You know, that one kid?

Why is there always that one kid at school or work that constantly asks irrelevant questions? I love it when an instructor says "We're not going to talk about (insert subject) now because we're going to cover it in detail later". Which is immediately followed by the half hand raise and then blurted out question "I know we don't need to know this now but... I was wondering about how exactly such and such works?" Followed by half of the room inhaling deeply and closing their eyes and the other half rolling their eyes skyward. I hope I'm not that kid because I might have been in the past.

On a side note this is going to be an interesting week for me. I'm trying to limit myself to three hours of television for the week. Self determination has prevailed so far but I'm only half way there. Also do we have an official count for the lacrosse game on Saturday? I'm willing to buy the tickets ahead so we can all sit together. Leave a comment or call me.

How would you like to be the picture that shows up when someone searches for nerd on google?

Just Wondering

When you take your car to an automatic car wash do you turn up your stereo really loud and sing along with your favorite song? I do. While I was jamming out during the latest ranger bath I noticed that the clear coat protectant smells an awful lot like bubble gum. Do you think that its just a coincidence or is there something in bubble gum that smells like clear coat protectant? Maybe Dr. Spew could shed some light on the chemical analysis for me.

I Survived

Well I made the cut. I passed the Series 7 Exam. I was pretty sure I was going to fail on my way to lunch after the first half of the test but by some miracle I managed to pull an 82. The stupid part is that I didn't read seven of the 22 chapters. I was kicking myself yesterday afternoon and reflecting a little bit. Maybe I could finish school if I actually applied myself but that would take too much effort. Just kidding, I'm going to finish. I was getting really frustrated during the test because I was sitting in one of the really fancy office chairs that are adjustable in every direction. The problem is I sat down in the mutant chair. It's hard to pay attention when it feels like the chair back is about to launch you into the monitor. I finally gave in and read the instructions for the chair but all the adjustments were to no avail. It was just nice to be done. To celebrate a break in the study sessions I went to see Stranger Than Fiction. If you haven't seen this movie yet I would rate as a must see. It's been a long time since a movie this good has come out. But that's just my opinion. Or maybe I just thought it was really good because it didn't talk about stocks or bonds.

The Big Day

My four week cramming session has come to an end. Maybe I will update this a little more often now. Over the last four weeks I have filled my head with a ridiculous amount of information and drank a few too many rockstars. A four week crash course for the series seven securities exam is brutal. At least I've been getting paid to study for it though. My fate will be determined tomorrow morning. The test has two three hour blocks that cover 125 questions each. I'm hoping I don't need all six hours. I've taken 21 practice tests over the last week so I'm feeling pretty good at this point. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.


Random Question -
Does anyone else wish that the commercials for CitiBank rewards credit cards would stop?


Julie Update

Julie got her last transfer call on Friday and she is staying in Athens to train a girl from France. Only eight weeks until she is back! Sweet!

Sweet.

Wow, I'm not really a big sports follower but I do usually watch all the Byu games that the mtn. actually shows. By some odd coincidence I ended up watching the last quarter of the game on Saturday in the Wilkinson Center at Byu. Those last four minutes were pretty intense. I really didn't think the cougars would pull it off. Pandemonium would be the best way to describe the reaction to the final play. Oh and just in case you're wondering the bowling lanes at the Wilkinson are a little dry.

Random Thoughts

Looking at my title this could be interesting.

Minor Irritations:

You get in your car and the door closes by itself but not quite all the way so you have to open it and shut it again.

You have an article of clothing you like to wear but it has some minor flaw that bugs you all day. Like the polo shirt with one side of the collar that always curls up. Your favorite shirt with the stain that didn't quite come out but you justify wearing it anyway. For me I have a self induced irritation. My pant length is 34". For some reason, maybe subconsciously I like to tease myself, I end up buying pants that are 32". When I try them on 32 feels right. Later when the shoes come into play and I sit down I realize that I have another pair of highwaters. It would be safe to say at least half of my pants are too short.

The turn signal that keeps turning itself off early, only to the left though.

You have a plan to grab something at a store or a gas station that you frequent. You know exactly where the item you want is, usually an energy drink for me. If you run in and go straight to checkout you can make it to where you need to be in time. When you are in a hurry, it never fails that someone gets in line in front of you with a plethora of crap and writes a check. Now, instead of being frustrated waiting in line I just give up and leave. I find it's easier to just do without and let it go.

Lyric of the Week:

"The past is only the future with the lights on"
-From "Baby Come On" by Plus 44

Boner Candidate today from X96:

Nephite Tennis Shoes, Good For Kicking In Doors

Christopher Heimerdinger, the author of the LDS children's series Tennis Shoes Among The Nephites was charged with a misdemeanor for kicking in the door of his estranged wife's apartment while the kids were inside; how Christlike. He was ordered to pay $300 in fines, sentenced to one year probation and has to attend a 16 week domestic-violence and anger-management course. I had to go into work before I found out whether he won or not. I was intrigued because I read some of these books when I was younger. It's odd that the person who wrote these books would do something like this. I feel sorry for the kids.

Quote of the Week

"The only difference between speculating on stock options and gambling is the free cocktails"
- Booker

Utah, Land of the Lost

If you haven't heard about all the bodies being found in Strawberry Reservoir lately you should go read the articles on kutv or ksl. It's crazy. Two people drown and I think at the last count 3 or 4 different bodies have been found but not the two they originally went looking for. I'm happy for the families that have closure now. I still am awestruck that there are that many people that have disappeared in a specific recreation area and are still unaccounted for. I understand that the technology that's available now is the main reason for all the finds but I hope that the boat and robot setup will be busy all next summer looking for other people. Hopefully they can find the two who recently drowned before the reservoir freezes over. It's just kind of creepy to think that are probably other bodies in other lakes waiting to be found. Reading this afternoon I also saw that someone found the body of a woman by a trail in Ogden that had probably been there for 3 years. Maybe Utahn's need to be more cautious in the great outdoors. The next time I swim in a lake and feel something touch me I'll probably scream like a little girl.

