DDR

We all know DDR, right? Yes, I'm sure we do. We've seen the crappy machines at Wal-Mart, the mall, or any other venue where teen-agers are liable to be rowdy and crazy. So Stuart, Joey, Sarah and I all went out to see King Kong last night. First off, King Kong is over three hours long. And that might be ok for some people, but honestly had Peter Jackson actually desired to make a decent movie with the film that he shot, it would have been around 45 minutes. Up until the moment they meet Kong the movie is pretty good. No over the top fight scenes between Kong and three T-rexs, no extended stampeding dinos, no crazy giant insect battles, and especially no "ice skating" in central park. Of course, all this does occur afterwards we meet Kong, and well.. it goes downhill faster than people falling off a cliff. And yes, it does take them a long ass time to get to the bottom, and usually not much worse for wear.

Anyways.. (this post is going to be long..) we got out of the movie without killing the annoying little bastards sitting behind us. Those kids were really pushing my last nerve.. and Stuart's also, which is odd taking into account Stuart is well.. Stuart. Anyways, we got out and were sitting around talking about the movie, when we noticed DDR. And not just DDR 2nd mix or something, this was DDR eXtreme or something. Below is a photo account of the Joey/Stuart head to head action.

Here they are starting the game. Clearly Stuart can't figure it out, and Joey appears to already be convulsing madly.


The game continues, Stuart is figuring things out and Joey refuses to even remove his hands from his pockets for he is a video game GOD! (Unfortunately this God-Like presence only appears in first person shooters released in the 90s.)


I won't tell you which, but one of them is not hitting the right arrow. Can you guess which one?


Joey finally removes his hands from his pockets in a desperate attempt to make up lost ground. But Stuart's uncanny balance and ability to match up what his little japenese avatar was doing proved to be the deciding factors in this clash of titans.


Ok, enough for now.. later.

One less car.

So yesterday I rode my bike to work. I know, big deal right? But that is roughly 20 minutes my car didn't run yesterday. Imagine if you well a world where once a week everyone who could reasonably ride a bike instead of drive did it. Wouldn't that be fantastic? Of course there are tons of people that commute 30 miles or more, but I think there are a significant number of people that could feasibly ride a bike into work. While riding this morning and getting passed by tons of cars I noticed that almost all of them only contained one person. Huge SUVs carrying one individual. Lovely German sports cars which get 15 mpg only carrying one stuck up individual. I don't know, maybe if people saw this from a bike rather than their leather trimmed interior that something might change. Or maybe it is just the exhaust fumes scrambling my brains.

Anyways, I rode my bike into work again today. And I'm going to try to do it all next week too.. I might not succeed, I may wake up one morning and think, "holy crap it is colder than a witches teet out there.." and jump in my car only to realize the heat probably won't be effective until I'm parking at work. But still.. I'm going to try. And perhaps every day I'm in the office I'll try to ride in. The bosses don't seem to care if I'm a few minutes late if I'm on my bike, not that they care if I'm not riding, but that isn't the point. I feel better knowing I didn't drive my car into work. I feel more awake in the mornings and can actually get work done in the first hour (yet I'm blogging now - it is like work.) And I just feel better about myself... go figure.

Later

Home again

Well, it seems that I might actually be home again for an extended period of time. Which will be nice since then I'll be able to see friends (Joey, Sarah, Shawn) and I just recently visited my family, which was nice. I really forget how awesome California is. Drove through Davis (friendliest bike city in the country I believe..) then saw tons of bikers rocking it on the hills of San Francisco. Even saw a fixed gear or two.. which was quite freaking awesome if you ask me.

Anyways, I should be in town for the rest of the year. Yeah I know.. laugh all you want, but who knows, maybe the deal I made with the devil won't be so bad. We'll have to see. But definetely Joey.. we should chill.. kick it old school.. and all that other jazz.

In other news, I'm going to try to sneak out of work early. By sneak I mean ask my boss if he would care if I left. I'm guessing no.

Alright, I'm off.. going to try to ride my bike a little with the Sean.

Later

My Bike!

Alright, here it is.. my beautiful new bike. I absolutely love it. Smooth ride, fast, light, super responsive.. if I was in shape at the moment my ride yesterday would have been smoking. But, off season. And work.. you know how it is. I like this picture.. you can just see my triathlon bike underneath it. I actually have my other three bikes sitting underneath it.. so hopefully when I get my other bike stand I'll take a nice picture and post it up here. Geez, I think I'm obsessed.


Alright, gotta get packed for New Orleans.. fantastic.

Later

Snow

It is snowing like crazy here is Illinois.. cold wet heavy snow. Of course on a construction site that means massive snow ball fight after the safety meeting. Ahh, aren't we all just kids at heart. I'm just glad this rough and tough construction guys weren't making snow angels or anything crazy like that.

Bike still hasn't come in yet, makes me sad. Also being in Illinois away from friends makes me sad. This job sucks sometimes, but I guess all jobs suck sometimes.

Climbed last night (one benefit of working in Illinois) with Spann.. it rocked. I felt pretty good, yet out of shape entirely. But, not climbing for 6 weeks will do that. My arms hurt like nothing else at the moment.. but I'll survive.

Alright, I'm going to jam.. they are doing big picks out of the plant it is fun as hell to watch.

Later

Some Swiss Pics

Ok, here are some pictures from my vacation, I have more, but don't want to inundate you with too many. So we've been going all over trying to find a place to ski, but apparently winter here doesn't start until December. Though with the temperature outside at a brisk -10 I would say there is enough winter for skiing.


Here is a picture of me on my way to St. Moritz. We got up at 5 am to catch the earliest train out of Geneva and then spent the next 6 hours on trains across the country. It was fun. Though I did sleep a ton on the trains. That's what you are supposed to do right?



This is a picture from a hike we took while in Arosa. Arosa is beautiful, and has snow, but everything is closed. We were lucky to find an open hotel, the first one we went to was empty, and unlocked. We wandered through it for a while before we determined that there truly wasn't anyone there. Arosa was fun, I liked it there.



Here is the view from the balcony in Arosa. That night the clouds came in and covered the mountains. When we awoke in the morning, snow was falling and the mountains were still surrounded by clouds. It was quite nice.

Ok, I'll post more as I feel like it. Hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to catch up on the normal blog stalking as I spend next week in Illinois. Stupid Illinois.

Later

My new bike..

It isn't here yet.. but it will be soon. this is going to be my new bike. Well the frame at least. I can't wait for it to arrive and allow me to preform at all new heights. Of course if I was in shape that might help too.. but I'm not.

In other news, i'm going to Switzerland for a week on friday. So.. I'll not be posting for awhile, but I should have badass pictures for everyone to look at after thanksgiving. Oh boy. I'm very excited.

Later

More pics

So far this is the best bike that I've seen lying around. I think with a little bit of chain lube, some new tubes this baby would be a fine riding machine. It is also good to know that if there were any good bikes here they were taken by their owners. Saved from the storm.

And this is a house that was moved about 8 feet off its foundation, lifted up and placed on top of the hood of a Trail Blazer. Holy crap. It is far cooler than the Toureg that is propped up on a chain-link fence... goes where other Volkswagons can't.

Later

Fear and Loathing..

I'm watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for the first time right now.. seems very funny and interesting, so I'm going to stop posting and watch it... is it a good movie? I'm looking forward to it...

Later

More Pictures..

Check out the creepy doll in a tree. There are a lot of creepy things in these houses.. you walk in to sample and suddenly you are staring at a display case full of these things. Freaky.

Here is me in my sampling machine... or am I the sampling machine?

This is just odd if you ask me. I didn't know this, but it seems to be a pretty predominatly catholic area down here. Go figure.

Ok, that is all for the moment. Take care people.. I'll post more later. Dinner time.

Later

Stable Internet

So I've moved out of the hotel into a house that we've gotten down here. And the house is using a pretty nifty little toy called a Junction Box. Uses a Verizon broadband card and it broadcasts the signal all over the house. Pretty nice if you ask me.

So I'll try to catch up on e-mail and the such which I've not been really paying attention to lately. I have some more pictures which I'll post tomorrow night.. or the following. We might go hit Bourbon street again. I think that we've been going there just about every other night. Now if I drank that might seem exciting, but watching a bunch of drunk co-workers, well.. that has a certian about of entertainment value in itself.

So yeah.. sorry I've been completely gone for so long. I'll try not to let that happen again.

Anyways, I'm outta here.

Later

Oh, Sean, they have the Bicycling's Complete Guide to Bike Maintenance in the room that I got in the house. Clearly a sign.

Finally, some pictures.

Common thoughts of many of the residents down here.

I just like this picture.


One of the more damaged houses in the area I'm working. Well then there are the houses that are just gone.




Hehe.. people still have a good sense of humour.

New Orleans

So I'm working down here in New Orleans at the moment. It is quite crazy. I've never really worked in the aftermath of a natural disaster like Katrina or Rita. But this is insane. Stuff is all over the place. I saw a boat on a roof.. cars leaning against houses, ontop of other cars. Even saw an inground pool moved above ground and out of the backyard. Craziness.

But the place doesn't even seem like a city anymore. Staying in a hotel in downtown.. lights are only on for about a mile.. if that. Lots of shops are closed, obviously looted. Some shops which sell junk were fine.. other things were ruined. It is crazy if you ask me. People park where ever they want, people sleep in their cars. So much work to be done and so few places to stay.

Well I have to get back to home sampling.. we might be done in.. shoot.. sometime. But I'll probably be in Illinois eventually again. And maybe I'll see my apartment again sometime.

