Because our printer sucks and there's no way we can send christmas cards to everyone we'd like to, I'm posting our newsletter online. I mean, who doesn't really love a family newsletter from someone you rarely see or talk to around the holidays? It's better than the ones you get from your best friends and family because you already know everything that's going to be in it.
At least that's what I'll tell myself while I write this.
All due respect to the work that President Obama is doing in Washington, but 2009 did not bring a lot of change to the Lasselle household. Sure, our house continues to be taken over by Pixar movies, look and find books, toys and balls of all shapes and sizes, but Jonah seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Rachel and I are still working the same jobs, living in the same house and driving the same cars. After quite a few years in a row of almost constant change, this era of "status quo" is both comforting and frustrating at the same time.
There were quite a few highlights in 2009 for us. We took a trip to Seattle for our anniversary in July and took in an MLS soccer game. I took a long overdue trip to Texas to visit a friend and got to see The Alamo for the first time. I was able to go to Las Vegas to watch the Beavers play, and perhaps even more notable came home with almost as much money in my wallet as when I left. There were a couple trips to Wisconsin to visit Rachel's family. Jonah went from barely walking to barely staying still.
Watching Jonah grow up provides almost daily entertainment. It's so much fun to see him discover things and actually be able to communicate about them. The "terrible twos" haven't been that terrible, yet. He's currently fascinated by Christmas lights, and says "cool!" to anything he likes. ZooLights was a tremendous success with him, and we've already taken a few trips around Albany to check out the lights on houses. Santa is the biggest celebrity in the world. It's amazing how much more I enjoy the holidays while watching him get filled with holiday cheer for the first time. That may be the biggest blessing in having a child - remembering how much fun things can be. Jonah constantly is refreshing my view of things that I have started to take for granted over the years.
2009 was not without its low points either. We were sad to see a couple of the only friends we have with kids Jonah's age leave the state over the past year. We are happy that they are in better situations for them, though, and wish them all the best. I also lost my grandfather this year, who passed away in April. We all miss him, and christmas won't be the same without him this year.
We hope that 2009 was a great year for all of you, and we look forward to the adventures and excitement that a new year always brings. All the best to you and yours this holiday season.
Happy holidays,
Andy, Rachel and Jonah
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
You're not like other guys
Five simple words that mean so many different things to so many different people. While it's typically meant as a compliment, what the guy usually hears is "You're really nice, but I have no interest in dating you." I'm sure it works the same way for "You're not like other girls," but nobody's ever said that to me, so I can't really speak on it firsthand.
Rachel and I had a pretty in depth conversation about "You're not like other guys" (which I will shorten to YNLOG from here on out) on the way home from the coast yesterday. I was stating my case that nearly every girl that told me YNLOG was currently dating some guy they were upset with and was venting to me. In many of these cases, I had some sort of romantic interest in the girl and was wondering why in the heck she was dating the other guy and not me. Rachel claimed that it usually had nothing to do with dating, etc. and was a compliment.
In college, I think I was only told YNLOG once, and in that case, it probably would've led to a romantic encounter had my roommate drunkenly fallen over her couch and made inappropriate advances towards her roommate. I had to get him out of there prior to finding out what exactly YNLOG meant. The next day I went home for Xmas break, and by the time we reconvened for winter term, said girl was dating some guy from California whose parents owned a winery or some crap. He was apparently NLOG either. Whatever. I'm not bitter.
Rachel claims that most "good" girls date douchebags in high school out of some sort of crazy primal instinct. It's almost like you have to date the wrong guys in order to figure out what the right guy should be like, even if you have an idea in your head already. Rachel further went on to say that guys that hear YNLOG in high school end up getting their pick of the ladies down the road in their mid to late 20's. She might be right. I can't speak from personal experience because I decided to marry the first girl I dated after college. I guess all those YNLOG comments through my formative years convinced me that I should hop on the first train leaving singletown.
(I make jokes, but given my choice of 100 random girls, Rachel would still be my choice, I'm 100% sure of that)
After having this conversation with Rachel, I've come to a few conclusions:
1. I probably dismissed the YNLOG comment too quickly. While I figured that automatically meant the girl didn't want to date me BECAUSE I wasn't like other guys. In all actuality, she probably didn't want to date me because I was kind of socially awkward, had bad skin, and was seriously lacking in confidence.
2. When a girl says something like that, as a guy you should probably follow up on that conversation. Figure out if it is in fact a good thing or a bad thing, and use it as a way to suggest maybe she should pursue dating someone who is NLOG. Again, I never did this because I was under the belief if a girl REALLY liked me, she'd take action. Turns out being a passive wimp isn't a good plan to get chicks. Go figure.
3. As always, my wife usually has a better handle on a situation than I do. I should defer to her before making a decision in almost every situation.
Rachel and I had a pretty in depth conversation about "You're not like other guys" (which I will shorten to YNLOG from here on out) on the way home from the coast yesterday. I was stating my case that nearly every girl that told me YNLOG was currently dating some guy they were upset with and was venting to me. In many of these cases, I had some sort of romantic interest in the girl and was wondering why in the heck she was dating the other guy and not me. Rachel claimed that it usually had nothing to do with dating, etc. and was a compliment.
In college, I think I was only told YNLOG once, and in that case, it probably would've led to a romantic encounter had my roommate drunkenly fallen over her couch and made inappropriate advances towards her roommate. I had to get him out of there prior to finding out what exactly YNLOG meant. The next day I went home for Xmas break, and by the time we reconvened for winter term, said girl was dating some guy from California whose parents owned a winery or some crap. He was apparently NLOG either. Whatever. I'm not bitter.
Rachel claims that most "good" girls date douchebags in high school out of some sort of crazy primal instinct. It's almost like you have to date the wrong guys in order to figure out what the right guy should be like, even if you have an idea in your head already. Rachel further went on to say that guys that hear YNLOG in high school end up getting their pick of the ladies down the road in their mid to late 20's. She might be right. I can't speak from personal experience because I decided to marry the first girl I dated after college. I guess all those YNLOG comments through my formative years convinced me that I should hop on the first train leaving singletown.
(I make jokes, but given my choice of 100 random girls, Rachel would still be my choice, I'm 100% sure of that)
After having this conversation with Rachel, I've come to a few conclusions:
1. I probably dismissed the YNLOG comment too quickly. While I figured that automatically meant the girl didn't want to date me BECAUSE I wasn't like other guys. In all actuality, she probably didn't want to date me because I was kind of socially awkward, had bad skin, and was seriously lacking in confidence.
2. When a girl says something like that, as a guy you should probably follow up on that conversation. Figure out if it is in fact a good thing or a bad thing, and use it as a way to suggest maybe she should pursue dating someone who is NLOG. Again, I never did this because I was under the belief if a girl REALLY liked me, she'd take action. Turns out being a passive wimp isn't a good plan to get chicks. Go figure.
3. As always, my wife usually has a better handle on a situation than I do. I should defer to her before making a decision in almost every situation.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Rachel Proves I Suck at Negotiating Yet Again
DirecTV fired another bomb in the battle last night, but in doing so, probably ultimately lost the war. Why? They woke the sleeping giant. They made Rachel angry. Rachel is a lot like the Incredible Hulk in the way….you really wouldn’t like her when she’s angry.
Last night our local networks were switched to Eugene feeds. As promised, they were not broadcast in HD. Plus, instead of having normal, easy to remember numbers like 2, 6, 8, 10 and 12 for the major networks, we get 9, 16, 34 and some other ones that I haven’t found yet. Rachel goes “let me get this straight, they took our HD, but we still pay the same?” I gave her a few more of the details, then she goes “ok give me the phone, I’m calling them.”
There are few things that get my adrenaline pumping like watching Rachel when she’s fired up. For a tiny person, she can totally dominate you. I’m sure the checker at Fred Meyer is still regretting her decision to suggest that maybe Rachel’s card declined because she didn’t have enough money to buy a jelly donut. I know I’m still regretting the decision to go out to lunch on my credit card in an attempt to prevent Rachel from knowing exactly how much money I was spending on food. In hindsight it was an extremely ill conceived plan on my part, and I deserved to be skewered.
Anyways, Rachel has this strange ability to get what she wants before she even has to get really angry. Like the mere threat of raising her ire is enough to make people tap out. Keep in mind that I had just talked to DirecTV a few weeks ago about these exact same problems. I was extremely nice, explained my frustration, and got nowhere. Rachel maneuvers her way through the automated menu and finally gets a real person. “Um, yeah, I was just a little confused. We just lost our HD networks, but our bill is the same? Can you explain this?” That’s all she had to say, and they’re working on getting us a waiver to receive HD feeds again. My emails and phone calls never even got me close to this. Then she goes “I have another question….we’ve called you before because our box was malfunctioning, and it’s still broken.” I don’t think she said anything else about it, and now they’re giving us a $60 credit to cover the $50 service call to repair it.
This is why Rachel and I make a good couple. She’s very, very good at getting people to give her what she wants, and I’m very, very good at letting people have what they want.
Last night our local networks were switched to Eugene feeds. As promised, they were not broadcast in HD. Plus, instead of having normal, easy to remember numbers like 2, 6, 8, 10 and 12 for the major networks, we get 9, 16, 34 and some other ones that I haven’t found yet. Rachel goes “let me get this straight, they took our HD, but we still pay the same?” I gave her a few more of the details, then she goes “ok give me the phone, I’m calling them.”
