Becoming a regular

After work last night, a co-worker and I went out for our normal after work, relaxation, stress taking away beer at a local establishment. Normally we get there and it is a little busy, but there are still plenty of tables to choose from. It also starts to wind down because it is close to midnight. Last night, however, was different because the college kids are still out for winter break. Before I pulled into the driveway I thought that it wasn't going to be busy because it was snowing (yes, twice in one month!) and most people in Wichita hunker down because they never learned to drive in the snow. Then I turned into the parking and was shocked at the amount of vehicles in the lot. I walked in and found one lonely little table just abandoned and quickly sat. I didn't care if the glasses and ticket were still on the table, I just wanted to sit.

Throughout the course of the hour or so we were there, we had several servers come up to us to basically say hi and thanks for not being douche bag college kids who don't know how to behave or leave tips. This, honestly, was one conversation from a guy who has been our server maybe twice: 'Still drinking Guinness?' You know it. This was BEFORE the beer was sitting in front of me. How great is that? Another server came up to us right before we were ready to leave to tell us how much she hated the college kids and that she couldn't wait until school started again. I am just a few more visits away from claiming 'Norm status'.

We hadn't been there in a little over a month because of the way our schedules worked out at work, so it was nice to get back into the routine and people watch. College kids try too hard to look hip and cool. I don't remember trying to look cool, but maybe I did and just blocked it out of my mind. We mostly get to watch office people drunkenly fall over each other before realizing how awkward it would be if they hooked up and the college kids were a change of pace. They were drunkenly catching up with people they went to high school with and what they had been doing the past couple of years. I did enjoy going back home from school at winter break and hitting the Downtowner or Maloney's and doing the same thing.

Inconceivable!

In an attempt to start saving an uber-amount of money I went through the last six months of bank statements and found where I can cut costs. Beer. Scary, right? So I have come up with an insane idea. One case of beer a month. Twelve cases for the entire year of 2010. Can it be done? I think so. Same thing goes for bottles of booze, but because they are so much more expensive (at least the ones that I buy) than a case of beer I will only buy them on rare occasions. The number of bottles will not exceed six, so one every two months.

As always, there will be exceptions to the rule. I will not use this as an excuse to go crazy and buy several cases just because we have family coming into town. Whenever we have family or friends coming into town, I will go out and buy another case. What kind of host would I be if I didn't supply beers and booze? A horrible one, that's what kind. Another exception to this pseudo-rule is camping or float trips, which we only take once or twice a year. Getting a beer at dinner while eating in a restaurant does not apply to this, but I don't go too crazy when we go out anyways. Some may look at these exceptions as loopholes, but I am not using them as loopholes. I figured I would lay the ground work for future events. I don't want to be the guy that tries something like this only to go back because I don't have any booze for a float trip or no beer in the house when family comes to visit.

In the coming year to keep everybody up on my progress, I will write twelve posts about beer (and some other posts dealing with booze) in the year 2010. So, in the coming months, look for the '2010' tags to the right of the posts and follow my trek in money saving ventures.

Repost from 2008

Author's note: I wrote this last year on Christmas Eve and thought it would be appropriate to repost. Enjoy the day everybody.

We are watching A Christmas Story right now, and there is nothing better in this movie than the nostalgic feel of the Christmas morning scene. More than the kids ripping apart the wrapping, it is the expressions on the faces of the mom and dad. Just the joy that they have watching their kids.

As much as people think it is all about the Red Rider BB gun, the movie is more than that. It's about family, more than anything.

• Idolizing the father
• Having a life long understanding with your mother
• And the fighting with your brother

And the final scene of the mom and dad relaxing with the christmas tree alit and the snow falling at night. Magic.

Traditions

Traditions at Christmas. Everyone has them. Whether it revolves around religion, family, or just plain presents. If it has been passed down for generations or if your parents started it. As I was coming up with the idea for this post, I tried to think of what my family always did. The big tradition that most families have is whether or not the kids can open one present on Christmas Eve. We never had that. Our family will forever be a 'presents are for Christmas morning' family. IF we ever have kids, I will carry on that tradition. The only exception is if you are visiting extending family members and won't be around them on Christmas morning, then it's okay. Who wants to open presents the day before. It would be like opening presents the day before your birthday. How is it different? Is it because there are more gifts to unwrap?

This is the situation I grew up with:

Christmas Eve, we went down to visit our extended family and attend Christmas Eve mass. It was followed by a huge dinner and many rounds of Tom and Jerrys. Of course I didn't get to experience them until college. It was worth it. Excellent wintery drink. On Christmas morning, when we were younger, my brother and I were usually up by seven or eight. It varied year to year who got up first, but because we shared a room when we were younger it didn't matter. Once one got up, the other soon followed. I'm pretty sure we were both up earlier than that, but didn't want to be the first one up. We were allowed to open the presents in the Christmas stockings before my parents got up, but that was it! We had to sit and wait anxiously while my parents slept in and waited for the coffee to be made. That was our other tradition: we had to make the coffee before our parents woke up. Dad always worked left to right with the presents under the tree. He also made sure that the present distribution was even amongst us kids.

All in all, a great tradition to grow up with. The memories I have on Christmas morning growing up are the kind of memories I think everyone should have.

But...it's my dog

As I was shopping in World Market today, I saw some lady walking around with a little dog in a handbag sitting in the cart. In what world would someone think that this was okay? I understand having a close relationship with your pet and wanting to spend time with them, but leave them at home. Or in the car. The weather is nice enough, not too hot not too cold, to leave a pet in the car for just a quick trip into a store. All anyone would have to do is crack the window. Or leave the house with someone who can sit in the car while it runs.

Lane etiquette

Author's preface: I apparently stated that I needed to write this entry after coming back from the bowling alley a little bit past the drunk line. Andrea decreed it, I don't recall ever mentioning it.

I went bowling a few days ago with some people from work. It was the first time I hit the lanes in what seemed like forever. There are some things that always seem to happen when a bunch of somewhat drunk people throw heavy balls at innocent pins.

1. Someone always has to yell 'Over the line!' It is at that moment that I hate the Coen Brothers and John Goodman. That is the only time though. I have been that guy in the past and I try my best not to do it anymore because I know someone else will do it. I can then judge them, it's what I do.

2. I seem to be put next to some couple that can bowl 150 without even flinching. Its great that they can do that, don't get me wrong, but I hate them a little on the inside. I struggle to break into the 120s and occasionally have an excellent game up into the 130s or 140s. We were next to a group of people that were having a good ol' time and one of them threw a 290 game. 290! It was amazing to watch.

3. I love bowling next to people that understand lane etiquette. Waiting for the person in the next lane to throw before you go is the nicest thing anyone can do at the bowling alley. The idiots that don't wait need to be slapped around a little. Maybe bowling alleys should employ etiquette police that would take these people away for some 're-education'.

You don't have to be the best person at the lanes or go there frequently as long as you have a fun time with the people you are with that is all that matters. And don't be a menace, be aware of your surroundings and your bowling brethren.

The 8-4-8

When we found out that our families were coming down for roughly three weeks this month, I did my best to take some time off of work to be with them. A recurring theme when writing about family is the fact that we live so far away and don't see them very often. So when we go home or they come down here, I try to take some time off just to visit.

