Brinley.com... IT'S MINE!!!

It has been a very strange few days - I will certainly say that.

I wish I could say that I wheeled and dealed and wrangled my domain name back. Or I wish I could say that I underhandedly hacked into servers and cyber-stole my domain name back. Or some other fantastic James Bond-style mission that ends with a domain name in one hand, a martini in the other, and a half-naked and wanton Jooj in the other (yes, three hands... this is my fantasy, back off).

But no. I just made a few phone calls. Someone hit a renew button. And someone else received a $12 charge. Pretty boring really.

I realized that brinley.com was not really a really real site. It was a placeholder site. Had I even an ounce of sense about me I would have checked pinkpanda.com - another site of mine registered at the same time. I would have seen that the same crappy site was being served from it and that it was simply a placeholder site.

In short, Brinley.com is mine again. And, if I have learned anything from this experience, it will be forever and ever!

Broken Pinky Toe

Scratch "Break Pinky Toe" off my lifelong ToDo list. Break Pinky Toe? CHECK!!!

Went to the lake this weekend with Will and two of his friends. Jooj was supposed to go down with us but she was suffering from a bad reaction to some new medication. The boys and I (imagine me and three 14-year old boys... or better yet, imagine *four* 14-year old boys) rolled down to Nolin jamming the new Eminem CD. We got there and Jim and Susu had rented a pontoon. Niece Katie was there were her boyfriend Tony. I slammed three beers and we hit the water.

We drove the boat to a cove and the boys took turns jumping the 40 feet into the water. It was fun to watch. During the shenanigans (I probably had another 4 beers on the lake) I stubbed my toe on the railing of the boat. I knew immediately that I broke it. We continued to party pretty hard. I had to do something to dull the pain.

Jim and I, while taking the boat back, were caught the nastiest rainstorm I've been through in 6 years. Lightning smashing around us. Rain stinging us like whips. The wind pushed us so hard that we were losing ground with the boat in full reverse. It was amazing, scary, and funny all at the same time.

Afterward, we saw the most beautiful rainbow. And it started right there on the lake. It was as if the leprechauns had their gold right there under the surface of the water. It was stunningly awesome and awesomely beautiful. One of those little things in life that go unnoticed by so many these days.

Anyway, fun continued. We drove back the next day. My toe turned colors and swelled. I went to the doctor and an x-ray confirmed what I already knew. Broken. Funny.

It doesn't really hurt. It's more of an annoyance. And I hope it heals quickly. I got stuff to do 'round here, ya'll!

Brinley.com

I have proudly owned the domain name, brinley.com, for 11 years. I've received emails over the years from people requesting it. But I would not in any of those instances relinquish it. Not when that proud father-to-be wanted it for his daughter (he was naming her Brinley). Not for that college chick that wanted it (her name was Brinley). Not for Norm or whatever his name is in Missouri who wanted it for Brinley/Brindley/Brimley genealogy. And not even for Brinley Addington, the up-and-coming country singer who wanted it to promote his band.

(I wish, I wish, I wish I would have followed through with my WHOIS lookup the other night after I got his email. It occurred to me just last week that my domain may expire. I should have done a WHOIS then and looked. And especially after Brinley Addington's email the other night. I was going to do it. I had netsol.com pulled up. But something must've come up and I didn't do the search. I will always, always, always regret that.)

So, unless you totally skipped the previous paragraph, you may be able to guess what happened. I let brinley.com expire. I am an idiot. A moron. An R-tard. GODDAAAAAAAAAAAAMIT. I'm so mad at myself. I woke up to an email from a client asking why my site looked so weird. And I knew. I knew and I didn't even have to click through. But I did and I about threw up. Oh fuck, what did I do?

So J. Eric Brinley, the real estate guy, is the proud owner of brinley.com - I think. Netsol still has me listed... at an ancient email address. I'm sure they attempted to contact me to let me know that my domain was expiring. Ugh. So many lessons to be learned with this story. So many preventable mistakes.

I'm pretty torn up. I sold the Jeep today and that was bittersweet. It's cool that it is going to a good home. And holding 15 $100 bills was fun. But it was sad to see her go. Then we got home and I had a $500 bill from the hospital for those tests a while back. Oh, and I broke my toe over the weekend.

Whaaaaaa!

(one bright spot - after suffering torrential rain and highly dangerous conditions stuck on Nolin Lake with Jim in a horrendous squall Saturday, we witnessed the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. Maybe I'll blog about that tomorrow if I'm in a better mood)

Farewell, dear Jeep

In anticipation of buying Kelsey a new (used) car, we have to get some cash together and make room for another car. Since I have a tough time justifying having 4 cars with only 3 licensed drivers in the house I have to get rid of something. And the Jeep is really the only candidate.

