2009. There is a lot that can be said about 2009. As far as exciting years go it wasn't the most exciting year. My day to day was relatively the same, and aside from plotting to and carrying out my engagement with Laura there weren't very many huge life changing events, which is cool, last year gave me enough of those. So what happened to me this year? Here's the breakdown:
Best:
Movie: Avatar. Its been a long time since I left a movie and wanted to turn around and see it again. Next time instead of Flat-D I'll see it in 3-D.
TV Show: This year I kept my trend of hate on the boob tube with the exception of TrueBlood. Season 2 was a huge improvement over season 1.
Concert: DMB. This checked off one of my last bands to see before I die, A Dave Matthews Outdoor concert is a day long event that we did right, would I do it again? Absolutely.
Album: Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Gru Grux King. There isn't even one track that I skip on this one. I love their big sound.
Song: Owl City - Fireflies. Repeat - Repeat - Repeat Heart.
Game: I almost had to nix this genre this year, but a new PS3 and GTA IV saved the day.
Book: I don't think I read any books with a copyright of 2009 this year, so hands down Tolkien's Return of the King blew every other book I read in '09 out of the water. The story starts off running and the ending is extremely fitting and satisfying for all of the characters I grew to love through the series.
Wine: The Wine Cube (any flavor) from Target. Decent wine and a great price.
Bar Night: I don't know if its considered the best, but its the best story. Ask me about moonshine and Sink the Biz sometime.
Getaway: Colorado! I love the mountains, a lot.
Garden Growth: Spicy Pickles!
Events of Note:
Random: The flooding of the kitchen :(
Obsession: Growing things carried into 2009! Our Garden Rocked. Until the thief struck.
Newsworthy: It's called swine flu dammit.
There is lots to look forward to in 2010, first off our wedding! I'm really pumped about our Honeymoon as well just because I plan on doing a hell of a lot of relaxing, there have even been some rumblings of a trip to Spain! Which would be awesome. I'm also excited about our Garden V2.0 after learning some things this year. I've debated putting this in but whatever, I might get my first useful smart phone! I'm also excited for our various wanderings around the mid-west.
Bring it on 2010.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Hows my little decade in review?
Wow! I've lived long enough to recall an entire decade. Loyal fans, I would like to thank everyone who helped me accomplish such an amazing feat! So in addition to my annual year in review I thought I would review the past 10! years of my life as I can best recall. Since I started this blogging thing way back in 2004 I've got a few years that can only be recalled from what little memory my brain utilizes. The rest are going to be links back to some important blogs from my history of blogging. Enjoy my journey through life via blogs
The Year 2000:
Y2K anyone? Nope. Pretty sure I left the computer on overnight though just to see what would happen.
Solidified the best group of friends any person could ask for during this year. With this group I was carried through Mounds View High and beyond making memories I won't forget and others that have long been lost.
Began thinking about thinking about college, because my mom said I should.
I was introduced to 'The Living End' and my love for music can be traced back to that point.
Began my annual pilgrimage to the Houston Family cabin over memorial weekend. (or was this in 99? hm.)
2001:
Napster was shut down, right after we got cable internet too!
Where were you on September 11th 2001?
I was spending the night on Tony Czech's couch because our school's construction delayed classes for two weeks and I had nothing going on. His Dad called in the morning to tell us to watch the news. From his armchair I watched live footage of the second plane strike the World Trade Center. Spent the rest of the day feeling empty and sad while glued to the various news outlets on TV.
Peed into several jars with my friends at least one may still exist to this day. Learned that poop will liquefy after several years sealed in a jar exposed to the elements.
Actually began thinking about college.
Took the ACT 3 times, fell asleep during the first two tests and didn't break 20. Test three I stayed awake for and did significantly better. Imagine that!
2002:
Applied for colleges and was accepted by Bemidji State University.
Began building my own desktop computer as a hobby.
Got hooked on Diablo II and video games in general.
Read the Harry Potter Series (which had been released) in two weeks.
2003:
Took a big fall after throwing myself off a big jump at Wild Mountain. Probably messed up my knee on this day.
Graduated High School, couldn't have been more excited to get out of that place.
Left the home nest for my freshman year at BSU.
Walked onto BSU's Track team and ran Hurdles. My Mom and Dad made many various treks around the region to watch my meets, something I didn't fully appreciate until recently, especially since my races lasted between 7-62 seconds.
Binge drank for the first time. Nearly an entire 750 ML of Vodka and Green Gatorade, using Reece's peanut butter cups as chasers. Survived.
Got my cartilage in my ear pierced. Future employers ruined its longevity.
2004:
Left East Side Beverage before the end of the summer. Learned a valuable lesson about the working world and life.
Found out my knee was always sore because I had torn my medial and lateral meniscus in my right knee. After some surgery I felt a lot better. After a lot of work I could run around again.
Met Sarah Fuller, an inspiration through the rest of my college career.
Transferred to UMD.
Joined a new internet phenomenon called The Facebook.
My first semester at UMD was an epic failure, taking 3 classes and 14 credits I was busier than shit and found that a Computer Science major was the wrong direction for me. With a D in one class a F in another (both required for the CS major) I began rethinking the future of my college career.
George Bush somehow got reelected.
2005:
After the easiest semester ever and a sharp turn around in grades, (not everyone can double their GPA) I decided to pursue a Graphic Design Major the following school year.
How I decided on Graphic Design
Pretty much sums up my free time my second semester in Duluth
I am still a bad speller
Worked for College Pro Painters and got shafted in pay, time working, and enjoyment of a summer job. Quit before the end of the summer and threatened my employer with a lawsuit over 32 unpaid dollars.
Purchased my first car! A purple 2003 Dodge Stratus.
I had my Appendix removed.
2006:
Got a job at the Edgewater Waterpark in Duluth and grew to slowly hate it before I transferred to somewhere less hated within the hotel.
Accepted into the GD program into UMD! Graduation here I come!
My Heart doesn't work like yours.
Purchased my first laptop an Apple Powerbook G4, as of this post it is now obsolete without an Intel processor there will be no future updates available.
Began winemaking as a hobby using Stabbers' beer making kit.
I still don't like TV & its overdue for innovation
My parents sold the house I grew up in to move to Covington, Indiana. Pay special attention to the last couple of lines from that post.
Began a semi-monthly tradition of Titacular Tuesdays!!
I decided to force myself into liking beer. The reason was to actually enjoy a Guinness at the brewery in Ireland. 100% success.
Traveled over an ocean for the first time EVER!
The Red Hot Chili Peppers released Stadium Arcadium, easily my favorite album of the decade.
Pluto was demoted from the solar system. Down to 8 planets. My very educated mother just served us nothing...?
Was introduced to a fine young woman named Laura Davis. Love at first sight? That might be debated for the ages. Our first date: Tea and the grocery store. Little did I know she would help change the course of my future.
2007:
Best Story Ever.
Found out I'm a bit Lactose Intolerant
The beginning to the end of paper. (written before the Kindle and Nook were released)
Somewhere along the line I began to grow more mature.Not everyone would agree though =)
Jinx popped into my life.
Began Geocaching as a hobby.
I predicted the 2008 election results.
Began working at my first Graphic Design Job for Late Night Kirby.
Its called sharing not stealing.Historic and epic lawsuit against a music stealer right in Duluth, MN. She later appealed and ended up paying MORE! Oops.
2007 was my most prolific blogging year of the decade with a total of 109 posts
2008:
My cat learned to fetch
I can't believe they still charge this much.
I put an end to the masturbating neighbor.
All that hard work paid off!
My favorite April fool stunt.
I discovered myself.
I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!!!
I moved from Duluth. You should enjoy it like I did.
I moved in with my parents after saying I wouldn't.
I bought a house!
Attended Obama's election celebration Didn't realize he was going to spend all of the whole worlds money.
Began using a Loofa. Will never go back to the old bar in the foreseeable future.
2009:
Experienced the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.
Continued reading like a fiend again. Oh how I missed it.
Hopped on the Twilight saga bandwagon.
I consider this my living will and expect my legacies to follow it until I come up with something legit.
I made my own Headstone sample!
I already had a vendetta against corn. In 2009 it became stronger.
I planted, weeded and harvested the first garden of my own, with great success!
Saw my first movie in 3D.
I began my engagement to marry!
2009 was my least prolific blogging year of the decade (while I had a blog) with 35 entries.
Altogether the aughts (I still hate that name) were full of change, excitement, surprise, and adventure. I hope to include perhaps fewer life changing moments in the next ten years but more adventures around the globe. Life is always full of surprises and new twists I can't wait to tackle them with a smile and story to tell afterward.
Do I have any predictions for the next 10 years? I certainly do!
Gadget Predictions?
* I bet in 10 years video chatting over a cellular service will become reality, the quality still won't be very good by 2010 and it will cost more than most people are willing to pay.
* In the next 10 years we will see home TVs which are 3d ready become a huge flop because people won't want to use the glasses to make it work.
* By 2010 a glasses free 3D TV will hit the market and be extremely expensive.
* In the next 10 years we will see a revolution in cable programming, be it chose your own subscription or some form of order at will. Similar to streaming your Netflix choices online.
* Ebook readers are going to take off as Eink devices become embedded in more everyday items. Especially as color Eink devices begin to appear.
* Most laptops will cap off at 1 TB of storage many will have "only" 500 GB as the netbook begins to take hold.
* By 2010 most laptops will have some multi-touch capabilities thanks to the iPhone.
Life Predictions?
* I'll be getting married!
* Dear lord it makes me nervous to say this but I feel like 10 years isn't unreasonable to say a child of my own could happen. *shiver*
* Something will cause my departure from Illinois.
* A new (to me) car!
* I will see at least 3 new countries.
* I'm going to start thinking about writing that novel materializing in my brain.
* Freelance work of some sort.
The Year 2000:
Y2K anyone? Nope. Pretty sure I left the computer on overnight though just to see what would happen.
Solidified the best group of friends any person could ask for during this year. With this group I was carried through Mounds View High and beyond making memories I won't forget and others that have long been lost.
Began thinking about thinking about college, because my mom said I should.
I was introduced to 'The Living End' and my love for music can be traced back to that point.
Began my annual pilgrimage to the Houston Family cabin over memorial weekend. (or was this in 99? hm.)
2001:
Napster was shut down, right after we got cable internet too!
Where were you on September 11th 2001?
I was spending the night on Tony Czech's couch because our school's construction delayed classes for two weeks and I had nothing going on. His Dad called in the morning to tell us to watch the news. From his armchair I watched live footage of the second plane strike the World Trade Center. Spent the rest of the day feeling empty and sad while glued to the various news outlets on TV.
Peed into several jars with my friends at least one may still exist to this day. Learned that poop will liquefy after several years sealed in a jar exposed to the elements.
Actually began thinking about college.
Took the ACT 3 times, fell asleep during the first two tests and didn't break 20. Test three I stayed awake for and did significantly better. Imagine that!
2002:
Applied for colleges and was accepted by Bemidji State University.
Began building my own desktop computer as a hobby.
Got hooked on Diablo II and video games in general.
Read the Harry Potter Series (which had been released) in two weeks.
2003:
Took a big fall after throwing myself off a big jump at Wild Mountain. Probably messed up my knee on this day.
Graduated High School, couldn't have been more excited to get out of that place.
Left the home nest for my freshman year at BSU.
Walked onto BSU's Track team and ran Hurdles. My Mom and Dad made many various treks around the region to watch my meets, something I didn't fully appreciate until recently, especially since my races lasted between 7-62 seconds.
Binge drank for the first time. Nearly an entire 750 ML of Vodka and Green Gatorade, using Reece's peanut butter cups as chasers. Survived.
Got my cartilage in my ear pierced. Future employers ruined its longevity.
2004:
Left East Side Beverage before the end of the summer. Learned a valuable lesson about the working world and life.
