Sneaky New Site Post

The November, 2004 archive page is the page on my blog that is most commonly found through search engines. It's all because of the hot wings picture on my Halloween post.

I haven't posted here since May, 2005, my new blog has been up since about then.

Read the whole post

Traditions

Many people and many families around this great country will partake in multitudinous traditions this weekend. I know one that I will engage in will be eating copious amounts of food. I would be watching lots of football tomorrow if I weren't flying for most of the day. I'm guessing my family will also play some cards or some board games and some pool.

One tradition that I will be experiencing tonight is something my roommate has been doing for 12 straight years and was described by a friend of his as "The stupidest Thanksgiving tradition ever". With that kind of praise how could I not want to join in?

It is simple, we are going to watch his VHS copy of Son in Law. That is right, I will be enjoying Thanksgiving Eve with Pauly Shore (whose character in the movie is named "Crawl"). Luckily, to soften the blow Eric baked two pumpkin pies last night. He even made the pie crust from scratch. They have been cooling in the frig all night and day and will be ready to eat tonight. Of course, we'll only dip into one, as he is probably going to a friend's house tomorrow and will be bringing the other. Combine the pie with some whipped cream and I'll be ready to watch anything.

Read the whole post

Well, time to sell some records.

You might have heard about the big brawl in the Pistons/Pacers NBA game last Friday. The suspensions came down afterwards and left Ron Artest with a 73 game (rest of the season) suspension. What is kind of funny is that Artest had been talking earlier, and was even benched for it, about taking some time off to promote a new rap CD he produced, which came out yesterday.

Well, now he has his chance to promote it without all of that basketball to get in the way. He didn't waste any time as I saw a clip of him on SportsCenter last night. It was supposed to be his apology statement and response to his suspension. Well, he mentioned those two unimportant things, but he made numerous references to his CD "which is available now" and that people should go out and buy it. It was unbelievable, though knowing a little about the guy, it was not.

I guess he was like this not only on ESPN. Artest speaks.

Read the whole post

Color Coded Computer Cords

In the misty, nearly-forgotten days of yore there was a young man. This young man was renowned (in his own mind) for his intellect and his practicality. There was nothing he could not do if he was shown but once.

Since his childhood the young man had been enamored with the fascinating world of the electronic computer. What power! What freedom!

With a computer one could do nearly anything. One could write a book or a journal. One could travel to distant worlds and defeat hideous monsters. And with the right tools and enough knowledge, one could even create those worlds and its inhabitants.

This young man did all of this and more. He tended lemonade stands. He learned about the old west while travelling along the Oregon Trail. But what he really started to enjoy learning was how to make the computer do what you wanted it to do.

After enjoying computers for many years the young man decided that he needed a computer of his own and not be shackled by the whims and schedules of other people. But how to afford it? Home computers were relatively new and still fairly expensive. Fortunately a friend of his had ventured into the world of building one's own computer and possessed eldritch knowledge of their construction. Instead of bending to the will of some manufacturer you could have a computer with any set of specs and any parts you wanted, all for cheaper than if you bought it at a store (even if you worked at a store and got a discount).

With the guidance and pantience of his friend the young man was able to select and purchase the elemenatal parts that would combine to create a computing machine of surpassing power. A small part of the lore was to know where everything was to go. For example what cords plugged in where: the keyboard always plugged into the PS/2 slot closest to the motherboard and the mouse into the one further away. The young man could do this without resorting to using the small etched diagram in the back plate--he would not be denied the use of his know-how.

The young man relished the idea of being in the company of a select few who held the understanding of how to accomplish what he had just done. Soon family members and other friends were requesting the young man's assistance in all matters related to computers. Whether to diagnose and fix problems or to construct a personal computer for them, the young man was able to help all comers.

As time passed and seasons changed computers started to become more ubiquitous. Computers were starting to be made more "user friendly. Even the hidden realm of building one's own computer started to become more widespread. Parts and part shops started to become more common. Guides and techniques were popping up on this new invention called the "Internet".

One small part of the easier-to-use push was to start color coding parts of the computer in an effort to ensure than anyone would be able to put their computer together correctly. The young man scoffed at these ideas and put his nose up at anyone who needed these hacks to use a computer. The young man believed he could take apart and re-assemble a computer while blindfolded and couldn't see why everyone else couldn't do the same. All you had to do was follow the cord from the peripheral to the connector and then remember which plug it goes in to. How hard is that?