Shiznit!

This is your brain on Series 7

Phew... Well I made it through the first week of training at my new job feeling pretty good about my cognitive abilities but this week I am getting trashed. Maybe turkey and stuffing has a negative effect on short term memory and comprehension. I'm studying to pass the Series 7 licensing exam for my new job and we have to cover all the material in 12 days. After the cram sessions we get two weeks to take practice exams which will be nice breather. Up until this week I at least had a basic understanding of what we were learning. This week is taking more effort and having a head cold is adding to the excitement. I am sure I will pass but I really want to do better than anyone my trainer has taught before. Anyways... Glutton Fest was sweet! It was awesome to get to meet everyone. Thank you so much Derrek for putting forth all the goods and effort. I hope everyone had a good time I know I did, I think my scale is a little upset with me though.

Random Info:

I get to see Julie in 3 months! I'm so excited I can't stand it. The time is really starting to go by fast.

Good to see that we have some more takers on the trade off. Only one month left.

If you haven't looked at the Endurance 50 link lately you should. There is a short preview of the documentary they are making about the challenge and in case you didn't know; it's not really over. Dean decided to run home to California from New York. Endurance is... amazing.

Album of the Month: When Your Heart Stops Beating (+44)

Plus 44's debut album came out today and I really like it so far. Thank you Itunes. It's definitely worth investigating. I have made it through half of the tracks so far and haven't skipped a song yet.

GluttonFest Update!

GluttonFest is on Saturday at my house at 3:00 P.M. There will be two turkeys* and lots of potatoes for sure. Not sure about any other food assignments yet. I hope we have a good turnout. If not, more food for the faithful. If you need directions call Eric, Derek, Nate, Jon, Ryan or me. If you plan on coming and can bring a dish, leave a comment.

*actual turkeys may not resemble photo... well, not the fruit

Endurance is... Done and Done

Amazing. That's all I have to say. Dean Karnazes finished his 50th marathon in 50 days in New York today. I know when I first started telling people about this everyone said that he was crazy and no one can do that. I have to admit that I thought it was awesome that he would try but even I didn't think he would be able to make it. Well he did. Just goes to show that you can't put a limit on what willpower and determination can accomplish. Hopefully some of those who read this will be able to do a triathlon or another race with me next summer. I'm still shooting for a marathon.

Bring on the snow

Here is a little clip from Beaver Mountain that always gets a good laugh. Some of you might remember seeing this before but I thought I'd post it on here for your viewing pleasure.

I Hope I Age Well

What a week. As a lot of you may already know my Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a month and a half ago. My Dad has had his fair share of health problems but this was still a little bit of surprise. His doctor performed a biopsy to asses what the best treatment would be and when the results came back it was decided that surgery to remove the prostate quickly was the best option. So the surgery was scheduled for Halloween, which followed a stressful weekend for me. I did get to see what all the people who work at the hospital dress up like for Halloween. There was one lady who had one of those costumes with a fan that keeps the material blown up in a large shape that's supposed to be funny but I'm still not quite sure what she was supposed to be. This reminded me of the ultimate Kool-Aid jug costume that D-Rock and Spew have always dreamed of creating. If you find it I'll gladly dress up as the brick wall. Anyways..

My Dad's surgery went well. The doctors were afraid that he would have complications with all the medicine that he takes; blood thinners, medication for Addison's Disease, low blood pressure etc... Luckily he didn't even need a blood transfusion and the doctors were able to leave a nerve bundle that was originally slated for removal. The biopsy of the lymph glands removed during the surgery came back negative so the chances are good that the cancer hasn't spread. We were able to bring my Dad home on Thursday night and he's doing much better now than in the hospital. Wednesday night and Thursday were really bad days at the hospital. I have to say that it is one of the hardest things in life to watch those you love be in agony and not be able to help them. I definitely don't think I could be a nurse after this week either, not that I've ever even considered it but now I know for sure. Even though I know the statistics show that almost all men get prostate cancer eventually I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can dodge this one.

Another Trade-Off Update

I'm getting slaughtered this week. My winner stock tanked and I shorted Yahoo right before it got a big upswing. My options calls also came due and were worth zero so that was an instant $4000 loss. Oops. Glad to see that D-rock joined in.

Game : indecision101

Rank User Today Week Month Overall Equity 1. crom -0.41% 1.98% 32.75% 32.72% $132,724.80 2. Spew 0.13% -0.49% 6.03% 5.66% $105,655.90 3. Hedgeman10 -0.05% 0.16% 2.52% 2.52% $102,516.20 4. ddrock 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% $100,000.00 5. rman80 -0.36% 0.11% -2.07% -2.07% $97,927.79 6. mrfuzz -2.25% -1.20% -0.32% -4.70% $95,296.84

Trade Off Update

Well the rankings moved around a little bit since the last update but they are almost back to where they were before. I would like to point out the the monkey (Spew) is still doing better than Jon and Ryan. I'm still banking that I can pull off an upset over Nate's sweet picking skills.