Found out my knee was always sore because I had torn my medial and lateral meniscus in my right knee. After some surgery I felt a lot better. After a lot of work I could run around again.
Met Sarah Fuller, an inspiration through the rest of my college career.
Transferred to UMD.
Joined a new internet phenomenon called The Facebook.
My first semester at UMD was an epic failure, taking 3 classes and 14 credits I was busier than shit and found that a Computer Science major was the wrong direction for me. With a D in one class a F in another (both required for the CS major) I began rethinking the future of my college career.
George Bush somehow got reelected.
2005:
After the easiest semester ever and a sharp turn around in grades, (not everyone can double their GPA) I decided to pursue a Graphic Design Major the following school year.
How I decided on Graphic Design
Pretty much sums up my free time my second semester in Duluth
I am still a bad speller
Worked for College Pro Painters and got shafted in pay, time working, and enjoyment of a summer job. Quit before the end of the summer and threatened my employer with a lawsuit over 32 unpaid dollars.
Purchased my first car! A purple 2003 Dodge Stratus.
I had my Appendix removed.
2006:
Got a job at the Edgewater Waterpark in Duluth and grew to slowly hate it before I transferred to somewhere less hated within the hotel.
Accepted into the GD program into UMD! Graduation here I come!
My Heart doesn't work like yours.
Purchased my first laptop an Apple Powerbook G4, as of this post it is now obsolete without an Intel processor there will be no future updates available.
Began winemaking as a hobby using Stabbers' beer making kit.
I still don't like TV & its overdue for innovation
My parents sold the house I grew up in to move to Covington, Indiana. Pay special attention to the last couple of lines from that post.
Began a semi-monthly tradition of Titacular Tuesdays!!
I decided to force myself into liking beer. The reason was to actually enjoy a Guinness at the brewery in Ireland. 100% success.
Traveled over an ocean for the first time EVER!
The Red Hot Chili Peppers released Stadium Arcadium, easily my favorite album of the decade.
Pluto was demoted from the solar system. Down to 8 planets. My very educated mother just served us nothing...?
Was introduced to a fine young woman named Laura Davis. Love at first sight? That might be debated for the ages. Our first date: Tea and the grocery store. Little did I know she would help change the course of my future.
2007:
Best Story Ever.
Found out I'm a bit Lactose Intolerant
The beginning to the end of paper. (written before the Kindle and Nook were released)
Somewhere along the line I began to grow more mature.Not everyone would agree though =)
Jinx popped into my life.
Began Geocaching as a hobby.
I predicted the 2008 election results.
Began working at my first Graphic Design Job for Late Night Kirby.
Its called sharing not stealing.Historic and epic lawsuit against a music stealer right in Duluth, MN. She later appealed and ended up paying MORE! Oops.
2007 was my most prolific blogging year of the decade with a total of 109 posts
2008:
My cat learned to fetch
I can't believe they still charge this much.
I put an end to the masturbating neighbor.
All that hard work paid off!
My favorite April fool stunt.
I discovered myself.
I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!!!
I moved from Duluth. You should enjoy it like I did.
I moved in with my parents after saying I wouldn't.
I bought a house!
Attended Obama's election celebration Didn't realize he was going to spend all of the whole worlds money.
Began using a Loofa. Will never go back to the old bar in the foreseeable future.
2009:
Experienced the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.
Continued reading like a fiend again. Oh how I missed it.
Hopped on the Twilight saga bandwagon.
I consider this my living will and expect my legacies to follow it until I come up with something legit.
I made my own Headstone sample!
I already had a vendetta against corn. In 2009 it became stronger.
I planted, weeded and harvested the first garden of my own, with great success!
Saw my first movie in 3D.
I began my engagement to marry!
2009 was my least prolific blogging year of the decade (while I had a blog) with 35 entries.
Altogether the aughts (I still hate that name) were full of change, excitement, surprise, and adventure. I hope to include perhaps fewer life changing moments in the next ten years but more adventures around the globe. Life is always full of surprises and new twists I can't wait to tackle them with a smile and story to tell afterward.
Do I have any predictions for the next 10 years? I certainly do!
Gadget Predictions?
* I bet in 10 years video chatting over a cellular service will become reality, the quality still won't be very good by 2010 and it will cost more than most people are willing to pay.
* In the next 10 years we will see home TVs which are 3d ready become a huge flop because people won't want to use the glasses to make it work.
* By 2010 a glasses free 3D TV will hit the market and be extremely expensive.
* In the next 10 years we will see a revolution in cable programming, be it chose your own subscription or some form of order at will. Similar to streaming your Netflix choices online.
* Ebook readers are going to take off as Eink devices become embedded in more everyday items. Especially as color Eink devices begin to appear.
* Most laptops will cap off at 1 TB of storage many will have "only" 500 GB as the netbook begins to take hold.
* By 2010 most laptops will have some multi-touch capabilities thanks to the iPhone.
Life Predictions?
* I'll be getting married!
* Dear lord it makes me nervous to say this but I feel like 10 years isn't unreasonable to say a child of my own could happen. *shiver*
* Something will cause my departure from Illinois.
* A new (to me) car!
* I will see at least 3 new countries.
* I'm going to start thinking about writing that novel materializing in my brain.
* Freelance work of some sort.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Hows my little Winter Wonderland?
Winter.
Make it be known to the world that I love winter. I'm not a summer kind of guy. You might be thinking that I'm entirely crazy, I do love certain things the summer brings such as swimming in the water, the sexy tans on me and the ladies, as well as the oft smelled BBQ wafting through the neighborhood air. But winter, I just love winter.
First off, I love the cold. I'm pretty sure Jacob and I have at least one thing in common and that is that we run a little warm on the inside (maybe the rippling muscles as well :) so because of that when its winter I get to comfortably wear long sleeved shirts. I hate the idea of fashion being stylish without comfort. Completely not me. I tell everyone in the summer you can be only so naked, so on those hot humid days with no access to a body of water sweating on your couch just gets nasty and uncomfortable. What do you do in the winter when you're cold? You bundle up in a giant comfy sweat shirt, wrap yourself up in your big fuzzy blanket and possibly a loved one with a cup of hot something and enjoy a movie. Add a fireplace to the mix and you've got something straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. How many sweaty thirsty people sitting three feet away from each other do you see in his paintings? None. If it exists, show me.
I digress. Why else do I love winter? I love winter sports, Even though I rarely ice skate I love it. I love watching all the cool winter sports on TV, downhill skiing, bobsledding, snowboarding, and even the occasional figure skating competition is tolerable. Building snow forts, sledding, and snowball fights are some other awesome aspects of winter I can't get enough of. My most of all favorite winter time activity is downhill skiing.
I love me some skiing for many different reasons. One is the pure thrill of hurtling myself down a hill at speeds I will never know within feet of trees, giant poles, idiot Texans, and cliffs. Another is the never ending challenges that skiing presents itself from hill to hill. Trying bumps and trees is a challenge I can't seem to stay away from, despite the danger of breaking any sort of (my own) limb because of a caught edge or miscalculated turn. Not to mention its quiet, and you can spend some really excellent quality time with your friends. Altogether skiing brings out all of my favorite aspects of a sport.
Which brings me to my final point on winter.
Never in my life have I been any less excited about a season such as this upcoming winter. Since moving down to our lovely town of Oakwood I've realized that winters here SUCK! It has all of the great qualities of winter that every one "loves" (note the following sarcasm) The bitter wet cold that bites into your bones and doesn't let up until you shower, The never ending prevailing wind (there is a reason this area has more windfarms than anywhere else in the nation), the complete and utter lack of trees and hills to potentially disrupt said wind, and lets not leave out the lack of even dead vegetation to look at since all of the surrounding area is harvested corn and soy beans. Also because it stays below 30 for only a few days at a time one can't even get out for some quality time slipping around on frozen water.
So excluding all of those factors winters here aren't so bad. Oh, just kidding. There is no snow here either. None, we got 7 inches once last year once and it was gone in a week. You couldn't even sled on it after two days! AHHH! So without snow, hills, trees, and cold. What is the point of living in this region for the next three months? I can't think of one.
Since I'm already started, the snow plows don't even plow the roads! They cruise around with their blades up (while snow is on the ground) and dump salt everywhere. It makes no sense. Obviously they have invested in plows, why is it they don't actually plow? Driving down here in the winter, with all these already crappy Illinois drivers, really sucks as well. Ugh.
Make it be known to the world that I love winter. I'm not a summer kind of guy. You might be thinking that I'm entirely crazy, I do love certain things the summer brings such as swimming in the water, the sexy tans on me and the ladies, as well as the oft smelled BBQ wafting through the neighborhood air. But winter, I just love winter.
First off, I love the cold. I'm pretty sure Jacob and I have at least one thing in common and that is that we run a little warm on the inside (maybe the rippling muscles as well :) so because of that when its winter I get to comfortably wear long sleeved shirts. I hate the idea of fashion being stylish without comfort. Completely not me. I tell everyone in the summer you can be only so naked, so on those hot humid days with no access to a body of water sweating on your couch just gets nasty and uncomfortable. What do you do in the winter when you're cold? You bundle up in a giant comfy sweat shirt, wrap yourself up in your big fuzzy blanket and possibly a loved one with a cup of hot something and enjoy a movie. Add a fireplace to the mix and you've got something straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. How many sweaty thirsty people sitting three feet away from each other do you see in his paintings? None. If it exists, show me.
I digress. Why else do I love winter? I love winter sports, Even though I rarely ice skate I love it. I love watching all the cool winter sports on TV, downhill skiing, bobsledding, snowboarding, and even the occasional figure skating competition is tolerable. Building snow forts, sledding, and snowball fights are some other awesome aspects of winter I can't get enough of. My most of all favorite winter time activity is downhill skiing.
I love me some skiing for many different reasons. One is the pure thrill of hurtling myself down a hill at speeds I will never know within feet of trees, giant poles, idiot Texans, and cliffs. Another is the never ending challenges that skiing presents itself from hill to hill. Trying bumps and trees is a challenge I can't seem to stay away from, despite the danger of breaking any sort of (my own) limb because of a caught edge or miscalculated turn. Not to mention its quiet, and you can spend some really excellent quality time with your friends. Altogether skiing brings out all of my favorite aspects of a sport.
Which brings me to my final point on winter.
Never in my life have I been any less excited about a season such as this upcoming winter. Since moving down to our lovely town of Oakwood I've realized that winters here SUCK! It has all of the great qualities of winter that every one "loves" (note the following sarcasm) The bitter wet cold that bites into your bones and doesn't let up until you shower, The never ending prevailing wind (there is a reason this area has more windfarms than anywhere else in the nation), the complete and utter lack of trees and hills to potentially disrupt said wind, and lets not leave out the lack of even dead vegetation to look at since all of the surrounding area is harvested corn and soy beans. Also because it stays below 30 for only a few days at a time one can't even get out for some quality time slipping around on frozen water.
So excluding all of those factors winters here aren't so bad. Oh, just kidding. There is no snow here either. None, we got 7 inches once last year once and it was gone in a week. You couldn't even sled on it after two days! AHHH! So without snow, hills, trees, and cold. What is the point of living in this region for the next three months? I can't think of one.
Since I'm already started, the snow plows don't even plow the roads! They cruise around with their blades up (while snow is on the ground) and dump salt everywhere. It makes no sense. Obviously they have invested in plows, why is it they don't actually plow? Driving down here in the winter, with all these already crappy Illinois drivers, really sucks as well. Ugh.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Hows my little Ark builder?
This week has been a very exciting one. First off, congratulations to Mashley Midthun! I had a great time at your wedding its great to finally see you two joined in holy matrimony and that other good stuff.
