Today (Black Friday) we drove up to see 3 of the dams up the valley. It rained all day, but we had a good time anyway. We visited the Gorge Dam, the Diablo Dam, and the Ross Dam. Actually made it to 2, but that was fine w/ me, because the smallest was the one we didn’t hike down to (Gorge).

Well, I drove out to Mt. Vernon, WA to spend Thanksgiving with my friends - Gene / Rose Kethcam. And they went over to another friend’s for dinner, so I tagged along. There were 3 families all together, and was a great time.

If you ever had a claim on your vehicle, and gone through the insurance company to get it fixed, then you might know what it’s like. First of all, they swear up and down that after market parts “meet or exceed” OEM. “If they don’t fit, we’ll replace it for OEM.” “The warranty for the aftermarket parts are 5 years, where OEM is only one.” Bottom line was that they would NOT use OEM, only after trying the aftermarket.

Fix-it day comes, and the bumper doesn’t fit right. Basically, the car is finished, except now the front bumper has to come off, returned (but it is painted already), a new OEM bumper shipped in, fitted, painted, finished. All this to save around $40 in the first place.

So, I’m not sure what to advise. You can cut a deal w/ the body guy and agree to pay the difference up front for OEM parts, or go through the hassle of doing it this way. Had I known about paying the difference, I would have done that up front. At least for the bumper. But even then, it seems wrong to have to pay extra to have the car fixed proper…

It was a long trip, crossing the border 3 times. See, they turned me around twice due to the load I was carrying (books) but it exceeded the dollar allowance for not having a broker clear the load. So I needed to get a broker, and by the time I made it to the commercial port (the first crossing wasn’t commercial…) the broker didn’t have enough time to process the load. So I headed back up to Cranbrook for the night to come down the next day. Other than that, it was a great trip.

Today, I drove the truck w/ a small load to Canada. We are having our annual Bible Camp, and so all of us are supposed to go. But Russ' doctor didn't let him go, and Rachel wasn't feeling well, so they didn't come. It's too bad, and we'll miss them, but what can you do.

The trip was uneventful, just a little snow. It was a nice drive - little traffic, and decent weather.

Another reason for driving the truck is that I'm planning on hauling about 1,100 books back down to ID with me when I leave here. Not a full load by any means, but too much for the car. We are trying to get our old stock to run out at the same time, so when the new cover comes out, both offices will at least be close for the change.

I called in dell.com for some tech support today. I received a computer (bought refurbished) that had 3g memory listed twice. I didn’t know what the box had inside, but thought possibly there was 6g, so I looked inside when it came, and it was full (4 slots) of 3g total. So I called in just asking what is usually done in this situation. I was transferred ten times before getting help, lasting oh, about 45 min. You know the drill, each time “May I have your order number” “For verification purposes, what is your full name?”... I talked to Rachel, Indira, Hersh, Nihal, Pavin, Ranbhir, Sanjeev, Mara and finally Joaquin. But I retained my sanity through it all, and since the box will only work w/ 4g, they agreed to send another 2g and I’ll send 1g back, giving me a total of 4. Was it worth it? I don’t know. But I do appreciate those companies out there that have local support, hiring local people, instead of farming overseas—and think Dell should reconsider. Again.

If anyone's had my mom's cinnamon bread, you know it's a tough act to follow. Here's my second attempt, and it turned out ok. The first attempt was back in June, and that was ok too, but had too much cinnamon inside. This time there wasn't enough. But I did stab my loaf before letting it rise in the pan, to help let the air out that accumulates in between the layers, which seemed to work just wonderfully.

One, however, was an attempt on creating a vertical layered loaf. This would have worked, had I rolled the seam to the bottom. Instead, being on top, it cut loose and that was the end of that. Tastes, good, though.

The cut loaves look rough, but that's because it was cut hot. You know how it goes.

All-in-all, it was a wonderful rainy day project.