Later

Tuesday

So things with work here in Illinois have taken a turn for the worse. Less hours, doing less, sitting around more. I'm failing to see the point of it all at the moment. I don't mind traveling, though sometimes it because annoying, but traveling twice a week to be back in Little Rock for less than 48 hours.. that is just crappy. And I'm doing the same thing, sitting in the same chair, living in the same hotel room.. since the end of July. I've had 2 weeks where I wasn't here. That is just crap. I would much rather do other stuff, though it would probably be the same, at least I would get to share in the stories that at the moment I only hear about. Stupid work.

Anyways, my Specialized should be coming in anytime now. I'm very excited about that. It is going to be so sweet. I can't wait. Still haven't decided what wheels to get.. maybe Ksyrium SSC SLs, just since everyone has them.. or perhaps a pair of carbon racing wheels, I just can't decided. Maybe both. HA. No.. I can't justify that. :(

Ok, I'm outta here.. drop a comment if you got any ideas how to make the tedium of Illinois better. The best 5 suggestions will be placed into a hat and one will be picked. That activity, whatever it may be will be undertaken some week when I'm up here and need a change.

Later

Frequent posts!

Holy crap.. posting within 5 days of a previous post.. rather than the normal 2 weeks. What is wrong with me. I don't know.

So I talked with Stuart for a little bit last night and since he is gotten back into studing and the such has regained much of his previous arrogance. And I find it odd that this is happening very close to the time that Roast Beef has become Jaime the Science Friend. So I was thinking that Stuart totally needs to get a show like Mr. Wizard, or Bill Nye the Science Guy.

What do you guys think? Think Stuart would be good for a show like that? I have a few reservations, since all the lights might casue him to either get really distracted or have a seizure from over stimulation. I bet it would be awesome yet different. Unlike previous shows which attempt to teach people about science.. Stuart would explain stuff and 75% of the time make it more difficult to understand. But.. wouldn't it be fun to watch? I think it would.

Ok, I'm outta here.

Later

Overdue

So yes, my claim of posting more didn't work out so well. But hey, I'm posting now. Would have posted last night but the power at the hotel went down sometime during the day and screwed up their router. Very annoying since I was going to post, reply to e-mails, put in my time for last week. All that jazz. And now the company web server is screwing up or something, so no time entering today. Oh well.. life goes on.

Things are going well in life.. got a track bike finally.. or I should say fixed gear, and I love it. Though I rode it way too much too soon and my knee started to hurt. Not a good sign. But hopefully if I gradually start riding it more and more I won't have to worry about ending up like Lacy. Cheap shot, sorry Ms. Smith. Anyways, I love it, and want to thank Sean for showing me this. I forget what my favorites are so far. Hopefully I'll get a picture of mine in there soon. I'll let you know. Wish I had a camera.

Climbed a V3 route at the Little Rock Climbing Center. Felt pretty proud of that. Though I think I took advantage of the fact that I could entirely skip a move since I'm tall, but I'll take what I can get. At least, I think it was a V3. Might just have been a V2+. Either way, felt pretty good about it. Maybe if the weather holds I'll be able to get up to Upper Limits tonight and climb some, anything is better than sitting around in the hotel.

Things on site are picking up. Keeping relatively busy up here which is a pleasent change from a few weeks ago when nothing was realling happening. I miss having Stuart up here.. he was much more entertaining then the current co-worker. But it could be worse. I mean, it could always be worse right?

I should probably wrap this up since I need to get some database work done. Stupid having to work. Going to make some maps too. Why? Since I love making maps.

Later

Dang..

Ok, so even though I should in theory have tons of time to blog and e-mail and all that jazz while working here in Illinois, I find myself always sort of busy. The jobsite goes from really busy, to really dull (today being the latter hence the post) and when I'm not working I attempt to spend the least amount of time in the hotel as possible. Well awake anyways. I've been climbing a whole heck of a lot, mainly bouldaring outside at Upper Limits in Bloomington. There outside area is just a blast and I've meet a lot of cool people who go to school in the area. Though it does make me feel sort of old climbing with a bunch of college kids.. but fun none the less. I've progressed quite well and feel pretty comfortable on any V0, V1.. and even have gotten a few V2s down, which I'm sure means nothing to most.. but I'm proud none the less.

One exciting thing is that I'm going to be home next week.. so Niki.. we should maybe take a little trip if you know what I mean.. Sean, we should bike multiple times (going to have the track bike so don't kick my ass too bad..) and for those of you out of town.. well.. I'm sorry you won't get to experience crazy-hyper Dave in Little Rock these next 10 days or so.

I would post more, but I need to run. I'll try to post some next week and sort of breath some life back into this blog. 2 weeks without a post is flat out unacceptable. Thanks for staying on me about it.

Later

Quick note..

I know most of you already do.. but today's Achewood is quite funny. Probably one of the most enjoyable that I've ready in quite some time. And Niki.. I know you probably don't click on my comic links ever.. but this one might really speak to you.

Later

article

Ok, so the article is stupid.. and is sort of pointless.. but I enjoyed the fact that one of the guys is refered to as "Mr. Bond" and he used science to read pin numbers in the mail. All for the advancement of science.

Later

Blah.

That is pretty much how things are going right now. It is spitting outside.. not enough rain for it to be really considered rain, but enough tthat it annoys that crap out of you when you have to go outside for whatever reason.

I'm still in Illinois at the moment.. working. Nothing has changed what so ever. Just every few days something new comes up which is annoying and stupid that we now have to do. For example... on Monday we might be told one thing to do.. let us call it task A. Task A is completely new and unique usually so we have to change how we do things to incorporate Task A into our routine, be it order more equipment, or in some cases ship back now non-used equipment, or whatever it is.. we have to change how things are done. So tuesday comes and goes.. people are working diligently on Task A thinking.. "hey we are rocking now.. the end is in sight.." and you know what happens wednesday morning? Something about Task A is dangerous.. something has changed. We now have to implement Task B to correct those things done in Task A. So Task B begins.. more equipment needs to be ordered, set up, calibrated, new samples need to be taken. But the funny thing is is that Task A sometimes continues to happen. Then after Task B has finished fixing what Task A screwed up, and Task A is finished.. it all happens again. This sort of thing happens multiple times a week.. nothing serious usually but sometimes as in the case of the last few days there i s some stuff that really throws a wrench in everything and one finds themselves scrambling around trying to get everything organized. It is frustrating in that nothing ever gets done.

Anyways, I should be going back to Little Rock this weekend. I'm excited about that. Don't know what I'm going to do in the office.. sit around probably. But it will be a change of scenery and I really need that. I have enjoyed the fact that Upper Limits is close by and I've been climbing like a freak up here or something. I've gotten significantly better these past 6 weeks and really enjoy the climbing.

So that is what is going on.. maybe I'll be able to ride my bike some and that'll help get me out of this funk.

Later

Racing..

Racing tomorrow morning.. Sports Spectrum. I'm looking forward to it. Going to try to do better than last year.. and since I blew up on the run it shouldn't be too hard. We'll see what happens. I'm sure my swim is going to suck, but living out of town sort of prevents me from getting into a good work out schedule. Plus I've been getting into climbing... so that has been taking up a lot of my time. Just can't get enough.

Alright.. going to go get my race numbers put on my bike etc. Oh, and I forgot my race belt, sort of pissed about that. And I don't think I remembered to bring socks. So I might be bleeding like crazy at the end of this race, much like OVT.

Later

Group rides and calories

So I rode with a group of guys here in Springfield.. and boy did they kick my butt. They were fast, relentless, and I barely held on. I think we went around 35 miles with an average speed of upwards of 24 mph. The roads were very gravelly, I kept wondering why everyone kept saying "watch out for the gravel" but the ride we went on was basically roads to access the corn fields (surprise surprise.. it is Illinois after all) and every turn was very dangerous and there were small rocks everywhere. Very annoying. But.. I kept up with the Cat 1 riders.. stayed in a break away a few times.. and even broke off the front a few times on slight inclines. So.. all in all I had a good ride. Walking tomorrow might not really happen. I really wish I had had a Roubaix.. at least then I would have had a more comfortable ride.. and probably could have done even better.

Anyways.. calories, sort of. I just saw a commercial for a new type of push-pop. You know.. the candy that comes in what looks like a really fat pen.. and you take the top off and push up the candy goodness. Well apparently kids are too lazy to push their candy up.. so now it is springloaded.. so it sort of pops out at you. I mean, come on.. are our kids really so lazy and fat that they need the candy to be mechanically ejected into their mouths? What comes next.. a pez dispensor that attaches to your wrist.. and shoots candy into your mouth when it comes close to your face (using some sensor I'm guessing..) Actually that sounds like a good idea.. time to write Pez a letter.

Oh.. funny thing.. someone from the Illinois EPA's air monitoring group was in the ride today. Small world eh? I hope to talk to him next ride.. and damn he was a good rider. Sort of tiny so it was hard to draft off of him.. and he had a Guru.. nice bike.

Later

Eh..

Stuck in Illinois till God knows when. Work is sort of stupid.. and I'm sort of ticked about it. But on the plus side there is a climbing gym within driving distance which I will probably be spending a lot of time at hopefully. And in theory I might even ride a bit while I'm up here.. though who really knows. I was going to ride tonight, but there was some rain and I decided against it.. plus I need some sleep.

Anyways, I am going to take care of some work things, then probably read. Thanks for all the comments, sorry that my posts have been few, crappy, and far between.

Later

Update

Will be living in Illinois for an undetermined amount of time... but am going to try to make the most of it. Found guys to ride with, a pool to swim in, a gym to climb at (or try to climb and fall as I did tonight..) and just need to find some places to run. Won't be so bad.. just gotta keep telling myself that.

Ok, need to get to sleep. No major updates.. other than Liz updated her live journal with pics and the such. Go check them out. Hi Liz.

