Happy Holidays

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Due to the windstorm, and a lot of snow at the cabin this year, the decision to have the family Christmas at my house somehow made it to the top of the list of "good choices".

Overall, I can't say that it was bad at all. I did have to scramble a bit (as I didn't have even a 2nd bed ready in the house, and I just might have needed 2 extra). Also, I hadn't installed any blinds in the other bedrooms - a little thing you don't realize how nice they are until you don't have them around.

So, despite not having basting brush, Pam, or some easier serving platers - things went relatively smooth.

Onto the Thank Yous:

Nicole got me a really nice pub table for the house, and a bran new robe. (Alex, its not green.. what are we going to do! Tell Steph to get you a tan robe.. hehe).


Scott and Rachel got me Call of Duty 3 (xbox360) and a Wireless Control for the 360.

CoD3 is a very fun, very realistic World War II game. I guess I'm not the one to be talking about how "real" it is, but there's a ton of reviews for this game (and some post traumatic stress warnings) - Below is some of the gameplay.



My parents got me a really nice weather station for the house. Wind, Rain, temperature. All wireless from the outside transmiter to the station in my kitchen. I don't have any cool pictures for it though. Sorry Mom & Dad.

My Grandpa and Joan managed to get one hell of a deal off Buy.com and bought me 7 books (Freakanomics, a 3 box set of the Sword of Truth (books 4-6), Books 9, 10 and 11 of the Wheel of time). And still had $14.66 for coffee!. (Okay, so they sent me $50, but that's what I used it on).

Nicole's parents got me some flashlights, a tiny socketed screwdriver and some neat coffee/liqueur glasses.

Alex was kind enough to drop off some Gray Goose and a very nice martini glass. That will go to good use. =)

In the "Merry Christmas to Me" category is:

The HD-DVD player for my xbox 360


Lego Star Wars 2 for my Xbox 360. I mean, its Legos... and its Star Wars. How could you go wrong? I'll give a full review of this sometime soon. I have high hopes. =)


Gardens of the Moon - A very highly recommend fantasy series.

600 TC Duvet Set


A Towel Set for my guest bathroom (mmm, holiday money spent on house linens. My dream has come true...)


And a 330 TC Medium Fill Goose Down Comforter; that is now $30 cheaper and on sale...

Lastly - 95% sure I'm going to be getting this once the dust settles from Christmas Shopping:


A 50" 1080p Samsung DLP TV. Mmmm.. Merry Christmas indeed.

I rock at buying myself gifts.

and thank you everyone for some great gifts this year too.


***
Sorry for the minimal picture Mondays and Link Fridays. I've been trying to switch over to my new computer at work (Windows Vista) which has made both grabbing the pictures off the memory card, and getting my links for the blog not as easy. Also, I managed to lose my memory card for the better part of the holidays; so I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have hopped for.
***

Here's to a good New Year!

16 Stitches

So, I picked a fight with some packaging and scissors; which I was ever gracefully lost and picked up 16 stitches.

I'll have some pictures (hehe, gross I know), and some other stuff shortly.

I'm also in the process of moving between my old work computer (Windows XP) and my new work computer (Windows Vista). So link Friday and Picture Monday have been hindered a bit by that as well.

Guess its just time to call this "Christmas blogging break".

Sorry guys...

Been a bit long this time around, I know. This is one of those rare occations that I actually feel like I am more than earning my keep at work. We have a very large project that was moved up to this weekend. Due to lack of .. uhm .. effort from some key employees, I am now project manager, for the simple fact that I dont want to be working late Sunday.

>.<

I will update as soon as possible.

Picture ... who knows..

Pictures Monday, changed to Wednesday, posted on Thursday

.. and ta-boot, there's only 4 pictures. I took a bunch more - just nothing worthy of posting up.


So,here's the 4 pictures. hehe

..are you serious?

Swapping picture Monday and Update Wednesday, simply because I wanted to share my ineptitude.

For a short part of this weekend I had planned to change the oil in my STi. Shockingly, 36,000 miles into my car's life, this is the first time I've had a good spot and a desire to change its oils (She's happily running on Mobile 1 Synthetic since 30,000 serivce @ smartservice).

Of course this means a couple purchases for my very empty garage. A jack and jack stand (sorry Mom, I know these would have made great Christmas gifts) were first on the list. Nothing too exciting.

So I slide under my car to take a peak. Oil plug is very accessible - but the oil filter is up underneath a protective barrier. Its like my car was designed after a rally car or something. Okay, no big deal. 5 bolts; and a broken clip (grrr), I have enough accessibility to my filter. With the oil fully drained I reach for my self adjusting oil filter wrench....

and the filter is smaller than the wrench will adjust to. Wonderful. I grab the new filter I bought, and the wrench fits it. Very weird. Back under the car (mind you the protective barrier is limiting my reach to my filter), yet I still can't get it to fit. Some people call these things warning signs.

Next step - Brute Force? (two workout sessions should be enough.. no?). No. (on a side note: this is how you hurt yourself - trust me).

Athletic Tape, foreign objects, bits of blood. I tried it all. No go. So off to Shucks.

First to triple check the filter I bought (@ walmart, using a torn up old book). PH3835, just like all my Imprezas. This Shucks at least had the updated electronic one that of course told me I should get... PH9715. Qua? Well, I grab that one, and what do you know - its a bunch smaller than the PH3835. Great - I figured out that walmart induced mystery, which was a very nice scapegoat if I may say-so myself. I go over to the oil wrenches and get a nice fitted one I can really put some power down on.

I get home, slide under the car with the new oil wrench.. but you guessed it. Too small. Not the filter this time, but the wrench. Are you kidding me?

Back to Shucks. Time for some official help. I have no qualms about admitting my mechanical ineptitude; though usually oil changing is within my limits. The guy at Shucks was a bit frazzled at my story as well (I say frazzled, but probably mean skeptical). We both decide (after checking the filter I bought for the 4th time), that the next step up fitted wrench is the best bet.

So, back at home, slide under the car and yep, its too small. Not the wrench this time, but back to being the filter's fault. Sooooo.. back to shucks.

At this point, 3 hours into changing my oil, I was pretty certain I had become the personal entertainment for the guys at shucks. So, I return the last wrench (I needed the 1st one I bought to fit the filter that is GOING to go on my car) and decided just to buy some huge oil filter pliers. Guarrented to fit. Great, I love guarrenties.

So, back at home, slide under my car, and yep, it fits. Now to get the filter off.

...

...

well, by the time it came off (yes, it finally did), I had to twist so hard to hold onto it the filter had nearly collapsed onto its self. I lay there on my new garage floor, literally soaked in oil (from the filter, I'm sure more of it ended up on me than in the catch can).

