This has been a banner year for me, in many ways. I took my last school class EVER in 2007, as well as my last test EVER. (unless I decide to get my PhD, but I digress) I graduated from the U with my masters, and even passed the Clinical Social Worker exam. I got a great job with LDS Family Services, moved out of my student appartment, and bought a new car. This is the first year where I have been in Germany twice in a year (but I was there only for the first 3 days of 2007, and then went back in December, so it almost doesn't really count as being twice in a year)
I feel really blessed right now. I have an amazing and wonderful wife who loves me, I have a great family, four of the cutest neices anyone could ask for, I am healthy, and I live in a wonderful country. I have a great job working with good people, and I get to talk for a living.
Yeah, all in all, 2007 has been a good year for me. Dana is going to write a Year in Review letter, which is something she does every year around New Years, so I won't duplicate that work, but I just wanted to throw it out into the ether that I am thankful and feeling very blessed.
Of course, that is not to say my year has been perfect. Plenty of stuff to gripe about, but now is not the time. I will get to that in 2008.
For now, I would also like to mention some of the things I am looking forward to in 2008:
-August 8th.
-A new president (please, I don't care who it is, just get rid of the Bushies)
-A new place to live, in some new part of the country, with. . .
-A new house, which will be a huge first for me
-September 15th (I turn 30)
-The Olympics in China (I may be off my rocker here, but I think there is gonna be some kind of revolution in China during the olympics, when the international press is there already, and the actions of the government cannot be hidden by the state-controlled media. Hopefully nothing happens, but if I were a discontent Chinese laborer. . .)
So there it is, my last post of the year. I think I will close with some one-liners from Demetri Martin.
-Digital cameras are great, because they allow us to reminisce immediately.
-I remember when I was really into nostalgia.
-When you are a battery, you are either working, or you are dead. That is a crap life.
-When they named the animals, they must have started at the end of the alphabet. By the time they got to Ant-eater, they were just out of creative ideas.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Love at First Sight
There is a new love in my life, and I have only seen pictures of her. She is exotic, sexy, smart, and beautiful. She has everything I am looking for and more. She has a British body, but that doesn't bother me, since she has German brains. Who is she?
The Tesla Roadster
Seriously, this car has everything I am looking for in a vehicle. 0-60 in 4 seconds, 130+ mph top speed, Lotus designed body and chassis, looks to spare, and then (to top it all off) 0 emissions, and the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon. That's right: One-Hundred-and-Thirty-Five-Miles-per-friggin'-Gallon.
Those who know me also know that alternate fuel vehicles are sort of a passion of mine. I was in love with the hydrogen economy for a long time, but the blume is off the rose now, since that whole idea seems to be perpetually stuck at 20 years away from whenever now is. Electric cars, however, are coming of age, and the Tesla Roadster is poised to (hopefully) give the oil junkies a run for their money.
The car has more linear torque than just about anything else on the road. This is just endemic of electric motors: plenty of torque. In otherwords, floor it at 60, and you can no longer reach the stereo. Floor it at 100, and you will have to wait till 135 to open the glove box. This car is also quite stunning, and according to all reports handles as well as any other top sports car.
The price tag is prohibitive for middle-classers such as myself. $100,000. However, I am still excited about what the Tesla means for folks like me: in five years, an "economic" version will come out. A family car, something like a sedan, based on the same technology. Sure, it will likely be more expensive, but the car moves down the road for the jaw-dropping rate of $0.02 a mile. That is right. Two cents per mile. I don't care how much the sticker price is, that kind of efficiency is killer.
Another great thing is the idea of no more gas stations. Drive home, plug the car in, and forget about it. Unplug it in the morning and drive to work, to the mountains, to wherever, and then plug it back in again. The real beauty here is this: you could power your car off of clean electricity. If your house is solar powered, so is your rocket sports car. That has me all aflutter.
My plea to Tesla is this: roll out the non-high end edition as soon as possible. I will be among the first in line. I would gladly pay $400 a month for a car like that, seeing as how I would be paying $0 a month on gas. Right now I drive a Jeep Patriot that gets 25 mpg, and I pay $350 a month for the lease, gas up twice a month for $40. Making my Jeep cost me $430 a month all told. So even if the more modest descendent of the Roadster costs in the 40,000 range, I will still save money on it while feeling better about myself at the same time.
The Tesla Roadster
Seriously, this car has everything I am looking for in a vehicle. 0-60 in 4 seconds, 130+ mph top speed, Lotus designed body and chassis, looks to spare, and then (to top it all off) 0 emissions, and the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon. That's right: One-Hundred-and-Thirty-Five-Miles-per-friggin'-Gallon.
Those who know me also know that alternate fuel vehicles are sort of a passion of mine. I was in love with the hydrogen economy for a long time, but the blume is off the rose now, since that whole idea seems to be perpetually stuck at 20 years away from whenever now is. Electric cars, however, are coming of age, and the Tesla Roadster is poised to (hopefully) give the oil junkies a run for their money.
The car has more linear torque than just about anything else on the road. This is just endemic of electric motors: plenty of torque. In otherwords, floor it at 60, and you can no longer reach the stereo. Floor it at 100, and you will have to wait till 135 to open the glove box. This car is also quite stunning, and according to all reports handles as well as any other top sports car.
The price tag is prohibitive for middle-classers such as myself. $100,000. However, I am still excited about what the Tesla means for folks like me: in five years, an "economic" version will come out. A family car, something like a sedan, based on the same technology. Sure, it will likely be more expensive, but the car moves down the road for the jaw-dropping rate of $0.02 a mile. That is right. Two cents per mile. I don't care how much the sticker price is, that kind of efficiency is killer.
Another great thing is the idea of no more gas stations. Drive home, plug the car in, and forget about it. Unplug it in the morning and drive to work, to the mountains, to wherever, and then plug it back in again. The real beauty here is this: you could power your car off of clean electricity. If your house is solar powered, so is your rocket sports car. That has me all aflutter.
My plea to Tesla is this: roll out the non-high end edition as soon as possible. I will be among the first in line. I would gladly pay $400 a month for a car like that, seeing as how I would be paying $0 a month on gas. Right now I drive a Jeep Patriot that gets 25 mpg, and I pay $350 a month for the lease, gas up twice a month for $40. Making my Jeep cost me $430 a month all told. So even if the more modest descendent of the Roadster costs in the 40,000 range, I will still save money on it while feeling better about myself at the same time.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Spiritual High
Something really fantastic happened to me over the last week, and no, it was NOT the Marie Calendar's Thanksgiving dinner I had. (blech)
No, what happened was I regained contact with one of my old converts from Germany. She found me through Facebook, which I just recently joined, and she just happened to be searching through some of the groups I am a member of, and saw my picture staring out at her. She dropped me a line, and we have been writing ever since.
