Aaron Ewer

Decided to drag the Harley out of the garage and take a look at what shape it’s in. Tried to crank it up but it would not start for nothing. So I cleaned everything that needed cleaning and it still looks great for an old lady.

I’m pretty sure that it needs a new generator, so I’ll load her up on the trailer and haul her down to Ray’s. He is the only one I trust with my bike. Ray is the best in town, so he stays busy. I hope he can get a few minutes to work on my bike over the next week or two. I might start riding that to the office on casual Fridays. The gas expense for running the bike will be about $3.00 instead of the $12 it costs to drive the Tahoe down there and back every day.

Gas has gone up over $1.25 per gallon in the last 8 months. My weekly gas expenses have gone through the roof! I can’t carpool and there is no public transportation, so what’s a guy to do? Decide what car is going to best serve your overall needs and take good care of it. If you have to cut back somewhere, don’t cut back on car maintenance.

I love my Chevy Tahoe and I’m not ditching it for a tin can on wheels with good gas mileage. Instead, I’ll keep the oil changed at 3,000 miles, I’ll check the air pressure in the tires so I get the best gas mileage. And instead of paying $30 for a car wash, I’ll start doing my own car washing and detailing on the weekends.

Found a great site for all the professional products I’ll need to wash my own cars at home, called Lanes Professional Car Products. I’m putting in an order for car polish, wax, tire black, bug remover - all kinds of magic potions to keep my Tahoe looking new in one pre-assembled kit. It’s everything I need for the exterior, interior and even the bucket, brushes and towels. There’s an extra discount on the new car detailing kit, plus free shipping, so I’m getting a great deal on the products and they will pay for themselves after just a couple cleanings in my driveway compared to what I’d pay at the full service car wash.

Stopped for gas (ouch ouch ouch) and the station had a Subway Sandwich shop inside, so I decided to get a sub for lunch. It’s a nice change from a burger.

My favorite sub shop around here is actually Jersey Mikes Subs. They slice the meat fresh in front of you and the subs are full of meat, not just bread. They have an easy way to order up the fixings you want on the sub - just order it “Mike’s Way” and there’s no more discussion or decisions. They fix it right and out the door you go.

Subway is OK but if they slice the meats any thinner they will become transparent. I like the bigger variety of toppings they have and the variety of dressings. But it’s a lot of bread and not much meat. And their new pizzas? Fuggetaboutit.

Either I have to go buy a Mother’s Day present tomorrow and get it in the mail to my mom, or I need to order something for her online. I wish it was as easy as sending her flowers, but since she has a lot of trouble with hayfever and allergies, I don’t send flowers or plants to her.

A friend of mine mentioned on her blog that she was using a website called Collectibles Today to shop for her Mother’s Day gifts, so I surfed on over and liked the variety of gift items and wonderful mothers day gifts they have.

Usually I can select a nice pair of earrings or a necklace for her and know that she will appreciate the gift and actually wear the jewelry. Over the years I have given her several different jewelry items and she has quite a collection of nice things. Back in her day, everything had to be completely coordinated, the shoes match the purse, the necklace is a certain style depending on the neckline of the dress or blouse, the earrings had to match the necklace, etc. She was always a fashion forward woman and I love her sense of style.

I’ll order this cute necklace and have them ship it to her house in Maryland, then I’ll try to arrange a day off over Mother’s day weekend so I can drive up and spend the day with her. Maybe we can go out to a nice brunch or dinner, too. It will be nice to have some time with her and Mother’s Day is the perfect excuse to do it.

I do like to cook, although most of what I do is on the gas grill outside rather than in the kitchen. I am a big meat and potatoes type, but then again I do like salads. Just not a big fan of many cooked vegetables. And I stay away from most breads and cakes - I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

When I’m in the actual kitchen, I love to make a big pot of chili or a pot of stew in the crock pot. I also have a detailed recipe from a true Italian mama for her spaghetti sauce. It takes all day to make it - everything fresh and lots of stirring, but I make enough for months and freeze most of it.

Breakfast is another way to get me into the kitchen. I can do anything, from waffles to crepes to breakfast burritos or omelets. I love breakfast and sometimes fix it for dinner.