Luckily for me (and my car) everything else went smoothly. New filter with the new wrench went on nicely. Nothing shocking with the oil plug (like forgetting it or something - which after 4 hours, could you really blame me?).

Sunday, which was supposed to be a slue of home projects, turned into an oil change, and then me blowing things up on my Xbox360 to forget said oil change.


And to cap it all off - that evening I couldn't open a freak'n jar of spaghetti sauce. Lucky for me that guarantee to fit any oil filter pliers also fits spaghetti jars. I have to admit, there was a bit of glee in my as I showed that jar who was boss.

Mondo Post!

Okay, so we're going to do all the posts in one this week I guess. Either someone was slacking (no) .. (seriously) ... (I tell you I wasn't!), or I was actually busy (nahh, wasn't that either; I was just slacking).

Okay, so to start things off. Photo Monday! Whoo Hoo.

Click me to head to the Photos. Please come back, there's so much more to see!

As you can tell by the pictures it was a very eventful Thanksgiving. Double the meals, but double the snow driving (as I'm sure you either experienced or heard about in our area). Well, not a single issue or scary moment in the Subaru (Nicole might argue with me on that one - but really, is the passenger ever right?).

So, I guess this should go right into update Wednesday. Kind of ironic that the reason I started the blogs in the beginning was 1) to give out information about my house and 2) to keep myself honest about working out and keeping in shape. Well, I've managed to give only bits and pieces about my house, and I definitely haven't been going to the gym.

Until last week. Counting today Jeremiah and I have two whole straight weeks of going to the gym (once a week). (why are you laughing?). Anyways. I'm old. How do I know that? Its been a week and a half between workouts and I think I was still sore from the first. This whole "recovery time" is crap. My arms are going numb right now, and I'm not sure if its because I'm a bit cold, I maybe threw out my back doing whatever the hell that machine was trying to make me do, or they are legitimately just tired. I'll let you know next week.


Onto the fun stuff. LINK FRIDAY!

Okay, most people don't know about this, but its one of the best services google offers in my opinion. Google Answers. You can post up a quest, with a dollar amount, and a trained research professional at google will respond. The best part is, the answer is available to everyone. So, if you're bored, you can search through google answer to find some really fun stuff.

Here's just one example of the answer to the question; "How many T-Rexes would it take to make a gallon of gas (or conversely, how many gallons of gas in a T-rex)

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=6021


This one is from good 'ol Hardball. Just a quick clip but a Republican totally dismissing Barak Obama. But not just dismissing him. Yes, Baraks middle name is Hussian; but listen to how he says it. Like since his middle name is Hussian its a huge reason we shouldn't elect him



Now one from the Brits! Dope and Driving! Not a simulation either. They got a willing participant to drive a course, both normal and dopped up. Whats the results? Just watch:

This one is SUPER neat. Takes strobbing LED lights, that are synconized with a dripping faucet to "bend time". Seriously, VERY neat. ***DAD*** make me one for Christmas? =))



Okay, nerd trip on this one. Chess is boring. Yes we know that. I love it, but I'll admit, on most people I open up with the same type of moves. So, I found it a bit shocking when I stumbled across Bobby Fischer's version of chess called Chess 960. You use a computer to randomize the back row; so basically there's no possible way to memorize all the opening moves. Want to try it? Just go to the website below, make that the backrow of both sides (black mirrors white, do not setup black as it shows).

Chess 960 Setup

Lastly. Came across this during the week. 10 Commandments for playing Super Tecmo Bowl. Yes, the nintendo game. Funny how that game still holds a spot in so many gamers hearts:

1. I am the Lord Tecmo Bowl thy God; thou shalt play no other Games after the 1993 SNES version of Tecmo Super Bowl.

2. Thou shalt not lurch.

3. Thou shalt not throw thy controller in vain.

4. Thou shalt not skip the coin flip after losing.

5. Thou shalt not steal thy opponents plays (by peaking).

6. Blessed is he who punts, for he will inherit the Earth.

7. Live by the tap, die by the tap.

8. I say unto thee, it is easier to place a camel through the eye of a needle than it is to complete a flea flicker pass.

9. Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's running back.

10. For I so loved the world, that I sent my only son, Bo Jackson, to dominate the game so that thy lack of skills may be forgiven.

Go Bo Jackson.

Happy Cyber Monday

First Monday after Black Friday - and we're all using our work high speed connections for things we shouldn't be. So, on that note, I'm going to do Link Friday today, and Picture Monday tomorrow - (since I was up at the cabin (this time with the camera) and couldn't do Link Friday.


Here's some cute cat pictures. Yes, Cats...

One hell of a gun. Please, wait for the end of the video and the night shot:




One for the short guys. 5 foot 9 Nate Robinson blocks 7 foot 6, Yow Ming.



Time to feel a bit dumb. This 6 year old girl has one hell of a memory:


Lastly. It doesn't get more extreme than this. Put a kite on you, some skis, and go balls to the walls down a mountain. If you go off a cliff - no worries. It not a parachute, so you'll still fall like a rock, but hey, sounds like fun, right?

http://break.com/index/ski_gliding_mount_eiger.html

Happy Thanksgiving

Just want to wish everyone a happy and safe next couple of days.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Seriously

Camille is at it again - and since her blog is just blowing away anything I can throw at mine right now take a second again and catch up with how just wonderful Camille can make traveling through Italy, alone (well, from what I can tell a pair a boobs gets you a long way in Italy), sound.


Italbooby

Link Friday (11/17)

A little short on links this Friday, the news has mainly been of nerds attack nerds to get the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. Crazy nerds. The Xbox is way better.

Anyways. Link #1. A fun little site that shows you if you were to really actually keep digging that hole your mom said would take your to China (or Austrialia), where would you end up? (Turns out that statement is only true for kids in Boliva, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina). For me, if I was really lucky I would have ended up on a cold island between South Africa and Austrialia... but more likely than not, I would have drown.

Dig through the world!

Videos:

Quickest one. And easily the cutiest. Just watch it (even if you're on dialup this shouldn't take THAT long).



Well we never had video games like this when I was growning up. Two things. Look how fast those hands move, and ... what a great meld of classical music AND video games. You can be a solid nerd in less than 2 minutes flat.


(just noticed the stileproject tag on that video. Don't go there... seriously. =/ If I could find another video without it - I'd post it. Anyways. You've been warned).

Last video, I do not recommend if A) You easily offended, or B) You don't have broadband. It's 6+ minute skit, where George Carlin reduces the 10 commandments into something a bit more... Modern we shall say.

Off to someone more exciting

I think the hardest part for me on Wednesday blogs is to write something (usually semi-centric to me, or something I've very interested in), that I don't feel like is a waste of your time.

For this week, that's darn near impossible simply because Camille is back from Italy. She's one hell of a talented writer (her and I managed to scream at Italy together during the world cup, if you remember back that far) and has a fantastic blog detailing a couple days of her trip up.

