East Coast mentality in Utah

pics

2010-10-30T07:22:00.001-06:00

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Crazy

2010-10-30T07:15:00.001-06:00

There isn't room to move. Pics coming soon!

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I'm up

2010-10-30T04:59:00.001-06:00

And I'm on the Metro before it's light outside. The metro is already full of people going to the rally. Oh...and it's pretty cold out.

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Rally!

2010-10-29T13:27:00.001-06:00

So I know I haven't blogged in forever, and I owe posts on quiting my job and finding a new one...

But I'm going to the Rally to Restore Sanity in DC tomorrow!! I'll be blogging most of what i can including pics until my cell battery dies. Woo-Hoo!!

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Rabbits

2010-06-01T14:24:00.002-06:00

Not the furry animal with long ears and says "What's Up Doc?". I'm talking about when you're driving the person who, no matter how fast you're going, is dying to fly by you on the highway. You let them pass you, get about 1/2 mile ahead of you, then you get in behind them and match their speed. Any cop up ahead is going to bust them first, giving you time to slow down and avoid the ticket. That person is the rabbit. I've decided that this summer with as much driving as we're going to be doing I'm going to keep count of the number of rabbits successfully used to avoid tickets, and I started this past Memorial Day weekend. I got two in one trip from my work up to my brother Sam's house - that's only 40 minutes!

So what do you call those people (besides idiots)?

Official Summer 2010 Rabbit Count: 2

I know more than you think I do

2010-05-28T09:56:00.002-06:00

A few days ago I got a phone call from an organization trying to elicit money from me. The group was collecting on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Utah. I'm sure they were calling because we're so close to Memorial Day. Anyway, I politely let the caller go through his script and then I politely declined to give them any money right now. Then, what happened is I hope he went off script because if he was still on script then whoever wrote it should have something bad happen to him. Here's the conversation (paraphrased - it's not like I recorded it):

Caller: Don't you want to help the Vets?
Me: Of course, I just can't do it right now.
Caller: This money will go to help vets get off the street.
Me: I understand, but I'm going to have to say no.
Caller: But these vets died so you can be where you are today.
Me (amused): No they didn't.
Caller: Yes they did.
Me (annoyed): No, they really didn't.
Caller: Yes, they really did!
Me: (more annoyed): No, I'm telling you they didn't die so I could be where I am today.
Caller: You want to tell that to one of their faces?
Me (annoyed/yelling): IF THEY DIED THEN I CAN'T TALK TO THEM CAN I?
Caller: Good one. But vets still died for you.
Me (still annoyed): If they died, then why do they need my money to get them off the street? Are there dead bodies lying on the sidewalk somewhere?
Caller: Well, those one's didn't die.
Me: Right, so like I said, they didn't die so I could be where I am.
Caller: Some did.
Me (firm, not yelling/annoyed): But those aren't who you're collecting money for. The one's who died so I could be where I am fought in the Revolution in 1776, again against the British in 1812, and against the Germans in WWI and WWII. That was the last time a vet died so I could be where I am. Vets who have died since then have died in the service of their country, but not for me. I was never under any threat from Vietnam, nor from Iraq in the first Gulf War. The terrorists don't care about me as an individual, and I doubt the greater Salt Lake metro area is anywhere on their target list!
Caller: Maybe you just don't understand Vets, or maybe you're not a good American.
Me (completely pissed off and screaming): DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT I DO AND DON'T UNDERSTAND! MY GRANDFATHER WAS A VET, MY FATHER IS A VET, MY BROTHER IS A VET, MY FATHER-IN-LAW IS A VET, MY BROTHER-IN-LAW IS A VET, MY SISTER-IN-LAW IS A VET! THEY HAVE ALL SEEN COMBAT! AND DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION MY PATRIOTISM! I GREW UP ON MILITARY BASES MY ENTIRE LIFE, INCLUDING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!
Caller (yelling): WELL YOU DON'T KNOW ME, EITHER!
Me: I never said I did! But have you been living in Germany and taken the phone call that your grandfather has died, but your dad was deployed to Iraq, and when you tried to get in contact with him you were told "He's somewhere in Iraq, but we don't know where - we have to find him"? Have you ever had to get the International Red Cross involved to find your dad in a war zone so he could be extracted to attend his own father's funeral half-way around the world?
Caller (quiet, almost ashamed): No, I haven't.
Me (still yelling): Then shut the f**k up!

That's when I hung up the phone. I don't' think they'll be calling me again anytime soon.

I told my dad about the experience, and he told me that the group making these calls are bogus and scamming money from people. Go figure.

An open letter to Bob Bradley

2010-05-12T16:05:00.004-06:00

To: Bob Bradley, Head Coach USA Men's National Soccer Team
From: US Soccer Fans
RE: Charlie Davies

Coach,

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!?! How could you not at least invite Charlie Davies to training camp? He was involved in a very serious car crash, but has worked like a man possessed to overcome his injuries and rehab his body into playing shape. He has 1 month left before World Cup 2010 opens in Johannesburg. This guy has proved that 1 month could be all the difference between him at 75% now, and close to 100% for the tournament. I'd take Charlie Davies at 85-90% over some of these guys you invited to camp at 100% any day of the week. He's a proven player who is one of the best you have. At least invite him to camp! Even if he can't hack it and he doesn't make the final 23 man roster, you at least bring him to training camp! I would bring him into camp, let him get into game shape, and bring him off the bench in the second half. What a great luxury it would be to have a player such as Charlie Davies coming off the bench!

Coach, please don't make us fans suffer an even worse outing in South Africa than we had to endure in Germany back in 2006. The United States has 4.5% of the world's population to draw on for our soccer team. That's third only behind China and India. Brazil has 2.8%, and Germany has 1.2% - yet they account for 8 out of 18 World Cup championships. That's nearly 50%! Let's get serious about this and have a good showing (at least out of group play and into the knockout stage), or I'm sure that we won't be suffering with you as coach anymore.

With Much Anticipation:

US Soccer Fans

Getting back to it

2010-05-12T16:01:00.002-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Plenty has happened, stuff that my family has had to endure hearing me go on and on about. Stuff I could have been blogging about. What can I say? Some of the things got me so worked up that I actually exhausted myself to the point I didn't have the energy to blog about it (health care, the Arizona immigration law, the BP oil spill, British elections, etc.). I'm going to slowly start blogging again...don't say you weren't warned.

Garth Brooks

2009-10-15T09:42:00.002-06:00

Garth Brooks is coming out of "retirement"! I'm a HUGE fan of his. Everyone knew this day would come. He said when he stopped recording/touring full time that he was doing it to raise his daughters and he wanted to be a big part of their lives while they grew up; that he would come back if there was still a demand for him and his music. I guess he figures that he's done what he can and it's time to get back to music on a full-time basis. The first concert he does that's within driving distace: I'm there.

I'm so excited I could explode.

We're crippling our children

2009-10-13T13:34:00.003-06:00

No - not ME crippling MY children specifically (although yes, they are affected as well). I'm talking about society as a whole crippling our children socially and emotionally. I saw an article today on MSNBC (click here for the article) that was really a link to a New York Times article back in September. The article talks about letting our children do the things that we used to do ourselves and took for granted. Actually it talks about what we DON'T let our children do. When was the last time you let your kids go out without a master plan? Does anyone let their kids say "I'm going out to play" and just leave it at that?

What are we teaching our children by this? What we're not teaching our children is to be self-reliant or to have self-confidence. Think back to when you were a kid. You learned self-reliance and self-confidence by going out and engaging with the world. The size of your world depended on how old you were. At 5/6 years old I was allowed to ride my bike to my friend's house down the street, walk to school, and to the public library. At 10 I was allowed to freely wander the neighborhood (the "neighborhood" being a geographic layout specified by my parents beforehand). By 12 I was being dropped off at the mall to be with my friends and was allowed to go as far as my bike would take me - provided I was able to ride myself back before curfew. I learned how to make friends, resolve social conflicts, and navigate the world without relying on my parents to do it all for me. When I was a teenager and living in Europe my parents trusted me to cross international borders by myself. I was given the freedom to ride the trains and buses and go where I wanted. I was able to successfully purchase train/bus tickets, navigate around cities, and get back home - all without speaking much (or any) of the local language. There's no way I would have been able to do any of that if I had been as sheltered and protected as parents today treat their kids. I understand the want/need to protect them against the bad things of the world, but these things aren't any different from when I was a kid. Drugs, alcohol, child predators - they all existed when/where I grew up. Guess what? They existed when you grew up too. But by letting the "worst case scenario" dictate our actions we end up with children who, by the time they graduate high school and want to move on to college, aren't ready to survive and cope in the world by themselves.

We've been guilty of this ourselves, to an extent, but not anymore. I'm going to push my kids out the door and tell them to be home by a certain time. I want my kids to be ready when it comes time for them to deal with the world on their own. If you give in to the fear, then they'll never learn anything else. Read the article and don't give in to the fear.

Would you?

2009-08-07T22:13:00.002-06:00

He's a hero. They're all heros.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/08/07/dnt.dc.crash.witness.help.wjla

Friday Night Misadventures

2009-07-25T12:15:00.002-06:00

Sam and I decided last night to take a late night motorcycle ride. How late? We left my house at 11:30pm.

We stopped for gas and a Red Bull shortly after we left my house, and then rode up to Salt Lake City and just cruised around for a while. We got an exciting show from all the lightning, but it was warm and it wasn't raining. After cruising downtown a little bit, we ended up deciding to go up to the capital building. From up there you have a pretty good view of the city. We stopped on the east side and parked our motorcycles in a bus stop and just looked around a little and enjoyed being sprayed by the sprinklers, when suddenly we heard voices behind us. There's a trail head right there and some people were out taking a late night hike (at least that's what we're going to claim they were doing). We watched as these people came out from the trail and got into their car and drove off. We sat there for a couple of minutes looking at the trail head, when a car suddenly started and drove away. Now, we didn't see anyone get into this car. It's like they were sitting there watching us! WEIRD!!

