October 2002

Welcome to the October 2002 hibbets.net Newsletter. This month has brand new stuff - and I mean brand new! Fall is on the way, that means one thing here in Raleigh, well two: Wolfpack football and State Fair time!
Web Updates (updated links):
  • Pictures of the new Passat are on the web - from every possible angle. Don't miss the excitement of getting a new car!
  • I have been devoting most of my spare time to upwardsoulstice.com. Check out my first try at a business website with a shopping cart.
  • Stay updated with "Paving the Future on Lineberry Drive" - Daily Log
  • The tropics are winding down, check out Storm Alert for any last season hurricanes.

Headlines
Wednesday ,October 2, 2002 - VW Driver Found
vw Everything was in order. Bob King VW has my car on the lot and they were getting everything ready for me. Jesse joined Merri Beth and I in the Jeep and we headed to Wilmington, NC. I signed all the paperwork and was ready to drive away in my new Passat, BUT, it wasn't ready yet. Bummer. In the meantime, Jesse and MB went over to Wrightsville Beach to get a head start on some beach time. The nice people at Bob King gave me a loaner car, of course it was a GLX (fully loaded, V6, leather, etc.) and made me a little jealous. I really have no need for all those bells and whistles but it was a nice car.
So I joined MB and Jesse at Wrightsville and the surf wasn't bad!! I grabbed my board and hit the waist to stomach high surf. I got a few hours of surf down, and the crowd wasn't very bad today either. I hung out on the beach while MB was sun bathing and Jesse and I were overloaded on the radar. I mean, for not being the summer time, the scenery was a-bun-dantly plentiful. So it was time to leave soon and I even got to see Bates and his sister Valerie. They were able to stop by as we were packing up the car. I got the loaner back to the dealership without a scratch. My sales person, Jennifer, gave me the quick rundown of my new Passat and I was off. This car was flying up I-40 and I had to stay behind MB so that I wouldn't get a speeding ticket. You can see the many different angles of the new 2003 GLS Passat in my photo album.
Friday, October 4, 2002 - South Mountain Waterfall
Fall is starting and the leaves are just starting to change. Merri Beth and I were invited to go to the Morganton, NC with Jesse. His grandfather has a cabin in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains outside of Pisgah National Forest. We made the 3.5 hour drive to Morganton from Raleigh and were greeted by Jesse's grandmother Mary Alice. She prepared a wonderful home-cooked, country meal complete with fresh garden vegetables, corn bread, and banana pudding to name a few items. The meal was a feast to us and we were very thankful. After our late lunch, we drove over to South Mountain State Park and climbed the 1-mile trail to the top of South Mountain. We were amazed at the natural, 50-foot, mountain spring waterfall. The surrounding area was beautiful and was almost too much to take in. We made the trek back down the trail and enjoyed the informational trail along the trout filled stream at the bottom. After successfully working off our grand meal, we headed to the other side of the county to the location of the cabin. Finally, we reached our destination, got off the beaten path, settled in, and cooked some dinner. After dinner there wasn't much to do. There was no electrical power, but we had gas powered lights, a gas powered stove & refrigerator, and running water in the cabin compliments of the stream outside. A deck of cards and a battery powered radio kept us occupied for the rest of the evening.
Saturday, October 5, 2002 - Destination Table Rock and Linville Falls
Sausage, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast were cooked to start the day. We were excited to be here and got ready for the day. We took a 40 minute drive along a winding, gravel road to the parking area for Table Rock. We started walking the trail to the top, 45 minutes later we were looking at the surrounding scenery. We chilled out on the top for about an hour then started on the way back down. To see our pictures from Table Rock, please visit hibbets.net Trips in our photo album later in November.
[hibbets.net Trips]
Sample of Table Rock 		[hibbets.net Trips]
Sample of Linville Falls
We made the short drive to Linville Falls, which is in the Linville Gorge. There were three different "look-out" points that we went to. One is on the upper falls and the other two are higher up, but give you a view of the entire valley. After seeing the Linville Falls, we drove further up the mountain to Wiseman View. What an awesome spectacle! You could see everything, Table Rock, Hawks Bill peak, Short-Off Mountain, and much more! Highly recommended for you to go see. The colors were just starting to come out so if you time it right, you can get an amazing array of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens. To see our pictures from Linville Falls and Wiseman's View, please visit hibbets.net Trips in our photo album in November.
