Lexus LX

2 Comments Posted on January 1, 2015January 1, 2015 car reviews, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: I Was Hit By An Albino Deer! (Yes, An Albino Deer)

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

On November 26^th, the night before Thanksgiving this year, I was driving home from work. Normally, I would have had you in the car with me, in the back seat.

Fortunately, Mommy got off work early that day and she picked you up instead.

As I drove down that narrow, wooded, farm land stretch from Cool Springs to Nolensville, on Clovercroft Road, I made sure to slow down, going under the speed limit because of all the light rain and heavy fog obstructing my view.

Less than a mile from home, I looked over the left hand side of the road to see what appeared to be a skinny white cow running faster than I’ve ever seen a cow run.

As it made its way down that hill, which was part of a farm, I noticed it was being chased… by a deer.

At that point, I realized that actually, both animals were deer.

The all-white one jumped the 4 foot tall barb wire fence. In a split-second moment, I had a big decision to make:

I chose to remain cruising at the same speed and let the deer run into the side of me.

Officially, I did not hit a deer… a deer hit me!

It reminded me of some generic yet familiar scene from Lost, where some big explosion happens and the character wakes up wondering where they are. (That seemed to happen a lot on Lost!)

Miraculously, by the grace of God, the albino deer didn’t crash through my window. It hit hard against my driver’s side door and tire.

However, the impact didn’t slow down my car or knock my car off the road.

When I looked back behind me, I saw no sign of the deer; nor did the cars behind me have to swerve. The albino deer just completely disappeared.

I was able to drive home, with no injuries.

However, when I got home, I was unable to open the driver’s side door, as the deer’s impact had jammed the tire panel into the door.

And for some reason, the battery was dead the next morning.

I ended up having to have my car towed. Please note to avoid having an insurance claim in between the 2 biggest holidays of the year.

Keep in mind the accident occurred on November 26^th. Well, I got my car back from the shop just a couple of days ago, on December 30^th; about 5 weeks later.

I have to compliment Service King in Cool Springs, TN; where my car was towed. They did a flawless job of keeping me informed via text messages and phone calls on the status of my vehicle’s condition.

Yes, it took 5 weeks to get my car back after the accident, but in no way was the delay because of Service King. It had to do with the insurance inspection in the midst of the holidays, as well as a surge of claims of deer hitting cars.

My car was towed to facility to a place where they total cars; only to eventually learn that, thank God, my car wasn’t totaled.

So after a couple of weeks of that, it was finally taken to Service King, where it was repaired.

Just to be clear, though, it was nothing short of a miracle that my car wasn’t totaled. The state of Tennessee requires insurance companies to total vehicles if the damage is equal to 70% or more of the vehicle’s value.

Looks like I was only safe by a couple hundred dollars.

One good thing that came out of all this is I got to review 4 cars during the past month. For example, here are the stories that came out of the Lexus LX 570:

Dear Jack: My Childhood Christmas Tree, The 1980s Time Capsule

Dear Jack: Christmas Is Always Quirky Wherever We Are

Discovering A Mysterious Purse While Geocaching In Fort Payne, Alabama

Dear Jack: Little River Falls/Abandoned Church Christmas Trip

Dear Jack: The Day After Christmas Was Still Fun Too!

How To Have A Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher Or Plant-Based Christmas

2014 Lexus LX 570: Family Friendly Review

Dear Jack: I Was Hit By An Albino Deer! (Yes, An Albino Deer)

I also reviewed the 2014 Lexus RX 450h during this 5 week period as well:

2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review

Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

In closing, please remember my words of wisdom: Never slow down, stop, or swerve to avoid hitting an animal.

Had I done any of those things, the accident would have been billed as my fault. I would have had a $500 deductible, plus my premium would have went up.

But because I chose to let the deer hit me, I remained safe on the road, and my deductible was only $100; not to mention my premium will not increase.

Here in the state of Tennessee, you seriously have to watch out for those albino deer…

Fortunately, your Uncle Andrew and Aunt Dana bought me a deer warner for Christmas.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 1, 2015January 1, 2015 car reviews, parenting, Uncategorized

2014 Lexus LX 570: Family Friendly Review

For Christmas break, I had requested to review the new 2015 Toyota Sienna, which I already did a mini-review on back a few months ago when Toyota flew me down to Jacksonville for their new reveal of the updated Sienna, Yaris, and Camry.

I had wanted to spotlight the new Sienna’s “Easy Speak” feature, by loading up my extended family in the vehicle and taking a road trip to Birmingham for my son Jack to visit his best friend Sophie; as they recently met up at Opry Mills Mall to meet Santa, while we reviewed the Lexus: Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend).