We left the capital just as it was starting to rain. We thought we'd hit an IHOP or Denny's to sit and wait out the rain, and on our way it stopped raining. We continued to ride and decided to ride up and around the University of Utah campus. What a disaster. They're doing a TON of construction on the roads on campus. We tried cutting through on a street that led us past the Engineering School building. That road didn't lead anywhere, so we were backtracking back past the engineering building when we saw 3 Asian guys coming out. It's 12:30am on a Friday night/Saturday morning and there are 3 Asian guys coming out of the engineering building. We're not racist, and I'm married to an Asian woman - but something struck us as very funny about that.

We rode up and around the UofU hospital and then decided that since we had been thinking about stopping at an IHOP or Denny's earlier - we were hungry now and wanted to stop. We turned south on 1300 East and rode for a bit until we got to a place that Sam knew where there was an IHOP. We got there - AND IT WAS CLOSED! I've never seen an IHOP that wasn't open 24 hours before. We couldn't believe it. We rode west on 4500 South and stopped at the Denny's on 45th South just off of I-15. Just as we got in there it started raining again, but hard this time. We sat in Denny's eating our food and enjoying just relaxing. At 1:30am the people started leaving the clubs, so Denny's got a bit busy. There were some 40-something women who were trying to dress and act like they were in their 20's. Unfortunately they were seated right behind us so we couldn't make fun of them too much. Then we watched as a guy came in by himself and was seated in a booth. Now, if you're going to go to Denny's by yourself at 1:30am - sit at the counter. That's what it's for, and you don't look like a loner/loser. We couldn't tell what it was, but there was something not right about this guy. He was REALLY messed up. It turns out that he was completely drunk. When his food came he tried to put some fries in his mouth, and missed! He was so drunk he couldn't feed himself! He then started putting mustard on his hamburger. Half the bottle. It was strange watching him put that much mustard on a hamburger. Then, he closed the burger up and put the other half bottle of mustard all over his fries. Without saying anything I slowly reached over to the bottle of mustard on our table and hid it behind the ketchup. Sam started laughing because he saw me do it. Just then, another 2 guys came around the corner and one was holding up the other one because he was so drunk he couldn't stand up. They turned around and the drunk one swung his arm and was just inches from hitting Sam in the head. We were wondering if he was trying to take a swipe at Sam or not, when the waiter asked if we were OK and if the drunk guy was trying to start anything with us. We said we didn't know what he was doing, and the waiter told us how the drunk guy had been cussing out the entire staff and a bunch of customers on the other side of the restaurant.

We left once it looked like the rain was stopped enough to ride. Sam went back to his house and I headed back to mine. Just as I got to the corner of Redwood Rd. and 4500 South, the rain started back up again in a major way. I poured on me from 4500 South to 7800 South. After that it just merely rained, but at least it wasn't a torrential downpour. All I could do the whole way home was laugh.

I was soaked and tired, but it was a great night!

Camping

2009-07-20T11:52:00.003-06:00

I know - I haven't posted anything here in quite some time. It's been hard for me the last couple of months to get the energy to blog. It's time I started again, so I'll begin with a recap of my camping trip with Sam this past weekend.

What. A. Mess. I haven't had a more messed up camping trip with Sam ever in our lives. Sam and I go camping a few times a year and we have a routine. He and I both have a couple of storage bins full of our camping gear so that when we decide to go, we just grab the bins, throw some ice, drinks and food into a cooler, and go. Friday afternoon we decided to go and take his 2 kids and my 2 youngest. A few phone calls between us while we were getting ready confirmed that who was bringing what food to share, and who was bringing what equipment.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we got a bit of a late start, and got to the place where we normally camp - only to find that the campsite had been, for lack of a better term, destroyed. All the trees in the area were uprooted and downed and the whole site was one big wasteland. I think the rain and storms we had here in Utah in June caused the mess. Since we couldn't camp there, we set off up a hill to another site we knew of. Sam and I were driving separately (we had the kids remember) and he went up to check it out while I stayed down on the main trail. He came down to report that the site was OK. That's when we both heard the sound of fluids draining quickly from my truck. Large portions of the trail had been washed away in the June storms, and it had been a fairly bumpy ride. We both thought I had broken something and was leaking gas/coolant/something important. It turns out that one of the 5 gallon drink coolers had overturned on one of the bumps and was leaking lemonade all over the back of the truck. Not cool. Now everything in the back of the truck was covered with a sticky film of lemonade. Luckily all the sleeping bags/pillows/bags were in the toolbox, safe from the mess. Sam noted how everything was covered, and how some of my stuff looked like his tent. That's when he realized that he didn't bring his tent.

Actual conversation on the phone between Sam and myself while getting ready to go:

ME: "Hey - do I need to bring my tent?"
SAM: "No, I'm bringing mine. The kids will sleep in it and we'll sleep outside under the stars."
ME: "OK, cool. I'll leave mine at home."

So now the kids were destined to sleep under the stars with us.

We got to the top and started unpacking the trucks. That's when Sam realized he had also left his camping chairs at home. Luckily my mom had left a couple in the truck from when she went to Girl's Camp, so we had some extras. Then Sam found that his chainsaw was leaking 2-stroke gas/oil mixture all over his sleeping bag and pillow. This was clearly not Sam's finest hour of camping. We got everything else unpacked and Sam started getting the chainsaw ready to cut firewood. He had meant to bring the new chain, but had forgotten it, so he had a dull chain. The chain kept slipping off and it took him quite a few minutes to get it to stay on. Once the firewood was cut, we started building the fire - only to find that neither of us had a lighter. Sam had his magnesium stick and I had a pocketknife, so we were able to get the fire started with those.

Once it started to get dark, I reached in my bin for my propane lantern only to find that it was smashed. Apparently the bumpy ride in on the washed out trail got a little rough and the glass globe couldn't take it. Sam laughed at me and pulled his lantern out. His is kept in some kind of foamy protective pouch and I made a comment about how nice his lantern condom was. He then proceeded to put his lantern together - and cracked his glass globe when he overtightened it. We were still able to use it, but it was just another thing that happened.

The kids, meanwhile, were full of the usual kid stuff while camping: bug bites, hitting each other in the head/face/eyes with sticks (or in Michael's case hitting his cousin Rachael in the forehead with what can only be described as a log).

Overall it wasn't a bad trip, but Sam and I are looking forward to going back out on our own without the kids just to prove to ourselves that we can do this properly - without looking like the Three Stooges (I'm Moe by the way).

Quick Hits

2009-04-21T23:09:00.001-06:00

1. Great game by Ray Allen of the Celtics last night!

2. Celtics are done in the playoffs. Powe is now out with a torn ACL. There are just too many injuries right now. They'll probably get past the Bulls, but there's no way they're getting to the Finals.

3. I can't believe how much of a Facebook junkie I've become. It's like my crack. The site isn't working properly right now, and I have the shakes!

4. I REALLY need to get to bed earlier.

'Night everyone!

You have to watch this!!!

2009-04-15T12:28:00.004-06:00

If you haven't seen the YouTube video of the older British lady singing on Britan's Got Talent: Watch This!

April 15th

2009-04-15T11:47:00.004-06:00

With respects to Paul Begala who wrote this as a commentary on cnn.com (originally found here). I feel exactly what he writes:

Happy Patriots' Day. April 15 is the one day a year when our country asks something of us -- or at least the vast majority of us.

For those who wear a military uniform, those who serve the rest of us as policemen and firefighters and teachers and other public servants, every day is patriots' day. They work hard for our country; many risk their lives -- and some lose their lives.

But for the rest of us, the civilian majority, our government asks very little. Except for April 15. On this day, our government asks that we pay our fair share of taxes to keep our beloved country strong and safe.

Freedom isn't free. That's what the courageous World War II veterans of the American Legion taught me back in Texas Boys State decades ago. That phrase had special meaning for them. Those guys had seen buddies blown apart at Anzio or Guadalcanal.

I grew up in a different era. There was no draft, and while I have friends and family members who joined the military, most of my peers, like me, opted for the security and prosperity of the private sector.

This country has showered me with the blessings of liberty. So what do I owe my country in return? Paying my fair share of taxes, it seems, is the least I can do. Thanks to President Obama and the Democratic Congress, 95 percent of Americans will get a tax cut this year. No one -- not even the wealthiest 1 percent -- will have to pay higher income taxes until 2011.

So why are a bunch of Fox News clowns and right-wing cranks hosting "tea parties" all over the country? The Boston Tea Party, in case the clods at Fox didn't know it, protested "taxation without representation." Note the second word: without. The goofballs tossing tea bags today have representation. They voted in the election; they lost.

That a bunch of overpaid media millionaires would lead a faux-populist revolt is comical. They somehow held their populist instincts in check as George W. Bush and the Republicans cut taxes on the idle rich and put the screws to the working stiffs.

Bush's tax policies were a godsend to the Paris Hilton class, but they sent the country on the road to bankruptcy and helped ruin the economy. But now that we the people have decided to set things right, now that we've hired Obama to fix the mess conservatives created, now they're protesting?

Give me a break. Instead of tossing tea bags for the cameras, the Fox phonies ought to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There they would find better, braver men who have truly sacrificed for their country. They deserve nothing but the best -- not the shameful and shoddy conditions they endured during the Bush administration.

You want something to protest? How 'bout protesting how little we give back to our veterans? Or how 'bout protesting that the entire budget of the National Cancer Institute (where government researchers battle a disease that will strike half of all men and a third of all women) is 0.03 percent of what we gave the bandits at American International Group alone? Oh, but veterans benefits and cancer research might cost money. It might require -- dare I say it? -- paying taxes.

If the whiners at Fox News want to advertise their selfishness, they are free to do so. But please don't dress it up as patriotism. Patriotism is putting your country ahead of yourself -- which is the precise opposite of what the tea party plutocrats are doing.

Do you sense a theme?

