My keys & last entry before the wedding

One of my friends made me think about my keys recently... I took a look down at all of my keys and what they were for. He made mention that keys are a lifeline and sign of trusting friends. I currently have a couple keys that are from friends or family that have grew in number over the last few years. I then looked past my house and car keys at what else I have. I still have the M6 1.00 nut from one of my mopeds when I needed to get a properly sized bolt. I also have my moped key and my discount cards to AutoZone, Kroger, and other local businesses. Recently I added another item to my key chain that you will rarely find on any other set of keys...a wedding ring.

After doing my research on men's wedding bands I noticed the main difference was the metal. While gold or platinum are more of a traditional metal, I am more of a new edge kinda guy, or I tell myself that. Recently titanium has hit the stage because let's face it...anything with titanium just sounds cool. Titanium is also an extremely strong metal and can really take a beating and I work in the garage a lot. Well it turns out there was one better...tungsten. There are videos where people take sledge hammers to them and not even a dent...or metal files...no scratch at all. The only way to alter them or take them off in an emergency is it to literally shatter them under extreme pressure, my kinda fun.

I went around to jewelers and looked at rings for myself with Dawn. I quickly found out that they were all crazily priced. I understand I will only buy this ring once in my life, but I like to save money where I can. I also love supporting the local economy, however I don't want to over inflate it either, haha. So I decided if it is the same metal, why not see what is online. I went on Amazon and found two rings I liked... one for $9.99 and another for $29.99. I ordered them both. They arrived in a few days and I really liked the $29.99 ring, but it was slightly too large, so for another $29.99 (free shipping) I bought another ring a half size smaller. Fit like a glove.

I then had the dilemma of three wedding rings and only one bride. I decided I would keep the larger ring and JUST IN CASE I put on a little weight, down the line, I will get it blessed at the wedding too and hold on to it. The last ring that I got for less than ten bucks I put on my key chain a month ago. It goes wherever I go and is a sign of trust and the lifeline that I will be soon getting in my life. While I will have the actual wedding ring on my finger to remind me of that...I have a symbolic key on my key chain...the ring. (Still unscratched).

Still looking hot for the next couple days with a chance for rain late Friday into Saturday. The wedding is outside on Saturday in Columbus and the latest models have been trending toward less of a chance for rain, but still rather warm with temps in the upper 80's for the afternoon and a little humid. Regardless of what my final call is for the outdoor wedding or our rain location...I will be marrying the woman of my dreams. If you are interested, I will be tweeting pictures of everything leading up to the wedding on my personal twitter: http://twitter.com/AndrewBMichael It should be a fun time and I look forward to a life of happiness and fun. Until I return from our honeymoon in Mexico (hopefully not burnt), have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Six days until the wedding....

Well, you only have six more days to hear about the wedding preps. I have been watching the forecast models VERY closely and it is quite a toss-up on the timing of a cold front swinging through. There have been a few models showing the front coming through late Friday into early Saturday leaving the wedding dry, warm, and relatively low humidity...I hope that one pans out. A few rogue models have shown the cold front swinging through later Saturday which means warm, humid, and a slight chance for rain. Either way temps will be cooler and humidity lower than what we have dealt with the past week...AND the chance for rain will be relatively low because of the lack of moisture. I look at photos of where the wedding will be, Browning Amphitheater, and REALLY hope we do not have to use our back-up location...but it may come down the the wire.

We are finally free of warning/watches/advisories in Southwestern Ohio. This is the first time in over a week. Upper 80's for highs for the start of the workweek and then back into the low 90's for the end of the workweek and then cooling off again for the weekend. Humidity will be lower than what it was the past week, so hopefully we can escape without too many excessive heat warnings. There is a slight chance for rain for Monday as the front swings through and also later in the week as we head into next weekend. I will be filling in for Jeff Booth Monday and Tuesday night before taking my much needed time off for the wedding and honeymoon. See ya back here tomorrow...have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Remember the bitter cold six months ago?