So the story behind this particular girl is this: she was the perfect investigator. She was curious, active, thoughtful, sincere, intelligent, and fun to teach. In Germany, or all European countries for that matter, such a person is about as rare as a 4 dollar bill. She was one of a kind, and teaching her was easily one of the high points of my mission.
Well, it turns out that in the 8 years since her baptism she has served a mission in Russia, and her mother has also joined the church. Who knows how many lives she has touched or how many people she has helped come closer to God. I feel so humbled and blessed that I was able to be even a small part of that story.
I always hoped that someday I would hear that my work on my mission was bearing great fruits, or that the child of someone I converted went on a mission or something. I never dreamed that I would be hearing those stories so soon.
For me it is just one more testimony of missionary work. My mission never ceases to be a source of joy and pride for me. When I think of all the wonderful things that have happened to me as a direct result of serving for those two years (including my wonderful wife Dana), it is clear that I have been blessed by my service as much or more than the people I actually served. I think that is the way God intended it to be.
No, what happened was I regained contact with one of my old converts from Germany. She found me through Facebook, which I just recently joined, and she just happened to be searching through some of the groups I am a member of, and saw my picture staring out at her. She dropped me a line, and we have been writing ever since.
So the story behind this particular girl is this: she was the perfect investigator. She was curious, active, thoughtful, sincere, intelligent, and fun to teach. In Germany, or all European countries for that matter, such a person is about as rare as a 4 dollar bill. She was one of a kind, and teaching her was easily one of the high points of my mission.
Well, it turns out that in the 8 years since her baptism she has served a mission in Russia, and her mother has also joined the church. Who knows how many lives she has touched or how many people she has helped come closer to God. I feel so humbled and blessed that I was able to be even a small part of that story.
I always hoped that someday I would hear that my work on my mission was bearing great fruits, or that the child of someone I converted went on a mission or something. I never dreamed that I would be hearing those stories so soon.
For me it is just one more testimony of missionary work. My mission never ceases to be a source of joy and pride for me. When I think of all the wonderful things that have happened to me as a direct result of serving for those two years (including my wonderful wife Dana), it is clear that I have been blessed by my service as much or more than the people I actually served. I think that is the way God intended it to be.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Random Ramble
Long time, no blog. I would say sorry about that, but so far I know of exactly one person who reads these words (Hi, Will!) and saying sorry would basically apply to myself, and I would not be sure what I was appologizing for: for not writing, for not giving myself something to read, or for neglecting something I started with good intentions of maintaining. Long story short: no sorry. Deal with it.
Today I am in a happy, almost silly mood. May have something to do with the excess of sugary food that seems to spawn in the office, and then mysteriously makes its way into my stomach. Wherever the mood came from, I am enjoying it. Rather like people in the early spring stop to enjoy the feeling of the sunshine on their shoulders. It makes them happy. However, Sunshine in your eyes can make you cry, but that is not an emotional thing. That is like: pepper in my nose makes me sneeze type thing. Anyway, this mood is a good one, and I am feeling like there is nothing in the world that could really bother me right now. (OK, Michael Jackson always bothers me, as does Ann Coulter and Martha Stewart and Dr. Laura among others, but they bother me in a distant way, like knowing it is going to snow in three days when I want to go camping. Not in the ruin-my-mood type of bother. But I digress.)
All this happiness has got me thinking: people should send out notices when they have good moods, so as to get the most usage out of the mood. For instance, I should call all my clients who bug me today and talk to them, because today they would not get me down. I can call my great clients when I am back to normal, and use today to deal with the pains in my posterior.
People in general should do this. Wait until you feel really great to do something that bugs you. And why not? Because it would ruin your mood? Would it not be worse to wait until you were really pissed off to do something that bugs you? You are then even more pissed off. What we are talking about is regression to the mean. Just makes sense to me.
So I am off: calling my pesky clients now. I will return and report.
Today I am in a happy, almost silly mood. May have something to do with the excess of sugary food that seems to spawn in the office, and then mysteriously makes its way into my stomach. Wherever the mood came from, I am enjoying it. Rather like people in the early spring stop to enjoy the feeling of the sunshine on their shoulders. It makes them happy. However, Sunshine in your eyes can make you cry, but that is not an emotional thing. That is like: pepper in my nose makes me sneeze type thing. Anyway, this mood is a good one, and I am feeling like there is nothing in the world that could really bother me right now. (OK, Michael Jackson always bothers me, as does Ann Coulter and Martha Stewart and Dr. Laura among others, but they bother me in a distant way, like knowing it is going to snow in three days when I want to go camping. Not in the ruin-my-mood type of bother. But I digress.)
All this happiness has got me thinking: people should send out notices when they have good moods, so as to get the most usage out of the mood. For instance, I should call all my clients who bug me today and talk to them, because today they would not get me down. I can call my great clients when I am back to normal, and use today to deal with the pains in my posterior.
People in general should do this. Wait until you feel really great to do something that bugs you. And why not? Because it would ruin your mood? Would it not be worse to wait until you were really pissed off to do something that bugs you? You are then even more pissed off. What we are talking about is regression to the mean. Just makes sense to me.
So I am off: calling my pesky clients now. I will return and report.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Online Debates are Fun
Recently I have been using my lunch breaks to engage in a lively theological debate on an online forum. It has been a lot of fun to see people passionately defending their beliefs in a non-violent way.
What I have discovered is this: I am really very proud to be Mormon. Tremendously proud, actually. As I have listened to people explain their beliefs about God, all I can think to myself is "Man, I am glad that I don't have to believe that about God."
For instance, there are people who believe that God 'picks' his chosen people, and that those people are pretty much destined to be saved, no matter what they do. These people tend to be good people because they are destined to be good people, and not because they choose to. Well, I have a lot of problems with this line of thinking, but if you want to read my entries, which get rather long, you can find the discussion under this link (but it might be a private discussion, in which case you will have to join Facebook.
I am so happy to be a member of a faith that helps me to see God as fair, loving and considerate. As a father who is concerned not only with our happiness, but with our growth and our potential as well. A father who wants his kids to grow up to be the very best and most they can be, instead of wanting us to grow up to become just a horde of adoring angels.
I love the church. I know that it is true. I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for personally answering my questions about the church, for helping me with my confusions, and for guiding us all through our trials. I am grateful for modern prophets who do not attempt to predict the future, but rather do the much more difficult task of guiding the present.
God is great. Mormonism rocks.
What I have discovered is this: I am really very proud to be Mormon. Tremendously proud, actually. As I have listened to people explain their beliefs about God, all I can think to myself is "Man, I am glad that I don't have to believe that about God."
For instance, there are people who believe that God 'picks' his chosen people, and that those people are pretty much destined to be saved, no matter what they do. These people tend to be good people because they are destined to be good people, and not because they choose to. Well, I have a lot of problems with this line of thinking, but if you want to read my entries, which get rather long, you can find the discussion under this link (but it might be a private discussion, in which case you will have to join Facebook.