Sunday, October 6, 2002 - One Year of Marriage
Well we made it, what can I say. And did you have any doubts? I didn't! We drove back from the mountains, reflecting on what a great time we had. We did some major hiking on Saturday and were feeling the soreness today. All for a good cause - some breathtaking views. Jesse and I had to hurry up and get to work. I took a half-day vacation and surprised Merri Beth when she got home from seeing Sweet Home Alabama with Courtney. We had dinner and watched the Scorpion King on DVD. Not much of an eventful night, but we spent time together and enjoyed each others' company, which is all that matters. To see pictures from out wedding, please see http://hibbets.net/wedding.
Tuesday, October 8, 2002 - T.S. Kyle makes a Swell Impression
Early eyed on I-40 before the sun comes up. I was making my way to Wilmington to rendezvous with Tropical Storm Kyle. I picked up Bates, who now lives in Wilmington, and we checked the disappointing surf in Wrightsville and Carolina Beach. The swell had not arrived yet and it was high tide. We went back to his place and I crashed until lunchtime. I decided to go check the surf again and Bates had some other things to take care of so he couldn't check the surf. I rolled up to access 24 and saw chest high plus, semi bumpy, side-chop surf. Why not? I drove 2 hours to get here and didn't want to go back empty handed. The wind was strong out of the North East and the current was super strong drifting north to south. I walked down to access 22 and paddled out. Duck diving was a must and was frequent, but I finally made it to the outside and caught a few warm-up waves. By the time I realized it, I had drifted to access 26 and decided to get out, walk up the beach, and paddle back out. The wind had started to lighten up and the tide was really starting to drop off. I was able to fight the drift a little bit and caught a lot of waves on this mini-session. The highlights of my day included a head high set wave, which swallowed me up for this huge backside barrel and a backside wave that I almost completed a backside vertical on. On my vertical, I did this sweet bottom turn, then wound up for the snap, when my board was completely straight on the lip of the wave I got caught in the whitewash of the oncoming lip and couldn't finish my rotation. I ended up diving head first (hands in front) right into the sandbox. I walked up the beach one more time for one last session and left when the wind starting picking up and I was too tired to paddle any more. I was back in Raleigh to work for a half a day, not much excitement there.
Friday, October 11, 2002 - A Night at Mitch's
If you can climb the long narrow steps past the hidden, wooden door on Hillsborough Street next to the old McDonalds, then you deserve a beer. The stairway to Mitch's leads to an aroma of laughter and good times. Merri Beth and I met Rob & Anne, Adrian & Joanna, and Ben at Mitch's for a small celebration dedicated to Anne. The short story is that Anne was looking at the bottom of a shot glass for most of the evening, and if she wasn't doing that, she was keeping everyone else's beer full. Happy Birthday Anne, we had a great time hanging out with you and everyone else tonight!
Saturday, October 12, 2002 - Rivalary on the Grid Iron
This is the biggest game of the year! Forget Florida State, don't worry about Clemson or Georgia Tech either. This is the Carolina game. The game that every State fan watches in horror and bites finger nails in the process. You lose this game, you lose bragging rights for the rest of the year (or maybe until basketball season). The game was at 12:00 P.M. and in Keenan stadium, Chapel Hill, NC. We had the game on TV and Steve came over for the first half of the game. The Wolfpack scored on the opening drive 7-0, but UNC played with a little more passion in the first half. At halftime, things weren't looking too good, UNC up 10-7. After halftime, Carolina came out and showed they still meant business. The Wolfpack were now down by 10. But then something happened. Our offense called 6 running plays in a row and Rivers took the ball in from the 1-yard line for the touchdown. Now it's time for some defense and they came through - BIG! Durrant fumbled the ball and State recovered on the Carolina 4-yard line. TA scored and a team that was down by 10 just a few minutes ago now lead 20-17. UNC would fail to score for the remainder of the day and State took home the victory 34-17 to improve their record 7-0.