One problem that can come up is vacation time. Whether it is not having enough or at a time during the year when work is so busy and hectic that I can't take the time off. When it is too busy to take vacation time, in rolls ingenuity. And in rolls a two week schedule that makes me wonder about my sanity from time to time. It is what I refer to as the 8-4-8. Work eight days straight, take four days off, work another eight days straight. Crazy right? Yes. I have good reasoning for doing this. It takes up no vacation time! Instead of taking sixteen or twenty four hours of vacation, I use none. One question that people ask is usually, Is that legal? The way it balances out on the work schedule is that the first three days of the eight day stretch starts out on one work and then rolls over to the next week for the next five days. So there is no crazy overtime (the pay would be nice) and both weeks involved include two days off. The second part of this stretch is a mirror image of the first.

I have done this a few times in the past two years and it works out great. There is always something to do at work so the time just flies through the week. When the four day vacation stretch comes, it is insanely relaxing. Later on this year when we want to take a seven to ten day trip somewhere, having that extra vacation time banked will come in really handy. It is all about looking ahead and planning.

Keeping active

Over the past two years, I have tried to keep this blog active with posts. I made a deal with myself to try to write the same number of posts or even more post than the previous year. It has been a success so far. This is number 115 for the year 2009, one more than last year. I never wanted to be the person to start one of these and then stop or lose interest, and as I look back at the achieves I think I have done a good job at that. This has been active for going on five years.

There are times throughout the year when I just want to take a break from writing. And I do. A week here, two weeks there. What do you write about when you are going through a boring point in the year? 'Ho hum, I woke up this morning. I went to work. I came home. Blah blah blah.' Who wants to read something like that? I try to find fun or interesting things to write about.

Off season trade

The Tigers traded away one of the city's favorite players today. Curtis Granderson is off to the New York Yankees (booooooooo). They also traded away Edwin Jackson to the Arizona Diamondbacks. All of this was done in a three team trade. Two big names (and contracts) shipped out of Detroit and four very young, very cheap players shipped in. On the books, this is an excellent trade. And in terms of Granderson, it is a great trade. He can flourish in a ballpark that will caters to left handed hitters and he has a chance to win a World Series every year.

I dislike the Yankees as much as the next person, but I talked about it with my baseball confidant (my brother). We came to the conclusion that we can still like the player even though we hate the team they play for. So it is all good from my standpoint. Just as long as he doesn't become a doucher.

As long as the young talent that the Tigers are getting in return pan out, this can be beneficial for all teams involved. Unfortunately, baseball fans do not always want to wait for players to develop. So for the sake of these new guys, I hope they have an excellent year within the first couple of seasons they are in town. Three pitchers and one outfielder. Pitching was the greatest need for the team and they knocked it out in one trade.

Excellent point!

One of my friends is attending graduate school in the Washington D.C. area and is having trouble finding a great bar. He is in search of an English Pub and all the qualities that go with it (read all about it here). After reading it you may think it is very particular, and it is, but what he is in search of is what makes a bar great. After careful consideration, I have come up with two bars in the Wichita area which I absolutely love.

One is the Chalet. It is cheap, dark, it has a few pool tables, has great deep fried bar food, and is smokey. The smokey aspect of the bar is what makes it a little less desirable. Another great thing to consider is distance. It is within three miles of the apartment. Quick to get to and it is back off the road, and is not close to the downtown bar scene. They have a dollar beer night on Thursdays. Great deal, but it attracts the college crowd and I have outgrown that crowd. These days, they just bug me. I don't ever feel old until I come across some frat boy douche convention.

The second bar is the Artichoke. It is first and foremost a sandwich bar. They have great food, is smoke free (mostly), decent prices, it's small (which can also be a draw back), and have live music from time to time. It isn't loud bass thumping music, but mostly acoustic. It ranges from country to folk to open mic. The one downside is the distance. It is way downtown and is away from the main scene. It is the best place to go and have a few pints and just sit and talk. An excellent 'catch up' bar. A place to hang out with people you haven't seen in some time.

If I were to pick one over the other, it would be the 'Choke. The tipping point is the smoke free aspect. Last year, bars and restaurants started to go smoke free in Wichita. It is fantastic. It is up to the owner whether or not they want to be smoke free, so those who want to voluntarily get cancer can just scope out those bars. The smoke does not irritate me as much as some others, but it is nice to wake up the next day and not smell like it.

There are some other bars that I enjoy going to down here, but they don't have the same 'charm' as the Chalet or the Choke.

Historic weather

I was flipping through the channels this afternoon and went past the Weather Channel, continued going and then stopped. Did I just see what I thought I saw? Went back to the Weather Channel and, oh YES! They put together a show called 100 Biggest Weather Moments. Let me write that again. 100. Biggest. Weather. Moments.

Unfortunately I only caught the last ten minutes of the last segment. Yeah, there was more than one one hour special. You have to take a serious look at storms, floods, hurricanes, etc. Those who do not learn from their past are doomed to repeat it. You know, in case people can eventually control the weather. I wanted to see them mash together just the top one hundred moments in the entire span of time.

'All that noise noise noise'

We are watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Not the new one with Jim Carrey, but the old school one. You know, the good version.


Christmas has officially shown up in the ICT. Not in the form of snow or presents, but in the form of decorations. We are ready for our families to come down and visit for practically the entire month of December. We put up lights on the balcony earlier this week and set up our christmas tree last night. It seems too early to do so but on the other hand, it is fun to decorate this time of year. It makes the apartment festive and with the lack of snow in the area, the decorations are that much more important. It doesn't feel like the end of November/ beginning of December with no snow. It has been cold enough to snow, in the thirties and forties at night, but then it gets up into the fifties or even sixties during the day.







Stupid Kansas.....

32 days

It's funny how when you are a kid, the year goes by so slowly. Three hundred and sixty five (or six) days drag on and on. Maybe because the number just seems so daunting. As you get older, the time starts to pick up. Throughout high school and college, the only time that goes by too quick is during summer or winter breaks. After school, work consumes your life and there are no three month breaks (unless you teach, but even then there is work to be done). Vacations consist of a week or maybe two if you have been working for half your life.

I suppose at the beginning of the year, you can look at a calendar and think of how long twelve months truly is. But then you forget about it as if it were a New Year's resolution. Then lo and behold, it is past the summer and into the fall. Retail stores are getting ready for Christmas all over again and your mind wanders back to the beginning of the year and thinks......




Where the hell did those ten months go?

Thanksgiving

Not much good can be taken away when you spend holidays close to 1200 miles apart from your family. So we try to make the best of it. A small dinner, just for two this year, followed up by a night with some friends. That's it. That was our Thanksgiving. Who needs a big dinner when one can be cooked in just a couple of hours?
It was so tasty. And relaxing. While in high school and college, we had two dinners for holidays. It sounds great doesn't it? Well it was for the first couple of times. And then it just got awful. There was so much food. I felt the only way to prepare for those dinners was to fast for three days before hand. And then there was the time factor. How much time needed to be spent at each house, before the meal and after. No one wants to eat and run. By the time college rolled around, we had it all down to a science. Complete with mental spreadsheets. At the end of a big holiday meal, all anyone wants to do is sit around, have one more beer, and slip into a coma for the next few days.

