Help Us Name Our Dog

Close to our house is a very nice animal shelter that Terra and I have visited every saturday for the last couple months. Both of us have wanted to get a new dog, and have been disappointed by not being able to find that perfect dog for us. There were several times that one of us liked a dog, but not the other, a few times we both liked a dog, but the dog didn't like cats, and then once or twice we both liked a dog, but it was too big.

On Christmas Eve I decided to stop into the shelter to have a look around, and I saw the dog in my pictures. She was perfect! She liked toys, didn't want anything to do with cats, was close to the right weight, and was a beautiful dog. I liked her so much that I put a hold on her right away. I called Terra and told her she needed to drop what she was doing and come to the shelter. Terra too liked the dog, and after some trouble with our apartment complex we brought her home today.

Now here is the problem. What do we name her? Below are some choices we have come up with. Vote by posting a comment either on this blog in the comments section, on facebook, or on twitter. We will tally the results and our dog will be named.

1. Goldie
2. Kess
3. Kira
4. Uhura
5. Seven of Nine (Seven for short)
6. B'Elanna

Some of these shots were hard to get she hasnt stopped moving since she got home.

David and Marysol's Visit

So about a year ago my friend Marysol called me with an idea. Marysol is married to one of my best friends David. The three of us severed our missions together in the California Ventura mission. David was my trainer, and we have stayed friends ever since. So anyways Marysol called me with an idea. Davids birthday is December 15, and according to Marysol he has always felt his birthday took second place to Christmas. I can understand this because my sister has the same birthday and she feel the same way. So the idea was she and David would fly down for his birthday and it would be a total surprise to David. So for almost a year she and I kept this secret, and David NEVER knew. What was funny was about a week before he and Marysol were to be flying in I talked to David and he was telling me what his "plans" were for his week off. Little did he know those "plans" would not be happening.

So once they got here we had a great time. We spent a good deal of time in Seattle going to the aquarium and the Bodies Exhibit. I dont have any pictures of the Bodies exhibit because they dont allow cameras inside. Going to see Bodies was very interesting. What I found interesting was out of around a dozen full bodies they were all male except one female. When I pointed this out to Terra at first she didn't notice and then she also thought it was odd.

While we were at the aquarium we watched an octopus being fed and that was very cool. Terra really enjoyed the otters and wondered aloud if she could have one as a pet. After the aqaurium we had dinner at Fishermans. This was a great place to eat. Had some of the BEST food I have had in a VERY long time. Terra and I plan on going back as soon as we can. While we were in Seattle we saw several

Merry Christmas

So Christmas morning has come and gone. Well technically there is still 20 minutes of Christmas morning, but by the time I finish writing this post it will be afternoon. As usual I had trouble sleeping. I have never slept well on Christmas Eve. I love Christmas and am anxious for it to arrive. My very patient wife realized this when at 6:00AM I asked her if she wanted to wake up and go open presents. She said no and we went back to sleep. We finally woke up around 8 and went out into the family room, and opened presents. Terra got me some great gifts and I was very happy with my gifts, and she seemed very happy with her gifts as well. I got her a new Digital SLR camera, and I am looking forward to seeing what she can create with it. Now we are sitting out in the living room enjoying time together.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Ice Skating Trip

Terra and I decided to go ice skating a few nights ago. While we were driving there we passed by what looked like a neighborhood filled with Christmas lights. I love looking at Christmas lights, and did a quick u-turn. When we got back to the neighborhood we found out it was actually a park filled with all sorts of lights. We paid our entrance fee and spent about 45 minutes driving through the park looking at some very cool lights.

After we looked at lights we headed to the ice rink and had a great time. The ice probably could have used a smoothing over, but all the same it was fun. Terra tried to get me to fall down a couple times because as she said she wanted me to do something funny. I did not follow through with her request and stayed up the whole time.

Come January Terra and I are planning on taking some classes at the rink. Terra will be taking some figure skating lessons, and I am joining a beginners hockey team.

I have gone through my blackberry and camera and found a lot of videos and pictures that I took. Most of these pictures and videos I took for the purpose of my blog, but for one reason or another I never did. So I am starting at the beginning and planning on moving through all these videos and pictures. I hope you all enjoy.