The latest one is of her driving a train in Italy; I kid you not. Something about american accent, speaking Italian and having boobs.

So instead of bore you with my lasted frustrations in World of Warcraft and Tango lessons; go read her blog(s) and check out her pictures. Very much worth your time. Unlike these last 4 paragraphs.

Someplace better than here

Imagination Picture Monday

Okay, so I failed. My compact flash card is stuck into the side of my monitor at work, where it stayed over the course of the weekend. First good snow of the year (up at the cabin), three subaru's getting covered in said snow, and about 150 pictures that I missed taking.

Unfortunately for you I'm much better at taking pictures than I am at describing them. Besides the snow and the subaru', we had all three dogs up there (Charlie, Forrest, and Cody), so they provided an endless supply of entertainment as well.

I apologize again for failing this picture Monday. It won't happen again (soon).

Pseudo link Friday

I am Here

And its doing this

Its a good month to be a nerd.

Now, you'd think after a lot of my postings of political wrong-doings, left wing tongue and check videos, etc; that I would be gladly posting about the glorious change over in D.C.

Honestly, I don't care all that much. I just enjoy the humor of the system.

There was an expected end to an era this election though. After 43 years, Dan Rather was going to miss reporting on an election. I say expected, because John Stewart and Steven Colbert had a special "expert" on their 1 hour combined special "Midterm Midtacular"; Mr. Rather. Leaving his streak at 44 years unbroken.

What I'm more excited about is how great this month has turned out to be a nerd. Ninento's Wii and Sony's Playstation 3 are due out this month. I'm not actually planning on getting either, but hey, I like the eye candy. On top of that the Xbox 360 finally has what people deem a "killer app" (this basically means a game SO good that you're willing to dish out the $399 for the xbox AND $59.99 for the game, just to play the game).

Lucky for me I already have a xbox 360. Unlucky for me I don't have said game (Gears of War). Well, either way, its still good to be a nerd; I'm just a nerd on a budget (note the lack of THAT word in the title).. /sigh/ But it does look that good. Nearly every review site has the game either perfect (100/100 at 1up) or near perfect. I'll let you know more when I find 60 bucks.

Here's two shots from the game (one outdoor, one a cave level). Yes its a "shooter" game, but also (supposedly) combines in a lot of "Think and Sneak".

Outdoor
Cave

Of course, even with all these great new games and systems, if you ask nearly any of my friends "how's THE game?", its World of Warcraft you're talking about; and I've managed to get lucky enough to get into the testing group for the NEW part of THE game.

Exciting times to be a nerd. Good thing I'm a nerd.

Photo Monday (11/6)

Two weeks in a row. We'll see if I can keep this up. Next Monday might be a hair late, as I think we're heading up to the cabin.

As always, fun captions. Or at least I think they are.

Link Friday!

Sorry most of these links are that "funny". I really like to mix in a good chunk of humor, but Viacom made Youtube (now owned by Google now) pull down all the Comedy Central videos (which include Daily Show, Colbert Report and others I like to show).

So, for this week. Serious stories!


Okay, so maybe not *all* seriously. Mom - I found your long lost great aunt:

100, driving, and... still working.

Sad news:

Bob Barker retires. Spay and Neuter your pets!

One for you dad:

Pictures of the highest elevation tornado ever recorded

And one for everyone who drives to work - it could be worse:
In english russia, traffic slow you


Video Time!

Vote Vernon Robinson for Congress (yes, this is a real add (North Carolina) just simply ... amazing). /sigh


Keith Olbermann on Michael J. Fox vs Rush Limbaugh



Katie Couric interviewing Fox after Limbaugh. Fox shows his class

>

Olberman on how the GOP completely spun John Kerry's comments

Adjusting

From having a slew more bills to pay, to remember to buy milk and bread on the way home (that's been a failing attempt the last two days), I'm definitely still in the adjustment period with the new house. Softball season is officially over, so my left knee is rejoicing in that fact (its the one that always takes the brunt of me sliding on too-hard-to-really-be-dirt infields we play on). On top of that volleyball will be over Thursday after next. I'll finally be able to put on my winter fat at a respectable rate.

As you saw in the pictures on Monday we had a wonderful Halloween party last Saturday. I'm not sure who won as best costume, but Melissa and Jason are word-find queen and king (The liquor guarding scarecrow and the 80s girl).

Well, going to leave this short and sweet again; though check back this Friday, I'm sitting on a couple good links.

Yes - new posts coming!

Mondays - Pictures
Wednesday - Weekly update, and if needed, I'll explain the pictures on Wednesday
Friday - Video / Web links. I'm going to save up my weekly links to comedies, interviews, daily show clips and such for Friday so if you're bored over the weekend you have something to watch.

So, without further delay, Picture Monday:

CLICK ME! (captions to the pictures below them - don't miss it).

A new week

So after spending the last two weeks trying to get settled, then getting sick and missing work ta-boot; I think I'm back on track. The house is looking a lot better, though still not in shape for a house warming. I'm batting the idea of a Halloween timed house warming party - so, get some costume ideas at least ready.

CONGRATS to Steven and Tami!

I'm going to see if I can get some pictures for tomorrow of the house. Still trying to get all my electronics setup (who knew there was a downside to being an obsessive nerd. Moving and setting this stuff up is the pits).


Ignore the video - but listen to it. It uses the warcraft game as its medium, but the song is a great Scottish Diddle. Good stuff:

House = Work

So, getting a house liveable is a ton of work - who would have thought. =/ Once things are a bit more in order I'll get back into blogging. For now, Scott & Dad, any chance we can set this up in the backyard?

Not dead, just busy

Some interesting comments going on in the Arabic / JetBlue post I made: Here

Things are going well at the new place, though it still just feels like I'm now the proud owner of a really big place I have to clean up. Hopefully I'll have some pictures and more comments come next Monday. For now, a couple laughs:

Big surprise, Daily Show has been wonderful with September 11th stuff around.

This week and weekend I'll be moving into my house. YAH!, though that processes has drained my brain, so blog is on pause until next week.

TTFN!

The next medical call:

I think the metal "thump" is the best:

I'm a sucker for great customer service

I believe his name is Mike. He owns / manages the sunglass hut in the mall in Olympia. For years (since I was 18 and first spent an ungodly amount of money on sunglasses) as I've lost either lost, destroyed or had my sunglasses stolen, I've gone back to Mike to buy another pair. Also, when I worked at Software Etc., right across from the Sunglass Hut, we would occasionally have some neat conversations.

Anyways, just a couple days ago I took my old Revo's to him (they are probably 3, maybe 4 years old) because a screw had popped out. Gladly, he went to work on them, without a thought of charging me a single cent. Once they were back together he noticed my frame was slightly bent and wanted to attempt to bend it back just a bit so the lens would pop out again. Unfortunately at this point, my already compromised Revo lens completely cracked in his hands.