That time of year

Two days from now, I will have to roll out of bed at one in the morning for work. I will start my work day an hour later. Two o'clock in the morning. It is the busiest day of the year. I have always wondered two things about Black Friday.
1.) How did it start? I understand the name. It is when a store or company start to actually make money. The fourth quarter is when you go from red in the books to black. Apparently though, in 1869, there was a stock market scandal in which some people tried to corner the gold market (I love the not always reliable Wikipedia). But who had the idea to drop the prices on pretty much everything and to open at such an ungodly hour? Which brings me to my next point....

2.) Who the hell wants to stand in line for a couple of hours, in the freezing cold in some places, just to save some money? Especially if you have to get up at two or three in the morning. The only reason I am up is because of what I do. If I didn't work in retail, there is no way in hell someone could convince me to stand in line to go shopping. It brings out the worst in some people. The people that come into the store four hours after opening and wonder why the 56 inch t.v. that was dirt cheap isn't in stock anymore. Most people in the store are happy with what they get. They are usually out for one or two things and once they get that, everything else is just gravy.




And gravy for the stores I suppose.

La musica

I'm listening to The Who Live at Leeds right now. I got the album via ebay (best place for old records). It makes me sad about the music situation we are in now. Whenever I see clips of concerts from the 60s and 70s it is the band on stage playing. And eventually, if the stars aligned properly, destroy their instruments. I watched a recording of a concert by The Who that was shown on PBS earlier this year and I was in awe. They were just up there playing and singing and more than likely high on something. It was great to just get the opportunity to watch it even though the concert was from 1977 (I think).

Where have all the artists gone? Now concerts seem to be big dance productions and lip synching.

Snow

It is snowing this morning. I always like to mark the first snow of the year, and it usually happens here in Wichita some time before Thanksgiving. It just doesn't stick because the ground is to warm. It makes me smile, but sad at the same time because I know we don't get cold enough to have the snow compile.

Two years ago we had about five or six inches of snow on the ground at Christmas time and it made feel like winter. Normally the snow comes and goes throughout the month of December so it will feel winter-y for a day or two and then melts away.

Vacationing plans

Both sets of parents are planning visits in the month of December. I can't wait. It will be nice to have visitors. My mom and dad are coming down for four or five days in the first part of the month. Andrea's parents are planning on coming down for another Christmas trip. It makes sense for them. Both of their kids are in the area, with their son being in Colorado.

It will be nice to see family again. I haven't seen any of them since this past August. This will also be the closest to being with my parents at Christmas time since 2005. It'll be good, but I fear they will be taken aback by the lack of snow. Although they may enjoy the break from it, but it never feels quite like Christmas time down here because of the lack of snow. Two years ago we had about five inches of snow, which was great. Other than that year, we have had none on Christmas morning. Each year, I hope to wake up to snow on the ground but it doesn't happen.

To sleep or not to sleep

It doesn't happen very often, but there are nights when I cannot sleep. Or I will fall asleep for three or four hours and won't be able to get back to sleep. It is a matter of comfort. Tossing and turning in bed just gets irritating, and I will usually hunker down on the couch until it is time to go to work. I can get a few more hours of sleep on the couch (it is more like a two in the morning nap).

And then there are the nights like today. I woke up and tried to fall back asleep (failed), went out to the couch to try to get a few hours of sleep (failed), and just dealt with it. Such is life as long as this does not become a regular thing. If I can't get to sleep in about twenty minutes after getting comfortable on the couch, it is over. I won't try to get back to sleep. I can handle not having a full six to eight hours of sleep. There is always afternoon naps.

I am making the best of my extra few hours of being awake, mainly typing this and drink some coffee. After curtailing the amount of coffee I drink during the week, Thursday mornings are more of a treat than anything. It is the earliest I have to be up and to work during the week and is really the only time I make coffee anymore. On occasion, I will make some on my off weekends, but I am more intent on catching up on sleep from the previous week that by the time I get up, it is late morning or early afternoon. That time doesn't really warrant coffee.

I wouldn't come out and say I was dependent on coffee to get me through the day a few months ago, but I could tell when I didn't have any. I would be dragging ass near the end of the work day and would come home and nap for an hour or two.





Okay, maybe I was a little dependent. But at least I didn't get the shakes or cold sweats.

Fun drunk v. Angry drunk

Everyone who knows me, knows I enjoy having a beer or two or three from time to time. On very rare occasions, am I ever in a bad mood while drinking. Like most people, beer makes me happy. One thing that helps that out is being around friends that are having a good time and are having good conversations.

After work tonight, while out at a local establishment, we saw someone who was three sheets to the wind and looking for a fight. Don't know why, but he was pissed about something. It happens, I know this, but do you have to be a downer? When I get angry drunk or mad drunk, I just get quite or, you know, don't go to the bar!

And where were this guys friends? Good friends would get that guy some water and get him the hell out. And the management, where were they? We thought he was getting tossed when a management type person walked him out of the place, which made me smile, but then he came back in. What the hell! I wanted to see him get dragged out and tossed never to return.

So, if you are ever going to go out to a bar to just get completely shit faced and are going to be angry about it, go out with friends who will take care of you and make you drink water and take you home before you end up making a scene. It may be fun to watch every once in a while, but far too often it ends up being annoying.



P.S. Thank you each and every veteran throughout the world.

Time change

A little slow in writing this, but the time change sucks. Everyone enjoys getting that extra hour of sleep for the first night, but what are the other pros?

The night comes at six at night. It makes me sleepy really early. When the sun sets so early it makes the evening seem useless. We had some friends come over for dinner this past weekend, we ate around seven. Pitch black outside. I hate the fall because of this.

Weekend!

It is the weekend. This is the last full weekend I will have off until after the new year. It sounds a lot worse than it actually is. I will have one day of the weekend off, but still will not have two days off in a row.

We had plans to go to Columbia, MO to watch my brother in law play bike polo (look it up) but things kind of fell apart when Andrea woke up not feeling well. If it were closer we could try to make it, but it's about five hours away and not really worth it being this late in the morning. Our apologies Adam, I'm sure you are heartbroken.

It would have been nice to get out of Wichita for a few days, but it is also nice to just hang out at home. I have thoughts of doing the dishes and watching football for the next two days. Ambitious right?

No Shave November

November has been renamed. I am just learning about this. Apparently it started in 1999 by a group of men in Australia. It has since grown and is recognized throughout the world. Names that have been invented are 'No Shave November', 'Movember', and 'Novembeard'. It is a movement in male solidarity for men's health. The main cause is prostate cancer (even though prostate cancer awareness month is September) for men, but other causes as well (think testicular cancer). I love this! The original thought to Movember is to grow a moustache, but I am not about them so I will just let my beard grow out for another thirty days.

I am in an awkward spot though. I grew my beard out for Halloween with the thought of trimming it up after. However with my learning of No Shave November I am thinking of letting it grow for another month. Much to the chagrin of Andrea I am sure. She already complains about it. It is true that I am getting a little sick of how long my beard is right now, but it is for the cause!

So, any male that has read this (whether you read this on a regular basis or you just stumbled across it) make sure you take care of your health. If you are older than thirty and you have not had a prostate exam, GO GET ONE! Thirty years old is generally the age in which men should be getting these exams unless you have a family history of prostate cancer, in which case you should be getting them sooner.

Just something to think about.

Fall?

