Continuing off the Lessons Learned Lists...

Random things I've learned this summer so far:

1. Italians kiss better than anyone. period.

2. Rochester really is cold.

3. The Economy sucks.

4. People love Margarita.


...More to come, I'm sure.

10 reasons NOT to live at Lafayette during the summer

10. The dorms smell like Old McDonald's farm, and by the looks of the students, the animals are here too!
9. The only other people at the gym are professors. Biking with Bruggink? Awkward.
8. The only place serving food on campus is Gilberts. No thanks, I'll pass on having the shits today.
7. Ricecookers in every lounge.
6. I've never seen 90% of these students ever in my life.
5. No cable!! How will I watch the Wheel?
4. My room is the size of a porta-potty. And in it I have a bed, wardrobe, 4 different kinds of shelving, dresser, desk, tv and tv stand, mountains of shit, and the cat couch.
3. I' have yet to see or meet anyone who lives in my building, but I do here furniture moving VERY loudly on a daily basis. Especially when I'm trying to nap.
2. The Fiesta is in the R-O-C. The Priz just isn't quite as zippy and luxurious...
1. Chris, Brian, and the rest of the fam isn't here!!!

until i find 10 more reasons... LL

i Heart Fiesta

Zipping around with Margarita today, I began to think of why everyone should RSVP to the FIESTA next year...

1. Because polka dots are in this season.
2. It's a party on the road!
3. You can have your boot up and your bonnet open.
4. As if we weren't celebrities before, now everyone is lookin ;)
5. If they sell every car with its own agent like MC Rinke, we're in!
6. Explaining it to cute guys/girls is totally worth it...yeah, that's right, the Fiesta can get you play :P
7. 38.5 mpg while gas is north of $2.50/gallon!
8. Driving by a playground and totally making the little kids' lives because they saw the most awesome car ever (OK, Dorothy does not appreciate this one as much).
9. Every successful gear shift is a small victory in life.
10. Because despite bringing home good grades, awards, and a Bachelor's Degree, your parents will inevitably be more impressed that you drove a stick shift in Memorial Day traffic without dying.

Ra-Cha-Cha

Margarita has successfully made it to the R-O-C, more formally known as Rochester, New York – home of the Red Wings, Garbage plates, Wegmans(!!!), Abotts’s Custard, the Strong Museum of Play, and lots o’ snow. However, Margarita’s journey, while painless for her, even hitting an all-time high of 38.5 mpg, was not quite as painless for her driver, 1/3 of the infamous Team weGOTyourCRAZY.

Driving home in our dear little Fiesta was a most bittersweet occasion as I was driving not only towards the place I call home but leaving the people I call family. I graduated college on Saturday and after a nearly 48 moving spree, I left Lauren and Brian after finishing our first mission video. Needless to say, after all of our adventures and times together, it was a very tearful occasion.

And being in Margarita was a constant reminder of those times. The Fiesta experience, while still young, is something I can already tell will resonate with Lauren, Brian, and me for years and years to come as emblematic not only of who we are as individuals but what we comprise as a unit. I won’t go on waxing too nostalgic (for more on that, see my own facebook notes), but I will say we do indeed got your crazy…and our love.

Margarita is about to go see the sights in Rochester and will be back to the Keystone State with Dorothy and Double L for June’s mission video...or very possibly before then as well.

Happy Summer Fiesta Fans!

P.S. I drove past an Elementary School where kids were playing outside and I am very certain I made their lives with seeing Margarita whiz by (doing the speed limit, of course).

We Miss Thee, Margarita...

...(to the tune of "The Brady Bunch" theme song)

Here's the story of a car named Fiesta
She's sitting alone in Binghamton (Binghamton!)
She wants four wheels, but only got three
And the contest has only just begun (just begun!)

Here's the story of our Margarita
And no, we're not talking about the drink (tasty drink!)
We make a daily call to Mission Control
Thank God for our MC hottie Andrew Rinke! (Andrew Rinke!)

Here's the story of an f-ing mystery
We still do not know where to find third gear (third gear!)
So we drive around in second with gears grinding
God, could someone please give me an f-ing beer? (f-ing beer!)