Game : indecision101

Rank User Today Week Month Overall Equity 1. crom 0.00% -1.07% 18.48% 18.46% $118,456.80 2. mrfuzz 0.00% 5.07% 11.42% 6.52% $106,518.80 3. Spew 0.00% 4.83% 5.36% 5.00% $104,995.90 4. Hedgeman10 0.00% 3.58% 2.93% 2.93% $102,926.80 5. rman80 0.00% -4.05% -3.38% -3.38% $96,615.29

Follicle Folly #2

Well I did it again. It's pretty sad that when I have a drought in blog writing a self-inflicted wound always brings me back to the table. I have got into the habit of shaving my head about every two weeks and have become quite proficient at it in my opinion. Until today. Those electric razors can do some damage. Yes I nicked my ear, yes it hurt and yes the ear does have a lot of blood circulating through it. I think I should have taken the picture when it was more bloody for the sake of aggrandizement but I was in pain so you get the slightly cleaned up version. I was also just talking with Eric about Stephen Hawking filing for divorce today and I had funny thought. Did you know that his voice computer deal was built for him by the ex-husband of his current wife(the one he is divorcing)? I told Eric that if that guy had been me I would have programmed it to go into a terrets mode whenever Hawking gave a speech. Just a thought.

It's Official

Well it's official. I got hired at E*Trade this week and I start the first week of November. Kind of scary that the person who was doing the worst in the Trade Off is actually going to be a stock broker. Oh Well, I just have to say that I'm so excited to get away from my current job that I can barely stand it. I have learned a lot from my job but I feel like I am always fixing problems that I didn't cause. I applied for a position where I thought I would be able to have a positive impact but it didn't work out. So it is time to move on.

About the Trade off: in my defense I have made quite a comeback this week and I even did it with stocks that cost more than $10 a share. Here are the rankings from the end of this week.

You can still sign up. Even if you don't post comments on this blog you should still sign up for the competition. Just use the link on the sidebar. Just think, if you sign up now you won't even be in last place. Competition makes it more fun.

Game : indecision101

Rank User Today Week Month Overall Equity 1. crom 0.00% 19.76% 19.76% 19.74% $119,742.30 2. mrfuzz 0.00% 6.04% 6.04% 1.38% $101,378.90 3. rman80 0.00% 0.69% 0.69% 0.69% $100,689.80 4. Spew 0.00% 0.51% 0.51% 0.16% $100,160.90 5. Hedgeman10 0.00% -0.63% -0.63% -0.63% $99,372.67

Music Buzz

I was super excited when I got an email this week that the new band +44 was going to be playing at The Venue in Salt Lake on the 24th of this month. If you haven't heard of Plus 44 I'm sure you will. They are the other half of Blink 182 but most importantly their drummer is Travis Barker, who I think is one of the greatest drummers of all time. I say I was because this week I got another email saying that Travis broke his arm and may or may not being playing the tour but he is trying to play the set with one hand. So anyways if Travis is still coming I think this might be a concert that you shouldn't miss. If anyone wants to go let me know. The bands new cd comes out in November and I predict it will be huge.

Another band worth looking forward to is Broke. They are actually a local band that has gotten a lot of help recording their new album from Branden Steineckert, former drummer for the Used. There has been a little documentary about Broke playing on Comcast and I'm really looking forward to their album also. Their album doesn't have an official release date yet but should be coming soon.

I also got the new John Mayer cd off ITunes this week and it's growing on me. If you only liked the John Mayer songs that got played on the radio I don't think you will like his new album. Most of the songs are slower but the guitar keeps getting better and better.

Thinking about buying the new Killers cd...

Trade Off Update

Just letting everyone know the site the trading simulator is at is having some difficulties. You can still trade but you can't see anyone else's trade history. I am trying to change the fees to match what Scottrade charges but the site won't let me save my changes either. Glad to see that Ryan signed up . Still waiting for Jon. Try and get more people to sign up so it's a little more interesting.

Word of the Day

Found a word I haven't ever seen so I thought I'd share.

I just finished reading Confessions of a Street Addict, written by James J. Cramer also know as Jim Cramer or the crazy Mad Money guy on CNBC. I have never seen the word Agitprop before and couldn't delve any meaning out of the context so here is the semi-official definition from Wikipedia.

Agitprop is a contraction of agitational propaganda. The term originated in Communist Russia, where the term was a shortened form of отдел агитации и пропаганды (otdel agitatsii i propagandy), i.e., Department for Agitation and Propaganda, which was part of the Central and regional committees of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The department was later renamed to Ideological Department.
The term propaganda in the Russian Language didn't bear any negative connotation at that time. It simply meant "dissemination of ideas". In the case of Agitprop, the ideas to be disseminated were those of communism, including explanations of the policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet State. In other contexts, propaganda could mean dissemination of any kind of beneficial knowledge, e.g., of new methods in agriculture. "Agitation" meant urging people to do what Soviet leaders expected them to do; again, at various levels. In other words, propaganda was supposed to act on the mind, while agitation acted on emotions, although both usually went together, thus giving rise to the cliche "propaganda and agitation".
In the western world, agitprop has a negative connotation. In the United Kingdom during the 1980s, for example, socialist elements of the political scene were often accused of using agitprop to convey an extreme left-wing message via television programmes, theatre and even children's books. However, in a more general sense, a television cartoon might be described as 'agitprop' if it could be interpreted as a marketing ploy to sell toys.
The term is frequently used in the modern Russian language to describe information provided by mass-media, if it is considered to be pro-government and biased.

The mtn.

With all the complaints lately about not being able to watch the local college games unless you have Comcastic cable I'm not so sure you're missing out on much. After watching four games so far on the new network I have an official nickname, "the glitch". And that's just what I hope it is, a short blip on the radar that appears and then never shows up again. The anchors aren't very entertaining and every time there is a big play their video feed glitches and you miss it. The audio feed volume levels are constantly changing and its really annoying. These are the kinds of things you should have ironed out before you piss off a lot of people while you are trying to make big dollar network deals based on your ratings and number of viewers. I'm not even a big football fan but I am believer in good broadcasting and that the mtn definitely isn't.

