See how the mighty can fall

So the "Rockin' Miami/Purdue weekend" didn't turn out quite how we planned it...

Sis and Jacob picked me up Friday night and suprised me with a pumpkin from a drive-through farm supply and a set of "Bobby's World" dvds...talk about a blast from the past. We drove to Indianapolis in the evening, to stay in a hotel with the "Death Box" elevator. We spend the whole night running around a frosty and dark Indy taking random pictures of random stuff (Rocky style pose at the top of the RCA dome stairs, for example). We took a horse-drawn carriage ride through downtown Indy to see the sights with Harry and his horse, Blue. There was one incident where two random thugs tried to jump us in the park, but we high-tailed it out of there before they could start something...

Suprisingly, we got up around 10 without a hitch and hit the road to seek out the Indy Children's Museum (a place I visited a few times as a little kid). We spent four hours there exploring all four floors, including the Planetarium, Scienceworks, the polar bear, and the massive water clock. The last time I had my picture taken in front of the polar bear I think I was in seventh grade. It might be interesting to figure out how to post pictures and do a comparison when Sis gets the pictures developed. Opinions?

Car trouble started when we left the Children's Museum. A small leak of black fluid developed in the right front side of the car. We called dad and he thought it was just the power steering fluid...safe to drive home on, but something to get fixed. Dinner in a trolley car at "the Old Spaghetti Factory", and we hop in the car to head back to Purdue. Right before we get onto the highway the engine light pops on and smoke billows from the hood.

So we're now broken down in front of a strange abandonded schoolhouse on the outskirts of a strange city. It's really cold, we have no clue what's wrong with the car, the sun is setting, and the reservation at the next hotel is now out of range. Jacob's cellphone slowly dies as he valiantly tries to call AAA for help, only to be transfered and rerouted. As the last minutes of juice are used up, we managed to call the non-emergency police. Two patrol officers and a security van pull up, and we procure a tow truck. Hours later, a guy pulls up with his white tow truck, and the three of us pile into a seat meant for one person. *Creepy moment* as the driver, Ron, starts to ask us about religion...yeah. Let's tell the strange man who holds our fates in his hands that he's with a Jew, Agnostic, and an Atheist. Probably just my imagination.

Ron drops us and my Camry off at a Pep Boys in the outskirts of Indy where we plead the mechanic, Greg, to squeeze one more car for repairs in, about 1 hour before close. We then walk a few blocks to a Signature Inn which thankfully had vacancies, unlike all the Indy hotels. I collapse in the room just in time to catch the last three minutes of the Purdue/Wisconsin game.

We're leading 17-14...a little close for comfort, but I'm glad and proud to be winning. Then, the unthinkable happens- star QB Kyle Orton fumbles the ball, and the Badgers pick it up and run it for a touchdown. In an instant, our undefeated streak, momentum for the bowl game, and probably Orton's Heisman hype were viciously cut out from underneath us as the game took an ugly turn. I was cold, exhausted, stuck in a strange city with no guarantee of making back on time...and the Boilermakers had been routed, 17-20. I went to sleep to the "Best of Jimmy Fallon", but I wasn't laughing on the inside.

We stayed as long as we could before checkout at the Signature Inn (they held our bags until we could find a way home). Pep Boys estimates that they can fix our car by 6. We tried to kill as much time as we could walking around, but there's nothing to do and it's freezing out. A protracted lunch at Bob Evans takes us to almost three. Jacob gets some bad news on the cellphone, and in desperation, we walk a half dozen blocks back to Pep Boys to see if there's an update. Suprisingly, Greg tells us we were ready to roll. About $600 worth of tows, repairs, and accomodations, but we survived. We took a quick pit stop at K-Mart for some socks, and I finally returned back to Purdue by about 5.

Still, even after all of that, I was happy and glad to spend some quality time with Sis and Jacob. We had a lot of laughs, and I was very greatful for the way they both handled everything. The "car trouble" also gave me a convenient excuse for not doing homework over the weekend. Which was what I probably would've done anyway, but it might finally catch up with me- this upcoming week has two exams and a major engineering project.

Just remember what Gumby's pal Pokey says...
"Just hang in there"