Without missing a beat he just looked up and said, "oh well, go grab yourself a new pair". Of course, I wasn't sure if I wanted to drop another $250 on a pair a revo's minus however much he was going to give me for my old damaged ones. Though Mike had no intentions of ever charging me a cent.

So, I have to say, as I sit here enjoying my Revo's (pictured above), I am totally a sucker for great customer service, and will continue to go back to Mike.

I know I promised..

I know I promised you all no new pictures of the house until after the house warming, but I lied. What I meant to say was no new full pictures of the house. I think its completely in the spirit of my comment if I say, post pictures that'll just tease you a bit.

Enjoy




The double vanity in the master bath.




Can faucets be sexy? I sure hope so, or I'm just very weird.




The entry way. As seen if you're my mom without her glasses.




The downstairs bathroom pedestal sink




Stainless Steel (inside and out) dishwasher. Was one of my guilty pleasure purchases.

As promised, drag pictures...

---Pictures are clickable for larger sizes, just incase you actually wanted a closer look. I don't question your sanity. You're here; you're already insane---

Nothing like the hardcore stare-down of the defense. Be afraid, be very afraid.




Serious baseball I tell you. SERIOUS!




My *official* "Oh darn, I think that ball is going foul" face. Again, drag, kids bat, and gratuitous pointing at my own ass, bonus points.




Nothing like a one handed, drag clad, hit!




I declare this the end of the best "Photo Monday", ever.

Interesting...

The real story starts on the 5th paragraph. A man, at JFK airport was ask to cover up his shirt that said, "We will not be silent".

Because it was written in Arabic.

http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2006/08/back-from-mideast.html

I'm appauled.


"you can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads "I am a robber" and going to a bank". I said "but the message on my t-shirt is not offensive, it just says "we will not be silent". I got this t-shirt from Washington DC. There are more than a 1000 t-shirts printed with the same slogan, you can google them or email them at wewillnotbesilent@gmail.com . It is printed in many other languages: Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, English, etc."

Slacker!

I really can't believe its been a week since I posted anything. I seriously thought my last blog was Thursday, maybe even Friday of last week. I would first like to shed blame on this travesty by laying culpability to both Bozo softball weekend (company softball tournament) and Nicole. And to answer your most recent question, Yes, google is now running all their blogs through an auto-thesaurus in an attempt to slowly educate the world. ;-)

For those that don't know, Bozo is a little get together put on by a lot of the energy specialist in the state. Its really just a reason to have a great time, laugh, and play some softball. Some of the rules are, "If you happen to get a hit, and it nocks over someone's beer, you're out", or, "If you have too many men in your lineup, some men will have to wear drag and bat one handed".

Yes, there are pictures of me in drag.

No, I don't have them yes.

Yes, I will actually post them (hey, I looked damn good in a full length floral orange skirt).

Oh, yeah. We won the tournament.


The house is looking great; though I'm done posting pictures of it for now. Why? Because I want you all to actually show up for my house warming. =) I know, its slightly evil of me, and for those of you that are too far away, I will have plenty of pictures post house warming of my new humble abode.

Some nerd

I don't think I've had enough Nerd on this blog lately, so time to nerd it up a bit today. =)

Lets start with Project Offset. Its a new game design / engine that is going to be set in an "epic fantasy world" (okay, not very unique, think Lord of the Rings), rendered at movie quality (fairly unique, but we'll see), and played as a First Person Shoot (think Doom - very unique for this genre).

The videos are what are really amazing. They are huge in size; but if you're a huge nerd its worth the time. =)

Item #2. Snowflakes

You remember them. It was kindergarten, and you did all these pretty cuts and mangled the paper - yet somehow you opened it up and it was magically a snowflake.
Well, no longer do you have to make the mess! You can make your own online. And show of your snowflake skills to your friends.

Item #3. High Resolution Desktop images.

This one is simple. Its sometimes very hard to find pictures that are extremely high quality, good composition, and work well as backgrounds for your computer. Specially if you have a large monitor. Well, for those of you that care - check out this site

Okay, I feel sufficiently nerdified.

Photo Monday (8/14)

(All shots are clickable for larger size)



Okay, so that's not the view from my house, but that is Tacoma. Not bad in my opinion


I think I'm really starting to like my kitchen



Kitchen flooring color



Loft and master bedroom



I think I need more plugs in my kitchen



Kitchen to Garage.

More.... Please

I could say a ton of things on how cool rally racing is, how its one of the best motersports, how we need more of it in the states; but at least its now part of the X Games, and I don't think its going away.

/ Cheer

Tweek your brain a litte

UFOs. Yes. UFOs. I know what you're thinking. Wow, Bryce has gone a bit crazy today.

Very true. If I were to sit here and talk to you about UFOs, you could call me crazy, and I'd agree. But how about Buzz Aldrin (you might remember him from Apollo 11).




Interesting enough in my opinion.

And the second item to tweek your brain. A game. There is a timer on the left side, and a timer on the right side. Answer a question on each side to reset the timer to full. One side you'll be doing basic math. The other side you'll be adding colors together. Either one is fairly easy, but when your brain has to jump back and forth between left and right side functions - its really tough.

My best score is 60 (though, honestly, I normally can barely break 40). Post your scores. =)

Tweek your brain

Photo Monday (8/7)

Okay, I know its kind of cheating if all I do it post pictures on Monday. The problem is I was out of town from basically Thursday on. Up at the cabin finally getting the server online (I think this was supposed to be my Dad's 2004 Christmas present... Seriously), then helping a friend move in Spanaway to South hill, then finish my Grandpa's computer and getting it boxed up, then to cap the weekend both of my softball teams played double headers on Sunday (yes, that would make 4 games in 1 day; I hurt).


For all the pictures of the extended weekend, go here: Easy Click There are both pictures from the cabin, and some of my house (Textured, painted, and light fixtures in!).

Proof!:


Subject change! There's a show called Top Gear in the UK that does a number of very good car reviews, and occasionally a car challenge. I recently watch one where the host of the show attempts to drive an Audi, with a twin turbo V8, with its stock 19.6 gallon tank, 800 miles. I'm not going to tell you how it ends (I'll like the videos below, if you really want to watch), but I was inspired to see what type of gas mileage I could get in my car. I notoriously get barely 20 mpg. With the trip up to the cabin I did everything I could (following a lot of Clarkston's examples from the show), and in my STi I managed 26.4 mpg.

Now, being the numbers guy I am, I just had to figure it out. I have 30,000 miles on my car. As I said, a very modest 20mpg has been my normal average, and since I have to put premium in the car, $3 bucks a gallon is again, very modest.

