Wednesday, March 28, 2007
How Depressing
Kristin and I met with a lawyer this morning to work on our will. It's incredibly depressing to spend an hour talking about what happens to our shit when we die.
Link Up, Bitches!
I added links to all the blogs I read. Most of us have never even met, but you'll know me soon enough.
I'd appreciate it if you'd return the favor.
Peace.
I'd appreciate it if you'd return the favor.
Peace.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Wet Ride
Ted and I went out for a ride on our track bikes tonight and got caught in a thunder/hail storm. Always a shitty experience.
The original plan was to meet up with Skibby and ride at the track, but, like the majority of my plans, life got in the way. I was lucky to be able to sneak away for the short ride we had. Gotta love having family around to help with the kids.
The original plan was to meet up with Skibby and ride at the track, but, like the majority of my plans, life got in the way. I was lucky to be able to sneak away for the short ride we had. Gotta love having family around to help with the kids.
Uni-Time
On my way to work today I saw a kid riding a unicycle to school. I tried to take a picture with my phone, but I missed him. He honestly looked like Napoleon Dynamite. I though this was kinda cool and unique, but it begs the question...WHY? Seriously, I can walk faster than this kid was riding, and everyone at school is going to think he's a complete loser. He rode into the parking lot of an inner-city charter school. Yeah...not the kind of kids who are impressed by great feats of balance. Have fun getting your ass kicked! The good news is that there's probably no one there who could ride off on his bike!
Friday, March 23, 2007
I WIN!!!
I was all excited to open my new iPod case today to find that it came with a free 12-month subscription to Rolling Stone and 35 free music downloads. Sweet! Oh wait...fine print. Shit. Turns out the magazine subscription is legit...unless I forget to cancel it a year from now, in which case it auto-renews. 35 free downloads? Yeah, that offer is open to the general public when you sign up for a free 14-day trial. Maybe I'm not so special. Damn. And here I thought corporate America was having a promotion without strings attached.
Damn Gawkers
Does no one have anyplace to be anymore? What the hell possesses people to slow down to 20 mph on the freeway to gawk at someone on the side of the road changing a flat tire. WTF?!?!?! Step on it, asshole!
Even worse is slamming on your brakes when there's a State Trooper going the other way. If he can see you, YOU'RE TOO LATE, DICK! Why risk getting rear-ended at 80? Believe it or not, no one is expecting you to suddenly lock up your fucking brakes, moron.
Can you tell I had to sit in gridlock traffic for 2 hours today?
Even worse is slamming on your brakes when there's a State Trooper going the other way. If he can see you, YOU'RE TOO LATE, DICK! Why risk getting rear-ended at 80? Believe it or not, no one is expecting you to suddenly lock up your fucking brakes, moron.
Can you tell I had to sit in gridlock traffic for 2 hours today?
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Yet another new camera
Shit. So, the saga continues. First, we lost our digital camera in Duluth. We bought another one, but it took crappy-ass pictures and it came with a gay-looking case. We returned that one today and bought yet ANOTHER new camera. My computer is probably getting pissed at me for plugging in 3 different cameras in a matter of 10 days. The white-trash lady at WalMart suggested this one, so it's gotta be good, right? Oh yeah, Bodacious-P has the same one and likes it.
Hells Yes
I just downloaded the CD "The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume" by Evans Blue. This is one of the best albums I've listened to in a long-ass time!!! They're similar in style to Breaking Benjamin, which also happens to be one of my favorite bands. I can't express how thrilled I am to have discovered this CD!
They even do a cover of "Possessions" by Sarah McLachlan. That takes balls.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Damn
What an ugly-ass car. The Probe was terrible to begin with, but Mint Green? Why would you park this thing in a public place?
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Song of the Day
I know I've been slacking on this lately, but I've been busy so gimme a break!
Check out "So Many People" by Neurosonic. They sound like an industrial version of 311. Pretty cool.
Listen carefully to the words...it's quite odd. "I know that your parents are brother and sister..." Hmmmmm
Check out "So Many People" by Neurosonic. They sound like an industrial version of 311. Pretty cool.
