Edit: Ok, I was wrong. American Idol IS giving back to America too. See, my problem is I've been bombarded with this stuff for all my life and now when it comes on the tv I tune it out. I'm tired of the film clips showing you how horrible it is, making you feel bad, pulling your heart out and stomping on it until you decide to give some money. So when AI was talking about all this, I tuned it out because I didn't want to hear it again. And I wrongly assumed they weren't giving money to America. I apologize to AI for that. We all know what happens when you assume, right? You make an ASS out of U and ME - and I certainly did that to myself.
I guess part of the problem is you rarely ever year about money being given back to our own country, you only hear about it when it's helping people in other countries, especially ones where living conditions are so bad. It's like watching the news - you rarely ever hear good stuff, it's all sensational things. You hear all the bad happing in Iraq, our soldiers dieing, but you never hear all the amazingly great stories of Iraq people who are thankful to our soldiers. It's just not newsworthy, and I think the same about when people give money locally. If I were to give 10 million dollars to some 3rd world country it would be all over the news. But if I gave it to some group here that helps people who are living just as badly, you'd never hear about it.
Anyhow, AI is doing the right thing. I love the show and am glad my brother pointed out to me that I need to check my facts first, I feel better now. :)
This post is likely to make me unpopular.
American Idol is "Giving Back" in the form of raising money for kids in 3rd world countries, places where living conditions aren't exactly nice (to put it mildly) and they don't have much in the way of food or supplies (medical and otherwise). While I applaud them for wanting to help people/kids in need, I have to ask this question:
What about the people here in our own country that need help? Why help these others instead of our own people?
This is something that has bugged me for a long time. You see groups like American Idol, celebrities, and others wanting to help people in these impoverished countries more than wanting to help people in their own backyard. I'm not saying the people in these other countries aren't in need of help. What I am saying is we have plenty of problems right here at home, plenty of people who need help. There are still many from Katrina who need help. A tornado went through a town in Texas that wiped out a school. There are lots of kids living on the streets, people who are living in horrible conditions, babies who are born with little chance to survive because the mother can't afford to go to a hospital. Why can't we help these people too?
American Idol raised over 30 million dollars. That's incredibly cool. If they want to help these other countries, fine, take half of it and give to those countries, and half to needy people here in America. How would it feel to you if you were living on the street, in some area where there is so much crime you worry about your life when stepping outside, couldn't afford medical help, etc, and heard all this money was raise to help people in another country? Aren't we supposed to help our own?
And what's what adopting kids from these countries? There are plenty of kids right here in our own country that could use adopting. When I see some celebrity adopting someone from another country I'm happy for that kid because they'll hopefully have a future they couldn't otherwise have - and maybe they wouldn't have lived past five. But it also seems like they are doing this only because it makes them look good, not because they really honestly care about the kids. Now I don't for a minute think they are going to mistreat these kids. I'm just saying there are plenty of kids right here in America who could benefit from being adopted just as well as these other kids.
And you know those films they love to show about how horrible things are in these countries? I'm not saying they are making these up, rather I'm positive you could easily make a film showing similar horrors of people living here in America.
Again, I think it's great that people want to help these other countries that have horrible living conditions. I just think it would be nice if they would care a little more about people in their own backyard.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Travelling in the 21st century
My how times have changed. As I said in my previous post, we went to Reno this last weekend. I remember going on trips with my family as a kid. We got in the car and went, maybe checking the weather reports on the radio, tv, newspapers, calling people we knew in the area, stuff like that. If we made this trip back in the early 70's we would have just said, "Don't know if we'll hit snow or rain or really nice weather so let's be prepared for all of it."
Now we have the Internet. Web cams. Online weather reports from many sources.
The week before we left I started monitoring the weather reports for the areas we'd be driving through. I also pulled up the traffic web cams to get a visual of what the roads looked like. On some of the web cams they had the temperature too. I saw a big cold front come in and some of the places we were heading were getting snow. All of the reports said it would be gone by the time we got there, but just to be safe we bought tire chains (don't really have a need for them around town and we can take them back if they are unused and get our money back, so a good precaution).
The morning we left I checked the web cams - all clear. And sure enough it was. If I had a GPS, I could have tracked our exact location all the time so we could see where we were and how much longer we'd be on the road. A friend of mine said he did this and input all of the rest stops so they could see how much longer before they could get rid of all that soda they just drank. While in Reno, I was still watching everything and saw a snow storm came through Saturday night. One web cam showed the area covered including the road. That was at 9am. By 5pm the road was almost dry. By the time we left, all but a few traces of snow was gone and everything was clear again, so we drove home relaxed and confident we'd have a nice trip.
Sometimes technology makes our lives miserable and can be a pain to deal with. Other times - like taking a 10 hour drive somewhere - technology can be wonderful. You can be prepared for road conditions, you know what clothes to bring/wear, you can see what's coming up, where you are and how much longer to go. I've been around computers most of my life, yet I think because I'm old enough to remember when they weren't around I still get amazed by some of the things you can do.
Now we have the Internet. Web cams. Online weather reports from many sources.
The week before we left I started monitoring the weather reports for the areas we'd be driving through. I also pulled up the traffic web cams to get a visual of what the roads looked like. On some of the web cams they had the temperature too. I saw a big cold front come in and some of the places we were heading were getting snow. All of the reports said it would be gone by the time we got there, but just to be safe we bought tire chains (don't really have a need for them around town and we can take them back if they are unused and get our money back, so a good precaution).