Next, recently Laura and I joined the ranks of the other old folks of the world who get excited about and purchase a new refrigerator. (a word I always have to spell check) and since our RCA fridge was made before they started including water for ice and drinking as a part of any refrigerator. We had to run our own water line to this one. So, talking about this project with Laura's dad one day he says oh, its easy bla bla bla. I have never built my own house, so for some reason did not take this with the large grain of salt I should have. So I do some research, find out said project is actually easy and went ahead and bought a kit that had everything I needed to route water from a pipe to a refrigerator. Sweet.
Tuesday I decide, this is the night! I get myself amped for the project and Laura starts on dinner. So for this project to be pulled off I need to move the dishwasher out from its spot to run our line behind it. Not hard, I find out after more research. Disconnecting it is just like disconnecting a toilet, twist valve, unscrew water line, & move. So I turn our little water valve to the OFF position, I confirm this is the correct line connected to the dishwasher and begin to unscrew. For some reason the connection I'm unscrewing won't budge but the other one seems to spin fine, I think, oh great at least one of them moves, this will work out fine. At this point I have a little bucket and Laura even got me a towel to dab up my dribbles because I was expecting a few. Back to the action, I've got the valve pretty much entirely unscrewed and I think to myself, wow, I'm impressed I haven't even had a tiny drop come out of the pipe. Until.....
WHOOOOOOOSHHH!!!
Not good.
Let me tell you, when dealing with plumping things this is probably the very last sound you want to hear.
This whoosh was not just a sound but a full on deluge of water spraying, not leaking, dribbling or pouring, but spraying out of a little half inch PVC pipe. I'm not too sure of everything I was thinking or saying at this point but I'm sure many of the phrases aren't allowed on TV. So, not only am I cursing up a storm but the water coming out of the pipe is about three steps shy of boiling because it is straight out of our hot water line to our faucet in the kitchen. Not hot enough to burn though, thank god. Immediately I know, turn off the water. So, being the smart person I am I run to our hot water heater to be foiled by a lack of shut off valve. FiretrUCK, so back to the kitchen I run water shooting all over I think ooo! I'll get the hose and we can channel the water outside! I run outside grab the hose and start unwinding it while Laura is trying her hardest to get the spray nozzle off. Don't forget water is SPRAYING all over our kitchen right now. Pretty sure the nozzle was frozen to the hose so that was a wasted effort.
I putz with the hose a bit more and realize I'm just wasting time and water, I need to turn off the water to the whole house. At this point our hot water line is now cold. I run outside rip open our crawlspace door and find the shut off valve as I watch a small waterfall pour out of our floor into the crawlspace. Which considering the direction the water could have taken (the rest of the house), I'm quite thankful for that hole or holes.
It goes without saying Laura was pretty upset, especially since dinner was simmering (not burning though!) the whole time. Every one of our towels were saturated with the entire forty gallons of contents in our hot water heater. I, the man I am, walked around in shame for the rest of the night because as soon as I saw the water spraying out of the pipe I knew what I did wrong. Whatever goddamned moron who installed our dishwasher FUCKING GLUED THE HOSE TO THE WATER SHUTOFF VALVE!! I don't care if this is code or not, it has to be the dumbest idea EVER.
What does that mean? Well, when I was unscrewing the hose to the dishwasher, the side AFTER the shut off was glued TO the shutoff, meaning the only side I can unscrew is where the water comes from, not where the water won't come from.
As hindsight is always 20/20 I now know to turn off the whole house's water before beginning any sort of plumbing project. I still am not done with the ordeal because I need to cut a pipe sill and boy I can't wait for that excitement. Ideally by next week when we host a gathering of some folks for our pumpkin beer kick-off we have a working in freezer ice maker and filtered water from the fridge.
For some reason we didn't think of taking any pictures, so just imagine me running around soaking wet with goofy knee pads on my legs and a very panicked look on my face and it was like you were there!
Next, recently Laura and I joined the ranks of the other old folks of the world who get excited about and purchase a new refrigerator. (a word I always have to spell check) and since our RCA fridge was made before they started including water for ice and drinking as a part of any refrigerator. We had to run our own water line to this one. So, talking about this project with Laura's dad one day he says oh, its easy bla bla bla. I have never built my own house, so for some reason did not take this with the large grain of salt I should have. So I do some research, find out said project is actually easy and went ahead and bought a kit that had everything I needed to route water from a pipe to a refrigerator. Sweet.
Tuesday I decide, this is the night! I get myself amped for the project and Laura starts on dinner. So for this project to be pulled off I need to move the dishwasher out from its spot to run our line behind it. Not hard, I find out after more research. Disconnecting it is just like disconnecting a toilet, twist valve, unscrew water line, & move. So I turn our little water valve to the OFF position, I confirm this is the correct line connected to the dishwasher and begin to unscrew. For some reason the connection I'm unscrewing won't budge but the other one seems to spin fine, I think, oh great at least one of them moves, this will work out fine. At this point I have a little bucket and Laura even got me a towel to dab up my dribbles because I was expecting a few. Back to the action, I've got the valve pretty much entirely unscrewed and I think to myself, wow, I'm impressed I haven't even had a tiny drop come out of the pipe. Until.....
WHOOOOOOOSHHH!!!
Not good.
Let me tell you, when dealing with plumping things this is probably the very last sound you want to hear.
This whoosh was not just a sound but a full on deluge of water spraying, not leaking, dribbling or pouring, but spraying out of a little half inch PVC pipe. I'm not too sure of everything I was thinking or saying at this point but I'm sure many of the phrases aren't allowed on TV. So, not only am I cursing up a storm but the water coming out of the pipe is about three steps shy of boiling because it is straight out of our hot water line to our faucet in the kitchen. Not hot enough to burn though, thank god. Immediately I know, turn off the water. So, being the smart person I am I run to our hot water heater to be foiled by a lack of shut off valve. FiretrUCK, so back to the kitchen I run water shooting all over I think ooo! I'll get the hose and we can channel the water outside! I run outside grab the hose and start unwinding it while Laura is trying her hardest to get the spray nozzle off. Don't forget water is SPRAYING all over our kitchen right now. Pretty sure the nozzle was frozen to the hose so that was a wasted effort.
I putz with the hose a bit more and realize I'm just wasting time and water, I need to turn off the water to the whole house. At this point our hot water line is now cold. I run outside rip open our crawlspace door and find the shut off valve as I watch a small waterfall pour out of our floor into the crawlspace. Which considering the direction the water could have taken (the rest of the house), I'm quite thankful for that hole or holes.
It goes without saying Laura was pretty upset, especially since dinner was simmering (not burning though!) the whole time. Every one of our towels were saturated with the entire forty gallons of contents in our hot water heater. I, the man I am, walked around in shame for the rest of the night because as soon as I saw the water spraying out of the pipe I knew what I did wrong. Whatever goddamned moron who installed our dishwasher FUCKING GLUED THE HOSE TO THE WATER SHUTOFF VALVE!! I don't care if this is code or not, it has to be the dumbest idea EVER.
What does that mean? Well, when I was unscrewing the hose to the dishwasher, the side AFTER the shut off was glued TO the shutoff, meaning the only side I can unscrew is where the water comes from, not where the water won't come from.
As hindsight is always 20/20 I now know to turn off the whole house's water before beginning any sort of plumbing project. I still am not done with the ordeal because I need to cut a pipe sill and boy I can't wait for that excitement. Ideally by next week when we host a gathering of some folks for our pumpkin beer kick-off we have a working in freezer ice maker and filtered water from the fridge.
For some reason we didn't think of taking any pictures, so just imagine me running around soaking wet with goofy knee pads on my legs and a very panicked look on my face and it was like you were there!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Hows my little old fogie?
Dear Diary,
How do I know when I've grown up?
Sincerely,
Twenty Something...
Dear Twenty Something,
I've decided to take this opportunity to answer your question for a change rather than existing a rhetorical question muse. First off, you signed your question with "Twenty Something", dear lord you aren't old, now when you hit the post 50 mark, you might want to start considering yourself older, maybe not quite old yet, but get used to the idea for the following ten years.
Next.
Why do you ask? Is it you've been shopping for and have purchased a new refrigerator for your home? If that's the case than yes, you are getting old, no more do you live under those carefree days of buying whatever you needed and wanted in the same trip. Now it seems like you could be looking for a single product that will eventually SAVE *gasp* you money as well as something you can imagine yourself having for more than 10 years in a row. Yes, you are old when you can imagine 10 years into the future, this is a fact.
Just hypothetically speaking of course since you never mentioned anything about a new refrigerator. I would recommend a Black Kenmore Elite brand with a bottom freezer because you are a tall glass of water and that will really make you happy to just peer straight into your newest food cooling apparatus to see the things you might be in search for. Also I happen to be very fond of French Doors above that freezer and black is not only sexy but it matches the rest of your appliances in your kitchen. Not to mention stainless steel really only costs more, you can't even stick a magnet (go figure, right?) to it, so why waste your time AND money.
So if you were to have purchased said fridge I'm certain you would be absolutely thrilled about such an every day item, thus solidifying your 'agedness' in fact I bet you would be so excited you would make the 20 minute drive home on your lunch break just to check out this device for a few minutes. Not only would you be considered old but a dork who gets off checking out inanimate objects as well.
In short I would say that there are certain things in life that will make you look and feel old especially considering your perspective on things in your day to day life. A new refrigerator could be one of these things so I will answer, approach with caution, this may make you very excited and give you that youthful feeling in your loins, but a new large kitchen appliance signals that you are in fact in it for the long haul, and if you're not already old you're getting there.
Enjoy this new product because in less than two years something wont work right and you will call this newest device of yours a piece of shit and wonder what you were thinking when you bought it, just like everything else you own. Appreciate the value it brings to you and over the years with a little less worry and hate on your mind you will feel younger than your peers and appreciate the leg up on your early maturity.
That is of course if you bought a refrigerator.
Love your rambling diary.
PS
In hindsight, a single door model would probably fit your space better....oops!
How do I know when I've grown up?
Sincerely,
Twenty Something...
Dear Twenty Something,
I've decided to take this opportunity to answer your question for a change rather than existing a rhetorical question muse. First off, you signed your question with "Twenty Something", dear lord you aren't old, now when you hit the post 50 mark, you might want to start considering yourself older, maybe not quite old yet, but get used to the idea for the following ten years.
Next.
Why do you ask? Is it you've been shopping for and have purchased a new refrigerator for your home? If that's the case than yes, you are getting old, no more do you live under those carefree days of buying whatever you needed and wanted in the same trip. Now it seems like you could be looking for a single product that will eventually SAVE *gasp* you money as well as something you can imagine yourself having for more than 10 years in a row. Yes, you are old when you can imagine 10 years into the future, this is a fact.
Just hypothetically speaking of course since you never mentioned anything about a new refrigerator. I would recommend a Black Kenmore Elite brand with a bottom freezer because you are a tall glass of water and that will really make you happy to just peer straight into your newest food cooling apparatus to see the things you might be in search for. Also I happen to be very fond of French Doors above that freezer and black is not only sexy but it matches the rest of your appliances in your kitchen. Not to mention stainless steel really only costs more, you can't even stick a magnet (go figure, right?) to it, so why waste your time AND money.
So if you were to have purchased said fridge I'm certain you would be absolutely thrilled about such an every day item, thus solidifying your 'agedness' in fact I bet you would be so excited you would make the 20 minute drive home on your lunch break just to check out this device for a few minutes. Not only would you be considered old but a dork who gets off checking out inanimate objects as well.
In short I would say that there are certain things in life that will make you look and feel old especially considering your perspective on things in your day to day life. A new refrigerator could be one of these things so I will answer, approach with caution, this may make you very excited and give you that youthful feeling in your loins, but a new large kitchen appliance signals that you are in fact in it for the long haul, and if you're not already old you're getting there.