There are few things that get my adrenaline pumping like watching Rachel when she’s fired up. For a tiny person, she can totally dominate you. I’m sure the checker at Fred Meyer is still regretting her decision to suggest that maybe Rachel’s card declined because she didn’t have enough money to buy a jelly donut. I know I’m still regretting the decision to go out to lunch on my credit card in an attempt to prevent Rachel from knowing exactly how much money I was spending on food. In hindsight it was an extremely ill conceived plan on my part, and I deserved to be skewered.
Anyways, Rachel has this strange ability to get what she wants before she even has to get really angry. Like the mere threat of raising her ire is enough to make people tap out. Keep in mind that I had just talked to DirecTV a few weeks ago about these exact same problems. I was extremely nice, explained my frustration, and got nowhere. Rachel maneuvers her way through the automated menu and finally gets a real person. “Um, yeah, I was just a little confused. We just lost our HD networks, but our bill is the same? Can you explain this?” That’s all she had to say, and they’re working on getting us a waiver to receive HD feeds again. My emails and phone calls never even got me close to this. Then she goes “I have another question….we’ve called you before because our box was malfunctioning, and it’s still broken.” I don’t think she said anything else about it, and now they’re giving us a $60 credit to cover the $50 service call to repair it.
This is why Rachel and I make a good couple. She’s very, very good at getting people to give her what she wants, and I’m very, very good at letting people have what they want.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Civil War isn't for another month, but we're already losing
Be nice to me, I gave blood today.
Sort of.
I said that I was giving blood in support of the Beavs because the Civil War blood drive might be the only Civil War victory we claim this year. However, I would say that I lost this one.
You know it didn’t go well when your bag is halfway full and the lady says “I’m calling it. Sorry Mr. Lasselle, it was nothing you did, I just had a bad stick from the start. You’re going to have a lot of bruising, and I apologize for that.”
If the football game goes like that on December 3rd, it’s going to be a loooooong year.
I knew it wasn’t going to go well when the lady comes up to me and says “Have I asked you your name yet?” Seeing how I was the FOURTH person of the day, you’d think they’d be able to remember that I was not one of the three people that had been in there before me. Sadly, this was not the case. Things got worse when she starts looking for a vein and, after poking around for a while, looks at me and says “do you have a preference?”
Reading between the lines, she was saying “I have no clue which vein to use, please tell me which one you normally give out of.” Like I keep track of that. I’m not scared of blood, but I’d rather not pay attention when I’m being gored.
Make no mistake, this was a goring. After sticking me, she determined that I wasn’t draining fast enough. She pulled the needle back. She pushed it forward. She twisted it. She tried again. She asks how I’m doing. I say I’m doing fine. Next thing I feel is the needle hitting something new. And it didn’t feel good.
So I got the bag halfway full. I have ice on my arm. I think my story caused one of my coworkers to back out of her appointment.
In other words……MAJOR FAIL.
Sort of.
I said that I was giving blood in support of the Beavs because the Civil War blood drive might be the only Civil War victory we claim this year. However, I would say that I lost this one.
You know it didn’t go well when your bag is halfway full and the lady says “I’m calling it. Sorry Mr. Lasselle, it was nothing you did, I just had a bad stick from the start. You’re going to have a lot of bruising, and I apologize for that.”
If the football game goes like that on December 3rd, it’s going to be a loooooong year.
I knew it wasn’t going to go well when the lady comes up to me and says “Have I asked you your name yet?” Seeing how I was the FOURTH person of the day, you’d think they’d be able to remember that I was not one of the three people that had been in there before me. Sadly, this was not the case. Things got worse when she starts looking for a vein and, after poking around for a while, looks at me and says “do you have a preference?”
Reading between the lines, she was saying “I have no clue which vein to use, please tell me which one you normally give out of.” Like I keep track of that. I’m not scared of blood, but I’d rather not pay attention when I’m being gored.
Make no mistake, this was a goring. After sticking me, she determined that I wasn’t draining fast enough. She pulled the needle back. She pushed it forward. She twisted it. She tried again. She asks how I’m doing. I say I’m doing fine. Next thing I feel is the needle hitting something new. And it didn’t feel good.
So I got the bag halfway full. I have ice on my arm. I think my story caused one of my coworkers to back out of her appointment.
In other words……MAJOR FAIL.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The one where Andy is reminded life is a gift
Last night was a good night of TV for me. Jonah wasn’t demanding to watch Wonder Pets and played politely with his toys, meaning I could pay attention to what was on. In an even more bizarre turn, Jonah decided at 8:30 that it was time for him to go to bed, and grabbed Rachel by the hand and led her into the guest bedroom where they cuddled up and fell asleep, leaving me some serious alone time with the television.
First, I watched V. I wasn’t planning on watching it, but it was on and nothing else really sounded appealing. Had there been a World Series game last night, I’d have watched that. Lucky you, V. Turns out it was really good. There’s nothing like going into something expecting to hate it and it turns out that you enjoy it. My favorite example of this is that I was adamantly against trying Panda Express for the first 20 years of my life. I saw no appeal in Chinese food, so why would Chinese fast food be good? Turns out that Orange Chicken is amazing, and it’s now one of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat when on the go.
After V got over, I watched the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Len Bias. The thing I like about this series ESPN is running is that these are stories I know about, but am not familiar with. I knew Len Bias had died of a drug overdose in the days following his being drafted by the Celtics, but I didn’t know it was with his teammates in a college dorm room. I didn’t realize how good he was at basketball, and how much he meant to the people of Washington DC.
Really, the whole hour I was upset. I came to find out that Len’s brother was murdered a few years later. His parents are good people. They weren’t absentee parents. Len was a good kid. He made a mistake and it cost him his life, a life that was just about to become uber- successful. I couldn’t figure out why this story about a guy who died 25 years ago was so upsetting to me.
When it ended, I got up and went into the guest bedroom to wake Rachel up and transfer Jonah to his bed. That’s when it hit me why the Len Bias story was so upsetting to me. As soon as I picked up my son, I realized why, 25 years later, Len Bias’ father was still so tortured by what had happened. He’d been a good parent, but he couldn’t protect his sons.
Growing up, we hear all the jokes from our parents about how once we turn 18 we’re on our own and they get to relax. As a parent, you do have to let go of the reins at some point. You have to trust that you’ve done all you could to teach right from wrong and good from bad. When something like that happens, it has to make you question every parenting decision you made. Were you tough enough on him? Did you push too hard? Was it something I did? I felt so awful for Mr. Bias.
I held Jonah for a few minutes in his room in the dark before putting him to bed last night, realizing – maybe for the very first time – that every day, every smile, every hug I share with him is truly a gift.
First, I watched V. I wasn’t planning on watching it, but it was on and nothing else really sounded appealing. Had there been a World Series game last night, I’d have watched that. Lucky you, V. Turns out it was really good. There’s nothing like going into something expecting to hate it and it turns out that you enjoy it. My favorite example of this is that I was adamantly against trying Panda Express for the first 20 years of my life. I saw no appeal in Chinese food, so why would Chinese fast food be good? Turns out that Orange Chicken is amazing, and it’s now one of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat when on the go.
After V got over, I watched the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Len Bias. The thing I like about this series ESPN is running is that these are stories I know about, but am not familiar with. I knew Len Bias had died of a drug overdose in the days following his being drafted by the Celtics, but I didn’t know it was with his teammates in a college dorm room. I didn’t realize how good he was at basketball, and how much he meant to the people of Washington DC.
Really, the whole hour I was upset. I came to find out that Len’s brother was murdered a few years later. His parents are good people. They weren’t absentee parents. Len was a good kid. He made a mistake and it cost him his life, a life that was just about to become uber- successful. I couldn’t figure out why this story about a guy who died 25 years ago was so upsetting to me.
When it ended, I got up and went into the guest bedroom to wake Rachel up and transfer Jonah to his bed. That’s when it hit me why the Len Bias story was so upsetting to me. As soon as I picked up my son, I realized why, 25 years later, Len Bias’ father was still so tortured by what had happened. He’d been a good parent, but he couldn’t protect his sons.
Growing up, we hear all the jokes from our parents about how once we turn 18 we’re on our own and they get to relax. As a parent, you do have to let go of the reins at some point. You have to trust that you’ve done all you could to teach right from wrong and good from bad. When something like that happens, it has to make you question every parenting decision you made. Were you tough enough on him? Did you push too hard? Was it something I did? I felt so awful for Mr. Bias.
I held Jonah for a few minutes in his room in the dark before putting him to bed last night, realizing – maybe for the very first time – that every day, every smile, every hug I share with him is truly a gift.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The People vs. DirecTV
When Rachel gave me the go ahead some 20 month ago to make the switch from Comcast to DirecTV, I don't think I'd ever been as excited to give my money to a company. I'd never been a satellite guy. Always kind of scared of it, yet drawn to it. I sort of understood the bug's desire to get as close to the zapper as possible. So we made the switch, and I was convinced, for the time being, that this was the greatest thing we'd ever done. I was getting way more sports programming. I would be able to see Friday Night Lights commercial free! 1080p programming! Who cares if I didn't even know what 1080p programming was at the time, I had it! I lived in this utopian TV universe for over a year. Then the honeymoon stage ended with a thud.