All that being said, driving my car the way I have wanted to over nearly the last two years has cost me $1,090.91. Sometimes I really wish I wasn't so big into numbers.

But wait! Lets say my average trip was 20 miles. Let also say that the different driving styles the slightly more "fun" one would have got me to my location on average 3 minutes quicker. So, 1500 trips, 3 minutes each, 4500 minutes saved (75 hours). So, 75 hours, into 1090 bucks..... Is my time worth $14.54 per hour?

You bet your bacon. I'm really glad I'm big into numbers.


And as promised, 800 Mile challenge (part 1, total time ~16 mintues, very worth it imo):



Part 2:

Intoxicated blogging?

There's drunk dialing, and even more recently, drunk emailing; all which are very dangerous forms of communication. Though I now sit here, well over a half a bottle of very fine Washington wine (Red Diamond cabernet sauvignon), no longer in its original sale location. Its found a much more warmer place to live. Don't worry, we're both very happy about it.

Anyways, back to my original point. Its now, with this "blogginess" stuff, very possible to drunk blog. The proverbial loudmouth in the bar that you all can walk home chuckling at, now another location in which to spout; though most likely his (or her) friends do not know what is transpiring and henceforth, cannot stop him (insert evil laugh).

Well, for those of your that have continue to read, simply for a trainwreck, I'm sorry to disappoint. As my very good friend Ted once said, "This mind cannot be stop by alcohol alone" (shortly before his jacket was lit on fire. Its a long story, ask me about it sometime).

Oh no; I am aware enough that this is supposed to be picture Monday. What harm could I bring to myself or others by simply posting pictures. Right?



Click on that bad boy. I used to have a great little system by swinging by my new house on Sundays when no one was there so I could get a peak at what they were doing. But NOOOOO, they had to lock the place up. Man, the nerve of some people to protect the property of someone they don't even know.

So, like any good perp, I cased the joint. Check out those rounded corners on that kitchen archway. Is it overly gay that I think that looks so good? I sure hope not, otherwise I might be single a long time.




Well, I continued to shoot pictures through the windows, look as suspicious as .. well.. a random person taking pictures through windows does (silly Tacoma police); I only managed one more decent shot:




Why only one more decent shot you ask? They weren't so silly afterall, I guess. (well, that and its really hard to get a decent shot through dirty windows. I have a couple great shots of my fingers, if you're ever interested).




Anyways, I know public indoxication is a crime, so I best not be going anywhere. Off to listen to spanish tapes.

La Actualización Castellano

I'm now 4hrs of CD's into Pimsluer's Spanish I (8 Lessons) and I am still very impressed with the series. I know I'm going to have to spend some extra time actually writing spanish (as its becoming increasingly difficult to visualize all the words). I think the best part is they are keeping it fairly humorous.

As I stated before, it all starts out with you trying to talk to another lady (who doesn't speak english, and you, of course, don't speak spanish). Somehow that quickly, as far as I can tell progresses to a serious relationship. The last 2 lessons consisted of this:

I want to eat something.

Great, lets go grab a beer at the restraunt.

I don't want to go to the restraunt.

Okay, fine, lets go to the hotel.

I don't want to go to the hotel.

Okay, fine, where do you want to go.

I don't know. I don't want to eat anything.

What? Nothing? I want to eat or drink something.

Fine. Lets go eat, but I don't have any money.

... Why do I feel like I have had this conversation before? And now, I can have it in multiple languages. Man, am I glad I spent money on this (seriously, I am glad, but this sure did make me laugh).

Its a tough market - they earned it. Right?

Exxon Mobil - 10.36 Billion 2nd quarter profit. 36% higher than last year. 2nd most profitable quarter for any company in history (Exxon Mobil has the #1 spot, 4th quarter, last year).

Royal Dutch Shell - 7.32 Billion profit. 40% Increase over last year

BP PLC - 7.3 Billion. 30% Increase over last year

ConocoPhillips - 5.18 Billion. 65% Increase over last year.

These are quarterly profits. Pure, cash in hand, profit.

MSNBC article link

But hey, its a tough market out there. Right? At this pace, Exxon Mobil will earn, in pure PROFIT close to Bill Gate's **NET** worth; in 1 year. Forbes 2005 Riches Person Index

Poor, poor media

So, a politician comes on The Colbert Report, a show on COMEDY CENTRAL, that follows the Daily Show and with some coaching from Steven Colbert, says some funny stuff that would, if he wasn't running in an uncontested election, might just lose him the election. It was funny and it showed he had a sense of humor.

Of course, the next morning, the morning shows (and news programs) wondered "why he would ever do that". Its just boggling. Here's Steven's rebuttle to the morning shows actually covering "The Colbert Report" as morning news.

A weekend away

I spent this weekend disconnected, up in the woods of Cle Elum, and I have to say it was nice to not have anything to do.

Well, I take that back, I had something I was supposed to do. My main job for heading up there this weekend was to get the DSL up and going, configure the server and web camera such that everyone could hop on and this winter see how much snow was piling up on the deck. Of course, the DSL modem had other ideas. It thought it would be much moer funny if first the password to access it locally was changed all together(and no ammount of Bryce guessing would crack it), then when I decided to hard-reset it to get the password back to default, it deleted all its routes and bridging information. (Basically that means it became a glorified nightlight). This is pretty much how every part of this project has gone (I think officially this project is over a year and a half now).

Lets get back to the fun stuff, eh?



Ahh, free jazz at the Suncadia resort. Now, mind you she couldn't hold the stage like a Charlie Parker(or any note for that matter), but hey, it was free. I think ultimately you have to go to shows like these, to be reminded when you see someone like a Parker, Maynard Ferguson, or Wynton Marsalis just how special they really are.

Free perspective. What more could you want out of your day?

Ultimately it was just a weekend of reading, enjoying the sun, dodging the eat, and driving on crazy roads.

Crazy roads you say? Wow. Yes. I was once told that I should take my car over Blewett pass. Now, I can't say I was horribly disapointed, but after cresting the pass and heading down the Wenatchee side, I still had that feeling that my body needed some extra G-forces to at least subside my crazy side for the rest of the day.

That's when I spotted it: Old Blewett Road. Hmm, that sounds promising.

It was my own personal road to Hana (It looked like that, but without the street sign). I've never had such a good time driving my car, specially seeing as I had troubleing breaking 40 mph on the road. So, if you ever find yourself in a rally insprired car, and a driver willing to take you on it (it is paved, though very rough at times), I recommend Old Blewett road with a wide eyed grin and a tone that lets you know I'm going back soon.



(oh, and nothing like a happy Subaru family) =)

The definitive guild on getting a hold of Bryce

Okay, I've been told from time to time that I'm hard to get a hold of. In fact, I've received voicemails to the like of, "Bryce, please call me so I know you're not hurt or dead. Thanks, Mom".

