Those of you that know me may remember that I've been a fan of the band Fat Amy since the mid 90s.  I built my first real web site for Fat Amy, back in early 1996 and was the webmaster for Fat Amy - and subsequently the Bob Guiney Band - until just earlier this year.  Bob was on the Bachelorette and then he was chosen to be The Bachelor (season 4) and has had a nice TV career ever since. 

Not your average 15 minutes of fame.

What many of the Bachelor/Bachelorette viewers didn't know is that Bob was in music long before he went on those shows.  Fat Amy released several studio albums and had a nice following in the midwest and toured from coast to coast before they went on Hiatus around the turn of the century.  Things got quiet while Bob made a living as a mortgage broker until his appearance on The Bachelorette in 2003.

Anyway, Bob got back together with some of the members of Fat Amy, and recruited a few other band members from the Michigan scene, and released another album with Wind Up Records as the "Bob Guiney Band".  Some of the songs on the album were previously unrecorded Fat Amy songs, some were previously recorded Fat Amy songs (re-recorded with the new band), and some new songs as well.  BGB toured the nation in support of this album, but Bob has been so busy in the TV world that the music side of things, in terms of the BGB, was mostly on the shelf.

Well, it looks like the band is getting back together for their first show in several years - they're playing a place called The Wolf Den, located in the Mohegan Sun Casino/Hotel in Connecticut.

If you're in or near Connecticut, you should go check it out!

For more details, visit www.bobguiney.com

So, I can't remember if I blogged my boating issues a few weeks ago but we took the boat out for an initial test run 4-5 weeks ago and it failed miserably.  We had to get towed back in!  Engine overheated.

Now, she's finally ready for the water after quite a bit of work.  I did most of this work myself with the help of my dad and Laurie's boyfriend Charles.  Charles is an auto mechanic and boat enthusiast.  He runs an automotive service center in Cary called Techni-Quest.

Anyway, here's a list of all the stuff we did this spring:

• replaced the running boards on the trailer - new plywood and carpet
• replaced the stern drive water intake pump
• installed a new thermostat - for some reason the boat didn't have one
• replaced the engine water circulation pump
• replaced faulty tach and fuel gauges
• replaced faulty cigarette lighter with a power outlet (for plugging in cell phones, ipods, etc)
• Installed new stereo

Had I paid other people to do all this it probably would've been really expensive, but since I only had to buy the parts, it wasn't bad at all.  The most expensive part was the engine circulation pump at something like $60.  The stern drive water pump kit was like $25.  Probably spent maybe $300 if you include the stereo.

I also learned a LOT of boat engines, how stern drives work, etc.

Can't wait to get out on the lake!!

Actually, my boss' daughter's reading buddy did a book review for a contest and we want her to win.

Please to go the following link and vote for "The Thief Lord"

http://www.storytubes.com/vote/hrt.php#

Thanks!