After the game, MB and I packed up the Passat, took Dot over to Amy's house and swung by Babies 'R' Us to get a baby shower gift for my Aunt Lori (my dad's sister) who just had Jamie Biggie last month. We were heading North to the Meadowlands for the remainder of the weekend. We took the long drive North on I-95. Toll road after a toll road, bridges and tunnels, and finally the NJ Turnpike. We arrived at my Aunt Francine's (my mom's sister) house around 2:00 A.M. We were beat but were looking forward to seeing the New York Giants game at Giants Stadium the next day.
Sunday, October 13, 2002 - My First NFL Game-Giants vs. the Dirty Birds
The morning came quick and the excitement of Sunday football was in the air. We first went to see my Aunt Lori and Uncle Ed. We brought our shower gift and also got to see my Aunt Debbie. We talked for a short while and saw some pictures and video of the new baby. They were ecstatic to finally be bringing home the baby after her being in pre-natal care for the last month. MB and I left Rutherford and headed back to Lyndhurst to get ready for the Giants game. My aunt and uncle dropped us off near the stadium. You could feel the excitement in the air as we got closer to the gates. We made our way to Gate C and went through security and into the stadium. Our seats were allllllll the way at the top, the very last row, I mean if were went back another row we'd be outside the stadium. But the seats were great! We could see the entire field and we didn't have any drunk fans spilling beer and peanuts on us. The weather held out for us, no rain, not much wind. Too bad we couldn't see a Giants victory today, they lost 17-10. Unfortunately, Michael Vick was injured and we didn't get to see him play for the Atlanta Falcons. After the game we got up with Brian and his girlfriend, INSERT NAME. They gave us a ride back to Lyndhurst and we went out to dinner with Frank and Francine. We hooked it up at this little Italian place and got stuffed! Then back to North Carolina. We got back to Raleigh in the wee hours of the morning, right around 3 o'clock - 8 hours baby!
Friday, October 18, 2002 - Acorn Dodgers
The fall season is already here in Raleigh, but the cool air and coloring trees that loose their leaves and acorns did not stop Jesse and me from biking. We got up today and rode to Lake Johnson for a 10-mile round trip. Jesse hadn't biked in a while and had quite the exasperating time getting over to my place. I replenished him with some aqua and we took to the streets. The ride was great and it felt refreshing to get back on the bikes. After the ride, Jesse went to Charlotte for a Korn concert. He had a blast! I was getting ready for a huge day at the fair grounds, Duke was coming to town and the NC State Fair was wide open.
Saturday, October 19, 2002 - Devil of a Day
There's only one other thing in life that motivates me more to get up early in the morning besides surfing, and that's football, NC State football to be more exact. I mean, you can't beat drinking beer with your sausage, egg, & cheese croissanwich at 9:00 A.M. in the morning for a 12:00 o'clock game, can you? Today was more jam packed that you think. Jesse and my sister came over and we were leaving Hotel Ramsgate by 8:00 A.M. Merri Beth obtained a livestock parking pass from Bubba and we were heading to the fair grounds. We took the long way down Trinity and found Rob, Chris, and Adrian at the Northeast corner of the Trinity Farms parking area. We dropped off the coolers, chairs, and other tailgating goods as we jumped back in the Jeep, like some sort of weird drive-by. We continued down the road towards the livestock parking area where the muddy parking spaces awaited us. A brisk morning had us chilled, but we were focused on the sunny mid 60's weather promised by the weatherman. We said hello to Jim & Beth Blackwell and got Jenni to tag along. Across the fairgrounds we hiked and we found Rob and the boys waiting for us, already downing a few.

Our tailgating spot turned out to be grand. A gang of State Fans enjoyed the harmony of the early morning. Rob, Chris, Adrian, Jesse, Katie, Jenni, MB, and myself, joined some of Chris's AGR fraternity brothers. We were on the corner spot and we watched State Fair and game traffic slowly roll by. By 10 o'clock, we were singing songs and waving our beers at the sometimes-dazed onlookers. We even got to the point where we would yell "State Fair" as the families would wave to us. Rob even handed out beer to the hard working truck drivers who gave us a little "Honk, Honk. "

Game time! Marching to the stadium in a sea of red and white, it was going to be a proud day for NC State, or was it an early Halloween? Duke played with passion and gave the Wolfpack somewhat of a wake-up call. Duke lost the game on the last play of the game when their come from behind victory fell short and wide left. The Wolfpack skimmed out Carter Finley with a 24-22 win over Duke, but went on to match the school record best start ever, at 8-0.