During the week, sending an email to my work account is one of the best ways to get me to read something. Now, notice I didn't say reply. If you email me, "Hey I just got a new puppy! Whoo hoo!". I might just think, wow that's cool, it'll be fun when I get to see it next. You might not get any reply at all.

Now, if you email me, "Hey my new puppy is showing signs of aggression, what should I do about that?". I can promise you'll get a reply within 10 minutes.

Okay. So, step 1) Email Bryce

Step 1a) Call Bryce

So, you don't want to email me. Call my cell phone. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I've done that Bryce. You don't answer your cell phone. >.< Okay, you've got me there. I'm a busy guy, and usually I'm doing something. I love you all to death, but I'm grown addicted to voice mail. Also, depending on what your voicemail says, you might fall into the grounds explained above and get neglected.

Now that we've figured out if you email me, or call me, its probable that I might just listen to your message and not return your call (or email); what do you do?

Be vague. I'm more apt to answer if you just leave a message, "Hey, Bryce. I really need to talk to you soon. Please call me.", than I am if you leave me a detailed message about a party that I don't really want to go to anyways.

Some of my friends have also found out, if you call my cell phone a 2nd time, I'll answer. Yes, I do understand that is a bit lame.

..and the last fail-safe methods.

Text messaging on my cell phone or call my work line during work hours.

I think the more unique attempts I've seen is calling whatever friend I'm room'n with and having them pass their phone to me. Dash cunning of you, but unfortunately (for you, not me), I'll be living alone shortly.

..and somehow posting a blog comment manages to grab my attention too. =) (shameless plug)

Yes, HE is in charge of the internet.....

Its been a long week

Well, I apologize for those that actually swing by here on more than a weekly basis for your dose of señor Kerker. Its been a bit of a crazy week; I made theperilouss cross into the realm of 26 years old without a problem.

My Spanish cd's finally arrived on Tuesday (happy birthday to me?). So far I'm through 3 lessons, and I have to say, its tough, but going pretty well. I really like the opening scenario the lessons take you through. You start by trying to start a conversation with another lady (¿perdón entiende inglés?). Of course she doesn't understand english (no, no señor. No entiende inglés).

We're progessing from there, but I have high hopes for CD 52 (the last lesson). I also got a couple extra books to learn some extra spanish words, unfortunately I keep calling myself a girl from america (Norteamericana). So until I figure out that I'm a man (Norteamericano), I think I'll leave those books closed.

My birthday went very nicely. Dinner at the olive garden (thank you 'rents), gift card to home depot (thank you miah & amy), starbucks gift card (thank you angie and tow), flowers and ballon (thank you Amber & Katrina), a very nice ladder (thank you 'rents, again), a check from grandpa (woot), and a surprise barbeque on Friday - setup by Miah and Amy. Its been a good week.

Well, then there was the framewalk for my house on Friday. You know, that house that's taken forever to get past the red tape, the 4 different start dates, and who knows how many finish dates I'll get? Well I show up on Friday, and my real estate agent is covered for the Quandrant staff because they are at a company wide meeting, honoring Salishan (my neighborhood) for how smooth, quick and flawless everything has been going. Yes, company including all the general contractors. You see where this is going.

So there was no one there to actually do the frame walk with me (besides the trusty parents, who managed to help catch some key issues).

Things could have gone worse, that's for sure. I have a rescheduled house walk for Monday at 3pm - so we'll see if the issues that we found on Friday are easily resolved. Maybe if I work it right they'll be really sorry about missing my appointment they'll give me something for free =) I like free.


...and lastly. A competition. Which dog could figure their way out of a box. First up, my croommateroomate Neia. She fawn pug that has been known to forget to breath.




VS.

Mona. Who has been known to walk off docks and sick like a... well.. a dog that doesn't know how to swim.

Fiscal expenditure = commitment

You would probably assume by the title most likely I'm talking about my house, or maybe a needy girlfriend (I'll give you one guess which one is more expensive). Though I'm actually talking about just one of the steps I'm taking to make some huge changes in my life.

About four months ago I took the GMAT. A test that gives you a basic placement of those looking to receive an MBA. As with most tests, I did just fine. And by just fine, I mean, pretty darn good. Initially I expected to get my MBA from UW, a school that has already excepted me, though with some extremely generous support from the 'rents, I have decided to look a bit further.

I've decided to look in Europe.

So that was step #1. Next was trying to pick a school. IMD, London School of Business, IESE, INSEAD, St. Gallen, etc. Honestly I was a bit lost. I wasn't aware that the top end school (across the world) all have a specialization they aim for. Its not just "we rock at mba's", its "we're the leader at cultural aware managers", or "we're the only school to offer 2nd year courses in multiple languages". Luckily I had Walt Renfree (my mom's cousin) to help. He's a graduate of IMD, and has colleagues from just about all the rest of them.

This is when I made the first roadblock discovery. I'm unilingual. Or as some would say, American. That immediately dropped me out of IMD (average of 3-4 languages per student), and INSEAD (bilingual required for admission). Frustated? Yeah, I was a bit. The irony was Walts response, "I totally forgot about the language requirement." hmm. So dream dead?

No. Time for some fiscal expenditure. Time for a commitment.

1) Pimsleur Spanish I 1
2) Easy Spanish Phrase Book: Over 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use
3) One Thousand and One Most Useful Spanish Words

Yes. I'm going to (re)learn espanol. I'm tired of being that typical american, and I really was ticked off when I saw specifically holding me back from doing something.

All said and done, the damage is ~$210 bucks. The Pimsleur course is a 52 CD, 3 part set, so I still have a good $400 bucks to plop down, but lets just get me through these first set of CD's.

So the goal is still there. A high end business school in Europe for my MBA. Right now IESE in Barcelona is top on my list, followed by IMD and INSEAD (though as it stands right now, both of those are not "available" to me).

Hopefully soon you'll see some blogs in both english and elementary level spanish. One can hope.

A week with Buddy.

A Pictorial tour of housesitting buddy - with comments of course!

Feel free to comment at the bottom of the pictures - or come back here and comment too. The more comments the better!


Yeah, yet another place to store my photos - though I think I like this place better than flickr, simply because its google and they will own the world here shortly. Just a prediction. =)

Next blog: Bryce's life changing decision(s). Stay tuned.

Lets have some fun!

Fun little flash game. Just listen to the songs and take your best guess.

I thought I would do better, but man I got my musical butt handed to me.

1st attempt at Video Game Music: 120 points
1st attempt at Movie Themes: 120 points
1st attempt at Love Songs: 20 points (not a typo... yes, 20 whole points).

Enjoy!