I am so happy to be a member of a faith that helps me to see God as fair, loving and considerate. As a father who is concerned not only with our happiness, but with our growth and our potential as well. A father who wants his kids to grow up to be the very best and most they can be, instead of wanting us to grow up to become just a horde of adoring angels.
I love the church. I know that it is true. I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for personally answering my questions about the church, for helping me with my confusions, and for guiding us all through our trials. I am grateful for modern prophets who do not attempt to predict the future, but rather do the much more difficult task of guiding the present.
God is great. Mormonism rocks.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Just a Gripe
Gripe 'O the Day: People who do not think about the words they say/write. This is one of my permanent pet peeves, and I bumped into it today. I was reading a classified ad, and the person posting the ad said, literally "A cool new website pacifically made for dog and puppy owners!" Pacifically? As in related to or resembling the Pacific ocean? I can only assume she means specifically but there is no way to be sure. Then again, the site could have been made by the Pacific ocean itself, in which case her statement is completely correct, but somehow I question the likelihood of that scenario.
I am not suggesting that everyone who speaks English be an expert at the language. I just want people to start thinking before they talk/write. If you say something, make sure it makes sense! For instance, the statement "I could care less" said in the context of 'I don't care' DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!! If you do not care, then you could NOT care less. Saying "I could care less" implies that you do, in fact, care. This is a basic logical mistake that countless hordes of people make all the time. Why? Because they do not think about what they are saying.
Another one of these that bugs me is when people use the phrase 'never the less' in the wrong context, like this: 'John wanted coffee. Never the less, he got some on his way to work.' Incorrect. Nevertheless is used correctly only when indicating overcoming or disregarding resistance, such as 'John wanted coffee, but there was a dragon in the coffee shop. Nevertheless, John walked in to get his coffee anyway, and was roasted like a Luau Pig.' See the difference?
One that I run into frequently is the misuse of 'in spite of.' The definition of spite is action done specifically to harm or annoy/inconvenience another person. The meaning has changed to also mean against the wishes of another person. However, saying something like 'In spite of the weather, we had a picknic anyway' does not make sense to me. Really? The weather? We are spiting the weather, which has no will, no self, no real identity? Is that even possible? Doesn't compute in my mind.
There are tons of these mistakes, and I could go on forever about them. It is when I come across one like 'pacifically' that I fear our educational system is creating testers aplenty, but not so many thinkers. In my field we call it metacognition. The ability to think about your own thoughts and actions in a somewhat objective way. It is a sign of maturity and intelligence. There was once a time when our ability to self-edit was highly esteemed. It seems that esteem is falling away. More pacifically, people just don't seem to care about being logical when they speak. And why should we be, when we can text things like 'c u l8r' or 'myob, lol' and get a point across?
I am not suggesting that everyone who speaks English be an expert at the language. I just want people to start thinking before they talk/write. If you say something, make sure it makes sense! For instance, the statement "I could care less" said in the context of 'I don't care' DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!! If you do not care, then you could NOT care less. Saying "I could care less" implies that you do, in fact, care. This is a basic logical mistake that countless hordes of people make all the time. Why? Because they do not think about what they are saying.
Another one of these that bugs me is when people use the phrase 'never the less' in the wrong context, like this: 'John wanted coffee. Never the less, he got some on his way to work.' Incorrect. Nevertheless is used correctly only when indicating overcoming or disregarding resistance, such as 'John wanted coffee, but there was a dragon in the coffee shop. Nevertheless, John walked in to get his coffee anyway, and was roasted like a Luau Pig.' See the difference?
One that I run into frequently is the misuse of 'in spite of.' The definition of spite is action done specifically to harm or annoy/inconvenience another person. The meaning has changed to also mean against the wishes of another person. However, saying something like 'In spite of the weather, we had a picknic anyway' does not make sense to me. Really? The weather? We are spiting the weather, which has no will, no self, no real identity? Is that even possible? Doesn't compute in my mind.
There are tons of these mistakes, and I could go on forever about them. It is when I come across one like 'pacifically' that I fear our educational system is creating testers aplenty, but not so many thinkers. In my field we call it metacognition. The ability to think about your own thoughts and actions in a somewhat objective way. It is a sign of maturity and intelligence. There was once a time when our ability to self-edit was highly esteemed. It seems that esteem is falling away. More pacifically, people just don't seem to care about being logical when they speak. And why should we be, when we can text things like 'c u l8r' or 'myob, lol' and get a point across?
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Say Hello to Duke
The newest addition to the Roberts' family is Duke, our new Jeep Patriot. It took us a long time to figure out what kind of car we wanted, and we looked at just about every different kind of car you can imagine, but we finally found one that had what we were looking for: 4X4, roomy, good warranty, good MPG, decent power, and some storage room. The Jeep has all those things.
We (I) named him Duke after the G.I. Joe commando, which I thought was fitting for a Jeep. The Patriot is not quite so sleek and myserious as Snake-Eyes, nor as butch and brainless as Sgt. Slaughter, so Duke seemed a good middle-ground fit.
So now Sweets (our Honda Accord) has a boyfriend. Once we can park them both in a garage together, we are hoping for a little harvest of 4X4 Honda ATVs.
We (I) named him Duke after the G.I. Joe commando, which I thought was fitting for a Jeep. The Patriot is not quite so sleek and myserious as Snake-Eyes, nor as butch and brainless as Sgt. Slaughter, so Duke seemed a good middle-ground fit.
So now Sweets (our Honda Accord) has a boyfriend. Once we can park them both in a garage together, we are hoping for a little harvest of 4X4 Honda ATVs.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Siiiick
I am sick. It is a funny kind of sick, too. I can tell you precisely when I got sick, and what I was doing. A flash-bulb kind of sick.
I was playing World of Warcraft around 10:30 at night. One swallow: fine. Next swallow: scratchy. Third swallow: belt-sander-in-my-neck. My reaction: What is going on here? My neck stiffened up, my knees and thighs started aching, and I got an instantaneous headache. I stood up, shuffled in to where my wife was watching TV, and said to her, in a little pathetic voice: 'I just got sick. I am going to bed.'
Well, that was the beginning of what is now a 5 day bout of some kind of flu/cold/infection/nastiness. The symptoms keep changing. Sore throat went away to make room for annoying cough. Cough vacated for post-nasal drip. Drip faded away and was upstaged by phlegmy cough, which has stayed on, but is now accompanied by runny nose and shakiness.
Pretty much everyone in the office is sick, and I have not been able to force myself into seclusion, so I have likely made everyone around me sick (sorry in advance, Will, but maybe this way you can finally take some time off. . .)