The morning we left I checked the web cams - all clear. And sure enough it was. If I had a GPS, I could have tracked our exact location all the time so we could see where we were and how much longer we'd be on the road. A friend of mine said he did this and input all of the rest stops so they could see how much longer before they could get rid of all that soda they just drank. While in Reno, I was still watching everything and saw a snow storm came through Saturday night. One web cam showed the area covered including the road. That was at 9am. By 5pm the road was almost dry. By the time we left, all but a few traces of snow was gone and everything was clear again, so we drove home relaxed and confident we'd have a nice trip.
Sometimes technology makes our lives miserable and can be a pain to deal with. Other times - like taking a 10 hour drive somewhere - technology can be wonderful. You can be prepared for road conditions, you know what clothes to bring/wear, you can see what's coming up, where you are and how much longer to go. I've been around computers most of my life, yet I think because I'm old enough to remember when they weren't around I still get amazed by some of the things you can do.
Speeding up in the passing lane
This last weekend we drove from Portland to Reno. Most of the drive was on I-5, a nice wide highway that has at least two lanes in each direction. Four hours of it was on a 2-lane road through some very beautiful national forests. The only problem with 2-lane roads is when you get behind someone who's driving enough slower than you are to make you want to beat them over the head with a lead pipe until they speed up. Fortunately there are usually plenty of places to pass, either a nice long stretch where you can see no oncoming cars so you can pass, or a real "Passing Lane", you know, where your one lane becomes two, the slower traffic moves to the right so you can pass them on the left.
At least that's the theory.
Why is it you are behind someone going 10-15 mph slower than you want to drive and as you come to a real passing lane, while they do move over to the right, they also speed up to how fast you want to go and sometimes faster? THEN when the passing lane is over, they slow back down to their original speed!! What is up with that? And it happens way too many times to be just someone being a jerk. Or maybe all of them are jerks, I just happen to find them all the time.
While this does annoy the hell out of me, I think I know what's going on. These people have one lane in their direction. On their left is another lane and on their right is unpaved earth (or a cliff or something like that). It's a normal width lane, but it feels narrower and they are probably a little nervous driving too fast on it. Then they get to the passing lane, there's now another lane next to them, their lane doesn't seem so narrow anymore, they feel more confident, and they speed up to how fast they'd really like to go. I'll bet if that whole way there were two lanes going in their direction instead of one they'd drive that faster speed the entire way.
At least that's my theory. Doesn't make it any less annoying, but sometimes rationalizing something makes me feel a tad less stress; enough to put the lead pipe away for another day.
At least that's the theory.
Why is it you are behind someone going 10-15 mph slower than you want to drive and as you come to a real passing lane, while they do move over to the right, they also speed up to how fast you want to go and sometimes faster? THEN when the passing lane is over, they slow back down to their original speed!! What is up with that? And it happens way too many times to be just someone being a jerk. Or maybe all of them are jerks, I just happen to find them all the time.
While this does annoy the hell out of me, I think I know what's going on. These people have one lane in their direction. On their left is another lane and on their right is unpaved earth (or a cliff or something like that). It's a normal width lane, but it feels narrower and they are probably a little nervous driving too fast on it. Then they get to the passing lane, there's now another lane next to them, their lane doesn't seem so narrow anymore, they feel more confident, and they speed up to how fast they'd really like to go. I'll bet if that whole way there were two lanes going in their direction instead of one they'd drive that faster speed the entire way.
At least that's my theory. Doesn't make it any less annoying, but sometimes rationalizing something makes me feel a tad less stress; enough to put the lead pipe away for another day.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Who needs a stinkin' appendix anyhow?
On Tuesday March 13th I had my appendix removed. I posted the full story on my family blog.
Friday, March 09, 2007
American Idol - Sanjaya?????
It's American Idol season again. I've been blogging on the American Idol website my thoughts each week. But I had to add a post here about Sanjaya getting through.
Who are these people who are voting for him?! He doesn't suck, but he's no where near as good as the rest - the people who left were better! I can understand his family and friends voting for him, but even they have to admit he doesn't have a chance to win.
I think what's happening is there are people out there who find it funny to vote for the worst person just to see how long they can keep them on. You know, the longer people stay on the show, the better chance they have of getting a recording contract. And while some of these people don't have a chance to win, they can still have a successful career. Look at Kellie Pickler, she's doing quite well. By voting for the worst people just to keep them on, other people who have a chance at a real career are getting voted off. Do these people think it's funny to mess with peoples lives this way? I'll bet they also like kicking kittens and puppies.
Please everyone, just vote for who you want to win, don't turn this into a circus. We have gotten some amazing talent out of this, some great music for us to listen to. Sanjaya needs to go next week.
Oh, and if there is justice in the universe, Melinda will win. :)
Who are these people who are voting for him?! He doesn't suck, but he's no where near as good as the rest - the people who left were better! I can understand his family and friends voting for him, but even they have to admit he doesn't have a chance to win.
I think what's happening is there are people out there who find it funny to vote for the worst person just to see how long they can keep them on. You know, the longer people stay on the show, the better chance they have of getting a recording contract. And while some of these people don't have a chance to win, they can still have a successful career. Look at Kellie Pickler, she's doing quite well. By voting for the worst people just to keep them on, other people who have a chance at a real career are getting voted off. Do these people think it's funny to mess with peoples lives this way? I'll bet they also like kicking kittens and puppies.
Please everyone, just vote for who you want to win, don't turn this into a circus. We have gotten some amazing talent out of this, some great music for us to listen to. Sanjaya needs to go next week.
Oh, and if there is justice in the universe, Melinda will win. :)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
How much toilet paper do you use?
This probably belongs in the TMI or WTF category, but that's what this blog is about, my mindless ramblings - and I think people will agree this is definitely mindless. :)
I like to not be wasteful of anything. Water, paper towels, electricity, even toilet paper, I like to use the minimum possible to get the job done. After seeing people in the bathroom grab a huge handful of paper towels to dry their hands off when probably half of those never got wet and were just wasted, I got to wondering about toilet paper - do people grab a TON of it like they do paper towels or just the right amount?