Post your scores back here in the comment section - since there's no chance any of us are making the leaderboard

Photo Monday (6/26)

Shots from the "old hood" (puyallup), some of me attempting to learn my camera some more, and of course, the house.

As always, click here to see these pictures in larger formats

Friday Laugh:

Self-indulgence

Okay, so once (maybe twice) a year I get to do a bit of self indulgence and post a little wishlist. Seeing that's its that time of the year (ugg, I'll be 26 this year ><), I figured I'd post this list before my mom is bugging me =)

$254 Flash for my Rebel XT (aye, sorry its spendy. The rebel uses ETTL-II; so ETTL-II flashes are a bit more.) (ETTL-II basically is the camera telling the flash how far away the intended target is)

$20 A Crown of Swords - Book 7 in the Wheel of Time

$34 A Toaster - Exciting I know. Going to need one *shrug*

$10-40Old Jazz Posters - Need some old jazz posters for my music nook. Old Action / Candid shots are my favorites (Example 1, Example 2)

$2500 56" 1080p HDTV - Hey, how am I supposed to know when you win the lotto?

$59 Xbox 360 games. Yes, I'm still a kid. Hitman - FIFA 2006 - Fight Night - Top Spin 2


Just about anything else you can think of for the house. All I have right now is silverware, cups, a kitchen table, pots & pans, and a bedroom set. That's not nearly enough for 2300 sq/ft :-)

Fortune and fame - a'la Canadian Ass

The "famous shot"



Baleted

The plan...

The plan today was to see my super about my house (done) then..

The plan was to get to work and have a nice shorten day and go home..

The plan was to get home and post some new pictures from my house for you all.

The plan has been destroyed.


As I walked into work, coffee cup in hand, filled with jubilation about my house, Jim Squire (out network admin) literally pointed at me with part glee, and part "ahahaha you get to fix it now" (I think they are a very closely tied emotion).

Why you ask? Oh, there's this thing called email. It lives on a server. Usually. Ours is dead on a server. ><

So, as network admin (squire) he'll fix it right? Well.. sort-of. About 11am they decided it was far beyond just a couple scripts and such and needed to go to tape. Now, in the tech world, "going to tape" is like calling in a relief pitcher. Sometimes he's great. Sometimes he gives up a grandslam, and you wonder why you even have him around.

Wednesday's tape was easy. He didn't even get to face a batter. Why? Oh because maybe I forgot to change tapes last night. Oops. Strike one Bryce. Though I know I stuck Tuesday in... right?

Yes... but Tuesday died mid backup and gave itself a digital hernia. Sexy.

Monday. Okay, I checked the logs for Monday - Successful. Nice. I grab the database (they are full) and I do a restore. "Restore Failure - File has bad stuff" @ exactly 13,999.50 MB. Okay.. So now I have Microsoft in one ear (our email software) and Computer Associates in my other (our backup software)... after three more failed restores; we give up. ALl three have died at 13,999.50 telling me that its not something I'm going to get past. I cry a little.

What now you ask? We tell all our users we are starting over. Hehe, kidding. They'd kill me. We do what's called a "hard restore", and its called that, because its long and hard (never claimed us tech folk were creative) ... I cry a little more.

Luckily from about 1pm until 4:30pm Jim does take over with Microsoft. Though he forgets to tell me that he's running the sound at a show from 5pm - 8pm tonight. Do YOU think the "hard restore" will be done by 4:30? Of course not. So he hand me the phone to talk to Kreshan (yes, he's East Indian). Kreshan of course is now at the end of his shift and hands me over to Ashir. Great. Now both people running this show have no idea where we were heading. Great idea. Thanks guys.

Luckily Microsoft has some great technology so Ashir can actually control my keyboard and mouse, and do what database things he needs to do. I can only describe this experience as the digital equivalent of getting into a cab driven by a guy you can't understand, don't know if he knows where he's going, and it feels like he's litterally toying with your life. I cry some more.

Right now we're on hour 10 with microsoft .. I'm waiting on some diagnostic tests to finish while I'm writing this. At this point I've had to correct Ashir once from deleting all our emails and causing at least 5-8 hrs of work. He's super.

Sorry, I haven't proof-read this and I have to get back to Ashir. I think he wants me to do click on something.. or cook his cat. I can't understand him.

It's finally happening

This morning I had a meeting with my super indentent that will be in charge of building my house. We went over the build schedule (54 days with an average this time of the year of 3-7 non-build days) and other services Quadrant offers. I have to admit, besides the 4 month wait between finalization and release of my house, its been a very nice processes with Quadrant (the 4 month thing is very much abnormal).

So, after chatting with him (he has over 30 years experience) and finally feeling confidnent that my house is really going to be build, we wandered down to my homesite.

and..

*Shock* ... they had started early on my house. A group of 5-7 guys were busy putting in my floor braces. It was so nice to finally hear the "wiiicha" of air nailers, and it to be MY house they are working on. I'll have pictorial proof up later today.

*does happy dance*

Dad, you can finally make cookies!

"Simple" Chocolate Chip Cookies....

Ingredients:

1. 532.35 cm3 gluten
2. 4.9 cm3 NaHCO3
3. 4.9 cm3 refined halite
4. 236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
5. 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11
6. 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11
7. 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
8. Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein
9. 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao
10. 236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10)

To a 2-L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two and three with constant agitation. In a second 2-L reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous.

To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1. Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction.

Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). Heat in a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston's first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to equilibrium.

Its alive.....

For the full size pictures (without the movement).. go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38616624@N00/

[Exhale] ... pajama pants

I'm trying to be a good roommate. I clean up the kitchen as much as I can, I vacuum perodically - etc. Formost, I do my best to try to stay out of the way as much as possible; including doing laundry when its available only.

Bad thing for me, Jeramiah and Amy have a tendency to do laundry in lunar periods, not days. So attempting to sneak in a load here and there is, frankly, impossible.

Well over a week ago I needed to do some laundry. I have over the last couple months been purchasing the first thing I run out of in an attempt to last longer (underwear, then socks, and you will soon see... pants). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do laundry a week ago. Or 5 days ago, or 3 days ago. ... you're starting to see the problem.

So, yesterday rolls around. My pants I had worn the last three days could now stand on their own, so I didn't think it was wise for me to continue to wear them. I glanced into my closest; and met trouble. Well not so much trouble as that one pair of pants that still look fine so you don't throw them out, but there's a reason they are the last pants on the rack.

I now, because of my lackluster workout practice of the last couple months, buy 34 inch waist pants. (34 / 32). These pants I set my eyes on to make me through the days are 31 inch waist. Not really thinking much about it at the time (I hadn't had my coffee yet), I throw them on (okay okay, struggle like a fat lady getting into an old wedding dress). It didn't really occur to me until about 8:30 sitting at my desk as the thought of pulling the old fart move of undoing the top button so I could work AND breath was it time for me to take some action about doing laundry.

