Reboot!

It’s my birthday(.com)! To celebrate one year of MilesRausch.com, I’ve decided to share some of the major changes in my life so far.

“MilesRausch.com” Has Been Rebooted

The redesign (and redevelopment) boasts some new features. Along with an entirely redone design, you might spot:

• New favicon
• Four colored versions (which change on special days)
• Asides, Quotes, and Lyrics in the sidebar
• Improved “Archives” page
• Better support for Internet Explorer and Safari (but IE doesn’t work fantastic yet)
• Fluid-width layout

“The Car” Has Been Rebooted.

I traded in my POS (previously owned stupidcar) for $995 and got a brand-new (used) 2001 Chevy Impala LS for a decent sum. This was a huge step for me, and a huge amount of stress.

• Heated, leather seats
• OnStar (maybe)
• Trunk big enough to fit four dead hootchies in it
• Remote control
• Power sunroof
• tape and cd player

This is quite the story, so grab a snack. Actually, that’s what we were doing. It was Saturday, noonish, and Holli and I were going to get some beverages for our frozen pizza. If you haven’t had it, Coke with Lime is one of the greatest beverages out there. It’s got the hard, chrome-flavored kick of Coke with a hint of refreshing lime (note: you won’t get the same taste by mixing Coke with Sierra Mist).

Anyway, it’s hard to come by in Madison, so we decided to try every gas station in town. When we got up to Classic Corner, Holli noticed the marquee in front of Prostrollo’s read “Used Car Sale until 5:00 Today” or something. We went in to get our beverage (which they didn’t have!), so I totally trashed the place and left in an anger. I suddenly wanted to buy something expensive, and I wanted it to take a very very long time.

We drove around the lot, and I looked for any cars I thought I’d like. I didn’t see anything with “007 Stunt Vehicle” on it, but I did see some interesting cars, and we got out to look at them. Without warning or prompting, a salesman was upon us. I gave him my range, and the first car he showed us was a 2001 Chevy Impala. He said his cousin, Adam Pauli, owned it before and had traded it in for a pickup. He said he was originally from Summit. Then he said I could drive it.

This concept sorta blows my mind. They give you keys to a car and just let you leave. He didn’t sit with us. In fact, he used to time to find out how much my car was worth. Holli said that they use your current car as collateral (and as a reason to make you come back) but I had nothing attached to that car. We could have driven to Canada and found a better life amongst the ice-frosted stars.

Anyway, I eventually decided to get the Impala. We walked in and began the process. There were some awkward questions, mostly about work, like what does my employer do and what is my job title. Because I don’t have a job title, I just kinda explained what I do and we made something up with the word “manager” in it. Then he passed the paperwork off to the business manager guy, and we sat in the customer lounge.

We sat there a long time. We watched, like, 10 “Trip My Truck” episodes, and I got increasingly panicked about my purchase. It’s a lot of money for a long time and my old car was still running. Oh, man. Why did I agree to this? It got worse and worse, and then we talked to the business manager.

So, for a car they don’t take credit card. They take cash or check, which means you have to have that money, which means if you don’t, then you have to get a loan, which I hadn’t yet, which they were going to find for me, and without this loan, you can’t get a car. So, the long wait was because “It’s not that you have bad credit; it’s just that you don’t have enough of it.” Right. So, the only loan he could find me was 16.99% interest. I didn’t know what else I could do, so I accepted it, but I didn’t have insurance yet, and I said I was going to research that over the weekend, so the loan was put on hold because they need that info.

Eventually we were allowed to leave with the car, uninsured and unpaidfor, and I drove it to my apartment. I was in a daze the rest of the day, placing calls to dad, Bryce, and sending pix, plus getting calls from mom and Tony, and Holli calling her parents, I was just kinda numb to all of it, and still am a bit. Dad keeps saying, “You just have to do it” and “Are you smiling yet?”
There are pictures of the car and the free swag I got from the dealership in my My New Car – 2006 photo set.

P.S. It appears that Coke with Lime isn’t sold in Madison; we ended up getting Pepsi with Lime, which isn’t even the same thing, don’t get me started.

“The Job” Has Been Rebooted.

I’m full-time at Certus Managed Hosting Solutions of which, CRESH is now CRESH.NET, a division of said company. Some of the high points of that are:

• Decent salary
• Decent Benefits
• Commute to Sioux Falls 3 days a week
• Head or manager or whatever of something or other

I’ve also decided to pursue writing as a career. I’m not quitting my day job, yet, but I am working on getting into festivals and contests and stuff. This means that:

• Writing “table”
• Joined The Dramatists Guild of America (and got a card)
• Currently working on: 3 novels, 12 short stories, 1 poems, 1 screenplays, 0 short films, 0 music videos, 3 one-acts, 3 three-acts, 5 sketches, 1 musical, 1 television show, 1 mini-series
• Currently completed are: 0 novels, 1 short stories, 20+ poems, 1 screenplays, 3 short films, 2 music videos, 11 one-acts, 1 three-acts, 2 sketches
• Currently published: 1 short story, 2 poems
• Currently performed/recorded: 3 Newsbleeps, 2 Off the Records, 4 one-acts, 3 songs, 1 poem, 2 prize-winning speeches, 1 short film, 1 sketch
• (numbers may be adjusted for inflation of ego)

It seems fairly overwhelming when you list it out like that, but I try to work on one thing at a time. Holli’s been very supportive, helping to keep me on track when I start things, and helping me to not get all crazy even after finishing things. An interesting development has been that the new Tech Director at DSU has a master’s degree in playwrighting, and I hope to talk to him soon (as soon as I have time).

So, romp! I hope you guys enjoy the new theme. I really like it.