...
...
...

Fast forward to the present. The young man is now a slightly older young man. His wisdom has not been augmented very much by the years and neither has his common sense, but a few things have changed. His job now mainly consists of fixing and setting up computers for people who have not the understanding that he possesses. Day in and day out he is installing programs and undating security, crawling under a desk and changing out a mouse, or explainging (again) how one prints double sided on a certain printer. In his sojourn in this position he has unplugged and replugged countless keyboards and countless mice. He has done it with a flashlight in hand and with a flashlight in mouth. He has done it under desks and around corners with his neck crooked and his arms stained to their outmost.

In these situations every little advantage is coveted. After five minutes of crawling around fending off dust bunnies the size of his head, the slightly older young man doesn't want to have to go back and redo what he thought he had done. One advantage of the modern computer that enables him to complete his duties quickly and with a minimum of errors is the fact that most computer cords are color coded. And he is thankful that they are.

Read the whole post

Poor Press

I know you can't believe every review of every movie, but I knew that I didn't think Alexander looked good for a reason.

It's strange, because I think that this would be the type of movie I'd normally like, but ever since the first preview I've had my doubts about it. To be sure, my dislike didn't stem from any preview or actual watching of the movie. It boiled down to a few things: I don't like Colin Ferrell very much, I don't like Angelina Jolie all that much (and for some reason she looks extra-unappealing to me in this movie), and there's some line in the trailer that sounds like it was taken straight out of Braveheart (which I loved)--come up with something original.

Also, the reviews for Polar Express all seem to have the same gripe I have with it (just from viewing the trailers). Which is that the characters all look creepy and weird.

Oh, and as a side note, I was shocked. SHOCKED, I say, to see National Treasure getting mostly negative reviews.

Read the whole post

A good use of time

There is a AutoCAD drafter here at the office that is standing at the front window of the building just looking out, not working. Someone just walked by and asked him if he was going somewhere or something. Nope, the reply was:

"I'm just waiting here for my mom to bring me my snow tires."

What? This guy is probably in his late 30s or maybe even early 40s. There is about 1/4" of snow on the ground. He has nothing better to do at work but stand around and watch for his mom?

In all actuality it isn't all that out of character for this guy. He's just kind of an odd duck. But it still struck me as a little out there.

Read the whole post

It's cold out there today...

...It's cold out there everyday, what do you think this is? Miami Beach?

5 points to whoever can tell me what movie that's from. (if only my brother Matt read my blog)

During the night, Bozeman was given a dusting of snow. When I went out to start my car up I noticed lots of little paw prints up to our front door and around my car. A little cat had been out on the prowl. Thankfully the dogs didn't see the cat--they hate cats. I would have been woken up with a barking commotion. Luckily the dogs are just as lazy as I am in the morning and aren't known for getting up early and checking things out.

I think it was last week sometime that I tried to go to bed a little early, I was feeling under the weather and needed some extra rest. I got into bed around 9:30 and what should happen later but I was woken up suddenly by a sharp, high pitched bark from outside my window at about 1:20am. The dang dogs had decided to just run outside (we have a doggie door that never gets closed at night) and bark and nothing. Rrrrr. To stay sane I'll tell myself that they scared away a burgler.

Read the whole post

Have I ever mentioned food here?

I can't quite remember if I've ever talked about liking to eat.

I'm starving. The good news is that it's 11:57 and I'm going home to eat in a couple minutes. I'm going to have the leftovers from lunch yesterday. Do you know why I have some leftovers? I'll tell you why. I tried out this new idea. Get this...I stopped eating when I got full, instead of just finishing everything off like I normally do. Especially with the dish I had made, grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was quite a revalation.

Not only did I not feel bloated and sick for hours...I got two meals for the price of one! Brilliant!

Read the whole post

The Incredibles

Steph and I went to see The Incredibles last night. And just like Steve said, it was really good, and you should go see it. It was definitely nice to look at with incredible animation. Those Pixar guys know what they're doing. I'm not sure I agree with Steve's assessment of the hair though, it was definitely good, and maybe I just have a fuzzy memory, but to me Sully's hair in Monsters Inc. still stands on top of the animated hair heap. Though maybe it's just because they're so much of it, and maybe Steve was just talking about human hair.

