August 2002

August 2002 Newsletter

• The Trash Man
• MB Won Beer
• Lake Shelly Bike Ride
• Tax Free Shopping
• August CAC Meeting
• Green Rolling Rock
• Lake Crabtree Trails
• Rira's, EV, and the Swimming Pool
• The Signs
• Hit the Brakes!
• Lights Out
• Congrats to Stacy Riggs
• Greenway Crowd
• 3 Fish, a Boat, and a Storm
• Can you hear me now?
• Southern States Excitement
• Wolfpack Fever - Columbian Fiesta
• Summer Camp is Over
• The Test Drive
• The Other Test Drive
• The Jeep Conspiracy & Wolfpack Shutout
• Congrats to Lori & Ed

Welcome to the August 2002 hibbets.net Newsletter. If you thought July was exploding with action and fun, you've never spent the month of August with me! The summer is beginning to wind down and that only means one thing, well two things for us: Football and Surf! As you know, the Atlantic Hurricane Season starts to increase in activity towards mid-August. Then at the end of the month, college football starts which means Wolfpack home games and lots of tailgating! Oh yeah, and the NFL preseason isn't looking bad for the NY Football Giants. Read on...

OK, so I guaranteed excitement? I know July has fireworks but August started off with the big bang! The day started with a little 3 miles excursion around Lake Johnson with Jesse and Dot. Then Jesse followed me over to my place and we went downtown to pick up Merri Beth. From there, we met Courtney and Amy at the Jumbo China Buffet on Atlantic Avenue and Milbrook Road. One of our favorite lunch spots, this place has AUCE sushi and 3 buffet lines. I usually dig in the sushi, mixing and matching the different rolls and then adding in some sashimi style as well. I love their sushi and usually top that off with some ice cream. What a combination, right? Everyone else enjoyed the sushi and buffet as well as we made plans for hitting the Flying Saucer later before Alive After 5. We dispersed and went our separate ways for the time being until we gathered again later in the day.

It's later! It's 5:15 P.M. and we are at the Saucer. It's Thursday night and that means $2.50 Blue Moon brews. For those of you not familiar with Blue Moon, it's "an unfiltered wheat ale spiced in the Belgian tradition for an uncommonly smooth taste." Slap a slice of orange on your pint glass and you're good to go! I was so excited to have a night off and to be hanging out in the company of such great friends, that I mistakenly started double fisting. I always had a Blue Moon on the table along with something else. MB and I got some food eventually, which really helped out. I do remember getting a German taster tray, that consisted of 5 6-ounze glasses of German beers. Yum! Oh, and I remember our wonderful and beautiful server, Ellen. We gave Ellen hell, but we were having a blast and I think she was too. We made a good friend with Ellen that day, even though we gave her a rough time. It seemed like every time she came back to the table, someone wanted something else, whether it was a beer, water, or some food. Thanks Ellen, for putting up with our drunk asses! After we were done with the Saucer, we walked to Fayetteville Street Mall for Alive After 5. We made a pit stop at the car. I had a sandwich that I made at the house. Amy and Jesse shot-gunned some beer. We also stocked the coolers full of Miller Lite. You can bring in 6 beers inside a soft cooler and carry 2 in by hand. We finally got to the mall area. I don't know who the band was and it really didn't seem to matter. There were hot women everywhere and I was tanked. I could carry on a conversation and was feeling great until about 8:30. At this point I started feeling the effects of TOO much beer. I decided it was best for me to walk back to the car where I proceeded to sweat my ass off, even with all the windows down. The crew followed later and took me home where I power napped for about 15 minutes, had some munchies (along with everyone else) and I was ready for the next phase of the night-it just doesn't end tonight! Someone (me) had a great idea to go play some pool at Time Out Billiards up the street. So Amy, Courtney, Jesse, MB and I all walked up to the pool hall. We played pool for a little over an hour, then headed back to the house, where the night ended and I thankfully passed out!