A Place For Me

I have come to the conclusion that only the handicapped, pregnant and senior citizens shop at Harmon's grocery store. At least that is what I gather from trying to park in the parking lot. Literally 1/3 of the parking lot is reserved for one group or another. I don't mind walking through the parking lot but society's concern over special needs is going way too far. So I made a parking sign just for me. I think that stores should leave at least two spaces near the store that aren't reserved for anyone. Sure the people I mentioned before could still park there but I could also park there without feeling guilty. Speaking about feeling guilty, I have a question. If you're in a parking lot and there are 8 handicapped spots marked with signs and wheelchair painted parking spaces but then there are two spots without signs and faded wheelchair insignia; should I feel guilty for parking in the semi-marked spaces? I'm really not sure if they are handicapped or not but I sure have gotten some crusty looks for parking in them before. You would think I was stealing from a cripple or something. By the way these spots are at the Gold's Gym on 78th and Redwood so if you happen by take a look and give me your opinion.

update 9/21/06
So I'm wondering if the good ole Gold people can read my mind because when I went today things have changed. There are now two "islands" of 4 clearly painted handicapped spots one with a sign one without. However one of the signs that used to be by one of the marked cluster of spaces has been transplanted to stand by the two mostly faded parking spots. Making a difference one post at a time. Or at least I like to think so...

Kraziness Ensues

So my new idol started his 50-50-50 marathon deal today. The official site at the North Face that is supposed to have all this real time gps position/heart rate monitor high tech stuff isn't updated with the race info at all but the guy's blog says he finished the first marathon today in St. Charles Missouri. I'll try to put a link to his blog on mine.

Getting Fed Up With Gold

I really don't like Gold's Gym. They aren't that great. At least not the one I go to. I think I'm about to the point where I'm going to start driving to Kearns where they actually have a swimsuit dryer. I go to the gym minimum every other day and usually every day except Sunday. I have been doing this for quite some time and I know that Gold's has a policy that their lockers are for day use only. However, when I inquired about this around 5 months ago I was told that they really don't do that at this gym. So I have, for a long period of time, been leaving my swimming goggles and related swimming training paraphernalia(yes that's how it's spelled, I had to look it up) in a locker overnight. Meanwhile, I got sick. In the week that I didn't go to the gym apparently they decided to start enforcing their locker policy. So they cut my lock off. Not pleasant but not a huge deal; If they would have put my stuff in the lost and found or somewhere instead of just leaving it in the locker for who knows how long. No they just left it there unprotected. Swimming stuff isn't cheap, it isn't ridiculously expensive but I had near a hundred dollars worth of stuff sitting there for who knows how long. When I went to complain you would think they had been enforcing their policy for ever, "It's always been that way" my ass it's always been that way, what about the last six months I've been here every day. And since when is there an "overnight" at a supposedly 24 hour gym except when they close early on the weekends and half the day Sunday. Give me a break. So to file a complaint I had to write it out on a contract freeze form that they probably tossed in the trash as soon as I walked away. Excellent customer service.

BBQ Heaven

A bunch of the gang got together to chow down at Joe Morley's restaurant last Friday and I have to say that it was some of the best brisket and baked beans I have had in a long time. It was fun to have a big group together again. It makes me miss the Super Bowl barbecue at the Farm and of course the Gluttonfest. However I think I can safely say that after eating a large quantity of beans that I have significantly contributed to the amount of methane present in Salt Lake County the last two days and I think my coworkers would appreciate it if I didn't eat the beans anymore.

When Life Gives You Lemons....

I saw this story on the news a couple of days ago and finally got around to finding some pictures. Lola is a seven week old kitten in Denver that was born with her back legs too long. Determined to get around she flips her hind end up and walks quite capably on her front paws. Pretty cool.

Bloomington Videos

Well I wanted to share the videos of Kellen and Kira on the rope swing so I broke down and got my own youtube account. Enjoy...

Kellen




Kira

Bloomington: Attempt Deux

I was really bummed that I couldn't go to the last Bloomington trip and my attempt was almost foiled by my supervisor again this time but I finally made it. I love Bloomington, this lake has to be one of the coolest places to camp especially with the addition of the wicked awesome rope swing. I was looking forward to lighting off some "noise making devices" under the cover of darkness but to my chagrin there were more people there this weekend than I have ever seen before. Not people just hiking in and leaving either, we had to scavenge for a camping spot for about 30 minutes before we found something that would accommodate the tent. So it was kind of crappy that it was so crowded but we still found a pretty decent spot and had a small fire. I found that I always end up bringing too much crap, I even thought I was packing light but I still didn't use half of what I packed in. I don't know that I will ever be able to truly pack light. The water is still freezing cold or as I like to call it "hurty cold" but I got numb after the initial shock wore off. I was attempting to call Ryan a pansy for not going in the water all the way to fetch a log for Kade, Lori's nephew but it backfired on me. I attempted to prove that Ryan was being silly by making my way into the water up to my knees alongside him. Then I ended up performing the same shivering dance maneuvers, thinking about the well being of my children and debating whether I was really going to go in or not. So Kade ended up throwing my sandal into the lake and I made him go get it; so the youngest of us all ended up being the manliest by taking the plunge first. Kudos Kade. I ended up only going off the rope swing once and now I wish I would have done it more because it was a whole lot easier than jumping off the cliff and probably higher too but oh well, next year. I did jump off the cliff twice but I will admit it did take a lot of standing at the edge and staring down at the water asking myself why I wanted to jump off a nice ledge. There was a cameo by Gollum which I think caught us all by surprise, luckily I got a picture before he lunged off the cliff after his precioussss. Sorry Ryan I couldn't resist. All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to many more in the future.


The players in this little adventure (doing the Ryan pose) were from left to right: Me, Kira, Ryan, Lori and Kade, McCall and Kellen. If I spelled some names wrong I apologize, leave me a comment and I will correct them.