As diseases go, it is not bad. No boils or lesions, no weeping sores or anything like that. It is highly unlikely that I will even die or be otherwise inconvenienced by it. It is annoying, however, and it will not go away.
Being sick so that you can miss school on test day: cool. Being sick so you cannot really enjoy a wonderful autumn afternoon: not so much.
I was playing World of Warcraft around 10:30 at night. One swallow: fine. Next swallow: scratchy. Third swallow: belt-sander-in-my-neck. My reaction: What is going on here? My neck stiffened up, my knees and thighs started aching, and I got an instantaneous headache. I stood up, shuffled in to where my wife was watching TV, and said to her, in a little pathetic voice: 'I just got sick. I am going to bed.'
Well, that was the beginning of what is now a 5 day bout of some kind of flu/cold/infection/nastiness. The symptoms keep changing. Sore throat went away to make room for annoying cough. Cough vacated for post-nasal drip. Drip faded away and was upstaged by phlegmy cough, which has stayed on, but is now accompanied by runny nose and shakiness.
Pretty much everyone in the office is sick, and I have not been able to force myself into seclusion, so I have likely made everyone around me sick (sorry in advance, Will, but maybe this way you can finally take some time off. . .)
As diseases go, it is not bad. No boils or lesions, no weeping sores or anything like that. It is highly unlikely that I will even die or be otherwise inconvenienced by it. It is annoying, however, and it will not go away.
Being sick so that you can miss school on test day: cool. Being sick so you cannot really enjoy a wonderful autumn afternoon: not so much.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Shock and Awful
I am in mourning for my Utes. If I had a flag pole, my crimson and white would be at half-staff. The game we failed to play on Saturday was as painful a loss as I have ever seen. We got skunked by UNLV, a team that has not beaten us since 1979. That sort of thing hurts. I was hoping, after our upset of UCLA that we might have snapped the early-season funk, but that seems now to not be the case.
I wish I could blame the loss on something else, but I have to place it where it lies: we stunk. Bad coaching, bad player mistakes, misques, and Andy Ludwig. We earned this loss. It was like watching your kid do drugs: you love them so much, but they just keep messing up. Not a happy day.
It has me so sad, that I can't even gripe.
I wish I could blame the loss on something else, but I have to place it where it lies: we stunk. Bad coaching, bad player mistakes, misques, and Andy Ludwig. We earned this loss. It was like watching your kid do drugs: you love them so much, but they just keep messing up. Not a happy day.
It has me so sad, that I can't even gripe.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Catch 22
So, I am in a bit of a quandary. At my new place of work, which I overall love and appreciate, there is a bit of a cultural snafu going on. It is nothing official, but one of those unspoken rules that everyone has to abide by yet no one tells the new guys about. The rule is this: as a new guy, you are expected to know everthing right off the bat, and not to ask too many quesitons. Further, you are not to let on that you know anything what-so-ever, to show that you know your place as a new guy. In other words, they want you to be smart, but keep quiet about it. They want you to know everything, but don't want to teach you about it.
Now granted, not everyone is this way. My supervisors, thankfully, are not this way. But other people are. At a recent training I piped up to give my opinion. What my supervisors then heard from other higher-ups is that they felt the 'new people' were talking too much. Ergo the Catch 22: you have to prove yourself, but you can't talk too much, change too much, or ask any questions.
Maybe this is all agrivated by the fact that I work downstairs from HQ, and I hope that when I head out into the field things will improve. I do not do well bottled up. I can't believe that they hired me so I would stay quiet and ignorant, and consistently underachieve. So I am not going to let it get me down. I am gonna be the best employee I can possibly be. If people don't like that about me, then it is their problem. I will not be held back. There is only one way to win a hopeless game: don't play.
Now granted, not everyone is this way. My supervisors, thankfully, are not this way. But other people are. At a recent training I piped up to give my opinion. What my supervisors then heard from other higher-ups is that they felt the 'new people' were talking too much. Ergo the Catch 22: you have to prove yourself, but you can't talk too much, change too much, or ask any questions.
Maybe this is all agrivated by the fact that I work downstairs from HQ, and I hope that when I head out into the field things will improve. I do not do well bottled up. I can't believe that they hired me so I would stay quiet and ignorant, and consistently underachieve. So I am not going to let it get me down. I am gonna be the best employee I can possibly be. If people don't like that about me, then it is their problem. I will not be held back. There is only one way to win a hopeless game: don't play.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever
And what a beautiful thing it was!
#11 UCLA at Utah. They were supposed to spank us. They were supposed to walk all over us. We had no chance. And then what happens? We DESTROY them 44 to 6. Our defense held UCLA to a mere 2 field goals, and blanked them in the second half. It was a joy, a pleasure, a near spiritual experience to behold. My only regret is that we were not in the stadium personally to watch it.
I like to consider it a personal birthday present from the team to me. Dana did everything she could to make my birthday a great one. Made my favorite breakfast, bought me Brain Age 2, got me a sweet cordless drill, and in general has treated me like a king. To have my Utes win over such a heavily favored team is the icing on the cake. What a great day.
So now I am 29. Weird. On the one hand I see myself doing things that I think are too grown up for me to be doing (marital therapy, for instance), yet on the other hand I feel like I have accomplished a lot in 29 years. I look back at the past and there are so many other things I might have done, so many other paths I could have taken. Who knows what else might have become of me if I had different friends, made different decisions, thought different things.
However I ended up where I am, I am glad of it. My life is pretty sweet. I have a wonderful and loving wife, a great job doing what I love, I am healthy, have good friends, a great family, and I am blessed to have such a close relationship with God. I truly feel incredibly blessed, and am so grateful for all of the positive influences in my life.
So on this happy day, I want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed to the happiness that is my life. Even to you, big jerk 9th grader who beat me up in 7th grade: thanks for showing me how stupid violence makes people look, and for showing me how not to be.
#11 UCLA at Utah. They were supposed to spank us. They were supposed to walk all over us. We had no chance. And then what happens? We DESTROY them 44 to 6. Our defense held UCLA to a mere 2 field goals, and blanked them in the second half. It was a joy, a pleasure, a near spiritual experience to behold. My only regret is that we were not in the stadium personally to watch it.
I like to consider it a personal birthday present from the team to me. Dana did everything she could to make my birthday a great one. Made my favorite breakfast, bought me Brain Age 2, got me a sweet cordless drill, and in general has treated me like a king. To have my Utes win over such a heavily favored team is the icing on the cake. What a great day.
So now I am 29. Weird. On the one hand I see myself doing things that I think are too grown up for me to be doing (marital therapy, for instance), yet on the other hand I feel like I have accomplished a lot in 29 years. I look back at the past and there are so many other things I might have done, so many other paths I could have taken. Who knows what else might have become of me if I had different friends, made different decisions, thought different things.