Today started with a bike ride, not a hangover. I was smart enough the night before to intake food as I consumed and to re-hydrate myself with plenty of water before passing out. I went for a walk at Lake Johnson to start off the day. Then, during MB's lunch break, I went downtown to pick her up and we proceeded to the 96 Rock radio station studio to pick up her beer. Just to fill you in, 96 Rock is running a promotion this summer that when the temperature at their studio on their official thermometer reaches 96 degrees, they give away a case of beer. In addition to that, every 96 minutes after that, if the temperature is still 96 degrees or above, they give away another case of beer. Cool huh? Well MB was listening one day in July and got super lucky, she was caller 9 and won a case of Corona! We cashed in the winnings today and 96 Rock delivered! We walked away a case of Corona richer, miles away from ordinary.

The rest of my day was spent working on Upward Soulsitce.com. I'm still killing myself picking apart the shopping cart for this site. It's all written in ASP and uses Microsoft Access as the database. Needless to day, I'm teaching myself a lot. While working on the website, MB came home with aspirations of biking at Lake Shelley. Her aspirations came up short as she dozed off in the Hammock Chair as I was pounding away on the computer. She conveniently woke up as I was bringing her a freshly prepared plate of food for dinner.

Even though I had to work today, MB made an extra effort to get up early, well semi-early for a Saturday, and we packed up the Saturn with the bikes. MB borrowed our friend Craig Pellitier's bike, which was still in the garage from last month. We went up to Crabtree Valley and got on the Greenways. We went up to Lake Shelley, came back and even went over to the old Lassiter Mill falls. We ended up biking about 15 miles, not bad for her first ride all summer.

After the bike ride, we made it over to Cary Towncenter Mall and hit Rack Room Shoes. Both MB and I found a great pair of shoes at really good prices. MB found an awesome pair of Sketchers and I found a black pair of Vans. We enjoyed cashing in on our first Tax Free break that the NC State provided to everyone this weekend.

Merri Beth and I continued our tax free shopping today. We went to the Glenwood Avenue side of town and shopped at Wal-Mart and Crabtree Valley Mall. We cashed in on some office supplies at Wal-Mart that were part of the tax-free items. Then at Crabtree Mall, we hit Pacific Sunwear for some new clothes. Time was against us and I had to go to work, so MB drove me over to Alcatel and then she continued shopping for the rest of the day. Work was slow that night, a much needed break from the busier days.

Today there was a very important meeting for our community. The Southwest Raleigh CAC (Community Activity Council) held it's monthly meeting and several issues were discussed. As usually, the Raleigh Police Department gave us an update about what RPD was doing in the community. The officer warned us about speeding down Lake Wheeler Road, traffic monitoring showed that people were averaging 43 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. We voted on some rezoning issues. Ironically, we turned them both down because no one from either property bothered to show up. Then I updated everyone about " Paving the Future on Lineberry Drive." Basically, I informed the attendees that I sent a letter to all of the property owners detailing the situation and asking them to sign over the ROW so that we can get the road paved. We also learned about the Lake Wheeler widening project and how it's going to effect the surrounding area. Currently, the proposal to widen Lake Wheeler has been turned down by the City Council. The people who showed up at the CAC meeting informed us that the main reason the plan got rejected was due to the fact that it did not benefit anyone in the community. The proposal was a bad way for the city to spend money because the widening would benefit commuters, not city residents. Imagine that, the city turning down a plan because it was a bad way to spend money.

No change in the norm here, Merri Beth and I met the gang at the Flying Saucer for Keep the Glass night. Amy, Courtney, and Craig met us there to get the featured beer of the week, which was Rolling Rock. We sipped and enjoyed the smooth flavor of Rolling Rock from our cool green pint glasses. One glass for the cabinet, one for the wall display. You should see our collection!

Today, I packed my Giant Iguana (my bike) into the Scoupe (my car) and headed out to Aviation Parkway. I parked the Scoupe at the Lake Crabtree Park area and got my bike ready for the trails. I put on my gloves and my helmet and began exploring the wooded trails. Lake Crabtree has four loops with different difficulty levels. Some trails are for beginners and others are designated as intermediate trails. The intermediate trails have more hills, more rocks, and more roots - increasing the skill needed to ride the trails. I was wandering around loop 1 and found the connecting trail to Umstead Park. I didn't quite make it to Umstead but, instead found the Black Creek Greenway in Cary. I cruised down the Black Creek Greenway and then began back tracking. Once back at Crabtree Lake, I explored loops 1,2, and 3. I left loop 4 for another day as I totaled up 15 miles and decided it was time to go home.