Remember in college when you met someone at a bar or party, and you were so distracted by the fact that they looked really good in a pair of leather pants and looked you in the eye while mouthing the words to Nelly’s “Hot in Herrre” that you completely ignore the fact that they’ve downed 3 pitchers singlehandedly and tells you constantly that they had a “strictly sexual” relationship with their ex? That was me with DirecTV. I was dazzled by the programming that I ignored the fact that their “on demand” content was almost exclusively pay-to-view” and that “on demand” was a complete bastardization of the term. By on demand, they meant you could download it whenever you wanted, but be prepared to wait 3 hours while it downloads before viewing. I also learned that no television stations air shows in 1080p as of yet, but you could download 1080p movies for roughly $6. Just be prepared to order said movie a day in advance, because it will take that long to download. Also, my channel lineup changed without notice. I was willing to shrug this off because I got the Big Ten Network and MLB in HD, while my friends with Comcast were stuck with their lame Comcast SportsNet. Suckers.
The major honeymoon killer came a few weeks ago, when I received a letter telling me that I was being “reassigned” to the Eugene market, and my local channels would be changing from Portland feeds to Eugene feeds. Not a big deal, but the very last line in the letter stood out like the guy who didn’t get the memo that it wasn’t a costume party: DIRECTV DOES NOT CURRENTLY OFFER LOCAL CHANNELS IN HIGH DEFINITION IN THE EUGENE MARKET.
Really? These channels are available over the air in HD, but you can’t offer them through your satellite service? When I inquired about this via email, I was told that they were in negotiations with the Eugene affiliates to provide HD service, but that the affiliates were currently demanding too much money from DirecTV, which they of course didn’t want to have to pass on to my bill. Very noble of them. Although I noticed that this was the same reasoning they had for why they didn’t carry Comcast channels such as Versus. Is everyone out to gouge DirecTV? I had my doubts. Then I found out I could still receive my local channels in HD…..if I purchase some sort of piece of equipment from DirecTV for $50. So they could spread out the cost of this rate increase over everyone in the area and add $1 to my bill a month…..OR CHARGE ME $50 RIGHT NOW? That was the deal breaker for Rachel. She’s ready to head back to Comcast because she’s disenchanted with Qwest’s internet service, for which I can’t really blame her.
Now I’m having an issue with my DirecTV box. I come home from work, the picture is choppy, almost like when you’re watching a video on a computer that doesn’t have enough processing power to display the video smoothly. Thinking it was the signal, I reset the box. Success! Then it happened again the next day. And the next. And – well you get the point. After about six days of this, I looked online in DirecTV’s handy “troubleshooting” forums and found out multiple people are having this problem. So I called DirecTV. The girl was really nice (for once I have nothing bad to say about a company’s customer service rep) but she had me go through the process of resetting my box, even though I told her that alleviated the problem temporarily and I’d just be calling back the next day. So she had me check the cables to see if any of them are loose. While I’m behind the TV checking cables, I all of sudden hear Jonah saying “Hi!” I turn around and Jonah’s chatting on the phone with the customer service rep, who he thinks is his mom. Kind of embarrassing for me, yet funny at the same time. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to call them back tonight.
So now the dilemma is this….if they have to come replace my box, it’s going to cost me at least $50. So do I stick with them, or make the switch back to Comcast and take advantage of a new customer deal? Or do I just threaten to leave, and sort of force DirecTV to give me a free box and the hook up thingy to get local channels in HD? I think if I threaten to leave, I better be fully prepared to actually leave if they call me on it. Anyone else in this situation, or gone through it before that can offer me some advice?
Remember in college when you met someone at a bar or party, and you were so distracted by the fact that they looked really good in a pair of leather pants and looked you in the eye while mouthing the words to Nelly’s “Hot in Herrre” that you completely ignore the fact that they’ve downed 3 pitchers singlehandedly and tells you constantly that they had a “strictly sexual” relationship with their ex? That was me with DirecTV. I was dazzled by the programming that I ignored the fact that their “on demand” content was almost exclusively pay-to-view” and that “on demand” was a complete bastardization of the term. By on demand, they meant you could download it whenever you wanted, but be prepared to wait 3 hours while it downloads before viewing. I also learned that no television stations air shows in 1080p as of yet, but you could download 1080p movies for roughly $6. Just be prepared to order said movie a day in advance, because it will take that long to download. Also, my channel lineup changed without notice. I was willing to shrug this off because I got the Big Ten Network and MLB in HD, while my friends with Comcast were stuck with their lame Comcast SportsNet. Suckers.
The major honeymoon killer came a few weeks ago, when I received a letter telling me that I was being “reassigned” to the Eugene market, and my local channels would be changing from Portland feeds to Eugene feeds. Not a big deal, but the very last line in the letter stood out like the guy who didn’t get the memo that it wasn’t a costume party: DIRECTV DOES NOT CURRENTLY OFFER LOCAL CHANNELS IN HIGH DEFINITION IN THE EUGENE MARKET.
Really? These channels are available over the air in HD, but you can’t offer them through your satellite service? When I inquired about this via email, I was told that they were in negotiations with the Eugene affiliates to provide HD service, but that the affiliates were currently demanding too much money from DirecTV, which they of course didn’t want to have to pass on to my bill. Very noble of them. Although I noticed that this was the same reasoning they had for why they didn’t carry Comcast channels such as Versus. Is everyone out to gouge DirecTV? I had my doubts. Then I found out I could still receive my local channels in HD…..if I purchase some sort of piece of equipment from DirecTV for $50. So they could spread out the cost of this rate increase over everyone in the area and add $1 to my bill a month…..OR CHARGE ME $50 RIGHT NOW? That was the deal breaker for Rachel. She’s ready to head back to Comcast because she’s disenchanted with Qwest’s internet service, for which I can’t really blame her.
Now I’m having an issue with my DirecTV box. I come home from work, the picture is choppy, almost like when you’re watching a video on a computer that doesn’t have enough processing power to display the video smoothly. Thinking it was the signal, I reset the box. Success! Then it happened again the next day. And the next. And – well you get the point. After about six days of this, I looked online in DirecTV’s handy “troubleshooting” forums and found out multiple people are having this problem. So I called DirecTV. The girl was really nice (for once I have nothing bad to say about a company’s customer service rep) but she had me go through the process of resetting my box, even though I told her that alleviated the problem temporarily and I’d just be calling back the next day. So she had me check the cables to see if any of them are loose. While I’m behind the TV checking cables, I all of sudden hear Jonah saying “Hi!” I turn around and Jonah’s chatting on the phone with the customer service rep, who he thinks is his mom. Kind of embarrassing for me, yet funny at the same time. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to call them back tonight.
So now the dilemma is this….if they have to come replace my box, it’s going to cost me at least $50. So do I stick with them, or make the switch back to Comcast and take advantage of a new customer deal? Or do I just threaten to leave, and sort of force DirecTV to give me a free box and the hook up thingy to get local channels in HD? I think if I threaten to leave, I better be fully prepared to actually leave if they call me on it. Anyone else in this situation, or gone through it before that can offer me some advice?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Trip to the Dentist
The other day I had my semi-annual checkup at the dentist. About two years ago, I decided it was time to actually see a dentist after avoiding one for much of my twenties. So I started going, and I loved it! The hygenists were great, very friendly and not judgemental of the fact that I don't floss or do anything other than brush my teeth really. The dentist isn't like any dentist I've ever had. He looks less like a dentist than he does the lead singer for a hard rock band. It's a great time there.
Well a few months back, I went to Vegas. My first night there, I find myself at McDonalds at 3 in the morning. Who should walk up behind me and grab my elbow but Mr. Hard Rock himself. "As it was 3 AM and I was a little foggy, I said the first thing that popped into my head: "Dude, you're my dentist!"
"You dang right I am! Hey, you never saw me here alright? What happens in Vegas stays here, ok? Bet you never thought you'd run into your dentist stoned at 3 am at a McDonalds!"
Umm.....I'm still not sure if he was talking about me being stoned or him, but it was a little awkward. The next night at the football game I feel a familiar tug at my elbow..."remember dude, you never saw me!" This would be easier of course, if he stopped ambushing me everywhere I went. This again happened the next week at a home game against Cincinnati.
Needless to say, I was seeing my dentist in a whole new light. So I was more than a little excited for my dental appointment this week. Would he acknowledge the meetings we'd had, or would he go the professional route and pretend it never happened? Perhaps he'd give me a knowing head bob and a discreet fist bump.
As I sit in the chair bubbling over with anticipation, I'm met by the silent hygenist. I didn't know these existed. I thought it was a job requirement for a hygenist to be overly friendly and chatty. After all, they have to keep up both sides of the conversation because you have sharp metal objects in your mouth. This lady said not one word the entire time she was cleaning my teeth. I had to entertain myself by watching a spider work on a web in the corner of the room. She gets done, and she says "you had A LOT of plaque. You're going to feel like you got punched in the mouth this afternoon. I'll go get the doctor." A few moments later she returns to try and pitch me on some overpriced electric toothbrush. I'm absolutely sure that it's required of her to peddle this toothbrush. Otherwise, she'd have said nothing.
Finally, the Doc arrives! The conversation when like this:
Doc: Andy my man, how are you? Wasn't that Stanford game awesome?! Great day, team played awesome....just great man.
Me: Yep...hope they play like that this weekend.
Doc (To hygenist): I know what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay there, but you know who I ran into at McDonalds at 3am? Andy! Crazy right?"
Hygenist: Crazy! (then she laughed awkwardly and left)
Doc: Dang right!
He then poked 3 of my teeth, takes off his gloves and says "You look great man...see you in six months!" and left.
Really? Did that just happen?