The movie was both exciting and funny. A classic animated adventure, comedy, super hero movie. How many more of my favorite genre's can they pack in there? I guess there wasn't any kung fu, but I can live with that.

Another thing that Steve mentioned, was the Star Wars: Episode III teaser trailer. I'm happy that it didn't really give away anything I didn't already know about. All it did was whet my appetite even more. Though we'll all have to wait until next May to sink our teeth in.

The only unfortunate thing about the experience was the theater it was playing in. In Bozeman there are effectively 3 theaters. The new Wallace theater at the mall, which has comfy seats, stadium seating, and new everything. Then the Ellen and Campus Square theaters, run by Carmike. Both of those places are horrible. The Campus Square just recently fell behind it's older sibling the Ellen by virtue of the Ellen getting new seats. But both are old, mostly uncomfortable, don't have the newest sound system, don't have stadium seating, and most of the screens have marks and tears in them. The Ellen is ultra old and many times during the winter they don't have the heat up high enough. Luckily this is Bozeman and everyone just wears their North Face down jacket. I'm not sure that paying $8 to watch a movie in jacket and gloves with a blanket is such a good deal. But what can you do? There is no other choice. The theaters all have mutually exclusive movies to choose from. If Carmike outbids Wallace for a movie, you're out of luck.

Read the whole post

Yikes

So my hockey team had our fourth game tonight. I won't say we played our fourth game today because it's like we didn't show up. We lost 6-2 and it could have easily been worse. We played alright in the first period, but the refs gave us a completely bogus penalty late in the first and from then on we pretty much lost it. Not long after that one of our guys got hauled to the ice while on a breakaway and they gave the guy a penalty instead of a penalty shot. That was pretty much it. From then on we weren't in the game at all.

I personally had a horrible game, I don't know what was wrong. I think I was worrying about the rest of the team a little too much and not worrying about what I should have been doing. The main thing that was making me mad was how the rest of the defensemen really weren't playing defense. It's understood that most of the players on defense are the better players in the team. So we're encouraged to take the puck up and try to score every once in a while. But lately the defense have been thinking goal first and defense second. Not that thinking defense first helped me out there tonight. Anyway, following are the stats:

Date	Res	Opp	Score	+/-	G	A	P	Shots	PIM
11/20/04	L	Beavers	2-6	-3	0	0	0	2	0
TOTALS	1-3		11-16	-1	1	1	2	8	0

Read the whole post

Cat-Griz

The big football game of the season was played today. Well, the big football game in Montana, anyway. Today was the 104th meeting between the University of Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State-Bozeman Bobcats. Though not the oldest rivalry in college football, it is the oldest uninterrupted rivalry in college football.

The game was being played in Missoula this year, so a few friends got together to watch the game on TV. It was pretty fun, except for the game. The Griz really controlled the whole game and the 'Cats didn't play well at all. The final score was UM 38, MSU 22. It was much more fun eating all of the food Emily had made for us and the few other things people had brought. (oh no! here I go talking about food again!) We had veggies and dip, french fries and some fry sauce that Emily whipped up since we didn't have enough ketchup, pizza, crackers, wine, and hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. Quite a smorgasbord.

For most of the second half we turned the sound to mute on the TV and then turned the radio broadcast on. It was way better that way. The TV crew was biased a little towards the Griz and the radio crew was a Bozeman crew, so we enjoyed them more.

Read the whole post

But will it be here tomorrow?

It's snowing. Again. I looked out my window (I can see about 18 inches of window from my desk) a while ago and saw snow coming down. Then I turned back to my work. Then I turned back to the window a while later. Snow was still coming down and it was falling a little harder this time. Now it is positively blustering outside. This could finally signal the beginning of winter in Bozeman, thought the Weather Channel says it may get into the 40s next Wednesday and Thursday. Though by then the forecast may have changed to -15, you never can trust the weather out here except for what's outside.

Read the whole post

What? What? Oh, it's only Friday.

Right before I woke up this morning I was dreaming I was at some mall, looking though the various gaming shops. I happened to run into a coworker of mine and we discussed what we would be doing out in the field that day.

Before too long my alarm woke me up and in a panicked state of confusion I thought I had to be in the office early to go in the field. Not only was I going to be late but I really didn't want to go into the field that day. But then my drowsiness finally started to leave me and I remembered that it was indeed Friday and I would be in the office today. Whew!