Listen carefully to the words...it's quite odd. "I know that your parents are brother and sister..." Hmmmmm
Friday, March 16, 2007
How to Not Be Poor
A lot of people complain about not having any money, but they don't do anything to change their lifestyle and rectify the situation. That said, here are some simple things that add up to lots of extra money:
Save up for a car. DO NOT take out a loan for a depreciating asset. It's basic economics. Not only are you paying interest, but the car itself is losing value at a much faster rate than you are paying it off. This is a biggie. Think of what you could do with the extra $300 a month you don't have to put towards a car payment.
Stop eating out. Dinner out for 2 with drinks costs $40-50. Do this once a week, and you're out more than $200 a month. Go to the store, buy a 12-pack, get some steaks, go home and grill. Total cost: $15-20.
Don't worry about school loans. You're paying, what, like 3% on your school loan? Pay only the minimum! You can MAKE more than 3% on your money in a high-yield savings account...put your money there.
Buy a house. Right now, it's a buyer's market. Buy a house that you can afford (payments less than 30% of your monthly income). First-time home buyers can usually get superb financing deals. This is the best investment you can make. Even when the stock market falls, real estate continues to go up. Renting is a waste of money. Better yet, buy my house!
Get a new job. An extra $1/hour is not a raise. Find a new job every couple years to keep your income growing.
There. Go forth and prosper.
Save up for a car. DO NOT take out a loan for a depreciating asset. It's basic economics. Not only are you paying interest, but the car itself is losing value at a much faster rate than you are paying it off. This is a biggie. Think of what you could do with the extra $300 a month you don't have to put towards a car payment.
Stop eating out. Dinner out for 2 with drinks costs $40-50. Do this once a week, and you're out more than $200 a month. Go to the store, buy a 12-pack, get some steaks, go home and grill. Total cost: $15-20.
Don't worry about school loans. You're paying, what, like 3% on your school loan? Pay only the minimum! You can MAKE more than 3% on your money in a high-yield savings account...put your money there.
Buy a house. Right now, it's a buyer's market. Buy a house that you can afford (payments less than 30% of your monthly income). First-time home buyers can usually get superb financing deals. This is the best investment you can make. Even when the stock market falls, real estate continues to go up. Renting is a waste of money. Better yet, buy my house!
Get a new job. An extra $1/hour is not a raise. Find a new job every couple years to keep your income growing.
There. Go forth and prosper.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Journalistic Integrity
I got a magazine called "Pheasant Fever" last weekend, and it was touted as containing a collection of knowledge from several authorities on pheasant hunting. I always enjoy a little off-season reading, so I was paging through it. While reading the third article, I noticed that the writing style was similar to the previous article. I started looking, and found that the first FIVE articles were written by the same guy.
Now, I realize that this isn't The Wall Street Journal or anything like that, but I would expect a series of articles IN ANY PUBLICATION to be from multiple writers. Not just the ramblings of some guy.
Now, I realize that this isn't The Wall Street Journal or anything like that, but I would expect a series of articles IN ANY PUBLICATION to be from multiple writers. Not just the ramblings of some guy.
On the Mend
My back is almost back (pun intended) to 100%...must have just been a mild spasm. I was able to do sprints yesterday on my road bike, but I'm going to avoid the gym for a week or so. I still can't comfortably bend forward far enough to ride my track bike. It was great to get outside, but I hadn't planned on riding through so many puddles and got pretty wet. Oh well, such is the life of a semi-hardcore ride-if-it's-over-40-degrees bike racer. I am a rock.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
New Digi Cam
I picked up a new digital camera over my lunch break.
At least the free case isn't girly (WTF?)
Catching Up
Damn, I have a lot of catching up to do, so here goes:
Lutsen was awesome, but the snow conditions sucked. It turns out that snow gets really slushy when the temps top 50 degrees. The skiers didn't have many issues, but we poor snowboarders had a hell of a time.
We didn't actually spend a lot of time on the hill, we mostly just hung out at our cabin and played Guitar Hero and drank beer (and SOTB's...hell yeah).
---
I must be getting old. First my sister turns 21, then I pull a Smithers and fuck up my back at the gym. I'm not sure what I did wrong, I wasn't even using much weight and my form was good. Oh well...the chiropractor says I should be back to normal in 2-3 days. In the meantime, I'm self-medicating with SoCo.
---
I'm going to go shopping for a new digital camera today. I wish we hadn't lost ours. That sucks. Hopefully my posts will be rife with pictures again soon. Until then you'll have to settle for this awesome-looking text.
