Friday, September 30, 2005

Saab clutch woes

WNMR were nearly stranded in Alton Illinois as the Saab began to have trouble shifting. Somewhat miraculously, the clutch lasted until W pulled into the driveway at home and then completely failed. W rolled the car back out the driveway and parked it. The Webster Groves police, having nothing better to do, efficiently gave W a parking ticket during the night for parking the wrong way on the road. W had to take the car to the mechanic three times to get the clutch fixed. The first time, W started the car and held the clutch in while talking to N. After about a minute, the clutch failed. The second time, W started the car and the clutch immediately failed. W fetched the mechanic, who started the car and showed W that the clutch worked perfectly. W in a state of confusion, couldn't make the clutch fail anymore so he drove home as the clutch continued to randomly not work. So W took it back one more time. This time the mechanic found the problem, and offered to drop the car personally off at W's house. W arrived at home from work to see his newly repaired Saab sitting in the driveway. Rushing to get ready for a boy scout meeting, he asked Marcel to check in the car to see if the keys were there. M checked, then came in the house to report to W that the car had rolled down the driveway and across the street over the curb. The mechanic had apparently not engaged the emergency brake very well. The clutch however, worked perfectly.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Marcel Gets Royal Flush in Poker

Incredibly, Marcel got a natural royal flush in Texas hold-em Friday evening. He received a KQ of hearts down, the turn came up with a 10 J, and the last card turned up was an A. He only won $2 on the hand because several players who had dropped out peeked over at his cards and could not contain themselves. W has never encountered a natural royal flush in a seven card natural game in his entire poker career, so this was fairly significant. W hopes that Marcel does not begin to believe that royal flushes are common.

Friday, September 16, 2005

W Joins Merawood Orchestra

W quickly lowered his bassoon performance expectations and found the Merawood Community Orchestra a bit more compatible with his skill level. He performed a slightly less anxiety inducing audition to an audience of one and was admitted. The director told W that he had convinced another player who played both tuba and bassoon to switch to the tuba. The only conflict is that the rehearsals are on Mondays, which is the same evening as boy scouts, so W won't be able to help out as much for that.

Monday, September 12, 2005

W's Audition Goes Poorly

W unfortunately failed to secure a chair in the Clayton Orchestra, with a poorly prepared and intonated performance at his audition last week. He managed the sight-reading portion of the nerve wracking experience well, but could not perform his audition piece on a par with the more accomplished musicians (which already included two excellent bassoonists). In fact, rather than a par, we would have to say he scored about a double bogey on this performance. So he is off to humbly offer his services to a more needy orchestra.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

William snaps moloch horridus!



Yes, the picture of this dangerous ant-eating lizard was taken in the wild. It was quite difficult to get the shot because William had to lie in the hot sand which had a surface temperature of approximately 75 degrees C. and it was right next to a nest of deadly Taipan snakes. On top of that, the lizard himself does not like to be photographed and has been known to sting photographers who get too close; a sting which causes a pain unimaginable to most inhabitants of North America. Only bustards and goanna are known to brave this sting.
More about this lizard