Do people grab one sheet? A set amount of sheets? A length that looks good? Pull off half the roll? Do they wrap it up in a ball? Fold it? Crumple it up? And how many times do you pull off a sheet/section? Once? Twice? Thrice? More? Of course all that got me to thinking what I do.
I realized I probably use more than I need. That's because I pull off enough to make sure it covers my hand cause I don't want my hand to get any on it (ewww!). (of course I do wash my hands, but still, eww!) And I do three or less wipes. I've decided while I don't really waste that much, I should try and use less.
We just bought some cool toilet paper for our kids. It has pictures of a puppy and paw prints on it. There will be several sheets of paw prints, then a puppy, several paw prints, then a puppy. The purpose is to teach them how much toilet paper to use - tear right after the puppy so you only have paw prints and a puppy. I looked at how much that is and it's a good amount, not too little, not too much. I think it's an excellent idea.
So, how much do you use?
I like to not be wasteful of anything. Water, paper towels, electricity, even toilet paper, I like to use the minimum possible to get the job done. After seeing people in the bathroom grab a huge handful of paper towels to dry their hands off when probably half of those never got wet and were just wasted, I got to wondering about toilet paper - do people grab a TON of it like they do paper towels or just the right amount?
Do people grab one sheet? A set amount of sheets? A length that looks good? Pull off half the roll? Do they wrap it up in a ball? Fold it? Crumple it up? And how many times do you pull off a sheet/section? Once? Twice? Thrice? More? Of course all that got me to thinking what I do.
I realized I probably use more than I need. That's because I pull off enough to make sure it covers my hand cause I don't want my hand to get any on it (ewww!). (of course I do wash my hands, but still, eww!) And I do three or less wipes. I've decided while I don't really waste that much, I should try and use less.
We just bought some cool toilet paper for our kids. It has pictures of a puppy and paw prints on it. There will be several sheets of paw prints, then a puppy, several paw prints, then a puppy. The purpose is to teach them how much toilet paper to use - tear right after the puppy so you only have paw prints and a puppy. I looked at how much that is and it's a good amount, not too little, not too much. I think it's an excellent idea.
So, how much do you use?
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
People carrying "Repent or else!" signs
I'm having fun watching Mardi Gras on a live video stream from nola.com. Lots of people who look like they are having fun, some dressed normally, some very creatively. And there are a few carrying signs with the usual religious stuff on them, "Stop now! Repent! Save your lives or forever burn in hell!"
I am most definitely a religious person, but I just have to wonder about these people. Do they really think someone is going to read their sign and go, "Wow! He is so right! I DO need to stop everything I'm doing right now and change my life so I won't go to hell!" I mean what's the purpose of holding a sign like this? Most people are just going to ignore it, some might even laugh at it. I'm sure it makes them feel good, that they are doing something to stop the downward spiral into damnation and all that, but really, do they ever change anyones life? Does anyone really take them seriously?
I am most definitely a religious person, but I just have to wonder about these people. Do they really think someone is going to read their sign and go, "Wow! He is so right! I DO need to stop everything I'm doing right now and change my life so I won't go to hell!" I mean what's the purpose of holding a sign like this? Most people are just going to ignore it, some might even laugh at it. I'm sure it makes them feel good, that they are doing something to stop the downward spiral into damnation and all that, but really, do they ever change anyones life? Does anyone really take them seriously?
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Bathroom stuff..
When guys go into a public bathroom and stand at the urinal to pee, why do they always spit into the urinal too? I've never found the need to do this, yet I see guys doing it all the time. No, I don't watch other guys pee, just notice it when someone is next to me.
And what's up with washing hands? Guys will turn the water on, run their hands under quickly, then turn it off, grab about 10 paper towels to dry their barely wet hands and quickly exit. If you're going to wash your hands, then WASH them! Put some soap on them! And why waste so many paper towels? Probably half of those weren't even wet! Take one, dry off as much as you can, take another and finish, and if you need use a 3rd. I can almost always get my hands dry with two paper towels. Just bugs me to see people 1. not wash right and 2. waste so much. I want to grab a big hack paddle and tell them, "Go back and do it right or bend over." hehe
And why does the ladies bathroom where I work have music playing and we don't? I'll bet it's because the ladies keep it down low and on a nice station where if us guys had music, it would be loud and some good hard rock. No dainty, frilling music for us! ARR ARR ARR! [that's supposed to be a Tim Allen grunt]
And what's up with washing hands? Guys will turn the water on, run their hands under quickly, then turn it off, grab about 10 paper towels to dry their barely wet hands and quickly exit. If you're going to wash your hands, then WASH them! Put some soap on them! And why waste so many paper towels? Probably half of those weren't even wet! Take one, dry off as much as you can, take another and finish, and if you need use a 3rd. I can almost always get my hands dry with two paper towels. Just bugs me to see people 1. not wash right and 2. waste so much. I want to grab a big hack paddle and tell them, "Go back and do it right or bend over." hehe
And why does the ladies bathroom where I work have music playing and we don't? I'll bet it's because the ladies keep it down low and on a nice station where if us guys had music, it would be loud and some good hard rock. No dainty, frilling music for us! ARR ARR ARR! [that's supposed to be a Tim Allen grunt]
The Color of People
Have you ever noticed people including race or color in conversation? For example, if someone was in a bar and some guy was being a jerk, I've noticed if the person recounting the experience is white and the jerk was white, they'll say, "There was this guy who was such a jerk." But if the jerk was black, they'll say, "There was the black guy who was such a jerk." Or "There was this mexican/latino/hispanic guy who was such a jerk." Yet these same people will say they are not racists, and for the most part aren't.