Remember six months ago...snow on the ground and we had lows below zero? I dunno, I think I would take one day like that just to remember what it felt like to have your breath taken away from the bitter cold and wind.

I finished the rest of the wedding favors this morning... the only major thing that we still have to nail down is the unity sand...we are not doing candles because there is a good chance they will blow out... so we liked the idea of doing the sand. Only seven days until the wedding...

Temps will cool down a few more degrees over the next few days and we will see the chance for rain for Sunday and mainly early Monday. Lower humidity for the first half of the week before the heat and humidity returns for the end of the week...as far as my wedding on Saturday... a slight chance for rain...very slight, but it does look hot and humid...I will be keeping a VERY close eye on things.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Eight Days Until the Wedding

Wedding crunch time...eight days away until I watch Dawn walk down the isle towards me. It has been consuming my life. I helped my brother move to Wooster for his new job on Wednesday and I was supposed to meet with the florist, but we couldn't cross paths before she left for the day so I stayed at my brother's place in Columbus. I met with the florist, the hotel manager, and the reception manager by myself yesterday and then came home and worked on the wedding favors with Dawn. We are almost to the big day and I can't wait... I am very excited, but so busy I haven't had time to be nervous.

Today is my last morning waking up at 2AM for work until I get back from the honeymoon. I love working mornings because I have the rest of the day free, but I am excited to only wake up early to catch my plane to Mexico. Well, most days I am free...today I am heading to Clark County fair for work and then also Grilling for Terwilleger tonight...all before a final date night with Dawn before we get married. I figured something fun sounds good...maybe Dave & Busters.

Another super hot day today with a high of 95. Yesterday we hit 97 for the high, which was the warmest since July 30, 1999...almost 12 years. We will slowly cool down for the next couple of days with scattered storms possible in the afternoons. As we head into the start of next week we will FINALLY dip back down into the 80's...the wedding, right now, is looking warm and humid...only a slight chance for rain. I hope it stays dry since it is an outdoor wedding. See ya back on here tomorrow!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Google+ Phone App, Harry Potter, & Crazy Hot Weather

I would consider myself a forgiving person...I thought that the Google+ phone app killed my battery(double the normal size battery) so I deleted it. I even shut off all the automatic updates, notifications, and uploads, but finally deleted it. My battery worked great again. Well after a day or so I started missing the app because it is really well designed apart from the battery issue. I even discussed this issue with my friend who is running an EVO with Sprint and his phone saw no change. I decided to try it again. Sure enough after utilitarianizing the program and finally killing the app in the running services it still managed to drain my battery in record fashion. So I deleted it again...I am sure our love hate relationship will continue for the unforeseeable future.

After all the hype with the final Harry Potter movie release I have really been wanting to be taken away to Hogwarts again. I had to run to Meijer at midnight last night after work to get more food for Buckeye and I even stopped and thought about picking up the first movie in Blu-ray, but I really dislike the movies in comparison to the books. As a matter of fact I have the complete set in hardback and most of the books in paperback too. I like to keep my hardback books at home and when I travel I prefer paperback...weird, I know. I actually bought the first five in a set, then someone took Year 2 and then I just switched over to hardback for all of them. Anyway I started reading them again and it is just as good as the first time, second time, and third time. I just love the writing style and how I feel like I am actually walking down Diagon Alley and can hear all the sounds of the people picking out wands or getting sized for new robes. Great books, no doubt.

Well today we got up to 93 and it was only a TASTE of what is to come. Today our dew points were only in the mid 60's, so not super humid. Well, later this week they will be in the mid and upper 70's with temps into the mid 90's. While many people along the coast or the south may deal with this extreme heat on a more common occurrence, many in the Miami Valley are used to cold winters and often try to brave the heat with no air conditioning in their homes. This is the week you need to check on your neighbors and elderly who may not have air conditioning because a box fan will do nothing more than help bake you. The heat index, what it will feel like, will be between 100-110 for the afternoons this week. Stay cool and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Amazing Moped Ride

Last night was amazing. Since I am getting married in 14 days I wanted to get one last group ride in as a "bachelor party" with my moped friends. We had sixteen riders come out and it was an absolute blast. Some people from out of town really enjoyed themselves and want to jump on board with our group and ride with us more often when we do ride.