Well a few months back, I went to Vegas. My first night there, I find myself at McDonalds at 3 in the morning. Who should walk up behind me and grab my elbow but Mr. Hard Rock himself. "As it was 3 AM and I was a little foggy, I said the first thing that popped into my head: "Dude, you're my dentist!"
"You dang right I am! Hey, you never saw me here alright? What happens in Vegas stays here, ok? Bet you never thought you'd run into your dentist stoned at 3 am at a McDonalds!"
Umm.....I'm still not sure if he was talking about me being stoned or him, but it was a little awkward. The next night at the football game I feel a familiar tug at my elbow..."remember dude, you never saw me!" This would be easier of course, if he stopped ambushing me everywhere I went. This again happened the next week at a home game against Cincinnati.
Needless to say, I was seeing my dentist in a whole new light. So I was more than a little excited for my dental appointment this week. Would he acknowledge the meetings we'd had, or would he go the professional route and pretend it never happened? Perhaps he'd give me a knowing head bob and a discreet fist bump.
As I sit in the chair bubbling over with anticipation, I'm met by the silent hygenist. I didn't know these existed. I thought it was a job requirement for a hygenist to be overly friendly and chatty. After all, they have to keep up both sides of the conversation because you have sharp metal objects in your mouth. This lady said not one word the entire time she was cleaning my teeth. I had to entertain myself by watching a spider work on a web in the corner of the room. She gets done, and she says "you had A LOT of plaque. You're going to feel like you got punched in the mouth this afternoon. I'll go get the doctor." A few moments later she returns to try and pitch me on some overpriced electric toothbrush. I'm absolutely sure that it's required of her to peddle this toothbrush. Otherwise, she'd have said nothing.
Finally, the Doc arrives! The conversation when like this:
Doc: Andy my man, how are you? Wasn't that Stanford game awesome?! Great day, team played awesome....just great man.
Me: Yep...hope they play like that this weekend.
Doc (To hygenist): I know what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay there, but you know who I ran into at McDonalds at 3am? Andy! Crazy right?"
Hygenist: Crazy! (then she laughed awkwardly and left)
Doc: Dang right!
He then poked 3 of my teeth, takes off his gloves and says "You look great man...see you in six months!" and left.
Really? Did that just happen?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Columbus Day Survey
In keeping with the "honest" theme of this note, I must disclose that I will not be tagging anyone. You all get a little ditty telling you I did this, and you can choose to do it if you want to.
Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me!
To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours.
1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
Hershey's Special Dark. God Bless the candy jars littered around this office
2.Where was your profile picture taken?
Heavenly Harvest Farms on Highway 20. A little pumpkin patch action.
3.Can you play Guitar Hero?
Not as well as some people....I don't own the game. I will never forget the first weekend I played it. A solid 48 hours of having my mind blown by the allure of a game involving a guitar and a genre of music I usually avoid.
4.Name someone who made you laugh today?
As usual, Jonah....who refused to get out of bed until I offered him a banana.
5.How late did you stay up last night and why?
I think it was around 9:30 that I tapped out.....weekends involving home OSU football games tend to take it out of me....I think I get too emotional.
6.If you could move somewhere else, would you?
If we could sell our house for more than we paid for it, sure. I'm pretty done with Albany.
7.Which of your FB friends lives closest to you?
Hmmm....probably one of my co-workers...though I don't know exactly where any of them live. There's a few in North Albany.
9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?
I think I'm facebook friends with most of my exes, but do I hang out with them? Nope. Would I hang out with them? Sure, they're all good people.
10. How do you feel about mountain dew?
I feel it had a good run, but have you seen a commercial for it lately? Me neither. Never really cared for the stuff myself.
11. When was the last time you cried really hard?
Probably in the days after Jonah was born. I was pretty tired and emotional, plus my grandpa died a few weeks later.
12. Who took your profile picture?
Mrs. Lasselle. I think that's actually the first time I've ever written that. It looks weird. Rachel took the picture.
13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Jonah and Rachel playing around in the hay at the pumpkin patch.
14. Was yesterday better than today?
So much so, I laughed when I read this. Yesterday I spent at the park with my son and wife....today I'm spending it at my desk at work with nothing to do thanks to a holiday for a guy that basically sailed to this continent on accident.
15. Can you live a day without TV?
Yes, but why would I? There's time to go outside and there's time to stay in and watch a good show or game. Everything in moderation, right?
16. Are you upset about anything?
Really just with this holiday thing. I mean really, either everyone observes it or no one.
17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
Wow.....some very sad, lonely person wrote this question. Of course they are. Every single one is worth it - for the experiences, the lessons learned, the companionship.....I want to give whoever wrote this question a hug and say "you matter, little man/woman."
18. Are you a bad influence?
When I want to be. I give off a "good influence" kinda vibe, so I can easily steer people in the wrong direction because of my trustworthiness. Makes me sound like kind of a dick, doesn't it?
19. Night out or night in?
In. It's free and you can wear sweatpants. If I were single, I'd probably say out, but I'm not. So in it is.
20. What items could you not go without during the day?
Food and talking. I like interaction.
21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
My grandpa.....glad I did, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have got to say goodbye.
22. What does the last text message in your inbox say.
"Great call we beat the rush. Thanks man." See? I'm a good dude!
23. How do you feel about your life right now?
I'd say I'm about 88% satisfied. A little less stress, a little more money and I'd be 100%
24. Do you hate anyone?
Lance Armstrong and extremists. That's about it.
25. If we were to look in your facebook inbox, what would we find?
Nothing exciting. A few "hey how are you! Good to hear from you" emails and that's about it.
26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?
Yep. Unless they're testing for caffeine.
27. Has anyone called you perfect before?
If they did, they were lying.
28. What song is stuck in your head?
Indian Flute by Timbaland and Magoo....ooh dada dooo da da dooo do do.
If someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
Whoever took over for Ed McMahon with the publishers clearing house. Anyone else either has bad news or a gun, and those people suck.
30.Wanna have grand kids by the time your 50?
That would mean Jonah's a dad by 20. I think I'd rather wait 'til 55 at least.
31. What do you have to do tomorrow?
Open all the mail that didn't come today. Can you feel the excitement?
32. Do you think too much or too little?
I think too much about what to say on these things and too little about what I can do to help around the house.
33. Do you smile a lot?
Yep. It's more fun than frowning.
34. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
Yep.....one of the first memorable dates Rachel and I had.
35. How do you feel about Dr. Pepper?
I like the 23 flavors.
36. How many hours a day do you spend on the computer?
About 9...one at home and 8 at work.
37. Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook. I've tweeted once. I wasn't impressed.
38. Chicken or Beef?
Both?
39. Have you ever punched anyone in the face?
Yep....sprained a finger. Sorry Grant.
40. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Yep......thanks Grant.
41. Bacon or a bagel?
Both?
Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me!
To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours.
1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
Hershey's Special Dark. God Bless the candy jars littered around this office
2.Where was your profile picture taken?
Heavenly Harvest Farms on Highway 20. A little pumpkin patch action.
3.Can you play Guitar Hero?
Not as well as some people....I don't own the game. I will never forget the first weekend I played it. A solid 48 hours of having my mind blown by the allure of a game involving a guitar and a genre of music I usually avoid.
4.Name someone who made you laugh today?
As usual, Jonah....who refused to get out of bed until I offered him a banana.
5.How late did you stay up last night and why?
I think it was around 9:30 that I tapped out.....weekends involving home OSU football games tend to take it out of me....I think I get too emotional.
6.If you could move somewhere else, would you?
If we could sell our house for more than we paid for it, sure. I'm pretty done with Albany.
7.Which of your FB friends lives closest to you?
Hmmm....probably one of my co-workers...though I don't know exactly where any of them live. There's a few in North Albany.
9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?
I think I'm facebook friends with most of my exes, but do I hang out with them? Nope. Would I hang out with them? Sure, they're all good people.
10. How do you feel about mountain dew?
I feel it had a good run, but have you seen a commercial for it lately? Me neither. Never really cared for the stuff myself.
11. When was the last time you cried really hard?
Probably in the days after Jonah was born. I was pretty tired and emotional, plus my grandpa died a few weeks later.
12. Who took your profile picture?
Mrs. Lasselle. I think that's actually the first time I've ever written that. It looks weird. Rachel took the picture.
13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Jonah and Rachel playing around in the hay at the pumpkin patch.
14. Was yesterday better than today?
So much so, I laughed when I read this. Yesterday I spent at the park with my son and wife....today I'm spending it at my desk at work with nothing to do thanks to a holiday for a guy that basically sailed to this continent on accident.
15. Can you live a day without TV?
Yes, but why would I? There's time to go outside and there's time to stay in and watch a good show or game. Everything in moderation, right?
16. Are you upset about anything?
Really just with this holiday thing. I mean really, either everyone observes it or no one.
17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
Wow.....some very sad, lonely person wrote this question. Of course they are. Every single one is worth it - for the experiences, the lessons learned, the companionship.....I want to give whoever wrote this question a hug and say "you matter, little man/woman."
18. Are you a bad influence?
When I want to be. I give off a "good influence" kinda vibe, so I can easily steer people in the wrong direction because of my trustworthiness. Makes me sound like kind of a dick, doesn't it?
19. Night out or night in?
In. It's free and you can wear sweatpants. If I were single, I'd probably say out, but I'm not. So in it is.
20. What items could you not go without during the day?
Food and talking. I like interaction.
21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
My grandpa.....glad I did, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have got to say goodbye.
