Car Smashing!

Saturday at noon, I headed out to Bollinger Ranch to participate in some good times. At the December 2010 YSA Charity Ball, Dave Haupt and Mike Corrigan had bid for (and won) and tractor ride with Aaron Locey. This tractor ride also was to be accompanied by smashing some stuff. Aaron had a couple ovens he was going to smash, but this year, he also had a full car to demolish. It started with them attempting to remove the windshield by kicking it out, which was unsuccessful. Aaron then set out to remove the side windows - he got two out without problem, but the driver's side windows both shattered.



While they were doing this, Katie (Schirtzinger), Caroline (Melgarejo) and I took turns swinging the sledgehammer at the bumper (after Mike and Dave had a go at it of course).



Sledgehammers are HEAVY! Once all the side windows were out, the guys had to empty all the fluids out of the car (oil, gas, transmission fluid, coolant). And, if you don't have a hydraulic lift, you simply use your backhoe.



While the car was lifted Katie got to slash a tire, which is something she'd wanted to do. At last, the car was ready for smashing. But before the guys could do that, Aaron had to teach them how to drive this beast of a dozer.



Katie, Caroline, and I got lost about halfway through the instructions. Terry (Hagen) said it takes a lot of hours before you totally get the hang of it, but that it's easier to just do it. As a prelude to the car smash, the guys ran over some ovens.



Now we get to actual car smashing:



Once the car was smashed, Aaron decided to cut it in half to fit it in his scrap metal bin.




I have to say, this was pretty fun; it took longer than expected, but there is something quite satisfying about crunching metal. Next year, we drive a car off a cliff and watch it explode. :)

Oh, the humanity

I was on my home from a party in Livermore last night, so I got off the freeway at Hacienda and went down Martinelli to get home. Here is a map for reference:



As I was coming up on Arnold, I noticed a dark shape in the dirt on the side of the road; I always take a closer look at stuff like this, which usually ends up being garbage bags or boxes. In this case, it was a person. To be more specific, it was an African-American male, who was lying there with his head on his arm, dressed all in black, and looked like he was sleeping. Since I am not used to seeing human sprawled on the side of the road, I called the Dublin police dispatch. As a side note, yes, I have the Dublin emergency phone number dispatch programmed into my cell phone.

Anyway, so the operator asks me if the man appears injured, and I say, "no, there's no blood or anything." She asks if I want to wait for the police, and I said I would since there were cars driving by. About three minutes after I hung up with the dispatcher, I see a police car on Arnold, and then he flips on his lights and drives the wrong way about 100 feet down the street where I was.

This cop gets out of his cruiser, turns on his flashlight, and starts shining it in the guy's face; as he is doing this, 3 more cops pull up, and a firetruck. I see the man moving, so he's not dead. This is a relief for me, since finding a dead body wasn't ever on my bucket list. I watch the scene unfold from my rearview mirror for a few minutes. The firefighters are doing something, and all the cops are talking. Eventually, one of the officers came over to tell me exactly what was going on.

Apparently, Dublin PD are extremely familiar with the guy who I found; this is the third time this month he has been picked up by them for being "severely intoxicated." The cop thanked me for phoning it in, and told me that this was "normal for [the guy sleeping on the side of the road]." He also told me that the man had just been released from the hospital that morning for the same thing, but they were securing him an ambulance to take him back.

Here's my question: how many people drove by without (1) noticing the suffering of a fellow human-being; or (2) not caring, or thinking it wasn't their problem. Is this what we have come to? Yes, the guy clearly has a problem and needs help, but seriously...

More moron-ocy

So, I was home yesterday when this stupid girl from Washington called. She even had the nerve to ask me who I was, and I said, "You called me: who are YOU?" I think the total number of phone calls was 5. Her cell phone number is (360) 286-4212. Not sure about a name, because it's a cell, but clearly, the lack of sun in WA left some brain damage.

Why I love general conference

1. I can watch it in my jammies
2. I always get answers to my prayers
3. Elder Holland rocks!
4. There are always talks I need to hear, despite my not realizing it
5. I get to sustain the Church leaders
6. I now understand the Church audit department letter, and feel grateful to do my part in helping them complete that duty.