Seize the storm

This is the second album by Seattle-based Shawn McDonald.   His previous album, Simply Nothing, has seriously come close to wearing out anything I’ve played it on.   I absolutely love Simply Nothing and no other cd has gotten played more – wherever I go.   Every song on it is amazing.   I really do suggest this record, I even requested another copy of it on my Christmas list last year.   I knew it would be so very hard to compete with Simply Nothing with this release of Ripen…

The Review

Shawn takes on a different sound in this album.   He shows he’s willing to experiment and try different things.   There’s a cello in the background that just goes insane sometimes (in a good way).   His lyrics, in keeping with Simply Nothing, are very deep.   They bare his soul and from the music and his words, you can tell that it’s not about him singing music to fit a certain genre or listener, but just him singing his heart out to God and giving Him all the praises.   Shawn talks a lot about the second coming and how he’s looking forward to it.   One of the highlighted songs about this is The Rider on the White Horse.   The way they pulled off the sound (which I have no idea how they did) is awesome.   You can almost hear the hoof steps as the horse gallops.   He also speaks about freedom in Christ and needing Christ in his life every moment of everyday, basically filling his cup daily.   He also has a nice love song to his new wife, Kate McDonald who is Bethany Dillon’s sister.   I like that Shawn is trying some new things out and go with some different sounds.   He has a couple songs on the new record that sound a lot like the flow of Simply Nothing, which is basically more of what I like.   Some of the songs were a little slow or a bit repetative, or had some really funky sounding notes to it.   One of the songs he recorded while he was sick and though you can tell he’s straining, it really sounds good.

Favorite tracks: Free, Salvation, Pour Out, and Imago(an instrumental song), Home

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars – It just couldn’t stand up to the awesome-ness of Simply Nothing.   I think this was his learning record as he had to learn how to write his songs on a schedule.   Look forward to the next one

I’ve sit here all day doing an armchair chase of a new Tri-state system that started in Kansas and rocked all the way through Missouri and is now rocking Illinois.   Great day of watching everything pop up though and was a good test of my forecasting abilities.   It definitely looked like today was going to be a huge day.   I now wish I would have archived this data.

Out of the Area

Anyways, back to the purpose of the post.   I sit here under a Winter Storm warning.   Here’s what the driveway and surroundings look like:

We’re supposed to get 6-10 inches total.   Let’s think about this for a second, winter storm warning in South Dakota and tornado warnings in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois.   Yeah it’s spring, and March is definitely in like a lion.

Out of commission

My vehicle is out of commission.   I have a worn out tie rod, a cracked serpentine belt and tires that will need replacing.   Preliminary cost estimates are $650 for all of this.   I’m thinking $800+.   It’s a sad, sad day.   The car still works and I’m driving it but safety-wise, I’m driving on borrowed time and there will be no chasing until all issues have been resolved.   All I can say is good thing we have three pay days this month.

Update

Well, it looks to be like it will be on target with my estimate.   The belt will cost about $70-80 and  the outer tie rod end will be about $85-95.   Most likely I will need new brakes & rotors along with that which will run about $170.  

The tires – Michelin Hydroedge – best deal is through Wal-Mart at $468 with install, taxes and all that jazz.   Plus I get free rotation, balancing and if I ever get a flat, then they will do all that for free – for the life of the tires.  

Grand total: $834