22. What does the last text message in your inbox say.
"Great call we beat the rush. Thanks man." See? I'm a good dude!
23. How do you feel about your life right now?
I'd say I'm about 88% satisfied. A little less stress, a little more money and I'd be 100%
24. Do you hate anyone?
Lance Armstrong and extremists. That's about it.
25. If we were to look in your facebook inbox, what would we find?
Nothing exciting. A few "hey how are you! Good to hear from you" emails and that's about it.
26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?
Yep. Unless they're testing for caffeine.
27. Has anyone called you perfect before?
If they did, they were lying.
28. What song is stuck in your head?
Indian Flute by Timbaland and Magoo....ooh dada dooo da da dooo do do.
If someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
Whoever took over for Ed McMahon with the publishers clearing house. Anyone else either has bad news or a gun, and those people suck.
30.Wanna have grand kids by the time your 50?
That would mean Jonah's a dad by 20. I think I'd rather wait 'til 55 at least.
31. What do you have to do tomorrow?
Open all the mail that didn't come today. Can you feel the excitement?
32. Do you think too much or too little?
I think too much about what to say on these things and too little about what I can do to help around the house.
33. Do you smile a lot?
Yep. It's more fun than frowning.
34. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
Yep.....one of the first memorable dates Rachel and I had.
35. How do you feel about Dr. Pepper?
I like the 23 flavors.
36. How many hours a day do you spend on the computer?
About 9...one at home and 8 at work.
37. Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook. I've tweeted once. I wasn't impressed.
38. Chicken or Beef?
Both?
39. Have you ever punched anyone in the face?
Yep....sprained a finger. Sorry Grant.
40. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Yep......thanks Grant.
41. Bacon or a bagel?
Both?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The defriending of Andy Lasselle
I've been de-friended!
Today I was flipping through facebook and decided to check up on a "friend" of mine that I hadn't thought about in a while. We were friends at one point on Facebook, I distinctly remember a few messages sent between us when one of us added the other (I forget who added who). Much to my surprise, we were no longer digital friends.
The whole idea of someone being a friend on facebook is a fluid situation. Some of my "friends" are people I haven't seen in twenty years. Some of them are people who remembered me but I only have a vague recollection of them, or in some cases don't remember them at all. At this point, if someone wants to be my friend, I see no reason not to be theirs (with a very few exceptions). I'm friends with people I've met only once and may very well never see again.
There's been times that I've thought "you know, I don't really have any contact with this person, other than seeing their status updates....do I really need to be friends with them?" The answer I keep coming back to is "yes." What if sometime I'm snowed in at an airport where I don't know anyone except for a facebook friend that lives in the area? While I'd never directly call someone and ask them to do me a favor as big as that, if I posted a status update saying "snowed in at the Denver airport," perhaps one of my FB friends would see it and give me a call asking if I needed a place to crash. There's no downside to being connected.
So now I'm wondering why I was de-friended. I'm trying not to take it personally, but it does bruise the ego just a little bit. I like to consider myself a nice, friendly guy (as we all do), so when someone says "I no longer want to have contact with you" it stings the ego a little bit, no matter how infrequent or impersonal that contact has been. Was it something I did? Was it something I didn't do? Should I have commented on something I didn't? Did I not send a birthday message? Or did I comment on something on a mutal friend's page that upset someone else? I don't know. Or did this person simply change their mind and say "I shouldn't have added him as a friend in the first place." I should make it clear that I'm not mad or upset that I was defriended...it's your life and your page to do with it what you want....I'm just more curious as to the decision making process that led to my deletion. I think I've only defriended one person ever, and that person was dishonest in her relationship with a friend of mine. I think I've only denied or ignored one friend request as well.
Perhaps it simply comes down to FB friend philosophy. I tend to want to be friends with the people I have the least contact with....the people that I may otherwise never be able to contact if the need or desire to do so arose. Being friends with my wife, or brother, or coworkers....it's nice to acknowledge the relationship, but I don't really gain anything from these updates that I don't get at home, or on the phone. Now, if a person I went to elementary school with takes a trip to australia and posts some pictures.....that's something I wouldn't ever get to see if I wasn't friends with them...I'd completely miss out on seeing some amazing pictures. Or say circumstances lead me to move to a new city, and the only person I know there is someone I had a biology class with freshman year of high school that just so happens to be a realtor. I might just send that person an email asking if they could help me out. I've even used facebook to get a dental referral...see what I'm saying?
So I'm here to say that if you're my friend on facebook now, you'll be my friend on facebook until the site starts charging a fee, goes offline, or I decide that I'm too old to do this stuff anymore and delete my account. Until then.....you've got a friend in me.
Today I was flipping through facebook and decided to check up on a "friend" of mine that I hadn't thought about in a while. We were friends at one point on Facebook, I distinctly remember a few messages sent between us when one of us added the other (I forget who added who). Much to my surprise, we were no longer digital friends.
The whole idea of someone being a friend on facebook is a fluid situation. Some of my "friends" are people I haven't seen in twenty years. Some of them are people who remembered me but I only have a vague recollection of them, or in some cases don't remember them at all. At this point, if someone wants to be my friend, I see no reason not to be theirs (with a very few exceptions). I'm friends with people I've met only once and may very well never see again.
There's been times that I've thought "you know, I don't really have any contact with this person, other than seeing their status updates....do I really need to be friends with them?" The answer I keep coming back to is "yes." What if sometime I'm snowed in at an airport where I don't know anyone except for a facebook friend that lives in the area? While I'd never directly call someone and ask them to do me a favor as big as that, if I posted a status update saying "snowed in at the Denver airport," perhaps one of my FB friends would see it and give me a call asking if I needed a place to crash. There's no downside to being connected.
So now I'm wondering why I was de-friended. I'm trying not to take it personally, but it does bruise the ego just a little bit. I like to consider myself a nice, friendly guy (as we all do), so when someone says "I no longer want to have contact with you" it stings the ego a little bit, no matter how infrequent or impersonal that contact has been. Was it something I did? Was it something I didn't do? Should I have commented on something I didn't? Did I not send a birthday message? Or did I comment on something on a mutal friend's page that upset someone else? I don't know. Or did this person simply change their mind and say "I shouldn't have added him as a friend in the first place." I should make it clear that I'm not mad or upset that I was defriended...it's your life and your page to do with it what you want....I'm just more curious as to the decision making process that led to my deletion. I think I've only defriended one person ever, and that person was dishonest in her relationship with a friend of mine. I think I've only denied or ignored one friend request as well.
Perhaps it simply comes down to FB friend philosophy. I tend to want to be friends with the people I have the least contact with....the people that I may otherwise never be able to contact if the need or desire to do so arose. Being friends with my wife, or brother, or coworkers....it's nice to acknowledge the relationship, but I don't really gain anything from these updates that I don't get at home, or on the phone. Now, if a person I went to elementary school with takes a trip to australia and posts some pictures.....that's something I wouldn't ever get to see if I wasn't friends with them...I'd completely miss out on seeing some amazing pictures. Or say circumstances lead me to move to a new city, and the only person I know there is someone I had a biology class with freshman year of high school that just so happens to be a realtor. I might just send that person an email asking if they could help me out. I've even used facebook to get a dental referral...see what I'm saying?
So I'm here to say that if you're my friend on facebook now, you'll be my friend on facebook until the site starts charging a fee, goes offline, or I decide that I'm too old to do this stuff anymore and delete my account. Until then.....you've got a friend in me.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Welcome to facebook, mom?
My mom just joined Facebook. I can't decide if this makes me feel young or old. My initial reaction was "oh crap, I'm going to have to censor myself, and she's going to be able to keep tabs on me!" Then I remembered that I'm 30 freaking years old. Plus, just to let you in on a little secret, my mom swears too. Not very often, but every once in a while she'll let an expletive fly. Usually for something really insignificant, like burning the bag of popcorn in the microwave or something. She gets a speeding ticket and usually all it will elicit is a "shucks" or "darn."
Having not talked to mom yet about Facebook, I'm not sure what her intentions are. Is she using it to keep in touch with her kids? Is it a way to reconnect with old college buddies she hasn't seen in years? Is she using it to gather intel on an enemy or former acquaintance with whom she had a falling out? All of these questions will be answered.
Truth be told, this post is kind of a test for you, Mom. Are you Facebook savvy enough to find this note? Can you comment on it, or am I going to get a phone call (more likely a text message, her preferred means of communication since being Blackberried) asking me how to tag someone in a photo, or what it means to "like" something someone said? Are you going to ask me why you would poke someone?
Actually feel free to ask me that. I have no clue why you'd ever poke anyone. I've never been poked, nor done any poking. Has anyone? Is this something that 15 year old guys do to girls they like? Is it something you do to the person next to you when you're both on your mobile devices? I don't know. I don't care. It seems stupid to me. Anyways.....
Welcome to Facebook, Mom. I hope you find it as entertaining and informative as I do. Here's a few tips though:
Applications are largely a waste of time. Quizzes such as "which Friends character are you?" aren't really that insightful, nor are they accurate. Plus none of writers of these quizzes know how to spell, which makes me think they are some sort of scam.
Feel free to comment on anything on my page, but don't "like" everything. If you like the fact that I post something about Jonah saying his first complete sentence, it will be cheapened if you like that I post that I'm bored at work. I'm just sayin...
If you want to post old family photos, that's fine, but show a little restraint. Facebook is not the first girl I brought to the house back in high school - you don't need to break out the pic of me wearing a cowboy hat and nothing else on the rocking horse. Pictures of Grant like that are fine, however.