The two movies below are two videos I took at Dragon*Con

Our Teenager of a Cat

So we have had to start keeping Spock out of the bedroom during the day. Spock really likes being in the bedroom underneath our bed, and he can stay there for hours at a time. While he is social with Terra and myself, he is not social with other people. So in an effort to help him we are locking the bedroom door and keeping him out in the main living area. He does NOT like this plan at all! He will sulk around the bedroom door pining away hoping someone will open it for him. It reminds me of a sullen teenager wanted to hide out in his bedroom all day because no one understands him. I am hoping after a few weeks Spock will get more comfortable being out of the bedroom, and hopefully be less skittish. We are only on day two.

This morning I was going through my normal Monday tasks, when I got an email advising me of a new standard going into effect January 1, 2010. With the new year right around the corner I decided to read the regulation. The regulation is on reporting equipment incidents to the FRA. In the regulation an incident is defined in the following words.

"A "rail equipment accident/incident" is a collision, derailment, fire, explosion, act of God, or other event involving the operation of railroad on-track equipment (standing or moving) that results in damages to railroad on-track equipment, signals, tracks, track structures, or roadbed."

Does anyone else see something strange about this definition?

So I need some suggestions a possibly some help. I know this is early, but I am wondering what my costume should be at Dragon*Con. See I have two of the three days taken care of. One is a surprise, and the other, well Terra convinced me to dress Ang from the The Last Avatar show. She assures me this will get some smiles from my nieces. She has been asking to paint the blue arrow on my head every day since then. I keep telling her to go ahead and she never does.

Anyways this leaves a third days up in the air. I thought my group was going as a Steam Punk Pirate group, but that doesn't seem to be working out. So here is my question what should I go to Dragon*Con as?

Nazi Zombies

So I have some friends over and we are playing Nazi Zombies. I have found that this game is very soothing. Mostly because I can take out my frustrations of the day out on mass quantities of zombies.

World of Warcraft used to fill the void of killing things for relaxation. One of my friends has never played this game, and I think they are hooked. On their second try they made it to level 11. Which if you have never played before thats really good!

Has anyone even been in a relationship that you want to express your emotions for someone, but the way you generally express your feelings is NOT how that person likes to receive affection? So if you express your feelings the way you generally would, that person doesn't actually receive the message you are trying to convey, thus making your actions mute.

Also if you express your emotions in the way they like to receive such things as love and devotion, there is a part of you unfulfilled because you feel you have not adequately expressed the message of affection you want.

I am curious if anyone else has had to deal with such a relationship and how you overcame such things?

Fully Tested Pure Geek

Pure Geek
48 % Nerd, 83% Geek, 30% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Geek, earning you the title of: Pure Geek.

It's not that you're a school junkie, like the nerd, and you don't really stand out in a crowd, like the dork, you just have some interests that aren't quite mainstream. Perhaps it's anime, perhaps it's computers, perhaps it's bottlecaps, perhaps it's all of those and more. Your interests take you to events and gatherings that are filled with people you find unusual and beyond-the-pale, but you don't quite consider yourself "of that crowd." Instead, you consider yourself to be fairly normal.

Which, you are.

Congratulations! You're the one on the RIGHT!

Wil Wheaton on The Big Bang Theory

Halloween Costume Ideas: Need Help!

OK so I must confess I am having a hard time coming up with a good idea for Halloween costumes this year. Terra has agreed to go out on Halloween this year, however we have not decided where we are going, and I want to make sure I have a good costume.

Some of my previous years costumes
1. Terminator
2. Princess Leia
3. Doctor Horrible

Some suggestions for this year
1. Barney from How I Met Your Mother
2. Stewie from Family Guy

So bottom line I am coming up short with ideas, and I am running out of time. Please comment your suggestions.

If I Had Superpowers

Every Geek, Nerd, and Dork that has ever lived has thought about this question. What would it be like if I had superpowers? What kind of superpowers would I want to have? How would I use those superpowers? For me it really depends on the day what superpowers I want, and how I think I would use them.

Today my choices and reasons are as follows:

Power: Wolverines Regeneration
Reason: Where do you start with this power? First off you would live for a VERY long time. Imagine the things you could see over the time given to you. You would NEVER get sick. You could live a life without fear as you would know you could "bounce back" from almost anything.