Later

Crash

Well just like most of the guys in the Tour over the last few days, I took a pretty nasty spill in my crit race on Wednesday. I hope to get a nice picture of it soon, a friend at the race took a picture. So, when I get it I'll post it in all my road rash glory. But one thing that I know.. from now on I'm going to keep my legs shaved. It is already starting to bug the crap out of me. Fellow road bikers, you know what I'm talking about.

Later

Ouch

I'm sure not everyone is following the Tour de France is closely as I.. and I shudder to think that there are probably people out there much more dedicated to it, but I must say that I feel horrible for David Zabriskie. Only the third American to wear the yellow jersey and in his first tour none the less. Then he goes out in the Team Time Trail and is kicking some serious ass when he crashes going around 40 mph. Holy crap that must have hurt. And he lost his jersey since he was too far from the finish line to be considered with the rest of his team. Poor kid. And as much as a lot of people don't like Lance, he did not want to wear the jersey today since he wants to earn it rather than get it from someone's accident. I think that is pretty honorable thing to do, though I guess when you are supremely confident that you are going to win the race, not wearing the jersey isn't that big of a deal. Though of course race organizers told him that he had to wear it and he finally relented.

Hope to do a crit tonight, though if the weather stays crappy as it is now I'll probably pass. Not worth trying to do a crazy race with slick surfaces, don't want a broken thumb or anything. And lately I've been having odd thoughts of crashing when I've been descending and cornering. Hopefully it isn't some sort of premonition that I've developed. I really don't want to be picking at road rash at the moment.

Can't decide if I want to do the Forest City race on sunday. I've not been in the pool in a while, and I need to run more. So I guess I should give it a shot. Actually, wait, the state road race is sunday. Perhaps I'll do that instead. Well which ever I'll be doing something this weekend.

Ok, back to work, or whatever as the case may be.

Later

Races and the such..

So I raced the Ozark Valley Triathlon on Sunday.. it was the Arkansas State Championship.. I was really hoping Erik would win, but he got run down by some track star from U of A. Beau had a horrible crash on Thursday and broke his thumb as well as lost a lot of skin from all over his body, so he couldn't race. Apparently race officals don't want people racing who might crash and hurt people. So that allowed me to take my age group.. since I'm confident that Beau would have destroyed me completely and utterly. Probably would have placed in the top 5.

I had an ok swim.. I know I used to be able to swim better but I've let myself go.. I'm trying to get it back.

I had a pretty average bike. I think that I rode about 2 minutes faster than I did last year. That makes me happy.. at least I'm improving, or the TiPhoon makes life all that much easier. Need to put in a lot more time on the bike.

My run at this race was probably the best run that I've ever had. I know it wasn't all that great compared to say, Mark (the winner), who laid down some freaking fast splits especially on this hilly course. I think his splits were around 5:24 a mile.. holy crap. Mine were a solid 6:52.. the best splits I've ever had in a race before (I think) and on this course.. that makes me feel pretty good about how I've been running.

But yes.. that is the latest. I went and watched Land of the Dead the other night. Look for a review soon on Zombie Talk.

Alright, that is it for now. Just so everyone knows.. tomorrow is a group ride up at The Ride.. 6 o'clock. Everyone should come.

Later

Back in the pool

Swimming in a 50-meter pool is kicking my put. I need my flip turns. I need my push offs everyone 25 yards. But no.. lots of strokes, better in the long run I guess. Plus it is outside which rocks.. going to maybe actually get a tan this summer.. and not just the crazy "bike tan" that I always end up with.

Going to do some hill repeats in the morning running up and down some hills near here.. then probably going to hit Conway up for some more hill repeats with the gang up there. Ahh, going to sleep well tomorrow.

Alright, I'm gone.. oh.. check out Alain Robert, one amazing guy.

Later

hehe

We have all noticed those fancy fences right, the ones with the scary looking spikes on the top? I've always thought that those fences were sort of stupid and would never be able to keep anyone from go over the top of one. I mean, you would easily vault one if you just took into mind that landing on one of the sharp stakes at the top would sort of suck. Of course I've always assumed that I would have my hands free, makes sense right?

Enter Cody Carlson... a guy who was hand cuffed and attempted to vault over one of these fences. Ouch is all I have to say.

I can't even begin to imagine how much that would have sucked.. especially with all the cops standing around pointing, laughing, taking pictures.. I bet there are a bunch of pictures in their squad room of them posing with the guy...

Later

Free time..

Ok, I've determined that if I have any free time, none of it is used to update my blog. This saddens me since it must mean that I have nothing interesting to say or comment on if I don't have anything to do. Well I have stuff to do, but it isn't really all that interesting. Alas, I'll try to do better. Though it would get sort of depressing if I posted everyday without any comments. Hmmm.. there must be some sort of comprimise that I can come up with.

Anyways, things have been going well. Been exercising a lot. Riding my bike religiously, and running a little. Need to get more in, but it is hard here in El Dorado since I can't find a good route to do, and treadmills suck. Also been swimming a little, though again, El Dorado prevents good workouts. Perhaps when I get back into Little Rock I'll start going to the Y or something. Sean, would you be up for swimming a few times a week? Of course, I suck seriously at this point.. but if you were there at least you'd push my lazy ass.

Let's see, nothing else really going out.. I've become addicted to celery (prepackaged stuff, I mentioned I'm lazy right) over the past couple of weeks. Don't know why.. it is just so good. Also got the Samurai Jack season 2 DVDs.. plan on watching those, actually really looking forward to it. Hoping to get the FireFly DVDs soon too.. really liked it when it was on tv, and eagerly looking forward to the movie, hopefully it'll be good.

Oh, and I thought this was pretty funny. I realize that I only cruise the same few posting sites.. but this one made me laugh. Oh, and I hate whiney little kids (thus why I thought it was funny.)

Later

George George George

I know this is a little late.. but I just read VG Cats and thought this perfectly explained my opinion of the movie. Scott Ramsoomair is a freaking genius.

Ok, thats all.

Later

I suck at swimming.

Alright, raced yesterday and really sucked ass during the swim. There could be lots of reasons why I sucked, such as the 10 minutes of treading water that we had to do before our start, but that isn't good enough. I need to start swimming and get back into shape.

Anyways, the race went well other than the swim. Of course I could have done better on the bike.. I think my split was 31st out of 729 or so.. and my run was 129th.. and my swim was 262.. damn.. that really sucks. Clearly I know what I need to work on.

Ok, well I am going to get back to lovely El Dorado.. going to run in the morning on my new shoes.. very much looking forward to it.

Later

Memorial Day

Since I no longer have internet in my apartment I haven't been able to post much lately. For some reason I must give off a vibe that prevents wireless networks from working properly. At hendrix they sucked in my apartment, and now at the apartments here the wireless sucks ass so much that I can barely get a signal. Stupid wireless networks sucking around me.

Got a race this weekend in Austin. It is going to rock. Going to down and stay with Michael and hang out, have fun, race. I am very excited. Not so excited that Willy is also coming from Fayetteville to race. That boy is way too fast for me. I am guessing he is going to win that race by a significant margin. But I'll race my hardest and see what happens. A sub-20 minute 5K would really rock. Doubt it is going to happen but who knows.

Alright... back to it.

Later

Race results

Well, I completed the race on Sunday down in Ruston. It was a good race, nice fast course and a variety of good racers. Erik and Beau destroyed the field and took first and second by minutes. I did ok, had a difficult time in the water, a pretty good bike, and a terrible run. But it is all good. I believe I went a shade over 1:10:00 so that isn't so bad. I would say this course was comparable to CATS so a 1:10:00 isn't so bad for not having been seriously training. And as Erik says it'll "light a fire under me." And it sort of has.. I've come up with a workout scedule and plan to join the master's swim group here in town next week. Actually might run over there tomorrow and see about swimming a little.

I'd post the splits but the website posting is all messed up. Actually I just checked and they seem to be in good working order now. Earlier it said Erik averaged 40+ mph on the bike.. and I know he is fast, but DAMN.

ok, here they are:
9:29 - swim
34:59 - bike
26:28 - run

the swim was a 500 yard swim, so way to slow in that category. The bike was 13.5 miles, so I'm happy with that, would have really prefered to be around 31 or 32, but I'll live. And the run was a 3.2 mile loop which I should have done in under 20.. or I should say would've liked to have done. But this is definetely going to get me back in the pool and running. Which is what I really need to do to get better.

Ok, I'm outta here.. going to TT up with The Ride guys tonight. Rode with some girls from the Ford/Landis pro team on tuesday, damn they are fast. I wish I only had to ride my bike for a living.. that would be so nice.

ok, I'm out.

later

Not much going on..

Things have been sort of slow here in at home. Office work is slow, waiting for lab results and can't really finish that until they get in. That is frustrating. But life goes on. Biking and running. Ran a 10k the other day over my lunch break. That was pretty intense. Dyron is crazy fast.. I might be able to beat him in a sprint, but he does a lot more long distance stuff. Just ran a 3h 15m marathon up at Hogeye.. got third place. I bet he could have even run better but he started off slow.. damn.. a freaking marathon. I wish I had been around for the little rock one.. that would have been fun.

Take it easy people.

later

LJ crap..

ok, for anyone interested I started a Live Journal for commenting rights on other LJ posts. And one of these days I might actually start commenting on them. So if anyone is interested the link is here. Nothing on it, and probably won't be anything on it in the future. Yeah.. that is right. Only for comments.

Later

Much needed post

Yeah, I know.. I post and post.. then I sort of don't post for about a week. But yes.. I'm back from Detroit, thank goodness. Been riding a bit. Not enough, it never is.. but hopefully it'll be enough to do decently well at the triathlon I'm planning on doing this weekend. I forget what it is called, but I'll try to get that on here in a bit. Maybe even get some pictures (if there are any taken) up and definetely get my times posted. And then you all can mock my slow ass, especially on the run. It is going to kick my butt.