So I snapped a few pix and did some price comparisons on louisville.craigslist.org. I set the price at $1500 and my entry looked like this...

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1995 Jeep Wrangler "Rio Grande" Edition
Hunter Green/Black Hard Top (removable, ratchet to do so included)
139K Miles
4WD, 4 cylinder, 5 Speed Manual transmission
Sound Bar
Jeep Trunk Kit installed
Full Doors (easily removable - great for cooler summer days)
Windshield Lip for bikini top included (but the bikini top is not - lost some time ago)
Big O Bigfoot Tires
Back seat folds down and is removable
New muffler and new battery

I bought this car in 1997. It has been a terrific vehicle, both on the road and off (but not much). It does not have a radio (stolen 10 years ago). The Jeep was in a wreck in 2002 and the driver-side quarter panel is rusting from the damage. It drives great and would be a perfect first car or a fun ride for someone with land.

Email me or call Eric at xxx.xxx.xxxx with questions.
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I posted the above at 7:25PM. I got my first call at 7:39PM. It was a guy from Indiana who was leaving his house right then. I told him I would meet him in the parking lot at the local Kroger. Over the next 40 minutes I received interest/offers from 6 phone calls, 2 texts, and 3 emails.

I met the guy at Lowe's (he got lost) and he agreed to buy it right then and there. He is an ex-marine who always wanted a Jeep but started a family and never had the chance. He does body work so he's going to fix her up and make her his own little baby. I feel pretty confident she's going to a good home. And I'm happy that she is - as well as helping someone mark an entry off their Dream/ToDo list :)

Fourteen minutes is all it took! I'll miss her, for sure. She and I have been together longer than just about anything (non-living) in my life. But she's moving on to a good place. Heck, maybe she'll even feel dirt under her tires again!

I have a secret!

I just got an email invitation to something pretty cool. Most of you would care less... IF I COULD TELL YOU WHAT IS WAS FOR! But my boy is going to be pretty psyched I bet. And if any of you are true geeks like me who have a penchant for both video games and super heroes, you too might be as giddy as me at this moment.

So what is it? I cannot talk about it. No, seriously, what is it? I CANNOT TALK ABOUT IT. I'll let you in on the secret when I can. But I can't now, lest Tyler Durden kick my ass and make me choke on my own teeth.

(The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!)

Dog rescues. Little people. What do these two have in common?

It appears that women with many multiples of children garner high ratings. Little people get high ratings. Hoarders. Animal rescues. Bakeries. Real estate. House flipping. Drug addiction. Pregnant 16-year olds. Real housewives from wherever.

These things are all hot right now. Well, at least they are at my house. There is always something on the television in my home on TLC, HGTV, Bravo, MTV, or Animal Planet. And when these channels on are there is a very good chance that some show containing one of the subjects above will be on.

Now they are creating hybrids. There is the show with the little people that own a bakery. There is another show coming soon that focuses on hoarders of pets. Maybe the thinking is *two* great show ideas will make for *twice* the ratings. I dunno.

So the show that is on right now is called "Pit Boss". It's a show about... wait for it... a group of LITTLE PEOPLE that RESCUE ANIMALS - specifically PIt Bulls. The main dude goes by Shorty (imagine that) and his company is staffed completely by little people. And OMG... I just can't believe what I'm watching.

What's next? Addicted and Flipping? Sixteen and Pregnant With Triplets? Real Housewives of Chicago Bakery Moguls? Sheesh!!!

It's been a long time...

... since my last post. It's a funny thing blogging. One day goes by and nothing seems noteworthy. Another day goes by without anything too exciting. Another. Then another. Something may happen one day but, all of the sudden, you find yourself out of the blogging habit. Maybe you even think to yourself, "I should blog this". But you don't. And another day of nothing goes by. And another. And you forget about it. So that is how things have been since June 29th.

What have we missed?

(Deep breath)

Birthday was great. Turning 36 wasn't so bad. Kelsey got the job! Holy cow! First interview. Hired on the spot. Can you believe it? Kelsey got her license. Oh yay! Oh shit. There is talk of getting her a car. And selling the Jeep. Maybe talk. Maybe more. World Cup 2010 is over. Spain won. Played the Netherlands. Boring, boring game. Germany should have won. Saw The Last Airbender with the kids. It was entertaining. Didn't blow me away. But fun. Kitchen is coming along. New tile floor is down. Grouted. Sealed. Granite countertop is down. Looks great. Faucet is installed. Runs water. Hooray! Celebrated 3 years of marriage. July 14th. Love you Jooj. Finally, I'm a geek. Playing City of Heroes. Running Hami last night. Nobody picked me up. Started my own team. Raid leader asked why. Said I didn't get picked up. She gave me two more members. Lead Team Hotspur against Hami. I rule.

(Exhale)