October, 2009

Kellie and I hosted a birthday party for Kellie’s sister, Allison, last Friday night. We made some tasty white chicken chili paired with a white table wine from Menage a Trois – very good. After stuffing ourselves with dinner, the ladies played cards while the guys played video games. I hadn’t played Smash Bros on the Wii in ages.

On Saturday, I undertook a project that I’ve been both dreading and looking forward to: a brake upgrade on the Audi TT. Back in July, I was informed by the dealership that my brakes were nearly expired… and they wanted $1400 to fix them. I sourced some better parts on the aftermarket for a fraction of that and they’ve been sitting in the garage ever since. I spent five hours on Saturday (including a trip to Autozone for a 7mm hex 3/8 socket and Sears for a new jack – it started leaking oil on the first lift and died halfway up the second lift) and three hours on Sunday (including another trip to Autozone for a 8mm hex 3/8 socket). Even if I valued my time at $125 an hour, I still came out ahead. They look so much better and work perfectly so far.

Before

During

After

It’s been a little while since I’ve updated so here’s what I’ve been up to. The weekend of the 10th, I attended Hope’s Homecoming activities and my class’ five year reunion. It was a full day packed with fun things to do and catching up with several old friends. We had brunch in the morning followed by our class picture. After some exploring of campus, we headed to the football game and tailgating/picnic’ing. Some warm hot chocolate was in order afterward so we patronized JPs before attending the class party at New Holland Brewery. Here are some photos!

http://picasaweb.google.com/chad.kettner/HopeHomecoming5YearReunion

Last week went by in a blur. I had two quick days in the office and spent Wednesday and Thursday working out of the High Point, North Carolina office. I caught the corporate jet down and back so it was a breeze but still very busy… I even made it to class Thursday night. Friday morning we left for Traverse City on our annual wine and color tour. It was a beautiful weekend full of wining and dining, shopping, visiting friends, and of course, relaxing. For photos, check the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chad.kettner/WineColorTour2009

Sorry to keep it short but I’m writing this between running jobs at work. Yes, still working at 10 PM!

I learned how to cut and install trim this weekend – spending a good chunk of Saturday with a miter saw, hammer and nails. Here is the finished result.