Power: Gambits Ability to Control and Harness Energy
Reason: So regeneration I see as a defensive ability. Controlling energy I see as a Offensive ability. I have always thought it would be cool to harness large energy balls and throw them at your enemies. I also used to daydream about tossing an energy ball up and down in my hand while talking to someone. Also if you can harness energy you can charge object with energy, like Gambit does with his playing cards.

Power: Mind Reading
Reason: To be honest I have thought for a few months that the world would be a better place if we could all read each others mind. True at first there would be chaos and shock, but think about it. Secrets are one of the most harmful things I have ever seen. If no one was able to keep secrets I think overall the world would be a better place, and people would be happier.

So what powers would you want and why?

The Oddities of Washington

As many of you know a few months ago I took a new job that required me to move to Washington state. One of the first things I noticed when I moved out to Washington was the complete and total lack of "southern" anything. Now many of you will say "well duh", you don't live in the south anymore. This is true.

I have lived in the south most of my life, and after being in the south for that long you get used to certain things. The corner stare that has been there forever, and everyone remembers your name. Not that I would ever eat them, but you get used to grits beings served on every breakfast menu. Speaking of breakfast lets not forget
Bo-jangles biscuits. Rednecks, and Rednecks being proud to be called Rednecks. Southern hospitality. The Bible Belt. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, out here those things that I am used to are just not present.

Now that does not mean that Washington is "normal". Hardly, but I am having an interesting time getting used to Washington's oddities.

Today I was in a repair shop getting my truck looked at. At first all seemed normal. A normal auto repair shop, with mechanics in blue uniforms, the smell of engine oil, and the sound of air powered tools. The radio played loudly in the corner, and after a few minutes the song "I heard it through the grapevine" started to play. Without warning or any signal that I could see every mechanic in hearing distance of the radio started to sing along with the radio. None of them stopped what they were doing. They just started to sing. Some sang with passion and volume, and some just sang quietly to themselves.

I must confess it took me off guard. The singing continued for the rest of the time I was there, and the songs includes works by The Beach Boys, and selected works from the movie Grease.

Now this is only one example of Washington Oddities, but I am happy to report that I am not the only person to have noticed this. One of my coworkers, Lisa, writes about a recent trip she took to Lacey Washington.

I dont want to write about every oddity I have seen out here, because I think I will spread some of them out for future posts.

Dragon*Con 2009

Well anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to my Facebook page or Twitter updates saw that I was doing my best to keep the world up to date on all that happened in Atlanta over the weekend. I would rather not go back through all my updates and blog on the same things so instead I offer a few highlights from the weekend.

Highlights from Dragon*Con 2009
1. I got to fly first class - one of the few good things to come out of my time at Healey was my travel status. I can fly almost anywhere now and get upgraded to First, which normally I don't really care about. However when flying from one coast to the other...It makes a huge difference.

2. I hate and am jealous of PAX at the same time! - PAX was another Geek convention taking place over the same time as Dragon*Con. I have reviewed some of the activities offered at PAX and must confess I am jealous. However PAX also stole a great deal of celebrities away from Dragon*Con. This year I saw less celebrities then ever before.

3. While I saw less celebrities then ever before I still got a healthy does. - Some of you will remember that we ate dinner next to Charisma Carpenter, Lou Ferigno, Spike and Darla from Buffy and a few other that I forget. We almost knocked over Charisma on one occasion, and when we found ourselves in the Hall of Heros decided to go back three times for three separate autographs by her. Lou Ferigno was in the parade, and the guy who plays clark kents father was as well.

4. I did not go to a single panel this year. - But I did get to watch Patrick Stewart's, Leonard Nemroy, and Captian Kirks panel on Dragon Con TV.

5. I got to go to the CruxShadows concert and found myself only a few rows from stage. - Best concert I have ever been to. If you are not familiar with them you should become familiar with them.

6. Brought new friends to Dragon*Con and now they are hooked.

Over all it was a good weekend, and I am looking fwd to next year!

Update on my Upstairs Neighbors

So Terra and I were talking about my upstairs neighbors the other day, and she suggested I turn in a noise complaint. At first I really didnt think I would do that until one night they woke me up 3 times. So I walked into the office looked up, and you will never guess who was sitting behind the office desk.