It is now November. It should start to get cold and....fall-like. Windy, overcast, rainy, cold. It is the time of the year to bundle up to go outside. The beauty of the fall is that it is nice enough to go outside. Find a park to take a walk in or just take a trip around a neighborhood. The leaves on trees are turning color and it is just beautiful outside. It just happened one day, we walked outside and noticed the majority of the trees around our apartment had changed colors. So I thought it was going to be a longer fall and the colors were going to stay for a few weeks.

However, it has been hot outside the past couple of days. In the higher sixties to low seventies. Some people I work with love this weather, but then again they have no problems when the temperature hits triple digits during July and August. October and November are not for seventy degree weather. It is suppose to be in the forties and fifties. Mother Nature needs to get her shit together and get the fall weather here. Now!

Halloween

We had two parties to attend this past Friday. This was the first time we have had two parties to go to in one night that I can remember. The problem that we had was how long to stay at each? We don't do the multiple party in one night thing so how do you prepare for it? I think that the only thing that helped out was the fact that I had to work in the morning. I don't want to be the one calling in 'sick' because I was out too late the night before.

So we went to each party for a couple of hours each. I didn't like it though. I want to go somewhere and just hang out for the evening. I don't want to leave a party before it is over. Kind of like going out to the bar. I don't like bar hopping. I like sitting for the evening and drinking. However, time was well spent. We got to see some friends we hadn't hung out with in a while.

We went as psycho little red riding hood and the woodsman. It was fun.

basketball sucks

The NBA season starts today. My question is.....who cares? There is always big hype at the beginning of every sport season, but it dwindles. The only time I really watch basketball is when the Pistons are on. But the amount of their games on t.v. have been shrinking as they have been getting worse. They are past their prime, but are slowly starting to re-load their team.

I didn't watch any of the playoffs last year. Usually, I will watch a little bit, but I didn't watch one game. I don't even know who the Lakers beat.

Books

I finished reading a book last night and as I tried to pick out another one, I came up with a thought. If I could only choose three books to keep, which would they be? I came up with two of them, but can't think of the third one. These aren't books that I picked because I have just recently read them, these are books that I have read over and over again. Books that I can start even when reading other books and will finish before finishing any other book.

The first two are The Catcher in the Rye and The Road. I first read Catcher in high school, tenth grade. The perfect time to read it. Perfect character association for any boy of fifteen or sixteen. Immediately I was hooked. Because of this book, I went out and bought the rest of the short stories that J.D. Salinger wrote and just read through them like they were the Sunday paper. I suppose I also admire Salinger for giving everyone the big middle finger and going to live in the middle of nowhere. Reclusive lifestyle is the way to go.

And then there is The Road. With Cormac McCarthy it all has to do with style. Once you get use to reading the way he writes, you are done. Some of the sentences that he puts together are just mind blowing. I re-read several paragraphs in this book just because they were beautiful. My brother bought this book for me, and I can never thank him enough. After finishing it the first time, I started reading it again. Yeah, it is that good.

But that is it. I have yet to find that last great book that I can read and read and read.

Weekend ahead

This weekend coming up is much needed. I have the day off tomorrow, and the weekend off as well. I can't wait. My six day stretches at work go by quickly, but these weekends are a great relief.

The only problem is that we don't have any plans for the weekend. It is nice enough to go do stuff outside. I want to go out and enjoy the weather before the 'winter' comes and gets too cold and rainy. As great as it is to relax all weekend, I do get bored with it. I need to get out and do stuff, even if it is just getting out and driving around town for a little bit.




This could be an optimal time to try out a new frisbee golf course.

Early morning activity

I have given up on being upset when I can't sleep. I woke up today at three thirty (that's a.m.). Wide awake. Don't know why. Thought about turning over and going back to sleep, but decided to get up and put some extra water in the coffee maker. I don't have to work until six this morning, so the option of sleep was there. I will justify it this way: if I went back to sleep, I could over sleep my alarm and be late for work. I'll go with that.

Normally if I wake up a few hours early and feel extra tired, I'll curl up on the couch and get in something resembling a nap. I do this because when I wake up really early I have a tendency to toss and turn in bed, and that makes for an angry wife. And no one wants that.

I have gotten some things done while being up. I took a shower. Listened to a podcast (Art of Manliness has started podcasts and they are great). Got my fantasy football (nerd) groove on. Now, come about ten or eleven o'clock this morning I may regret not going back to sleep but I'm good for the morning.

I feel a big fat nap coming my way right around three o'clock this afternoon. That is when I will catch up on the sleep I missed out on this morning.

The weekend

I had this past weekend off. I did nothing, and it was great. It was everything I hoped it would be. I now see why some people don't get jobs. The weather was very fall-like, overcast and a little rainy.

Saturday we sat around the apartment and did some cleaning (and by some I mean very very little). The only thing I planned was watching the Michigan football game. Although they ended up losing the game, it was an excellent one.

Sunday was another lazy morning. I went frisbee golfing with Marc and Jason. Even though we all threw horribly, it was a lot of fun. It was cool enough to wear long sleeves and hats but not cold enough to really bundle up. Afterwards, we all went out for dinner and a couple of beers.

That was the weekend. It was one of the first weekends when nothing was planned that went by quickly. If I don't set things up for the weekend, the days seem to drag and I end up looking forward to going back to work on Monday (weird, right?). Even though the past two days were enjoyable, I think one more day off would have capped off a relaxing weekend.

Ernie and cancer

Earlier this year, Ernie Harwell announced that he has inoperable cancer. Dude....bummer. I had one of those moments when after I read it, I was speechless. I sat there looking at my computer screen. Almost in a state of denial. I vaguely remember listening to him call games when I was a kid. As I got older, I fell in love with his voice. Classic is the only way to describe it.
I was lucky enough to be watching the Tigers Royals game when he gave his thank you/farewell speech near the end of the season. It sent chills down my spine. It is my generation's and my team's 'Luckiest Man' speech. Which, by the way, is one of the greatest sports moments of all time (despite the fact that it involved the New York Yankees). He almost made me cry, and I am not afraid to admit that.

Tis Fall

The weather is starting to turn. It is great. Fall has shown up in Kansas, it is in the forties in the morning when I go to work and it has been raining a little bit. There was no gradual decline in temperature this year. It just kind of happened. It all of a sudden went from being in the eighties to the low to mid sixties. I am very very okay with this. I hate the hot weather. I suppose I just enjoy being bundled up in a big heavy jacket with gloves and a hat on. It hasn't gotten that cold yet, but when it does, I do enjoy it.

One nice thing about the fall is it is that we can go out and play frisbee golf and not have to worry about dying from the heat. We would go out sporadically in June or July only in the hopes of there being some wind to cool us down. The only problem is that the wind felt like it came out of a hair dryer. Now, not so much. It is jeans and sweatshirt weather baby! Comfortable weather to walk around a field and amongst the trees.

Album revamp

Last year, I posted my top ten albums. Since then, I have expanded my horizons. I have had a falling out with U2 (Bono is too full of himself), recently posted at number three all time favorite album. Same goes for Beck, but he was posted at number ten. Just barely on the list. So...here ya go. Over a year later.




10. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Raising Sand (the best bluegrass album I have ever heard)
9. Johnny Cash Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison (the best live album I own, just ahead of RATM)
8. The Clash London Calling ('Guns of Brixton' and 'The Card Cheat' are brilliant)
7. The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely (is there anything Jack White can't do? My generation's Pete Townshend maybe?)
6. Fugees The Score (One of only two rap albums I own. The other being Licensed to Ill)
5. The Who Who's Next (Pete Townshend, I love you.)
4. Rage Against the Machine Evil Empire (I could listen to this album for months at a time)
3. The White Stripes Elephant (Jack and Meg are at the forefront of the re-birth of Alt. Rock)
2. Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin (best first track EVER)
number one still remains.....



1. The Beatles Abbey Road

German food!

We had spatzel and sausage for dinner last night. A great hearty German dinner. The only thing that was missing was cabbage or sauerkraut, but we were not going to make that if only one of us was going to eat. I also found a German beer. Not one that is brewed in Milwaukee or Chicago, but straight from the Father Land. How do I know? Everything printed on the packaging and bottles are in German. Below are pictures I took to commemorate the event.

New favorite picture

For the longest time, the favorite picture I have taken was of two little birds in an alley way in downtown Wichita. I still feel lucky to have captured this because I had to get very very close to them before taking this. The bad thing with using a film camera (yes, they exist still) is if you have a subject like these little birds, you usually have one chance. And in fact, after snapping this photo I lowered my camera and they had flown away. My first thought was 'Shit, oh well.' I was very happy afterwards.



Recently, I have found a new favorite. I took it at the Wilson's Creek National Park in Missouri. It was in the Ray House, the only original building left standing at the park. In the house, visitors had some free reign as far as pictures were concerned. They can get close up and take pictures like this one. Everything that a visitor can get to is a recreation, any original was behind ropes or glass.



For the time being, this candle on table ranks highest on all of the pictures that I will take credit for.

One more win....

'The Tigers haven't stuck it in yet, but they are holding the fork.'

This is a line from Rick Sutcliff last night after the Tigers beat the Twins. It made me laugh so much. With three games left (they are currently losing 1-8, boo!), they have a three game lead (soon to be two games unless they get to the Twins bullpen).

A few more wins can clinch the division for the team and then they are playoff bound! The only bad thing is that the New York Yankees will be their first opponent, and that is very dangerous because they had a great season.

Reducing coffee intake

I have started to drink less and less coffee. I didn't read some article about it being bad for me or have some health epiphany, I just came to the realization that I drink way too much of it.

I tell this to people at work and they give me the weirdest looks because I am known for not being able to function without it. One thing that has changed has been my schedule. I am working some different shifts and not all of them start at six in the morning. Not getting out of bed at five has helped out. That extra hour of sleep can go a long way. I didn't start drinking coffee for the sole purpose of the caffeine anyway. I did it for the flavor, I like the taste of it. Much like drinking whiskey or scotch. I really really like the taste and flavor of it. The side effects are always a benefit.

Another reason for this is cost. Coffee is expensive! I didn't know that Colombian children's blood and tears were in such high demand that the cost of their efforts would sky rocket. I don't even buy 'that gourmet shit' (watch Pulp Fiction, if you didn't quite get that). I buy Folgers or Maxwell House, whichever is on sale. I could buy cheaper stuff, but what would be the point? I don't want to rot my stomach away on some cheap stuff. If I do, I am going to enjoy it.


With all that said, we will ignore the fact that I brewed a full pot this morning.

Productive day off

Despite making no plans for my days off, I still filled the hours of the weekend. Saturday was meant for work around the apartment. The dishes were done, as was cleaning of the kitchen floor. I also spent three plus hours watching football. Michigan football has come back to life and now sit at four wins and zero losses.

That was the day. I also went out and grabbed a few groceries. It doesn't sound like much, but before I knew it, it was seven o'clock at night. I watched the Tigers come back and win against the White Sox.

Then? Then it was off to a bar with a few friends who I haven't hung out with in quite some time. It was relaxing, despite the fact that there was tons of horrible karaoke being sung. Bad country, bad semi-classic rock, and the like.

The plans for Sunday are as follows: Take the recycling out, go out and watch some football and drink some beer. That is it.

Advantage at four in the morning

In a complete turn around in sleeping hours (going from ten to five) I am taking advantage of being up two hours before having to go to work. When I first woke up I thought about coming out to the couch and getting another hour of sleep, but thought better of it. So far, I have gone through and watched four shows that were stored up on the dvr, made some extra coffee for the day, and updated my ipod.

As much as I love getting tons and tons of sleep, it is good to get up a few hours before work and just get little things done around the apartment. At least every once in a while.

Sleep catch up and frolfing

One great thing about working Tuesday night is not having to work the next day. I have also been going out for a couple of hours with some work friends and grabbing a few cheap beers at a local establishment. So by the time I get home it is close to one in the morning. Sounds late, but it is only two hours after we get done with work. Normally on Tuesday night going into Wednesday I get about six or seven hours of sleep, but not last night. I got ten (TEN!) hours of sleep. I woke up at eleven this morning. It was wonderful.

The only thing I did today was go frisbee golfing. Something fun and relaxing. It doesn't take a lot of skill, but it takes concentration from time to time. It is difficult to make the disc go in a straight line and go about two hundred feet every throw. That is the fun in it as well, trying to get better at it. I have just recently started throwing in a forehand motion (the same motion in the picture I took of Marc earlier this year at the Colwich golf course). It may not make sense to people who don't play the game, but there is a big difference in the game. My wrist will definitely be sour as opposed to my shoulder. It is nice to get outside and just hang out with a few friends for an hour or so and have a purpose to throwing a frisbee.

Another fun photo

When we first moved into our apartment a couple of years ago it was stressful for us and our cat, Libby. She spent the majority of the day in the bathroom hiding behind the toilet. After we got most everything into the proper rooms and we settled down for some beer and pizza, but we had yet to move our bookshelf into the second bedroom. After dinner, we left the living room to unpack bedding and get everything setup to crash for the night. We came back out to find her hanging out on the empty bookshelf. It was quite humorous.

Apparently a rule of thumb for cats goes along the lines of 'if it is new and empty, I'll hang out in it or on it'.

Something random

When we visited my brother in law in Colorado earlier this year, we came across these two birds in Manitou Springs. It was something fun and interesting in the middle of their little business district. One fun thing that was there was just random statues, plaques, and pieces of art all around.



Oh, and all the hippies. They were fun too.

boring football?

I find myself enjoying college football more and more recently. Professional football just seems to take much longer. I don't know if it has to do with the style of game that is played in college or if the pros just take their time while they play.

Maybe it is the atmosphere. College stadiums are loud from kickoff to the end of the game. If the home team is winning, the place is rocking, but if the team is losing there are moments of silence followed by raucous emotional cheering trying to rally the team. That has to be it. If a home team in the NFL is losing, the stadium is just dead. Pins get dropped all over the place and you can hear each one.

I also think that money takes a lot of real passion out of the players. They no longer play 'for love of the game'. They play for the paycheck. Any other answer is bullshit. The college kids play for pride. All of the rivalries between schools are great, and it isn't just one team that they have a rivalry with. Take the University of Michigan for example. They have three big rivalries: Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. It is about history.