Today was a little hotter than the last couple of days, but it will feel cooler compared to the weather we have for the week ahead. There is a chance for scattered afternoon showers and storms pretty much for the entire week with the increase in humidity and high temperatures. Factor in the temperatures in the low and mid 90's and dewpoints in the mid 70's and it is going to feel like it is in the low 100's most of the day. Stay cool and beat the heat but most importantly, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Google +

Step aside social media platforms for the newest kid on the block. Google + is still in its beta stages and only open to those invited. I had a friend invite me and at first it is a quite overwhelming, but after more and more time I am falling in love with the site. I downloaded the mobile app and it can automatically download all of your photos and videos to the site and back them up on Picasa. This was really nice because I had over 1200 photos/videos on my phone. It took about 20 hours for the wifi at home to complete the task, but it made me a little less worried about washing my phone and losing my data. The mobile app also allows you to scan through your photos and when you delete one from the site it also deletes the photo from your phone. I had quite a few duplicates or blurry photos that needed to be deleted. I am always so busy I normally just take another photo quickly rather than deleting the bad one...but now I am all cleaned up and streamlined. Another feature I don't know if I like yet is how the phone will automatically upload my photo to the site once it is taken...I don't have to do anything. It does not automatically publish it, but keeps it hidden until I want to post it. Another nice feature is the "circles." You arrange your friends or contacts by how you know them so you can post photos just to your friends or just your family or coworkers...however you want to arrange everything. Cool stuff, just takes a little time to understand the product because it is not like Facebook...sorry for those Farmville lovers.

I had the last two days off and they were filled with wedding preps. It consumes my life. Dawn has been in Lima training for her new job and we met with our pastor for the wedding Wednesday night in Lima...which worked out perfectly. I did take my moped and ride with my friend and groomsmen, KZ, who works for the Lima News.
It was nice meeting up with him and riding to their local Dairy King for his dinner break. I hadn't had a chance to see him in a while so it was nice to catch up and hear about the recent moped rally in Chicago and all the fun that they had. I love Chicago and I love mopeds...mixing the two would be heavenly. I then rode back to the hotel where Dawn was staying and other than that been doing a lot of wedding preps. I have been working on mailings, favors, and other little odds and ends that get wrapped up in the final days...15 to go! Today is my last bachelor moped group ride. We will be grilling out at my place and then riding around Dayton tonight so maybe you will see our group out and about.

The weather looks to be increasingly warm over the next seven days. Today we will get into the mid 80's and then we will continuously climb over the next seven days with many of the days getting into the 90's...pending no showers kicking the temperature back down a few degrees. With highs in the 90's and plenty of humidity we will see pop-up showers and storms as well. Nothing widespread because it is going to be a while until we see a decent cool down...hopefully by the wedding. Stay cool and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Wedding is almost here

Everyone said that the year leading up to your wedding would fly by and they were absolutely correct. Dawn and I are only twenty days away from our wedding and part of me wishes it was 1 day and another part of me wishes it was 100 days still. I am very ready to get the wedding done and over with but it would be nice to just relax, but MAN, I have not had time to do that! I put together another mail today because we got a handful of RSVP's back yesterday. Many of the guests are not familiar with OSU or Columbus so we felt it was our duty to try to give everyone a little background information since the wedding will be on campus. I really am excited for the day and to be able to relax afterwards.