IT WAS MY UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR!!!! SHE WORKS FOR THE APARTMENT COMPLEX!!!!

Now what?

Star Wars The Force Unleashed According to my Father

Flooding

I came home from church today, walked into the bathroom to about an inch of water on the ground. At first I thought I had left some water on, but no. The water was coming from the celling. The water was not to bad, only about an inch, and it didn't reach the carpet.

Some of you might remember our apartment in Richmond when it flooded.

The funny thing is I had maintenance come over, and they were not able to find where the water was coming from.

Its no longer leaking water, and the guy said he would be back in the morning with his supervisor to take a closer look at it.

Running in the Dark

What an interesting day! No really, I know I have said that before, but this time I really mean it. My day started at 4:00AM this morning when my alarm went off, and I decided to show my alarm clock how I felt about that by throwing it across the room. Normally this would have made me feel better, BUT the alarm clock did not break, so it was still going off, only now it was on the other side of the room, forcing me to get out of bed.

An hour later I was in my truck heading to a job site in OR. Now I had called the foreman of the job and asked for directions. The conversation went something like this...

Foreman: Take I-5 to exit 38 in OR

Me: In OR or WA???

Foreman: OR

So at 5:00AM I am driving along and I get to the WA OR state line. Once I cross the border the next exit number is 309. Now at this point I know I am not suppose to drive almost 300 miles. So after repeated tries at calling the foreman with no response I decide to get back on I-5 and drive up to the exit 38 on the WA side of things.

Anyone want to guess what happened next??? There is no exit 38! There is an exit 36 and an exit 39. So I take exit 39. The next set of directions I was given was to take the 3rd ave exit. There once again is no 3rd ave exit. I passed a 3rd ave but it was an intersection. So I decided to turn onto 3rd ave. It turned into a dead end going both directions. Did I mention I still have not heard from the foreman?!?!

Long story short I did finally meet up with the crew, and did my inspections. On the way back I was on the phone talking to a friend of mine and the conversation went something like this...

Me: (referring to one of my coworkers getting pulled over yesterday)I would not want to be the cop to pull her over, it was a good thing for him that they knew each other.

Friend: How long has it been since you were pulled over?

Me: Not in a long time, knock on wood.

Friend: Your in a truck there is no wood.

Would anyone like to guess what happened 5 minutes later? Yep you guessed it, I was pulled over. WHY you ask, because, and I quote "I looked suspicious"

However I am grateful I only got a warning, and no ticket.

A short time after I pulled away from being pulled over I get a call from the office. The conversation goes something like this....

Bill: One of your safety personnel was injured on the job-site today.

Me: Your kidding right?

Yes ladies and gentleman one of my team, one of my own, a fellow safety professional was INJURED ON THE JOB-SITE!!!! In Japan isn't that grounds for ritual suicide! When I get back to the office I try and reach this member of my team. He is unavailable.

Its now 9:00PM and I have still not heard from him or gotten an update on his condition. I did get an email from the project manager of his site. Guess what the email said. So and So called and gave me an update. Thats it. That was the WHOLE email!

Im sitting here thinking thanks Im gald you got an update can I have one too?!?!?!

So seeing as it was a stressful day some co workers and I decided to grab a bite to eat. I had a great time, and am glad I went. Apparently I have been admitted into the "club". Which I think is a good thing, I wonder if there is a dress code...lol.

As much I as I enjoyed dinner it did put me behind on my evening run, but even though it was getting dark I decided to go anyways. Have any of you ever been running in the dark? Its a little creepy. Suddenly every horror thriller movie I have ever seen came flooding into my mind with amazing clarity! Any minute I excepted to look over my shoulder and see Jason Freddy, and the guy from scream all running towards me. And let me tell you I did look over my shoulder many a time.

So now I am watching a movie getting ready to close the evening out, and hoping that my upstairs neighbors dont decide to have sex tonight. They did last night. This time though they closed their window....It didn't help! You could still hear her on MARS!!!

What Makes A Person A Nerd????