After the game we got our belongings out of Adrian's Xterra and did a little hitchhiking along Trinity Road until Merri Beth rounded the corner to pick us up. We headed back into the NC State Fair for some Blue Ribbon Fun. We checked out some of the exhibits and, of course, some of the livestock. Jesse was stoked to pet some sheep, hogs, and cows. Exhausted, we left the fair and took Jesse and Katie back to our house. We let Dot out and then MB and I headed back to get up with the folks by the Rocking B area in the cow barn. The family and friends enjoyed seeing us but we were hungry and wanted some grub. Nothing beats a late night snack at Crowley's - You Talkin' Good Times, You Talking Crowley's. MB hooked it up with some Baby Back ribs while I plucked into a little chicken parmesan. My man Kurt was at the bar tonight and it was great to talk and catch up with him. We hadn't been to Crowley's since Ryan Heatons' friend got a DUI way back in June. Kurt did us right and Crowley's was a great way to cap off the day.
Sunday, October 20, 2002 - Lazy Sunday
If you can't guess the first thing I did today, then you don't read the newsletter enough. Lake Johnson and back, 10 miles on the bike - broken record, right? I love it though. I might be groggy and want to sleep in, but when I get back I feel charged up and energized for the rest of the day. Adrian & Joanna were coming over today. Adrian and I set it up yesterday while tailgating for the State game. I was making Caesar Salad and Adrian & Joanna brought over some bread and a pastry dessert from Panera's. Lunch was good, but the lettuce we had was a little bitter so I was slightly disappointed. After that, the girls went to Target and Adrian and I busted out some web work on Steve's website, upwardsoulstice.com. Adrian was helping me with some ASP code and some SQL database stuff. We also discussed using PayPal on the website, which seemed like the best-fit solution for what Steve needs for his business right now. As we were wrapping things up, the girls got back from the shopping and my Mom had gotten in from Kill Devil Hills. Shortly after that, Katie came over. We had a full house! We said our good byes to Adrian & Joanna and I thanked Adrian many times for his help on the web site. My mom and sister watched a DVD while I did some more web work. Later on, Mom took Katie back to her dorm and got to see her room. When she got back I cooked Mom some much-anticipated Taco Salad. We watched The Lord of the Rings on DVD, well the first 2 hours of it, and couldn't stay up any longer.
Monday, October 21, 2002 - Blue Ribbon Fun - Day 1
Today was the day to go to the fair. If you remember from the last newsletter, MB was going to be scooping elephant poop today. Well, not quite, but she was working at the NCDA Standards Division booth giving out free weight. Jump on the scale, slide in the punch card, and get you actual weight, free of charge. In this corner, weighing in at 166 pounds, DSL terrorizer, web maniac, and Lake Johnson freak, Jason, The Wam Man, Hibbets. And in this corner, weighing in at *** censored *** pounds, his wonderful wife, cooker of fine steaks, a lightning fast reader, and DVD evangelist, Merri Beth, Elephant Scooping Professional, Hibbets. Ding, Ding, Ding! I took my Mom and sister to the fair today, arriving sometime in the afternoon when Katie was already out of class. We just walked around and saw some of the exhibits and met up with Merri Beth as she was leaving the NCDA booth for the day. We checked out the 653-pound pumpkin that was on display as well as some of the other large produce. The fair enticed us for another hour or so before we headed back. I cooked up some chicken fried rice and MB and I headed to the Saucer. My Mom and Katie went out shopping and to a movie. MB and I hooked up with the usual suspects at the Saucer. Tonight was a little different though because it was Craig Pellitier's birthday. MB and I picked up Jesse and arrived first. We got a table and waited for the others to join. Amy, Courtney, and the birthday boy arrived shortly after we did. Then Mehgan & John rolled up into the Saucer. We were having a great time and the night turned out to be full of surprises. Maurice crashed the party and told us all about what's been going on with his life. (We don't see Maurice too much since he left Alcatel because he travels a lot and works from his home in Durham.) Our night was topped off when Craig stood at the head of the table and spelt his entire name - with his arms and head! What a trip! The night turned out to be a blast and Ben even flew in for a quick pint. Jesse got pretty hammered and was falling asleep at the table. Holly (our beer wench) thought it was cute when she went to give Jesse his check and he had his head folded in his arms on the table and looked up at her in a drunken haze. That was the only sign I needed to know that it was time to go home.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - Blue Ribbon Fun - Day 2
Jenni and Beth Blackwell drove into Raleigh sometime last night. This was the day Jenni had been anticipating for her entire show season. The State Fair Open Show was hers for the taking. MB woke me up early, this is becoming a trend that I'm starting not to like, but supporting family is very important to me so I wake up and fight off the urge. Mom, MB, and I are ready by 8:00 A.M. Ann comes over and waits for us to depart. We are waiting on Courtney, Jesse, and Amy, but they never showed. We told them the bus was leaving at 8:00 so we waited until quarter after. Mom and I took the Passat and waited for Merri Beth and Ann to pick us up on Hillsborough Street in front of Dorton Arena. We were in the gate with the livestock pass. The show started at 9:00 A.M. Not to bore you with the minor details, but this is how the show goes...

