Don't ever go looking at eBay

Don't ever go looking at eBay, it may make you depressed

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/07-PASSAT-PKG2-SPORT-PKG-RARE-6SPEED-NASHVILLE_W0QQitemZ380018712745QQcmdZViewItem

Yes, this is almost the car I *wanted* when I bought my Accord. By the time I was ready to buy, the dealership was only able to locate two 2007 Passats with a manual trans with package 2. One was in Illinois and it had all sorts of boy racer bodywork stuff done to it, inflating the window sticker past $35,000. The other one was in Washington state and had Navigation, Dynamo Audio, Xenon headlights, and all sorts of other luxuries that zoomed that price to over $36,000 sticker. I really could not afford either. What I wanted was a strict Package 2 with rear seat side airbags, which stickered for roughly $28,000. If I had been able to buy a month earlier, I probably could have got what I wanted. The 2008 models could not be ordered with a sunroof, which gave me the go ahead to look closer at the Accord, which is what I ended up with.

The other thing I did today was lay in bed in extreme pain. I must have pulled a chest muscle pretty bad because I felt like I was having a heart attack. After talking to André, his opinion was that I pulled a muscle. That's a relief.

Yesterday I went and got my eyes examined. My prescription improved, to -2.25 from -2.50. I ordered a years worth of contact lenses. If I squint, without my contacts in, I can read the 20/100 line, which is required to get a federal law enforcement job. I also bought a pair of non prescription sunglasses, which came in handy after my eyes were dilated and I looked like a Japanese cartoon characters' eyes. Afterwards I went to work and did gardening at both the main buildings, making them look good for open house tours.

Forget the Pope, I saw Cobert

The pope is visiting Washington DC right now. Blah, I really could care less.

Instead, Dan, Tricia, Shannon and I went to Philadelphia on Monday to a taping of the Colbert Report. Shannon scored free tickets online. We drove up in my Accord, had lunch at Abner's Cheesesteaks. Lunch was very good, though if we had gone to the gentleman's club in the basement, we could have got the same lunch for free. At 5:00, we got admitted to the taping, which started at 7:00. He interviewed Mayor Nutter and Chris Matthews. I was about six rows back, stage left. Kelly TiVo'ed it, I need to ride up to Burtonsville to watch it. It was exciting to watch a TV show being taped, though I think I would have preferred to have been there for Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton. But this was his first taping outside of his studio in New York. The University of Pennsylvania campus where the filming took place was amazing. It reminded me of a good cross between the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland College Park. The ride back was peaceful too. $20 for parking, $19 for tolls, and 32 MPG average for the Accord. Plus I finally got to clinch I-495 in Delaware, completing all interstate mileage in Delaware.

Rewind to Sunday. I volunteered at the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland College Park working a concessions stand for my high school reunion committee. However, the event on Sunday was the Capital Classic, a basketball tournament. Turnout was extremely low, which will have cut back on the profit our reunion committee will make. Oh well, but it was a good time, and it gave me a chance to see some friends from high school.

Well, good night friends.