The excitement started with a phone call today from Amy. She had informed me that she, Craig, and Courtney would be joining Meghan and John later that night in downtown Raleigh. The place was undetermined yet, but we would be informed later on. By the time MB got back from work, Amy had called and confirmed that we would be meeting at Rira's, an Irish Pub in the Blue Light district in Raleigh. The weather was awesome, a little bit cooler so sitting outside was a must. We gathered at Rira's around 9:30 and were still waiting on Meghan and John. We called them and found out the John was looking for his lost wallet. Unfortunately, they would not be able to join us tonight. After Rira's, we headed over to East Village (EV). I really wasn't in the mood to be out all night and it was already 11:30, however, MB and I went with the flow. We got to EV and found Craig May and his gang were already there. Coors Light was on sale for $1.25, so that's what everyone was drinking. At some point in the night, someone made a suggestion to go swimming at Courtney and Amy's. Before we did that, we hooked up with some Wing Zone Buffalo Chicken Tenders before last call. Courtney, MB, and I cruised down Hillsborough Street to the Wing Zone to get our order. We came back to EV and ate our midnight snack in the parking lot while we were waiting for everyone else to close out their tabs. Courtney rode with MB and I to our house so that we could get our swimsuits. Amy and Craig went to The Summit where they were going to wait on our arrival. We finally got there around 2:30 A.M. I forgot to mention that a cold front had came through and the temperature had dropped below 60 degrees. By the time we got to The Summit, Craig and Amy had already crashed. MB and I hung out for a little while before we drove back home. We didn't get to go swimming, the air was a little too chilly. Finally, we made it back home around 4:00 A.M. I made the mistake of getting on the computer and playing SimCity. I didn't get to bed until around 5:30, what a bummer.

MB and I slept in! After a long night out, it was much needed rest. We started the day off with a walk around the neighborhood - 2 miles. We pretty much bummed around the house until my Mom came in town from the beach. She left the beach sometime after she got off work and made the 4-hour drive to Raleigh.

When she got here, we helped her unload the car and then I started cooking dinner. Tonight I made Penne Ala Vodka - a pasta dish made with Penne pasta mixed with a marina cream sauce. You start off the sauce with some scallions, garlic, and spices. Then you put in 2 ounces of vodka and fire it up (you want to burn off the alcohol because you want the flavor, not the buzz). Finally, you add in your choice off marina sauce (or make it from scratch) and mix in a pint of half-and-half. This gives your sauce an orange-red color. I also put some chicken on the grill. We set-up the deck so that we could eat outside; we lit up the Tiki Torches, set the table, and cracked a bottle Australian Shiraz (for MB and myself since my mom does not drink). The evening was filled with the sounds of chirping crickets and the temperature was comfortable after the sun went down.

After dinner, we decided to catch a late showing of the new Mel Gibson movie, The Signs. We went to the 10:15 showing at Crossroads 20. Talk about a different perspective of the alien invasion, this thriller kept you on the edge of your seat. Although I liked the movie, I felt it took a long time to develop and seemed slow at times. Many of the scenes throughout the movie were quiet, which probably helped set the mood. The guy in front of us talking on his cell phone really pissed us off. Anyway, if you like Mel Gibson and want to see a good thriller about an alien invasion, this is a definite must see.

Rise and shine campers. Today started off on the early side of things with an eye opener bike ride to Lake Johnson. I did my normal ride of 10 miles and then came back to the house to get my backpack en route to get the Sunday paper. I came back and started some mechanical work on my mom's car. I jacked the car up and took the 2 front tires off to begin changing the brake pads. After getting the tires off and looking at the brakes, I realized that I didn't have the proper tools in order to take the brake pads off. I sent Merri Beth to Advanced Auto to get some hex tools that would fit the cylinder. While she was gone, I drained the oil, changed the oil filter, and gave the car a fresh taste of oil. By the time MB got back, I was able to finish installing the new brake pads. After that was done, I had to jet to work.

Later that day, my mom and Merri Beth came by Alcatel. I gave my mom the tour of our lab and explained a little bit about what I do in DSL TAC. After that, my mom hopped on the Beltline on her way back to the Outer Banks.