Busy weekends

There has been much traveling on my weekends off. It has been nice to do stuff, but it also takes away the lazy part of not having to work for two days. This weekend we drove up to Topeka to par(rrrrrrr)take in the second annual Pirate Party. A good time was had by everyone there and it is fun to do something different like that. The previous weekend off was the float trip. Once again, it was a lot of fun, but there was plenty of driving to get there. Two weeks before that was my trip to Wilson's Creek.

So the weekends I am not working have been filled with plenty of travel and plenty of friends, but I find that come Monday morning, I am dragging ass. So, come hell or high water, I am planning to do nothing two weekends from now. I want to sit around and watch a bunch of football, maybe drink some beer, and be sloth-like. There may also be some movie watching in the line up as well.

One weekend of this would be enough. I'm sure that come Sunday evening, I will complain about not doing anything all weekend. I will have to come back to this post and remind myself that this is the plan.

Season beginning

The NFL season is starting this week. Andrea is thrilled, let me tell you. She is already excited about the college football season.

With the Tigers in the pennant race, I will definitely be paying more attention to them then in years past (2006 season excluded). But I am interested in how the Lions start. They have decided to go with first round pick, Matthew Stafford, at the starting quarterback. I don't know how I feel about this. I thought that they should have gone with their veteran QB for the first few games so Stafford could see a real NFL game. Pre-season games don't count. On the other hand, no better way to learn then by playing.

The first few games are going to be rough and will end up with some losses, but hey if they win three or four games (which is what I am hoping for), I will be happy.




Which is sad, isn't it?

Season ending

The regular season of baseball is coming to a close. There is about a month left, and roughly twenty to thirty games to play. I'm a bit upset with myself for not really keeping up with the Tigers. It is one of those situations where I don't check up on the team for three or four or five days and then try to catch up.

As it sits now, they are five games up on Minnesota. As I wrote at the beginning of the season, Minnesota is a team that is always there at the end. And so it is. The White Sox really faded in the past three weeks (BWHAHAHAHA!), and it is a two team race between the Tigers and the Twins. I was cautious this past series. Detroit swept Cleveland and opened up the lead they have now. It was quite a relief to see.

The way into the post season is through the division. They are too far out in the wild card. They need to hold off Minnesota this next month. The bats seem to be coming alive at the right time. Just as long as the pitching rotation stays strong. The pitchers have been a great surprise this year. They were the questionable part of the team last year and they have carried the weight as the batters have struggled every once in a while through the season.

Ending the experiment

After much consideration, I have decided to close down the Cheap Beer Experiment as it's on blog. It was a great concept, I just did not have the ambition to keep it going. It is fun to try different beers and expand the list of beers that I have tasted, I just don't want to be dropping money into something just because I want to write about it as a primary topic.

So, in turn, I will just roll it into this one. So look for cheap beer updates, it will just be here and not elsewhere.

Driving lessons

We passed a student driver on the way back from dropping our friends off at their apartment this past Sunday. The first thing I noticed was the nice spacious vehicle they had. I learned to drive in a Dodge Neon. Do you know how to cram four high school kids and a driving instructor into a two door car? Very carefully.

As I passed the kid going the speed limit (lame) I glanced over and saw the typical ten and two hands on the wheel. The only time I really have two hands on the wheel is during the two snow storms that occur each year or when I am making a turn (and that isn't always the case). Hell, I once drove fifty miles on the highway just using my knees in my Cavalier.

The kid was also up on the steering wheel. As close as you can get without actually removing the steering wheel and holding onto the steering column. I remember being that kid. I can remember driving south on the highway back home for fifteen minutes and getting off the highway and turning around and going back. It was exhilarating. Now....not so much. And then I thought about it, I have been driving for thirteen years. People that are taking drivers ed. in high school right now either were not born or just born as I was getting my learner's permit.

A picture and a dream

As I was looking through my pictures of Wilson's Creek yesterday I came across this one and realized how much I did enjoy it. Of the one hundred some pictures that I took, this one is my favorite.

I had a strange dream this morning and I know that if I don't write it down now, I won't remember it. I traveled back in time and somehow met up with my younger self. Not two or three years younger, I'm talking riding around on a bike in the fourth grade younger. There was no great revelation when I met younger self, the world did not implode, and the space time continuum did not get all funked up. It was just something random.

The reason I bring this up is I thought about something after I got out of bed, because you can sleep after meeting their younger persona? So, the thought I had is if you can go back in time and change your future, would you? I'm not talking about going back to 1933 and killing Adolph Hitler, or telling Amelia Earhart not to take that last flight. I'm talking about talking to yourself and letting them know about your current life. Would that change your younger mind? This is something that can keep people up at night (or wake them up an hour early). And what would change?



I don't know if I would want anything to change.

Comedians and water

Why do comedians have water or another drink on stage? They never drink it. We just finished watching Patton Oswalt, who is hilarious, and he took only a few sips. The typical comedian stage contains the following: bottle of water (one), bar stool (one), random background, microphone (with stand). But why the water if it is not used?

The only comedians I have ever seen drink the drink that they have on stage with them is Ron White and Mitch Hedberg. Ron White is an alcoholic and Mitch Hedberg was high and needed something to take care of the cotton in his mouth.

So depressing....

I heard one of the most depressing things on the radio today. The backroom at work has a small radio that they turn on every once in a while to make the day go by quickly. Anyway, they had it on a random station that was playing a top twenty show. Apparently one of the songs was Miley Cyrus and I walked by at the end of the songs and the dj came on the radio and said the following...

"That was Miley Cyrus. And oh, she is just so so so hot."

I hate the radio.

Even steven

The second day of my trip to Wilson's Creek was not as extensive as the first because of the weather. Rain came through the area, but I was up early and had a chance to check out the rest of the site.

The most exciting part of it was the Ray house, which is the only original building left. And judging by the size, they were fairly well off. There was not much to read or learn about the family, just that their house was used as a field hospital. And they hid in the cellar during the fighting.

Stations four and six were more of just stopping off points to show battlefield positioning by the Union Army. There wasn't at either site other than a map and a plaque.

Station eight gave a great overview of the entire battlefield. It was on the ridge that the Union Army entered, and later exited, the battlefield. It gave great closure to the entire experience.

I did have a chance to walk through the museum after leaving the park. It was well done, and should most likely be walked through before going to the battlefield. After going through it, you have a better understanding of why the battle was fought there, the positioning of the armies, and overall outcome and consequences, actions, and reactions by the warring factions.

In retrospect, the park can be visited in just one day. I feel that I made the right decision to break up the visit into two days. With all the walking, and the four hour drive from Wichita, it would have been a little too much to take in.

irritating football

I'm watching NFL Live right now on ESPN, and I don't know why. I know what 'stories' they are going to be talking about for the next half hour. Michael Vick and Brett Favre.

I'm sorry, but Michael Vick doesn't deserve to be playing. I think that all the teams should have blacklisted him. The only reason Philly signed him is to sell seats, but guess what Philly Fan, he ain't playing this year. Andy Reid will back Donavon McNabb until either of them retire. I think he is done playing for good teams. Only sad desperate teams will sign him in the hopes that he can play for a game or two.

Memo to Mr. Farve

Re: Your Career

It is over.