1 Year, 22 Months

Well... It's official. One year ago today the love of my life began her journey as a missionary. It is also 22 months since our first kiss this week. I can't believe how fast it has gone by. Not to say that it hasn't seemed to crawl by a lot of times. It has definitely been one of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life. As I look back I am actually grateful for the opportunity. I think that when people say that someone completes them or makes them a better person it is completely true. But I think that relying on someone else to keep you in line isn't really a good thing either. I will be the first to agree that Julie helped me change to be a better person but this time waiting for her has given me the chance to be the man I want to be for myself so that I can be better for her. I know that we will continue to help each other with our weaknesses and grow but I have also learned a lot from being separated. Hopefully the next six months goes by fast.

Here are some more pictures that I like. If you can't tell I love Julie and the ocean.

Crazy Karnazes

I've been reading a lot lately about a guy named Dean Karnazes. He is a well known long distance runner and now he's planning on running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. Yeah, you read it right. I didn't believe it when I first heard about it a couple of weeks ago but Dean and his trainers both fully believe that he can do it. He has actually had to work to gain 8% body fat to be able to keep his body from eating his muscles over the runs. I believe he is normally around 4%. All the money that is raised goes to a foundation called Karno Kids to help kids become more active. I think it is really cool. I still don't really see it being possible but if he does complete even half of his goal he will completely shatter the conceptions of what the human body is capable of. Here is a link to the official webpage. I think that having a lot of K's in a title is kinda krazy though. It reminds me of all the country stores and gas stations still run by good old boys in rural Texas, like Karl's Kountry Korner. The run starts September 17th.

Things That Must Go

One of my favorite things on the radio is the "Things That Must Go" portion of the Radio From Hell talk show on X-96. I had been compiling a long list of my own things that must go and now that I am sitting down to write them I am drawing a blank. So I'll give it a go but I'm sure there will be more additions.

1. People at the gym getting agitated with people filling up water bottles. I don't really feel like getting off the treadmill or bike every 10 minutes to go take a sip of water. I'm sorry that you get dehydrated lifting weights and sitting around flexing your muscles in front of the mirror. You're just going to have to wait 20 seconds.

2. People that cut through parking lots and think they have the right of way. If I'm in an actual lane and you're cutting across parking stalls and try to cut me off I'm not going to stop.

3. Parents letting their kids drive like idiots. It seems like there have been way too many teen deaths this last couple of weeks caused by bad driving. Why do you buy your sixteen year old a GT Mustang?

Anyways.. I think that's all for now. I haven't written anything for a while obviously; so I wanted to throw up something.

Done and Done

The time on the clock is from the Olympic distance start which was 30 min. earlier than me.

Well one of my life goals has finally been accomplished. I completed a sprint triathlon in just under two hours, officially 01:59:35.09. I am pretty pleased because I was honestly thinking I would be about two and a half hours. I really had no idea what was going on when I got to the park and I set up all of my crap as good as I could in the transition area by the water. As it got closer to the time for my group to start though I overheard someone talking about another transition area. I was like "what? there is a different transition area?". So I got to grab all of my running stuff and run three blocks, drop it off and then run back in sandals. By the time I got back to put my wetsuit on the announcer was giving the five minute warning for my start. So that was kind of scary. The water was really warm so it wasn't bad at all. I was able to swim the whole 750 meters without stopping which was nice. I guess I actually probably swam more like 820 meters though because the current kept pushing me off course and so I think I was zigzagging all over the place between the three buoys ( I don't know if that is spelled right). And the wetsuit wasn't real flattering but there were a lot of people there with some extra white fluffiness about them so I didn't feel too bad. Getting on the bike only took about three minutes but that is when I realized how much of a difference having a road bike makes. People were flying by me like crazy and I was peddling just about as fast as I could. The bike took me 52 minutes, another three in transition and then I started the run. At first my calves were all tight and I was kind of stumbling/jogging and then there was the hill. I ended up walking for quite a ways until my calves loosened up. Then after jogging for only a couple of minutes I got a killer side ache and slowed down again. I figure I probably walked about half of the 5k but oh well. I did it. I still have a lot of room to improve but I am just glad I got started. I think I am going to work on my running speed for the next little while before I try to another triathlon and I am definitely going to rent a road bike for the next one. I really think we should all try to run a half marathon together next year. Maybe Eric and Laura could pick one out for us. I am thinking that for my next triathlon I should be able to shoot for an hour and a half with a road bike and being able to actually run the whole 5k.

I was just looking at the results and trying to figure out my actual placing and as far as I can tell its something like this: 182 overall out of about 339, 99/200 for men, and last place for my division. The web site that has the results breaks stuff down kind of odd so that might not be super accurate. Because the overall numbers include Olympic distance people. There were 220 sprint distance participants total but I don't know exactly where I was in that group.

Here are some more pictures.

The swim course. There were three buoys in a triangle about 250 meters apart.
Pasty white goodness, in tighter than skin wetsuit. Yeah I know I look good.
Swim start.
Coming out of the water, attempting to remove the wetsuit.
Finishing the bike.

D Day

Well, it's finally here. I participate in my first triathlon tomorrow. I feel kind of nervous because I really don't know how everything works yet. It's not like you just show up, get your number and start running. I have to take a lot of crap but it's definitely going to be worth it. At least training for this ordeal has got me to enjoy exercise again. Over the last 11 weeks I have exercised between 2 to 3 hours a day 5 days a week. I'm still no where near where I want to be at running but I have managed to drop a couple of pants sizes, 15 pounds and about 6 percent body fat. I also listened to about 12,000 pages worth of audio books. So all in all I'm pretty pleased with my progress. I think my next goal is going to be a half marathon and then an Olympic size triathlon. I am beginning to realize though that my goal of being 180 pounds is probably a bit crazy unless I don't have any muscle and look like the anorexic Olsen twin. Well... It's also the last week for my chemistry class too so I better go back to the studying.