Let us see.. what is going on.. not much. Doing laundry now.. having a brief, internal struggle attempting to determine if it would be socially acceptable (or just plain lazy) to pay to have someone else do my laundry. Or is it better to sit around for over an hour while the washing machines do their thing, then folding my clothes slowly.. probably about 3 hours of my life wasted. Or should I just pay someone a few bucks.. most likely around 20 or so.. to do it for me. It all comes down to how much I value my time. Would it be worth 3 hours of my time to spend around 16 bucks on laundry (it costs around 4 bucks in quarters to do laundry here in my apt. complex..) But yeah.. let me know what you think.

And just so I don't become a Sean poster, or a Heather poster.. I'm going to cut it short..

Later

Saturday Afternoon Post

Ok, so work is in the process of begining to wrap up here. Not soon enough for me, but I guess I can't complain. Eventually I'll be back home, riding my bike and exercising to my heart's content. I've been very pleased with the gym next door where I've been swimming and running the last few weeks. Had a fantastic swim last night, wish I could have gotten more in, but they close at 10, shit that is when my night is starting. But yeah.. feels wierd swimming around people who are really really bad. It would be like Michael Jordan going to the park to play a pick-up game. I'm not bragging about how good I am, but merely at how bad these people are. True, most of them seem to be old enough to be in a rest home, but still.. I feel like I'm freaking flying compared to these people. What really sucks is that this must be what it has always felt like for Sean when he swims with me. Damn, that is sort of humbling.

Other news, for those of you needing to get a fix on all things concerning zombies, Joey has started Zombie Talk, for those of us with nothing more productive to do with our imaginations. Ahh, that is sort of sad, but entertaining none the less. Expect lots of interesting comments and posts in the near future.

In other news, I've found that it is possible to function on 3 hours of sleep a night and still feel productive. I know, I know.. we all remember Ryan Rollings but I've found it is entirely possible. True, I have to sneak in little 30 minute naps here and there.. but I find that I can still exercise and work 15-17 hours a day, plus the driving, and feel fine. Sure, I wouldn't want to have to operate any heavy machinery, or even run a triathlon, but I feel ok doing what I have to do up here. But also, getting back onto a 7+ hours a night schedule will be really nice. Ahh.. not having to get up at 6 will rock.

Ok, since I've found that long posts get less comments, I'm gone..

Later

Funny link

Alright, first off I want to say that this would be the coolest exhibit ever. Why is it whenever I actually end up getting to a museum they never have stuff like this. Serves them right.

Other than that nothing much to report. Fun little discussion about zombies and the such in the comments from a few posts ago.. I know lots of people blog stalk.. but comment stalking is even more fun.

Later

Interesting Link to pass time

Ok, so I gotta give credit to William Gibson for pointing me this way, or his blog at least. Anyways, SmugglerSite is a really interesting site with lots of music videos and commercials which are sort of unique. My favorite thus far would have to be the Fatboy Slim video "Don't Let the Man Keep you Down" at least I think that is the title. Anyways, I thought it was cool and it helped me pass a little time during work.

Later

Zombie Proximity

Where do zombies come from? This usually is a point of contention with many film makers.. sometimes they come from curses placed on a people by some evil magician. Other times it is a promising new wonder-drug gone horribly wrong. I'm sure there are others, but I didn't bring the Zombie Survival Guide up here so I might have missed a few. Anyways, the prominate feature of these two theories is that you need dead people to get zombies. And where do you find the most dead people? No, Joey.. not grad school.. I'm talking cemetaries, or graveyards, or boneyards.. whatever you want to call it. Anyways, you are probably wondering what I'm bring all this up for.. right? Well let me tell you.

The site I'm working on just happens to be located in a pretty nasty part of town. Gun shots fill the air almost daily, but that isn't what scares me. What scares me is the fact that within a stone's throw from where I work daily, there is a graveyard. And the likelihood that one of these individuals who are being shot rests there is pretty good. What would be the chance that one of these recently deceased individuals who had left the world in some horrible manner would rise from the dead to exact his/her revenge on the masses. So, I'm constantly scanning the cemetary looking for hands breaking the dirt from freshly laid graves... I always point my car away from the cemetary for quick escape... the machettes are laid out from quick usage should the need arise. Always prepared... always. But still, what if one day I'm grabbing my pumps, and one is hiding in the shadows.. well we'll just have to face that bridge when we come to it.. but when i return from here.. and I'm sort of shuffling and look even more pale that usual.. I just thought I would warn you all now in case I get zombified..

Later

Post for the masses

Alright punks, I'm posting, so lay off. I can assure you this post will not be as interesting as Joey's "Five Year Old Battle Royale" or Sean's latest rant about how republicans are destroying the world.. nor will it contain any clever poems or rhymes like Lacy's latest post.. so I hope you are merely happy with me talking about nothing important at all.

I've been swimming at the gym next door to the hotel.. feels good to be swimming again, though I don't think they normally get people who actually swim laps. People in the aquacize class keep getting in my lane, the oldies... sort of annyoing if you ask me. Swimming along, do a flip-turn, and suddenly you are staring straight at some huge, wrinkle, varicose veiny legs protruding from a flower suit much to small to fit the gigantic eldery woman who can barely handle the little foam weights they use in the class. Other than the occasional lane confusion, the swimming is fantastic. I'm obviously out of swimming shape, but the last few nights of swimming I feel like I've made marked improvement. So, hopefully I'll be able to be moderately competitive this season in the whole triathlon thing.

Tomorrow I don't have to be onsite until 3 pm or so. I think I'm going to get up early.. eat some oatmeal, do some movement prep, go running, lift some weights.. eat second breakfast, calibrate all my pumps and everything, get everything ready to ship to NY, lunch, maybe swim (don't want to overtrain, but eh.. I'm young) and then who knows.

Joey, just for future knowledge, I've totally got your back when the moaning, brain-eating hordes arrive. No matter what my current blogging situation is.

Adult Swim is on.. gotta go kill some brain cells.

Later

Detroit, White Castle, and Subway

As some of you may know, I've been working up in Detroit for the last 10 days or so.. and will probably be here for another 10. Don't mind it that much, though sometimes the days get long getting all the equipment calibrated and shit, but it could always be worse. Smaller calibrations, more pumps, bitchier clients... always a possiblitiy of things sucking more.

But anyways, Detroit is a wierd town. True, it has 8-mile, and wierd shit like no left turns on major roads, no elevators in buildings 3 stories and under, srap like that. But yeah, the left turns screwes with my head really bad. You'll be driving along, see where you want to turn, drive PAST it, then flip a u-turn and a designated spot then return to where you want to turn and turn right. Wierd as all get out. But some of these u-turn spots are lighted.. so that is wierd. You'll be driving along.. and there will be random lights at spots where traffic is going to be entering from the on-coming lane to merge with you. Well, I'm so used to lights only being at intersections that I completely overlook these lights most of the time. I think I've ran about 5 of them. Just since I'm looking forward to the next intersection, and not at a spot 100 feet before that. Craziness.

Also, had my first experience with White Castle. Terrible burgers.. there is nothing to them. They are about two bites of crappy meat with a soggy bun. Though the pickle is quite good. It is sort of a square of spam inbetween two rolls that someone has kept it their jean's pocket during a really humid summer. Yeah, that describes them pretty well.

Also while driving the 20 miles or so to the site, I pass around 8 Subways. EIGHT FREAKING SUBWAY fastfood joints. This absolutely amazes me. I that means every 2.5 miles I could stop and get a refreshing sub-sandwich which, according to a previously fat guy that apparently Subway owns, can make you skinny. Subway is a marketing genius. They looked at the country, determined people are fat and don't want to be, so they begin marketing their sandwich to make fat people who like to eat, not skinnier, but merely more likely to buy their product. Brilliant.

Alright, I need to go change out some pumps, fill out some dang ol' COCs and maybe take a nap.

Later

PS: Props to Sprint PCS on their modem phones.

annoying flights

If you ever get the chance to take a flight sitting next to a claustraphobic individual, by all means take advantage of the opportuniy. The constant crying and hyperventalating really makes for an enjoyable flight. Also when other passengers feel pity on the person and have her hold their baby in an attempt to calm her down (not the baby) and thus makes the baby cries the entire flight. Now if you ever get this chance and hope to sleep through it.. well.. I hope you had as much fun as I.

Anyways, back in Detroit.. still interesting and fun, though not moving along as fast as I'd like. But yeah, I'll post more later..

later

Backpack..

Joey, you always come up with the most interesting things to talk about.. contents of a backpack.. brilliant. Anyways, i have a few minutes, and I have my backpack in front of me.. so here goes.

1) Laptop: endless source of entertainment. Not my machine, it is work's computer, but I love her anyways.

2) Various computer cords and power stuff: This is pretty obvious since a laptop always has a bunch of extra shit to make it worth while. My stuff is a USB hub, a connector for my phone (so I can get on the internet like this), a USB extension, a power supply, an external hardrive with all my music and movies and stuff, and a jet drive, which allows me to access wireless networks. Very nice tools to have.

3) A gyro-exerciser. I like to use this while driving, helps keep me awake. Also, fun to have whenever I get bored.

4) Nalgene: Covered in The Ride stickers and it provides at least 4 liters of water intake a day. I love this thing. Should probably wash it more, but I figure the germs will make me strong, like steroids.

5) Sun screen: Why you might ask? Well cause I got horribly burned on monday working up here in Detroit. Don't want that to happen again.