On the road again, I just love to be on the road again. Destination: Laurinburg. Purpose: Summer Camp for Dot. Merri Beth and I headed south on U.S. 1 towards Rocking B Farm. We stopped off there to pick up Wuff, one of Jim Blackwell's border collies. We were heading to meet Larry Griggs in Wadesboro, North Carolina. Sadly, we had to leave Dot there so that she could "become a woman." We like to call it summer camp because she will be gone for about a week and she got to do some "fun stuff." We left Wuff there so that he could get some additional training, basically Larry would teach Wuff some herding skills so that he could herd cows/cattle back at Rocking B.

On our way back, MB and I hit some really bad thunderstorms, but we are gladly accepting any form of rain these days. We got home and went for a quick walk. After that we picked up Jesse on our way to East Village. 96 Rock was there from 8:00-10:00 celebrating EV's 10 year anniversary. When we got there the place was packed and it was still storming really bad. The rain let up enough for us to sit outside and order some beer. Shortly after that, Courtney showed up and joined the party. We were just about to order some of the 96-cent hamburgers, hot dogs, and French-fries (a special for that night only) when the power went out. What? The power goes out, the beer is flowing, and we've got the munchies. We stayed at EV with hopes that the power would be restored quickly. However, the couple behind us said they saw the transformer at the Hillsborough Street Sub Station go up in smoke (from their seats on the deck). We were in luck though, about 50 minutes after the power went out and little glow sticks were passed out to each table, the lights came back on. As we were ordering our food, as luck would have it, the power went back out. We decided to leave and go somewhere that had power. We went back to our house and dropped off Courtney's VW Bug and piled into one car. Where to go, where to go...the Saucer. They've got food and it's $2.50 Blue Moon night. So we hit the Saucer and got some grub along with some Blue Moons. The power outage seemed to be enough drama for the evening so we called it an early night.

Stacy gave birth to a baby girl that she named Kalee Elizabeth Green. The baby was 7 lbs 8 oz. 20.75" and was born at 7:23 P.M. Stacy is a friend from high school and attended East Carolina Univsersity (ECU) while earning her teaching degree. We're very excited for you Stacy!

10 AM, Crabtree Valley Mall, Jesse, Craig, Merri Beth, and I gather far a Greenway extravaganza. MB and I got to use our new bike rack that we got this week. We started riding north along Crabtree Creek. We eventually made it to Shelley Lake and continued on the northeast end. We went to the end of the Greenway and ventured back to the lake. We finished our 10-mile ride and then talked about going to the NC State campus. This weekend happened to be move in weekend and a good opportunity to score some extra cash by helping the Freshman move into the dorms. We decided not to go through with our new business venture: 3 guys, a loaded minivan, and 10 minutes to freedom.

Later that night, MB and I got together with Steve and Nancy at the Flying Saucer. We bumped into our old roommates Steve and Dave. Steve's brother Mike was with them. We caught up with and hung out for a while. After the Saucer, Steve wanted us to follow him to this party off of Wade Avenue. MB and I were pretty tired so we didn't stay that long. I guess partying late night is going out of style with us because we just can't handle it anymore.

Merri Beth and I spent most of the afternoon at Lake Johnson. Of course, I got my usual Sunday morning bike ride in before we tackled the lake. MB and I rented a boat and started fishing in some of the coves at the lake. We got off to a slow start in the heat and sun in a remote corner at the lake. I caught one fish before we moved to another little cove. No luck over there, so we moved on. Then we started scoring. We were getting bites left and right and we caught 2 more. Suddenly, we heard some thunder and saw some weather moving towards us. We started heading back then really started paddling hard when we saw some lightning. The instant we got back to the car the rain starting coming down. We got home in the pouring ran and cleaned the fish. A first time for me - scaling and gutting the fish. We had a wholesome dinner of fried fish, hushpuppies, and broccoli.

I had to go in early to support a maintenance release of WAM (Web Access Manager) version 1.1.2 for Verizon-can you hear me now? I spent the first part of the day on a conference call with the customer and fellow Alcatel Employees. Then the rest of the morning and afternoon involved phone support for the installation of the software. By the end of the day, all the problems that we ran into seemed to be solved and the customer was up and running.

