Catching Up

Well I've been a little busy with my favorite part of college, group projects. I still have a couple of more this semester but eh, what can you do? So there were a lot of things I wanted to write about so I'll try and do a little catch-up. I've been taking random pictures with my cell phone so hopefully some of them will be interesting.



??? So I don't know if any of you remember the incident with Nair for Men and my nipples but I saw this aptly named product while searching though my local pharmacy for some wax strips. No, I don't want to explain. I was laughing in the middle of the isle when I saw this though. Julie thought I was weird.




Congratulations Your Premium Just Went Up!


I was shopping at Best Buy on 45th and State and couldn't help but notice the biggest bow I have ever seen in my life. Must have been some grand opening party. I can understand the desire to celebrate and let everyone know that the new hospital is opening but isn't this a little much. How many people had to okay this monstrosity and the cost of putting it up? Trying to find affordable health care for the self employed I wish they would have just given me a discount or something instead of throwing a big party for themselves. Thank you IHC.





I'm noticing lately that I like new music less and less. Every time I turn on the radio I usually switch to a station that is playing songs I listened to in high school. Is this a common occurrence? I'm actually listening to a little Primus at work right know and wishing that I was sailing the seas of cheese with Tommy the cat. I should be studying for my chemistry test on Monday... So I guess I'd better get going.

Apple: One PC: Zero

I'm still a mac... I just wanted to say how much more I like using my macbook than my ridiculously fast pc. I just like everything about my mac more. I really like the keyboard, the software is much easier to install and remove (once you figure out how simple it really is). What else? Software is just easier to use all around. I don't really play that many games so not having a whole lot of those isn't a bad thing. I just get addicted to games anyway. I might have spent way too much time last week playing Heroes of Might and Magic V. I was reminded why I shouldn't play games, especially in the middle of the semester.

Anyways... back to the mac. I was a little disillusioned the other week when I went in to the Apple store to try and get the power cord replaced for my macbook. The cord was coming out of the power adapter and it's still under warranty so I figured I could run in during the afternoon on my only day off and grab one. Bad idea. The store was crazy crowded and no one would help me. After sitting at the help bar for about 10 minutes getting frustrated, I asked the guy next to me if it always took this long. I was informed that if you don't have an appointment you are pretty much screwed. Yeah. So I gave up and left wasting about 2 hours of my day and accomplishing nothing besides getting aggravated. So I made an appointment the next week and my service was astounding. I was let into the store before it opened and handed a new power cord without even giving my name. The whole experience left me a little bewildered. I'm just not used to getting to totally different levels of service in such a short amount of time. But in the end I still haven't used my pc in quite a while. So I guess the moral of my rambling is: Make an appointment for Apple help unless you are buying something new and you will have a lot less stress.

I Love Construction

Thank you everyone who came to the little B-Day dinner. It was a lot of fun and I agree with Eric we should get together more often.

Anyways... I really wanted to just take a second to do my favorite thing on a blog; complain about something that bothers me. Road construction in South Jordan is ridiculous. There are at least four projects under way within 2 miles of my house. Every time I remember that there is construction and I need to go a different way I find myself blocked by yet more construction. Who in the hell is coordinating these projects? I understand that the redwood road construction is most likely run by someone different from the actual South Jordan road projects but really, would be to hard for someone to check and say If we are going to close the left turn lane at 11400 South we probably shouldn't make people go clear to 10600 south to turn around. I'm predicting that redwood road should be up to about 20 lanes in 10 years. Honestly, they have been repaving redwood road over and over and over since I moved to South Jordan 14 years ago. Couldn't they have just opted for a four or six lane road a couple of tries ago?

Happy driving.

I feel safe.

I feel much better about the security of the city I live in than I did yesterday. Why? Because today I saw that we have our own "Homeland Security" patrol car on the job. Sweet. I don't really know what type of terrorist activities could possibly happen where I live but hey I'm sure there was a government grant involved so why not get another patrol car. At least someone is there just in case of a looming threat to our great rural homeland.

Thursday Night in The Hizzouse

This is what hapens when your wife is in beauty school. The funny thing is I don't really mind. I spent Thursday night studying for a test while getting my toenails painted. Julie wanted to practice with her new paintbrush and my big toe provides a nice canvas.

I'm Back. I think...

So a lot of things have happened since my last post. I always have things I want to write about but find it hard to actually type stuff up. Anyways I guess I'll give a brief recap.