Read the whole post

I'll learn...or I won't

Someday, maybe even someday soon, I'll think ahead.

When I see snow falling in the evening, covering my car in a soft blanket of white I'll think: "You know, some time tonight those beautiful, fluffy flakes are going to bond together in a crystaline lattice not unlike carbon atoms in a diamond and then fuse to the molecular structure of my windshield. It might be advantageous to wipe them off tonight instead of cursing the ice I am scraping when I'm late for work in the morning."

Someday.

On a side note, the roads were covered in bullet proof ice this morning as well. I only saw one accident in my long half mile drive to work.

Read the whole post

The Lyrics

Wow I was very nearly correct. At the beginning of the show (following the show theme song, which follows the sometimes funny, occasionally irreverant, and often irrelevant opening. This time of Alf and the daughter rapping--this is 1986 remember) Willie, the dad, is at the piano and working on the asparagus song. He asks his wife to listen to the changes he made and then sings it like so:

Asparagus, asparagus, put it on your table
Asparagus, asparagus, will make you feel more able

His wife asks what changed and he indicates that the second line used to be:

Asparagus, asparagus, according to Aunt Mabel

A running joke through the show is that every person who hears the new lyrics asks "What happened to Aunt Mabel?". This may be where I got the line "Where's Aunt Mabel"
So there you have it. A great personal mystery has been solved.

For your enjoyment here is a screen capture of the two boys in their asparagus costumes (which, of course, the mom diligently created for the show).

Read the whole post

Alf and Asparagus

Way back in time, the late 80s, there was a sitcom on TV called Alf. Alf was an alien from Melmac who landed in a family's backyard. As you could surmise, hilarity ensued.

The reason I bring this up is because there was a certain episode where the little boy of the family, Brian, had to dress up as an asparagus in a school play and sing a song. For maybe 15 years whenever I have seen, eaten, or thought about asparagus, that song pops into my head. This has happened even more in the last year as my girlfriend really likes asparagus and so we've had it with dinner on a number of occasions. The only problem is, I don't know if I know the song correctly.

I've tried looking up the lyrics online. The web seems to be a treasure trove of information of this type. But alas, no one seems to have recorded it on a web page. So, I thought, how else could I find out the lyrics to this song? The only answer was to actually get and watch that episode of the show. Through a little more work I was able to procure this very episode: Season 1, 22, It Isn't Easy Bein' Green.

I am now going to put down the lyrics that I have sung in my head for nigh unto 15 years. (I know, I'm a weirdo) Here they are:

Asparagus, asparagus, just put it on your table
Asparagus, asparagus, it makes you more able
Where's Aunt Mabel?

It's that last line that gets me. I can't see how it's correct. But we shall soon see, as I am going to skim through the episode and see for myself. My report will come later in the afternoon.

Read the whole post

Movie night at the Emerson

A while ago (late September) a couple of friends and I made our annual pilgramage to the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman for the showing of the first ski movie of the year.

Skiing is a popular activity in the Rocky Mountains, and especially here in Bozeman, home of the Cold Smoke: otherwise known as super light and fluffy powder, the best skiing substance in the world. If we can't ski in powder we like to watch people ski in powder. So the movies are shown to whet our appetite for the upcoming season--oh, and also to make money for the people who made the movie.

They are always very popular and nearly every show sells out. People like to get together for them, cheer the sick lines, groan at the massive crashes, and brag about doing the same tricks. Plus, there's always a raffle for great free stuff, including, sometimes, season passes to Big Sky or Bridger Bowl.

I won't talk too much about the movie, it was good and entertaining. It did start late, which is also a Bozeman tradition. This may sound harsh...but the shows are put on by a bunch of hippies. The same people run the shows every year and the same crap happens every year. It's as if they are doing something to burn away brain cells throughout the year to make them forget about the problems they had at the previous show. Not to mention probably being in a certain state of mind so as to not care about what's going on around them. No, the main thing I wish to go on about is the method of the raffle.