I worked a long day yesterday (over 14 hours to be exact) and left work a little early tonight in order to capture some of that time back. I met MB at the Saucer where she went with one of her co-workers, Ashley. We left MB's car at the parking deck where she parks her car for work and went up to Southern States. They are dealership for Nissan's, Hyundai's, and most importantly, Volkswagen's. I am looking to sell my Hyundai Scoupe for $2400.00 (anyone interested or know someone who is can contact me). I've been eyeing a VW Passat that they have on the lot and wanted to check out the price and the features. I am really interested in the Passat and want to test drive one really bad! Maybe sometime next week? After drooling over the Passat's at Southern States, MB and I went on a Wal-Mart run to get a spare tire for my bike. I found that I had a flat yesterday morning and wanted to repair it so that I wouldn't be tempted to get lazy. I spent the rest of the night researching Passat's on VW's website and then checking out the online selection at Carmax.

Today was the day that all Wolfpack football fans have been waiting for. We've been reading all the reviews, we are ranked 24th in the pre-season polls, and we have a killer recruiting class, 2nd in the ACC to be exact. We had the season opener today against New Mexico. The game didn't start until 4:30 and MB and I had plenty to keep us busy before the game started. We kind of slept in before we went to Cycle Magic on Hillsborough Street and got MB her birthday present. Now MB's birthday isn't until December, but I figured that she could use a good bike. I had been by previously and spotted a Raleigh M50 on sale for $299 - a steal when you see what it was packaged with. This M50 has a 16" frame and came equipped with rapid fire Shimano 24 speed gears, aluminum alloy tires, quick release tires & seat, and was packaged with a helmet, U-lock, spare tire (with bag and tools), on board air pump, water bottle, and water bottle holder. Do you think MB was excited? This was like having Christmas in August. So we already had my bike on the bike rack and decided to break in MB's new Raleigh M50 on the Western Boulevard Greenway. We hit the Greenway and meandered through the outer edges of downtown and found the connection to the Walnut Creek Greenway system. We totaled 13 miles before getting out of the heat. I think MB almost had a heat stroke because it was very humid and when we started hitting the hills she wasn't feeling so good. We finally made it back to the car where MB was glad to be done. She drove back to the house and I rode to the Centennial Greenway to Lake Wheeler adding 2.5 more miles onto my days total.

Time to tailgate. We showered up and packed the car with food, the mini grill, and a cooler full of beer. We found a parking space at the fairgrounds that was on the corner of Blue Ridge and Trinity (a very long walk for anyone who knows the area). We set up camp, chairs and umbrellas, fired up the grill, threw the burgers on, and cracked the beer. 3 hours until game time, plenty of tailgating time. We were nearing the end of tailgate session when a storm seemed to be approaching. We lazily packed up the car and started walking to Carter Finley Stadium. A few minutes after we got in the stadium the roof opened up followed by thunder and lightning. We took shelter and waited out the storm. The kickoff was delayed until 5:15 for the safety of both teams. Kickoff was right on time, the team came out of the new tunnel today, how exciting. The Wolfpack received the opening kickoff and opened up with a sly trick play from scrimmage. Rivers handed off for the double end around reverse and then the tailback passed to an open receiver...who dropped the ball and missed a chance for a touchdown. That's OK because soon we were up 7-0, then 14-0, and 21-0 at halftime. The Pack missed 1 Field Goal and failed on a 2-point conversion. We threw 1 interception and fumbled once on our way to a 34-14 victory. One down, 12 to go!

When MB and I got home from the game, Juan & Liliana had a lot of people next door. Juan yelled over to Merri Beth to "come on over!" So we went and experienced a huge culture shock - and I mean that in the best way possible. They cooked up some hamburgers and hot dogs. The Latin music was thumping, the beer was flowing, and the 'aqua-caliente' (hot water) was being passed around. The 'aqua-caliente' is Columbian liquor that is very smooth and tastes like black licorice. We probably had way too much. MB and I, after heavy refusal, started feeling the rhythm and let the Latin music move our feet. We learned how to put on some Columbian moves and danced the night away.

After a long morning of fighting off the 'aqua-caliente,' I went for my usual Sunday morning bike ride and MB, well, MB rested. She wasn't feeling well at all and was having trouble keeping down food, even water, and that was bad. We finally got on the road heading South on U.S. 1 to Laurinburg. We were very excited to finally get Dot back. We went to see Larry Griggs and thanked him for taking care of Dot over the last week. Dot was overcome with excitement, even though it was pouring down rain. We went back to Rocking B Farm and had a wonderful home cooked meal. We took some pictures of cows for the Rocking B website, rockingbfarm.com as the sun was saying goodbye to another day. MB and I drove back to Raleigh fairly late, but we were glad to have 'Little Girl' back.