However I ended up where I am, I am glad of it. My life is pretty sweet. I have a wonderful and loving wife, a great job doing what I love, I am healthy, have good friends, a great family, and I am blessed to have such a close relationship with God. I truly feel incredibly blessed, and am so grateful for all of the positive influences in my life.
So on this happy day, I want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed to the happiness that is my life. Even to you, big jerk 9th grader who beat me up in 7th grade: thanks for showing me how stupid violence makes people look, and for showing me how not to be.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Car Shopping
We need another car. Well, better said, I need another car. This whole public transit thing has got to go. I hate waiting for buses and trams, and if you want to know my feelings about Trax drivers, see Ouch. Plus, since we are moving away from the Trax lines anyway, the whole second car thing is no longer a matter of choice. So now I am left with, as the Germans say 'der Quahl der Wahl' that is, the difficulty of decision.
It would not be so bad if I just knew what kind of car we will need long-term. But I don't even know where we are moving. Will I have a long commute? Will I need a good winter car? Will we be able to do any off-roading? Will we be able to drive convertible year-round? The problem is that I just don't know. I would hate to buy a Jeep when what I need is a Civic.
So that leaves me in the position of trying to find the car for all seasons, but such a thing does not seem to exist. I want a car that is sporty, powerful, easy on the eyes and the MPG, one that I can go camping with but also drive to work everyday, 4wd options, a good stereo, and does not cost too much more than 20,000. Anyone know of a car like that?
Anyway, that is my current task. And then, once I have found the car, I will have to decide between new and used, and dicker about the price and features. Grrr.
Gripe O' the Day: People who call in to TV/Radio shows to tell the host how much they hate the show. I feel these people are fundamentally untrustworthy. I can't get past the idea that, if they really hated the show, they would not listen in the first place.
Personally, I hate liver. I hate anything even remotely related to liver. I will not eat it, period. My mom made me liver and onions once, and insisted that I eat the whole thing, and only let me leave the table after I almost threw-up after one bite. Since I hate liver, there is not a chance that I will put some in my mouth, chew it around a bit, then spit it out in disgust. It is not getting past my lips in any form,
Yet these callers seem to be doing something very similar. They hate a program, yet keep listening. Bunch of closet masochists if you ask me. My advice to them: change stations. In the end, that is the only meaningful way those people can have any effect on the hated program anyway. By calling in they are perpetuating the program, and giving people who like the program something to argue against. It just doesn't make any sense at all.
It would not be so bad if I just knew what kind of car we will need long-term. But I don't even know where we are moving. Will I have a long commute? Will I need a good winter car? Will we be able to do any off-roading? Will we be able to drive convertible year-round? The problem is that I just don't know. I would hate to buy a Jeep when what I need is a Civic.
So that leaves me in the position of trying to find the car for all seasons, but such a thing does not seem to exist. I want a car that is sporty, powerful, easy on the eyes and the MPG, one that I can go camping with but also drive to work everyday, 4wd options, a good stereo, and does not cost too much more than 20,000. Anyone know of a car like that?
Anyway, that is my current task. And then, once I have found the car, I will have to decide between new and used, and dicker about the price and features. Grrr.
Gripe O' the Day: People who call in to TV/Radio shows to tell the host how much they hate the show. I feel these people are fundamentally untrustworthy. I can't get past the idea that, if they really hated the show, they would not listen in the first place.
Personally, I hate liver. I hate anything even remotely related to liver. I will not eat it, period. My mom made me liver and onions once, and insisted that I eat the whole thing, and only let me leave the table after I almost threw-up after one bite. Since I hate liver, there is not a chance that I will put some in my mouth, chew it around a bit, then spit it out in disgust. It is not getting past my lips in any form,
Yet these callers seem to be doing something very similar. They hate a program, yet keep listening. Bunch of closet masochists if you ask me. My advice to them: change stations. In the end, that is the only meaningful way those people can have any effect on the hated program anyway. By calling in they are perpetuating the program, and giving people who like the program something to argue against. It just doesn't make any sense at all.
Monday, September 10, 2007
More to me than Football
Alright, so I was looking back at the last few posts, and realised all I was talking about was University of Utah football. Well, that is not exactly a good representation of myself. True, during football season I am very passionate about my Utes, but there are many things I am passionate about, and if you can't talk about your passions on your blog, where can you talk about them?
One of the things I really enjoy is making things with my hands. I am sort of a jack-of-all-trades, particularly where ancient technologies are concerned. I have made my own arrowheads out of both flint and obsidian (and an old whiskey bottle), I learned how to make cordage and rope from just about every natural fiber source I have been able to find in Utah, and after that I learned how to do ancient Coil-Weaving (like picture #4). Well, having arrowheads and string, I then wanted to make an authentic bow. Well, no dice there. Bows are complicated. None of this simple stick and string nonsense. Making a bow the right way is tough, long, and exacting work, and involves the death of at least one large animal (for the sinew to make a good bowstring) so I had to scrap that one.
Some of the recent stuff I have made with my own two hands has been more practical and modern. I learned how to knit, sew and crochet. I have knit several simple peices, (scarves and blankets for the neices, etc.) and right now I am crocheting a hammock with a U of U theme. The best piece I have ever made, and the one I am most proud of, is a shirt of 4-in-1 chain maille. I made it just to see if I could, and because I was tired of 'girly' things like knitting and crochetting. As it turns out, chainmaille is a lot like knitting, just with galvanized steel instead of yarn. Instead of needles you use plyers. It is knitting on steroids, I guess.
Someday, my hope is to get a nice shop set up where I can make all the stuff I want without having to have it scattered all over the family room. That shop would ideally contain a forge and an anvil, because at heart I think I really am some kind of blacksmith. If I could get that dream realized, I could then merge my passion for creation with another of my passions: swords and knives.
Ok, so there is a little bit more about me. I am not just a U of U fanatic.
One of the things I really enjoy is making things with my hands. I am sort of a jack-of-all-trades, particularly where ancient technologies are concerned. I have made my own arrowheads out of both flint and obsidian (and an old whiskey bottle), I learned how to make cordage and rope from just about every natural fiber source I have been able to find in Utah, and after that I learned how to do ancient Coil-Weaving (like picture #4). Well, having arrowheads and string, I then wanted to make an authentic bow. Well, no dice there. Bows are complicated. None of this simple stick and string nonsense. Making a bow the right way is tough, long, and exacting work, and involves the death of at least one large animal (for the sinew to make a good bowstring) so I had to scrap that one.
Some of the recent stuff I have made with my own two hands has been more practical and modern. I learned how to knit, sew and crochet. I have knit several simple peices, (scarves and blankets for the neices, etc.) and right now I am crocheting a hammock with a U of U theme. The best piece I have ever made, and the one I am most proud of, is a shirt of 4-in-1 chain maille. I made it just to see if I could, and because I was tired of 'girly' things like knitting and crochetting. As it turns out, chainmaille is a lot like knitting, just with galvanized steel instead of yarn. Instead of needles you use plyers. It is knitting on steroids, I guess.