6) Hand sanitizer: Working on a site with only one port-a-john makes me worry about germs all of a sudden.

7) Fedex Airbills: You never can find these when you really need them. I hate not having the ability to ship anything anywhere, makes me feel very weak and powerless.

8) Real Design Catalouge: Never got around to taking it out of my bag, and I like looking at the forks and wheels. I love carbon fiber.

9) Pens and sharpies: Wouldn't be a backpack without them.

So that is about it. More of a work pack back.. but I like it. Usually I have a book or something thrown in there with all the other crap, but since I'm "working" I left them in the hotel room.

Later all.

Detroit

So I'm heading up the Rock City on Sunday for a project. It is going to be fun, at least I am going to make it fun, no matter what happens. This'll be the first project that I'll be working completely alone on, so I'm a little worried about that. But I'll survive, somehow. Suck since my roomie has been on spring break, and now I'm leaving.. it is almost like we are just sort of switching off who is going to be living alone in the apartment. Oh well.. it is all good.

Hoping to do the 2-10-2-10-2 duathlon on Sunday up in Conway. I don't know how I'm going to do, but I'll try to do well. Haven't been running enough, but that is pretty normal. Cycling feels pretty strong so we'll see what happens.

Ok, I'm going to jam, need to burn some stuff off my harddrive.

Later

Decisions

These are the two bikes I'm looking at... just for fun mind you, nothing serious yet. Sorry they are different sizes. But anyways..

The one on the left is the Tarmac E5 from Specialized. I've heard it is fast, light, responsive, and comfortable. Erik says it is one of the best bikes he has ever ridden. The Boca, I've actually never heard of anyone riding one. It is titanium, much like my Roo.. and they would look really cool together in my room. Of course, this shouldn't be a deciding factor when it comes to road bike purchases. So, I'm sort of at an impasse.. I'll probably go with the E5 since I'm betting Erik could get me a better deal on it.. though the Boca is sort of exotic. Titanium with carbon.. oooohh. The Specialized I believe comes with better wheels, and I probably can get a better spec kit through them.. and I've been loving the dura ace 10 on my roo.. and then I could get a nice set of training wheels and use them on either my road of tri bike. Oh man.. I need to stop thinking about this and get back to work. Sorry of the sudden posts and their length.

later

Not posting enough

I would have posted last night, but the internet in my apartment decided to not work on me. Something odd about that, when it works it is slow, when it doesn't work, well.. need I say more? Ok yeah, but enough of that. I've not been posting enough, and I feel it is because I have nothing really to say. I want to get a new bike.. why? Since my old road bike is falling apart. Needs new hubs, spokes are worn down, only can use one bottle cage since I torqued the hell out of one of the screws and ruined the lug/frame combo. But yeah.. so the bike I want to get is the Javelin Boca, or at least that is the bike I've been spending a lot of time looking at. But I also want a fixed gear bike.. maybe I'll just get both. Crazy ideas I know.. or perhaps I shouldn't buy a bike since I'm not riding nearly enough. Damn, I just want to ride all the time and never have to work. That would be nice.

Ok I'm going to go before this turns into a "sean post." Take it easy everyone.. and if I get lots of comments perhaps I'll start posting on a daily basis. It is always nice to see lots of comments, and always sad when you realize that no one finds your posts interesting in any way.

Later

Bike Race

Had my first race of the season today. 38 miles or so of rolling terrian with some really crazy climbs in the middle. Basically it was two 20 mile loops with two nasty climbs on each lap. I felt that I did really well despite my significant lack of training. The first lap was felt really good, the second lap I felt awesome on until the big hill, which sort of hit me like a ton of bricks, then kicked me while I was down. But I still feel that I finished pretty well for only having rode maybe 10 times this year. Can't wait to get some more miles under my belt and really train hard.

Well, I am going to go to bed now.. need to get some sleep. Today sort of kicked my ass, and I think sleeping will help it.

Later

Not enough time..

There totally is not enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do. Stupid not having enough time. I need a vacation, or perhaps 2 weeks in the field. That is practically like a vacation that I get paid on.. and don't get to do anything fun on.. actually, it isn't like a vacation at all. It is more like easy, easy work.

Speaking of work, I need to get back to it. Posting has suffered, and I apologize. One of these days.. one of these days...

later

Being back in town..

Nothing like being back in town. It is great, since it is the longest time before you have be back in the field. Nothing like it. Seeing friends, bike rides, not working.. holy crap, I feel like a huge amount of weight has been lifted off my shouldars.. well mainly due to the fact that I could stop carrying the damn SPMs up the stairs.

Anyways, a few of us went out to IHOP last night.. it was fun. Creepy waitress, totally freaked me out a bit.. she seemed like one of those girls that would keep your credit card receipt and get your address and then start sending you random letters, and then showing up on your doorstep passed out from a cocktail of valium and blow.. an empty bottle of Carlo Rossi propping her head above the pile of vomit. And the wierd thing was.. she totally had the hots for Niki. Seriously.. she wanted Niki bad. So.. well.. I'm thinking I might have to install some sort of extra lock on the apartment just in case.

Anyways, The Ride had it's year anniversery today.. and of course, a ride accompinied it. There were probably.. I don't know.. 30-40 people on road and tri bikes there. A lot of Specialized since that is what Erik sells.. and it was amazing to see everyone come out who had obviously supported The Ride this past year. So after a few words, we all got started. We were doing the normal Morrilton ride with a little extra added at the mid-point so it isn't so out and back. But we had a head wind the entire way out.. and everyone was sort of complaining about the wind, but you know if you have a headwind going out.. you get a tail wind coming back (well not always, but usually.) Anyways.. we get to the bridge in Morrilton and started back towards Conway. We weren't even pushing it and were keeping 26 easily.. in fact, coasting at 26 sometimes. It was great. But then you could see everyone was getting ancy, the eyes casting about, waiting for someone to go.. and of course.. we went. Took it up to around 30.. and held it there for quite some time.. then big ol' Jeff just starts cranking and goes.. so everyone tries to grab a wheel. I stayed on for a few miles, but all the work and lack of riding didn't let me hold on for long so I had to drop off.. but I wasn't the only one. Another guy and myself teamed up a few miles later and cranked it up to about 28 until we found some more people that got dropped, scooped them up, and laid it down all the way back. Such a good feeling. Legs all wobbly.. calves cramping up when you stand to sprint.. holy crap.. such a good freaking ride. Endorphins rock.

Anyways, I'm about to jam.. get some more furniture for the 'partment and see about spending some more of this freaking awesome day outside for a bit. Oh yeah, the weather rocks. Perfect day for a ride.. I hope everyone got to spend some of it outside.. well, 'cept for those of you in places that don't have great weather.. in which case.. na naa na naa na.

Later

Required post

Alright, apparentely I lied about posting more. Thanks to Niki for reminding me. I can only assume it was her since she is always complaining about how bored she is, and how unfurnished our apartment is. So perhaps she could kill two birds with one stone and get some freaking furniture. But no.. if she did that there would be significantly less bitching that normal and we can't have that.

Oh yeah, I'm ticked off if you couldn't tell. Work has been a pain in the ass today and I don't really want to talk about it at the moment. Perhaps someday I'll tell a story about the shitty week that this has been. Instead I'm going to end this post without upsetting any more of the many people that I'm pissed off with at the moment.

Later

Fixed Gear Bikes

Whoa, a post about bikes, seems crazy huh? Well I'm currently incredibly delirious having not really slept at all today (foolish I know, but well worth it) so I figure it is time for crazzy delerious post about fixed-gear bikes.

First I gotta give a shout out to my AZ brother the J-LEE for sending me that cool link. I've always wanted to get a fixed gear bike. I don't know why, something about riding a machine that can't let you cheat (not that coasting is cheat, but well.. sometimes I do coast when I don't have to) and it just seems.. so perfect. I really want to get one, so I could ride it to work. Since i'm planning on getting another road bike.. I guess I could always ride the good ol' EPX to work.. but it would be really awesome I think to ride a Lancaster (I think this is the Specialized track frame.. I'm currently too lazy to spend 5 seconds and surf over to their page to check..) Much simplier I believe. In fact, driving around The Rock the other day I saw a guy on a beat up ol' orange fixed gear bike.. but he had a brake. I don't know if I would go with a brake or just let my knees blow out.. eh.. I could always decide later.

But yeah, there is the major issue of ruining your knees riding a fixed gear bike with no brakes. If you suddenly try to stop pedaling and the wheel is really booking.. well.. that is a lot of momentum to try to stop.. and when realize that you made a mistake and you can't coast.. trying to immediately pedal again might not do such nice things to your knees. And Sean can attest to the fact that sore knees are probably the worst thing that can happen to an athlete.. well in the running/biking world at least. I've gotten some pretty sore knees every now and again.. bad run.. or just a long ride when it is cold... but damn does it hurt the next few days. I can only imagine blowing out your knee wouldn't be the most enjoyable thing... oh man.. that would suck so bad. And i've heard a lot of stories about bike messengers blowing out their knees on fixed gear bikes.. but that could be due to the fact that dodging through busy traffice in NYC might cause a little more stress on the body. But yeah..

Con #1: Possibly blowing out your knee.
Pro #1: It would be badass to be able to ride your bike backwards..
Con #2: I'm sure I'd fall a lot trying to do track stands at lights.
Pro #2: Eventually being able to do a track stand to the amazement of bystanders.
Con #3: Buying another bike and convincing myself I need it.
Pro #3: Having another bike which to hang on my wall.
Con #4: The insults I'm sure I'd recieve from The Ride guys.
Pro #4: No matinence.

Alright, that is all I feel like doing. It seemed really easy at first.. I had all these great ideas.. but then when I tried to start listing them.. well.. I forgot. Stupid not enough sleep.