So now we're waiting for Ford Feduke (pronounced: fed-oo-kay)
To get our Margarita on road (on the road!)
Hopefully we'll make it back to Easton, Pennsylvania
Without having our Margarita being towed! (being towed!)

Bing-Bing's Redemption

$4.28 Andre Champagne v. NJ's/PA's $5.99.

That's magic, kids.

Fiesta, come back to me!

A Vacation in the Southern Tier

To most people, when they hear the words "South" and "Vacation" positive images are conjured up in the brain. To me, trapped in the Southern Tier of New York State being on more of a forced sabbatical from my life than an actual vacation per se, it is less than ideal. No offense to the Bing-Bing, but the 607 is not a place people come to. When they told us the theme of the month would be travel, I never imagined I'd be traveling here....oh, life.

Poor Margarita is at our friendly Feduke Ford dealership where I was greeted by Ford sales people who loved seeing the car and Ford maintenance people decidedly less enthused by my arrival. She's full of my winter clothes and a bent wheel in the back. :(

Based on my experiences here and elsewhere, however, I have come to learn that nearly everyone else goes to school where the living accommodations far outstrip those of team weGOTyourCRAZY. Case and point: the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and now SUNY Binghamton all have much, much nicer upperclassmen housing - dishwashers and full-sized fridges, and beds larger than the fiesta oh my! How do we end up paying $10,000 a year in room and board and still have but a brick-and-motar, a fridge that can't hold more than a box of wine and a few pounds of cheese, and RAs who threaten to write me up for SingStar?

I've also learned that NY really is cold. They're talking about 30s here tomorrow...in MAY! C'mon, I'm not even in Rochester yet!

Alright, over and out for now Fiesta Friends. I'm going to go back to sleep.

Saving Grace: Starbucks and Five Guys adjacent. :)

The Day the Music Died

This is the story of a very unfortunate day in the life of the Fiesta.

Being the good son that I am, I planned to drive home (Rochester NY baby!!!) to surprise mom for Mother's Day. Well, the desire for a bowel movement and coffee ended that dream some 16 miles outside of Binghamton, NY at a dumpy Arby's parking lot.

A Texas-sized pothole brought our dear Margarita to a stop as she slowly leaked out the air of the front driver's side tire. :( An $800 billion stimulus bill for infrastructure but apparently Whitney Point, NY was left off of the home-improvement list.

Brian, ever the manly-man, couldn't figure out the jack so I in the most impressive display of my own manliness jacked Margarita into the air. 17 calls later to Binghamton tire stores and we were at a sad, sad loss...until we called Andrew, our friendly Mission Control Agent. Of course, we forgot about the time zone difference and upon hearing Andrew answer, or more correctly, try to answer, the phone we realized we were probably catching the morning after of a very excellent Saturday night for Andrew. :)

Lauren rescued Brian and Little A from Bing-Bing, yet I remain here indefinitely until dear Andrew can save me from the gateway to PA. Help Andrew!!

2,000 Trouble-Free Miles!!!

Hey everybody,
This is Dorothy from team weGOTyourCRAZY. My blog posts won't be as ridiculous as Chris's so I'll keep it brief.

I just wanted to report that Margarita whizzed past 2,000 miles this afternoon with no trouble to report. We love this little snot-colored car :)

Trip computer says we're averaging 33 MPG which is also awesome.

I filled up the tank and gave Margarita her first wash tonight before parking. Tomorrow, we're heading to Rochester NY to show the Fiesta to Chris's parents. Then, it's back to PA (to Chris's dismay) for a week of exams :(

After that, team weGOTyourCRAZY is planning on stretching Margarita's legs by driving to the Mall of America for our very first mission.

Keep checking back here to see what antics team weGOTyourCRAZY is up to!!

FIESTA FIESTA FIESTA

first wash 1

first wash 1
Originally uploaded by BEA_Thomas

Washing 2,000 miles of road grime of lil' Margarita

DSC00022

DSC00022
Originally uploaded by BEA_Thomas

it's alright, alright, just DRIVE

Margarita's Dash

P4200332
Originally uploaded by BEA_Thomas

Head over to our flickr page to check out the rest of our recently uploaded pics from training!