So what does it matter what color/race the person was? Why can't we just say, "This guy was such a jerk." Now if you are describing someone to the police, yes, race and color are important. But if it's just recounting something where some guy was a jerk, do race and color matter?
What also bothers me about this is when they are saying this around young kids. These kids are learning racism. True it's a quite mild, but it's still racism. They will grow up with a slanted look towards people who aren't like them.
Now I will say I have seen groups of blacks/hispanics/asians/etc perpetuating the stereotype by their actions and looks, but I also see whites doing the same things, it's not just non-whites. I'm not saying everyone should be boring, tie-wearing cogs, just if you don't want people to look down on you or think bad of you, don't act like jerks. And saying Nigga, Nigger, etc, isn't cool, it's just stupid.
Anyhow, I've just found it interesting how white people who say they are no WAY racist find they have to say, "This black guy" instead of just "This guy". Yes, I have found myself doing this and now try not to do it, unless the color/race is important to the story. And no, I'm not perfect, just trying to get along with others more.
So what does it matter what color/race the person was? Why can't we just say, "This guy was such a jerk." Now if you are describing someone to the police, yes, race and color are important. But if it's just recounting something where some guy was a jerk, do race and color matter?
What also bothers me about this is when they are saying this around young kids. These kids are learning racism. True it's a quite mild, but it's still racism. They will grow up with a slanted look towards people who aren't like them.
Now I will say I have seen groups of blacks/hispanics/asians/etc perpetuating the stereotype by their actions and looks, but I also see whites doing the same things, it's not just non-whites. I'm not saying everyone should be boring, tie-wearing cogs, just if you don't want people to look down on you or think bad of you, don't act like jerks. And saying Nigga, Nigger, etc, isn't cool, it's just stupid.
Anyhow, I've just found it interesting how white people who say they are no WAY racist find they have to say, "This black guy" instead of just "This guy". Yes, I have found myself doing this and now try not to do it, unless the color/race is important to the story. And no, I'm not perfect, just trying to get along with others more.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Portland Autoshow
This weekend we went to the Portland Autoshow. It was a TON of fun! I've got a more detailed description on my family blog. Basically, it was great, I decided the new Mustang convertible isn't a good family car, the Honda Civic Si Sedan would be great fun to drive, but not enough back seat family room for the kids, the Element was nice, but smaller than I want, and the little Honda Fit is perfect for my driving needs. There's only one thing I don't like, it is GUTLESS!! 0-60 in 11 seconds!!!!
So after many years, I was able to get a Honda s2000 (a 2001 model). It was AWESOME!!! You know those old guys with grey hair driving the Porsche's? They finally got their dream car and are enjoying driving it. That's how I felt with the s2000. But it wasn't a good family car, no back seat and you couldn't turn off the passenger side airbag. Semi-ok for one kid, but no way with two. After 10 months I finally agreed to say goodbye to it. Believe me, there's not a day that goes by that I wish I still had that car!!!!! Got a 2001 VW Passat 1.8L turbo. It is actually fun to drive, has decent pickup, really good stereo, but a step down from what I had. The s2000 wasn't necessarily fast (0-60 in 5.2 seconds), but a TON of fun to drive on corners! Perfect 50-50 balance, could corner like it was on rails, just more fun than I've ever had behind a wheel.
Anyhow, the Passat is fun, and a better stereo, but a step down. Now the Fit. 31-37 MPG. I drive about 6 miles/12 minutes to work each day, and I don't drive it much otherwise. If the family goes anywhere, it's in the Honda Pilot. So for me driving back and forth to work, the Fit is a perfect "fit" (ya, I know, bad pun but no other way to say it). BUT, I'm not sure how fast the Passat goes 0-60 - I'm guessing about 8 seconds - the FIT does it in 11 seconds!! So I'm going to from 5 seconds to 11! ARGH! Yes, that's hard to drive a car where I step on the gas and it says, "Huh? What? I'm sorry, you wanted to get up and go? Oh, ok, hang on, let me get things together..." If this thing would just do it in 8 seconds I'd be really happy.
Fortunately there are things I can get to help. K&N has an air filter and an intake filter that can help boost horsepower and fuel economy, so I can probably easily go from 11 seconds to 9. I don't necessarily want something that jumps off the line, just want to be able to downshift, step on the gas and have the car easily pass the car in front of me.
However, there are no Fit's to be found in Portland! I emailed a couple dealers and they told me the Fit is very popular and they don't have any. One said they aren't taking any new orders for at least 6 months. 6 months!! Wow, I guess this thing is really popular. Oh well, that's actually kinda good. We have a tendency to jump into things and this gives us a reason to think about it more and make sure this is right.
There were lots of other cool cars at the Auto show. Audi had their S8, their sporty version of the A8. $110,000! I didn't feel worth enough to even sit in it. Lots of other cool sports cars, lots of actual race cars, we sat in a Land Rover and found out why people like them - talk about cool features! It was a fun 3 hours, and the funniest part was trying to get Riley to leave. Until I sat in the first car, he didn't want to be there or sit in a car. When it was time to go, he was mad cause he wanted to sit in more cars! LOL!
So after many years, I was able to get a Honda s2000 (a 2001 model). It was AWESOME!!! You know those old guys with grey hair driving the Porsche's? They finally got their dream car and are enjoying driving it. That's how I felt with the s2000. But it wasn't a good family car, no back seat and you couldn't turn off the passenger side airbag. Semi-ok for one kid, but no way with two. After 10 months I finally agreed to say goodbye to it. Believe me, there's not a day that goes by that I wish I still had that car!!!!! Got a 2001 VW Passat 1.8L turbo. It is actually fun to drive, has decent pickup, really good stereo, but a step down from what I had. The s2000 wasn't necessarily fast (0-60 in 5.2 seconds), but a TON of fun to drive on corners! Perfect 50-50 balance, could corner like it was on rails, just more fun than I've ever had behind a wheel.