What a hole

The Kennecott mine is huge. There really is no other way to describe it. I really can't remember the last time I went and looked down into this ginormous pit. Eric and I went for a little jog up by here last Friday and we decided to go take a look. I must say that I really need to start running outside. I was so sore after running on a trail. I got a big blister that popped on one of my toes too. My hip and heinie muscles were tender for the rest of the weekend. The triathlon is this next Saturday. As long as I finish I will be happy. I'm shooting for two hours max though, I think a pretty good time is around an hour and a half. It starts at 8:00 A.M. August 5th so if you want to see me in all my slowness you probably want to show up a little early to park and see the start. Here is the link to the course map.

--Another note. Ok the blogger spell checker isn't superb yet, but at least it kind of works now.

BOO AH!

Do you ever have one of those moments where you think you catch something just on the edges of your peripheral vision and it freaks you out? Sometimes the thing you thought you saw is scary, sometimes it isn't. Well the other day as I was leaving the gym and climbing into my truck this freaked me out.


If you look real close you can make out the gigantic wolfhound staring me down in the passenger seat. I'm not really afraid of big dogs but apparently my animal instincts differentiate between wolves and dogs quite well. Only problem is it's a stupid seat cover.

On another note I just watched part of the recent music video post on Eric's blog and I have to say that I have listened to that song near a hundred times and until seeing that video I had absolutely no clue that the song was about chess. Listening to it know I feel kind of dumb that I didn't catch it before but it's a catchy tune. I also read Laura's post about having to actually work eight hours a day and initially I have to say I thought to myself "give me a break, eight hours...". Sorry Laura. I just have been working 8 to 16 hour shifts for so long; only eight hours seems like a vacation. But in my current position the more I thought about it most of my time at work right now is spent bouncing around in the back of a noise machine you might know as an armored truck. So in honor of Laura moving up to the 9 to 5 work force I am going to do an experiment tonight and see much of my 11 hours tonight is really spent doing actual work. I'll try and post the results tomorrow. And with that I'm off to work.

Happy 7-11 Day

Wow there are a lot of really weird pictures that come up in google images when you search for 7-11. Most of them taken on some 7-11 long gone. I think the funniest I saw was a gigantic lizard with what looked like a pink cat leash on. Anyways.. I figured Eric would have an ode to 7-11 today and I discovered that I was right when I got home from my bike ride this morning. Where have all the 7-11's gone. I remember as a kid being able to ride my bike to five or six stores without much trouble. Now it seems most of the stores are relegated to State Street. One of my favorite activities in Logan was to go get hot chocolate at some odd hour when the temperature was in the single digits. I also have to agree with Eric that the Slurpee is one of the greatest things ever to happen to mankind. I can't even begin to contemplate how many mind numbing brain freezes I have survived only to gulp down another Slurpee too fast and suffer the same fate again; but it is so worth the pain. I wish I could enjoy the taste of slushy goodness today but I haven't had time. Maybe we'll have to skip the Maverick at work tonight and head for the Sev.

---Great. Blogger is down again imagine that. At least it told me this time so I can save my post somewhere else. It only took about eight tries to upload this picture too.---

Steamy Surprise

What a crappy night. Sunday nights are quite possibly the crappiest work nights ever and last night was no exception. For anyone that prepares deposit bags that are dropped in a night drop: Just seal the bag straight across, don't roll it up like a burrito or stick the tape to some other part of the bag. Also, if you forget to put something in the bag don't staple it on, just use a new bag. I thought that the word "From" printed on a label was pretty explanatory but I guess it isn't in the vocabulary of most people who prepare deposit bags from stores in the mall. You have no idea how annoying it is for the people who pick up the bag. Anyways... What the heck does that have to do with my title?
I needed to run and swim today so I ran and then went to the pool. As usual the pool was full which isn't really that hard with only three lanes. So I decided to go wait in the steam room. Bad idea. There were three people in the vaporized sweat already and I went to one side and laid down to close my eyes and wait. You know how you can see shadows through your eyelids? Well I did. I opened my eyes to see a large hairy man emerge from the steam waving his arms above me like he was doing jumping jacks. I didn't know whether to scream or ignore him or laugh. It kinda freaked me out for a second though. But I just ignored him and opted for the hot tub at my first opportunity to leave. Moral of the story. Never close your eyes in a steam room.

Movie Review

Pirates of the Caribbean

Pretty sweet. A few unexpected scenes. I need to watch the first one again. I know that Captain Jack is irresistible but I don't remember as much attraction between him and Elizabeth in the first movie. Not worth waiting in line for an hour to see it opening night. I actually went to buy tickets at the theater because Larry Miller's online ticketing website was so busy it was pretty much down. I chose my movie picked three tickets and hit buy and then it said sold out. So I just bought one and it worked, sorry parents. The best part about seeing this movie was the trailer for Transformers, I am so excited for that one. Definitely an unfinished story, not much closure here. I know there is another one but still...



Eavesdropping, Peeping Tom in Blue Tights aka Superman Returns
Ehhhh. Better than most stuff that has come out lately. Besides Pirates. Saw this one with Ryan. The movie is a little long. There are some pretty tense moments and all the acting is really good but I just never liked Superman that much and I'm kinda tired of all the remakes and comic book movies that have been coming out lately. It's time for something new. I also found it weird in the movie when Clark Kent "overhears" where Lois is now living and flies by to peek into her house and listen to her conversations. Superman or Supercreepy. I dunno. You decide.

Where do you shop?