I started a little firestorm over the weekend when one of my friends called me a Nerd. She did not say being a Nerd was a bad thing, she was just pointing out the obvious. Me being me I posted on Face Book that I was Nerd and Proud of it, and requested for all other Nerds to stand up and be recognized. This led to comments coming in faster then I could reply to them. That current status now has 33 comments, and I am sure that number will grow. What I found interesting about the comment was who was commenting. Yes there were a few obvious friends who eagerly jumped at the chance to be recognized as a Nerd, but there were a few people that made comments that I would have never thought of as a Nerd.

"Stops analyzing how much more efficient the star ship enterprise would be if lt.commander data were the capt. instead of picard and puts pen back in pocket protector of her short-sleeved button down shirt. I'm here!!!!"

This particular comment came from an old High School friend of mine. I was stunned when she made this comment because I never for one minute that she would have liked anything sci/fi. I now stand corrected.

This status on Face Book led to an intense philosophical discussion about who is and is not a geek, prompting a few skittish people to ask “Am I a geek?” in quivering, fearful tones.

Since I have embraced the fact that I am a Nerd, and am willing to talk about it openly I am surprised at how many times I have had someone come up to me and say something along the following lines...

"I have a level-62 Paladin on Twisting Nether."
"I went to a Con years ago, and had a really good time"
"The Enterprise could totally take out an Imperial Cruiser"

Sometimes I receive these comments from other proud Nerds, and other times I receive these from people who say almost with a hint of shame.

Its clear the Nerds come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, so my question is....What does it mean to be a Nerd? Post your comments and I will post them on my main site.

Sleep Come Back

Today I find myself tired. Since taking this job I have been getting up very early, generally between 5-6. Now when a person is getting up that early every minute of sleep is important, and if you get woken up even 30 minutes early it can have a profound impact on your energy throughout the day.

For the last three mornings I have been woken up at 5:30 AM by my upstairs neighbor having VERY loud sex. Now those of you who know me well know that I am a very heavy sleeper. So to be woken up by someone one floor above me gives you an idea of how loud she really is.

Now just to clarify most apartments out here do not have air conditioning due to the weather being so cool here all year round, so many people (myself and the women above me included) sleep with their windows open.

Now I say the women is having sex, but the problem is I dont know if she really is. I know she is doing something sexual, but I dont know if its with someone or solo. I say this because she is all you can hear. Did I mention she is loud??

This morning I finally had to say something to her, when I saw we were leaving at the same time. Now she did come out with a guy, but it really didn't look like they were together. I pulled her aside and had the following conversation with her.

Me: Im sorry to bother you, but I live below you, and for the last three mornings you have woken me up.

Her: (after a brief pause, and then a sudden gasp) Im so sorry I didn't know anyone could hear me.

Me: (Im thinking to myself they could hear you in another state) Well I think its because your window is open. There is no need to be embarrassed, but if you could close your window in the morning that would be great.

Her: Yes I can do that, I would have done that before if I had known, but no one ever said anything to me before.

Me: (strange expression on my face) Well they were probably embarrassed

Now tomorrow I get to sleep in, and I must say that I really hope that my morning will be uninterrupted by the screams of my upstairs neighbor!

Heres to hoping!

The Things You Find On Amazon

Look what I just found on Amazon.

ATTENTION: I Can Read

Yesterday I had to go to a pre construction meeting for a job we are about to do. I have been to several of these kinds of meetings in the past and they are always a crap shoot as to if it will be a good meeting, or a meeting you want to kill yourself just to get out of it.

Yesterdays meeting was the later. We had around 15 people packed into a room that would hold 10 comfortably. The Project Manager handed out a meeting and project scope agenda, and proceeded to READ EVERY LINE OF THE 15 PAGE AGENDA!?!?!?!!?

Now this may come as a surprise to some people but I CAN READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I have stated before I really hate having my time wasted. To quote the show Firefly "I can not abide wasteful people" Why was this agenda not sent out BEFORE the meeting, and at the meeting we go over any issues or concerns we might have? Why did we need to sit through almost an hour of this guy doing nothing but reading? Yes it took him almost an hour to read 15 pages, mostly because he kept going off on tangents. After he finished we had another hour of discussion.