They classify the cows by breed and then by when they were born. The cows that are entered in the same class are shown against each other in different rounds. The winner of each round is shown in the champion show where the judge selects a Champion and a Reserve Champion for that round.

We sat on the cold bleachers until around noon, cheering on Jenni with the rest of the Rocking B gang. MB's Department Supervisor, Winston Sutton, even stopped by for a few rounds and offered his support. Here is a list of all the categories that Jenni placed in and her placings:
  • Winter Heifer Calves, calved Nov. 1 - Dec. 31, 2001
       1st - JLAB Lonesome Dove 910L ET
  • Senior Heifer Calves, calved Sept. 1 - Oct 31, 2001
       1st - JLAB Duchess 901L ET
  • Heifer Calf Champion Round
       Reserve Champion Heifer Calf - JLAB Lonesome Dove 910L ET
  • Junior Yearlings, calved Jan. 1 - Feb. 29, 2001
       1st - TAU JLAB Karleen 133L
  • Intermediate Heifer Champion Round
       Reserve Intermediate Champion Heifer - TAU JLAB Karleen 133L
  • Winter Yearlings, calved Nov. 1 - Dec. 31 2000
       1st - TJB Vanity Fair
  • Senior Heifer Champion Round
       Senior Champion Heifer - TJB Vanity Fair
  • 2-Year Old Cow/Calf Jan. 1 - Aug. 21, 2000
       1st - TJB Miss Brooke 162F ET
       Cow/Calf Champion - TJB Miss Brooke 162F ET
  • Grand Champion Female Round
       Grand Champion Female - TJB Vanity Fair
  • Spring Bulls, calved Mar. 1, 2002 or after
       1st - MR Jack Daniel Black 107M
  • Get-of-Sire
       1st - Rocking B Farm
  • Best 4 Head
       1st - Rocking B Farm
Way to go Jenni! After the show, MB had to go back to work and she took Ann back to the house. Mom and I stayed at the fair and walked around. We went to some of the exhibits that we didn't see yesterday, went to the garden show, and saw the village of yesteryear. We walked around and enjoyed the main midway by playing the dime game. I won a Welch's juice glass on my first dime. Out of the 50 cents that I threw, I won the glass and a small plate, and mom didn't score anything. We left the fair and picked up some Papa Johns for lunch. Afterwards, I uploaded the pictures from the cow show and put them on the Rocking B website. You can check them out at rockingbfarm.com/gallery. Katie got out of class and came over. Her and Mom went out again to see one of mom's friends. Merri Beth got back from work and we headed back to the cow barn at the fair. We hung out with the proud winners and then went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Table for 20 please! We had a huge table which means we had a lot of fun!
Wednesday ,October 23, 2002 - Rocking the Wicked Pete's
Back to work today. My five days off went by in the blink of an eye. So today wasn't a total loss. I usually listen to 96 Rock on the radio and Andyman was giving away cases of Pete's Wicked Ale. Tonight's beer for brains question was "What would you do for a case of beer? " I called in and told him I would dress up as Rob Zombie (currently doing a promotion for Halloween with Pete's Wicked) and pick him up from the studio and we would drive to the Brewery and get some fresh brews. Either I was the first caller that he had or everyone else's stories sucked because he gave the case of beer to me. Crack! Sip! Ahhhhhh!
Thursday, October 24, 2002 - Life in Death Valley
The undefeated Wolfpack traveled to Clemson, South Carolina to do battle in front of a national audience. Clemson was going to try and prevent the 8-0 Wolfpack from making a record school start. The game started pretty close, but the Wolfpack eventually took over. Clemson was embarrassed 38-6 with their only touchdown coming on a buffed return kickoff by their special teams players. Our defense was so outstanding tonight that they prevented Clemson from scoring any points, including a 2-point conversion. The Wolpack improve their National Rankings and improve to a school record, 9-0 start. Georgia Tech is next on the list and it's in Raleigh on November 2, 2002!
Saturday, October 26, 2002 - Rockytop Dance Fever
Jenni and her friend Katie were in town and they had a big dance competition at the State Fair in the Folk Festival Tent. Jenni and Katie had put together an outstanding clogging routine that they choreographed themselves. MB drove them to the fair grounds at 8:00 AM. I couldn't handle another early morning, so MB came back for me later. We watched most of the dancing (clogging, square, and other various "folk" dances) for the first show. After Jenni and Katie put on a flawless performance, we walked around the fair and indulged in some greasy fair food. We went back for the second performance of the day where my sister Katie met us with her digital camera. I got some pictures of the girls on stage and they were great again! Finally, all the folk festival stuff was over for us and we could enjoy the rest of the fair.