---
An entire rafter of wild turkeys walked through my backyard this morning. The kids thought it was pretty cool, but the dog was freaking out. I took some pictures with my film SLR, but I can't really put those on the blog.
---
Lutsen was awesome, but the snow conditions sucked. It turns out that snow gets really slushy when the temps top 50 degrees. The skiers didn't have many issues, but we poor snowboarders had a hell of a time.
We didn't actually spend a lot of time on the hill, we mostly just hung out at our cabin and played Guitar Hero and drank beer (and SOTB's...hell yeah).
---
I must be getting old. First my sister turns 21, then I pull a Smithers and fuck up my back at the gym. I'm not sure what I did wrong, I wasn't even using much weight and my form was good. Oh well...the chiropractor says I should be back to normal in 2-3 days. In the meantime, I'm self-medicating with SoCo.
---
I'm going to go shopping for a new digital camera today. I wish we hadn't lost ours. That sucks. Hopefully my posts will be rife with pictures again soon. Until then you'll have to settle for this awesome-looking text.
---
An entire rafter of wild turkeys walked through my backyard this morning. The kids thought it was pretty cool, but the dog was freaking out. I took some pictures with my film SLR, but I can't really put those on the blog.
---
Monday, March 12, 2007
Hangin' with the college kids...
Thursday night saw my baby sister's 21st birthday. That is weird.
I can't party like I used to, but it seems I'm still able to keep up with most of the college kids at UMD.
We started with a group of 12 loading into a single taxi. Hey, it's a good way for everyone to get to know each other! We got to Little Angie's and everyone immediately ordered 45-ounce margaritas...they were as big as my damn head!!! We also bombarded my sister with shots (Jag Bomb, anyone?).
From there, we went Cosmic Bowling (it was still too early to go to the bar). I had the high score in both games (eat it Kyle!)...if you can call 145 a "high" score. Most of our crew was underage, so we had to ditch them before going to the bars.
We then headed to the DAC to join the sausage fest. Shit. Seriously, there must've been a 4:1 guy/girl ratio, and it was all a bunch of metro frat-boys. The whole place just reeked of B.O. Not my gig, so we bailed and we to Dubhlinn Pub & Billiards where we continued pummelling my poor sister with liquor. When the bars closed at 2 am, she was almost passed out on the bar, so we took a cab home, kicked it a little longer, and came to realization that our digital camera was missing. Shit. Still haven't found it, so no pics to accompany these posts. Sorry.
I can't party like I used to, but it seems I'm still able to keep up with most of the college kids at UMD.
We started with a group of 12 loading into a single taxi. Hey, it's a good way for everyone to get to know each other! We got to Little Angie's and everyone immediately ordered 45-ounce margaritas...they were as big as my damn head!!! We also bombarded my sister with shots (Jag Bomb, anyone?).
From there, we went Cosmic Bowling (it was still too early to go to the bar). I had the high score in both games (eat it Kyle!)...if you can call 145 a "high" score. Most of our crew was underage, so we had to ditch them before going to the bars.
We then headed to the DAC to join the sausage fest. Shit. Seriously, there must've been a 4:1 guy/girl ratio, and it was all a bunch of metro frat-boys. The whole place just reeked of B.O. Not my gig, so we bailed and we to Dubhlinn Pub & Billiards where we continued pummelling my poor sister with liquor. When the bars closed at 2 am, she was almost passed out on the bar, so we took a cab home, kicked it a little longer, and came to realization that our digital camera was missing. Shit. Still haven't found it, so no pics to accompany these posts. Sorry.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Later...
As of 3:00pm today, I'm officially on vacation. Today is my little sister's 21st birthday so we're going out tonight, then we head up to Lutsen to 'board for the weekend. Should be a blast.
See ya Monday.
See ya Monday.
Thursday Song of the Day
"The War" by Angels & Airwaves. I know I said I don't like these guys, but even the lamest goose can drop a golden egg once in a while.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Nega-Coach
Feeling good about yourself? Nega-Coach can take care of that.
"Nega-Coaching is like tough love, without the love."
"Nega-Coach made me wish I was dead."
Hilarious!
"Nega-Coaching is like tough love, without the love."
"Nega-Coach made me wish I was dead."