Today was a scorcher. We got up to 90 in Dayton and luckily it was not super humid, however that will be changing tomorrow. We should get up to 91 the next few days and the humidity will make it feel closer to 100. Afternoon and evening showers and storms the next couple of days and then a little cool down for the middle of the week. Next weekend is looking warmer...there is a slight chance for rain next weekend with a frontal boundary sitting near us. Well I am going to jump off here and get as much stuff ready for the morning show as I can...Working day 17 straight and only have two more after today til I get a day off...well kinda... have to drive to Lima and meet with the Pastor for the wedding...no sitting still!! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Starting a new project

Well after a lot of thought...I think I am going to go ahead with my plan...I am working on a new moped that has never been built before...no details just yet, but after doing a lot of thinking and talking to Briton Bees, I am totally pumped to start my build. It will take me a little while to accomplish because of the wedding and all. I also will be using the help of some of our new members of the Dayton Area Moped Riders. We have a few fabricators that will be helping out with some stuff that I do not have to tools to do, but it should turn out to be a fun little project and I started on the rough blue prints tonight.

I am finally free of the morning show and back on nights for the weekend. I have been getting an average of three hours of sleep a night because my body just cannot full adjust to mornings when I fill in for a week. I work tomorrow night and then I am back on the morning show on Monday and then free to sleep in for a few days. I also am currently working day 16 straight and have three more after today...can't wait for a day off. I love what I am doing, but man...it takes a toll on you...

The weather today was BEAUTIFUL!!! We were in the mid and upper 80's and we were dealing with fairly low humidity. Tomorrow will be warmer and a little more humid...feeling like the mid 90's, typical summer in Ohio. More heat for Monday, but showers and storms will roll into here later in the day and linger into Tuesday. Another front will sit to our south for later next week so it looks like we could deal with a spotty shower or storm, mainly south, for Wednesday and possibly Friday. Wednesday and Thursday looks to be a little cooler with highs in the lower 80's after the front swings through Tuesday and then stalls out south of us. I am really hoping Friday drys out because we have a moped ride planned. Anyway, enjoy tomorrow and its heat...have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Moped-dependence Day

Well after my quick switch from the Sunday night shift to the Monday morning show shift I was wiped out... I went home and took a three hour nap and then met up with my fellow mopeders for an afternoon ride. It was about a 40 mile ride with great weather.

Today will be warmer than yesterday getting into the upper 80's. We will continue to stay warm tomorrow but a chance for storms later Wednesday into early Thursday. It does not look like a lot of rain unfortunately...we really need the rain. Temperatures will remain in the 80's as we head toward the weekend so I hope you like the heat. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back in...kinda

I am still sick. This week has been so busy, it made my previous "busy" weeks look easy. The wedding is less than four weeks away so there has been a TON going on with that. I also am currently on day 10 of 19 straight of work. Between those two things I have had very little time for much else, but I did manage to squeeze in some late night moped riding Friday night. I am working tonight and will be back up at 2 AM, after 90 minutes of sleep, for the morning show...no wonder I am still sick, my body can never recover. I am filling in all this week in the morning since Mike is on vacation. Needless to say I will be sleeping as soon as the morning show is complete tomorrow morning. This week I also have a lot of other stuff planned...getting our marriage license in Columbus, stopping by the florist, meeting with my parents about wedding stuff, consultant meeting at work, turning my Where You Live story after the morning show, AND grilling for Terwilleger on Friday night. OH! I did forget to mention I got pulled over on my moped on my way to a meeting for work Thursday... the sheriff deputy ran the wrong license plate and then let me continue....slowly...on my way.

It has been rather warm and humid the last few days but the humidity will be dropping through tomorrow, however, there will be a slight chance for isolated showers/storms. Another week cold front will swing through late night Wednesday into Thursday with a chance for rain, but only a slight chance since we will be so dry. This week basically looks very dry and warm with temps in the mid 80's most of the week. We really need the rain, I noticed the corn leaves have started to curl. I would say 2-3" would take care of things for now, but we really need a lot of rain....in a slow and steady form. Enjoy the Fourth of July tomorrow and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sorry

I have been so busy with the wedding and stuff lately, I PROMISE an entry in a few hours....