I don't understand why people continue to run poor meetings. Do they enjoy boring the hell out of the world? Do they not realize they are wasting our time? Is that how they were trained to do it, and if so WHY?

Thoughts on this anyone?

On a better note only 15 days till DragonCon!

So I was told that we would be meeting at the office in the morning at 5:30AM. If I show up at such an early time, and they are not ready I will have a few words to say. I really hate having my time wasted.

I also decided that Spokane needs someone to take a serious look at the roads, as while I was out picking up supplies for the job I ran into more "road closed" signs then I have ever seen in my life.

On a side note I am currently watching NCIS, and I still love this show. It funny how I got tired of CSI after only a few seasons, but I just don't see me getting tired of NCIS ever.

Small Complaint

OK so I am in Spokane WA today working with our northern office. I was told that work would be starting between 4:30 and 5 AM. So I made sure I was here at 5:00AM this morning. When I got here the project manager was here, but not the crew I was to be training. It is now 7:00AM and the crew is just now getting here and needs another 30 or so minutes to unload some trucks. Normally this would not bother me, but I got into my hotel last night at 11:30 PM, and was up this morning at 4:00 AM. I'm tired and could have used a few extra hours of sleep!

What to Do?!?!?

So I am now moved in to my apartment in WA. It only took me a day or two to get all the boxes unpacked. However now I am putting off hauling all the boxes piled up in myy spare room out to the dumpster. Other then that I like my new apartment. The complex is quiet, and very green.

Other then that I really dont know much about the area. I did a search online for things to do and found several options.

Geocaching - There are several caches in the area, and I do have two travel bugs I need to place.

Ren Fair - There is a Ren Fair going on about 45 minutes from here, and this is their last weekend. Now I know most of you would think that I would jump at the chance to geek out, but to be honest I am not. All my "stuff" for ren fairs is back east, and geeking out is really only fun when you are amongst friends.

IKEA - There is an IKEA store in Portland and I have never been to one. Several of my friends back east have all encouraged me to go. Here is the problem I do need furniture but IKEA is not really in style for what Terra and I like.

Dagorhir - There is a local Dag Chapter here that meets in about two hours, but I run into the same problem with garb, it all back east. I do have two Dag weapons, but I dont really have anything to fight with.

Role Playing - There is a local Role Playing group that is meeting tonight at a library. Now I had a lot of positive experiences when I joined the role playing group in Knoxville and might have the same here. I dont know though.

GI Joe - I could go see a movie but I really am not a fan of movies solo.

So overall I have a great deal of choices, but I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer, I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago, I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I dont yet have your AOL screen name.

Star Wars Question

I am currently watching Return of the Jedi, and some interesting questions just popped into. At the beginning of the movie you are introduced to Jabba the Hutt. Jabba likes to have women dressed in very little bikinis dance in front of him. As I was watching the movie I suddenly found this habit odd. Why would Jabba want human women to dance and dress sexy for him. He is not even human. He is more of a slug if anything. Could Jabba and a human women even conceive? Some how I doubt this very much. If Jabba and humans are not of the same species would Jabba even find a human women attractive? I mean do you find a dog or a cat attractive? If you do seek professional help soon.

Later in the movie Luke Skywalker enters Jabbas palace. He attempts to negotiate with Jabba for Han Solo's release. The negotiations go badly, and Luke uses the force to grab a blaster. Why didnt Luke just wear his lightsaber into Jabbas palace. Why did he give R2D2 his lightsaber? What if Jabba had decided to execute them and R2D2 was not around? The light saber would have been very helpful when dealing with the Rancor!

Speaking of the Rancor, why di Luke use a rock to lower the gate onto the Rancor and not use The Force? Why does he not use the force to strangle the rancor as he does to the guards when he enters Jabbas palace.

Final thought....After Luke and the gang land on the Endor Moon Darth Vader comes to the Emperor and tells him that Luke is on the moon and has felt his presence. The Emperor replies that it is strange that he has not felt Lukes presence, and then tells Vader that he has foreseen that Luke will come to him on the Endor Moon. Does this seem like a contradiction?

Hell Ya!

Today I ran 4 miles in 35.16. This is the fastest I have ever run. I then finished the evening off with a nice weight workout, and am now pleasantly sore.