Anyhow, the Passat is fun, and a better stereo, but a step down. Now the Fit. 31-37 MPG. I drive about 6 miles/12 minutes to work each day, and I don't drive it much otherwise. If the family goes anywhere, it's in the Honda Pilot. So for me driving back and forth to work, the Fit is a perfect "fit" (ya, I know, bad pun but no other way to say it). BUT, I'm not sure how fast the Passat goes 0-60 - I'm guessing about 8 seconds - the FIT does it in 11 seconds!! So I'm going to from 5 seconds to 11! ARGH! Yes, that's hard to drive a car where I step on the gas and it says, "Huh? What? I'm sorry, you wanted to get up and go? Oh, ok, hang on, let me get things together..." If this thing would just do it in 8 seconds I'd be really happy.
Fortunately there are things I can get to help. K&N has an air filter and an intake filter that can help boost horsepower and fuel economy, so I can probably easily go from 11 seconds to 9. I don't necessarily want something that jumps off the line, just want to be able to downshift, step on the gas and have the car easily pass the car in front of me.
However, there are no Fit's to be found in Portland! I emailed a couple dealers and they told me the Fit is very popular and they don't have any. One said they aren't taking any new orders for at least 6 months. 6 months!! Wow, I guess this thing is really popular. Oh well, that's actually kinda good. We have a tendency to jump into things and this gives us a reason to think about it more and make sure this is right.
There were lots of other cool cars at the Auto show. Audi had their S8, their sporty version of the A8. $110,000! I didn't feel worth enough to even sit in it. Lots of other cool sports cars, lots of actual race cars, we sat in a Land Rover and found out why people like them - talk about cool features! It was a fun 3 hours, and the funniest part was trying to get Riley to leave. Until I sat in the first car, he didn't want to be there or sit in a car. When it was time to go, he was mad cause he wanted to sit in more cars! LOL!
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Learn to Speak Body: Tape 5
This video is FANTASTIC! It is by BodyVox and Mitchell Rose. BodyVox is owned and run by one of the owners (and his wife) of the company I work at, she's in the yellow dress and he's in the "I don't know" set. Checkout MitchellRose.com for more videos from BodyVox. My personal favorite is Deere John.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Feeling better & Snow
So last week I slammed myself into the concrete. Here it is a week later and I'm feeling pretty good! Pretty much everything is much better, my knee is a tiny bit sore, my right elbow is almost completely better, my face never got any bruising (which surprised me since I hit really hard), but my back is still quite sore. Obviously that's where I did the most damage, I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle or something. I just need to take it easy, which isn't easy with two little kids around. haha
Today we have a snow storm here in Portland. I know many other parts of the country laugh at us for getting 1-2 inches and having problems driving. We just don't get a lot of snow here so people don't know how to drive in it. And we have a LOT of hills here, you can easily go from 300 feet to 1000 feet in a matter of a few miles. So what looks good where you are is really bad trying to go over the hills. These are days I'm glad to be working in IT where I can work from home!
Today we have a snow storm here in Portland. I know many other parts of the country laugh at us for getting 1-2 inches and having problems driving. We just don't get a lot of snow here so people don't know how to drive in it. And we have a LOT of hills here, you can easily go from 300 feet to 1000 feet in a matter of a few miles. So what looks good where you are is really bad trying to go over the hills. These are days I'm glad to be working in IT where I can work from home!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Which is harder, concrete or my body?
First, I have to say I thought this blog thing would be fun to just share random thoughts I had. I still that, however for it to work, I kinda need to actually write stuff here. D'OH! Last year from Sept on got crazy busy in every way possible. I took a week off from work between Christmas and New Years and that really re-energized me. I feel refreshed and ready to go! So this year one of my New Years resolutions is to blog at least once a week. SO, to start it off, here's hopefully a good laugh for everyone from this last weekend. I know I'm laughing about it. :)
We get our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving and take it down the weekend after New Years. This year we had a fantastic tree, it was still taking water even the day before we took it down!
So this last weekend my wife was at the beach with her mom and I was home with the kids, they were actually very good and we had a great time. Sunday morning at 8:45am I remembered the Christmas tree had to be at the curb by 9am for the boy scouts to pick it up. I quickly took all of the ornaments off the tree, the lights, and shoved it out the door top first (I know that was the wrong way to push it out, I can only say I'd been up for about 15 minutes so wasn't thinking clearly, which probably explains the rest of this story, that or I'm just stupid which is always a possibility). Of course it got stuck, I took off the tree stand and pushed it out the rest of the way.
It went out fine, but then started to fall to the right. I didn't want it to fall on a plant so I was trying to guide it. As it was falling faster than I could guide, I went to move my right foot to catch myself, but I caught it on my pajama pant leg and proceeded to fall over off a two foot step onto the hard concrete in front of our house (and ours has those little rocks coming out, not the smooth kind).
Hit my left shoulder, left side of my head (my cheekbone and head), my right knee a little on the inside, my right hand to catch myself, and after I was down my feet finally came down too. I laid there thinking, "Oh great, my wife is at the beach and I've done something stupid and probably broken something." Took a quick inventory and nothing felt broke so I started to get up. My left side hurt (upper back and upper front on my chest) and my right knee, I couldn't put pressure on it to stand up or use my left hand, which is of course how I always get up so had to change position to stand up.
Got up, checked everything again, all felt ok, nothing broken or out of place, so I finished taking the tree to the curb.