2009-03-14T22:10:00.001-06:00

Watch for Motorcycles

2009-02-19T19:12:00.002-07:00

Yes, some motorcycle riders are egotistical, speeding, jerks who have a death wish. Most are good people who just enjoy riding - much like you may enjoy hiking or anything else you like to do. I've commented about this before, but with the weather getting warmer (or about to get warmer) I wanted to take a minute to plead for my life. PLEASE watch what you're doing while driving whatever car/truck/stripped-down-version-of-a-military-combat-vehicle you may be in. Check your mirrors. USE YOUR FREAKING TURN SIGNALS. The car manufacturers didn't put that little stick on the left side of the steering wheel because they thought it would look good. For all that is good and right in the world, put down the stupid cell phone. If you have the OnStar hands free option in your vehicle, fine. If you use a bluetooth or some other hands free device - OK. Do not text/email or anything else with your phone that requires you to use your hands and take your eyes off the road. Remember, if you hit me - I'm dead. You'll have a good sized dent in your bumper. Please don't kill me.

Great Trip!

2009-02-18T12:33:00.002-07:00

Marlo and I went to Maryland over the weekend for a friend's wedding. I can't believe I let it be so long between visits! I'm not going to give a play-by-play description of the trip. Instead, I'm going to focus on a couple of high points:

1. Taking Anna, Tim, Kimba, Darcy, Liz, Cashaw, Dave, and the rest of the group out to dinner the night before the wedding.

2. Meeting Tim. Tim is Anna's new husband, and he was a great sport about a lot of things the entire time. Dude - you're welcome to come on the sandwich run anytime.

3. Seeing everyone from church again. I made the comment to Marlo that it was like being in "Cheers". We went where everyone knew our names, and they were all glad we came.

4. Dunkin Donuts. If you've never had Dunkin Donuts, and you're thinking to yourself "Krispy Kremes are good" - go shoot yourself in the face. Dunkin Donuts are pure heroin, while Krispy Kremes are like huffing paint in your garage.

5. Being asked/pleaded with/begged to stay in Maryland and move back there. It's always nice to know you're wanted and liked somewhere.

They say you can never go home again. I don't know what moron first said that - but they were wrong. Dead wrong. We just proved over the past 4 days that you can go home again, and things can be the exact same way you remember them. So with that said, I say to Anna, Tim, Kimba, Cashaw, Dave, Liz, Mary, and everyone else: we love you just the way you are. Keep on being you!

Layoffs

2009-01-30T15:26:00.002-07:00

We've had a lot of layoffs at work lately. Luckily I still have my job, but I've watched as people I respected and cared about were let go. It's hard watching your friends walk out knowing the stress they'll be under to find a good job in this crappy economy. I feel kind of guilty.

The problem with the layoffs is that every group is getting cut - but the workload remains the same. Everyone's being asked to do more with less. The problem is that over the past couple of weeks we've had other groups try to push their work onto us. They say that "Person "X" used to do this, but they're gone now and we don't have the manpower to do it - so you have to." Hey - my group just lost 50% of our people, and we were already understaffed. What makes them think that I have the time and manpower to do their jobs? We're all under the gun. I'm tired of lazy people who won't take ownership of their own responsibilities.

This isn't easy for anyone. If you do your job, and I do mine, then everything will get done.

100 Things

2009-01-30T15:20:00.002-07:00

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables (I grew a tomato plant when I was a kid)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not sick.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagra Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to truly be satisfied.
38. Seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served in a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies (I bought them though)
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt (once – for Marlo)
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Been to the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the paper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had Chicken pox.
89. Saved someone's life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby (well – as much as possible for a man)
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (gross)
97. Been involved in a lawsuit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

Looks like I need to visit Italy...

Long Time...

2008-12-29T12:58:00.002-07:00

Wow - it's been a while since I've written anything. I'm such a slacker!

So for Christmas we took the kids to Disneyland. We took the whole week and spent a day in San Diego to see my grandmother, and then spent Tuesday - Friday in Anaheim (we drove back on Saturday). When I say "we" took the kids, I mean my family, my sister and her family, my brother and his family, and my parents. 17 people in all. It was crazy, and it was fun, but most importantly, it was NICE. There was no family drama, no fights, nothing that usually happens when the whole family gets together. Yes, the kids got a little cranky the last day, but that's what happens when they don't get enough sleep. I'm not posting any pictures of the event, because everyone else will take care of that soon enough. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed last week and that I'm looking forward to whatever we do in 2 years.

Air Force game

2008-11-18T14:43:00.002-07:00

So last weekend I took a road trip with Sam, my dad, and his friend Mike. We drove the 8 hours to the Air Force Academy for the BYU vs. Air Force football game. The trip was GREAT! We left at 9am Friday morning, and had perfect weather for driving except for 45 minutes or so while going through Vail in Colorado. Vail was cold with ice and snow everywhere, so it was pretty slow going.

Once we got to Colorado Springs, we checked into the Academy Hotel and then went to a steakhouse for dinner. The next morning we went on a tour of the AFA courtesy of Mike, who taught there back in his Air Force days. After the tour we went to a tailgate party where Dad, Sam, and Mike did most of the cooking. I helped out a little bit, but it was mostly them. Once we were stuffed, we went to our seats in the stadium and watched 6 cadets parachute into the stadium, then the cadet corps marched into the stadium, followed by a flyover of 3 F-15's. Those 3 came in low and fast, and just at the end of the stadium they turned on the afterburners and you could feel the heat hitting you in the face. It was AWESOME!! The game was great, and BYU pulled it out in the end by a couple of touchdowns, but not before Air Force had us scared that they might pull it out.

The drive home on Sunday was much the same as the drive there, except this time there was no bad weather through Vail, and it was perfect the entire trip. We're already making plans to go again in 2 years, and I'll probably bring Krystina with me next time.

5 Things

2008-11-11T13:37:00.003-07:00

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Working in New York City
2. Struggling to pay bills
3. Living with my parents (see number 2)
4. Looking for an apartment (see number 3)
5. Learning how to be a dad

5 things on my "To-Do" list today:
1. Work
2. Set Fantasy Football team
3. haze new guy at work
4. spend 5 quality minutes with kids
5. Go to scouts

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Brownies
2. Peanut Butter Cups
3. chips
4. cereal
5. Popcorn

5 things I'd do if I was a millionaire:
1. Pay off the house
2. Take my kids to Europe to see where I have lived (with a nanny of course!!)
3. Take care of my extended family
4. Set up college funds for the kids
5. retire

5 places I've lived:
1. SHAPE, Belgium
2. Chicago, IL
3. Gaithersburg, MD
4. Kaiserslautern, Germany
5. West Point, NY

5 jobs I've had:
1. Security guard
2. Daycare worker(you know, actually taking care of kids instead of just reading about it)
3. Pizza Delivery
4. computer helpdesk tech
5. Sr. Systems Admin

5 People I tag:

1. Sam
2. Charissa
3. Amber
4. anyone else who wants to
5. nobody who doesn't want to

Politics and Family

2008-11-06T23:28:00.003-07:00

I'm tired of hearing about how people think this country is going to die or explode just because Obama was elected. I've heard more racist and ignorant comments in the past couple of days to last me a lifetime. Marlo's brother is no exception. I called him an idiot in a comment on her blog for something he said. Marlo's sister chastised me by saying:

"My brother is not an idiot... he's a patriot who deserves his own opinion. I take exception with an accusation against a Marine who happens to be my brother that is unfounded."

Wait, so only people in the military are patriots? Or only people in the military get to have opinions? Or is it because he's a patriot I can't have a negative opinion on him or something he said? Or can I not have a negative opinion of him or what he said because he's in the military? Just because he's a patriot and/or in the military doesn't mean his opinion is any more valid than mine or anyone else's. I don't question his patriotism, just as nobody had better question mine.

What he said wasn't really an opinion. Does he really think the country is going to die now? It was an overly melodramatic statement from someone who wouldn't have been happy with a Democrat being elected, no matter who it was. He's like a robot who's been programmed that Republican = Good, and Democrat = Bad no matter what. There's no reasoning or thought process behind it. So while he has his opinion, I have mine. If he's not an idiot fine, but he sure did say a pretty idiotic thing then.

I've said that people in Utah would vote for any candidate the Republicans put out there. Johnny is the exact same way. I read a short fictional story where Jesus Christ came back to earth and ran for President. In the book He ran as a 3rd party candidate, but I swear there are people in this country who, if He ran for the Democratic party, wouldn't vote for him just because they don't like Democrats.

If I offended Johnny or Charissa then I apologize. While Johnny may be "on his work-ups to deploy to Iraq. He's got a little more Oo-Rah! in him than normal." I've been dealing with uneducated, ignorant, racist, slack-jawed moron hypocrites here in Utah, and I've had enough of it. As much as some people are disappointed in who won the election, I'm even more disappointed in the reactions I've seen and heard.

Guess what everybody? He is going to be your president too. He's going to be your Commander in Chief whether you like it or not. Everyone who's in the military will have to call him "Sir", and the rest of us will have to call him "Mr. President". The world will not end. Obama is not going to be the end of our country. I happen to think that he's going to be good for the country. He's our 44th President of the United States. The absolute hate against Obama has to stop. So does all the melodrama.

VOTE!!

2008-11-04T15:27:00.002-07:00

If you have already voted: Thank You.

If you haven't: what the hell are you doing reading an internet blog? If you have time to read this, you have time to vote.

If you don't take part in the process, you have no right to complain about things later.

I AM

2008-10-29T15:05:00.004-06:00

OK Tiana, I'll bite.

I AM:

I am loyal and strong
I wonder how much longer I can get away with it
I hear the call of the wild
I see the future
I want my friends close by me
I am loyal and strong

I pretend it doesn't bother me
I feel I am invincible
I touch the immensity of space
I worry about my children
I cry because people suffer
I am loyal and strong

I understand it's all temporary
I say I can overcome anything
I dream of living where I'm happy
I try to please those close to me
I hope you do to
I am loyal and strong

Try it out for yourself and see what you think...if needs be I can tag you so you can feel obligated to do it. It's pretty therapeutic and uplifting. So if you are taking the time to read this long post, will you please do an "I Am" poem on your blog and let me know so I can come read it. Here is the format below.