Usually, every one gets a ticket at the front door. They are those rolls of tickets that you've seen at school ice cream socials and other like events. Each tickey has a number on it and a twin ticket. The ticket is given to the patron and the twin is put in a big box with all of the other twins. This big box is then brought to the stage where some lucky soul gets to choose--randomly--a ticket. The number is then read and the person with the corresponding ticket comes up to claim his or her prize. I shouldn't have even had to mention the process--you all know how it works. Everyone knows how it works. Everyone agrees that it is fair and that's what everyone expects to happen.

Not this year. I wish I could have been there. At the brainstorming meeting when the show was being planned. Who were the participants? What state of mind were they in? Were they eating brownies? Do you want to know what brilliant new idea came out of this meeting of the minds? Let me explain.

The MC goes up to the stage and lists off the prizes that are to be given away. He also has a big box (the twin tickets, I'm thinking). He then calls a couple of his buddies up on stage, both clearly under the influence of one substance or another. Instead of announcing a prize and then drawing out a ticket, clearly the crappy, old-fashioned way of doing things, one of them reached into the big box and pulled out a tennis ball. This was the idea. A big box of tennis balls, each with a prize written on it, was to be flung into the audience. Are the problems with this system starting to pop up in your mind?

My friends and I had unfortunately gotten to the show a little late and had some trouble securing excellent seats. We were sitting more towards the back under the balcony (which was closed). The seats proved to be just fine for the viewing of the show. The seats were slightly less optimal for the catching of flung tennis balls.

The problem was the balcony. The ceiling was a mere 10 to 12 feet high. If people stood up in front of us this reduded the opening from the stage to only 5-6 feet. If the people standing in front of us happened to raise their arms the window of opportunity was now diminished to a modest 2-4 feet. But, if these people, who were raising and flailing their arms, were to get up and not just stand on their seats but step up with one foot to their own arm rests and set their other foot on the back rest of the chair in front of them, the aperture would quickly shrink to near microscopic proportions.

That is exactly what happened.

And no, it wasn't only the row in front of us. It was at least 5 rows in front of us. For all I know it could have been the whole theater as I could barely make out the raised stage through the slits of light that punctured the wall of humanity in front of me. What I could make out on stage was a trio of idiots heedlessly chucking the tennis balls marked with prizes in to the crowd and off of the walls. The one saving grace is that they did not announce the prize as they launched each ball. I can only imagine the bedlam that would have ensued with the launch of a bright yellow ball that represented a full season pass to Bridger Bowl.

Needless to say not one ball made it near to our seats. We decided to forgo the $10 after party and each headed home. We felt that we had spent enough time with this crowd.

Read the whole post

Lazy office day

Lazy office day? I am getting pretty repetitive on this here blog, aren't I? I talk about being tired. I talk about food. I talk about how my football teams are doing poorly. I talk about hockey and volleyball. Hmmm, that isn't going to stop today, but maybe I'll try to see if I can come up with *something* else to talk about sometime.

I usually work in the field on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I switched today with yesterday because my boss (the only other computer guy in the office) has left town for the weekend--the lucky dog is going to go see Michigan at Ohio State, he's a big Michigan fan.

So my week this far has been: a hockey game Monday night, then 9 hours in the field on Tuesday. Then after work I had a volleyball game. Straight from volleyball I went to pick-up hockey for an hour or more. Then yesterday I had to work in the field today. I was beat when I got home. Instead of laying around doing nothing I went over to Steph's house to have dinner and listen to/help with an oral book report she has to give for one of her classes. After that I went home and went pretty much straight to bed.

We played pretty well overall in volleyball on Tuesday but ended up losing our match. We didn't play well for a big stretch in the first game and that ended up being our downfall. The second game was much more to form and then we just fell a bit short in the decisive game. I even had a few nice hits (spikes for the non-familiar) and blocks.

Hockey on Tuesday night, the pick up game, was more tiring than our real game on Monday. There were 14 guys there, so we had 5 on 5 with two subs for each team. I spent a lot of time on the ice, which is the point I guess. Lots of practice at all different positions and just a good work out. There was actually one goalie there as well. There aren't usually any, so we have to put up this board with holes cut out over the mouth of the goal. Those things are super hard to score on (at least for me) so I like playing against goalies a lot more. I did manage to put one by the goalie and had a few ineffectual shots on the big board, so that just reinforced my position.