When I got back in the house, I looked at my knee and it had a HUGE welt on it! My left should only has a few little marks and they look normal, and very little bruising. My right hand has three cuts which are healing fine. I went into the bathroom to checkout my head and was shocked to find NOTHING! I mean there wasn't any sign I'd tried to shove my head through the concrete! Very weird, but I've always known I'm thick headed. hehe
When my wife got home, I asked her to check my back as it was still sore and hard to lift my left arm. (Did I tell you she's a licensed massage therapist?) She said it felt like I pulled a muscle or really strained it. By the end of the day my knee was feeling better, my back was ok, but now my right elbow was acting up, really sore. I think when my right hand came down I kinda jammed it or something. This morning my knee feels great, just some cuts and it's still tender where I hit it, my hand is fine, my back is sore but better, my head still feels fine with no signs of anything, and my elbow was feeling better, though today I've been leaning on it too much and it's hurting again. I did think I might have gotten a concussion from that, so I looked it up online and had none of the symptoms.
I'm quite shocked that I came out of it feeling pretty much just fine, just a few scratches and bruises. So now I can laugh about it cause I'm sure I looked really stupid, I certainly felt stupid.
But I did get the tree out in time and they did take it! WOOHOO!! And that's what really matters as I didn't want to have to deal with it. hahaha
We get our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving and take it down the weekend after New Years. This year we had a fantastic tree, it was still taking water even the day before we took it down!
So this last weekend my wife was at the beach with her mom and I was home with the kids, they were actually very good and we had a great time. Sunday morning at 8:45am I remembered the Christmas tree had to be at the curb by 9am for the boy scouts to pick it up. I quickly took all of the ornaments off the tree, the lights, and shoved it out the door top first (I know that was the wrong way to push it out, I can only say I'd been up for about 15 minutes so wasn't thinking clearly, which probably explains the rest of this story, that or I'm just stupid which is always a possibility). Of course it got stuck, I took off the tree stand and pushed it out the rest of the way.
It went out fine, but then started to fall to the right. I didn't want it to fall on a plant so I was trying to guide it. As it was falling faster than I could guide, I went to move my right foot to catch myself, but I caught it on my pajama pant leg and proceeded to fall over off a two foot step onto the hard concrete in front of our house (and ours has those little rocks coming out, not the smooth kind).
Hit my left shoulder, left side of my head (my cheekbone and head), my right knee a little on the inside, my right hand to catch myself, and after I was down my feet finally came down too. I laid there thinking, "Oh great, my wife is at the beach and I've done something stupid and probably broken something." Took a quick inventory and nothing felt broke so I started to get up. My left side hurt (upper back and upper front on my chest) and my right knee, I couldn't put pressure on it to stand up or use my left hand, which is of course how I always get up so had to change position to stand up.
Got up, checked everything again, all felt ok, nothing broken or out of place, so I finished taking the tree to the curb.
When I got back in the house, I looked at my knee and it had a HUGE welt on it! My left should only has a few little marks and they look normal, and very little bruising. My right hand has three cuts which are healing fine. I went into the bathroom to checkout my head and was shocked to find NOTHING! I mean there wasn't any sign I'd tried to shove my head through the concrete! Very weird, but I've always known I'm thick headed. hehe
When my wife got home, I asked her to check my back as it was still sore and hard to lift my left arm. (Did I tell you she's a licensed massage therapist?) She said it felt like I pulled a muscle or really strained it. By the end of the day my knee was feeling better, my back was ok, but now my right elbow was acting up, really sore. I think when my right hand came down I kinda jammed it or something. This morning my knee feels great, just some cuts and it's still tender where I hit it, my hand is fine, my back is sore but better, my head still feels fine with no signs of anything, and my elbow was feeling better, though today I've been leaning on it too much and it's hurting again. I did think I might have gotten a concussion from that, so I looked it up online and had none of the symptoms.
I'm quite shocked that I came out of it feeling pretty much just fine, just a few scratches and bruises. So now I can laugh about it cause I'm sure I looked really stupid, I certainly felt stupid.
But I did get the tree out in time and they did take it! WOOHOO!! And that's what really matters as I didn't want to have to deal with it. hahaha
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Hyundai ad
I just saw a new ad on TV for the Hyundai Santa-Fe. In this commercial, they sprayed water on a giant yellow piece of plastic that they put on the road making a very long slip-n-slide. At the end of the commercial they were talking about how sure footed the Santa-Fe is because it stayed on the wet road like it was dry.
Um, I don't know a TON about cars, but isn't staying on a wet road like that more a function of the tires than the car itself? If the car can grip the wet road, that's all in the tires. So this ad was very misleading. At least to my limited understand of cars.
Um, I don't know a TON about cars, but isn't staying on a wet road like that more a function of the tires than the car itself? If the car can grip the wet road, that's all in the tires. So this ad was very misleading. At least to my limited understand of cars.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
New Diet!
Have a special event coming up - class reunion, company party, hot date - and you need to lose 10+ pounds in two days? Think it's impossible to do it? I've got the diet for you!
Don't waste time trying to eat zero carbs. No exercise needed. No grapefruit. No diet pills. This is 100% natural and guaranteed to work!
What can this wonderous thing be? How is this possible? Have I found some alternate dimension where two days here is two months there? How much does this cost? And is it from Ronco?
First the price. It's FREE! That's right! No cost, no shipping, you pay nothing. Are you interested? Want to know what this is? Ok, I'll tell you. It's called...
The Stomach Flu!
That's right, nature's own little bug that grabs your stomach, twists it inside out, upside down, in a zillion knots, then makes you empty everything that was in there. But that's not all! After you have emptied your stomach, this wonderous bug won't let you eat anything else! It'll make you want to sleep for at least one day, maybe two. During that time this bug is still going strong and won't let you eat a thing.
