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.