We ended up losing our Monday night game, which was a bummer. Again, we didn't play that bad, but we had a few breakdowns that ended up with goals. One thing that wasn't as good as our previous games was that we didn't have nearly as many scoring chances. I don't think I had a shot on net all game. We ended up losing 4-2 but it should have been 3-2. We pulled the goalie late in the game and the other team iced the puck with about 15 seconds left. For some reason (laziness?) the refs decided to not call the icing and the other team got down and scored a goal with 5 seconds left on the clock. It was a bunch of crap.

So here's the picture of the season for me through 3 games:

Date	Res	Opp	Score	+/-	G	A	P	Shots	PIM
11/12/04	L	Boilermakers	2-4	+1	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	1-2		9-10	+2	1	1	2	6	0

Read the whole post

Another game

Well, I have another hockey game tonight. I guess I better tell you about our Friday game before heading off to the next one, huh? We played pretty well, but as was our problem last year a few defensive breakdowns turned into goals and we didn't turn our many scoring chances into actual goals. We lost 4-3. We had a pretty strong attack for the last part of the third period, but we just couldn't put one in. I did have a goal though, so that was fun. A winger fed me a nice pass out at the point and I moved more towards the center of the ice and let go with a slap shot. It went through some traffic and then into the back of the net. At first I thought I had deflected it off one of my teammates, but I found out later that it went in cleanly.

So, in keeping with the selfcenteredness of this blog, here are my stats after the defeat:

Date	Res	Opp	Score	+/-	G	A	P	Shots	PIM
11/12/04	L	Black Angus	3-4	+0	1	0	1	3	0
TOTALS	1-1		7-6	+1	1	1	2	6	0

Read the whole post

Winamp gone?

No time to write about it, but it's the end of an era.

Read the whole post

brrrr

It is supposed to almost make it to 40 degrees up in the mountains today. At least it is supposed to be sunny as well.

We're setting more property pins today. Pounding 18" long 5/8" think pieces of rebar into the frozen, rocky ground. It isn't all that bad, as long as the old hands stay somewhat warm.

Have a wonderful day in your warm offices and homes!

Read the whole post

Whew!

I was freaking out for the last 10 minutes. Here I am at work and all of a sudden I can't find my car keys. I know I brought them in because my car is locked and I never lock the doors without the remote on my key chain.

So I check all four of my desk drawers, as I sometimes take my keys out of my pockets and put them there. No luck. Then I start checking my pockets, where I am convinced they should be. First the two front pockets in my vest. Then the breast pocket on my vest. Then the two front pockets in my jeans, including the little change pocket on the right that I never use for anything. Then the two back pockets. Then the two outer pockets of my down jacket. Then the two inner pockets of my down jacket. The keys are nowhere to be found.

In desparation I start checking all of the shelves in my office, where I've never set my keys ever. I know there is a better explanation for missing keys than "they jumped from my pocket to my shelf" but I have to look everywhere. In between checking ever shelf I pat down all the pockets on my person to no avail.

After checking my desk top and desk drawers for the second time and after checking my shelves for the second time and after checking my pockets for the second time I happen to pat in a slightly different place on my hip. What is that shape? Keys! There they are. I look down to where I'm patting and see that I'm patting behind the zippered pocket opening on my vest. What? Sure enough, I reach in...and then back, and my keys are nestled in the bottom corner.

I guess that extra length in a pocket can come in handy when carrying something longer than a normal pocket. But I must confess, this alcove had gone undiscovered in the months that I've owned this vest and it kind of surprised me. I can even fit my whole hand in the space behind the opening. Yes, it's as comfortable as you'd imagine, but I could...if I wanted to.

You can rest assured, I will be able to drive home. I know you're relieved.

Read the whole post

zzzleepy

Okay, I'm definitely not feeling as sore as I thought I would feel today, but I'm way more tired. After walking around all day, then playing volleyball, then playing hockey, and finally staying up too late to post about it, I'm feeling a little tired today. I did get a little extra sleep by way of sleeping through my alarm! That felt pretty good and I only showed up an hour late (don't worry, I let my boss know I'd be late). Not that it really mattered as it has been a very slow day today.

My eyes are drooping as to make it hard to see the words I am typing right now. I may have to break down and spent the 50 cents for a green can of Mountain Dew.