Anyways, I'm outta here.. sorry my posts have been so shitty and far between. I want to try to get back into a good posting schedule.. I don't know what has been wrong with me. I'll do better from this moment on.. I promise.

Later

El Dorado Riding

Riding in El Dorado is nice. It is moderately flat with nice shouldars and there is wind. I'd prefer something a tad bit more hilly, just so I can get back in shape, but the rolling terrian here should prove to be a good area to get back in shape. Need to make some calls and talk to some locals about finding some other loops. All in all, I'm looking forward to riding and losing all this crappy winter weight.

In other news, Liz has returned. And she posted today. Which is cool. So, if anyone has felt odd about checking her blog constantly since she has been out of town.. well, no need to worry anymore.

I've been playing WoW lately. Game is fun, and slightly addicting. Especially when you are playing with friends. Very fun indeed.

Later

Long time coming.

Alright, here we go. This post is going to be long, detailed, and completely true. Of course, if the post ends up being short, then you'll know that having lied once I could likely do it again. Anyways.. here goes.

Monday was a crazy, crazy day. First off, I stayed up way too late the night before not sleeping. And only got maybe 3-4 hours of sleep. Had I known what was going to happen monday I'd have gotten a lot more sleep. But never-the-less, Monday started off as a normal day. Arrived on site, joked around with Stu and the Anti-chicken.. then Sub-zero and I made our way out into the facility to put out pumps. We had noticed some drift on one of our monitors so we also grabbed a couple of bottles of cal-gas to fix the problem when we got out there. It was probably around 07:40 or so when we headed out. We placed our pumps out, and then commenced work on calibrating the annoying monitor that was drifitng all over the place.

As we were standing there, no more than 100 feet away, a track-hoe was busy working on removing rubble and the like from the work area. We didn't think anything about this at the time since they are always doing work. I think the monitor wasn't calibrating correctly, so myself and the Z-man sort of were standing there making jokes and just trying to see if we could get it to zero at all. At this point I was turned slightly away from the pad (where the track-hoe) was and Zach had his back to it. Out of the corner of my eye there was a flash, pretty bright mide you, and an incredibly loud concussion. There was a slight blast of heat that rushed over us and I felt pretty freaked out. We just looked at each other, at the small ball of flame, then each other again. Quite intense. You know that feeling you get after you slam on your brakes so you don't hit an animal on the road, that sudden rush of adrenaline in your blood? Well.. I could have sworn there wasn't any blood left in me.. and only adrenaline.

At this time most of the area was evacuating, driving well above the posted 10 mph speed limit but I don't think anyone really cared. We got in our vehicle and started driving out the plant. As we got a better visual on the facility we noticed that the reaction caused a plume to rise off the bad. Driving quite well, Zach aimed us downwind of the plume and tore some shit up to get us there before the plume moved out site. Well, the plume was really moving, but we luckily just happened to be at the right place at the right time to get to the edge of the property before the plume exited the site. Also as we were heading downwind the operations radio informed us there was an incident. It was really nice to say that we were already downwind and preparing to monitor. Thought that that was pretty impressive and probably looked really good for us. We didn't detect any readings at this time, and we asked to come back and monitor between the facility and the administrative buildings. We did that, called in the night crew, and sent them out to do some community monitoring. We walked around for about 90 minutes doing some perimeter monitoring and got absolutely no readings. The rest of the day consisted of wipe samples, community monitoring, and not eating lunch until around 3. So, it was quite an exciting day.

There was a video of the actual reaction. I got to watch it the other day. Let's just say that I'm trying to somehow get my hands on a copy of it. I have a blank tape and everything. Maybe I'll be able to get it. The video is quite badass, and the concussion moved the huge track-hoe around eight feet. 8 feet! These things are huge.. and it was pussed around like it was some kid's toy. In the video, I can point out exactly where I am during the whole thing.. pretty dang close.. still makes me wonder.

Anyways, there were no injuries... amazingly! The track-hoe had a 1 inch piece of Lexan protecting the driver's compartment. At least, I believe it was 1 inch. Anyways, yeah, saved the guys life. He was fine other than for some ringing in his ears. After he got out of the vehicle he was high-fiving everyone, quite the apporiate response to just nearly dying. The track-hoe was wasted, some might even say it had it's shit ruined... the computer was fried and the thing had to be dragged off the pad by the new track-hoe. Anyways, no one was hurt and we got no readings readings during the entire "mini-incident". Quite awesome I must say.

Anyways, that is my little story. Did turn out to be long.. sorry for the length. But hey, I could have been complaining about the presidency and the such. Just kidding Sean. Alright everyone, I'm outta here. Going to get some work done and go check on some monitors.

Later

Some really cool links.. well one sad one.

Alright.. here are some links that will probably make you laugh, and amaze you.. I'm not sure which way it is going to be. Sorry again for substituting clever original posts with links, but these are two things that you have to see. The second one is hosted by a co-worker, so click the ads and make him some dough. That's right... 8 cents a pop.

Awesome wind powered acrobatics here.

Another fat kid who should have left the webcam off. I hope someone edits a lightsaber into this one too.

Later

Anyone remember when Napster was free?

Well I remember good ol' napster. How popular it was and how everyone just loved the free music downloads. Well, everyone except for the RMAA and myself (merely out of free of reprisal.) But let us see. What does Napster do now? Well now they charge you. Money, for music. Rather than damn the man it appears that Napster is the man, well.. getting money from us for music. Well the whole point of this is this little article I stumbled across. Just thought it was interesting. I, of course, would never do such a thing, but thought it was interesting. The only person that might actually do it is Jesse, but he is so far above Napster that I don't even think this would even remotely interest him. Oh, and I also liked it since I'm a big nerd.

Check it out.

Alright, I know I said I was going to post a little narative about the reaction the other day. Sorry, but I've not gotten around to it. But know that it will be entertaining and completely factual (not a fact at all..) but at least it will be entertaining. I can guarentee you that.

Later

Some interesting things.

Here are just a few links that might be interesting to check out. They are sort of along the lines of things Sean might rant about, but I thought they were interesting.

First one is from the LA Times. Sort of makes me both sad and angry. Here it is.

The next one is from RollingStone.com. Yeah I know, not the most reputable organization, but hey, it is an interesting read at least. I think the things discussed in this article might be sort of prevalent to our futures. So, read up.

Alright, later.

Just a quick post.

A few things that I've learned in the last day or so.

1: It isn't called an explosion, it is called a reaction.

2: Reactions are loud, and if you are close, also hot.

3: Reactions scare me shitless.

4: If you're scared shitless, it is a good chance that everyone around you is too.

5: Adrenaline can keep you pumped for hours.

6: This job is much more dangerous/exciting than I had ever imagined it to be.

7: Take nothing for granted, since you'll never know when a random drum of something is going to react and make a big "ka-fucking-boom" (quote from one of the guys working here.)

Later

Case of the Mondays..

Actually this monday has been quite exciting and adventerous. I mean, Valentines day and all, and I'm working out of town sort of sucks, but I didn't mind. Didn't get enough sleep last night, but that is completely normal. Got to the plant today and had massive amounts of excitement. Totally made up for the week of laziness that I had while working. Then, checking out my blog I discovered 14 comments!!! on one of my posts.. that even more made my day. Of course while reading through some comments on previous posts i noticed someone that I don't even know commented on my blog. Nearly blew my mind. I figured this as a safe haven for myself and my friends, where our crazy comments, rants, and musings on a variety of topics could be discussed in virtual privacy. Don't get me wrong, it is badass that complete strangers are commenting on my blog.. sort of makes me wonder if others who I've never meet are reading this right now thinking... "holy crap this guy and his friends are crazy.."

Alright, I'm gone.. need to get some work done.

Later

Everyone has to check this out.

Alright, I know this might only interest me.. and possible no one else, but when I watched this it really amazed the crap out of me. So I'm posting it here in an attempt to show others what really blew my freaking mind. I swear, this guy is freaking strong and must be double or triple jointed.

Watch what I'm talking about here.

And of course, thanks to Ebaum's World for hosting this awesome little video and allowing me to find it.

If you are wondering what Scott Wills has to do with it, well I can't figure that out. The dancer has his own website located here if you are interested to find out more about him. There are also some more videos there.

Later

On salads and the such...

So I've been eating a lot of salads recently, partly due to the fact that I'm trying to eat healthier, and partly since usually a normal dinner meal doesn't really fill me up. So, I guess I'm eating healthier and eating more. That means the two are counter-acting each other, but hey, I feel better. Back to the salads and the point at hand. I've noticed that salads usually come with one or two large onion rings on them. Perhaps many people don't like to have chopped onions in their salads and are thus able to lift all the onion out of their salad without being bothered. Personally I like onions and the ring forces me to have to cut the onion with my fork. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but upon a slippery bed of lettuce and dressing I've often had difficulty cutting them. So last night when my salad (before the 2 pounds of crab legs.. yeah I know.. healthy!) arrived with a onion ring on it, I immediately started bitching to Zach. "Why to they put a ring of freaking onion on my salad?' Zach, being the brilliantly witty and funny guy that he is said.. "Ever seen that movie Stargate? Yeah, well the onion is sort of like a salad gate... a gateway to your salad!" I don't know why, but this caused me to start laughing a lot. I don't know, it was funny. I stopped laughing when I accidently rotated my onion ring slightly and my entire salad disappeared.

Alright, actually it didn't, but I thought I'd nerd it up a bit. But I did get pissed off when trying to cut my onion caused a piece of lettuce to fly of my plate and land on my arm. Stupid onion ring. Maybe I'll just start doing what everyone else does and remove the ring of onion from my salad.