Yes, you'll feel a little weak, won't be able to go dancing all night without passing out, but isn't that a small price to pay for dropping that weight quickly so you can look good for that special event?
How do you catch this fantastic bug? That's the tough part. You can't just go to your local pharmacy and buy it. There are several ways you can get it though. Find someone who has it and let them breath on you. Find an area where this bug is spreading and visit a doctors office or a school, preferably with kids in 2nd grade or less who's resistance is low but bug carrying ability is high. Wander around shopping malls looking for people coughing and follow them trying to get some of their cough to land on you.
So remember, the next time you need to drop some weight really fast, go looking for The Stomach Flu!
Seriously, our family caught this thing and it was nasty. I RARELY throw up. I mean I'll roll around on the floor fighting it for hours until I don't have to throw up. This time I started feeling a little bad around 4pm, and by 6pm I was seriously puking! An hour and a half later, puked again. I could NOT hold it back! Finally I slept. Felt like I was going to throw up again at 10:30pm, but didn't HAVE to. So I fought it and won this time! Ate a tiny bit of a cracker and that settled my tummy. I slept through the night, got up, checked my email, 15 minutes later was out again, woke up at lunch for an hour this time, and crashed again. I didn't eat anything that day except a few crackers, drink some Fresca. Finally ate a burger at night and slept all night, and was able to go to work Thursday. This was bad, but I did drop 10 pounds. Of course I don't have any energy and am ready to sleep for two days, but it was nice that my pants were a little looser. LOL!
Don't waste time trying to eat zero carbs. No exercise needed. No grapefruit. No diet pills. This is 100% natural and guaranteed to work!
What can this wonderous thing be? How is this possible? Have I found some alternate dimension where two days here is two months there? How much does this cost? And is it from Ronco?
First the price. It's FREE! That's right! No cost, no shipping, you pay nothing. Are you interested? Want to know what this is? Ok, I'll tell you. It's called...
The Stomach Flu!
That's right, nature's own little bug that grabs your stomach, twists it inside out, upside down, in a zillion knots, then makes you empty everything that was in there. But that's not all! After you have emptied your stomach, this wonderous bug won't let you eat anything else! It'll make you want to sleep for at least one day, maybe two. During that time this bug is still going strong and won't let you eat a thing.
Yes, you'll feel a little weak, won't be able to go dancing all night without passing out, but isn't that a small price to pay for dropping that weight quickly so you can look good for that special event?
How do you catch this fantastic bug? That's the tough part. You can't just go to your local pharmacy and buy it. There are several ways you can get it though. Find someone who has it and let them breath on you. Find an area where this bug is spreading and visit a doctors office or a school, preferably with kids in 2nd grade or less who's resistance is low but bug carrying ability is high. Wander around shopping malls looking for people coughing and follow them trying to get some of their cough to land on you.
So remember, the next time you need to drop some weight really fast, go looking for The Stomach Flu!
Seriously, our family caught this thing and it was nasty. I RARELY throw up. I mean I'll roll around on the floor fighting it for hours until I don't have to throw up. This time I started feeling a little bad around 4pm, and by 6pm I was seriously puking! An hour and a half later, puked again. I could NOT hold it back! Finally I slept. Felt like I was going to throw up again at 10:30pm, but didn't HAVE to. So I fought it and won this time! Ate a tiny bit of a cracker and that settled my tummy. I slept through the night, got up, checked my email, 15 minutes later was out again, woke up at lunch for an hour this time, and crashed again. I didn't eat anything that day except a few crackers, drink some Fresca. Finally ate a burger at night and slept all night, and was able to go to work Thursday. This was bad, but I did drop 10 pounds. Of course I don't have any energy and am ready to sleep for two days, but it was nice that my pants were a little looser. LOL!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
From the silly but fun department. I found this on someone elses Flickr page and decided to try it myself. Some I can agree with, but I think my face broke the software for some of the others. LOL! Go ahead, try it yourself!
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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Interesting Scott Adams (Dilbert) Blog Posting
I was catching up on my rss feeds with Google Reader (3 days worth) and came across the post below from Scott Adams on his Dilbert Blog about Steve Irwin being killed by a stingray. Now I like Scott Adams and his sense of humor, and I like on his blog he has no problem calling people stupid and foolish when they are being stupid and foolish.
However, this post was out of line. Now while it is probably true that everyone figured Steve Irwin would eventually be killed by some animal - I mean how many of us have seen him or one of these other guys do things we consider insane - the post seemed rude to me because Scott Adams was rubbing Steve Irwin's face in it, like "Told you so!" Just poor taste and bad judgement on Scott Adams part to post this.
So I was curious to see what comments people were leaving about this post. Guess what? It's gone! I'm guessing someone with a few more brains, like his new wife or his publicist, smacked him upside the head telling him to delete it unless he wanted to commit professional suicide. Some things are ok to make fun of, some aren't. This is one where he should have kept his comments to himself. And a good reminder to all of us - in cyberspace, there is no delete, so be careful what you say. So here's his post for you to judge.
What? No Way!
Scott_Adams Sep 04, 2006 - Show original item
I was shocked when I heard the news that the Crocodile Hunter died in a “freak stingray accident.” I had ten dollars bet on “misjudged the speed of a crocodile.” Something tells me that the media already had his obituary written with a fill-in-the-blank for the specific creature that killed him.
Readers of the Dilbert Blog know that I believe death is not a laughing matter, unless the guy who gets killed is in the process of bothering dangerous animals. And by “animals” I include all manner of aquatic, flying, stinging, clawing, bitey things. When someone gets killed doing that sort of thing, it’s a good lesson for the kids. I think it lends credibility when you tell them not to pet strange dogs that are foaming at the mouth. “Don’t pet that dog, Timmy. If you do, you might be killed by an entirely different animal that is not normally considered dangerous. Remember the Crocodile Hunter.”