Enjoy this new product because in less than two years something wont work right and you will call this newest device of yours a piece of shit and wonder what you were thinking when you bought it, just like everything else you own. Appreciate the value it brings to you and over the years with a little less worry and hate on your mind you will feel younger than your peers and appreciate the leg up on your early maturity.
That is of course if you bought a refrigerator.
Love your rambling diary.
PS
In hindsight, a single door model would probably fit your space better....oops!
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Hows my little laxidasical blogger?
Holy shit I skipped the ENTIRE!! month of October in blogging? O. M. G. I'm sorry.
Dear loyal fans who for some reason continued checking,
I love you.
Love, (is that too much love?)
Tony
Anyway, things have been great around here. Laura and I are still happily betrothed and have a really big chunk of the wedding planning out of the way, which is pretty great really.
I've gotten a lot of new trinkets lately and after I got the last one I went, wow, I didn't really need any of this, I totally went against my life statement earlier in the year about simplifying things. On one hand I did get rid of a lot of Playstation things (thus unpacking our FINAL box from the move!!!) in order to upgrade to the new one GTA5 is pretty sweet, but I'm still not too good at it. But still.
We have recently come into a projector which now projects said PS3 onto a wall and the screen is about 7 feet tall. HEART!!!
I've brewed two batches of beer in the past month, a nut brown we are calling the brown nut and my first recipe from scratch, a pumpkin wheat! Which I am pretty excited to try, although I'm not sure it will have much pumpkin flavor. But if it does I will definitely post the process online since I don't think there are enough pumpkin wheat recipes on the interwebs.
We also started a wine for consumption in honor of our wedding, which should be really awesome. But its a sauvignon blanc so it might not be a crowd pleaser.
My sister got married! holy shit! the wedding was really great it was fun to be there and dance and see my brothers and their families and meet the Harvey family (who are all wonderful) and ahh, yes it was great. I'm extra excited to have all the people important to me for mine now.
I've also begun to work on ideas for the honeymoon, the world is SO big, oh my goodness I don't know where to start. I think Laura wants warm and I just want to cross an ocean.
I don't even watch baseball but f you yankees.
I've been trying to sleep more lately and I feel a lot more chipper in my day to day, imagine that.
I've pretty much given up on pandora and moved entirely to Slacker, no music stopping after 40 minutes of inactivity, yes please!
Last weekend Laura and I ventured up to the Wisconsin Dells for our annual rock out with the Austin family and boy does that never get old. I LOVE water sliding. Love it.
Who thought the "design" for the craigslist webpage was a good idea, my lord it is impossible to find information on there without using the ctrl+f function.
I really like the owl city track fireflies. A lot.
The not so new anymore Dave Matthews Album continues to steal a bit more of my love with each listening. For example, funny the way it is, the lyrics? wow! very very meaningful if you need some thought inspired.
Living in the south (most would argue this is the midwest, I would just say its the south without the confederate flag) does have its perks. You can find a republican to argue with whenever you want. But its hard to win said arguments because most of them believe every chain E-mail sent to them.
I'm halfway through War and Peace! And it actually doesn't suck. I just learned that it has the most characters than any novel, ever?. I would say that is the biggest challenge is keeping all these russian names straight. And there are quite a few names to keep straight. Especially when you thought they were dead.
I learned how to stain and varnish wood, I've seen my Dad do it a whole bunch through my life but I never bothered to ask how before. I helped Laura's dad put in a new little thing on the floor into our bathroom and it looks SO much better and it doesn't hurt when you slam your heel into it. Which is nice.
Is it bad to say I might like most of Lady Gaga's singles? Miz Fullah can probably guess what my next comment would be, considering her looks so ask her. But wow, she wears some very interesting outfits. If only there was less... =)
I still don't get twitter. Does that make me out of touch, old fashioned? Would any of you read my tweets.
"had corn floating in my poop today, wow!"
I wouldn't either.
A few days after we got back from vacation we had someone steal our ENTIRE pepper crop. Up to and including my red hot chili peppers. I still get really angry when I talk about it, and there is nothing I can do except be angry. I don't believe them when they say revenge isn't worth it.
I'm pretty sure meals taste 10 times better after working out, rendering it impossible to eat a sensible amount afterwords. Thus my lack of weight loss. Since moving here.
I've been slowly buying Reebok boxer briefs lately and my goodness do I feel sexy when I wear them. So I keep buying more because honestly how often do you not want to feel sexy.
I turned 25 and my insurance dropped $12 a month. Wait, I was excited for that starting the day I turned 22? Fuck that.
Dear loyal fans who for some reason continued checking,
I love you.
Love, (is that too much love?)
Tony
Anyway, things have been great around here. Laura and I are still happily betrothed and have a really big chunk of the wedding planning out of the way, which is pretty great really.
I've gotten a lot of new trinkets lately and after I got the last one I went, wow, I didn't really need any of this, I totally went against my life statement earlier in the year about simplifying things. On one hand I did get rid of a lot of Playstation things (thus unpacking our FINAL box from the move!!!) in order to upgrade to the new one GTA5 is pretty sweet, but I'm still not too good at it. But still.
We have recently come into a projector which now projects said PS3 onto a wall and the screen is about 7 feet tall. HEART!!!
I've brewed two batches of beer in the past month, a nut brown we are calling the brown nut and my first recipe from scratch, a pumpkin wheat! Which I am pretty excited to try, although I'm not sure it will have much pumpkin flavor. But if it does I will definitely post the process online since I don't think there are enough pumpkin wheat recipes on the interwebs.
We also started a wine for consumption in honor of our wedding, which should be really awesome. But its a sauvignon blanc so it might not be a crowd pleaser.
My sister got married! holy shit! the wedding was really great it was fun to be there and dance and see my brothers and their families and meet the Harvey family (who are all wonderful) and ahh, yes it was great. I'm extra excited to have all the people important to me for mine now.
I've also begun to work on ideas for the honeymoon, the world is SO big, oh my goodness I don't know where to start. I think Laura wants warm and I just want to cross an ocean.
I don't even watch baseball but f you yankees.
I've been trying to sleep more lately and I feel a lot more chipper in my day to day, imagine that.
I've pretty much given up on pandora and moved entirely to Slacker, no music stopping after 40 minutes of inactivity, yes please!
Last weekend Laura and I ventured up to the Wisconsin Dells for our annual rock out with the Austin family and boy does that never get old. I LOVE water sliding. Love it.
Who thought the "design" for the craigslist webpage was a good idea, my lord it is impossible to find information on there without using the ctrl+f function.
I really like the owl city track fireflies. A lot.
The not so new anymore Dave Matthews Album continues to steal a bit more of my love with each listening. For example, funny the way it is, the lyrics? wow! very very meaningful if you need some thought inspired.
Living in the south (most would argue this is the midwest, I would just say its the south without the confederate flag) does have its perks. You can find a republican to argue with whenever you want. But its hard to win said arguments because most of them believe every chain E-mail sent to them.
I'm halfway through War and Peace! And it actually doesn't suck. I just learned that it has the most characters than any novel, ever?. I would say that is the biggest challenge is keeping all these russian names straight. And there are quite a few names to keep straight. Especially when you thought they were dead.
I learned how to stain and varnish wood, I've seen my Dad do it a whole bunch through my life but I never bothered to ask how before. I helped Laura's dad put in a new little thing on the floor into our bathroom and it looks SO much better and it doesn't hurt when you slam your heel into it. Which is nice.
Is it bad to say I might like most of Lady Gaga's singles? Miz Fullah can probably guess what my next comment would be, considering her looks so ask her. But wow, she wears some very interesting outfits. If only there was less... =)
I still don't get twitter. Does that make me out of touch, old fashioned? Would any of you read my tweets.
"had corn floating in my poop today, wow!"
I wouldn't either.
A few days after we got back from vacation we had someone steal our ENTIRE pepper crop. Up to and including my red hot chili peppers. I still get really angry when I talk about it, and there is nothing I can do except be angry. I don't believe them when they say revenge isn't worth it.
I'm pretty sure meals taste 10 times better after working out, rendering it impossible to eat a sensible amount afterwords. Thus my lack of weight loss. Since moving here.
I've been slowly buying Reebok boxer briefs lately and my goodness do I feel sexy when I wear them. So I keep buying more because honestly how often do you not want to feel sexy.
I turned 25 and my insurance dropped $12 a month. Wait, I was excited for that starting the day I turned 22? Fuck that.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Hows my little colorado adventurer?
Ok This is going to be a HUGE! Post, because I want to tell you all about our Colorado adventure.
**Also, I stopped writing this halfway so please forgive the lack of photos and description.**
First off. The state is awesome. I love it. I would move there and live there and retire there and play there and love it the entire time. They have mountains, and hills and rivers and fake lakes that you can't swim in and all sorts of other excellent things that I love. It is a very Blue state which kind of sucks though. But on the other hand it is also a very dark green state, where fitness is almost a snobbish part of the daily life, which is awesome compared the the glut of fatties here in Central Illinois.
I'll try to keep this as brief as I can I promise, but there is a lot to cover in 10 days, hopefully the photos speak more than the words do.
First off we headed off into the sunset from IL to Lincoln NE. We made several pit stops to find some Geocaches the most notable one came in the town of west branch where we found a pink toilet (outdoors) a lot of bugs and a couple of geocaches. Naturally when I was looking for caches along our drive I could not pass this stop up. Between the bugs and the realization that it was a long ass walk, we decided to call this one quits long before the middle, let alone the end.
I should clarify we had very few if any plans before going into this trip, so if you are a fellow shoot from the hipper I would recommend to pay attention to the books everyone ignores at rest stops because they are full of some pretty awesome deals for walk in hotel reservations. We stayed in Lincolin for $35, which included breakfast, which if you think about it, at Perkins or something is a $15 value for two people. Not bad.
The next day was a good learning adventure, I was craving random cool side stops since we were taking a road tirp. We didn't find any Dr. Satan stops but we decided that learning a little more about Wild Bill Cody would be pretty cool. Afterall he was a big hit and the Colombian Exposition in Chicago. (Thank you Devil in the White City) So we stopped in North Platte Nebraska for some learning. We decided his ranch would be a fun whole day adventure complete with camping, so we decided to visit his park instead, which was closed. Lame. So the visitor center lady said we ought to check out the "Golden Spike" since it was in the same town we said why not it would be cool to see the worlds largest train yard from up high. Can you believe they charge $6 a person to take an elevator up three stories to look at the top side of a bunch of trains? Me neither. I bought a Post Card and sent it to my sister to tell her not to go.
So Nebraska sucks. If you can find a way to avoid it go right ahead and do it. Fun facts about Nebraska: There are more cows in Nebraska than people (holy shit!) The ratio of cows to people 3:1 (holy shit!). Another fun fact. When the Corn Huskers(!) play a home football the stadium becomes the 3rd largest city in the lame state. There is a reason the mid-west states are called flyover states, Nebraska ruins it for the cool States, like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Chicago ;)
We got into Colorado and did some excellent hanging out and catching up with old Pal Rich and newer pal Ali. We attempted to reach the summit of our first fourteener (a mountain over 14k feet above sea level) and Due to harsh weather conditions and the snow! we didn't make it to the top, but we did find a cool geocache nearby. They also have a really great little one called Adrianne, she is a hoot and when she cries she makes baby Chewbacca noises, I love it.
After our adventures with Rich and Ali Laura and I headed up toe Estes Park Co. Probably the coolest city I've ever been to. A little tourist town nestled in the mountains with two gorgeous (and natural?) lakes! My goodness I feel in love with that cute little town. And the donut shop! mmmmm.
(ok I started writing this post ages ago and I've been holding back on posting other blogs until I finished this one. I just really hate the blogger picture loader and I wanted to post bunches of photos and tell even more, but now I'm like a month overdue so here is a quick summary of the rest of the trip)
As a list from here on out:
* Camped in Rocky Mountain National Park.