Someday, my hope is to get a nice shop set up where I can make all the stuff I want without having to have it scattered all over the family room. That shop would ideally contain a forge and an anvil, because at heart I think I really am some kind of blacksmith. If I could get that dream realized, I could then merge my passion for creation with another of my passions: swords and knives.
Ok, so there is a little bit more about me. I am not just a U of U fanatic.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . .
Well actually, Saturday was mostly just the worst of times. U of U vs Air Force Academy. This was the first test of what our team would be capable of without starting QB and starting running back. And we were tested. In a game where we should have dominated at the line, we were unable to make anything happen with our run. And Andy Ludwig van Brokenbrain, true to form, was incapable of learning from his own failures, so he persisted in trying up-the-gut run plays for all of the first half, even though none of them were successful.
Finally, after the break, we started to run short passing routs. Good, simple, effective football. It was working, and would have been a complete success, but for the fact that Grady is as easy to read as Dr. Seuss. He was picked twice, and there was no other reason for that than good defence, and poor throwing. Even then, we managed to get a drive going, and could have moved into the lead. 3rd down and 1 yard to go on the Air Force 30, and what does Andy Loserwig call? A reverse run play!!! A play that is designed to lose yardage in the hope for a big gain!! Seriously, what is wrong with this guy? Whitt, please can him before he gets you both fired!
I could go on about this for days, but I will hold myself to this: even the up-the-gut nonsense Andy was running all first half was gaining 1 yard per play. Why, in the name of all that is good, do you call a complicated risky play that has the chance of losing yardage? Is Andy seriously that stupid? Unfortunately is seems as though he is.
Oh, and our best receiver got hurt in the game, and is out for the season. Soon enough, they will just let the defense stay on the field for the whole game, because the entire offense will be watching on crutches from the sidelines.
Finally, after the break, we started to run short passing routs. Good, simple, effective football. It was working, and would have been a complete success, but for the fact that Grady is as easy to read as Dr. Seuss. He was picked twice, and there was no other reason for that than good defence, and poor throwing. Even then, we managed to get a drive going, and could have moved into the lead. 3rd down and 1 yard to go on the Air Force 30, and what does Andy Loserwig call? A reverse run play!!! A play that is designed to lose yardage in the hope for a big gain!! Seriously, what is wrong with this guy? Whitt, please can him before he gets you both fired!
I could go on about this for days, but I will hold myself to this: even the up-the-gut nonsense Andy was running all first half was gaining 1 yard per play. Why, in the name of all that is good, do you call a complicated risky play that has the chance of losing yardage? Is Andy seriously that stupid? Unfortunately is seems as though he is.
Oh, and our best receiver got hurt in the game, and is out for the season. Soon enough, they will just let the defense stay on the field for the whole game, because the entire offense will be watching on crutches from the sidelines.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
End of an Era
The inevitable has finally happened: After six wonderful years, Dana and I have found out when we are going to be moving away from Shoreline. We have to be out of our apartment by October 31. It is going to be a sad day. We have both loved living up here. The ward is awesome, and we have made some really great friends.
We have to move out because I am no longer a student. In fact, we would have had to move out Sept 7th if not for the fact that Dana is staff, and that I called to beg them to let us stay. It is funny that the only time the good people at the former ORL have ever been on top of managerial things is to kick people out. Oh, well. We knew it was coming.
It was funny, because Dana and I went through about 20 different scenarios of how to stay up here, so we only have to move once I get transferred. We registered for classes, considered forcing them to evict us, petitioned for extensions, called the office of the University President, and even considered starting a petition. If it was possible, we considered doing it. In the end, though, we just realised that we would have to take our lumps and move out. No sense in paying tuition for classes I would never take, especially since I would have failed them, and that would have left a mark on my GPA.
So we are going to move out on the 31st. Moving on Halloween. What a bummer. I am so bummed that I don't even think I have the energy to write my gripe. Just know it was scathing, and I showed them no mercy.
We have to move out because I am no longer a student. In fact, we would have had to move out Sept 7th if not for the fact that Dana is staff, and that I called to beg them to let us stay. It is funny that the only time the good people at the former ORL have ever been on top of managerial things is to kick people out. Oh, well. We knew it was coming.
It was funny, because Dana and I went through about 20 different scenarios of how to stay up here, so we only have to move once I get transferred. We registered for classes, considered forcing them to evict us, petitioned for extensions, called the office of the University President, and even considered starting a petition. If it was possible, we considered doing it. In the end, though, we just realised that we would have to take our lumps and move out. No sense in paying tuition for classes I would never take, especially since I would have failed them, and that would have left a mark on my GPA.
So we are going to move out on the 31st. Moving on Halloween. What a bummer. I am so bummed that I don't even think I have the energy to write my gripe. Just know it was scathing, and I showed them no mercy.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Let it Flow!
We live in a desert. This should not be a surprise to anyone who knows anything about Utah. I think I got rained on twice during the whole summer. We have all sorts of snazzy campaigns about saving water (Slow the Flow, save H2O). Some cities have even gone so far as to fine people who waste water. None of this is news to anybody. Why then, in the name of all that is sweet and good, is it impossible for the University of Utah to control their own water usage? Why does the U get to run their sprinklers at 10:00 am on Stillwell Field? Why does the U let broken sprinkler-heads spout water like Old Faithful for two weeks before fixing them? Why does the U seem to think that its sidewalks and streets need to be watered as much or more than its lawns?
Seriously, this baffles me. I have been at the U now for 6 years, and they have never used what I would consider smart water planning. Which reminds me:
Gripe O' the Day: Shoreline Ridge sprinkler timing. Over the course of six years, a lot has changed at Shoreline. A new playground was built for the growing number of kiddies. Garden plots for the green of thumb. Shopping carts for the long of walk. Even barbecue turrets and three-ton picnic tables were installed. A lot of effort has been made to make Shoreline a comfy and welcoming place to live. (Aside from the helicopter, but that is a different story). Why then, is it so impossible to change the timing of the sprinklers?
The picnic table by our house, by some perverse coincidence, is also in the region of sprinklers that turn on some time between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. Is there a more prime grilling time than 7:00 - 8:00 pm? Dana and I have gotten rained out at least four times, and so have started taking all of our bowls down with us, to cover the sprinklers when they come on.
This would not be so bad, except I have called the grounds people about this situation at least three times, and it seems as though the changing of the timing on a sprinkler system is tantamount to building a pyramid. Nobody there is up to the task. It is too complicated, too difficult, and makes too much sense.