I remind you that the Crocodile Hunter is the same guy who in 2004 famously fed wild crocodiles with one hand while holding his infant son in the other. Just be glad the Croc Hunter didn’t have triplets because you know he would have tried juggling them.
It seems weird to me that the stingray that got him is now the world’s most famous aquatic creature and doesn’t even know it. He’s probably floating around eating kelp or whatever-the-hell stingrays eat, oblivious to the fact that he’s as famous as O.J. I hope he gets a book deal because I’d like to hear his side of the story. I realize that stingrays have brains the size of a dried raisin, but that doesn’t stop athletes from writing books. All you need is a good co-author.
STINGRAY: “Well, I was minding my own business, eating kelp or whatever-the-hell I eat, when this guy jumps in the water and yells ‘Crikey!’ like a crazy seal. So I killed him and then hired a co-author who is both handsome and talented. You will find his contact information in the back of this well-written book.”
However, this post was out of line. Now while it is probably true that everyone figured Steve Irwin would eventually be killed by some animal - I mean how many of us have seen him or one of these other guys do things we consider insane - the post seemed rude to me because Scott Adams was rubbing Steve Irwin's face in it, like "Told you so!" Just poor taste and bad judgement on Scott Adams part to post this.
So I was curious to see what comments people were leaving about this post. Guess what? It's gone! I'm guessing someone with a few more brains, like his new wife or his publicist, smacked him upside the head telling him to delete it unless he wanted to commit professional suicide. Some things are ok to make fun of, some aren't. This is one where he should have kept his comments to himself. And a good reminder to all of us - in cyberspace, there is no delete, so be careful what you say. So here's his post for you to judge.
What? No Way!
Scott_Adams Sep 04, 2006 - Show original item
I was shocked when I heard the news that the Crocodile Hunter died in a “freak stingray accident.” I had ten dollars bet on “misjudged the speed of a crocodile.” Something tells me that the media already had his obituary written with a fill-in-the-blank for the specific creature that killed him.
Readers of the Dilbert Blog know that I believe death is not a laughing matter, unless the guy who gets killed is in the process of bothering dangerous animals. And by “animals” I include all manner of aquatic, flying, stinging, clawing, bitey things. When someone gets killed doing that sort of thing, it’s a good lesson for the kids. I think it lends credibility when you tell them not to pet strange dogs that are foaming at the mouth. “Don’t pet that dog, Timmy. If you do, you might be killed by an entirely different animal that is not normally considered dangerous. Remember the Crocodile Hunter.”
I remind you that the Crocodile Hunter is the same guy who in 2004 famously fed wild crocodiles with one hand while holding his infant son in the other. Just be glad the Croc Hunter didn’t have triplets because you know he would have tried juggling them.
It seems weird to me that the stingray that got him is now the world’s most famous aquatic creature and doesn’t even know it. He’s probably floating around eating kelp or whatever-the-hell stingrays eat, oblivious to the fact that he’s as famous as O.J. I hope he gets a book deal because I’d like to hear his side of the story. I realize that stingrays have brains the size of a dried raisin, but that doesn’t stop athletes from writing books. All you need is a good co-author.
STINGRAY: “Well, I was minding my own business, eating kelp or whatever-the-hell I eat, when this guy jumps in the water and yells ‘Crikey!’ like a crazy seal. So I killed him and then hired a co-author who is both handsome and talented. You will find his contact information in the back of this well-written book.”
Monday, September 04, 2006
Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter" dies...
I was in total shock when I heard he had died! I loved his shows, they were fun, silly, and educational. I've been reading about it on the web this morning just tragic, such a loss. I have never understood why great people like Steve Irwin have to die so young when there are so many other horrible people in the world who deserve it more. My prayers and thoughts go out to his family.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Feeling my age...
This last weekend we went to the beach. Had a great time, played in the sand, let the waves wash up on our feet, and it was Maddie's first trip to the beach. The weather was really nice, not too hot or cold, just about perfect.
There's a little river that runs by where we stayed to the ocean that's extremely shallow right now, I don't think it got even up to my knees. Riley and I made a little sand fortress by dumping sand into the river about 6 feet to close off an area. Then we bailed all of the water out. After that was done, we had fun digging a big deep hole. Great father son bonding stuff.
Normally I don't feel my 43 years of age, but today my body is reminding me of them - all of them. I'm fine sitting here, but when I have to get up it takes about 3x as long! Walking is also an interesting experience. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I really am getting older. LOL!!
There's a little river that runs by where we stayed to the ocean that's extremely shallow right now, I don't think it got even up to my knees. Riley and I made a little sand fortress by dumping sand into the river about 6 feet to close off an area. Then we bailed all of the water out. After that was done, we had fun digging a big deep hole. Great father son bonding stuff.
Normally I don't feel my 43 years of age, but today my body is reminding me of them - all of them. I'm fine sitting here, but when I have to get up it takes about 3x as long! Walking is also an interesting experience. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I really am getting older. LOL!!
Say this tongue twister, or else...
This is just crazy.
http://www.glumbert.com/media/tonguetwister.html
Is this one of those crazy Japanese game shows? Or maybe a new way to interrogate customers? Who in their right mind would do this? And if it is a game show, what do you win if you get it right - other than the ability to have children?
Would love to know more about this clip.
http://www.glumbert.com/media/tonguetwister.html
Is this one of those crazy Japanese game shows? Or maybe a new way to interrogate customers? Who in their right mind would do this? And if it is a game show, what do you win if you get it right - other than the ability to have children?
Would love to know more about this clip.
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