Sincerely,

Me

Enough of this 'unnamed Vikings player' saying that he has signed with the team and that he will start playing right before the regular season starts. IF he does play with them, it will be a waste of time. He isn't going to be in shape, he is just going to try to throw the ball like he did ten and fifteen years ago (even though he doesn't have the arm strength for it) and it will result in interceptions. Don't get me wrong, I want him to sign and play with the Vikings so Detroit can beat the hell out of them because they have an old beat up quarterback that doesn't know his career ended when he retired the first time two years ago.

The odd stations

The first leg of the trip is pretty much wrapped up. I spent four and a half hours at Wilson's Creek, and am only half way done with the park. Now, the only other Civil War park I have ever been to is Gettysburg, so there is no real way to compare the two. Gettysburg was so monstrous people-wise compared to Wilson's Creek. There were roughly sixteen thousand regular army and militia at Wilson's Creek, twenty five hundred(ish) of which would die. This battle is important for a few reasons. It was the first battle west of the Mississippi and where the first Union general, Nathaniel Lyon, was killed.

The park is very well preserved. The national park service has constructed paths for hiking and horseback riding. You cannot get out onto the battlefield itself except where the artillery and headquarters are located. But it is great to see. It is basically out in the middle of the woods and fields (like Missouri is). There are eight different sections or stations in which you can get out of your car and walk around and read stuff and get an idea of how the battlefield was laid out. And the battlefield isn't very big. You have Gettysburg which seems to go on forever and ever, damn near into Maryland. There are several areas that you can scale to the top of a hill and look over the east and west sides of the battlefield.

In order not to overload my inner nerd, I decided to just look at four of the stations (the odd numbered ones). The first section was an old house, of which there is nothing left except parts of the foundation. It was a mill and a house that actually survived the battle, but collapsed because of a fire later on.

Station three was the militia headquarters and artillery position. The Missouri militia got support from an artillery battery from Arkansas. So the Union and Militia had an artillery battle, fun times. Station five had a cannon firing demonstration. It was fun because it was the exact same cannon we fire at Fort Mackinac, a six pounder. I will say though, our demonstrations were much better, but they had a six man team that could load and fire it in a short amount of time. That was impressive.

The last station I went to today had the only real marker in the entire park (that I know of so far). It marked where Nathaniel Lyon was killed. There was also a sink hole where he and thirty Union soldiers were buried during the night. That sink hole was really really creepy. I don't get creeped out by many things, but this sink hole is out in the woods, on a trail, far from anywhere. *shiver*

That is a recap of the first day. Tomorrow, will be the remaining stations and, time permiting, a trip into their museum. The drive out here isn't bad, only about four hours, and it went by quickly despite not having anyone to talk to. Which can be a good thing sometimes. It is a thought collecting drive.

Trip for myself

I came to the realization the other day that I didn't want to sit around this weekend, so I am going on a road trip. Nothing big, just to a Civil War battlefield a few hours away! It is located just south of Springfield, Missouri. I am very excited.

On top of this idea, the park is free to go to this weekend. Talk about everything lining up!

baseball beatdown

The Tigers are playing the Boston Red Sox right now and they had a brawl last night. It made me smile. Fights in baseball aren't the best. There are maybe a hand full of punches (mostly off kilter) before everyone on both teams pile up in the middle of the field. Unless the pitcher is Nolan Ryan beating down Robin Ventura or Kyle Farnsworth spearing a batter, which are the two greatest pitcher/batter fights I have ever ever ever seen, this is how the fights go.

The reason I loved this fight is because the Tigers pitcher, Rick Porcello is only twenty years old and he handled Kevin Youkilis like a man. He backed up, dodged the helmet throw (bush league by the way), and wrapped up his arms before any punches could connect. Then, the best part, he rolled his shoulder and threw him down on the ground and landed on top of him. If Porcello had gotten his arms free, I'm sure he would have gotten some great shots in. And he was piiiiiiiiiised about being charged by Youkilis too.

In his defense, he was protecting his own batter, Miguel Cabrera, who got plunked. The beaning code is 'you hit one of ours, we hit one of yours'. If the pitch gets away from the pitcher and is an accident, there is no retaliation, but if it is thrown at a hitter to intimidate them, then it is go time. I love the fact that he didn't wait for a veteran pitcher to take the mound to retaliate, he did it himself. It showed great poise for the situation.

Review of a great week

The important thing about vacations is being able to look back at them remember all the great things about them. No one looks back at the travel time with longing eyes, who the hell wants to remember sitting on a plane or in an airport?

When we landed in Detroit, my brother and his girlfriend picked us up. It was a wonderful start to the trip because we got to see them for the first time since we went out to Seattle last fall. We got to catch up with them and it made the five hour car ride go by quickly. We made it to the cabin in time for dinner that night. The family was there and even though we saw them in June, it felt like it was much longer than that.

We had a bonfire that night, and my sister and brother-in-law came down with their three kids (who seemed to have grown in the course of the month and a half). Extended family members came down for the evening as well. Once again, it was just nice to see everyone.

The next day, we ventured up to the Soo for several days with my wife's family. More visiting ensued, which included a trip to the Antlers. The Antlers restaurant can best be described as PETA's worst nightmare. There are stuffed animals EVERYWHERE! It is great, and the food isn't half bad. We also took a trip out to the woods to go blueberry picking. My memories of picking blueberries are not the best. It always seemed to be sunny, with no clouds, in the middle of July and very very hot. Very uncomfortable. We drove not far from the Soo and just went back in the woods. The results? Buleberry pancakes, muffins, and dumplings. Yes!

The last part of the week we went back to the cabin with my family. It included a day trip on the boat. We took it out and just shut it off and relaxed. It didn't get hot enough to jump in, but the option was there. We had several more campfires, drank several more beers, and made s'mores. It was fun to watch my nephew and niece eat them. They would take a bite, get distracted, and then take another bite about five minutes later. It took them a long time to finish just one. The bonfires went to the wee hours of the morning.

The best part of the vacation? I didn't wear a watch the entire week. Lame, I know, but it is essential for trips not to care about what time it is or needing to be somewhere.

Vacation finale

One thing that I enjoy about smaller airports is that they are not bitches about internet. The Flint airport and the Wichita airport offer free high speed internet. I don't understand the point of charging people to use the internet when you are in a place of business. I know the idea is to make a living by earning money, but come on...

The free internet helps to pass the time for several reasons. I haven't been able to check my email since the fourth. Not to worry, there wasn't anything important in it. I get to do the fun 'I am at such and such an airport waiting for my flight' status on Facebook, because everyone needs to know. It allows me to update my podcasts that are fun and interesting (look up The Memory Palace on itunes) or more serious. And, I get to do this. I do have another post set up for the Cheap Beer Experiment, but I do not have the cord for the pictures that I took of the beer (it was forgotten in my wife's tote bag).

I have quite a long journey ahead of me and partly behind me. We left the cabin this morning about eleven o'clock and arrived at the airport close to three thirty. My brother dropped me off and I got through security quickly (another perk of small airports). I had time to watch the last inning of the Tigers Twins game (good guys won). The early part was the easy part, it was just a car ride. I fly for two hours to Atlanta and then another two hours to Wichita, with only forty five minutes in between flights. I enjoy having an hour or two for a layover. It gives me time to stretch my legs and walk around and people watch. Direct flights are not my friend. We had a direct flight once that was to Detroit. By the end, my legs and back were both screaming in agony because I get crammed into the small seats on the plane. Oh the perils of being over six feet tall.