* Heard a funny quote about that time of year, "The only people who come here are the nearly wed and the nearly dead" so true!
* It was elk mating season, the noises they make are CRAZY!
* We hiked a mountain and began our engagement to marry.
* We drove around the park and took a ton of landscape photos.
* Saw a Marmot
* Drove to Colorado Springs
* Visited the garden of the Gods, next time I would like to go climbing there
* Took a driving tour of the city.
* Decided CO Springs is a great place for a family adventure. Not nearly weds
* Took the Cog railway to the summit of Pikes Peak, found a Geocache there
* Saw Mountain sheep.
* Spent another excellent night with the Keller Family
* Drove back in one long grueling 16 hour trek.
* Listened to Stephanie Meyer's Newish book, The Host, Will not recommend that to anyone looking for a book as satisfying entertainment. Good concept, poorly finished.
* Reflected and loved the whole adventure.
**Also, I stopped writing this halfway so please forgive the lack of photos and description.**
First off. The state is awesome. I love it. I would move there and live there and retire there and play there and love it the entire time. They have mountains, and hills and rivers and fake lakes that you can't swim in and all sorts of other excellent things that I love. It is a very Blue state which kind of sucks though. But on the other hand it is also a very dark green state, where fitness is almost a snobbish part of the daily life, which is awesome compared the the glut of fatties here in Central Illinois.
I'll try to keep this as brief as I can I promise, but there is a lot to cover in 10 days, hopefully the photos speak more than the words do.
First off we headed off into the sunset from IL to Lincoln NE. We made several pit stops to find some Geocaches the most notable one came in the town of west branch where we found a pink toilet (outdoors) a lot of bugs and a couple of geocaches. Naturally when I was looking for caches along our drive I could not pass this stop up. Between the bugs and the realization that it was a long ass walk, we decided to call this one quits long before the middle, let alone the end.
I should clarify we had very few if any plans before going into this trip, so if you are a fellow shoot from the hipper I would recommend to pay attention to the books everyone ignores at rest stops because they are full of some pretty awesome deals for walk in hotel reservations. We stayed in Lincolin for $35, which included breakfast, which if you think about it, at Perkins or something is a $15 value for two people. Not bad.
The next day was a good learning adventure, I was craving random cool side stops since we were taking a road tirp. We didn't find any Dr. Satan stops but we decided that learning a little more about Wild Bill Cody would be pretty cool. Afterall he was a big hit and the Colombian Exposition in Chicago. (Thank you Devil in the White City) So we stopped in North Platte Nebraska for some learning. We decided his ranch would be a fun whole day adventure complete with camping, so we decided to visit his park instead, which was closed. Lame. So the visitor center lady said we ought to check out the "Golden Spike" since it was in the same town we said why not it would be cool to see the worlds largest train yard from up high. Can you believe they charge $6 a person to take an elevator up three stories to look at the top side of a bunch of trains? Me neither. I bought a Post Card and sent it to my sister to tell her not to go.
So Nebraska sucks. If you can find a way to avoid it go right ahead and do it. Fun facts about Nebraska: There are more cows in Nebraska than people (holy shit!) The ratio of cows to people 3:1 (holy shit!). Another fun fact. When the Corn Huskers(!) play a home football the stadium becomes the 3rd largest city in the lame state. There is a reason the mid-west states are called flyover states, Nebraska ruins it for the cool States, like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Chicago ;)
We got into Colorado and did some excellent hanging out and catching up with old Pal Rich and newer pal Ali. We attempted to reach the summit of our first fourteener (a mountain over 14k feet above sea level) and Due to harsh weather conditions and the snow! we didn't make it to the top, but we did find a cool geocache nearby. They also have a really great little one called Adrianne, she is a hoot and when she cries she makes baby Chewbacca noises, I love it.
After our adventures with Rich and Ali Laura and I headed up toe Estes Park Co. Probably the coolest city I've ever been to. A little tourist town nestled in the mountains with two gorgeous (and natural?) lakes! My goodness I feel in love with that cute little town. And the donut shop! mmmmm.
(ok I started writing this post ages ago and I've been holding back on posting other blogs until I finished this one. I just really hate the blogger picture loader and I wanted to post bunches of photos and tell even more, but now I'm like a month overdue so here is a quick summary of the rest of the trip)
As a list from here on out:
* Camped in Rocky Mountain National Park.
* Heard a funny quote about that time of year, "The only people who come here are the nearly wed and the nearly dead" so true!
* It was elk mating season, the noises they make are CRAZY!
* We hiked a mountain and began our engagement to marry.
* We drove around the park and took a ton of landscape photos.
* Saw a Marmot
* Drove to Colorado Springs
* Visited the garden of the Gods, next time I would like to go climbing there
* Took a driving tour of the city.
* Decided CO Springs is a great place for a family adventure. Not nearly weds
* Took the Cog railway to the summit of Pikes Peak, found a Geocache there
* Saw Mountain sheep.
* Spent another excellent night with the Keller Family
* Drove back in one long grueling 16 hour trek.
* Listened to Stephanie Meyer's Newish book, The Host, Will not recommend that to anyone looking for a book as satisfying entertainment. Good concept, poorly finished.
* Reflected and loved the whole adventure.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Hows my little reDirect?
Life is full of changes and surprises. Meeting someone you love and feel like you can spend the rest of your days with tirelessly is one of those changes and surprises. My love happens to have taken the form of Laura Davis. Quite a catch I would say, and many (at this point I'm pretty sure all of) my friends would agree. So from the beginning of my relationship with Laura I knew we had something unique that I hadn't experienced before, I thought gosh I could probably marry this woman, never before had I seriously thought that about anyone I spent time with. So that was a big step for me.
Several months ago I was talking to Laura's brother on the tele and he was telling me all sorts of "fun" baby things and I said, gosh I'm not jealous of you at all, and he came back with something along the lines of well we decided after waiting for so long, if we're not ready now we never will be, and that is when they started growing their family. And that was my *Aha* moment. If I'm not ready to marry her now I never will be(of course there was a lot more thought before I reached that conclusion). So fast forward a month or two, I built up the courage to ask Mr. Davis if he would mind if I asked Laura to marry me. He said no, I like you, and a bunch of other things. That was pretty great, I was crazy nervous for some reason, but now that I think that part is out of the way I won't be nervous for the actual moment(future tense because I haven't asked yet) We'll see though.
Fast forward another month or two and Laura heads out of town, a perfect chance to go ring shopping! Hurray! For those of you fellas looking for rings, let me tell you, do your homework first. All jewelers are willing to train you and teach you all about the qualities of diamonds. I also encourage you to use bluenile.com to learn more about settings and you can build your own rings, this way you have an idea of what you like and you can cut your in-store shopping time down to sometimes just a few minutes. The first store I walked into by myself I had a lady say, how can I help you and I said confidently I'm looking for an engagement ring! I was expecting to be all timid and shy but no, not at all, it turned out I was excited to go shopping for this.
Back when I first got my job down here in Illinois I left a "secret" bank account open with Wells Fargo to save for this very purchase. I initially decided if I save a little bit from each paycheck I would have enough for the ring I wanted by this coming October. [My thoughts about the timing were: well if we get engaged in October we wont marry until 2011 maybe, sweet!(I wasn't ready yet) I've changed my thinking on this route for various reasons now.] Anyway of course this savings account has my mom's name still on it, and I'm pretty sure I told her what this account was for. So a few weeks ago when I made my first withdraw of the account my surprise, was lost, I'm pretty sure.[9-20-09 Not So! Apparently my mom had forgotten about this account and had no idea how much money was in or going out of it...or so she claims...:)] Which was kind of a bummer to me since I wanted everyone but me to be surprised, now I know I have one person actually expecting it. And when she sees the rest of the account drained this week sometime she will know its coming. Of course I can't get her name off the account either, lame!
Back to shopping!
After walking around in the malls in the area I realized something, most of the sales people treat me like I want the biggest diamond for my money and that I don't know what I want. Also there are a hell of a lot of nasty looking rings at the big (kay, Halzberg, zales ect) chain stores. So I opted for a local shop, thinking two things, yay help the local economy and yay I'll get treated better. Sure enough, both happened. I found the ring I wanted at Christoper's Fine Jewelers in Champaign and was like wow cool AND you can do custom work, fantastic. So I picked out something I like, (after all its my ring for Laura to wear) and the guy said that will be... and I went HOLY SHIT! I wasn't ready for that part despite my savings.
A month or so later I came to my senses and said, that isn't so bad, and called them up, sent a check and had the work started. About a week after that I realized I have officially overstayed my welcome as Laura's BF and sensed she is officially antsy about moving forward with our relationship. The following 5 weeks couldn't have moved slower in that sense.
About two weeks after that we were looking at rings in a catalog or online or something, and Laura points to a ring I very similar to what I have already paid over half on and said, I'm not too sure I like these. FUUUUUUCK Fuck fuck fuck. Is what I said, at that point I decided, F that I bet she will like just about anything (within reason) as long as I'm the one giving it to her. I really like it, and I'm sure it will grow on her. The one part I'm a little wishy washy about is if she will like the emerald cut or not. I like the shape but they aren't sparkly diamonds like most are.
On Friday I got a call from the jeweler, The ring is ready! Still not sure how I'm going to ask her. Or how I'm going to pick it up for that matter.
I want to ask her in a place that we can never ever be again, to make the moment unique, but those are hard to come by. I thought about doing it in an airplane but I'm afraid the TSA will out the ring since its metal, I'm not sure I want some fat lady inspecting a ring pulled from my belongings with Laura's eyes lighting up. So nix that. I don't know we will see, but before the end of the month, I should be beginning my engagement to marry Laura Davis.
(9/8/09) I've had the ring for over a week now! Hahaha! Little does she know... Well the plan for the Airplane is officially out, since I don't know the next time I'll be on one. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to smuggle this thing into a tiny car in my luggage that Laura could potentially be digging around through or in my clothes or our camping gear. But I've decided it needs to be able to be accessed quickly in case I see that I can propose on top of a giant ball of twine or something. I have a couple of pants that have a stash pocket that might work, but I want to bring the box around just in case the ring doesn't fit or she doesn't want to wear it for what ever reason. I think when I get home from work tomorrow I'll try and figure that out before she gets home.
OH! I forgot, I'm so clever, I picked the ring up on the first, I worked through my lunch and drove to Champaign to pick it up. I got to the store with like 10 minutes to loiter around and chit chat and drove back to Oakwood. I thought that Laura would have beat me home, which would have raised problems since I didn't hide the ring before I drove home, but conveniently she had to work late that night. Nice, lucky me.
I spent the first couple of days really upset with what I got thinking everything was too small and weird looking from the side (which I still think) but after a couple of days in anguish over purchasing something for so much that I didn't like, I snuck another look at it again expecting to nothing but hate and I realized, wow! I like this a lot! Sure the side looks goofy but I've decided that is ok, I just hope Laura likes it. After all the top view looks gorgeous. A pretty ring for a pretty lady! Maybe my next post will actually get published and I will say I did it!
(9-9-9) I got the ring out today and its in my pants that have the PERFECT stash pocket. I walked all around with it within touching distance of Laura tonight to get used to carrying it so I'm not all "weird" before I pop the question! The ring is growing on me. Still not sure about how I'm going to get the box there, that will be a challenge to hide now that we are packed. Wish me luck! I'm excited for our trip!
(9-20-09) Back from Colorado! We're Engaged!
