I had quite an eventful weekend. On Saturday, one of the guys in my core group needed help demolishing his house...woohoo! There is nothing your average guy would like to do more than to destroy something. Anyways, it wasn't clear how far the demolition would go. I fantasized about ripping out the walls and watching the roof cave in. Too bad it was only going to be a major remodel which meant leaving the walls and the roof intact. (sigh) We got to tear down a few walls on the inside though. My first project was to tear down the bar. I was handed an axe. I really don't have much experience using axes and being as clumsy as I am, I was a bit timid in using it. But I got over my shyness rather quickly and went at that bar like a serial killer. It took about 5 minutes before I was completely exhausted. Then I tried using a crowbar which worked best, and let me tell you, it was oh so fun. The next project was the main thing I did which was rip the wood panels off all the walls in the living room using a crowbar and a hammer. I never used the back side of a hammer so much. It is so useful. Being on a team of inexperienced demolitionists, you learn many things either by your mistakes or the mistakes of others. One highlight was when I was working away on the living room, I heard a pipe burst in the bathroom down the hall followed by some frantic yelling and stumbling and then the phrase "I'll go turn off the water!". Another one was when we saw a big crack in the ceiling right above where a wall used to be..."I think we need to put that support back." Another piece of advice for me, "Kevin, make sure that you don't break through the wall to the outside." One quick glance into the huge hole I just made..."We're still ok," I replied. Phew! It was also alot of fun to rip the bathroom counter right off the wall. It was pretty heavy. Then the sink fell out while we were carrying it, but luckily someone caught it before it hit the ground. Wouldn't want that sink to break before we threw it away, ha ha. We also found some old beer cans in the wall I was working on which were probably left by the construction crew when the house was built. The cans were from 1950. They had those foil peel openings like the ones on those little cans of apple juice. Cans before the invention of the flip can opener thingy of the present day...unbelievable. I actually hear that invention really isn't that old, but it's all I've ever known. It's like the kids who were born in the 80's don't know about life before the internet.

Anyways, since I'm spread so thin around L.A. between where I live, go to church, and work, Saturday is pretty much the only day I can really serve, so I really enjoy the opportunity to do service projects and help somebody out. Too bad on the way there I got a speeding ticket. The last time I got a speeding ticket, I was 19 years old. Almost 10 years without another ticket isn't too bad, I guess. I'll have to do a traffic school to avoid the point on my record though. Now I have to be good for 18 months. So here are the specifics. I was going 78 in a 65. Not too bad for getting a speeding ticket. It's fast enough to know you're guilty yet slow enough not to get a reckless driving charge. The tickets that nail you on a technicality have got to be annoying. So I wasn't really mad when I got the ticket, after all, I am guilty. But I was going the flow of the traffic. I just got chosen cuz I was in the fast lane. The same thing would have happened in my red Civic so I can't blame the car for this one. I hear the 101 is notorious for these quota speed traps. I've been passed by cops at the same speed on the 405 (when I can go that fast). I think it's kind of ironic to get a speeding ticket in L.A. anyways. How often do you really get to go the speed limit? Anyways, if you have to get a speeding ticket, the best place is on the freeway. The fines are the lowest there. The last time I went to traffic school, I had the highest speed of anyone (I went 75 in a 55) and the lowest fine in the class. The worst place would be school zones. I learned that in traffic school. See, you do learn stuff at those things. Another thing I learned in traffic school was you don't have to use your blinker if no one is around...woohoo! Actually, I'll probably try to do my traffic school online. I did that last time (not for speeding, for some other lame thing). Then I can just do it at home at my own pace.

Saturday night I saw Starsky & Hutch. I remember when the show was on TV, but I have never seen it. But Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are quite a team and they can do no wrong. It's not as silly as Zoolander, but I still enjoyed the movie. I like 70's and 80's TV shows and this was definitely a nod to them. I think there was only one digital effect in the entire movie. If you watch the outtakes, you'll know what that is. Speaking of Zoolander, that movie is the true litmus test of a person's sense of humor in my opinion. If you don't like that movie, then you don't have nearly the same sense of humor that I do. More than once I have been told by people that movie is stupid and they can't believe that I liked it. After I mention to them at least 2 scenes from that movie, they die laughing. What's wrong with you people? You don't even know what you like! If any of you think we have a common sense of humor and you do not like Zoolander, then I would have to say your only way out of this one is if you like Rat Race. If you don't like that one either, then it would have to be Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and if we're still not on the same page, I'm sorry, you are wrong, but we can still be friends.