Seriously, this baffles me. I have been at the U now for 6 years, and they have never used what I would consider smart water planning. Which reminds me:
Gripe O' the Day: Shoreline Ridge sprinkler timing. Over the course of six years, a lot has changed at Shoreline. A new playground was built for the growing number of kiddies. Garden plots for the green of thumb. Shopping carts for the long of walk. Even barbecue turrets and three-ton picnic tables were installed. A lot of effort has been made to make Shoreline a comfy and welcoming place to live. (Aside from the helicopter, but that is a different story). Why then, is it so impossible to change the timing of the sprinklers?
The picnic table by our house, by some perverse coincidence, is also in the region of sprinklers that turn on some time between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. Is there a more prime grilling time than 7:00 - 8:00 pm? Dana and I have gotten rained out at least four times, and so have started taking all of our bowls down with us, to cover the sprinklers when they come on.
This would not be so bad, except I have called the grounds people about this situation at least three times, and it seems as though the changing of the timing on a sprinkler system is tantamount to building a pyramid. Nobody there is up to the task. It is too complicated, too difficult, and makes too much sense.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Just a Gripe
Don't have a lot of time today, so lets cut right to the chase.
Gripe O' the Day: Cosmetic Youth and/or Rejuvenating Creams. What a crock this stuff is. How long has some quack somewhere proported having a magical substance that could reverse or stop aging, keeping people young? Ponce de Leon ring a bell? Fountain of Youth? I can only hope that in three hundred years, the words Oil of Olay will sound just as farcical and silly.
It seems like every three months some cosmetic giant comes out with some new discovery in anti-aging technology. They sell these little miracles in the form of bottles of inch-thick glass containing 2 tsp of mysterious goo, for upwards of $50, and make a killing at it. My gripe basically is this - - they are either A) Selling a product that does nothing different than the one they sold five years ago, or they are B) Selling the exact same product they sold five years ago, but putting some new pointless peptide in there, and giving it a new name.
Nothing ever changes. These 'new technologies' have not even come close to solving the age-old problem of aging. I have never read a headline even close to 'Woman Bathes in Oil of Olay for One Year: Stops Aging Completely.' To sum up, I don't think the creams work. If they did, there would be no reason to reinvent them every three months, or improve them. They are a rip off. My consolation: my beautiful wife has never bought any of it. Nor will she ever need to. Age is also a form of beauty.
Gripe O' the Day: Cosmetic Youth and/or Rejuvenating Creams. What a crock this stuff is. How long has some quack somewhere proported having a magical substance that could reverse or stop aging, keeping people young? Ponce de Leon ring a bell? Fountain of Youth? I can only hope that in three hundred years, the words Oil of Olay will sound just as farcical and silly.
It seems like every three months some cosmetic giant comes out with some new discovery in anti-aging technology. They sell these little miracles in the form of bottles of inch-thick glass containing 2 tsp of mysterious goo, for upwards of $50, and make a killing at it. My gripe basically is this - - they are either A) Selling a product that does nothing different than the one they sold five years ago, or they are B) Selling the exact same product they sold five years ago, but putting some new pointless peptide in there, and giving it a new name.
Nothing ever changes. These 'new technologies' have not even come close to solving the age-old problem of aging. I have never read a headline even close to 'Woman Bathes in Oil of Olay for One Year: Stops Aging Completely.' To sum up, I don't think the creams work. If they did, there would be no reason to reinvent them every three months, or improve them. They are a rip off. My consolation: my beautiful wife has never bought any of it. Nor will she ever need to. Age is also a form of beauty.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Ouch!
So, the U got beat up last night, and for more than half of the team that is a literal statement. We were playing a good game until the 2nd quarter, when starting running-back Asiata went down with a broken lower leg. I was watching it at a buddys house, and he has TVo, so we replayed the injury to see what really happened. Gnarly. His right leg got bent out at least 30 degrees to the right. Clearly a break, likely both bones. Not quite Theisman-esque, but close. Made four grown men shiver and go 'EEEeeeewww!'
As if that weren't bad enough, we lost Johnson shortly afterwards to a separated shoulder. The guy gets smashed to the ground, gets up holding at his shoulder, walks over to the sidelines pointing at his shoulder, and what does Andy Ludwig do? CALLS A PASS PLAY! Well, as any vertebrate could predict, Johnson throws the pass (a good one, and a completion) and from that point on, cannot use his arm. Good call, coach Ludwig. You are a simpering moron. And that brings me to my first
Gripe O' the Day: Coach Ludwig and the Magical Mystery tour. Why, please tell me why, you have to try the speed wrap around play over and over again against a team that is faster and larger than yours? What is Ludwig thinking? 'Well, gee. That worked like crap. . . Hmm. Hey! Lets run the same crap again! They will never see that coming.' Or there is this stroke of genius:
The whole first half of the game, when we still had our roster intact, I was screaming that they needed to run quick routs to put a lid on the blitz and open up the run. Finally, FINALLY, Ludwig runs four recievers on quick routs and what happens? U of U touchdown. Normally I would not complain about this, but my gripe is that it never happened again. He started calling 9 yard sits with 12 yards to go. I mean, Football is a complicated game, but it is not rocket science. If you need 12 yards, and you only move the reciever 9 yards downfield, you HAVE NOT THOUGHT THINGS THROUGH. Anyone out there capable of telling me how many yards our team still needs? If so, you are smarter than good old Andy. Ludwig proves, time and time again, that he is not even qualified to be a kindergarten math teacher, let alone the OC for a D-1 team. Please, coach Whitt, fire this guy. Yeah, your offense got banged up. Key players were taken from the game. Sure. But this kind of insane (as in, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results) play calling is killing the program. I honestly feel like any U victory is a victory over and in spite of Andy Ludwig. He is killing us.
Gripe O' the Day #2: UTA TRAX drivers. These guys seem to all be anti-social sadists. I ran full bore down a steep hill and across a busy street wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase to catch a train just as it pulled up. Huffing and puffing, I reached my finger out to push the little illuminated green button to open the doors. Just before I push the button, it goes dark. I stand there, a little confused. The doors are not opening. I push the button again. Then yet again. No door-opening-action whatsoever. I look up at the driver, who is maybe ten feet from me, and I see his face clearly in the rear-view mirror. He is looking at me. He sits there for another ten seconds (no kidding) and then he PULLS AWAY! What a jerk. It would have cost him nothing to open the doors for me. I would not have made the slightest noticable difference to his punctuality. But no, TRAX drivers do not care about their passengers, it seems. They care about their schedule. What a crock. To the TRAX driver who pulled away without me: even in your closed in box where you talk to no other human being the whole day you managed to insult me. Your work is complete. Job well done.
