores today! – I found two new books that cover survival topics and my paranoid self decided I should buy them and read up on the subject.

The first book is called, “Survival Wisdom and Know-How,” which is everything you need to know to survive in the wilderness.

The second book is called, “Country Wisdom and Know-How,” which is everything you need to know to live off the land.

Both books are about 500 pages of no nonsense information on vital subjects. I can’t wait to have an hour outside on the porch swing to read through one and see how much I don’t know about the basics of survival without our modern conveniences.

Sending the Crowds Home

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I was wondering of this economic downturn was going to affect attendance at the CMA Music Festival this year and I just read a report in the Business Journal that this year’s attendance was a record crowd. We had an average of 52,000 music fans here each day, almost a 10% increase over last year.

I think the fact that the artists performing were some of the top acts helped draw a lot of people. The festival is an excellent entertainment value and the fans proved again that country music has the biggest loyal fan base of all the genres.