The vacation rundown is on it's way (more than likely posted tomorrow)

Another sign of the apocalypse

Quick side note, this is post three hundred. Sweet.

A sad moment passed through in my life earlier this week as I walked into the break room at work. There was a copy of People magazine on one of the tables and on the cover was the guy from the Twilight movie. The dude with the freaky standing up hair and cracked out looking eyes. Yeah, him. So, big old picture of him and a headline about his love life and this that and the other thing. Not a big deal usually, but in the upper right hand corner of the cover is a little blip that said 'Walter Cronkite 1916-2009'.

I know that this is People magazine, but come on...does some teen movie star (who will probably never be heard from again after these twilight movies are done) warrant a cover story over Walter Cronkite's passing? The answer is no. There is no argument.

Surely if there were more reputable magazines around, there would be cover stories about Cronkite but alas...

mini writers block

I feel as though I have something to write about, but I don't. I can't keep enough consistent thoughts together to create a well rounded post.

Right now we are watching a Deadliest Catch special about the film crews getting use to being on the boats. It is basically guys on boats puking. It was fun. Kind of like being back in college.

I can't wait to get back home. Vacations are nice, but they never seem to last as long as they seem. I'll be home for eight days. Eight days away from Kansas and back in the Great Lake State. I am really looking forward to the bonfires while we are at the cabin. Just like fishing, bonfires are something that I think I almost took for granted while we lived back home. The oppertunity was always there.

We are flying into Detroit, so the trip doesn't just end with the flight, we still have to drive another five(ish) hours. The best part...it is with Chuck and Lauren. We haven't seen them since last October.

Three work days until vacation, and five days total until we leave.

Trip approaching

Our vacation home is coming up quickly. We fly out eight days from today. It will be very nice to get home. The trip I had in June just was not long enough. You can only cram so much into four days.

One thing that I really want to do while we are home is fish. I did not take advantage of the oppertunities to go fishing while I was living in Michigan. We did fish a lot, but it just seems like there were many times when we didn't go out but could have. Or maybe it just seems that way because I have only been fishing once in the past year.

Fishing isn't always about getting the fish. Sometimes it is just about getting out in the lake and just relaxing. Just having a great time. The middle of the lake is just about the most relaxing places I have ever been. I think that it is just the quite with no one else around. No phones, music, sounds of the city. Just silence, or the occasional bird song. And that is okay too. Unless it is foggy and a loon calls out. That is just chilling.

Best of the weekend

Here are a few pictures from the weekend camping trip. Some of my favorite pictures.

The sunset over the lake

A tree that is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The dirt is slowly eroding.

Schlitz!

Camp and working out

We got back from camping with some friends today. It was nice and relaxing. The weather was perfect for it too, it wasn't too hot if you were in the shade. Some more clouds would have been even better, but oh well. And we made fire! What is camping without fire?

I have been thinking recently about starting to swim again. I don't know why, I just started thinking about it. My brother has gotten back into it, and he has good reason to. He partook in an open water swim in Seattle. Which is great, it made me miss it a little. The only problem is that I don't have something like that to shoot for. It isn't like they have the open water swim of the Arkansas (that's pronounced ar-kan-saw, not ar-kansas) River. There are no larger open water areas in state in which to have said open water competitions.

So if I were to start getting into it, it would be just for exercise. And I think that once I were to get into it, it would start to get easier, but it is the whole getting started thing that is a big road block.

And that's the way it is (and forever will be)

Walter Cronkite died today. One of the greatest (or possibly THE greatest) news anchors ever is someone I never got to see bring me the news, but I have watched many many clips of his broadcasting career. The JFK assassination, the Martin Luther King assassination, the moon landing, announcing that the Vietnam War was unwinable. These moments are what he is famous for. He delivered the stories like no one I have ever seen deliver the news. He cared about every story, got his viewers invested and interested. There was a sense of comfort listening to him. The way I love listening to Papa (my grandpa if you have never heard me use that name) telling a story. Any story, it doesn't matter what it is about. I don't know what it is. It just.....is.

He brought the funk (news wise) and will forever be the greatest in his field. Walter Cronkite, dead tonight at the age of ninety two.

New blog

After my post earlier today about cheap beer, I have decided to write a new blog to go along with this one. This will continue to be more of a day in and day out blog, the other is for the experiment.

The Cheap Beer Experiment

Quest to buy cheap

I have no idea why, but I have started looking for cheap beer. Just to see how it is I suppose. It just came into my head one day, so I have decided to start documenting it. You get what you pay for, this is true, but it is also fun to check out some of these products. I have had my share of beers like Milwaukee's Best, and Natty Light, so I will skip those. They are pretty bad anyways.

The quintessential cheap beer I have found is Pabst Blue Ribbon. It is my favorite cheap beer I have ever come across. Before it regained fame as a cheap decent beer, I could buy a thrity pack for about twelve or thirteen dollars, but since then, the price has slowly crept up to fifteen or sixteen dollars. A sign of the popularity.

A few weeks ago, I bought a twelve pack of Hamm's for six dollars and fifty cents. You can barely buy a twelve pack of pop for that price. It tasted very watered down, but was still enjoyable. I unfortunately have recycled all the evidence of purchasing this beer (I think I will also post some pictures to go along with these posts.) so I may have to go out and buy some more.

The next purchase on my list is Schlitz beer. We are going camping this weekend (see previous post) and campfires, for me, have long been associated with drinking. Just sitting around and having a good ol' time. I remember hanging out with my sister and a bunch of her friends one summer when I was in college and they were all drinking beer and then bottles of Boone's Farm started getting passed around. Classic moment in campfire history.

So off I go to buy my next cheap beer.

Since forever...

For the first time in a very very long time, we are going camping. Just camping. We have done several float trips the past couple of years in which we get on canoes and go down the river and camp along the river. But that is different. There is an agenda. You have to make it to the end of the river by a certain time to be picked up by the outfitters. It is a lot of fun, but I always end up very tired at the end of the weekend.

Camping, you don't have that. You just get there and then relax. You want to go for a swim, you go swim. Want to hike, go find a trail. Want to sit around and read a book or watch a fire and drink beer, you can do that as well. Don't want to take a shower, you don't have to take a shower.

So, come Friday, we are heading to a camp ground with some friends to relax and get back to nature.

People watching

Author's note: I started typing this in Chicago while waiting to fly to Michigan, so it is a bit dated. However, it is still relevant. The reason it is a long time coming is that Andrea kept the lap top, on which this was saved, with her while she stayed home and I returned to Kansas.

I digress....

One thing that has interested me for a long time has been people. People watching seems to be in my family's genes. But I think that it is just our nature as people. Airports present prime targets for people watching. I just enjoy seeing what people wear.

You see the people that travel in comfort: jeans or sweatpants (for those who want to be extra comfortable), tee shirt, tennis shoes (or sandles in the summer time).

The professional traveler: dress shirt, dress pants, bluetooth headset, cell phone used to text other professional travelers.

Military people: self explanatory.

Skanky sorority girls and over dressed frat boys with their Hollister plastered too tight tee shirts.

The family with the screaming kid, the family with the quite kid (the former outnumbers the latter).

That is about it, at least that I have seen. I am sure that there are tons of others, but they are less frequently spotted than others.