I actually had a Dew two weeks ago. We were having a going away pizza party for a few people who were leaving. Whenever we have a party here the pop machine is opened up so that everyone can have a can during the festivites. For this occasion I grabbed a can of Dew with the intent of drinking it at some other time (probably cheating the system) because I was happy with my water at that time. After the party I put it in my desk to be enjoyed on some later date. I can't quite remember now but that later date turned out to be either "the next day" or "later that day". I was feeling slightly tired and really thirsty and there was a full can of Dew in my desk. What did you want me to do?

The unfortunate thing was that the can had warmed to nearly room temperature and thus didn't have quite the same thirst quenching properties I was used to. It actually didn't taste all that great and I ended up being mad at myself for choking it down while not even enjoying it. What's the point of putting needless calories, sugar, and caffeine in my body if I'm not going to enjoy it?

Luckily I don't think I have anything going on tonight. I can relax and try to do very little--and maybe even go to bed at a decent hour. There were a few nights last week when I stayed up too late playing Final Fantasy.

Read the whole post

2 for 2

Well, it was a good sports night.

Earlier in the evening our volleyball team won it's match two games to zero. We actually played really well. I even had a couple of blocks and made a few good plays on offense too.

Then I went home and had a little to eat, watched some tv, talked to Steph, and got my hockey equipment ready. Sean came to pick me up and off we went for our first game of the season.

When we got there it felt like we hadn't ever left. Our goalie, Dave, was there when we arrived. Before we had even sat down the dirty jokes started. Ahhhh, just like old times. Seeing the guys and hanging out in the locker room was fun. Sean made the comment on the way over. I don't remember the games the most from the year before, I remember hanging out in the locker room with a crazy group of guys.

My new defensive partner, Rob, and I started the game. The stated goal for the game, made by a couple of people, was to get a goal in the first minute of play. Well, wouldn't you know it, we did. I made a little bit of a rush and got off a big shot on net, the goalie stopped it but let out a pretty nice rebound. One of our new players (who had been on the team in the years before I joined, so only new from last year) Tim, who played high school hockey in Minnesota, was right there to pop the puck in the net for a goal. The time on the clock? 19:03. Only 57 seconds had ticked off. So I got a shot and an assist on the first shift of the season, I felt pretty good about that.

I'm going to keep a running total of my stats for the year here (mostly for my own enjoyment). Here it is:

Date	Res	Opp	Score	+/-	G	A	P	Shots	PIM
11/9/04	W	Bighorn Rams	4-2	+1	0	1	1	3	0
TOTALS	1-0		4-2	+1	0	1	1	3	0

The columns are Date, Result, Opponent, Plus/Minus (explanation in a sec), Goals, Assist, Points, Shots, and Penalty Minutes.

For those of you who don't know hockey +/- is an interesting stat. It is a way to show how valuable you are to the team when you're on the ice. Do good things usually happen, or not-so-good things happen. Whenever you are on the ice and your team scores a goal you get a +1. Whenever you are on the ice and the opposing team gets a goal you get a -1. Then you add your plusses and minusses to get your +/- for the game. So I was out on the ice for the first goal, and then was on the bench for the rest of the goals, that equals +1. I think it is a really important stat for defensemen (which is where I play) since your main job is to keep the other team from scoring.

Anyway, it was a fun night. I'm feeling way better than I thought I would, but I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. Great to be back in the swing of things and great to be undefeated! Now, it's time for bed.

Read the whole post

Sports night

Whew! I had a nice day in the field. Lots of walking and my legs got a workout. And what should be on the table for tonight? A game in each of my sports leagues. I have a volleyball game in 40 minutes (6pm) and then my first hockey game of the season at 9:30. I'm thinking I'll be a little sore tomorrow.

Read the whole post

Hallo-when?

Edit: I don't post here anymore, check out my new blog.

Alright, I know it's way, way late, but here are a few pictures from Halloween.
As I've mentioned a few times before, my camera seems to be getting worse at taking pictures. Plus, it's never been that good at indoor pictures, so these aren't that great. Also, I don't have one of myself--but you're not missing much.

Steph went as a witch. Here's a picture of her mixing up a brew. (actually a pitcher of screwdrivers--I didn't have any)


I went as Stephanie's broom. Brown shoes, brown pants, brown sweater. Plus, I got a straw hat, cut it up so that the top looked a little like bristles, and then put some dust bunnies in the "bristles". And, we tied a dust pan to my leg. It wasn't very good and you're not missing anything by not seeing a picture.