Updating My Networks

If you are on AOL, Yahoo, MSN, or Google Talk let me know so I can update my buddy list.

So last week I decided to start riding my bike to the park I run at everyday. This seemed like a good idea because it would give me more cardio to my workout, and would justify the 80 something odd dollars I spent getting my bike repaired so long ago, and then never rode. So the ride there was fine, and I was pleased todays ride was MUCH easier then last week! NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Easier in this sentence is defined as not hacking a lung out of my mouth, and my legs not feeling like they are on fire.

The run went fine, and on the way back seriously within about 400 yards of my house my back tire blew out on me. This as you can imagine frustrated me. However it brought back some good, and bad memories from the mission. I rode a bike in two areas Bakersfield and Oxnard. I would share some pictures and video from Oxnard but that memory card with all those pictures disappeared.

The first video is of Elder David Root. I have not shown this video and I dont think he know I have it. I am fairly certain he didnt know I was taking this video at the time, but I could be wrong. David and I were riding back to our apmt and his tire popped on him. At the time his tire was filled with slime to prevent flat tires, and so with a new hole in his tire the slime went all over his backside. Enjoy.

The other pictures and videos are a few from the good old mission days.

Running a Meeting

Today I attended a meeting in Atlanta, GA. The meeting was to go over a new system that was being put out for a company that my company works for from time to time. The system was to help them keep track of the safety training of all of their contractors. The system tracks each contractors background checks, drug screens, and safety orientation. Sounds like a good idea right? Here is the problem, in todays world every company has their own system that contractors are required to use. All of these systems are complex databases that take a great deal of time to load all of your employees into.

I personally in my own job use 4 different databases that all do the same thing. It doesn't matter that my employees may have already had a background check, drug test, and safety orientation from one company 2 months ago. When we work for a different company we must do the process all over again.

I personally as a safety professional would like to see a national background, and drug test database that everyone was willing to accept. I doubt this will ever happen but it would be nice.

I was also surprised at how poorly the meeting was run. In this conference there were well over 100 people in the room. To my stunned surprise the person running the meeting asked each person in the room and introduce themselves with their name, title, company, and where they were from. The meeting was scheduled for around 2 hours, and it took me off guard that we wasted (in my opinion) almost a half hour listening to people introduce themselves. I personally couldn't tell you the name or company of anyone in that room.

I don't mean to rant but I do find it important that if you are going to have a meeting, that the meeting be as short as possible. In todays worked there are way to many meetings. Further more in these meetings a great deal of time is wasted. Why could we not just sit down and get right to why we were all there.

So this is a video of my friend Zane playing guitar hero with the guitar behind his head.

So I have some friends over and we are playing Soul Caliber. They just decided to make some costume characters, and this is one of the characters they made, and they call him donut.

New Blog Addition

My Office for the day
My car for the day
It was brought to my attention this week that I travel a lot. This is really not anything new to me. I have been traveling since almost day one of my employment at Healey. However during a conversation I had someone asked where I work. They wanted to know if I had an office. If I did have an office did I ever see it. So to answer a few questions.......

Q. Do you have an office?
A. Yes I have an office. It is located at the Unitrac Building in Knoxville TN

Q. Do you ever see your office?
A. Yes I do, but not as much as I would like to.

Q. Where do you work when you are on the road?
A. My car, an office trailer, hotel or local restaurant.

Q. Can I see all the places you work?
A. Yes you can!

Because of this question I have decided to start something on this blog showing what my office is for the day. It could be really cool one day and really boring the next so be warned.

Two Things

SO the first thing is I got up this morning and got on the scale and saw that I have already met my goal this week of loosing 5 lbs. The week is only half way done so if I keep this pace up maybe I can double that!?!?!

Second thing is I felt like an idiot the other day. I bought a PS3 system a few days ago, and it comes with one controller. The controller had a cord to plug into the system. I really wanted a wireless controller because my TV and couch are a good distance apart from one another. So I would either have to pull my system out as far as the cords would reach or I would have to sit on the floor. Both options I did not like.

It was getting so annoying that the other day I came very close to buying a wireless controller. That is until I looked at the underside of my current controller. It said "wireless controller" I unplugged the cord and guess what???? It worked. I had had a wireless controller the whole time.

