I'm an uncle! (and I still have a place to live)

My little nephew was born on Wednesday, April 12. I got to see him and hold him on Saturday when I went home for Easter. Of course, as I was feeding him, he threw up on me. I hope that isn't a sign.
My home is still standing after Thursday's tornados that tore their way through Iowa City. There was a twister that took out a big chunk of the Honda dealersip down the street from me. The same tornado took the roof off of Menards and Wal-Mart near my place too. I drove downtown Friday afternoon, or as close as I could get, since most streets were closed to clean up the debris that was strewn all over the place. It took me almost 30 minutes to get from my house on Mormon Trek to my buddy's apartment on Johnson Street. Traffic was crazy and Burlington Street was closed, making it tough to get anywhere downtown. Iowa Avenue looked like a war zone. Houses were missing roofs, front porchs were caved in, it was the worst thing I have ever seen. I had planned on attending Good Friday services at Saint Patrick's in Iowa City, which was totally destroyed.
I missed out on the worst of the storm, since I had to stay at work in Cedar Rapids until 6:30 Thursday night. I had planned on going to mass that night in Iowa City at St. Mary's, but ended up going to mass in CR. I was on my way home when my girlfriend, who was driving behind me in her car, called me and told me to pull over because of the tornado warning. We ended up waiting out the storm at the rest area on I-380. As we were sitting there, four lesbians walked in, all carrying a can of beer they brought with them from their car. Then the truckers, complete with homemade tattoos, began to come in. It was turning into a bad episode of Seinfeld. Finally, the weather cleared enough for us to make it to Iowa City. As I turned toward my house, I saw traffic lights down and the roof of the Honda dealership was sitting on the cars in the lot. I was relieved to see my house all in one piece just a few blocks further down the road. The Press-Citizen website has some good pictures of the craziness that you can check out. http://www.press-citizen.com

Randoms

Time for another update to this--I really need to find time to do this more often!

1. Tom Brands is the new wrestling coach at Iowa. I have been waiting for Zalesky to get the boot for a couple of years now, and it has finally happened. I have met Brands on a few occasions through working at the Iowa wrestling camp. He is so intense that if you can manage to look him in the eye, you would swear that he is insane. There is something just not quite right in there. The news has been showing highlights of Gable slapping him in the face before a match--I love those highlights and I think that is the attitude and swagger that has been missing from Iowa wrestling. In short, I think a good analogy to make here is Jim Zalesky:Iowa wrestling :: Kevin Kastens:Hawkeye Marching Band.
They are still decent programs, but just not as good as they used to be and lacking the pride and attitude of the past.

2. Made a big, life-changing purchase yesterday. Can't post details now, but stay tuned.

3. I should be an uncle any day now. I'll spare you the reasons why I fear for my nephew. But suffice to say, another Nascar fan is about to enter the world. Ugh. (in other words, my sister is white trash)

4. Lots of drama at work this week. If I get time this weekend, I'll post the newest reasons why I need to find a new direction for my career.