I AM:

I am (two special characteristics you have)
I wonder (something you are especially curious about)
I hear (an imaginary sound)
I see (an imaginary sight)
I want (an actual desire)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

I pretend (something you actually pretend to do)
I feel (a feeling about something imaginary)
I touch (an imaginary touch)
I worry (something that really bothers you)
I cry (something that makes you very sad)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

I understand (something you know is true)
I say (something you believe in)
I dream (something you actually dream about)
I try (something you really make an effort about)
I hope (something you actually hope for)
I am (first line of the poem repeated)

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-09T13:18:00.001-06:00

Today is Michael's 5th birthday, and I want to tell him Happy Birthday, and that I'm very proud of how big he's getting.

UNCENSORED

2008-10-03T23:26:00.002-06:00

Decision '08

2008-10-03T13:53:00.006-06:00

Why do people want to vote for someone who's "just like us"? I don't want Joe Six-Pack running the country! I want someone with an education. Someone who knows that we live in a global society. I don't want a "hockey mom" to be Vice-President, especially when the President is mere seconds away from a heart attack. I definitely don't want 4 more years of the same lame assed bullshit that's been going on. Someone tell me, what's gone right in the past 8 years? Nothing has gone right! Nothing! Real Estate market collapse. Wall Street needs to be "rescued". Banks failing. The "Patriot" Act takes away basic rights and liberties. Fuel prices so high, people have to make the tough decision between gas in the car to go to work, or other bills. None of these things are good.

Let's think about what this country NEEDS.

This country needs a President who can repair our global image. Oh, and for those of you mouth breathing, U-S-A chanting, Bubba's out there - yes it IS important what other countries think about us. How can we be a global leader, when the rest of the globe won't follow us? This country needs people in all levels of government who truly does what is best for the country. We need less ignorance. I can't believe how many people out there STILL think that Obama is Muslim. We need leaders who are in touch with reality. John McCain said that the US economy was strong and stable. A week later he was pushing hard for a $700 BILLION "rescue" package for Wall Street, so that our economy wouldn't be ruined. He also claimed that he had seen this coming for a couple of months now. If you saw it coming, why did you say the economy was strong and stable? Asshole. He's either a massive liar, or completely out of touch with the real world? Guess which one I think he is? Here's a hint - I don't think he's lying. I just think he's out of touch with what is happening in the real world. Does he know the price of basic groceries (milk, bread, eggs, etc)? I doubt it.

What this country needs we don't seem to have. Our choices are between not great but not terrible, and awful that borders on Titanic sized disaster. What this country needs is a Franklin Roosevelt, an Abraham Lincoln, or a Thomas Jefferson. Each man wasn't a saint, and they had their vices and faults. But each of them did what they truly thought was best for the country, and that's what we need right now.

It doesn't matter who I vote for, or even if I vote at all for President in just over a month. I live in Utah where they'll elect whoever the Republicans throw out there just because he's a Republican. Hitler could be found alive, register with the Republican party, run for office, and Utah would vote for him. If I vote for McCain, I'll just be another one of the sheep here who will vote for him and award him this state's 5 electoral college votes. If I vote for Obama, it won't matter really, because McCain is going to win Utah. My vote will have the same effect in the election even if I voted for Bugs Bunny. This isn't to say that I won't vote - I will. I'll vote because I actually do believe that you have no right to complain if you don't take part in the process, even the little bit it takes to show up and vote. I also do really believe that it's our responsibility as citizens. I just don't have to like my choices.

8 Things

2008-10-02T11:35:00.004-06:00

8 T.V. Shows I love to watch:

1. The Office
2. Scrubs
3. CSI (original - not the spin offs)
4. Mythbusters
5. Numb3rs
6. Lost
7. Heroes
8. Sports

8 Things that happened yesterday:

1. Worked
2. Watched Cubs get beat :-(
3. Rode the motorcycle
4. watched TV with Marlo
5. ate dinner
6. ummm...how boring is my life right now?
7. no really, it's pretty boring
8. if I were a TV series, I'd be cancelled

8 Favorite places to eat

1a. Tucano's
1b. Happy Sumo
3. Macaroni Grill
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Chinese Gourmet (Orem)
6. Red Robin
7. Dave & Busters
8. Outback

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. George W. Bush's removal from office
2. Vacation time
3. getting a raise at work
4. watching The Office every Thursday
5. cooler weather
6.
7. SEE ITEMS 6-8 UNDER THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY
8.

8 Things on my wish list:

1. Universal health care
2. Chicago Cubs win World Series
3. Trip to Europe
4. Politicians that truly put the Country first - not just talk about it
5. Tarzan divorcing Jane
6. Ankle transplant
7. lose weight
8. to see my friends

I don't tag anyone.

Sick

2008-09-21T22:50:00.002-06:00

Me: "Hi, my name is Cris, and I'm addicted to football."

Group: "Hi Cris."

I'm not looking to be cured. I have an admitted illness, and I like it. Football is my crack. I worship at the alter of the NFL between September and February. The Super Bowl is my Christmas, and the draft is my Easter. When I hear the theme music to Monday Night Football the hair on the back of my neck stands up. The NFL Sunday Ticket is the only reason that I subscribe to DirecTV over either Dish or cable. That being said...

I just finished watching the Bears' game against Tampa Bay, and I'm sick. The Bears were up by 10 with 3:30 to go in the game, and found a way to blow it and lose in overtime. Let me just say:

I HATE the prevent defense. All it prevents is winning. Get your defensive backs up closer to the receivers and don't let them have every 15 yard pass they try to throw. Also, please, for all that is good and right in the football universe, put some pressure on the freaking quarterback! You got the lead by playing aggressive defense and forcing the other team into mistakes. Dance with the one that brung you and don't let your foot off their neck - drive it into them even harder damn it!!

Ugh...I feel like I've been kicked in the gut. Horrible loss. Just horrible.

Normal

2008-09-21T11:13:00.003-06:00

I don't know what "normal" is, but you are more normal when she's not around. Why is that? It's no secret how I feel about her. That hasn't changed and probably won't. I can't stand the very thought of her, and I won't apologize for it. Why does she feel the need to control every aspect of your life? Why do you let her? Be a man and reclaim your testicles from the glass display case she keeps them in.

AARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

2008-09-18T20:58:00.009-06:00

You ever have one of those days? A day that starts off fine, but very quickly the wheels fall off and the next thing you know it's noon and you feel like you've been at work for 12 hours already. I had that day today.

It started with one of the members of the web team getting upset that we were giving him a little good natured ribbing. Nothing mean, but apparently he was getting caught in the middle of an issue, and was tired of playing man-in-the-middle. He had put in a trouble ticket that had two separate and unrelated items in it, and it wasn't very clear. He's usually quite clear in his requests, so we were giving him a hard time about it. He wasn't in the mood. Then I had half the messaging team at my desk asking me why their test server wasn't working right, and that they had a client breathing down their necks because it wasn't responding the way they wanted it to. IT'S A FREAKING TEST SERVER!!! Who cares if it's down? Test servers have a 24 hour response time, except on weekends when they're next business day. There's no real expectation on test servers, yet here were these two wondering why I wasn't working on their problem. Oh, and they have two servers in a cluster, and only one was down. The other server was still up and working, just like the cluster was designed to do.

After working on it for a few minutes, I had to ask Derek, one of the Windows admins, to look at it while I got on yet another conference call. This one was because one of our contractor groups thought the website they're designing for us wasn't working right because of the network. We have a load balancer that allows us to run the website off of multiple servers so that one server doesn't get overloaded, or in case one of the servers goes down the site stays up. They were demanding that we check the configuration of the load balancer because they were seeing that when they went to the website, they kept getting the same server over and over again, and never the others. I looked at the internet server logs, and there was internet traffic going to each of the servers equally (as it is supposed to be). We told them that because they were all coming into the web site from their company, the external source IP address they were coming from would be the same every time. When the load balancer sees repeated connections coming from the same IP address, it keeps that session alive ON THE SAME SERVER. It took over an hour to get them to believe us, and it only happened when I emailed them the server logs. We're all pretty sure it's because they have some really crappy code, but they don't want to hear or believe that. This was all before lunch.

This afternoon it didn't get any better. There's a team of IT guys who's job it is to monitor our Biztalk messaging environment. The team lead is a brown-nosing suck up bastard who will smile to your face, all while sticking a knife into your back. He's also a big name dropper. In case you don't know what that is, he constantly mentions how he was talking with the CIO, or the Director of IT, and all he has to do is mention something to them and he can have his way. I hate that. He's not even a manager, but he thinks that he has all this power and influence. Anyway, he's got some scheme cooked up where he thinks that he's going to take his team from monitoring Biztalk, to monitoring every server our company has around the world. He wants to turn his little group of 3 into a global Network Operations Center. They can't even monitor the little they do have. Half the time it takes a sys admin to let them know when something isn't working right, and they never have a clue. So he's got this vendor in to set up a "global data farm" where information and stats on all the servers can be kept and reports run against it in a moment's notice. Sounds good, right? So today he tells me that they're going to be ordering 4 new servers (big ones) and that they'll be needing SAN storage space - a lot of it. I just started laughing. That was all I could do. I told him it wasn't going to happen. He got all defensive and told me that the CIO and Director of IT (he used their real names) have already approved the purchase and that they told him he could have the SAN space. I told him that they could approve the moon to be full 3 weeks out of every month, but that didn't mean it was going to happen. You see, we don't have any space in our current data center for new servers at the moment. We have physical floor space, but we don't have a rack to put the servers in, and no power to run them with. A new rack isn't a big deal, especially if it's coming out of someone else's budget. We're currently working on amending our contract with the hosting site to get more power allocated to us, but we're not there yet. As far as the SAN space is concerned, he can't use what we don't have. They would have to buy more SAN disks, which is the most expensive data storage you can get. When I mentioned these details he wanted to know why I hadn't told him any of this over the past couple of weeks when they were putting the project together. This is when I got mad. HE NEVER ASKED!! I'm not a mind reader! He never once said that they were going to be wanting to order new hardware. We thought they were going to re-task a couple of existing servers. He tried getting mad back at me for not following up with him and making sure that they weren't going to need new servers. That's not my job!! Whoever is leading a project is responsible for checking with the sys admins if new hardware is going to be required. They're also responsible for letting us know ahead of time when they're going to be needing us to build servers or get other things done for them. We're constantly getting hit on Thursday afternoons with:

- "So is everything ready for our live deployment on Monday morning?"