The more I think about it the only people who will read this know for the most part what I've been up to so maybe just a brief recap.

Quit my job. Feb "07
Got real estate license. Mar
Started a corporation, pretty much for tax purposes only. Mar
Sub prime mortgage freaked everyone out. No money coming my way.
Got Engaged.
Got married 7/27/07 in LA. Sweet.
Went on Honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta. Didn't want to come back.
Still doing real estate and hoping things turn around quickly.

Done and Done.

So I will hopefully share some experiences and pictures from these events but we'll see. I more enjoy writing about funny things as they happen.

I also wanted to thank everyone for all the support they have given me while I was a boob waiting for Julie to get back. And thanks for all the wedding gifts too. I would also like to thank Ryan for being my best man at the Wedding and enduring a road trip with my family to California and back.

Call Me Pres

So I started a corporation today. Pretty crazy stuff. Actually the official start date will be on record as 3/11/07. I thought it would be a lot harder to get everything set up than it was. Contrary to popular belief if you can understand legal documents and IRS publications you don't even need a lawyer or an accountant to start your own company. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to use one but hey, I'm cheap. I definitely think a CPA will be doing my taxes next year though. I hope everyone had a happy 3/11 day. I really wanted to put up a good post but I just wasn't feeling it.

I got the first "your stats suck" talk at work on Friday. That's always tons of fun. So I guess if I want to succeed in the rat race I've got to give up on really helping people and make sure I kind of help as many people as I can. Oh, and make sure that I always know the answer and never give incorrect information. It's really not that bad I just think that call centers are interesting. My new position is much better than the one I had before by a long shot though. Not too keen on my new schedule but I'll survive. I really like working early and getting off in the afternoon. Now I work from late morning to around 7 PM or so. With Julie staying in Orem it makes it a little harder to spend as much time as we want to together.

Well anyways... I was going to think of something witty to talk about but I'm pretty exhausted so I think I'm just going to go to bed.

Keep on keepin on.

I'm a Mac...

So I finally took the plunge. This is my first post from my new Mac. I was going to go completely legal on my pc, you know buying windows and all the programs I use and such but when I added it all up it was going to cost me about as much as getting a Mac that does everything I want already. So far I have to say it's pretty nice.

This last two weeks has been awesome. I got to reunite with the love of my life and get reacquainted again. Although that didn't really take too long. We still love each other for all the same reasons we did before, now we just get to hold each other again. It's great. Julie had to go back home for a couple of weeks though to take care of business in California but she will be back in Utah around March 22nd or 23rd I think. I'm really excited to see her again even though she just barely left.

I finished real estate school finally and took the state exam yesterday; luckily I passed. It's hard to say whether it was hard or not because I compare everything to the Series 7 exam now. Well not just the Series 7 exam, the Series 7 exam in four weeks without having a business or accounting degree.

Hopefully I'll have a little bit of a break from super intensive studying for a little while so that I can get back to posting random things on here. I just barely found out the Jon and Rob have started blogs in my absence. I'm really excited about getting caught up on everything.

There is something I wanted to share

Andy Mckee, his album is available on ITunes.

I Really Suck At This

Wow. It's been a really long time since I posted anything. I wanted to say I'm sorry but that would probably be a lie. I enjoy writing things on here but I'm not creative enough to write very often. Maybe it could be a resolution that I won't keep. We'll see.

Anyways.. The trade off has ended and the results are in; I lost miserably but I did have a good comeback near the end.

Game : indecision101

Rank User Today Week Month Overall Equity 1. crom -0.26% N/A N/A 41.36% $141,357.10 2. Hedgeman10 -0.57% N/A N/A 14.70% $114,698.39 3. tampan 0.55% N/A N/A 9.37% $109,369.00 4. Spew 0.56% N/A N/A 8.09% $108,092.64 5. ddrock 0.00% N/A N/A 0.08% $100,084.93 6. rman80 0.75% N/A N/A -2.77% $97,226.93 7. mrfuzz -5.04% N/A N/A -14.69% $85,305.30

Nate killed us all with his Arizona Land Income Corp. I've been participating in another game with people at work and I have redeemed myself a little.

If anyone is interested in participating in another game let me know.

I do have a lot of things that I've been kicking around to write about but at this point I'm debating giving the blog the boot. My brain is pretty fried by the end of every work day so far.

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