How did you do it? Well the road trip didn't give me any giant balls of strings to ask her on top of but it did give me a mountain! ok Mushy nerd spot ahead but half of this blog is for me the other half you so read it and like it...First off Driving through Nebraska & Kansas Sucks to drive though there is a reason they are called flyover states. We spent the first part of our trip with Pals Rich and Ali Keller, and then we headed off to Rocky Mountain National Park. When we got there we pitched our tent and Laura said lets go for a hike before we get all of our stuff set up and I was like hey, that sounds great! I stashed the ring box in my ground mat and I wasn't ready to unroll that and have a box give away the surprise I had worked so hard at keeping for the last year. The weather wasn't really the greatest and so we hiked most of the trail under our rain coats. I had conveniently been wearing my shorts with ring stashed in them that day for just such a hike. After talking to the ranger and hearing him say it was probably a little too late to leave for a summit I lost a little bit of heart but since we are two young, mildly in shape people we decided to go for a hike anyway. We found a trail that was going to be a warm up for our big hike the next day, Longs peak (a 7.5 mile hike one way with over 5k feet in elevation gain) it was a 4.4 mile trek one way to the Summit of Flattop mountain. No Problem...right?
Holy shit were we wrong. We got about a quarter of the way up when we ran into a guy who had just come down from the summit and said yeah it just keeps going up. We had the choice of going to a pretty lake about the same distance or the mountain's Summit. I was like, well I can ask her at a secluded mountain lake that will be ok. But when Laura decided to head left and up to the Summit I went YES! good choice. So far things were going like I had wanted them to, and I didn't have to be pushy at all.
Little did I know we were only a Quarter of the way up at that point. After another hour of hiking we ran into some lady and I jokingly said we are halfway there right?! haha...She said not quite... I was like huh? Oh, haha she is just joking with me too. Silly mountain people. Turns out she was right.
After hiking the rest of the mountain and more and more frequent stops (hiking at altitude is tough stuff) I may as well have had a whip and gun to get Laura to the top. (in all fairness I was exhausted but I knew what was waiting for us at the top and I didn't need as much motivation) I only promised her it would be worth it once so that she wouldn't get any ideas.
About 100 yards from the summit the clouds and rain cleared and the most brilliant and vibrant rainbow materialized behind us and with one end on the trail we had just walked on! We encountered another couple who was on their way down who took our photo and we hiked the rest in awe.
Before then I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to say but the rain clearing and the rainbow and the glory of reaching the top changed all of that. I got a little teary eyed thinking of what I was going to say as I pulled the ring out to ask her. but after a few more paces I 'manned up' just in time for Laura to turn around and give me a big hug and say We made it!
"Its moments like these that I am excited to share with you for the rest of our lives, Will you spend the rest of your life with me?"
After I flashed her the ring Laura screamed and I nearly pooped myself it was so unexpected. After I thought she had cried long enough I decided to ask her if that was a yes, and she agreed it was.
After hanging out with her for the rest of the week I was just about ready to call her Gollum because she looks at the ring so often, but thats AOK because it makes me feel good that I got her something she liked, and most importantly (in the end) Something that I liked and thought would look good on her.
And that is the story of the ring and the beginning of our engagement to marry...
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Hows my little world traveler?
For some reason many of the people I know in our new neck of the woods think that Laura and I are world travelers. I think its because we leave the state more than once a year. I wish I could say I leave the country that often, but I guess I have to take baby steps.
This weekend Laura and I had a rockin good time at her Brother's family's new diggs just south of the ATL in Peachtree city, which has no peach trees. It justsohappens to be the 8th best place to live in the country according to the internet Whoddthunk it?
Anyway, they do live in a pretty cool town, and if you're a walker the golf carts can be annoying, but if you're a fat southerner, I'm sure the walkers are annoying. But I'm not sure if the guy who walked his dog while driving the golf cart can think anything other than actually lifting his arm to hold his steering wheel could be more annoying.
Aside from ogling golf carts and swanky abodes we did happen to enjoy ourselves. It was nice to see Scott and Brandee's house, ;) and we definitely got a good taste of the outdoors. I would also like to commend little Alia for raising my standards of baby hate because she hardly made a peep. But I would like to mention all of her hard work at impressing me was quickly wiped out with the baby who sat next to us on the plane ride home. After what seemed like an eternity of crying (probably more like 20 minutes(which seems like the coming of the 4 horsemen)) I have once again reaffirmed myself babies that are not anywhere in my planned future. Dear lord I was considering murder before our plane even left the ground. Thank goodness for The Used('s ?) new album I was able to mask the screaming a bit with another kind of screaming.
I've decided I need to realize my personal legend, I think I'm currently polishing crystal. Someday maybe I will be inspired to write a blog about some of the things/event that have inspired me in the past. I'm chalking the Alchemist (book i just finished) up as one of those things today. A must read for people who have an idea for a direction in life but just need a guiding hand to help with some motivation.
My next post will be about my road trip to Colorado with Laura! I'm pretty excited for it! I'm sure Laura is too but she, like me, doesn't know whats going on yet. Should be Supergreat!!
This weekend Laura and I had a rockin good time at her Brother's family's new diggs just south of the ATL in Peachtree city, which has no peach trees. It justsohappens to be the 8th best place to live in the country according to the internet Whoddthunk it?
Anyway, they do live in a pretty cool town, and if you're a walker the golf carts can be annoying, but if you're a fat southerner, I'm sure the walkers are annoying. But I'm not sure if the guy who walked his dog while driving the golf cart can think anything other than actually lifting his arm to hold his steering wheel could be more annoying.
Aside from ogling golf carts and swanky abodes we did happen to enjoy ourselves. It was nice to see Scott and Brandee's house, ;) and we definitely got a good taste of the outdoors. I would also like to commend little Alia for raising my standards of baby hate because she hardly made a peep. But I would like to mention all of her hard work at impressing me was quickly wiped out with the baby who sat next to us on the plane ride home. After what seemed like an eternity of crying (probably more like 20 minutes(which seems like the coming of the 4 horsemen)) I have once again reaffirmed myself babies that are not anywhere in my planned future. Dear lord I was considering murder before our plane even left the ground. Thank goodness for The Used('s ?) new album I was able to mask the screaming a bit with another kind of screaming.
I've decided I need to realize my personal legend, I think I'm currently polishing crystal. Someday maybe I will be inspired to write a blog about some of the things/event that have inspired me in the past. I'm chalking the Alchemist (book i just finished) up as one of those things today. A must read for people who have an idea for a direction in life but just need a guiding hand to help with some motivation.
My next post will be about my road trip to Colorado with Laura! I'm pretty excited for it! I'm sure Laura is too but she, like me, doesn't know whats going on yet. Should be Supergreat!!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Hows my little moaner?
I know i've been on the fritz with my blogging frequency as of late but gosh I've just been devoid of insight and excitement....I guess. Meh, anyway life is good here in Oakwood. Yay! I made business cards for a feller at work, anyone know where I can get some cards printed that are NOT the standard size? thats my current hang-up.
Rants:
I listen to Pandora (streaming music) at work, religiously. I love it. So much in fact I've pretty much stopped acquiring new tunes because I have a roll of fresh songs from work on the daily. Heart. So imagine my surprise when last month on about the 15thish I get a notice from Pandora saying, We are bitches and you use our service much, enjoy your new 40 hour listening cap. They say it is to keep the service free and commercial free. HAAAAAAATE! I used to feel bad that I was running Adblock + while listening to my legitimate free tunes, now those suckers are losing revenue from me twice! Ha. Jerks. To make ammends though they did send me an apology letter saying, Tony, you can use pandora again at the beginning of August. Aww thanks. Here I am at the end of the month awaiting another of those letters. Grrr...
So with that I've tried out LastFM and would say I love it if it didn't cause me so many problems, I think I listened to one song and probably spent 30min troubleshooting it over the course of a day. So that lead me to...datdaadaaaaaa!
Slacker, I only heard of this source from engadget and the slacker branded gadgets. Turns out Slacker radio rocks my socks just as hard as Pandora did! Only complaint is the one audio commercial I'm forced to wait through is always for walmart. Why do they still advertise? One would think that everyone knows who walmart is and what they sell? Whatever
Best Buy,
I have a camera purchased from there and a extended warranty, turns out it doesn't cover everything like it says it does. 104$ later I will be getting my newish camera back. Fuck you best buy, and you stupid geek squad, I liked your customer service 10 times more before they took over. Should be, we assume you're stupid and treat you that way squad.
Know what else really grinds my gears?
Powdery mildew. This fungus said Hey we happened to be floating in the air near your squash and cucumbers a couple of weeks ago lets eat! So our squash and cucumbers are now in shambles and nearly dead in every way. Sad. We have one sad acorn squash clinging to ripen on the vine and a few cucumbers vying for a life of their own. Lesson learned? none, because I have no idea how to spot it before it attacks. Maybe I will install a vacuum shield thing around our garden so no spores float by. I'm going to go ahead and blame the corn farmers, for no good reason.
My phone is being a DICK! In places I used to brag to Laura about have 'full bars!' I get none and she is skipping along while talking to her peeps. So next time you call me be patient I'm walking to our front porch because that's the only place I get reliable-ish reception now.
Rants:
I listen to Pandora (streaming music) at work, religiously. I love it. So much in fact I've pretty much stopped acquiring new tunes because I have a roll of fresh songs from work on the daily. Heart. So imagine my surprise when last month on about the 15thish I get a notice from Pandora saying, We are bitches and you use our service much, enjoy your new 40 hour listening cap. They say it is to keep the service free and commercial free. HAAAAAAATE! I used to feel bad that I was running Adblock + while listening to my legitimate free tunes, now those suckers are losing revenue from me twice! Ha. Jerks. To make ammends though they did send me an apology letter saying, Tony, you can use pandora again at the beginning of August. Aww thanks. Here I am at the end of the month awaiting another of those letters. Grrr...
So with that I've tried out LastFM and would say I love it if it didn't cause me so many problems, I think I listened to one song and probably spent 30min troubleshooting it over the course of a day. So that lead me to...datdaadaaaaaa!
Slacker, I only heard of this source from engadget and the slacker branded gadgets. Turns out Slacker radio rocks my socks just as hard as Pandora did! Only complaint is the one audio commercial I'm forced to wait through is always for walmart. Why do they still advertise? One would think that everyone knows who walmart is and what they sell? Whatever
Best Buy,
I have a camera purchased from there and a extended warranty, turns out it doesn't cover everything like it says it does. 104$ later I will be getting my newish camera back. Fuck you best buy, and you stupid geek squad, I liked your customer service 10 times more before they took over. Should be, we assume you're stupid and treat you that way squad.
Know what else really grinds my gears?
Powdery mildew. This fungus said Hey we happened to be floating in the air near your squash and cucumbers a couple of weeks ago lets eat! So our squash and cucumbers are now in shambles and nearly dead in every way. Sad. We have one sad acorn squash clinging to ripen on the vine and a few cucumbers vying for a life of their own. Lesson learned? none, because I have no idea how to spot it before it attacks. Maybe I will install a vacuum shield thing around our garden so no spores float by. I'm going to go ahead and blame the corn farmers, for no good reason.
My phone is being a DICK! In places I used to brag to Laura about have 'full bars!' I get none and she is skipping along while talking to her peeps. So next time you call me be patient I'm walking to our front porch because that's the only place I get reliable-ish reception now.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Hows my little Finth finger?
Hey folks! Sorry its been ages, I've been busy with stuff, not sure what stuff or how busy I've really been but not too much to report today.
I want to get a side project started doing some design and photography. I have the tools to do both I just need to get my name out there and do it!
The name of my business would be FinFour. Hurray for made up numbers!
I thought I had told just about everyone the history behind my number, but I guess not. So here it is; When I was but just a wee pup I was sitting in my room contemplating many deep ideas and I began thinking gosh, I think that the numbers three and four sound much too far apart. I think I ought to add a number in there and fill in that gap a bit. And here Fin was born. You can imagine how that would mess up society today, for example I would have 9 fingers (4 on each hand), 5 would be an even number, and 8 would be the largest number on a standard keyboard. At one point I had an idea of what the numeral fin would look like, I think it looked like a circle with two lines coming out of the edges upwards, but I could be wrong, that can be changed still.