Blue Ribbon Fun - Day 3
We checked out the midway and walked through some exhibits. We got some free peanuts, hush puppies, and some Cheerwine. Then we bought some Mt. Olive pickles and went over to the Kerr-Scott building to look at more exhibits. Finally, we made it over to the main midway where we rode some rides. Certainly not the highlight of the night and the "Carnies" tend to be a little pushy. Plus, I personally don't trust most fair rides. We rode the Evolution, the Tango, and Crazy Mouse when we decided that we were ready to go. My sister had left before the Crazy Mouse to go meet her boyfriend Owen and the other Katie had left with her boyfriend and his family after the dancing was over. MB, Jenni, and I went home and ordered 100 Hooters hot wings and watched the movie "O' Brother Where Art Thou. " I can still taste the hot wings and I can still hear that song by "The Soggy Bottom Boys. "
Thursday, October 31, 2002 - Halloween Spooks
Halloween was a dud this year. We didn't have as many trick or treaters as we did last year. And to top that off, half the ones that we did have didn't even dress up. But don't fear, we have a plan for those kids that don't make the effort. We figure that if they don't make an attempt to dress up, then we give them shitty candy. We save old candy from Easter and Christmas and hand them out to the kids who fail to celebrate Halloween. I didn't get to have that fun this year since I was working, but MB came through! She even said that some kids were fighting over the Easter Eggs! Trick or treat? [Wolf]
Happy Halloween!
October Wolfpack Football
Date Rank Opponent Home/Away W/L Score
10.05.2002 #14 Bye - - -
10.12.2002 #11 UNC Away W 34-17
10.19.2002 #10 Duke Home W 24-22
10.26.2002 #9 Clemson Away W 38-6
Standings as of 10.31.02: 9-0 , ACC: 4-0 Ranked: #8

Coming Up...

In next month's newsletter, tackle the issues of the Wolfpack's great season, find out about Thanksgiving with the Hibbets, and try to get in the newsletter by hanging out with us. Here are some special dates that we are looking forward to:

  • Georgia Tech @ NC State - November 2, 2002
  • Steve Long's Sierra Drive Farewell Party - November 2, 2002
  • Get out and Vote - November 5, 2002
  • NC State @ Maryland - November 9, 2002
  • Veteran's Day - November 11, 2002
  • NC State @ Virginia - November 16, 2002
  • Florida State @ NC State - November 23, 2002
  • Thanksgiving Day - November 28, 2002

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