New Post - little mix up

I put in a new post, but because blogger's being a butt, things are mixed around. So the newest post for 1/26 is dated 1/23 and is located before the last one. Confused? Yes I am. Just scroll down past the 8-track player picture to see the latest. Sorry for the weirdness.

Where's my 8 track?

We finally got our car back last night. Thank God. We needed to grocery shop bad. We paid our deductible to get our shattered window and messed up dash fixed. It also replaced our stereo. As I might have already mentioned, when we bought the car it had an after-factory stereo/CD player in it. Since we didn't have a receipt for it there's no proof of the value of it. So yes, they replaced the stolen one, but the new stereo is not nearly as nice. It's even got a tape player in it. A tape player? Who listens to tapes. The car is an 03,' which means the "factory" stereo for this year shouldn't have a tape player in it... stupid 1990's cheapskates. Corey says we should be glad that there's less temptation for thieves now. The CD player was the whole reason we got broken into in the first place. I guess he's right, but it's still annoying that not only did we pay out a big deductible because of some jerkpod, but now our car is less valuable. It just irks me that along with my cool stereo, the vandals also stole a decade out of my car.

Cleveland Rocks!

This weekend Schticky Situation (The KC based Jewish Improv group consisting of Corey, Jay Lewis, Jim and Karen Montemayor) went to Cleveland to perform for the Jewish Community Center. I got to sit in as the token girl since Karen is due any day with twin boys. The show went well, a nice solid B+ performance. The audience loved it.
The next day we stuck around to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Well, most of us did. Jay ditched us to visit an old friend who lived in town. Anyways, Jim, Corey and I had a great time at the Hall. If you ever get a chance to go to Cleveland, definately check it out. It was awesome! Unfortunately they don't allow you to take pictures inside, so it put a damper on our montage plan. Instead, here now are the pictures we took in the cab on the way to the airport of what it would've been like had cameras been allowed in the Hall. I couldn't get the pictures of Jimi Hendrix or Michael Jackson's glove (ie: the cab driver and Corey's winter mitten/glove) to post, so you'll be missing those artifacts.

Boo, no pictures allowed inside!

Monique's gonna rock anyways!

Jim and Corey outside of The Hall

Look, it's Art Garfunkel's hair! (Note to self: remember to photoshop in pic of hair.)

Jon Bon Jovi's leather jacket from the "Slippery When Wet" tour

Our New Additions!

This is our new couch! We bough it along with a matching loveseat for Christnikah. The ottoman isnt ours, Corey didn't like it and it wasn't worth the extra money. (This picture is in the store, not at our place.) I was very sad to get rid of our old couch, but it was time. It was an old 70's couch, which had a little extra sentimental value to it, since my dad reupholstered it for me before we moved to Chicago. Luckily it went to a good new home, the home of Tyler and Garrett. Although, I'm a little worried of what these bachelors will do to it. I just tell myself that the couch went off to college, to live in a Frat House where it will do a lot of partying.

Anyways, the new couch(es) are 10 inches deeper than the old one, so Corey and I can both comfortably lay on them and since there are 2 of them, we don't have to both be on the same couch together all the time. The old couch was red, whereas this one is a light camel with orange and brown cushions/pillows, and they look great in our place. I didn't have to redecorate anything, they're a perfect fit. Besides the chair we bought last year, this is the first major new furniture purchase I've ever made. However, because we live in a small place, we had to put the chair in the sunroom because there wasn't any extra space in the living room. Now we have a comfortable place for Pete, Josh or Dan to sleep on when they're in town.

Violated

Though the weather was nice, Thursday turned out to be a not so great day. First thing in the morning, I got a call from Corey who had found out from a neighbor that overnight our car had been broken into. Thank God for the neighbor because neither of us pass by the car on our way to the EL to take to work. The car would've sat there all day with its bashed in window and busted dash completely exposed for more vandalism or the weather which eventually turned cold and rainy.
Anyways, turns out some jerkpod, jagoff, dick tug decided to smash in the passenger window and rip out our stereo, completely effing up the dash. They didn't take any of our CD cases or what looked like a Visa card, complete with Corey's signature, which was really a gift card with less than $4 on it. These A-holes just wanted that stereo. As furious as we were, we had to stop and think... we've lived in Chicago for 2 years (2 years to the day... happy anniversary Corey) and we just now had our first break in. Not bad when you really think about it.
Of course we have insurance, though the deductible is $500, so that sucks. Turns out the damage is estimated at way over $500, so at least that parts worth it. Now we just have to live without a car for a few days. Not that it's impossible to do. A lot of people in Chicago don't have cars (the beauty of public transportation). It just makes doing some things, like grocery shopping a huge hassle. Thanks Jerkpod!

-Mo

My Hero

Miffed man pays bank bill a penny at a time

I read this article on Yahoo news and found myself identifying with this guy. I have a few entities I'd like to handle in a similar fashion. I could pay the rent this way until the landlord fully fixes the front door handle to our building or the dry cleaner across the street for their late and botched work. It just seems so satisfying!

Speaking of the dry cleaners, that reminds me. Our unfortunate experiences at the dry cleaners just across the el tracks from our building forced Mo and I to find another place for cleaning and tailoring. One stop up from us, at the Rockwell stop we found Figo. For every bit of bad service, poor work, and awful experience that is the cleaners here on Manor, Figo is the exact opposite. He's this wonderfully chatty, friendly and funny Turkish man who does good work and really cares about his customers. A real throwback. Mo and I stopped in there last night to pick up her coat. Figo had fixed the zipper for us. I mentioned that a button on my leather coat had fallen off and asked if he worked on leather. He says "Sure, here hand it to me." While I waited, Figo sewed my button back on, telling us the story of how he opened his store at this location. Oh yeah, sewing the button on? No charge.

Anyway, Figo reminded us that the Rockwell stop on the Brown Line is going to be closing for about 8 months starting in February for some major renovations. Obviously, this puts the businesses that are located there in some serious risk. There's Figo's place, a coffee/bagel place, laundromat, Rockwell's restaurant, a yoga studio and more. It's a great little neighborhood corridor and it would be a shame to lose those places. If you're in the area, especially when the Rockwell stop is closed, please make the effort to stop by and frequent these establishments. I think they're going to need all the help we can give.

- Corey