With that I need some help with my logo This is a preliminary version, I would like some criticism if you're willing to offer it.
Merci
I want to get a side project started doing some design and photography. I have the tools to do both I just need to get my name out there and do it!
The name of my business would be FinFour. Hurray for made up numbers!
I thought I had told just about everyone the history behind my number, but I guess not. So here it is; When I was but just a wee pup I was sitting in my room contemplating many deep ideas and I began thinking gosh, I think that the numbers three and four sound much too far apart. I think I ought to add a number in there and fill in that gap a bit. And here Fin was born. You can imagine how that would mess up society today, for example I would have 9 fingers (4 on each hand), 5 would be an even number, and 8 would be the largest number on a standard keyboard. At one point I had an idea of what the numeral fin would look like, I think it looked like a circle with two lines coming out of the edges upwards, but I could be wrong, that can be changed still.
With that I need some help with my logo This is a preliminary version, I would like some criticism if you're willing to offer it.
Merci
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Hows my little DMB show?
Little? No. Dave Matthews Band is anything but little. Anything but. Yesterday Laura gave me the opportunity to catch a spectacle that is known as a Dave Matthews Band live outdoor concert. We went with our friend Nathan who like many of the other people at one of these shows is a Dave Matthews connoisseur this was his 21st show and our Cherry popping experience. He was a good guide.
I was told before the show that a DMB concert has a really good chance at not being good for a casual listener like myself because he has such a huge catalog of music there wouldn't be too many song to sing along with. Which is true, if it weren't for me knowing a lot of the songs off the new album I would have only known a few other songs. But!
The great thing about DMB is they are really truly excellent at the instruments that they play. The whole band is really a pleasure to listen to. Hearing the full sound while being able to pick out the combined nuances of the other individuals made me really appreciate the excellent quality of these musicians.
Would I recommend to see them? Absolutely but only if you're the kind of person who can appreciate good quality music you can boogie to, or a DMB superfan. Otherwise the price of admission might really piss you off.
I thought I should post the set list on here because to someone it might mean something, maybe my future self might appreciate it.
You Might Die Trying
Seven
You And Me
Dancing Nancies
Lying In The Hands Of God
Shotgun
Say Goodbye
Funny The Way It Is
Dive In
Crush
The Stone
Shake Me Like A Monkey
Alligator Pie
Burning Down The House
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Encore:
Don't Drink the Water
Two Step
Anyway enough of my sucking up. Since High School I've had a list of bands that I need to see before I die, and an outdoor Dave show has been on it for quite a while. So naturally since I've been 21 the idea of how I experience the concert has changed. So we did this concert the right way. A 12 pack per person. Most people wouldn't survive such an undertaking, the three of us included. So we scaled it back and ended up thoroughly enjoying ourselves responsibly, not sure I know what to do with all this leftover Corona.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Hows my little essence?
Check it out, its been awhile, more photos less words today.
Started Pickling!
Went to the indianapolis Zoo, Laura likes goats...only sort of.
Got bit by a pokey tree
Giraffes are awesome.
Check out all those carrots we grew! thats only half! That big honker is in our shepherds pie tonight.
Went canoeing and rocked the Sugar Creek in Indiana
...Lots of people were there. :(
Rope Swings rock.
Went to the BWCA with this bunch, forgot my rain jacket, but I didn't need it!
Did some exploring in a bog.
Practiced the Rule of thirds.
Fire!
This is what I slept in! I couldn't figure out how come I kept leaning to the right at night. I figured out my problem on the last night and my shoulder is still bothering me. Hammock tent 1 Tony .5
I miss you.
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Went to the BWCA with this bunch, forgot my rain jacket, but I didn't need it!
Did some exploring in a bog.
Practiced the Rule of thirds.
Fire!
This is what I slept in! I couldn't figure out how come I kept leaning to the right at night. I figured out my problem on the last night and my shoulder is still bothering me. Hammock tent 1 Tony .5I miss you.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Hows my little Parade?
Happy Independence Day!
Don't forget to be thankful for the liberties you take for granted daily, like choosing where you work and what you can eat!
Yesterday Laura and I hit up the Oakwood Parade in the morning. boy was it great, our candy dish was pretty much empty and we took care of that thanks to the paraders. Here are some pictures of a small town parade. Also note, I've never seen that many people in Oakwood to date.
The head of the procession, Laura liked this part the best can you tell?
Of course a community nestled in a bunch of corn fields needs to have a mini parade of these:
We had mom and dad over for dinner last night and we were pretty ecstatic that we were going to be able to watch fireworks from the front porch, but after 45 minutes of no explosions I walked to the park to find it deserted, all the people we heard and saw were at a party in front of it. Screw you Fourth of July rain!
Of course I told everyone when the garden looked acceptable I would take a picture of it, here it is! It looks great! Laura is going to pick a cucumber soon and I bet tomatoes will be ready for pickin in the next weekish. Fresh onions taste outstanding!
Don't forget to be thankful for the liberties you take for granted daily, like choosing where you work and what you can eat!
Yesterday Laura and I hit up the Oakwood Parade in the morning. boy was it great, our candy dish was pretty much empty and we took care of that thanks to the paraders. Here are some pictures of a small town parade. Also note, I've never seen that many people in Oakwood to date.
The head of the procession, Laura liked this part the best can you tell?
Of course a community nestled in a bunch of corn fields needs to have a mini parade of these:
We had mom and dad over for dinner last night and we were pretty ecstatic that we were going to be able to watch fireworks from the front porch, but after 45 minutes of no explosions I walked to the park to find it deserted, all the people we heard and saw were at a party in front of it. Screw you Fourth of July rain!
Of course I told everyone when the garden looked acceptable I would take a picture of it, here it is! It looks great! Laura is going to pick a cucumber soon and I bet tomatoes will be ready for pickin in the next weekish. Fresh onions taste outstanding!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Hows my little day to day?
[Edit UPDATE!] I can't believe I forgot this one! The bank I used to bank at (just a couple of short months ago) failed! Thank goodness for the FDIC because Laura would be many dollars fewer, I'm sure my parents would be as well. The recession has hit home!
Scary?
Lately:
Visited Laura's Family in Milwakuee, Wonderful. Her family is full of great people, just like mine!
Garden is currently kicking ass, If you call me to chat on the phone expect to hear about it. Cucumbers are weird looking as runts.
We have a pepper thief.
Our green beans are delicious.
I have recently acquired the missing parts to my old PC, a lost love has been brought back to life...much to Laura's dismay.
Twister is a pretty good movie still.
Started Reading The Return of the King, Forgot that it left off with ridiculous amounts of potential excitement. Very excited.
Using two mouses on the same desk for two computers gets confusing.
Today the word Whim was redefined for me.
An echo will do it's thing not before 56.5 feet. Unless in a space with parallel walls.
Last week I learned all about echos.
Consider this statement:
Myth makes Echo the subject of longing and desire. Physics makes Echo the subject of distance and design. Where emotion and reason are concerned both claims are accurate.
And where there is no Echo there is no description of space or love.
There is only silence.
Scary?
Lately:
Visited Laura's Family in Milwakuee, Wonderful. Her family is full of great people, just like mine!
Garden is currently kicking ass, If you call me to chat on the phone expect to hear about it. Cucumbers are weird looking as runts.
We have a pepper thief.
Our green beans are delicious.
I have recently acquired the missing parts to my old PC, a lost love has been brought back to life...much to Laura's dismay.
Twister is a pretty good movie still.
Started Reading The Return of the King, Forgot that it left off with ridiculous amounts of potential excitement. Very excited.
Using two mouses on the same desk for two computers gets confusing.
Today the word Whim was redefined for me.
An echo will do it's thing not before 56.5 feet. Unless in a space with parallel walls.
Last week I learned all about echos.
Consider this statement:
Myth makes Echo the subject of longing and desire. Physics makes Echo the subject of distance and design. Where emotion and reason are concerned both claims are accurate.
And where there is no Echo there is no description of space or love.
There is only silence.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Hows my little informant?
As many of you know I would consider going gay for this man. This photo is the only hint I've seen of Tim Burton's Alice in wonderland. God I'm excited, I'll have to reread the book because I remember it being a little weird, a tricky read, and not at all like the animated movie we have all grown to know and love. Our garden rocks!
Last night we had our biggest meal from it yet we picked some small onions, beans and basil it was great! We have tiny little tomatoes, Some peppers that will be pickable soon, small onions, nearly ready green onions, who knows about the potatoes or carrots, the eggplants have suffered a major infestation setback but thanks to my opposable thumb I've managed to keep the pests under control, its a shame my public bug executions do not scare them away. Altogether I'm pretty stoked for our garden. Its been ridicoulsy hot lately since I got back and Laura the gem on her day off weeded a big chunk of the garden, we were a month or two overdue. She is pretty great. Also! I built a trellis for our cucumbers! its made of bamboo and rope, thank you boy scouts! Check it out:
Its actually in the garden right now with the Cucumbers growing all up its business. The half it rests in is the part Laura didn't weed, so when we get that done I'll take a picture of our super sexy garden and show yall.Books!
My parents and I road tripped up and halfway back to MN so we listened to James Patterson's Honeymoon. Really good, it was exciting the main character was a nympho and I imagined her to be pretty foxy. It got kind of awkward at times because mom and dad were sitting there listening to the reader describe his prodigal sundial on the bed. eeehh.. Rollerskates. I just finished the last book in the twilight series, breaking dawn. I loved ..... all but the end. The book was filled with really exciting and interesting twists and unexpected surprises. WTF is how I described part of it at one point. All until the end. It was like The author ran out of creativity and realized it was already pretty long and took the easy way out. Very expected. I keep reminding myself that I truly did like the book, yet wasn't impressed with the finish. Book 3 was my favorite in the series.
I've also begun a book that is pretty hard to describe called The House of Leaves. It begins by saying on the dedication page "This book is not for you" Obviously it is. So far what I can gather it is a Story about a book, the "story" as it were is a guy's reaction (and clearly plotted story) within footnotes of a book which he has found. Now that book was written by a strange man about a movie about a house which is larger on the inside than the outside, interesting. Also worth noting this movie may not have actually existed yet the book within the book is a extremely detailed account. In reading the synopsis on the book beforehand I still don't think I had a grasp on what it was truly about. I'll let you know how it plays out. It sounds promising. Every time the word house is printed it is blue not black like most of the other words in the book.
This was much longer than I had anticipated.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Hows my little moviegoer?
Up!
Two Thumbs Up!
The end?! Oh my gosh! He did what? To who? And then that thing! Oh my goodness. I would say tragic, but then some other stuff happened...wait, yeah that would still be when you think about it. I liked the camping museum (wall-e anyone?). Anyway...
I liked Up, personally I read far too many headlines from reviewers exulting Pixar on another job well done to actually encourage me to see this one in theaters (why does my brain work that way?). That was until I thought to myself, I wonder if our local multiplex will have it showing in 3D? Sure enough! Reason to see it on the big screen materialized.
First off. I'm writing this with the hopes that the interwebs are still around in the future when we have 3D ads driving down the road so that I can laugh at my old (not blue and red) 3D glasses wearing self. [HA! - Future Tony]
3D movies are the shit. Let me tell you. First off, those ridiculously (apparently sort of) stylish glasses (circa 1991) we purchased. They were pretty hard to keep off on the drive home =). Next the 3D previews were AWESOME! they made the screen look like I could reach out and help scrat grab his acorn and the far off things were actually way out out of reach. My only complaint, fast moving things looked extra blurry like my eyeballs couldn't quite fill in the blanks or something.