Perhaps the most important rule of social networking....don't post cryptic status updates. Don't say things like "Louise hopes everything turns out ok...." or "waiting for the answer to a big question." Fishing for comments is my biggest pet peeve on the social networking circuit, as well as just about everyone else.
You can still call. Don't let this be the only way you communicate.
No, Jonah doesn't have a facebook page.
That's about it. Happy facebooking, Mom!
Having not talked to mom yet about Facebook, I'm not sure what her intentions are. Is she using it to keep in touch with her kids? Is it a way to reconnect with old college buddies she hasn't seen in years? Is she using it to gather intel on an enemy or former acquaintance with whom she had a falling out? All of these questions will be answered.
Truth be told, this post is kind of a test for you, Mom. Are you Facebook savvy enough to find this note? Can you comment on it, or am I going to get a phone call (more likely a text message, her preferred means of communication since being Blackberried) asking me how to tag someone in a photo, or what it means to "like" something someone said? Are you going to ask me why you would poke someone?
Actually feel free to ask me that. I have no clue why you'd ever poke anyone. I've never been poked, nor done any poking. Has anyone? Is this something that 15 year old guys do to girls they like? Is it something you do to the person next to you when you're both on your mobile devices? I don't know. I don't care. It seems stupid to me. Anyways.....
Welcome to Facebook, Mom. I hope you find it as entertaining and informative as I do. Here's a few tips though:
Applications are largely a waste of time. Quizzes such as "which Friends character are you?" aren't really that insightful, nor are they accurate. Plus none of writers of these quizzes know how to spell, which makes me think they are some sort of scam.
Feel free to comment on anything on my page, but don't "like" everything. If you like the fact that I post something about Jonah saying his first complete sentence, it will be cheapened if you like that I post that I'm bored at work. I'm just sayin...
If you want to post old family photos, that's fine, but show a little restraint. Facebook is not the first girl I brought to the house back in high school - you don't need to break out the pic of me wearing a cowboy hat and nothing else on the rocking horse. Pictures of Grant like that are fine, however.
Perhaps the most important rule of social networking....don't post cryptic status updates. Don't say things like "Louise hopes everything turns out ok...." or "waiting for the answer to a big question." Fishing for comments is my biggest pet peeve on the social networking circuit, as well as just about everyone else.
You can still call. Don't let this be the only way you communicate.
No, Jonah doesn't have a facebook page.
That's about it. Happy facebooking, Mom!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Vegas Hangover
Last weekend was my first "real" trip to Vegas. I went once before, but it was a really bad day. In fact the day was so bad, I remember the exact date. Everyone does actually. It was September 11, 2001.
I had a really great time in Vegas. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, just the typical gambling, hanging by the pool, staying up way too late and getting up way too early. I ended up making enough money at blackjack and Wheel of Fortune nickel slot machines (which I'd highly recommend to anyone) to pay for all the food, drink, tips and taxi rides that I did while I was there. I'm pretty sure that I tested the limits of my body between the lack of sleep, secondhand smoke inhalation and unhealthy eating. I fully believe that if I'd stayed one day longer, I'd have started to break down and either got sick, or had a heart attack or seizure or something. So I was pretty happy to make it home in one piece on Sunday.
What I wasn't expecting was how much Vegas sticks with you once you're home. The tiny little jolts of adrenaline you get when you hit blackjack or get a "double spin" bonus on a slot machine are hard to replicate in a cubicle. I don't get the same feeling when my boss sends me an email asking me to do a "database clean-up project." It felt weird to go to bed before midnight (and even weirder to get up at 5:15.)
Actually, it almost feels the same as when I first played Grand Theft Auto III. The game was so unlike any game I'd played before. I would play for a few hours, and then go outside and have visions of just clubbing some stranger on the sidewalk for $20, or turning my car sideways on Monroe Avenue in front of a city bus, then pulling the driver out and slamming the bus into Clodfelters. Vegas had the same effect on me. It was strange to me that people in Corvallis didn't have margaritas so big they needed a shoulder strap to carry them. Nobody was wearing a tube top. The guys at work weren't slamming into the walls on the way out of the bathroom. I don't think I've seen a neon light yet, and I haven't had someone who doesn't speak English try to hand me a card with a naked girl and a phone number on it in three days. Why aren't these things happening? Vegas has slipped its seductive finger under my collar and is gently pulling me towards it.
Of course, I have to say no. I have to say no for the same reason I've never had a sip of alcohol and don't use painkillers. I'm scared of what'd happen if I start. I have an addictive personality. Once I say yes to dang near anything, I can't stop. I watch one episode of Friday Night Lights, I'm going to watch 8. I eat one potato chip, I'm eating the whole bag. I drink one Pepsi....well you all know what happens next. I always need someone to make me stop. Good thing I have to be accoutable to my wife and son. Were I single, I have no doubt I'd have lost a ton of money last weekend. I might've missed my flight trying to "chase the unicorn" as Grant so eloquently put it.
So stop tugging on my collar Vegas. Go find some other sucker to whisper sweet nothings to. I'm done with you. There's plenty of other people you can tempt. Maybe one day our paths will cross again, but it'll be on my terms. In other words, don't call me Vegas. I'll call you.
I had a really great time in Vegas. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, just the typical gambling, hanging by the pool, staying up way too late and getting up way too early. I ended up making enough money at blackjack and Wheel of Fortune nickel slot machines (which I'd highly recommend to anyone) to pay for all the food, drink, tips and taxi rides that I did while I was there. I'm pretty sure that I tested the limits of my body between the lack of sleep, secondhand smoke inhalation and unhealthy eating. I fully believe that if I'd stayed one day longer, I'd have started to break down and either got sick, or had a heart attack or seizure or something. So I was pretty happy to make it home in one piece on Sunday.
What I wasn't expecting was how much Vegas sticks with you once you're home. The tiny little jolts of adrenaline you get when you hit blackjack or get a "double spin" bonus on a slot machine are hard to replicate in a cubicle. I don't get the same feeling when my boss sends me an email asking me to do a "database clean-up project." It felt weird to go to bed before midnight (and even weirder to get up at 5:15.)
Actually, it almost feels the same as when I first played Grand Theft Auto III. The game was so unlike any game I'd played before. I would play for a few hours, and then go outside and have visions of just clubbing some stranger on the sidewalk for $20, or turning my car sideways on Monroe Avenue in front of a city bus, then pulling the driver out and slamming the bus into Clodfelters. Vegas had the same effect on me. It was strange to me that people in Corvallis didn't have margaritas so big they needed a shoulder strap to carry them. Nobody was wearing a tube top. The guys at work weren't slamming into the walls on the way out of the bathroom. I don't think I've seen a neon light yet, and I haven't had someone who doesn't speak English try to hand me a card with a naked girl and a phone number on it in three days. Why aren't these things happening? Vegas has slipped its seductive finger under my collar and is gently pulling me towards it.
Of course, I have to say no. I have to say no for the same reason I've never had a sip of alcohol and don't use painkillers. I'm scared of what'd happen if I start. I have an addictive personality. Once I say yes to dang near anything, I can't stop. I watch one episode of Friday Night Lights, I'm going to watch 8. I eat one potato chip, I'm eating the whole bag. I drink one Pepsi....well you all know what happens next. I always need someone to make me stop. Good thing I have to be accoutable to my wife and son. Were I single, I have no doubt I'd have lost a ton of money last weekend. I might've missed my flight trying to "chase the unicorn" as Grant so eloquently put it.
So stop tugging on my collar Vegas. Go find some other sucker to whisper sweet nothings to. I'm done with you. There's plenty of other people you can tempt. Maybe one day our paths will cross again, but it'll be on my terms. In other words, don't call me Vegas. I'll call you.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
My first run-in with the cops of this fine city was a disaster. I wrote about it two years ago, and I'll repost it at the bottom of this post for anyone who doesn't already know the story. It involves a neighbor, some allegedly stolen rocks, and a videotape. Good stuff.
Last night at 2:30 in the morning, my phone starts vibrating on the night stand next to me. I'm expecting it to be my good buddy Dave, who sometimes forgets that we're not in college anymore and gives me a call at odd hours on his way home from the bars. He'd already called me earlier (around 10:30) so I was a little confused. I look at the number and it's local and I don't recognize it. I figure it's a wrong number and put the phone back down. Then my phone gives the obnoxiously vI iolent shake that indicates a message has been left. While I'm checking the message, the call waiting beeps in. Same number! Now I'm panicking that it's the hospital and something's happened to someone in my family or something.
Here's the message: "Hi Andy, this is Officer So-and-So from the Albany Police Department. I'm sitting outside your house right now and your garage door is wide open. It's 2:30 in the morning, just thought you'd want to know. I'll wait a few seconds and call you back."
Really? This cop is driving around calling people whose garage doors are open? So I hang up the phone, and call him back. "Hi officer, I understand you're outside my house right now." "Yes sir, your garage is open." "Thank you for the heads up, I'll shut it right now." Sure enough, he's out there.
I don't know how many times we've left our garage open. Probably at least 20. Why this night the cop decides to track down my cell phone number and give me a call is beyond me. I can't figure out if I should be happy that this guy is trying to prevent crime before it happens, or pissed that he woke me up to lecture me on the safety of my weed whacker and golf clubs. I'd almost rather the cops were issued a universal garage door opener so they could just close them as they drove around neighborhoods. At least that wouldn't have woken me up on one of the hottest nights of the year and made it incredibly difficult for me to go back to sleep.