What is your favorite grocery store? I don't really know that I have one. There are a lot of stores I dislike but I still end up shopping at them all too often. I don't really know why but I don't have a definite favorite. I realized today that I really like Target though for some reason. I can't really put my finger on it but I feel more comfortable there and even if there are only two check stands open it only seems to take a second in line compared to Wally World. I will never understand why 10 checkers stand around a little rolling cart at Wal-Mart looking lost while there are 20 or so disgruntled shoppers waiting at one of the three open check stands with checkers who look about ready to walk out. Also I think checks should be banned at grocery stores. I fear nothing worse than hurrying through the store because I have to pee really bad or I'm late for work and the person in front of me whips out a checkbook and starts to write at the speed of snail and then stops to ask if they can write the check for fifty over. Get a dang check card people. Hmm.. back to the store stuff.. I really like Macey's too but I am just too lazy to drive to closest one.

Fast Lane For Sale

I have been hearing rumors the last few months of our lovely lawmakers contemplating selling passes for the carpool lane to commuters. Well now it has become a reality. How greedy can we get. Starting in August you can purchase a "HOV Pass" for $50 a month that is good from North Salt Lake to Orem, which is the extent of the carpool lane I believe. The state is still a little leery though as they are only offering 600 passes to start. I want to buy a get away with speeding pass, why don't they offer that?

Fun With Sparklers

Here are some 4th of July photos, if that wasn't obvious already.

Never Say Never

Ok so here is the latest mishap. I already told this story to Ryan, Eric and Laura and it happened last Saturday so it might lose some of its hilarity. So I have been using clip in mountain bike pedals and shoes for about a year now and have been pleased with the performance increase they provide. I have never really been afraid of getting stuck with my feet in the pedals until now. I was happily sweating away going back and forth on the 4 or so miles of paved Jordan River parkway to reach my 12 miles for the day and I decided to go exploring a little. I hopped off the trail onto a sidewalk to see if the trail was paved again further south. It isn't until you get to 12600 South. I figured this out because the road and the sidewalk I was riding on came to a dead end, big surprise. However, the real surprise came as I stopped to turn around. Twisting my foot to release it from my pedal I found to my dismay that my foot wouldn't turn. I had already committed by body weight and balance to my right foot and I frantically tried to get my left foot out instead to no avail; pulling a muscle in my leg in the process. So I proceeded to fall over like a long dead tree off the sidewalk into a nice prickly thorn bush. Luckily no one was watching. I hope. Any hope I had of maintaining some small thread of manliness vanished as I found my feet still stuck, lying on the ground, in a thorn bush, with my bike between my legs like a scolded puppy. I eventually managed to free myself and I'm not really sure how long it took to get up but I really don't think it was that long. I haven't had any problems with the pedals since but I won't ever say that I've never fallen over because of them ever again.

Peanut Butter Puzzle

Ok, where did the chunky peanut butter go? All I want is regular chunky, not super chunk, extra chunky, extreme chunk or creamy. I spent about five minutes looking through all the brands to find that there is no middle ground when it comes to the extent of the chunkiness of the good old pb anymore. Well, at least not at WallyWorld. So I will just have to settle with my roasted honey nut creamy for a while.

It's Sharing Time

Well I got called to be a Primary teacher this morning. That was kind of a shock. I think it will be fun but it's definitely a little different than Elder's quorum. I can't believe how much stuff these kids know about the Gospel and scriptures. What happened to all the songs they used to have when I was a kid though? I don't know any of the songs they sang today. Oh well, so begins another adventure.

Movie Review

I just got back from seeing Cars and aside from the woman in front of me alternating between breastfeeding and trying to stop her newborn from crying it was great. A lot of the reviews I read about this movie said it was ok but that was about it. I totally disagree, it is a really good movie. I don't know what else the critics are expecting maybe they needed to throw in a couple of F-bombs and some revealing car bras, who knows. But I really liked it. The animation is amazing the only things that look unreal anymore are things that Pixar wants to look animated.

In honor of the breastfeeding I thought I would throw up some pictures of Julie's favorite store which is located right here in Salt Lake.


I didn't have the pleasure of going in but I did stop at the Salt Lake Running Company, I swear.

Makes Me Laugh

Can anyone guess why I thought this was kind of funny?

Its That Time of Year

They're Baack. July 27th at Usana again. It's a Thursday, I really want to go but I need to get work off. If anyone wants to go let me know so we can get tickets together. Maybe we can talk Ryan into finally going.

A New Addition

My Dad talked my Mom into letting him bring home a neglected cat for Father's Day. I think its pretty funny. It's a weird thing, a large kitten actually with flat ears and a mean gaze. I wanted to call it Killer but my Dad named it Mellow. I still call it Killer though, I mean just look at his face. He is quite possibly the laziest cat in the world though.


Anyways.. I've been a little time depraved lately so hopefully I will be able to get caught up on the blog now. I have been getting kind of frustrated with blogger lately though. Is anyone else having lots of problems uploading pictures?

The Dang Boy Scouts Were Right

Be Prepared. Probably a good idea, I was just too lazy to listen to that advice though. I went on a little bike ride up Butterfield canyon this morning. It was a nice ride, sunny, not too hot. I saw a couple of deer and some lovely road kill. After about a three mile hill climb I decided I should probably turn around and head back down to my truck. I was cruising along on my new super skinny, slick road tires at about 35 miles an hour when I noticed that all the air was rushing out of my rear tire. Yay. Of course I just bought a patch kit, and I have a tire pump sitting in my garage and I thought this morning I should probably take this stuff with me. But honestly, who gets a flat tire riding on a perfectly good paved road with brand new tires and tubes? Me. And of course I decided this might be a good opportunity to ride topless to work on eliminating some whiteness. So I got to walk about 2 miles down the canyon with the sun burning my tender skin, in biking shoes, which was about half as uncomfortable as walking downhill in ski boots. Great stuff. So I think when I go next week I will Be Prepared.

Gay Logic Doesn't Make Sense

Note: I changed the title of this blog, my opinion might make people feel uncomfortable but I believe what I believe and that is my right as much as it is anyone else's. Why I felt like writing about this, I don't know. However, it is something I feel strongly about and so my words might hurt some people's feeling or make them mad at me but maybe it's something that they should hear.