- "Umm...no."

- "Why not?

- "Because we have no FREAKING idea what the hell you're talking about."

- "Well, we've committed to the client to have this in production by Monday."

I'm tired of business sales people writing checks that my team's asses have to cover. Especially when they don't even bother to tell us about it.

So, yes, I was cranky this evening when I came home. I can't take another day like today. Tomorrow had better be a nice quiet day.

FIRED!!!

2008-09-18T20:58:00.003-06:00

No, not me. A couple of weeks ago my boss got fired. I haven't mentioned it because, well...I don't know why. So, I'm the Sr. Systems Administrator at work. There are 4 other admins, 2 Windows admins and 2 Unix admins. My boss is/was the Regional Data Center Manager. Our region is North America. Now that the table is set:

I went to lunch with a couple of guys at work. We had finished eating and were just sitting around talking about sports and how much we didn't want to go back to the office, when my phone rang. When I looked at the caller ID it was the "big boss" (my boss's boss) back in Boston. Try saying that three times fast! Anyway, I thought I was about to get in trouble because before lunch I had just had it out with a couple of stupid web developers over something they wanted, but couldn't have. They wanted to open access to our internal admin server from the internet so they wouldn't have to use VPN to get in! Oh, HELL NO! Sorry, I digress. He wasn't calling to yell at me. He wanted to know what I was doing and who I was with. I let him know I was at lunch with a few guys from the office. He wanted specific names. Then he asked if I was at a table and could walk away, or if I was in a car. I told him I was sitting at a table and could get up. He told me, very firmly, to walk away from the table. As soon as I was outside he let me know that they had just fired my boss, Brett. After my shock, we had a quick discussion about what needed to be done right away. Brett knew a dozen ways into the network and he wanted to make sure that we locked them all down. He told me that he was sorry to impact my lunch, but that I had to get back to the office right away. He was getting on a plane in a couple of hours, but he'd be available before then if I needed anything.

The next day he was in the office letting us know what had happened. It was inappropriate email, and misuse of company computers - none of it porn. I know, but I won't say specifically what it was. He spent the day here in Utah, then went back to Boston on Friday. I've been defacto manager ever since. I can't approve budget items, but all technical decisions get run past me first. I've been on more conference calls the past two weeks than in the whole 18 months I've been working there.

They finally posted the job opening late last week, and I applied for the position. It's the next logical step in my career path, and heaven knows I could use the extra money in my paycheck. For two weeks I've been the first and last one people go to, and it's not worth it without the extra pay - it's really not. The only good that can come from the past couple of weeks, is that it would show upper management that I'm able to handle the position.

So if you're out there reading this pray for me to get the job, or at least pray that they find someone else soon so I can go back to my regular job.

10 quick thoughts on the past couple of weeks in football

2008-09-16T20:58:00.003-06:00

OK, with apologies to Peter King who writes for Sports Illustrated, here are some of my quick thoughts about the last couple of weeks of football - both NCAA and Pro:

1. To the San Diego Chargers and the University of Washington: quit whining already. Yes, you both feel like the referees cost you each a game. It happens! Each of you still had the opportunity to win the game or force overtime. You can't let one play define your seasons.

2. To the Denver Broncos and BYU: you both got lucky. We still will wait to see what Denver does, but BYU rebounded nicely with a 59-0 win over UCLA.

3. Is it just me? I'm having a really hard time figuring out who in the NFL is good, and which teams I just think may be good. I know who's bad (Kansas City, Miami).

4. I think USC could beat 30% of the NFL teams right now. Oakland, Kansas City, Miami, Detroit, San Francisco, Houston, probably St. Louis. All of those teams would lose to USC on a neutral field.

5. Enough already with the NCAA polls. I actually don't mind the polls. They're kind of fun. What I don't like is that the polls first come out before the season starts. Ohio St, Auburn, and Michigan all started the season WAY overrated. The polls should start after week 4. Give teams a chance to establish an identity before we start ranking them.

6. Tom Brady: ouch.

7. The Bears' defense looks like it did 2 years ago. If the offense starts to figure things out - they could be scary good.

8. I'm biased, since I'm a Bears fan!

9. I'm 2-0 in each of my two fantasy football leagues, and have led each league in scoring each week. I'll probably lose in the first round of the playoffs!

10. Non-football note: The Chicago Cubs are definitely on a roll baby! This is our year!

The Accident - Part 3: Thank You

2008-09-11T15:50:00.003-06:00

OK - this will be my last post about the accident. This isn't really about the accident, so much as I want to say "Thank You".

To: Marlo, Krystina, Rebekah, Michael Kendra, Lewis, Sam, Dad, Angel, Wayne, our entire ward's Young Men's program, and anyone else who's helped me or my family.

I am a pain in the neck, and I know it. I really try hard not to burden people, but sometimes it's just unavoidable. Thank you to everyone who has helped work in my yard, carried something for me, run and gotten me something to eat or drink, or had to hear me say "I can't right now, my leg hurts too much". That last one was more for Marlo and the kids than anyone else. They hear it more often.

Thank you to our current ward. During the past winter our driveway was shoveled or plowed at least 6 times by the Young Men. Our Elder's Quorum carried and stacked a whole cord of wood into my back yard. I had called my brother and dad over to do it, but when my neighbor across the street saw what was going on, he made a couple of phone calls and 10 people showed up. The whole thing was done in 20 minutes. I can't get my kids to put their shoes on in 20 minutes.

Thank you for at least outwardly showing that it doesn't bother you. I know people have better things to do with their time than work on someone else's yard or home. I know how it looks when I ask Marlo or one of the kids to get me a drink when I'm 10feet from the kitchen and they're on the the other side of the house. No one can really know how bad I feel when Dad, or Lewis, or Sam come over to help with something around the house, and I sit in a chair while watching them work.

So just know that I realize that I'm a pain, and a liability to have around. Also realize that I appreciate so much everything that everyone does for me.

Thank You.

The Accident - Part 2: The Mental Side

2008-09-07T22:57:00.003-06:00

So I've posted about what physically happened during, and after the accident. Marlo reminded me that I still don't have a clear picture of those first few weeks afterwards, and that I left a lot of things out, or glossed over other things. Personally, I think that it's my mind blocking things out so I won't remember them.

After the accident, I was pretty bad off mentally. I mentioned in part 1 how I was scared of the dark, scared to be alone, and would freak out whenever I saw a crash scene on TV. I'm proud to say that I'm no longer afraid of the dark. I've always wondered why I suddenly reverted back to a scared 2 year old as soon as the lights went out. I'm willing to chalk it up to a combination of two things. The first is that I had a pretty bad concussion, and my mind wasn't working right (some say it never was, nor is it now). The second is that when I was in the hospital, there are always lights on. Maybe they were off in the room, but the room was in the ICU, so there was a large glass door so they could just walk by and keep tabs on me. There was always light in the room, even with the curtains drawn shut, there was light. If anyone else has any other ideas, I'm glad to hear them.

I'm still freaked out by car crash scenes, but not as bad. I don't completely freak out and lose it right away like I used to. I probably won't sleep that night if I do see a crash, though. That's because:

I have nightmares. Bad ones, too. I vividly relive the accident, so I wind up not sleeping very well. This probably happens at least once a week, if not more. I always am in the accident, but then things change. I've dreamt that I lost my foot, or my entire leg. I've dreamt that Marlo couldn't take it and left me. I don't like my dreams anymore.

The biggest problem, though, has been in my day-to-day life. It was really bad last fall when Krystina and Rebekah were in soccer for the first time, and I couldn't go into the back yard and help them learn how to play. I tried, but it was too painful. I grew up playing soccer. From the time I was 6 through high school I played. I even played in Europe for a couple of years. To not be able to play now is torture. Things that I had been looking forward to doing with my children I can't do, and it kills me. I thought I had known heartache, but it wasn't until I couldn't play with my kids the way they (and I) wanted me to. I can't do the things I've always loved to do. I used to love walking around New York City for an entire day. Now, I doubt I would make it 30 minutes before my leg hurt too bad. I used to be an athlete. I wasn't an Olympian or anything, but I participated in a number of sports on a regular basis. Now, I can only watch others doing what I used to love.

I am grateful that I still have my leg, and that I'm able to make a living and provide for my family. Lucky for me working on computers all day doesn't require 2 good legs. I also don't know what I would do if I couldn't ride my motorcycle anymore. In my previous post about my brother Sam, I mention that we went riding the day my surgeon said I could start putting weight on my leg, and how that saved my mind. That's no exaggeration, and it can't be stated strongly enough. When I'm on the motorcycle, I feel almost normal. There's no limping, and there's no pain. It's really the only time that I'm not on pain medications that I feel that way. It is a little weird to some people that I have a handicapped license plate on my motorcycle, but that's OK.

Yes, I park the motorcycle in the handicapped spaces. If you don't like it, you can bite me.

Polka Dots

2008-09-02T18:23:00.007-06:00

"Sam said...
you didn't explain how the "poka-dots" got on your leg on either side of the main scar."

The dots all over the side of my leg. Yes, I did leave that part out. Short version: I was stabbed.