Hilarious!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Tuesday Song of the Day
"Mayonaise" by The Smashing Pumpkins. Yes, they smelled Mayonnaise wrong, but that's the name of the damn song.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Busy Weekend...Redneck Bars
We got a babysitter for Saturday night, so decided to head out to Powder Ridge to do some snowboarding. We boarded for about 4 hours, and I'm only a little bit injured. We head up to Lutsen next weekend. I almost forgot what it's like to ride on real snow, instead of man-made ice crystals.
We went home and changed, called some friends, and decided to go see Sliptwister at Bubba's Bar in Sauk Rapids. The guitarist was phenomenal, but the atmosphere was a little odd. I have never in my life seen so many 50+ women in leather pants pulled up past their navals. I could have stayed there and people-watched all night. The bar literally had a big digital counter displaying time left until Sturgis. Yeah, it was that kind of place.
We then went to Benton Station to see what we were told was "a really cool band with a chick lead singer." Yeah, it was a flippin' country band featuring a guitaris in a Rasta hat. Ugh. We had met 2 other couples there, though, so we decided to hang out for a while. That's when I saw the morbidly obese lesbian couple...probably pushing 600lb for the two of 'em. Then I noticed that there was an entire gaggle of lesbians there...some sort of lesbian party! Ooh, how exciting! We then learned that this group basically consisted of ob/gyn nurses...who are lesbians. Hmmmmm.
This news was quickly followed by a vision of a scantily-clad girl skank-dancing up on her mom and dad. WTF is going on? This girl continued to skank-dance through all manner of music...fast, slow, country, rock, you-name-it. Maybe someone should buy her some swing dancing lessons to broaden her horizons. Her skirt was so short that the entire bar could see her thong on numerous occasions...while she was grinding on her parents. Creepy. Her dad must have been so proud.
Then some guy comes up and decides to hit on my wife by proxy. He says to her friend "I like your friend's braids", to which the friend responds, "She's married", and points to me. He says, "well I still like her braids", then turns to me and says "please don't punch me". Hey, fucknut, if you have to request that you not be punched, maybe you shouldn't say what you just said. I simply waved and said "Goodbye", and he left. I later heard him telling another girl how much he liked her hat. What a tool.
This concluded our tour of Central MN Redneck bars, so we went home and got a few hours of sleep, then went XC skiing at Quarry Park. Good times.
We went home and changed, called some friends, and decided to go see Sliptwister at Bubba's Bar in Sauk Rapids. The guitarist was phenomenal, but the atmosphere was a little odd. I have never in my life seen so many 50+ women in leather pants pulled up past their navals. I could have stayed there and people-watched all night. The bar literally had a big digital counter displaying time left until Sturgis. Yeah, it was that kind of place.
We then went to Benton Station to see what we were told was "a really cool band with a chick lead singer." Yeah, it was a flippin' country band featuring a guitaris in a Rasta hat. Ugh. We had met 2 other couples there, though, so we decided to hang out for a while. That's when I saw the morbidly obese lesbian couple...probably pushing 600lb for the two of 'em. Then I noticed that there was an entire gaggle of lesbians there...some sort of lesbian party! Ooh, how exciting! We then learned that this group basically consisted of ob/gyn nurses...who are lesbians. Hmmmmm.
This news was quickly followed by a vision of a scantily-clad girl skank-dancing up on her mom and dad. WTF is going on? This girl continued to skank-dance through all manner of music...fast, slow, country, rock, you-name-it. Maybe someone should buy her some swing dancing lessons to broaden her horizons. Her skirt was so short that the entire bar could see her thong on numerous occasions...while she was grinding on her parents. Creepy. Her dad must have been so proud.
Then some guy comes up and decides to hit on my wife by proxy. He says to her friend "I like your friend's braids", to which the friend responds, "She's married", and points to me. He says, "well I still like her braids", then turns to me and says "please don't punch me". Hey, fucknut, if you have to request that you not be punched, maybe you shouldn't say what you just said. I simply waved and said "Goodbye", and he left. I later heard him telling another girl how much he liked her hat. What a tool.
This concluded our tour of Central MN Redneck bars, so we went home and got a few hours of sleep, then went XC skiing at Quarry Park. Good times.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Thursday Song of the Day
OK, I'm back and semi-recovered from vacation, so I'm finding the motivation to blog again.
Check out "Everything" by Buckcherry.
Check out "Everything" by Buckcherry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)