Thank you all for the birthday wishes. It's really nice to hang out on a forum that has this many people that care and treat each other as more than a mere screen name or avatar(s). I've never been a person to participate in a wide spread of interests or activities, but those that I do invest time in, I devote lots of resources into keeping. I don't "do" a lot of forums, but thankfully, X5World is one that is close to me, and hopefully the community benefits.

Those of you who know me personally through meets and dinners, a special thanks for inviting me to the social events. Y'all have been great close friends, and good folks to look up to. It should come as little surprise to y'all that I have far more adult friends than peers my age, but I see that as a positive thing, being able to spend time with more mature folks, instead of kids that talk about iPhones and ask me if they should risk buying a supercharger for their Nissan Z and not tell the insurance company.

For those of you who I haven't met, I hope to see you soon at a future meet. I'm always open to new friends and new experiences.

My day was pretty much the usual, but I've never had an unusually "stellar" birthday. A morning class, a 2.5hr commute back home, and evening with the parents. Indeed, traffic on the Beltway was terrible, but I manage. Nothing special, but that's okay. Life goes on.

As for the near future, it's pretty much just moving on. The semester workload is slightly heavier, but its nothing I cannot manage with productive work and a side of fun. I'm always striving to improve my own efficiency, being able to finish more work while cramming in more planned activities. As for work in progress, I picked up Golf (a business skill ya know) and hope to get some good reliable hits by the end of the semester. Hopefully, I can also get over my fears of mountain biking and just perhaps, work in some mild stunts (without whacking my nose like I did last time).

As for the X3, I'm on the fence between aftermarket and BMW OEM rims along with tires for a summer package. The Style 206s cost about $100 more, but they're factory, which is kind of cool. Plus, there's the planned interior bike rack, which will finally make full use of the interior rails (I'd just used it to secure cargo and bikes up till now). My parents' 325i sport will probably still serve as a "BMW marketing demo" of sorts every once in a while, but I've completed all I wanted to do on that car.

Sommerferien includes a trip nach Deutschland, which I'm busy planning as of now. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun, although timing is questionable, especially if I have to take a summer class. But it looks like lots of fun, and hopefully I can utilize the 2 semesters of German I have learned.

Once again, thank you for all the birthday wishes. It truly is a pleasure to be able to hang out, argue, and agree over certain things. But one thing is for sure: the community here is warm, welcoming, and always willing to lend a hand or give advise.

[My gawd that was like a BMW press release]