Turns out, all the Siennas were booked for Christmas. So instead, I was given a 2014 LX 570 to review instead.

Wow.

I have now officially reviewed my most expensive and most glorious vehicle here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

Imagine how nice and wonderful a Toyota Land Cruiser is. Well, this is the Lexus version… the $89,805.00 version, to be exact.

To say it was a privilege to be trusted with a $90K vehicle for a week; that would be an understatement.

Another change of plans occurred when Sophie’s parents had to work the day after Christmas, the day we were supposed to meet her family in Birmingham.

So since those plans got cancelled, I made sure our family still got to take advantage of the Lexus LX 570’s awesomeness, as you can see featured in the stories below:

Dear Jack: My Childhood Christmas Tree, The 1980s Time Capsule

Dear Jack: Christmas Is Always Quirky Wherever We Are

Discovering A Mysterious Purse While Geocaching In Fort Payne, Alabama

Dear Jack: Little River Falls/Abandoned Church Christmas Trip

Dear Jack: The Day After Christmas Was Still Fun Too!

How To Have A Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher Or Plant-Based Christmas

2014 Lexus LX 570: Family Friendly Review

By far though, the most interesting, exciting, and popular story featuring the Lexus LX 570 ended up being Discovering A Mysterious Purse While Geocaching In Fort Payne, Alabama, as the title alone indicates. Check that out…

Also, I made a walk-around video so you can get 360 degree perspective of the vehicle:

This is an 8 passenger vehicle with 383 horsepower, 403 lb.-ft torque, built-in DVD players, and even a built-in cooler in between the front 2 seats, which runs off the vehicle’s A/C.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my review, come back anytime!

2 Comments Posted on January 1, 2015 food reviews, Uncategorized, vegan

How To Have A Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher Or Plant-Based Christmas

Though I’ve been a vegan for more than a year and a half, a vegetarian for 3 years, and kosher (no pork, shellfish, etc.) for 6 years, I haven’t always held non-meat eaters in the highest regard.

Back before my gradual conversion that began in 2008, I used to mock the concept of vegans and vegetarians. I had them stereotyped pretty easily in my mind.

Then, as my eyes began being opened by watching Netflix documentaries like Supersize Me, Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, Vegucated, and Hungry For A Change, I began understanding the attraction towards an “I eat nothing from an animal diet”, but I chose not to participate because I wasn’t ready to make such a lifestyle change.

If you ask me, becoming a vegan or vegetarian requires you to live an alternative lifestyle.

I would know, since I live the vegan life 100% every day, no exceptions.

By the way, part of the lure to veganism is that it means your daily cholesterol intake is less than 1%; or in other words, 0%. While “vegan food” (veggies, fruit, grains, beans, nuts, & seeds) do contain some cholesterol, it’s never enough to register high enough to count as 1% on the food label.

So I thought it would be interesting to produce a collection of picture collages featuring what our family ate during the 5 day Christmas vacation we just came off of.

I must admit, I have a major advantage in my vegan lifestyle: My wife is an extremely good cook, and she loves planning and cooking our family’s meals. (That’s her in the picture above in the blue and back shirt.)

In the way I am passionate about blogging, she is passionate about making good food for our family.

One of her secrets is a website called Oh She Glows. The majority of the food you see today is derived from her plant-based recipe website.

Over Christmas vacation, we dined on sweet potato chili, spinach pasta with “vegan meatballs” (made with oats), vegan veggie pizza (vegetarian for those who eat cheese), vegan nachos (made with potatoes and avocado), and cashew sauce pasta, to name a few meals.

And thanks to my mom and my sister, we definitely weren’t short on vegan desserts.

My mom had a table full of vegan cookies and cakes, while my sister made vegan chocolate cupcakes, per my son’s request.

The biggest challenge was when we drove an hour to a family reunion near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

We wanted to be able to spend time with that side of the family, but we were unable to eat any of the food there; and I especially didn’t want to be a hardship to them because of our dietary limitations.

So here’s what we did: We packed the Lexus LX (the vehicle I was reviewing last week) with Larabars and water; which kept us full through the visit. We arrived 30 minutes early, to maximize on spending quality family time, before the food part started.

In total, we were there for a solid hour and a half, before they started serving their food, which is the point at which we left.

Fortunately, the Whole Foods was only 8 miles away; that’s where we had our lunch that day.