Anyways, this post sucks hairy monkey balls.. but deal with it. I have nothing else to work with. Take it easy everyone.. and pShawn.. I hear we might be coming to visit you sometime in the near future? That would be fun I think. (Liz forwarded me an e-mail of sorts describing your thoughts in case you were wondering.)

Later all

Spades

Spades rocks.. I play too much spades.. work needs to make me more and play spades less.

If anyone wants to play.. leave me a message and I'll get online and play with you.

Later

Howdy Peoples

So I got me some rollers coming in soon, when you might ask? Probably this afternoon. I doubt shipping from Conway to El Dorado takes a long time but who knows. I mean, we ordered tubes over a week ago and they still haven't arrived. I'm really excited about the rollers. They are just so much fun, and torturous, but fun none the less.

Work here is actually pretty interesting, much more so than Texas City was. Perhaps it is because I have someone to work with, rather that to just sit in a room all alone. But we are in an administrative building, so we have to pretend to be working, rather than the blatant disregard fro work that I was so good at in Texas.

Anyways, I'm going to go play some HL2.. thus far joey I've only played mutliplayer with a guy from work. It was pretty fun, but I'm going to throw on some headphones and see what the single player is like. I'll keep you posted. Had some trouble installing it mutliple times before I realized they make you install both HL2 and CS:Source, which I think is stupid, but whatever.

Also.. Sugar Loadzz... "do you just roll tape whenever a slouch in a sideways baseball cap shows up?" Onstad is a freaking genius.

Later

El Dorado

Alright, so I've now spent a total of 2, yes that is right, 2 whole nights in my new apartment. Many of you might be wondering, well so what, you moved in 2 days ago right? Actually no, I moved in, let's see, when was it Niki, on the 10th of last month? Yeah, that sounds about right. So, I'm paying rent so Niki can have her own place, and I get a place to keep all my junk. It is wonderful.

Actually it isn't so bad. I've gotten ot visit 5 different states since the 11th of january, so that isn't so bad. Work is just crazy like that sometimes. Sitting around in El Dorado should be a blast, seems like nothing really is going on here, and it'll allow me to catch up on blogging and e-mail. The internet here is uber-fast, much better than having to use my phone over in South Carolina. I also brought my bike and everyhting so maybe I'll be able to convince on of the night shift guys to let me work there shift or something. I mean, the weather is beautiful and I have my bike.. it would be a shame not to ride. Or maybe I'll just call Erik and have him ship me some rollers down here. Hell, that might not be a bad idea. Hmmm, decisions decisions.

Well, everyone, I'll be trying to get some pictures posted up here. I have a freaking hilarious picture of Sean attempting to do a hand stand. Had I been faster with my camera I'd have gotten sean collapsing aginst the wall in an attempt to do a hand stand. I'm sure he'll deny it, but Liz was there and can back me up.

Alrigt, I need to get back to pretending that I'm working. Seriously, I can't believe I get paid for this.

Later all

Decay update

For those of you that have been religiously reading my blog, then this title will probably mean a lot to you. Well, actually it might not, but whatever. The possum, or whatever it was, is almost gone. In fact, I would say maybe just 2 more days will completely get rid of it. Basically what I'm saying is that on Friday after a meeting with some plant employees, I get to go home. I'm pretty stoked about that. I get to go online here in a few minutes and buy me some plane tickets. Ahh, demobilization is a wonderful thing.

Most of our shit has been packed and is ready to go. Need to talk to some of the RJLG guys and let them know we are leaving. Well, basically I'm going to go into their "office" do a little dance, point in their faces and laugh since I get to go home. I know that probably isn't the best way to handle it, but I'm sure they will see the humour in it too.

So yeah, since i'm going to be home Friday, and The Ride is having a 112 (I think that is right) mile ride saturday morning, Sean sort of convinced me to do it. Thanks. Actually I'm looking forward to it, though I have a strange feeling it is absolutely going to KICK MY SORRY LITTLE ASS! But eh, it'll be worth it right. 6 hours or so on my bike.. couldn't be better right? Oh I'm stoked. Probably won't be able to finish it, but maybe I'll just have to take it slow and finish on my own. I can handle that I believe. We'll see if the lifting and running kept me in decent enough shape over the past few weeks.

Alright, I'm outta here. Going to try to clean up the hotel room a bit before tomorrow.. don't want to be a complete ass to the hotel staff here.. they have been pretty cool.

Later

Just some thoughts

I've noticed something recently, and this is mainly going to be a rant, but I feel pretty strongly about it so well, bare with me. I've been watching a lot of TV recently, mainly since I can work, and watch TV at the same time (thank you Quality Inn) but I've notcied a lot of infomercials for a variety of exercise products. From DVD workout discs, to new "revolutionary" equipment. Sometimes I wish I had a lot of money so I could purchase every new little thing, and try it out. I can't believe that everything out there actually nearly as good as they say it is. Does the Ab Lounger really work out your abs 210% better than a normal crunch? I would love to try it out and give my opinion on it, but I have a hard time justifying spending money on any ol' workout. I mean, I broke down and bought Core Performance, and loved it, but I doubt that I'd love every workout out there. And even now, I just sort of suplement Core Performance into my own personalized workouts.

But anyways, back to my original rant. In these informercials all I see are startling ripped guys and really skinny women. Then they always show "real-life" stories of ugly fat people losing huge amounts of weight and becoming skinny beautiful people. And under each of these little "real-life" stories there is a little blurb about "results not typical, individual results may vary." Well, what are typical results? That the person bought it, tried it for 2 weeks, didn't see startling amazing results and threw it in a back closet. Then they see another amazing item on TV and the cycle starts all over again. And all the while Americans are becoming fatter and lazier.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think a lot of people are active and don't need to worry about anything. Society has created a horrible image that both men and women attempt to achieve (and oddly enough the only people I ever see on these infomercials are this body type) but I don't think either sex need to have this body. But I don't think flooding the market with difficult to use products that probably just end up detering people from actually working out. I think society needs to stop trying to tell us what we should look like and just let us be. Then people who aren't happy with how they look wouldn't be shy about going to gyms or just getting out and working out. But I'm sure there are people out there who don't feel comfortable going to a gym and working out. Gyms can be very intimidating, with all t he machines and super-fit people casting side-long glances at you. Eh.. stupid society.

Alright, I started this post a while back, and have been distracted many times, so I sort of lost my train of ranting thought.. sorry about that. Anyways, have a good day, and go do something active.. go run, or swim, or bike, or paddle, or climb, or play a sport, or whatever. Just, do something.. the human body is an amazing machine, don't waste it.

Later

Quick post

So yeah, I have been meaning to put this up for a while. But the guy I'm working here with, Jeremy, who the other night was trying to pick up some ladies at a bar.. and he used the comment describing one of them as "adult braces ugly." I don't know why, but I thought it was really funny.

Later

PS: read and comment on the previous post.

Just a quick thought

This thought just popped into my head. It relates a lot to the fact that I've been watching a lot of TV lately (due to work) and The Incredibles (great movie by the way)... but why do so many super hero types wear capes? I am hoping that everyone who reads this regularly, or blog stalks, will perhaps put their two cents in and let me know what you think. Bonus points for extra clever answers.

later

WTF?

Alright, I don't know why I did it, but I just agreed to get a pink tri-suit for next year. Why? I don't know... since everyone else is doing it. I have a nice pink jersey from The Ride, and now I'm going to have a sweet pink The Ride tri-suit. Geez, I'm such a nerd. I'll make sure to get a picture up here whenever I get it, since i'm sure you'll all be incredibly jealous. And as well you should be.. since it is totally going to rock! I'm going to stand out at races.. it'll be wonderful. Well, not entirely, but I'm sure it'll help me get over my shy complex. Since everyone is going to be staring at me and probably mocking me behind my back.. but everyone will be behind me since i'll be kicking their ass. Ahh... confidence in my sub-par racing abilites.

Doing some soil sampling tomorrow.. looking forward to it. Well, not really, since it is going to be cold and probably raining tomorrow. There is going to be nothing there, I wish I could just tell the people that there isn't anything there, but eh, it is what we are doing here.

Hope everyone is having a good day.. I would tell you about mine, but you would all get insanely jealous.

Later

I noticed this car in the parking lot of the motel we are working out of. I thought it was a pretty cool license plate, mainly since it is sort of a nickname of mine.. but yeah.. I thought it was pretty cool.

How time passes...

So, how do you notice time passing? Is it by the calendar? Or how often you have to cut your nails or hair, etc? While in the field it is sometimes hard to judge how time passes. I often forget what day it is, which is pretty bad. While in town it is easy since I'm constantly looking forward to the weekend and bike rides. But here in South Carolina, I don't really have anything to look forward to. But lately I've been noticing a nice little, sort of disgusting, way to help judge time. Along the route that I come to the hotel that I "work" out of, there is a dead possum. It has been there for awhile, but everyday it is slightly more decayed. And I have a theory that I'm going to be here as long as this poor little creature is decaying by the side of the road. But when I see that the little guy has completely disappeared, then it will be time to go home. Sort of morbid, but it makes sense to me.

Alright, Joey, I've got my HL2 here, and I am going to install it in just a few minutes. Aren't you excited? I sure am.

Later

Insert clever title here.

I feel sort of bad. Most of my friends (well mainly just Liz that I've noticed lately) have been posting these massive blogs which are well written, clever, and insightful. I feel that I should follow suit or something, but at the moment I'm not feeling clever or insightful, nor am I very good at writting, so perhaps a massive blog will follow.