And now...the rock stealing story.
So last night Rachel and I are nice and comfy on the couch watching National Bingo Night. Yeah, we're that exciting on a Friday night. Around 9:30, there's a knock on our door. I get up and answer it, and to my surprise, there's an officer of the law there. He asks if he can come in and talk to us for a second. "About what?" I ask. He says he has some questions about some rocks. Rachel and I both thought that maybe he wanted to buy them, which would be great since we want to get rid of all the river rock in our backyard. Heck, we'd have given them to him for free. But no, that's not why he was there.
The people in the house behind us have accused us of stealing rock from them. Apparently we have about 4 or 5 pieces of shale in our backyard that look like some rock they have piled up in their yard. So they called the cops. The cop asks us how long we've lived there. I say "since July." He says "this July?" I say "yes." Immediately the cop gets a smile on his face and says "It's only May. How did you move in in July of this year?" Smartass. Obviously I did not move in two months into the future. Yet he seems to think that he caught me in some sort of a lie, because he makes a point to say "so you moved in in July of LAST year."
Once the time of our arrival on Riverbow Ave is established, the cop then asks us if we've ever been in our neighbor's yard. I say no. He says "well he claims he has videotape." Why this guy is videotaping his rock, I have no clue. So I say "wait, this guy says he has me on videotape stealing his rock?" to which the officer replies "well he says he has a videotape......why do you think you're on it?" I reply "I'm pretty sure he doesn't have me on videotape." Now the cop's all over me. "You're pretty sure? So you're saying there's a chance?" Now I'm starting to get annoyed, so I say "can you show me the rock in question?" So we go into the yard, and sure enough, there's some rock back there.....the same rocks that were there when we moved in. We try and explain this to the cop, who says again "have you ever been into your neighbor's yard." And I say again "no, I've never been over that fence." He says "Have any of your friend's ever been in his yard?" To which I say "not to my knowledge." He says "But your friend's could've been in his yard?" Apparently I'm supposed to know everything that everyone I know is doing at all times.
At this point the cop has pissed off Rachel who comes into the yard and says "that rock has been here since we moved in. He probably couldn't see it because there were weeds there which we just pulled last week. We don't want the rocks. If they are that important to him, we will give him the rocks. He can also take these rocks here, and this one there, and there's a few over here he can have too." At this point the cop decides he's had enough and says "thank you for your time."
I don't know what we did to piss our neighbors off, but I'm really starting to hate this place. It's a foregone conclusion now that we won't be living in Albany any longer than we have to. Stupid city.
Last night at 2:30 in the morning, my phone starts vibrating on the night stand next to me. I'm expecting it to be my good buddy Dave, who sometimes forgets that we're not in college anymore and gives me a call at odd hours on his way home from the bars. He'd already called me earlier (around 10:30) so I was a little confused. I look at the number and it's local and I don't recognize it. I figure it's a wrong number and put the phone back down. Then my phone gives the obnoxiously vI iolent shake that indicates a message has been left. While I'm checking the message, the call waiting beeps in. Same number! Now I'm panicking that it's the hospital and something's happened to someone in my family or something.
Here's the message: "Hi Andy, this is Officer So-and-So from the Albany Police Department. I'm sitting outside your house right now and your garage door is wide open. It's 2:30 in the morning, just thought you'd want to know. I'll wait a few seconds and call you back."
Really? This cop is driving around calling people whose garage doors are open? So I hang up the phone, and call him back. "Hi officer, I understand you're outside my house right now." "Yes sir, your garage is open." "Thank you for the heads up, I'll shut it right now." Sure enough, he's out there.
I don't know how many times we've left our garage open. Probably at least 20. Why this night the cop decides to track down my cell phone number and give me a call is beyond me. I can't figure out if I should be happy that this guy is trying to prevent crime before it happens, or pissed that he woke me up to lecture me on the safety of my weed whacker and golf clubs. I'd almost rather the cops were issued a universal garage door opener so they could just close them as they drove around neighborhoods. At least that wouldn't have woken me up on one of the hottest nights of the year and made it incredibly difficult for me to go back to sleep.
And now...the rock stealing story.
So last night Rachel and I are nice and comfy on the couch watching National Bingo Night. Yeah, we're that exciting on a Friday night. Around 9:30, there's a knock on our door. I get up and answer it, and to my surprise, there's an officer of the law there. He asks if he can come in and talk to us for a second. "About what?" I ask. He says he has some questions about some rocks. Rachel and I both thought that maybe he wanted to buy them, which would be great since we want to get rid of all the river rock in our backyard. Heck, we'd have given them to him for free. But no, that's not why he was there.
The people in the house behind us have accused us of stealing rock from them. Apparently we have about 4 or 5 pieces of shale in our backyard that look like some rock they have piled up in their yard. So they called the cops. The cop asks us how long we've lived there. I say "since July." He says "this July?" I say "yes." Immediately the cop gets a smile on his face and says "It's only May. How did you move in in July of this year?" Smartass. Obviously I did not move in two months into the future. Yet he seems to think that he caught me in some sort of a lie, because he makes a point to say "so you moved in in July of LAST year."
Once the time of our arrival on Riverbow Ave is established, the cop then asks us if we've ever been in our neighbor's yard. I say no. He says "well he claims he has videotape." Why this guy is videotaping his rock, I have no clue. So I say "wait, this guy says he has me on videotape stealing his rock?" to which the officer replies "well he says he has a videotape......why do you think you're on it?" I reply "I'm pretty sure he doesn't have me on videotape." Now the cop's all over me. "You're pretty sure? So you're saying there's a chance?" Now I'm starting to get annoyed, so I say "can you show me the rock in question?" So we go into the yard, and sure enough, there's some rock back there.....the same rocks that were there when we moved in. We try and explain this to the cop, who says again "have you ever been into your neighbor's yard." And I say again "no, I've never been over that fence." He says "Have any of your friend's ever been in his yard?" To which I say "not to my knowledge." He says "But your friend's could've been in his yard?" Apparently I'm supposed to know everything that everyone I know is doing at all times.
At this point the cop has pissed off Rachel who comes into the yard and says "that rock has been here since we moved in. He probably couldn't see it because there were weeds there which we just pulled last week. We don't want the rocks. If they are that important to him, we will give him the rocks. He can also take these rocks here, and this one there, and there's a few over here he can have too." At this point the cop decides he's had enough and says "thank you for your time."
I don't know what we did to piss our neighbors off, but I'm really starting to hate this place. It's a foregone conclusion now that we won't be living in Albany any longer than we have to. Stupid city.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
More Tales from the Park
In my last blog, I wrote about a negative experience at the park. So we went to a different park on Monday. This park was a much nicer park (better maintained, newer, better views, etc.) and I don’t know if that means nicer kids, but in this case it was true. Nicer parents too. All the parents were more involved with their children than their cell phones and/or cigarettes at this park. Although the day was not without incident.
The play structure there had a slide. Nothing special about this slide. One turn in it, about 6 feet of slide. Not exactly the kind of slide you can get up to Olympic bobsled type speeds where you have to worry about losing control. Jonah handled this slide with ease. I repeat, a 19 month old handled this slide with ease. A six year old girl, however, did not. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow she launched herself over the side of the slide and landed on the ground with a sickening thud. Granted, she was only about six feet off the ground, so there was no major injury, but it was pretty apparent this was the first time she’d ever had the wind knocked out of her. The reactions of everyone involved were awesome. The little girl has this terrified look on her face because she can’t breathe. Her older sister is rolling her eyes because little sis was embarrassing her. Dad is trying to figure out what happened and is trying to calm down his daughter, who is now breathing in very short, exaggerated gasps. Mom meanwhile seems more concerned with her daughter holding up the flow of playground traffic than with her daughter’s well-being, trying to usher everyone away from the bottom of the slide so other kids can continue to use it.
From the “kids say the darndest things” department, last night Jonah and I are swinging on the swings at our little neighborhood park. I’m pushing Jonah, and this little girl comes over and asks me how old Jonah is. Here’s the rest of our conversation:
Me: He’s about a year and a half old.
Little Girl: I’ll be five on my next birthday.
Me: Wow, when’s your birthday?
Girl: June.
Me: So you’ll be five soon. You’re birthday is coming up!
Girl: Yeah, but I don’t think my mom will make it.
Me: Oh yeah? Why won’t your mom be at your birthday?
Girl: She got arrested last night. (Note: I was unaware that kids could make the kinds of leading statements that goad you into engaging in a conversation you don’t really want to have. I thought this was something you develop over years and years of having people not be interested in what you have to say…apparently it’s ingrained from birth).
Me: Uh oh! That’s no good.
Girl: Yeah, she was driving without a license.
Me: Yep, that’ll happen.
Girl: Yep! (She said this like this wasn’t the first time her mom got arrested, which kind of scared me.)
Me: Ok, well I hope she makes it to your birthday.
Girl: Me too! Will you push me?
I gave her one push and then started muttering about how it was time to take Jonah home for dinner. Parks….never a dull moment!