As if that weren't bad enough, we lost Johnson shortly afterwards to a separated shoulder. The guy gets smashed to the ground, gets up holding at his shoulder, walks over to the sidelines pointing at his shoulder, and what does Andy Ludwig do? CALLS A PASS PLAY! Well, as any vertebrate could predict, Johnson throws the pass (a good one, and a completion) and from that point on, cannot use his arm. Good call, coach Ludwig. You are a simpering moron. And that brings me to my first
Gripe O' the Day: Coach Ludwig and the Magical Mystery tour. Why, please tell me why, you have to try the speed wrap around play over and over again against a team that is faster and larger than yours? What is Ludwig thinking? 'Well, gee. That worked like crap. . . Hmm. Hey! Lets run the same crap again! They will never see that coming.' Or there is this stroke of genius:
The whole first half of the game, when we still had our roster intact, I was screaming that they needed to run quick routs to put a lid on the blitz and open up the run. Finally, FINALLY, Ludwig runs four recievers on quick routs and what happens? U of U touchdown. Normally I would not complain about this, but my gripe is that it never happened again. He started calling 9 yard sits with 12 yards to go. I mean, Football is a complicated game, but it is not rocket science. If you need 12 yards, and you only move the reciever 9 yards downfield, you HAVE NOT THOUGHT THINGS THROUGH. Anyone out there capable of telling me how many yards our team still needs? If so, you are smarter than good old Andy. Ludwig proves, time and time again, that he is not even qualified to be a kindergarten math teacher, let alone the OC for a D-1 team. Please, coach Whitt, fire this guy. Yeah, your offense got banged up. Key players were taken from the game. Sure. But this kind of insane (as in, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results) play calling is killing the program. I honestly feel like any U victory is a victory over and in spite of Andy Ludwig. He is killing us.
Gripe O' the Day #2: UTA TRAX drivers. These guys seem to all be anti-social sadists. I ran full bore down a steep hill and across a busy street wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase to catch a train just as it pulled up. Huffing and puffing, I reached my finger out to push the little illuminated green button to open the doors. Just before I push the button, it goes dark. I stand there, a little confused. The doors are not opening. I push the button again. Then yet again. No door-opening-action whatsoever. I look up at the driver, who is maybe ten feet from me, and I see his face clearly in the rear-view mirror. He is looking at me. He sits there for another ten seconds (no kidding) and then he PULLS AWAY! What a jerk. It would have cost him nothing to open the doors for me. I would not have made the slightest noticable difference to his punctuality. But no, TRAX drivers do not care about their passengers, it seems. They care about their schedule. What a crock. To the TRAX driver who pulled away without me: even in your closed in box where you talk to no other human being the whole day you managed to insult me. Your work is complete. Job well done.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
GOOOOO UTES!!!
Today is opening day for University of Utah Football. My wife and I are huge fans of the U, but particularly of U of U football. the game is away, at Oregon State, so we are going to a buddy's house to watch on his big-screen. I am so pumped for the season to start. It has been too long. Go Utes!
This heat has GOT TO GO!
I am done with summer. Heat has got to go. I want cool nights, warm days, and some lounging in my hammock. I want camping on long weekends, hiking through the fall colors, and watching football. OK, so I would take the football no matter what the temperature, but this heat is seriously getting to me. Heat makes me grumpy. Grumpy makes me want to. . .
Gripe o' the Day: E-surance commercials. Are you kidding me? Its like with each successive commercial, they fire the dumb guy from before and hire someone stupider. At first the dumb chick was a spy (being pursued by the Three Stooges), but now they have her fighting giant monsters? Give me a break. And why do we have to suffer through their horrible graphics and pathetic writing? I hate them. I will never, ever, ever buy E-surance specifically because of their advertising. Their ads are insulting. I mean, some insurance ad campaigns are great. I love the Geiko gecko, and the Allstate ones aren't bad either. E-surance is clearly the bottom of the barrel, the dregs of insurance advertising. I feel like suing them for emotional damages, and for ruining my TV.
OK, that's all for now. Going to the Utes game tonight. Well, not really, since they are playing Oregon State in Oregon, but I am going to a party to watch the game. GO UTES!!!!
Gripe o' the Day: E-surance commercials. Are you kidding me? Its like with each successive commercial, they fire the dumb guy from before and hire someone stupider. At first the dumb chick was a spy (being pursued by the Three Stooges), but now they have her fighting giant monsters? Give me a break. And why do we have to suffer through their horrible graphics and pathetic writing? I hate them. I will never, ever, ever buy E-surance specifically because of their advertising. Their ads are insulting. I mean, some insurance ad campaigns are great. I love the Geiko gecko, and the Allstate ones aren't bad either. E-surance is clearly the bottom of the barrel, the dregs of insurance advertising. I feel like suing them for emotional damages, and for ruining my TV.
OK, that's all for now. Going to the Utes game tonight. Well, not really, since they are playing Oregon State in Oregon, but I am going to a party to watch the game. GO UTES!!!!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Setting Sail
I like to believe, though I cannot prove, that I am a descendant of John Roberts, aka Bertholomew Roberts, aka Black Bart, aka The Dread Pirate Roberts. Plus, I think the name is catchy, and I like to wear masks (they are terribly comfortable).
This blog is my happy place, where I go to vent and wax grandiose. It is neither intended to be serious nor insightful. Should insight or seriousness happen, contact your physician. If you are a physician, contact yourself.
Gripe O' the Day: Dumb guy on Trax who did not think he could go to Temple Square to see the lights because he is "Christian." - - Sir, I am a Mormon, and I would have no problem visiting the Vatican, the Wailing Wall, or even Meccah if they let me. I can visit those places because I respect the people for whom those places are sacred. I think that you avoid Temple Square, not because you are a Christian, but because you are a closed-minded bigot. Or maybe because the sister missionaries scare you. Whatever the reason, your avoidance of Temple Square is a farce. You are avoiding Mormons, and do not want to be associated with Mormons. In other words, you are prejudiced, and do not respect the people for whom Temple Square is a holy place. The problem then, is neither with the Mormons or with Temple Square, but rather with you, yourself.
This blog is my happy place, where I go to vent and wax grandiose. It is neither intended to be serious nor insightful. Should insight or seriousness happen, contact your physician. If you are a physician, contact yourself.
Gripe O' the Day: Dumb guy on Trax who did not think he could go to Temple Square to see the lights because he is "Christian." - - Sir, I am a Mormon, and I would have no problem visiting the Vatican, the Wailing Wall, or even Meccah if they let me. I can visit those places because I respect the people for whom those places are sacred. I think that you avoid Temple Square, not because you are a Christian, but because you are a closed-minded bigot. Or maybe because the sister missionaries scare you. Whatever the reason, your avoidance of Temple Square is a farce. You are avoiding Mormons, and do not want to be associated with Mormons. In other words, you are prejudiced, and do not respect the people for whom Temple Square is a holy place. The problem then, is neither with the Mormons or with Temple Square, but rather with you, yourself.
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