The real fun came in the form of 5 other girls we went out with. A few had gone out the night before to market test their costumes and they had been a hit. They all went as old, retired Hooters girls. It was hilarious. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Here's old Emily helping old Ricarda with her makeup.


Here are the five fine ladies, showing off their backsides.


Everyone downtown (there were a ton of people) loved the costumes. And it didn't hurt that Emily got way into the act and was talking to nearly every person she came across. After the first couple bars we all started walking towards the Baxter Hotel where the Monster Ball (or whatever the party's name was) was going on. Most of us got there before too long, but two of the party took a little longer. After waiting for a while, maybe a half hour, watching the line for the party not move very quickly, and also watching all the drunk people, Steph and I decided to head home for the night. While walking back to our car we ran into the two straglers, Emily and Ricarda. They had talked to everyone, got their picture taken with bunches of people, danced along with a street band, and generally just had a good time. They were hilarious.

Anyway, it was a pretty fun night.

Read the whole post

Cheese?

So, I had a little "ice cream" on Friday. It was tasty, but it wasn't really ice cream, per se.

After work I headed over to the Albertson's grocery store. It isn't the one I usually go to, but it is more on the way home from work than the one I normally go to. I had a number of things to pick up, mainly milk. One thing I decided to get was some American cheese slices. I like to make grilled cheese (or toasted cheese if you're from NY) sandwiches with cream of tomato soup for lunch. I reached straight for the generic brand, but my hand was stayed by the label on the package. It read something like "Pastuerized Cheese Food Product". Yikes, that sounds even better than "Artificially Flavored Vanilla Ice Cream Dipped In Milk Chocolate Flavored Coating". I might as well be squirting Easy Cheese on my sandwiches.

Well, I wasn't to be taken in by that. I would go for the more expensive Kraft Singles, that proport to have a glass of milk in every slice. But lo! What is this on the package? "Pasteurized Process Cheese Food". That doesn't sound all that healthy at all. I should have moved over to the real cheese aisle at that very moment, but my fondness and determination for grilled cheese the way I had always had them won over me.

Since the "good" Kraft singles didn't seem to be any better than the crappy generic slices, I decided to go in between and get the Albertson's generic slices. Those are a step above the other generic.

Something I was just reading about today though is making me wonder even more. Kraft likes to talk about how healthy their Singles are because they have milk and calcium in every slice. I read an article here and then saw a letter from the FDA here talking about MPC, Milk Protein Concentrate.

The ingredient doesn't sound all that great. Not real milk but a milk byproduct. Not approved by the FDA. That letter was sent in 2002, I wonder if anything has happened since then. I can't wait to get home and look at the cheese I bought to see the ingredients. I may have to start making grilled cheese with real slices of cheese in the near future.

Read the whole post

Ice cream bars

A couple of weeks ago I watched the movie Super Size Me. Ever since then I've been slightly more conscious about what I've been putting in my body. I wouldn't say I've been on a health kick, but I've been pushing aside thoughts like "a quick lunch at Burger King is alright", or "those Totino's Party Pizza's would be tasty enough and they're only $1.33 a piece". (check out this review of Totino's delectable pizza pie)

I've started to think thoughts like "Maybe those pizza's are $1.33 for a reason, and thusly, DiGiorno's must be a little more expensive for a reason as well." I've also paid a little more attention to labels and descriptions of food in order to give myself clues as to the plausibility of it being good for me.

So anyway, it was a secretary's last day here at work today. She brought in some ice cream snacks for the office to say goodbye and thanks for 3 years. I'm never one to turn down ice cream so I had to partake in a little bit for myself. But when I grabbed an ice cream bar something on the label jumped out at me. It wasn't the name of the product, that was "North Star Ice Cream Bar" in big bold letters, which is perfectly fine. What caught my eye was the description underneath, which was as follows:

Artificially Flavored Vanilla Ice Cream Dipped In Milk Chocolate Flavored Coating

My favorite part was everything having to do with the word "Flavored". The more times the word "Flavored" pops up in the description of a product, the more dubious it becomes in my mind. The ice cream bar was talking to me: "You may think I am chocolate dipped ice cream, but really I'm only dipped in something that looks and tastes *like* chocolate."

It sure was tasty though.

Read the whole post