Song: 24 to 65 - Chicago

Top 4 Moments of Meeting With the Detectives This Morning:

4. The awkward pause after "So you were at your girlfriends? What were you guys doing?" (nothing like THAT by the way).
3. The fact that I had to revise my statement after looking at the pictures (I was just off a bit on where I took the first pictures from).
2. The serious questions "David, did you start the fire?" (no), and "You would take a lie detector test?" (yes please..that would rule).
1. The fact that the detectives are reading this (hey guys).

Time for a picture...

Screen shot of part of my desktop - a joke I decided to abandon before they came in my room:

posted by David on 8/07/2003 12:08:00 PM

Music: Fall Out Boy

Ooot. It's the worse when people forget to give you key information regarding plans and decisions that will determine major events in your life. Take, for instance, the counselor at Northeastern that I talked to months ago. She failed to inform me that there are a key set of classes I have to have completed before moving on toward my degree. And, since they build on themselves and I have all the gen-eds out of the way, I can only take two classes each semester for the next year. Ugh.

So, back to the drawing board. F. I am gonna be staying at COD to take the equivalents of those classes for the next few quarters. If I can't move ahead full steam at least I won't have to commute to Chicago every day to do it.

On the bright side, this little snag made it possible for me to get that full time job at Becker (subsidiary of DeVry) that I applied for before. They called me back and gave it to me. I'm going to have my own cubicle to decorate. Sweet. $12 an hour, paid vacations, and insurance isn't too bad either.

So, this next quarter will be work Monday through Friday everyday 8:30 - 4:30, Classes Monday through Thursday night, and valet Friday and Saturday night. I am going to busy like a mo but I should be bringing in the big bucks.

Who knows though..things keep changing...this plan might be different in a week or two....
posted by David on 8/06/2003 11:46:00 PM

Music: Big Band / Jazz Internet Radio Station

The saga continues....

OK, I realize the links aren't working correctly for some people. However, I know they worked for Tony so they aren't all bad. I don't really know what to do about them though.

Anyway, I stopped into Four Star Limo yesterday afternoon to see if they knew what happened and to tell them about my footage. They lady said it was being investigated and her boss would probably be interested in seeing what I had. She said he was out of town though so she just took my name and number and told me to try back Monday.

By nine o'clock this morning they had called me 3 times. I called them back and after introductions the guy asked "What do we need to do to see the video?" I said "What do you want to do?" He said "What do you want?"

Now they were speaking my language. I asked for a free limo rental. He said maybe, and that he was semiretired and would need to talk to the owner that runs the day to day stuff. We made an appointment for an hour later.

I showed up and suddenly he wasn't very interested. I guess he talked with people and they decided if it wasn't a video of someone setting it that it wasn't worth it. I played it cool and he asked me to stick around a few minutes to talk to an investigator they had working on it. I told him it would be no problem.

The investigator got there and the owner guy left us alone. He was pretty cool. He just asked me what I saw and then we talked a little about it. He said there was little fire damage inside except for where it got in through the door so it looked like it started outside. It sounded like he thought it was arson. He said before I got there that the owner was talking like he really wanted to see the video so I should hold out and see what I could get.

The owner came back and said he wasn't interested in it. He said his son (the owner away on business) might be and I should give him a call though. I did and I am going to meet with him when he gets back in town. I guess he is in California buying another Hummer Limo.

The investigator said he really wants to see it and he would give me $20 bucks for it if they didn't take it. I got his card.

I got home and there was a message from the Glen Ellyn police. Two detectives are showing up at my door tomorrow at 9:00AM to talk to me and see the video. Should be a good time.

I'll keep you posted.
posted by David on 8/06/2003 05:01:00 PM

OK..here are the videos. Sometimes they work...sometimes they don't. Good luck:

Limo Fire 1
Limo Fire 2 (first explosion - my favorite)
Limo Fire 3
Limo Fire 4 (shows the extent of the fire)
Limo Fire 5 (second explosion)
Limo Fire 6 (me walking to my car and the firefighters getting to work)
Limo Fire 7 (last of it is put out)
Limo Fire 8 (lots of smoke and stuff)
posted by David on 8/04/2003 09:55:00 PM

Song: So Beautiful - Dashboard Confessional

Wow. OK..get this:

So I was driving home from Kristin's earlier tonight and there were almost no other cars on the road. Heck, there usually aren't late at night. Anyway, I was on Roosevelt and had just gone under 355 when I came up to the Rodeo Drive Shopping center. You know, it's the one across from the International Village entrance..with the wedding stores and the limos parked outside. Right. OK, so as I get up to it I notice a small flame around the rear tire of the lead Hummer limo. So I am trying to figure out what is up and I realize it is on fire and no one is around. So..my first instinct is to pull into the center of the road and take a picture. Then I realize I should probably call for help. I glanced around my car to see if I had my Dad's cell phone with me and I didn't so I sped ahead to the White Hen. Too bad they aren't open 24 hours. Then I see flashing lights pulling up to it so I assume it is the police. I turn around and drive back to it through the parking lots of the stores and buildings along Roosevelt. The lights turned out to be a tow truck so I jumped out to see if he had called. He said he couldn't find his phone so I jumped in my car and sped to the Holiday Inn. Just as I got there I saw a cop fly by. So..I turned around, drove back through the parking lots, and got as close as I felt safe to watch the show. Of course I used my camera to get video of everything from this point on.

Yep. It burned. The fire grew and engulfed the whole rear end. It was getting bigger and spreading when BANG something exploded. Fire flashed all over and almost the whole thing started burning. Flames were easily 20 feet in the air and now covered the ground all around it. They were getting really close to the second Hummer when the fire department arrived. They were assessing the situation when a smaller explosion occurred. Then they moved in and put it out within a few minutes. I looked around and there were literally 12 or so police cars parked all around the area. There was even one from Villa Park. They blocked off Roosevelt to all traffic. I talked to the first officer on the scene and he said someone else had called...probably while I was checking out White Hen.

Anyway..the video quality isn't great but it's still pretty cool.

OK..time for bed.
posted by David on 8/04/2003 05:24:00 AM