I made through the day and home just fine (except for a half of dozen people knowing what religion I grew up that didn't want to know), and managed to [exhale] into some pajama pants (elastic FOR THE WIN) and do some laundry.

Boo [copywrite] hoo.

Just a quick vent. I hate copywrite lawyers sometimes. Remember those cool rally 3 minutes clips? All pulled from the net. They are now just empty code if you go back through my blog history. grrr. Just about anyone that watched those 3 minute videos isn't doing anything that would inhibit their normal purchasing activities. I know for a fact that even I'm not going to spend $20 bucks a month+ to get full WRC coverage (if I can even do that, getting WRC coverage in the USA is damn near impossible). I also know most of you won't even remember what WRC is a couple months from now. >< grr.. Seriously.

Fastest 3 Day Weekend in History

Some weekends just have a tendency to run by quicker than others, though you expect the special three day weekends to at least feel like two day weekends... right?

Wrong.

Saturday started off nice enough. Nothing to do until ~noon, where as the story gets a bit more exciting. Rob, one of my long times friends, was having his bachelor's party this weekend (I think you're starting to see where this story is going). At noon, we, and 7 of his closest friends decided shooting each other with objects flying at 300 fps was a wonderful way to send off his bachelorhood (its better known as paintball). I won't go into too many details, but more of a flash of words that can describe what we did for the next 6 hours:

Center Flag Push, Friendly Fire, School bus slimly filled with paint, neck shot, face shot, multi-building town siege, 4000 paintballs+, civil war recreation.

Okay, so the last one I'll talk about. Civil War Recreation. They take both teams, line up you arms length apart on a big open field. One team on one side, the other team on the other. Everyone gets one single shot, and everyone (still alive) takes one step forward. Good stuff (specially when you're winning 8 on 1).

Now, paintball alone isn't enough to make a weekend short. Oh no. It was the after-paint party. Everyone back to Rob's house for a very untraditional bachelors' party. How untraditional? The bride (and her friends) were there too. That's about all I'll say (or that I remember). About noon the next morning the world had stopped its excessive spinning enough that I could drive home. Only that one shady memory and my outlook calendar are the pieces of proof I have that Sunday actually existed this weekend.

Monday simply consisted of me in my pajamas saying, "This is Sunday... right?"


**** Workout Update ****

--ugg--

Okay, so .. yeah. My hand is feeling better (not perfect yet, but better), and volleyball is over - so I think this means I really have crap for excuses to be not working out. Unfortunately I don't think my navy seal want-a-be program is working for me; so I'm going to just simply say, I'm going to try my damnest and actually post my stats once a week. Starting with today:

Weight: 176.5 Workout days last week: 1 Soreness Level (1-10): 3 (hehe, I thought this would be fun).

PERMIT!

I still don't *really* believe it:

From: Lyons, Glen
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 4:34 PM
To: Chave, Janelle; Heimlich, Joshua; Halgren, Eric (Contractor)
Subject: FW: Block 1, Lot 12 (3785 East R St)

Lot 112 [my lot] is being issued late tomorrow afternoon.

The wetland buffer recorded two weeks ago, yet we received no word from the city, despite near-daily inquiries, until yesterday and no word on the permit until today. This was an exercise in Endurance and Diligence.

Its good to see that even when not directly communicating with me, even the 'behind the scene crowd' has been frustrated by this whole process.

Hopefully more information to come.

The House that Ruth, or Sam, or Joe didn't build

Okay, so regardless of if you think Barry Bonds during any of his career did any illegal forms of performance enhancing drugs - the above statement is still true. Ruth did do it on Hotdogs and Beer. And that makes me smile.

As for the tie in to MY house... I'm please to say that they BELIEVE the paperwork is all done. Its now just a waiting game for the actual permit to arrive and they can break ground on my foundation. How ironic that the reason I started this blog in the first place was a nice easy what to disseminate information about my new house to everyone - and over the last two months I've had to find creative fillers so you all wouldn't lose interest and never come back. I think this is where I'm supposed to grab my top hat and cane and break out into some show toon. Lucky for you, I left my cane at home.

As for my hand - there really isn't much change. Things are not getting worse, though they are not getting much better. I haven't heard anything from the doctor; not real surprising knowing my doctor. Anyone in the Olympia / Tacoma are know of a really good doctor? I think I'll call HIM today. Nice to know he's looking out for me.

On an even sadder note for me, Subaru screwed the pooch on Rally D'Italia Sardegna. Finished 9th and 10th. The leader drive, Petter Solberg said:

It'’s been a hard event for me. I tried as hard as I could all weekend but the overall result is disappointing. There's not really a lot more to say. We'’re looking forward to the next event now. I like the Acropolis Rally a lot and I'll give it my best shot.

Grr... And even more frustrating Loeb, the machine, won again. That's 5 wins in a row. He's only 4 points off a perfect season (66 out of 70). We're still not even 1/2 way through the season, and 2nd place last year scored 71 points total. I know its hard for a lot of American's to understand, but what Loeb is doing is extraordinary

Oh... and me working out? .. I think I have now decided that adding a few extra pounds that I can hopefully easily remove will make me feel better about working out. .. Yeah, its like lifting yourself up while standing in a bucket. Its a great idea.

Can't type much...

Due to the post below, I don't really feel like typing much, so I'm making a post for mainly one person. :-) For those of you that are not hardcore college football fans (specifically Notre Dame), just watch the middle video. Promise, its worth your time, and it gives you a small bit of why people all over the country love the fighting Irish.

2005 Season:


Charlie Weis - phenomenal head coach



Trumpets doing ND Fight Song in rotunda of the main building:

I'm broken....

So, the weekend was about as wonderful as I could imagine. Great weather, good company, good food, outstanding desert / breakfast with the mom. Though Monday came crashing in like most Monday's like to do.

As many of you know, I have been battling some inflamed tendons in my right wrist / hand. Nothing really serious; my doc figured some Ibuprofan would easily bring things back into line. For my main pain it did (wrist / thumb area).

Though the other side of my hand (still my right hand), made some decision between going to bed on Sunday and when it woke me up around 5am Monday that resulted in pain that I've only felt three other times in my life. (Broken wrist, re-broken wrist, and broken hand). I couldn't (and still can't) open my right hand all the way, nor do I have any ability to close it.

Neither my doctor or I have any idea what's going on right now, though he's upped me to 12 Ibuprofen a day and we've done some bloodwork / x-rays now. I won't know the results of those until mid-Wednesday.

Its a bit unnerving - that's for sure.

******

Side note: I found a video of the vendetta monologue. The quality is not amazing, but it does give you the vocal inflections of V.




And one last time:

Voilà ! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à -vis an introduction, so let me simply add that it's my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.