Back to Up, as I was sitting there enamored by the increasingly amazing amount of detail animators are putting into these films I would gawk at things that looked as if they were actually right there in front of me as if I were a part of it (even though it was animated). I couldn't believe it. After the movie I realized I was getting excited about a fake reality. I was getting excited about my everymoment perception of the world, only this time it was in a movie theater! Which also had depth. Hm. Either way. 3D movie = Awesome. You must experience this fake reality while it is still fresh.
Probably my favorite experience from the whole deal was forgetting that we were wearing these ridiculous glasses and looking over at Laura during a funny part and laughing even harder because this is what I saw:
Two Thumbs Up!
The end?! Oh my gosh! He did what? To who? And then that thing! Oh my goodness. I would say tragic, but then some other stuff happened...wait, yeah that would still be when you think about it. I liked the camping museum (wall-e anyone?). Anyway...
I liked Up, personally I read far too many headlines from reviewers exulting Pixar on another job well done to actually encourage me to see this one in theaters (why does my brain work that way?). That was until I thought to myself, I wonder if our local multiplex will have it showing in 3D? Sure enough! Reason to see it on the big screen materialized.
First off. I'm writing this with the hopes that the interwebs are still around in the future when we have 3D ads driving down the road so that I can laugh at my old (not blue and red) 3D glasses wearing self. [HA! - Future Tony]
3D movies are the shit. Let me tell you. First off, those ridiculously (apparently sort of) stylish glasses (circa 1991) we purchased. They were pretty hard to keep off on the drive home =). Next the 3D previews were AWESOME! they made the screen look like I could reach out and help scrat grab his acorn and the far off things were actually way out out of reach. My only complaint, fast moving things looked extra blurry like my eyeballs couldn't quite fill in the blanks or something.
Back to Up, as I was sitting there enamored by the increasingly amazing amount of detail animators are putting into these films I would gawk at things that looked as if they were actually right there in front of me as if I were a part of it (even though it was animated). I couldn't believe it. After the movie I realized I was getting excited about a fake reality. I was getting excited about my everymoment perception of the world, only this time it was in a movie theater! Which also had depth. Hm. Either way. 3D movie = Awesome. You must experience this fake reality while it is still fresh.
Probably my favorite experience from the whole deal was forgetting that we were wearing these ridiculous glasses and looking over at Laura during a funny part and laughing even harder because this is what I saw:
Monday, June 08, 2009
Hows my little round-up?
Wow I have lots to fill everyone in on so Bullets are going to be the form today.
* Last week Laura and I saw Wicked. Holy cow it was great! I wasn't sure what to expect but it exceeded it for sure.
* I got Green Day's New album 21st Century Breakdown - I was genuinely disappointed with it on my first round of listening, but after I gave it a break and tried again I found that I really liked a lot of the tracks. They could have probably left out like 4 or 5 songs and still had a good lineup at 13ish tracks.
* Unrelated - I really hate secret tracks on albums now. I hate even more when they are stuck onto a really good song that happens to be last. So to that I want to give a big Fuck You to The Black Eyed Peas for that shit at the end of My Humps, Velvet Revolver for the twangy bullshit at the end of Gravedancer, and Dave Matthews for Tacking on that nice yet unrelated little jazzy thing at the end of You & Me. Ugh.
* Related I also got the New Dave Matthews Band Album, I'm a fan, I think. I haven't given it that break and listen again yet so I'll do that soon and get back to those who care.
* My headstone I made a while back apparently was a big hit and they cut it and it's in Colorado! There is a certain someone I know who lives nearby who should check it out.
* On Friday night I hosted my very first intro to wine/tasting! I rocked! Lots of people said they enjoyed it and it made me pretty happy to hear that. Though the most rewarding thing was later at dinner one of the tasters ordered his favorite flavor from the tasting to drink with his meal! Yeah!
* Port is still not my favorite.
* This weekend Laura and I headed up to Mad-Town for some rockin' good times with some good folks up there. I climbed a tree. It was also kind of weird to see people out running around since it is such an active city. Pretty sure there are only 2 runners here in Oakwood.
* The garden Looks Great!
* My Rain Barrel is complete and it rocks!
* I feel old because I'm trying to tend my lawn.
* There are no peach trees in Peach Tree City.
* Tonight I fixed our toilet, I kid you not these were the instructions for Installing the new flusher valve thing: Insert the Ballcock into the hole after you have fitted it with the rubber seal and Screw. This was before I chained up the flapper to properly cover the exit hole.
* Last week Laura and I saw Wicked. Holy cow it was great! I wasn't sure what to expect but it exceeded it for sure.
* I got Green Day's New album 21st Century Breakdown - I was genuinely disappointed with it on my first round of listening, but after I gave it a break and tried again I found that I really liked a lot of the tracks. They could have probably left out like 4 or 5 songs and still had a good lineup at 13ish tracks.
* Unrelated - I really hate secret tracks on albums now. I hate even more when they are stuck onto a really good song that happens to be last. So to that I want to give a big Fuck You to The Black Eyed Peas for that shit at the end of My Humps, Velvet Revolver for the twangy bullshit at the end of Gravedancer, and Dave Matthews for Tacking on that nice yet unrelated little jazzy thing at the end of You & Me. Ugh.
* Related I also got the New Dave Matthews Band Album, I'm a fan, I think. I haven't given it that break and listen again yet so I'll do that soon and get back to those who care.
* My headstone I made a while back apparently was a big hit and they cut it and it's in Colorado! There is a certain someone I know who lives nearby who should check it out.
* On Friday night I hosted my very first intro to wine/tasting! I rocked! Lots of people said they enjoyed it and it made me pretty happy to hear that. Though the most rewarding thing was later at dinner one of the tasters ordered his favorite flavor from the tasting to drink with his meal! Yeah!
* Port is still not my favorite.
* This weekend Laura and I headed up to Mad-Town for some rockin' good times with some good folks up there. I climbed a tree. It was also kind of weird to see people out running around since it is such an active city. Pretty sure there are only 2 runners here in Oakwood.
* The garden Looks Great!
* My Rain Barrel is complete and it rocks!
* I feel old because I'm trying to tend my lawn.
* There are no peach trees in Peach Tree City.
* Tonight I fixed our toilet, I kid you not these were the instructions for Installing the new flusher valve thing: Insert the Ballcock into the hole after you have fitted it with the rubber seal and Screw. This was before I chained up the flapper to properly cover the exit hole.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Hows my little busy bee?
Life?
Grand.
No Complaints.
The lady in my life is excellent.
The things in my life are excellent.
If all we need is love, than consider me all set.
Last weekend I did the traditional memorial weekend with my excellent pals from the glory days. There seemed to be more shenanigans than usual. For example...I still can't get over this one. One of my best friends pushed me off his deck into a bush just for laughs:
I know its weird to say, my best friend pushed me off his deck into a bush. Many people would say, are you sure he is a friend? I can only answer with, 'it's a weird friendship...' crazy huh? (if he was here he would be playing an imaginary fiddle)
I played paintball yesterday for the first time, that is a great time! I've always loved FPS games but putting those skills into real life where you STILL don't die. Even better. Laura for some reason opted out for some reason I couldn't imagine her in the mask/gun regalia, it must be because she is such a sweetheart, so I understood. I was going to post pictures of my "kills" but I'm a bit vain and think I look farther out of shape than I am (which is saying something) so just imagine 6 nice round little welts on one side of your body and go wow neat ouch!
Books:
I want everyone to know that if you are ever on a 6 hour+ drive, audio books are probably the absolute best form of entertainment next to peeing into a bottle. (which you can simultaneously do.....if you're good), I managed to survive a 9 hour drive (533 miles) to Justin's cabin with the book called Stardust by Neil Gaiman (a phenomenal movie by the by 9 [Hear that Twilight!?!]) and another called The Book of Lies. Which was also pretty exciting and recommended. For you twilight folks, New Moon was about 30 pages away from me folding shut and giving up. Thank god for some real live excitement and plot advancement. If you decide to read the Twilight series I will strongly advise you to skip the entire second book pass go get your $200 and dive into the significantly better third one. No time wasted and 100% love for the series upheld. I have now started on Stephenie Meyer's 4th edition of what Laura and I have affectionately begun to call Edward, because really, who cares about anyone else? So far my interest level has been maintained, in all fairness I'm not too far into it though.
I found corn (High Fructose Corn Syrup) in my ketchup today and nearly shat a brick. WTF corn, Ketchup?
I bought Pepsi throwback today only because it is made with real live sugar, I'll bring one to work tomorrow to tell you it tastes the same.
As a US citizen I do not want any stake in owning the shitty automobile manufacturer GM especially since they are the masterminds behind such successful brands such as Hummer and...uhh GM? Wait, does that mean since my EARNED money taken from me via taxes will be deducted from a new GM (government motors) vehicle? Who is to say that the president in power will NOT be able to hold restraint in the vehicles being produced? Imagine if a new bush was elected, I bet cars would be cross shaped and throw Jews at imports that cut you off. Fuck that.
Grand.
No Complaints.
The lady in my life is excellent.
The things in my life are excellent.
If all we need is love, than consider me all set.
Last weekend I did the traditional memorial weekend with my excellent pals from the glory days. There seemed to be more shenanigans than usual. For example...I still can't get over this one. One of my best friends pushed me off his deck into a bush just for laughs:
I know its weird to say, my best friend pushed me off his deck into a bush. Many people would say, are you sure he is a friend? I can only answer with, 'it's a weird friendship...' crazy huh? (if he was here he would be playing an imaginary fiddle)
I played paintball yesterday for the first time, that is a great time! I've always loved FPS games but putting those skills into real life where you STILL don't die. Even better. Laura for some reason opted out for some reason I couldn't imagine her in the mask/gun regalia, it must be because she is such a sweetheart, so I understood. I was going to post pictures of my "kills" but I'm a bit vain and think I look farther out of shape than I am (which is saying something) so just imagine 6 nice round little welts on one side of your body and go wow neat ouch!
Books:
I want everyone to know that if you are ever on a 6 hour+ drive, audio books are probably the absolute best form of entertainment next to peeing into a bottle. (which you can simultaneously do.....if you're good), I managed to survive a 9 hour drive (533 miles) to Justin's cabin with the book called Stardust by Neil Gaiman (a phenomenal movie by the by 9 [Hear that Twilight!?!]) and another called The Book of Lies. Which was also pretty exciting and recommended. For you twilight folks, New Moon was about 30 pages away from me folding shut and giving up. Thank god for some real live excitement and plot advancement. If you decide to read the Twilight series I will strongly advise you to skip the entire second book pass go get your $200 and dive into the significantly better third one. No time wasted and 100% love for the series upheld. I have now started on Stephenie Meyer's 4th edition of what Laura and I have affectionately begun to call Edward, because really, who cares about anyone else? So far my interest level has been maintained, in all fairness I'm not too far into it though.
I found corn (High Fructose Corn Syrup) in my ketchup today and nearly shat a brick. WTF corn, Ketchup?
I bought Pepsi throwback today only because it is made with real live sugar, I'll bring one to work tomorrow to tell you it tastes the same.
As a US citizen I do not want any stake in owning the shitty automobile manufacturer GM especially since they are the masterminds behind such successful brands such as Hummer and...uhh GM? Wait, does that mean since my EARNED money taken from me via taxes will be deducted from a new GM (government motors) vehicle? Who is to say that the president in power will NOT be able to hold restraint in the vehicles being produced? Imagine if a new bush was elected, I bet cars would be cross shaped and throw Jews at imports that cut you off. Fuck that.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Hows my little looker?
It rained like crazy last night, I thought it would be a great time to test my new rain jacket I picked up off of SAC a month or two ago. Word to those who are in the market, if you find GoreTex on sale, its worth all of the pennies. My shorts Dried out sometime this afternoon, but my head and shirt were dry all night long!
A new look for the template! Its about time!
A new look for the template! Its about time!
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