Live stats are now live! You can go to calebunseth.com/freemeals anytime you want and get up-to-the-friggin-second stats on how many free meals I’ve had for the current month (and which meal of the day it was). In the near future I will also be adding a section that recognizes those who have won free meal related awards. Maybe you can be on that list someday!
This little guy and I became friends at the camp I was at in Russia in July 2009. We couldn’t understand each other, but we had tons of fun. He loved to run around and play tag, or show me the latest bug he had just caught. The last couple days of camp, his parents had gotten him a little wooden model of a deer. All the pieces had been cut out, but it needed to be put together. We spent a while trying to do that, but didn’t get very far. At the end, when I had to leave, he gave it to me and asked me to finish it. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive the trip, so I never was able to do so.
Jeff went over to the camp this year, and I told him that if he saw Bogdan (pronounced “bug-don”) at camp, to say hi for me. When I got back from Albuquerque yesterday, I went into my office and Jeff had left a drawing that Bugdon had done for me. I’m not gonna lie–I got a little misty-eyed 
I bought a new desk yesterday and proceeded to assemble it in my office, and then rearrange everything. Here is a video tour (I made it using my iPhone 4) which explains all the new functionality of my office:
I love computers, and I love photography, but honestly, my favorite hobby is what I refer to as Roadside Assistance. I get really excited when I see a vehicle up ahead with its hazard lights on, because this almost always means I get to at least pull over, flip on my lights, and see if they need any help (In case you don’t know, Bruno is equipped with a 17″ amber LED emergency strobe light).
Recently I’ve had a bit of a dry spell in not finding anybody to help, but this weekend changed that. Saturday afternoon I had been out at Triple L Ranch. I was coming home on I-20 near Walmart when I saw a truck pulled over. I pulled up to see if they needed help. Turned out, I knew a few of the guys from church and MCA. The truck was leaking fluid (I believe they determined it to be coming from the front differential). They decided to try and drive it to their destination, so I followed them down the service road for a little ways to make sure they were ok. After they waved me off, I turned around and headed back to a van along the interstate that had a flat tire. It was a young mother with her two kids. Another fellow had already stopped and was starting to jack up the vehicle, so I helped by getting the lug nuts off. In less than 5 minutes she was on the road again. I kids felt like a NASCAR pit crew member.
After the flat tire change, I was heading back down the service road to get back on the interstate when I spotted a pickup truck stalled along the road. They didn’t have any hazard lights, and it was dusk, so I pulled up behind to offer them safety and see if I could help. The father and son were working on the engine and diagnosed it was a fuel filter issue. Meanwhile, the young boy inside the truck talked and talked about where they were going, and that the truck had just stopped, and about the Cheetos he was eating. He was hilarious. The father got the truck running and since they didn’t live far away, they headed back home. I continued back onto the interstate and then came across a blown out semi tire in the middle of the road. It wasn’t just a chunk of it…it was the whole thing. It was getting dark and I knew it was a large road hazard. I pulled over, got out, waited for traffic to clear and then ran out and pulled the tire off the road and left it in the ditch.
So, on Saturday, all within about a 1 mile stretch of I-20, I made 4 different stops. It was pretty awesome.
Today, I was coming back from the Ranch again, and had just gotten off I-20 onto the Loop on the west side of Midland. I spotted a vehicle on the service road with its hazards on, so I pulled around and stopped. Turned out, it was a family heading back home to Dallas, and they had run out of gas. Their relatives were just a couple of minutes away with some gas, so I waited. They arrived, we got the fuel in, and the van started right up. I followed them to the next as station a couple of miles away, just to make sure they made it safely.
The funniest part is that almost every single person I help asks me if this is my job. When I tell them that I’m a computer tech and this is just a hobby, I usually get a weird look. It happens the same way almost every time. Nonetheless, I love it and thank God that he allows me to enjoy it, and keeps me safe.
June welcomed itself into Midland by rumbling through later in the evening. I spent about an hour taking pictures. I loved this resulting one. You can click on the image for a larger version.