Pain....Lots of Pain!

So last night my wife sent me a link and Double Dog Dared me to loose weight. Now this is something I have wanted to do for some time, but have put off. Today I decided to get really serious and commit to this. Here is Knoxville there is a Masters swim team. A Masters swim team is for adults of all ages. I have been looking at joining a masters team for some time, but to be honest never have taken the step to go to a practice. This morning I did!

I got to the University of TN early. Practice starts at 11:30, and I wanted to be a little early to check out the pool and talk to the coach. I met Coach Tyler. He and I chatted for a few minutes and he got me set up with some paperwork and a team schedule. C. Tyler told me the team was a good team and a good mix of ages. There were around 50 team members and practice attendance varied from around 10 to 50 people showing up to practice.

Today there were around 25 people there. Knowing my swimmers rules, and knowing I would be one of the slowest swimmers there since I had not practiced in years I sucked up my pride and took the outside lane.

NOTE: For those of you who dont know swimmer rules, the middle lane is always considered and reserved for the fastest swimmers, while the outside lanes are for slower swimmers.

Once people started showing up I felt a little out of place. I didn't know anyone, and this was my first practice in years. I knew I was going to suck. However much to my surprise everyone was very friendly. People came up shook my hand asked my name and introduced themselves. Then they invited me to swim in one of the middle lanes, closer to the group. I quickly caught onto the fact that what I knew about swimmer rules meant nothing here! Which was both terrifying and calming at the same time. At least with the rules I knew where my place was. Throw the rules out the window and I had no idea.

The practice was passed out, and I tool a look at the outline of what was to come. It seemed like a basic practice.

600 warm up Swim/Kick/Pull
16 50 on the 130
2x 200 - 100 BK Pull
100 BR Pull
400 Kick 100 FR BK BR FL
400 WARM DOWN

I think I am missing a set or two in there, and there were times attached to each set that I cant remember, but you get the idea.

I jumped into the water, and let me tell you it felt WONDERFUL! Water has always been my element, and to be in it a surrounded by it felt great!

Then the pain began.

It wasn't the actual workout that hurt, however my shoulders right now feel like jello. It was trying to breath. I just quit smoking over 4 weeks ago, and let me tell you smoking did nothing to help my practice today. There were times I really felt I couldn't breath. I one point my body needed air so bad that I tried to breath under water. NOT a good idea. As practice went on my lung got a little better but I was still having to breath every stroke. I usually breath every three strokes.

However bottom line I made it through my first swim practice without the Lifeguard having to drag me out, and I get to go do it all over again tomorrow!

The Big Idea...Or The Big Nightmare

OK so here I am once again thinking a blog is a good idea. I really have no idea why I think this is going to be a good idea. The last time I blogged I had two. One for personal things going on, and the second was a professional blog aimed at making my resume look good. For me blogging is both good and bad. I enjoy reading blogs, and I do enjoy posting every now and then. However when you forget to post on a regular basis your friends start asking "Hey man, you haven't posted in awhile." May I just speak on behalf of all bloggers out there when I say, we hate that comment!

Having said all that I find myself in a situation where I have a great deal of time on my hands. For the last several weeks I have been running into a wall, generally around 10:30 at night, where I simply dont know what to do with myself. Hence the birth of this blog.

So jumping right into what I have been doing with myself. Over the last 3 or so weeks I have found myself getting interested in woodworking. Specifically refinishing furniture. I have had a few projects waiting to be worked on over the last several years, however, I never could find the time or really the space. Now I have some space and some time, so the projects began.

The first project I started working on was an old coffee table of mine. It used to be my parents. I grew up with this table and formed a strange attachment to it. Years ago my parents were getting ready to throw this table away, and I insisted they keep it in storage. They did, and when I moved out of my parents house I brought it with me. One problem, my wife hated this table. It was old and scratched and the finish was coming off. It needed a lot of work. So for the last three years it has been in storage under our bed.

I started refinishing it, and think I did a good job if it. My wife told me yesterday, after seeing it for the first time, that it looked much better. I still think she doesn't like it, but at least its not under our bed at the moment.

I have a few pictures of it, but none of it completely done. I will try to get some and post them this weekend.

Next project an old writing desk.