I admit I was a bit skeptical going into this holiday season how as I vegan, I would be able to participate in a feast of Biblical proportions. But my family made it happen.

Honestly, I don’t feel like I missed out on anything food-wise this holiday season. I ate very well and had a great time; just without the cholesterol.

For more on this kind of stuff, just click on tab on the upper left-hand side of the page: My Vegan Life.

And of course, feel free to ask questions in the comments below!

Leave a comment Posted on December 31, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Day After Christmas Was Still Fun Too!

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

With Mommy and I both being able to take the day after Christmas off (Friday, December 26^th), we were able to extend our official Christmas break to basically a 5 day holiday.

That meant that the fun wasn’t over just because Christmas day had passed. The morning started off with you trying on some on gag glasses that happened to stashed with some of my old toys there at Nonna and Papa’s house.

You then put them on Pandy and made him the teacher of the class…

Mommy and I decided to take you and Nana in the Lexus LX on a one hour drive through the mountains to a place called Flintstone, Georgia; where my own grandparents live, just a few miles from the Chattanooga, Tennessee city limit.

We filled up the built-in cooler with Larabars and water for snacks; and I made sure we had some DVDs for you to watch on the way there.

Of course we adults had plenty of beautiful mountain scenery to enjoy, as you sang to us…

We rarely end up visiting that side of the family during the holidays, so once we got there, I saw cousins I haven’t seen since before you were born.

To break the ice with them, and to help make you feel more relaxed, I took turns sneaking up to each one of my male cousins and pretending to punch them in the stomach; in the over-the-top style of the Power Rangers, or Marvel Universe Live that we recently saw.

“Punch the one with the white beard, Daddy!” you instructed me after you saw one of my uncles sitting on the couch.

Realizing that we had moved on from pretending to punch my male cousins to now my uncles, I “started a fight” with my Uncle Johnny (Papa’s older brother); who I would probably have to say other than your Papa, is most responsible for essentially teaching me to roughhouse at family get-togethers.

Once I “punched him” and told him that you told me to do it, he started motioning to you from across the room to “come here.”

He grabbed you by the foot and pulled you across the rug as you laughed hysterically.

Shortly after, my aunt Rosa (Papa’s youngest sister) asked you to let her take Pandy home and once you refused, she started swatting you with a roll of wrapping paper; like the way you and I played just the day before.

Horseplay really is the best way for a little boy to get to know his extended family, if you ask me.

Afterwards, I took you outside on the deck for some fresh air.

Then it was time was receive your gift from my grandmother, which couldn’t been any more appropriate for you:

A Captain America racecar and his nemesis Red Skull’s vehicle as well. You were so proud!

Before we left for a late lunch at Whole Foods, just 8 miles away, one of my cousins helped me load up Papa’s gift, a 3 ton jack, into the Lexus LX.

Once we got home, Papa showed you how the jack worked, in his shop.

And Mommy and I even ventured out and bought our new house’s washer and dryer at Gary’s in my hometown of Fort Payne, AL.

So yeah, the fun didn’t end just because Christmas day was over!

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on December 31, 2014 car reviews, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Little River Falls/Abandoned Church Christmas Trip

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

The way I’m wired, I just can’t stay indoors all day relaxing. I have to get out and feel the sun on my skin and breathe in the fresh, brisk air.

So while I definitely appreciated all the fun we had Christmas morning, I headed up a trip to Little River Falls, which is just about 5 miles from Nonna and Papa’s house, in Fort Payne, Alabama.

Papa had a sinus infection, so he had to stay at home. However, had he went, all 8 of us could have fit in the 2014 Lexus LX we were driving that week.

As we made our way down the walkway bridge to the waterfall, I realized something:

Your Uncle Andrew was the one taking care of you, while Mommy was taking care of your cousin Calla.

In essence, it was like Mommy and Uncle Andrew swapped kids for a little while. Like most little boys, you idolize the men in your life.

So while you and I do have a close relationship, I appreciate how much you look up to your Uncle Andrew, who has the mechanical skills I don’t.

We had a fun race back to the car. Of course, Uncle Andrew had a slight disadvantage since he was carrying you!

From there, we visited the old abandoned church we discovered last year while I was reviewing the Lexus LS. Last year, you and Calla were asleep so you didn’t get to check it out.

As we unloaded from the Lexus LX, Nana was concerned you’d fall out on the ground once I opened the door.

However, she saw that because there is an extra step before the running board, so combined with your climbing skills, you managed just fine.

So we did indeed attend church on Christmas day; we were just the only ones there.

Love,

Daddy

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