Isaac Sinnett

So I have decided that a car has two purposes.  The obvious purpose is to transport yourself and others or stuff from one point to another.  No one can disagree with the usefulness of a car from this viewpoint.  However, from time to time, the other not-so-talked-about purpose of a vehicle is to be a money pit.  I know that the Sinnett Limousine – aka Bob – is going to be a little offended by that comment, but the truthfulness that lies behind it cannot be ignored.  I took Bob in for some upkeep and knew that he was going to cost me a few pennies, but damn!  Who would have ever guessed that taking in the Limousine would’ve jump started the sinking economy all by itself.  Bob is not a little fledgling anymore.  The years and the miles have creeped up on me and on poor Bob.  Minus a few instances of slight road rage, Bob has been treated with the utmost care.  If I say something mean, I’m sure to follow it up with a compliment and make sure that he knows I’m here for him.  He just has to be there for me.  We don’t always see eye-to-eye, but at the end of the day, everyone is happy and resting safe and secure.

So I found a place on yelp that I determined would be good enough to leave the Limousine in the care of.  24 reviews and all of them were 5 stars!  I had never seen the likes of this for any place, let alone for a mechanic.  It’s hard to find a decent mechanic in Chicago, but one that would ace the yelp test?  That feat seemed impossible til a few days ago.  So to Norms we went.  I left the Limousine there and headed off to work.  It was a bit of a stressful day knowing that I was about to drop a hefty sum on Bob. I told him before I left him at Norm’s that I would appreciate it if the amount could be reasonable.  Well, depending on your definition of reasonable, I could see this being somewhat reasonable.  For all of the work that was done, I think I received a fair price.  Once, I had paid Norm I got into the car and had a long talk with Bob.  I informed him that he had cost me way too much money and that if he were to do that again, our long history together would have to come to an end.  I spent all this money on Bob and he still only does one thing other than cost me money.  He gets me from one point to another, which is why the vicious cycle will continue on. Thanks a lot Sinnett Limousine, aka Bob!…

After futher review and some discussion with a few loyal readers, I have realized that I may have rushed into the naming of my “year-long bucket list”.  Vat list, while sufficient and somewhat catchy is just not the descriptor.  A vat is just far to large of a capacity to be a the name for a short term list.  A vat is “a large container, as a tub or tank…”  Not to mention that a vat, other than being “a large container” is an unspecified measurement of space. There is just no way that you can call a year-long list a vat.  I now see the error of my ways.  It’s a list that is shorter than a life-long “bucket” list.  So then, how can it be called the name of something that is larger than a bucket? No, no, no.

However, do not fret.  Throughout this process, the correct term has surfaced.  How do you sum up a year-long bucket list.  Easy…pint list.  It just makes sense.  It’s a smaller quantity that is measurable and  can definitely be completed within a year.  It is easy for me to tell people about my pint list.  And if you remember to the previous blog, that pint list includes trips to DC and Tucson.

Beyond that, an even better term has been brought to the table.  You cannot have a vat list for the purpose needed, but you can have a “vat of randomness”.  It’s perfect and I happen to be a very random person.  More so in my thoughts and the things that I say, than the things that I choose to do.

So I have decided today that I need to take a trip to Washington, DC.  Of all the major “attractions” of the United States, this is the one place that hasn’t been checked off the list. It will just have to be added to the bucket list.  However, this is something that I would like to check off the list this year.  What is the name for a bucket list that is supposed to be completed in a year and not a life-time?  Everyone has those goals that they want to check off as they live their lives.  Well, I want to check some things off as I live this year.  A visit to our nation’s capitol happens to be one of them.  It’s something that should happen in the great year of ‘09.

Now it’s time to delve a little deeper into this year-long bucket list.  It’s not a set of New Year’s resolutions.  Those are different.  Those are typically a set (or sets) of things that one would like to hypothetically do or change — a far-reaching goal that is easy to abandon once the person realizes that they are unable to accomplish that goal or set of goals with ease.  Needless to say, I’m not dissing anyone who chooses to set these goals year after year.  In fact, I’m here rooting for you.  What can I say but, go team?

But let’s not get off track from the task at hand.  Last year was a good year.  I was able to check a lot of things off the life-long bucket list as well as the year-long bucket list.  This year – after building off the momentum from last year – will be better.  But alas, what can we call this adventure?  Can it really be a bucket list if it’s only for a year? That seems as if the time is a bit truncated for such an ingrained use of a term.  So, off the top of my head, there are can, canister, cask, kettle, pail, pot and vat as the choices for this new term.  After taking a quick glance at the list I realize that can, canister and pot can be removed.  Seriously, who in their right mind would write about a ‘can list’.  Do I really need to make an example of the other two?  Didn’t think so.

I myself am leaning towards cask and vat as the final choice for this list.  Pail, though more synonymous with bucket, is just a little underwhelming. Kettle?  Ok, I have to be honest.  I have no idea what in the world a kettle list would be.  Seriously? Wow, let’s forget that was even an option.  I can pull an item out of the vat, but I’m not sure that I can check off a list from the cask.  Thanks for being there for me folks.  Needless to say, if you remember your way back to the top of the blog, I’ve added Washington, D.C. to the vat list.  In addition, I’m putting AZ right there.  The rest, well, you will just have to wait and see…

Everything is always changing and isaacsinnett.com was well past its need for a change.  I’ve made some layout changes, including a ‘home’ page when you first access the website.  Hope you enjoy.  Stop back in soon for some new blogs.

January 3 came around and it was time to celebrate the last day of Sean and Rachels last day of their honeymoon and Dave’s being in Chicago.  It was a combo event.  And boy oh blago was it ever.  We headed over to Laschet’s and Governor Blagojevich was eating there with his wife Patti and the rest of his family.  An elder German mate pointed to this fact upon our arrival and we quickly confirmed this to be a truth.  On the way out, his family quickly exited and Blagojevich stuck around greeting the patrons.  It came time to stop by our group and we got the following graces of presence:

Rachel, Blagojevich, Sean, Me

Paul, Blagojevich, Dave