Long version: While I was in the hospital the first time after the metal had been screwed into my leg and foot I was lying in the bed and suddenly my leg started to hurt. I mean really HURT. I pressed the button that was supposed to deliver the pain medication and nothing happened. I felt the medication enter my body, but no relief came. I had a friend visiting me who quickly went to get a doctor. More pain meds didn't help, neither did severe elevation of the leg, which had worked in the past. The doctor told me that he was diagnosing me with Compartment Syndrome and very quickly said that he had to cut both sides of my leg open in order to relieve the swelling (called a fasciotomy). I was less than thrilled, and in my drugged up state this sounded like medieval butchery to me. I mean, why not just bring in leeches to suck the blood and reduce the swelling? Such was my thought process. I made the doctor call my dad and after the doctor explained everything, my dad told me to go ahead and let the doctor do what he needed to do. For a couple of days my legs were butterflied open like a pork chop waiting to be stuffed. My calf muscles were sticking out for everyone to see. After a couple of days the surgeons were going to close the sides of my leg, but they were concerned about whether there would be enough skin to close the incisions properly. They were talking about having to do skin grafts from my thigh. This completely freaked me out. I didn't know a lot, but I knew I didn't want to have something else that needed to heal. I begged the surgeon just before they put me under to please do whatever they could to avoid the skin graft. He said he understood. When they went to close the wound it was still REALLY tight. The "polka dots" are where, in order to relieve the pressure and avoid a skin graft, the surgeons literally stabbed me with a scalpel over two dozen times.

I spoke with the guy who did it, and asked him about it. He said that he could see I was really upset and he was afraid that the mental trauma of having the skin grafts would have sent me over the edge. He will never know how right he was.

So that's how I got my polka dots.

The Accident - Part 1: Physically what happened

2008-08-30T22:44:00.008-06:00

It’s time. It’s time for me to face my memories, feelings, and thoughts about December 23rd, 2005. That was the day of the car accident that would forever change my life and the lives of those around me.

On that afternoon my dad and I needed to finish up some Christmas shopping. He and my mom had just flown out to the Washington, DC area from Salt Lake City to spend Christmas and New Year’s with us. We had just left the shopping area and traffic was a nightmare. I decided to take an alternative route home to avoid all the mess on a road that was one lane in each direction. There was no traffic the way I was going (south out of Frederick, MD away from town), while traffic headed in the opposite direction (north into town) was backed up and stopped as far as anyone could see. I was just getting up to the speed limit when a white Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly left the north-bound lane into my lane only 50 yards in front of me. You see, she was late to an office Christmas party at a local restaurant and was running a few minutes late and wanted to get around the traffic. I slammed on my brakes and jerked the steering wheel sharply to the right, but there was no real chance. The force of the impact pushed the engine through the firewall and into the cockpit of the car. My knee was broken, my leg was broken, and my ankle was shattered into bone fragments and dust. The engine came through the passenger side of the car as well and cut up my dad’s legs. Both airbags went off which left dad with a concussion that affected him for weeks afterwards. We were both wearing seat belts. Dad was able to get out of the car fairly easily and started yelling at the stupid lady. He was also able to start calling my home to let people know what was going on. I had to force my door open and was able to crawl out of the car and lay down on the ground.

After lying on the ground for what seemed like forever (screaming like a little girl) the ambulance showed up, and all my clothes were cut off of me. Literally, I was bare assed naked on the ground. I was put into a neck brace despite my assurances to them that it was only my leg that hurt. At first they thought that I had been thrown from the car and it took a few minutes and some witnesses confirming that they had seen me crawl out of the car under my own power. They did the usual examination stuff and gave me a shot of morphine. After a few minutes, I told them quite emphatically that the morphine was doing no good, so they gave me more, then more again after more complaints of mind-numbing pain. After the third shot, they told me they couldn’t give me anymore. The paramedics then took an unusual interest in my chest, ribs, and torso area. They were looking for signs of internal bleeding and broken ribs. It seems that the force of the impact was severe enough to drive the steering wheel column into my chest – and break said steering wheel column. Again, I let them know that the only thing that hurt on me was my leg from the knee down. They took me in the ambulance to the local minor league baseball field where the helicopter took me to the nearest trauma hospital, while dad was taken by ambulance to the ER of the local hospital. I was still complaining to the medic on the helicopter that I was in pain, and that the morphine hadn’t done anything for me. He found that interesting and made a call ahead to the trauma hospital who told him to give me something I’ve never heard of and can’t remember the name of. It worked in 15 seconds. I was jittery like I had just drunk 6 cans of Red Bull, but I wasn’t in massive pain anymore.

Once I got to the trauma hospital was met finally by Marlo and a member of our Bishopric. A few hours and many x-rays and CT scans later the trauma surgeon came in and told me what was broken and what had to happen as far as surgeries. He then told me that they couldn’t help me because they had never seen anything as bad as my ankle before and they didn’t have the expertise. Do you know what it’s like to be told by the trauma surgeon that you’re so messed up that they can’t help you? I was transferred to the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus (UMBC) trauma ward where some of the best trauma surgeons are teachers/instructors at nearby Johns Hopkins.

They kept me pretty drugged up the next few days. I remember waking up from surgery after surgery in the recovery room. I remember hating the nurses for telling me I had to wake up, when all I wanted to do was sleep. I had 6 surgeries in all. I had an external fixation device attached to me for over a month before they were able to actually do the ankle reconstruction. I remember people being in my room, though at the time I couldn’t tell you who they were. I didn’t care. I just remember not wanting to be alone. I remember that someone made sure that there was football on the TV whenever possible, because just the sound of a game on was a comforting thing. I also remember waking up one morning and the nurse in my room told me “Happy New Year”, and I cried because I had missed a week of my life and couldn’t remember much of any of it.

I went home shortly after New Year ’s Day, and the real Hell began. Dad had gone home to Salt Lake while my mom stayed behind in Maryland to help Marlo. One of them would take turns taking care of the kids while the other took care of me. I was an emotional mess. I had to live in the basement of our townhouse, so I felt trapped. I was scared of the dark. I was scared to be alone. I had a few really bad times on the mix of pain medication (Oxycodone) and muscle relaxants (Flexeril). Nothing life threatening, but I freaked out a couple of times. It was also the time when Volkswagen started airing those startling commercials that filmed the very real impact of their cars in accidents. The first time I saw one of those commercials I lost it. My brain completely shut down because of the Post Traumatic Stress. I still have a hard time watching car accidents in movies or on TV.

After the ankle reconstruction surgery mom went home to Salt Lake. Dad was still recovering from his concussion and Marlo was starting to be able to handle things without her. Physical therapy started, and I was lucky enough to get a physical therapist that I liked and got along with. After many months of therapy he had me walking (kind of) with a cane, and that’s where I am today. I still can’t stand or walk except in fairly short amounts. I have a real hard time walking over uneven surfaces. I can’t do any more than limp, so it’s hard, if not impossible, for me to do a lot of the things I had always been able to do. Sometimes I’ll try to do something because I don’t want to bother other people. When I do that, however, I usually end up in some serious pain having to take the pain medication. I also still get muscle spasms that require me to take muscle relaxants when they occur.

So that’s what happened to my leg/foot. I'm sure I've left things out. I left out the part about the insurance companies not wanting to pay for things. I left out the part about how great my company at the time was to me. Some of those things, including the emotional/psychological side of the story is another post.

Oh, what happened to the lady who hit me you ask? Her bumper was dented up pretty good, and she had a headache. She was treated by the paramedics and released to go home from the scene. She didn't even have to go to the hospital. 6 months later I still couldn't walk and my attorney sent her some papers to sign for the insurance settlement.

She had completely forgotten that she was even in an accident.

My Brother Sam

2008-08-27T21:54:00.002-06:00

Sam put on post on his blog asking for people's real opinion of him. OK, for real now. No screwing around, no jokes. You asked for it, and you're going to get it. Ready? Here it is:

You're screwed up in the head, and that it's not entirely your fault. I think that the things you've seen and had to deal with in your life have made you who you are. I think you've seen things that 99% of people only read about in the newspaper or see for 6 seconds on the news right before they catch the weather report and watch Jay Leno before going to bed. You have baggage because of it. It's caused you to see the world as a dark and empty place where we just wait until we we die, either from natural causes or otherwise.

I also know that you're my brother who had my back after my accident and I will NEVER forget all you did for me and my family those couple of months afterwards. You got my ward to put in the ramp to the back yard so I could go out in my wheelchair and get out of that damn basement. Even when our sorry excuse for an Elders Quorum President wouldn't. You tried to get Home Depot to donate the materials, and when they agreed and then backed out the day of the project you spent your own money on it. You got repaid, but you still shelled out your own cash for it up front. I've seen the way you treat mine and Kendra's kids - some would say sometimes better than your own (but that's an uncle's prerogative - I freely admit to doing the same thing). You went riding the motorcycles with me the very afternoon my surgeon said I could start putting weight on my leg again, despite the protests of both of our wives. You saved my mind that day. Truth be told, I resent you for it all a little, because I know that I can never repay you. I will always feel that I'm in your debt.

I choose not to judge you when others do. After we each moved out of the house our life experiences differed greatly. You enlisted into the Army and married your high school sweetheart. You got sent to Germany, Bosnia, and other places where you experienced the worst of what humankind has to offer. I have no experiences that would compare. I've seen you get laid off of one job and find another job - just to get laid off from that one. I've seen you go through Hell trying to take care of your family. I felt sorry for you, but could never have been prouder of you than when you did whatever it took to do it, even if it meant sleeping in your car at a campground working in Pennsylvania during the week and coming home to Maryland on the weekends.

I hope one day you do make peace with your inner demons, but if you never do, know that I support you. One day you and I will take that long motorcycle ride we've been talking about, and maybe along the way we'll forget all the bullshit - if only for a couple of days.

You asked.

Too Negative?

2008-08-27T19:37:00.004-06:00

I've had a lot of comments that my blog is too negative and hateful. OK, maybe it is, but my life lately has had some negative and hateful things in it. You go through what I've been through in the past couple of years and see how well you turn out. I'm glad other people's lives are so good that there's never any bad in them. If that's the case, then I'm truly jealous.