Well, It’s true.

Talking about our homosexual friend Skyler has stirred up my gay opinions again. Come on. If you really are gay or lesbian; how smart is that, you will never produce offspring without the help of the opposite sex, so there. If everyone was gay we wouldn’t even need to wait for one of the "imminent" natural disasters to do in civilization, we’d just need to wait a hundred years. That sounds pretty natural to me, yeah right. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t support any violence or hatred against homosexuals. I just totally disagree with any and all logic trying to support their lifestyle as being normal or moral. Like I said, I actually have a friend who is gay. I will admit that I am a little uncomfortable with him being gay and I do make a lot of inappropriate jokes at his expense and that's not very good of me. But that doesn't mean that I don't respect his rights as a human being and his right to make that choice. But I do remember some place called Sodom and Gomorrah; whatever happened to them? Where do you think the term sodomy came from. Ok, I think I’m done now.

I'm going to Tri

Well it's official my first triathlon will be the Cache Valley Classic on August 5th. So everyone who is dying to see my pasty white goodness peeling off a wetsuit should come watch me drown. I'm only doing the sprint which is 0.75K swim/20K bike/5K mile run(for those of you who don't get metrics like me, it's about .5 mi. swim/ 12 mi. bike/ 3.1 mi. run). It will still be a challenge I'm sure. I believe it starts at 8am at the Hyrum reservoir. Wish me luck.

Update: I forgot to mention that I am registered in the "Clydesdale" class because I weigh over two hundred pounds. Isn't that comforting. Me, wetsuit, speedo, running, climbing on a bike... pasty white goodness.

Follicle Folly

So I had my first calamity since starting this blog last week. It’s kind of embarrassing but still funny so here it goes. I have been training for a triathlon for the last two months which entails a lot of swimming. I began to tire of toweling off the curly tresses on my chest and decided that a smooth chest was something I would like to try. So I started shaving my chest with some clippers and a razor. My chest hair grows unreasonably fast and I was wondering if there was a better way to keep my chest as smooth as a baby’s behind. Enter Nair. I remembered a strange concoction that is supposed to make you hair virtually melt away with no pain no shaving. So I was sheepishly wandering through Wally World looking at the shaving stuff and was surprised to find that they have Nair for men. I grabbed a bottle with a handy “roller applicator” and sped for the self checkout.

I found the instructions on the bottle to be somewhat similar to those on a speeding ticket which should have been warning enough. Apply, wait at least 4 minutes but no longer than 10. So I lathered up with the smelly goop and started counting. So at about one minute I started to feel a pretty intense burning sensation around my nipolas. I thought that maybe this was normal because you’re not supposed to get the stuff near “sensitive areas”. Yes… I think burning pain is normal; I have no idea why I didn’t take the crap off as soon as I could. I stuck it out for another minute and could take the pain no longer. You remember that incident I had with pepper spray a while back? Well this was about 10 times more painful. So by now I am hopping around the bathroom and trying to wipe off my chest as quick as I can and when I finally get it all off the blood begins to flow. I was bleeding out of every pore on my chest, it was great.

So the next few days were fun going to work sweating and bleeding and itching under a bullet-proof vest for 12 hour shifts, it was great. Showering also seemed to bring back the blood and agony in all its glory.

So the moral of the story is: I am an idiot and Nair is bad mmkay.

Maintenance Smaitenance

Well I was actually going to do a couple more posts and of course when I tried to logon while my intellectual powers were at their peak the site was down for maintenance. So we will have to try again. I guess I might as well do a little music and movie review while I'm on here.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
What Can I say? This album is the same as every other Chilli Peppers album, it rocks. I really really like all the songs on this album. Very impressed, plus it's a double cd, double the pleasure double the fun.

X-Men III
Eh... it's ok. Another comic book movie that doesn't really make me feel much emotion for the characters. Cool special effects. I think I would like these more if they had Gambit and Jubilee in them. Long live the Professor. Can wait for the sequel.

DaVinci Crap or Code whatever
Sucked. Long. Unimpressive. I wanted to laugh during the parts that were supposed to be suspenseful. Follows the book very closely but my imagination did the story much better than Ron Howard. I did enjoy reading the book.

Mission Impossible 37
Or as Steven Colbert calls it "miiiiiii". Another sequel that didn't do much too impress, plus Tom Cruise just looks crazy all the time. Sometimes I see Tom's face and I think "either he just crapped his pants or he just killed somebody and is looking for his next victim". No really spectacular special effects in my opinion, there was one building swinging scene that got my fear of heights going a little but that's about all the emotion I felt during this movie.

I watched the 80's version of The Secret Garden on Memorial Day weekend and I can honestly say I enjoyed it more than any of the movies I have seen in the theater lately. I am looking forward to Over the Hedge and Cars though. So those will be coming up soon hopefully.

What have I done.

hello world. Well here I am. I have finally decided to give in to the internet. I have wanted to start a blog for sometime but mostly have been too lazy to do it or indecisive, I guess. "Too Lazy", is that an oxymoron? There is so much hassle with creating an online identity. You have to come up with a user name, something clever but not too hard to remember and then a password. The password can be a nightmare and I always forget them but after having some of my credit card information stolen online I am super paranoid about using the same password for everything. Then there is the situation where you have already put in a user name and typed your password twice only to be told that your user name is already taken and then you have to type in your super secure password consiting of a combination of a hundred or so numbers, symbols and letters twice again. Yes , it just happened to me. Then you have to pick out a clever name that everyone else will see too; becuase you do want to be funny and cool right? Well here's my attempt to share some of my disorder, calamities and stupid adventures with the rest of the cyber greek community. Enjoy.