I started of the day on the phone with my man Walter, from Fidelity Mortgage. I am working with him to get some funding for the new car that I want. Later that morning, I went to Southern States and met my salesman Paul. I got to test drive a GLX Passat (the fully loaded V6) and a VW Jetta 1.8 Turbo. I liked both cars but enjoyed the Passat a lot better compared to the Jetta. We went inside and I told Paul what I wanted, gave him an offer, and then played the waiting game. Paul and his team were searching up and down the East Coast for the car that I wanted. Stayed tuned for next month's edition of hibbets.net news to find out what I finally get.

I grilled some fresh Tuna and MB and I enjoyed a cool evening on the back deck. While we were eating, we were stunned when a Humming Bird joined us while enjoying the fragrance of one of our moonvine flowers. After dinner, we picked up Jesse on our way to Pint Nite at the Flying Saucer. We hung out there for a little while and then left as the place was starting to get busy. We swung by the house and dropped MB off. Jesse and I went up to Time Out Billiards and traded off wins for about an hour before calling it a night.

After work today, MB went over to Cary Auto Park and started looking at the used Jeeps that they had on the lot. She was approached by a salesman, Jovan, that eagerly wanted to put her in the driver's seat. MB found a red Jeep Grand Cherokee that was under 40K in mileage. Jovan convinced her to take it for a test drive, so she did. So loved it right away! She got home and called me at work, telling me all about this vehicle. I tried to tell her not to get her hopes up, but that was almost impossible.

So today was my turn to test drive the Jeep. Of course, it was pouring down rain, which is the best weather to have for a test drive. I drove it around Cary and Apex and I liked the car a lot too. Not as much as MB though! We came ready to deal and MB wanted to trade in her '93 Saturn SL2. We toyed around with Jovan, told him we wanted a hitch put on and finally got a reasonable price. MB drove the Jeep off the lot heading home, and the rain was still coming down.

We got home and just chilled at the house. We decided that we weren't going to tailgate for the Wolfpack game since the rain was not going to stop any time soon. I had measured over 6 inches of total accumulation over the course of this past week. I worked on the computer for a while and MB read and took a nap. I think she mostly took a nap. Finally, we got the ponchos and geared up for a rain filled evening at Carter Finley Stadium. We arrived at the game towards the end of the first quarter. NC State was up 21-0 already! We watched the Wolfpack roll onto a 34-0 victory over East Tennessee State. Margie was at the game with her dad and MB and I visited them during halftime and sat with them during the 3rd quarter. We saw T.A. score his first collegiate touchdown and then got a glimpse of our second string. By the way, we were soaked by the end of the game, Go Wolfpack!

Lori gave birth to Jaime Ann Marie Biggy (middle name Ann Marie is still being discussed) August 31, 2002, 6:28 pm weighing in at 2 lbs. 7 oz., 14 inches long. The baby is in neo-natal care but is doing fine and she will be able to come home towards the end of October. By the way, Lori is my aunt from my dad's side of the family, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Coming Up...

In next month's newsletter, find out what kind of VW Passat Jason gets, the exciting news surrounding Wolfpack football, and much more. Here are some special dates that we are looking forward to:

• Labor Day Weekend August 31 - Septmeber 2, 2002
• NY Giants vs. San Fransisco 49^ers - Septmeber 5, 2002
• NCSU @ Navy - Septmeber 7, 2002
• Melissa Vaughn and Tony Canale's Wedding - September 8, 2002
• SW Raleigh CAC Meeting - Septmeber 9, 2002
• NCSU vs. Wake Forest - Septmeber 14, 2002
• Flying Saucer Pint Nite 7:00 P.M.Septmeber 16, 2002
• NCSU @ Texas Tech - Septmeber 21, 2002
• NY Giants vs. Seattle Seahawks - Septmeber 22, 2002
      May be attending our first NFL game in East Rutherford, N.J.
• NCSU vs. Massachusetts - Septmeber 28, 2002

Updated links:

• No Updated pages this month - I've been working on everyone else's websites.