I use this blog to get my negativity out so I don't let it influence my home life. Some people go to a gym, some people hike or go fishing. I write into a computer. If you don't like what I'm writing, then don't read it. Nobody is making you.

So why don't I just keep a journal on my computer instead of putting it on the internet where the entire world can see it? I've decided that this is how I'm going to keep my friends in different parts of the world up to date with what's going on and how I'm feeling. You see, before we moved to Utah, I'd be able to get together with a couple of friends and vent all the stuff you see on my blog, and they'd do the same. We'd listen to each other's problems and frustrations, and offer support or understanding. It worked for us. I don't have that here.

I've lived in Utah for 2 years now, and I don't have any real friends outside of family. Do you know what that does to a person?

So I've deleted a lot of the negative stuff because I was prompted to by my father. Isn't it weird how at 32 years old, I still listen to him and take his advice? He doesn't control me, and I don't crave his approval. I just value his opinion. It doesn't change the way I feel about people or things, and it won't prevent me from writing about that stuff in the future.

So if you think I have mental problems and need help, I'm sorry that you feel that way, but maybe you shouldn't be judging people you don't know. Besides, I've only been doing this since June. Wait a full year before you judge me. Maybe I'm just going through a rough patch. You don't know.

Are you ready?

2008-08-25T13:51:00.002-06:00

This is the best time of the year. College football starts this week, the NFL starts next week, and baseball is going into the playoff push. I'm so excited it's all I can do not to wet myself with anticipation. My weekends are about to revolve around whether BYU has a home football game or not. My DirecTV has the NFL Sunday Ticket ordered, with the HD channels, and I know which weeks the Bears play on national TV, and which ones I need the service of the Sunday Ticket. The Cubs will make the playoffs and end up break my heart again, but at least it's going to be exciting to watch. I just ordered a new bulb for my projector, and I have the surround sound all set up in the basement. The screen is so big it's obscene (100 inches diagonally - all in 1080i HD goodness).

My apologies in advance to my wife who is about to become a football widow until February. Also, expect a post every week that involves the Chicago Bears, the rest of the NFL as a whole, my fantasy football team, and how the Cubs are doing in their pennant race.

There are 5 days and 2 hours until BYU is home against Northern Iowa.

I'm ready, are you?

Friends

2008-08-05T23:26:00.003-06:00

I miss my friends. I used to hang with a crew of no fewer than 8. Guys and girls. We'd play poker, go on road trips, or just hang out together all night (or weekend). Now? I have the social life of a convicted murderer on death row.

Bryon B, Christy W (used to be C.), Erin K, Dave T, Jared F, and everyone else - I miss you guys.

Anyone want to come over and watch the game? Anyone?

*Sigh*

5 Days!

2008-08-03T17:24:00.004-06:00

The Olympics start in 5 days! Am I an idiot for looking forward to them? Am I the only one who is? Every 4 years the best athletes in the world converge to a single spot on the earth to compete. Don't talk to me about steroids, corrupt judges, or anything else. Don't talk to me about the political aspects. I know all about China's record on Human Rights. Have you taken a close look at the United States' record over the past 7 years? I don't want to hear about what is or isn't a sport and what should or shouldn't be included as an event in the Olympics. All I want is to see someone who dedicates their life to a sport with no hope of the kind of fame or fortune that playing any of the professional sports would bring (except for the sports that have professionals competing like basketball, but they're just fun to watch).

You don't think the guy who finishes 4th at the trials for the 100 meter dash couldn't be taught how to play wide receiver in the NFL? Of course he could. Any team would at least give him a tryout. Why 4th? Because only the top 3 make it to the Olympics. So what does that guy who finished 4th (or 5th, or even 8th) do? They begin training for 4 years from now. I don't know how some of these guys do it. I was watching the trials, and 3rd and 4th places were decided by 1/1000th of a second. If I bust my butt for 4 years only to miss out on my goal by 1/1000th of a second, I think I'd hang myself. I wouldn't even begin to know what that feels like.

So if you're not looking forward to the Olympics, maybe you should be. You won't find a set of more dedicated athletes on any professional field or court anywhere (again, except for the basketball players).

Good Soccer vs. Bad Soccer

2008-07-19T19:40:00.003-06:00

I promised a post about how I like soccer, but good soccer. So what is good soccer and what is bad soccer? First, let me set the record straight - you can find good soccer anywhere. I've seen good MLS games (both of them). I've seen bad Premier League games in England. What I look for is consistency. Am I going to get a bad game every time I watch the MLS? No, but my chances are pretty good. What is the most consistent soccer to watch? International games, that is games played by two country's national teams, are by far the most entertaining games - especially if it's a tournament qualifier or a tournament game. Friendlies are good to watch, but it's better if it means something. Games where a national team plays a local team is NOT good soccer. Last year my dad and I went to see Real Salt Lake play against the national team from China. That was horrendous. I want to see players that have a good understanding of the game. I don't expect 100% perfect execution all the time. I know that the ball sometimes takes funny bounces, or that a kick may be off target. I've played enough soccer in my life to know how that feels. What I can't stand is when a player has no feel for the flow of the game. I hate it when I see a professional make the same boneheaded mistake that I see during my 10 year old daughter's games. I look for quality. I can enjoy a 0-0 or 1-0 game more than a game that ends 4-3. Of course, I could just as easily enjoy them the other way around. It depends on the quality of play. We just recently watched the European Cup (not just the finals - all of it. Thank you TiVO). Those were consistently good games. There were a couple that I didn't enjoy, but for the most part the games were excellent. So if you don't like soccer, perhaps you're watching the wrong teams play.

Now I want to address something else that bothers me. A lot of people will tell you they don't like soccer because it's too boring. Will someone please tell me the difference between soccer and hockey? One's on ice, the other is usually on grass (we won't get into playing soccer on astroturf or other artificial surfaces). When I make the comment that soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world, people tell me that it's just one more reason they don't like it. Wait - what?! You don't like a sport just on principle because everyone else in the world does? Here's a newsflash people: not everything that other countries like or do is wrong. That has to be the dumbest argument against soccer that I've ever heard, and anyone who spouts such nonsense from their mouths need to have those mouths sewn shut, so that no one anywhere would ever again be subjected to their specific brand of stupidity.

The US is one of the biggest countries in the world. Surely there's enough room in this land of ours for soccer. I mean, if Ultimate Fighting Championship can get some love from ESPN, then surely there's a place for soccer in our hearts and on our televisions.

Dark Knight

2008-07-18T14:01:00.002-06:00

So I went to the midnight showing of Dark Knight, the new Batman movie last night. First, let me just say that it was AWESOME!!! All the hype surrounding Heath Ledger's performance was anything but just hype. The movie grips you from the beginning and never lets go. I can't wait to see it on an IMAX screen.

That being said - who the hell takes a 2 year old to the midnight showing of the new Batman movie? This is not your father's Batman that was on TV in the 60's. This movie is dark, edgy, and a bit twisted. Who takes a 2 year old to a midnight showing of ANY movie? If you can't get a babysitter, go to a different showing. It's not like this is the only time the movie will ever be shown in the theater. I can see you bringing your 10/11/12 year old, but not 2. Do the rest of us (and your kid) a favor and leave them home next time.

This has nothing to do with my East Coast Mentality. It's just plain common sense no matter where you are.

Rebekah's birthday, and a long ride

2008-07-12T22:52:00.003-06:00

So today was Rebekah's 7th birthday. She had a tea party with a few of her friends for her birthday party. During the party I kept Ti and Michael at my dad's house so they wouldn't be in the way. Well, I kept Michael there so he wouldn't be in the way - Ti got to choose where to be and she likes it at grandpa's house. After the party Marlo and Rebekah went over to dad's to eat what was left of the BBQ we had. Dad, Sam, Galen (Sam's ex-brother-in-law), and I went for a motorcycle ride. We rode for 3 hours up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Snowbird ski resort, back down along the east bench of Sandy and Draper, up by the new LDS temple, up and over the mountain into Utah County, back over to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, up the west frontage road back into Draper, then back to Dad's house. After we rested for an hour, Sam and I got back on the motorcycles and rode downtown Salt Lake to Rice-Eccles stadium at the University of Utah for the REal-Salt Lake soccer game against the Columbus Crew. We don't really like MLS soccer, but the tickets were free through Sam's work, so what the hell. That isn't to say we don't like soccer. We do, but we like good soccer (that's a whole other post - coming soon!). After the game (who won? It doesn't matter - it's the MLS) we rode home. I don't mind saying that my butt is sore, my muscles in my shoulders/neck ache, and my skin is fried from the sun and the wind. IT WAS GREAT! Now, if I can only get some sleep before my church meetings tomorrow morning...

Summertime Blahs

2008-07-11T14:06:00.002-06:00

I'm in a bit of a funk. Call it the summertime blues if you must, but lately I haven't been able to get excited about much of anything lately. It's even taken me 10 minutes to type this much. It's too hot outside to be excited about riding the motorcycle. Work has taken on a monotonous tone lately with nothing going on. I can't afford to go on any kind of vacation or trip with the family. Is there anything going on right now to be excited about?

Supreme Court handgun decision

2008-06-26T13:42:00.004-06:00

So the Supreme Court decides 5-4 to overturn Washington, DC's law banning handguns. This law was 32 years old. The nuts and bolts of the decision is that the Second Amendment allows residents of DC to own handguns, but that it doesn't guarantee the right to carry them. So basically, DC residents will be allowed to own registered handguns, but not to take them out of the house. Also, convicted felons and other people won't be allowed to own handguns. I'm still not sure how I feel about this. The popular rally cry was that people wanted to defend themselves in their own homes. Rifles and shotguns were still allowed, so what's wrong with having those to defend yourselves? AK-47's and other automatic weapons that you would most likely find on the streets of Iraq are banned. So are a lot of specific types of ammunition. Is there a big difference in banning those and banning handguns? Now what's to stop someone from saying that they want a fully automatic AK-47 in their home for self-defense? What's the real difference in banning certain types of weapons? Why am I OK with a responsible law-abiding adult passing a background check, taking a class and owning a registered handgun/rifle/shotgun for either hunting or for self-defense, or even just for taking to a shooting range for practice and fun; but I'm not OK with that same person going through the exact same steps to own the AK-47 (or some other similar type of weapon)? I am, you know. I'm fine with my brother owning a 9MM pistol that he used in the Army. I'm not so sure about him buying an automatic machine gun. Why? Some people will say that the handgun is better for defending your home because if someone broke into the house in the middle of the night the handgun is quicker and easier to get out and use. With the rifle/shotgun you would have to go to the closet or gun safe, get the ammo, load the gun, and then it's a bigger weapon and not as easy to use. Well the handgun - if you're responsible - will be locked in a gun box, you still have to get the ammo and load it. Keeping a loaded gun somewhere close to your bed in a drawer or under your mattress is not responsible. It's stupid. If you're responsible the gun is locked up somewhere and the ammo is kept separately from the gun. So that argument isn't going to work.