I went out and dd some soil sampling yesterday afternoon. It was intereting process, walking around this park, looking at trees that I can't determine if they are dead or not. I think the guy was just sort of wacky, since one tree would be fine, then the next would be sort of brown. Doesn't seem like Cl2 would really do that, but you know, I'm not a hortaculturalist or anything. But whatever, I got some dirt in bottles and it is going to a lab as we speak. I know we are going to find anything showing that chlorine is in the soil, and I doubt it is causing the trees to become slightly brown, but whatever. Life goes on.

Haven't installed HL2 yet, I know Joey, I'm sorry. But eventually I'll get it all installed and start killing some aliens. Ant lions will be my minions and I'll have rule over all the earth! Well, maybe I'm building it up too much, but I've got high hopes. On the box I believe it says "best game ever," and boxes never lie. But I'll install it up here in a few days and I'll kick some City 17 ass, or whatever it is.

Trying to keep this blog rolling. For some reason my hotel seems to enjoy canceling my little electronic keycards every few days. I don't know why they would do such a thing, especially last night when I was sort of tired, cold, and didn't want to deal with any shit. But instead, when I got to my room my card no longer worked. I don't understand, I've requested the room, given them my credit information, just let me stay in my damn room. I could understand kicking someone out of their room by say, taking all of his possesions out of the room, but they leave my shit in there. So what is the freaking point. This time I asked they don't cancel my card and just let me live at the hotel in peace, but I doubt it'll happen. I would hope that after staying in a hotel for 3 weeks or so they would just give me the benefit of the doubt and maybe believe that I know what I'm doing. I hate going to the desk and having the lady say, are you sure you want to book the room for another week? Come on bitch, I don't want to be in your damn hotel, despite its cute single servings of soap and shampoo (which I am given new ones every day, so I have around 20 bottles of shampoo stashed in the drawers of my room) just know that I have to stay and will be gone the second I get a chance. Perhaps I'll steal all the pillowcases or something.

Speaking of pillowcases. I've had to do laundry while I've been out here in SC (unlike some people who I work with who still haven't done any laundry) but anyways, when i say "do laundry" I mean drop it off at the front desk of the Holiday Inn and have them do it for me. So I've never had a little bag in my room in which I could place my clothes in, so I've just started using pillowcases from the room. Now you'd think that they would realize this, but instead, when I send my dirty clothes in a pillow case, it comes back washed, and neatly folded with the rest of my clothes. Hmm, well I guess that is kind of cool, but I always seem to not notice it, and put it in with my pile of shirts. So some mornings when I don't turn on the light and grab a shirt I end up with my head in a pillow case. Yeah, I'm sure that makes some of you laugh, but you wouldn't laugh if you started to freak out that your head had gotten really big at night and could no longer fit through the neck-hole of your t-shirts. I felt like George Costanza or something.

Alright, I think this blog is sufficently massive enough, poorly written, and lacking any redeeming qualities, cleverness, and humour. So with that I'm going to sign off. Lunch is calling my name.

Later

Running

So I went for a little run last night. I think it worked out to be 8 miles or so. Which is pretty good I believe, I think my run time was around 1 hour, which puts my splits around 7'30" a mile, which isn't bad. I was just cruising for most of it, so I'm pleased with my room. It is always strange running in a town that you aren't used to, running without ID, there is always the chance that something could happen. I'm not really worried about riding or running when I'm home since I know the area and feel confident my friends would know where to look for me should something happen to me, but last night I could have been hit by a car and never been found. I don't really like to think about it, but it is always sort of there in the back of my head.

So yeah, it was a good run, I'm sort of sore, which is freaking awesome. Work is going to be really slow today and tomorrow. I've picked up Half-Life 2 and plan to get involved with it maybe this afternoon or evening. I'm really looking forward to it. I wish I was going to play it on a top of the line machine, but this ol' clunker will have to do I guess.

Alright, I'm outta here..

Later

Still here..

Just found out that I'll probably be in lovely South Carolina for a little bit longer. Just going to be helping out doing home sampling and car clearing. Fun stuff. Could be worse I guess. There is a nice gym here that I'm enjoying and hopefully I'll be able to get some nice running in.

I don't know what I did to bring the wrath of Lacy, but whatever it was, I'm sort of scared of her. Hopefully she won't be reading this. Cause this will probably just piss her off more. Anyways, Haz-cat 2 was taken by a sub-contractor, who might be moving to Little Rock at some point, so I'm might be seeing her again. Cute little kitty.

Anyways, thanks for all the posts, but I have to get and do some more data crap, then lunch, then probably houses. Fun times.

Later all.

Apologies

I'm sorry about not posting more, and pretty much ignoring all of you in my life at the moment. Work has been really busy, and I've not had time to really respond to e-mails or posts or anything. I don't have internet during the day, so I have just a few minutes in the evenings before I pass out from exhaustion, like I'm about to do now.

So I'm going to bail, just wanted to let people know what was going on here in S.C. Oh, and thanks for the variety of pointless comments on my last post, I was really excited, but then realized Joey and Amanda were just being crazy.

Later all.

Here is a picture of the cat, which has been aptly named hazcat-2 (there exists another cat which was already named hazcat) but this one is much more badass. Hazcat came by around dinner time last night, and Haz-2 totally showed it who was boss. Oh yeah, that laptop you can see, Haz-2 totally ripped off some keys, this cat ROCKS! I think around 8 people have already said they are going to take it home with them. I hope the owner doesn't mind. Alright, back to work.

HazCats

Here in South Carolina, down by the site, we have acquired a few friends. 98 77777777777xddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd87xd One of which is a very affectinate cat which doesn't really have a name, but likes to walk over my keyboard as I'm typing. That is what the long string \]of=2q43 symbols is from, the cat walking over my keyboard. I have a really good picture, which I'll post later when I get a chance.

Things on site are pretty calm at the moment. Lots of community sampling to clear evacuation zones, but other than that, not much going on. Data entry like a mother, but it isn't so bad.

Other than that, just working like sure the cat doesn't wreak any of our equipment.

Alright, back to work...
Latert5yw3vbeg0-

South Carolina

Getting sent out to South Carolina this evening. Sort of looking forward to it, traveling again (which is always fun I guess.) Honestly I was hoping to get some down time so I could finish moving into my new apartment but there exists no rest for the weary. I guess this also means no climbing with the lovely ladies which grace the Little Rock area (yes, I'm talking about Liz and Shawn.) Anyways, I need to go pack and get ready to go. Take it easy everyone, I'll try to post more when I get there.

Later

Back Home

Back home in Arkansas. Still debating if it is better to be back, or merely better than sitting around in California doing nothing. I guess I am glad to be back, though I could have definetely used another week of doing nothing but reading and slacking off. Geez, it felt like I was in college again.

Anyways, Joey, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you again, but we'll organize something and make it out to AZ at some point in the near future. Glad you liked the t-shirts; I saw the "furry's" one and had to get it for you.

Anyways, I'm going to bail, time to find something to do at work. I'm sort of ticked since there were some interesting things that happened while I was away. Oh well, life goes on.

Later

Trip almost over

Vacation is over tomorrow and I'll be flying back into town. Time to get back to the whole hussle and bustle of life. The week of doing nothing but eating and relaxing, reading and video games is just about up. Fantastic. I guess it was fun while it lasted, but I feel that I need to get back to it all. Not having exercised in the last week has been killing me. Time to hit it hard, the new year is upon us.

Alright, not much else to say, nothing has really happened. Got to spend some quality time with my friends, not as much as I'd have liked, but that is how things go. All in all it was good to get away, but it is time to get back.

Later

California

Ahh, traveling is so much more rewarding when it is done for pleasure rather than work. Work travel is fun and all, but there is just something nice about knowing that when you get off the plane you aren't going to have to immediately do something. More relaxing that way.

The flights were pretty nice, I slept the entire way on both flights. Little did I know that my flight saturday morning was at 7:15 rather than the previously assumed time of 10:30. So I got roughly 1 hour of sleep and am still attempting to catch up on the whole rest thing. Taking naps on couches that I took naps on for years when I was younger has been a wonderful experience.

I'm hoping to get over the mountains and make it to Reno on tuesday, but the weather here has been crazy. While in Arkansas while planning this trip (ok, the time it took me to by the tickets on Southwest.com, but still, let us call it "planning") I had merely assumed that I would be able to get over the pass at anytime I want. Apparentely the winter has been unusually harsh here on the west coast, and there has been up to 10 feet of snow in the mountains, in the last week alone. Damn. That is a lot of white stuff. But the weather is supposed to abate sometime early this week and I should be able to get over and see my friends. I'm really looking forward to that.

Sacramento is sort of boring. I don't really know anyone in this city, and have just been reading. Not saying that I'm not enjoying the reading, but I've determined that I can't read for more than say, 6 hours in a day, and when I'm not reading I like to be doing something. I didn't bring my running shoes or anything, so I've been watching TV and napping. There is no cable here, so channel surfing consists of 15 seconds of actual surfing, and a lot of time determining which of the 4 options that you have is the best. Eventually I get tired of this and attempt to read, get fed up with that, and just decide to stretch out on a couch and pass out for a few hours.

I've been reading, and just finished minutes ago, Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It is a very good book, much different than his Neverwhere which I finished earlier this week. I'm going to probably knock of Good Omens tomorrow, so basically what I'm saying, if you want a good, interesting, engaging book to read, I'd suggest anything by Neil Gaiman. Props go to both Joey and Carter for suggesting him to me, though Joey suggested his graphic novels which I have yet to read, and Carter lent me Neverwhere, just to keep things straight. Though I'm sure Joey would enjoy his non-graphic works if he has not already read them.

Anyways, I think I'm going to go to bed now. Don't want to start a new book in a half-catatonic state like I am in now. Damn you Liz for having awesome friends who kept me up to the wee hours of the morning on Saturday.

Later