I've had people here at work tell me that the handgun is easier and faster to use. I tell you, if I'm a kid walking down the hall to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water, I'm hoping it takes just a few seconds longer for my dad or mom to get the gun out and ready. I'm thinking that the last thing you want is someone who's been woken from a dead sleep and their mind is still foggy to be reaching quickly for a gun getting ready to shoot it. Isn't it?

I'm not anti-gun. I go shooting occasionally with my brother and I enjoy it. I'm anti-stupid people having guns for stupid reasons. I've also had people at work point out that the shooting at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City a couple of years ago was stopped by people who were at the mall with their handguns. That's true - an OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICER was the one who was able to shoot the guy. I have no problem with him carrying a gun in public. I do have a bit of a problem with Joe-SixPack thinking that he's Wyatt Earp or Wild Bill Hickock and that he's going to be stopping the bad guys. Am I being naive in thinking that? Would shootings at places like Virginia Tech and The University of Chicago not have happened if the shooters knew that other people were carrying guns on campus and could have stopped him? I don't think so. Those guys were crazy, and obviously not thinking straight. I think that if you're going to climb a bell tower and start shooting people that you have to know that it's not going to end well for you. Maybe you don't know that, which is why you go out and do it anyway. You're not going to be heading out and then stop and think "I was going to shoot up the campus today, but there might be someone with a concealed weapons permit carrying a handgun who might shoot me. I'm going to stay home instead." If every person on the Virginia Tech campus had a gun, that shooting was still going to happen.

So where do I stand on this? I don't know. Would the world be a better place if no one had guns? Yes. Is that a realistic thought? No. I guess as long as criminals and morons (2 totally separate groups by the way) can own guns, then the police and the responsible law-abiding citizens had better be able to have them also. I just won't be one of them (for now...).

Maybe it's because I'm in Utah and a lot of people here still think that this the 1890's and it's still the wild west. Why are people here so obsessed with guns in Utah? I know it's not just Utah - it's Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc, but what's the fascination? You are not all cowboys! You are not members of the Utah militia. You're not protecting yourselves from anti-Mormon mobs like they did in Missouri. "They" are not out to get you. I've yet to understand the mentality in Utah that "The government has no right to tell us how to live our lives. We want the government to leave us alone to live how we see fit"; but the same people want to pass local laws forcing everyone in the state to live the way that they want (see Utah's laws regarding alcohol). The dominant Mormon culture has no problems telling you how to live your life, as long as you don't tell them how to live theirs. I don't believe in abortion, but I also don't believe that it's my right to force my beliefs and way of life onto you.

Just more of my East Coast Mentality in Utah.

Live and Let Live people...

Old...?

2008-06-25T09:13:00.003-06:00

Yesterday when I got home from work Marlo told me that Krystina had a hard day and that I shouldn't be too hard on her. I was getting after Krystina for leaving stuff laying around the house and not paying attention to what she was doing. When I asked what had caused her to have a hard day I got a shock: Krystina had been getting teased by her friends at school because during (or after) a school assembly some boys had called her "Hot". As in "You're hot!" The boys are in 6th grade, and she's in 5th. She's 10 years old and won't turn 11 until the end of the year. These boys are at least 11 years old, if not 12. When the hell did my daughter get to the point that boys are calling her hot?! Am I that old that I have to start worrying about boys when it comes to her? I don't think I'm ready for this stage of her life yet. Time to break out the chastity belt - and a good bottle of Scotch.

Finally Legal

2008-06-19T11:46:00.004-06:00

My boss is off today and tomorrow, so I'm kind of in charge of our team here at work, except there's not much to do. In fact, there's so little to do that I left the office this morning and got my motorcycle permit. Yes - I was riding without a license. My road test is in 2 weeks on July 3rd at 2pm. Oh, my boss is gone that day, too. Anyway, I'm finally legal (not in that way you sicko - get your mind out of the gutter).

When in Rome...

2008-06-16T19:46:00.003-06:00

One more rant for today...

I don't care what your legal status is in this country. I don't care if you're a citizen, a legal immigrant, or an illegal immigrant. I don't care if you're from China and came over on a cargo ship, from Mexico and snuck across the border, or from Canada and your tourist visa has "expired". I really don't care. Odds are you're not taking a job away that I, or anyone I know, wants. What I do care about is that you LEARN THE DAMN ENGLISH LANGUAGE. If you think that learning English will somehow make you forget your heritage and who you are - go back from wherever you came from. Don't be in the country for 15 years and never learn the language. Keep your accent, and your traditions; speak your native language at home with your family and children - but learn to speak english! I would never presume to permanently move to a new country and expect to get by forever without learning the language.

This doesn't just go for those who are new (or not so new) to the US. If you're traveling on vacation, I can understand that you aren't going to make sure that you're fluent in a language before you go. Especially if you're seeing 6 European countries in 10 days or something ridiculous like that. You can at least learn a few key phrases and make it look like you're trying. Don't be the ugly American wondering "why don't they speak english, and aren't they rude?". No - you're the rude one.

When in Rome people...

Wheat update...

2008-06-11T13:59:00.002-06:00

He claims to have not been all that mad - he just wanted us to think he was mad. This is what he claims. His story was that as he was speeding out of the parking lot acting pissed off he was trying not to crack up laughing. We're still not sure. The 4 of us are going to chip in and get the inside of his truck cleaned out, and we also need to get his seat belt fixed. A piece of wheat got in the slot and his seat belt won't work now.

The funniest part of all of this is that the word spread like wildfire through the building, and now people in the hallway that we don't even know are asking us to tell them about the wheat! The final verdict is that this was a funny, and expensive, prank.

4 year old mind

2008-06-11T09:47:00.003-06:00

I work with a bunch of guys in an IT department. When things are slow, we revert back to little 4 year old boys playing pranks on each other (think Jim from The Office). So Monday a group of us went to Costco for lunch and we saw 45 pound buckets of wheat on sale cheap. The comment was made that the 5th member of our group who wasn't with us never locks the doors to his truck, and wouldn't it be funny if we got a bucket of wheat and dumped it in his car. We bought 2 buckets. We dumped 90 pounds of wheat in the front of his truck and waited for 3:00pm when he goes home. When he first saw what we did he was laughing and calling us a bunch of bastards. Then as he was cleaning it out he got madder and madder - until he was completely pissed off. He was so mad that he didn't come into work yesterday, and today he won't talk to any of us. Since he wasn't in yesterday we were all able to talk about it and we feel bad that he's taking it so badly. It was supposed to be funny and wasn't meant to be mean or cruel at all. Here's a picture we took...

Our feeling is that no damage was done, that it was done in a spirit of a friendly prank, and that he's taking it way too hard. So what's the verdict - are we jerks, or is he being too sensitive? And please, no comments on how immature we are or how it was a waste of a food product when there are people going hungry. We know all of that already.

Politics

2008-06-05T09:07:00.002-06:00

I'm so sick of politics in this country. 6 weeks ago Barack Obama offered Hillary Clinton the V.P. position on the Democratic ticket and she refused. Now that Obama's won, she's hinting that she wants the V.P. slot. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!

Oh, and here's a newsflash: whoever is elected in November won't have the power to actually change anything. They can ask Congress, they can propose, but they can't make actual changes themselves. It's not as if someone gets elected and suddenly the troops are out of Iraq and gas prices are below $3.00 again because he says so.

First time for everything

2008-06-04T14:20:00.000-06:00

OK - So I'm starting a blog. I'm REALLY bored at work today, or this wouldn't have happened. Just to get the boring stuff out of the way:

I'm 32 years old and was born in Germany while my parents were stationed there with the Army. Being an Army brat we moved around every few years, so I have no real hometown. We lived in Utah, Virginia, Maryland, Chicago, Virginia (again), Germany, Belgium, Washington DC, and New York. Since leaving home I have lived in Virginia, New York, Maryland, and now Utah.

I'm married to Marlo and have 3 children: Krystina, Rebekah, and Michael. I have 4 brothers and sisters: Sam, Kendra, Danny, and Angel. I work as a Systems Administrator for a company called ModusLink in their Lindon Utah location. Working in IT has allowed me to move around and still be able to find work. Everyone needs IT these days.

I very much have an east coast mentality which doesn't always mesh with my new Utah surroundings. So how did I get here? In December of 2005 (2 days before Christmas) I was driving with my dad after doing some last minute Christmas shopping. On the way home, a lady in an SUV was more worried about her schedule than my physical safety and crossed the double yellow lines to try to get around holiday traffic. She did this less than 50 yards in front of me, and I hit her head on at 50 MPH. I broke my right knee, right leg, and my right ankle was destroyed. Dad was able to walk away with cuts and bruises and one monster of a concussion. The ankle reconstruction surgery was successful to the point that I have some movement and can walk with a cane, but I'm not able to do a lot of things I once could by myself. I still have pain and swelling and can only stand/be on my feet for brief amounts of time. My parents moved to Utah after dad retired from the Army, as well as most of my brothers and sisters, so Marlo and I decided we needed to live where we had more help and support - which meant Utah.

That's it for now. Lot's more to follow I'm sure.