The play structure there had a slide. Nothing special about this slide. One turn in it, about 6 feet of slide. Not exactly the kind of slide you can get up to Olympic bobsled type speeds where you have to worry about losing control. Jonah handled this slide with ease. I repeat, a 19 month old handled this slide with ease. A six year old girl, however, did not. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow she launched herself over the side of the slide and landed on the ground with a sickening thud. Granted, she was only about six feet off the ground, so there was no major injury, but it was pretty apparent this was the first time she’d ever had the wind knocked out of her. The reactions of everyone involved were awesome. The little girl has this terrified look on her face because she can’t breathe. Her older sister is rolling her eyes because little sis was embarrassing her. Dad is trying to figure out what happened and is trying to calm down his daughter, who is now breathing in very short, exaggerated gasps. Mom meanwhile seems more concerned with her daughter holding up the flow of playground traffic than with her daughter’s well-being, trying to usher everyone away from the bottom of the slide so other kids can continue to use it.
From the “kids say the darndest things” department, last night Jonah and I are swinging on the swings at our little neighborhood park. I’m pushing Jonah, and this little girl comes over and asks me how old Jonah is. Here’s the rest of our conversation:
Me: He’s about a year and a half old.
Little Girl: I’ll be five on my next birthday.
Me: Wow, when’s your birthday?
Girl: June.
Me: So you’ll be five soon. You’re birthday is coming up!
Girl: Yeah, but I don’t think my mom will make it.
Me: Oh yeah? Why won’t your mom be at your birthday?
Girl: She got arrested last night. (Note: I was unaware that kids could make the kinds of leading statements that goad you into engaging in a conversation you don’t really want to have. I thought this was something you develop over years and years of having people not be interested in what you have to say…apparently it’s ingrained from birth).
Me: Uh oh! That’s no good.
Girl: Yeah, she was driving without a license.
Me: Yep, that’ll happen.
Girl: Yep! (She said this like this wasn’t the first time her mom got arrested, which kind of scared me.)
Me: Ok, well I hope she makes it to your birthday.
Girl: Me too! Will you push me?
I gave her one push and then started muttering about how it was time to take Jonah home for dinner. Parks….never a dull moment!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Trip to the Park Gone Wrong
Yesterday, Rachel wanted to take Jonah to the park. We spent about half an hour researching parks with cool play structures for kids at the various parks in Albany before settling on Eleanor Hackleman Park. Off we go, armed with a picnic lunch and Jonah's favorite outdoor toy at the moment, a little tikes baseball set. This thing is a little advanced for an 18 month old...the bat's taller than Jonah and it actually pops the ball up so you can hit a moving pitch, but he loves the sound it makes and watching the balls pop up, so it serves its purpose.
At the park, there's a few kids playing on the swing set with their dad. All the kids are wearing cowboy boots. We start playing on the play structure with Jonah. One of the cowboy booted kids runs over and draws a line in the barkdust and says "you can't cross this line." I look over at the kid's dad, who is busy pushing four kids on the swings. Rachel just says "oops, looks like we just did," and continues walking Jonah over to the slide. Again the kid blocks our path. "This is my play structure, you can't use it," he says. This is the most stubborn four year old I've ever seen. He continues to harass us. Rachel tries to take a picture of Jonah, he gets between her and Jonah so she can't. He blocks the stairs, so I just lift Jonah onto the structure. He proceeds to knock my hat off with a stick.
There's another play structure there, so we head over to that one. There's a few other kids playing on it, so I figure this kid will get bored of harassing us and go after one of them. No luck. "You can't play here!" he says again. "Look kid," I say. "That girl just ran right behind you, why can she use it?" The kid looks at the girl and says "because she's family. She's one of us." I look around, and sure enough, every kid on the play structure is hispanic. "I think we've just been treated differently because of the color of our skin," I say to Rachel. Not wanting to get into some sort of racial talk with this kid or his dad, we just leave the play structure and go to play with the pitching machine.
Little did I know that this was not only Jonah's favorite toy, but apparently every other kid at the park too. As soon as I turned it on, three or four kids came running over, including the racist cowboy. "Can I have a turn?" he asks. I'm really not sure what to say at this point, but I say "Now why should we let you play with us when you wouldn't let us use the play structure?" He says "I'm sorry, you can play on it. Can I have a turn?" Meanwhile, Rachel's trying to keep another kid from getting to close to Jonah, who wields the bat sort of like a tomohawk and is liable to decapitate anyone who gets too close. This kid either can't understand Rachel, or doesn't listen, because he walks right up there. Jonah missed with the bat thankfully, but the kid took a whiffleball right to the face as he peered down the hole where the ball pops up. At that point I packed it up and took it back to the car, much to the dismay of Jonah, who was just starting to enjoy all the commotion. At this point cowboy's dad realizes his kid isn't by the swingset anymore and comes over and carts him off.
After that whole fiasco, it actually turned into a pretty nice day at the park, but from our first experience and stories I've heard from other parents about kids running around unsupervised while their parents smoke cigarettes, drink Double Big Gulps and text their friends, I'm not so sure I'm keen on making future public park visits.
At the park, there's a few kids playing on the swing set with their dad. All the kids are wearing cowboy boots. We start playing on the play structure with Jonah. One of the cowboy booted kids runs over and draws a line in the barkdust and says "you can't cross this line." I look over at the kid's dad, who is busy pushing four kids on the swings. Rachel just says "oops, looks like we just did," and continues walking Jonah over to the slide. Again the kid blocks our path. "This is my play structure, you can't use it," he says. This is the most stubborn four year old I've ever seen. He continues to harass us. Rachel tries to take a picture of Jonah, he gets between her and Jonah so she can't. He blocks the stairs, so I just lift Jonah onto the structure. He proceeds to knock my hat off with a stick.
There's another play structure there, so we head over to that one. There's a few other kids playing on it, so I figure this kid will get bored of harassing us and go after one of them. No luck. "You can't play here!" he says again. "Look kid," I say. "That girl just ran right behind you, why can she use it?" The kid looks at the girl and says "because she's family. She's one of us." I look around, and sure enough, every kid on the play structure is hispanic. "I think we've just been treated differently because of the color of our skin," I say to Rachel. Not wanting to get into some sort of racial talk with this kid or his dad, we just leave the play structure and go to play with the pitching machine.
Little did I know that this was not only Jonah's favorite toy, but apparently every other kid at the park too. As soon as I turned it on, three or four kids came running over, including the racist cowboy. "Can I have a turn?" he asks. I'm really not sure what to say at this point, but I say "Now why should we let you play with us when you wouldn't let us use the play structure?" He says "I'm sorry, you can play on it. Can I have a turn?" Meanwhile, Rachel's trying to keep another kid from getting to close to Jonah, who wields the bat sort of like a tomohawk and is liable to decapitate anyone who gets too close. This kid either can't understand Rachel, or doesn't listen, because he walks right up there. Jonah missed with the bat thankfully, but the kid took a whiffleball right to the face as he peered down the hole where the ball pops up. At that point I packed it up and took it back to the car, much to the dismay of Jonah, who was just starting to enjoy all the commotion. At this point cowboy's dad realizes his kid isn't by the swingset anymore and comes over and carts him off.
After that whole fiasco, it actually turned into a pretty nice day at the park, but from our first experience and stories I've heard from other parents about kids running around unsupervised while their parents smoke cigarettes, drink Double Big Gulps and text their friends, I'm not so sure I'm keen on making future public park visits.
Friday, May 8, 2009
More Things you Don't Need to Know
Things you really don't need to know about me. Share
1. Your ex is on the side of the road, on fire. What do you do?
I'd like to think that I'd grab the blanket in the backseat of my car and smother the flames, but really I don't know. Last week I thought there was a snake in our bed and I just jumped out and let Jonah sit there looking at me like I was crazy. Way to protect your son, Andy.
2. Your best friend tells you she is pregnant. What is your reaction?
I'd probably tell her congratulations and then start thinking about if Rachel and I are ready to go down that road again.
3. When is the last time you wanted to punch someone in their face?
See the last note I wrote....
4. What is the last thing you spent money on?
hamburger buns, milk, and bananas.
5. Who is the most attractive male on your facebook list?
Cazzey Cereghino, hands down. The man played Moses on the History Channel!
6. Do you think you gained or lost weight this past month?
I'd like to think that I've lost weight since I've started running more often, but I've also been eating more, so it's probably a toss up.
7. Crunchy or Puffy Cheetos?
Never had the crunchy ones.
8. A person on your facebook list just called you. What do you have to say to them?
Depends on the person. If it's Grant, I probably say, "No, I didn't watch the Laker game." If it's Dave, I probably say "you know you're not supposed to call between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am." If it's anyone else, I'm probably happy to hear from them.
9. What are you craving right now?
Food, but that's like a constant. From the moment I wake up til the moment I go to sleep, I'm almost constantly thinking about what's next on the menu.
11. When you buy something and your change is 2 cents, do you keep it or tell the cashier to keep it?
Keep it. Never know when you're going to buy something that costs $4.02.
12. What color is your tissue box?
Gray. It's boring, the way a tissue box should be.
13. Do you have a ceiling fan in your room, and if so, is there dust on that fan?
Absolutely there is dust on it. We got this fan that's controlled by a remote control only, and the remote doesn't work. I need to start working on that here pretty soon.
14. What is the last voice mail you received about?
Dad confirming that he was coming down on Saturday to help plant arbor vitae in the backyard. No more looking at the crazy neighbor that accused Rachel and I of stealing his rocks!
15. Have you blocked someone on Facebook before?
Not that I can remember. I've hidden a few people's posts, but not outright blocked anyone.
16. Scariest thing you've experienced in the last year?
Probably when that giant branch broke off a tree on highway 20 during a windstorm and just missed slamming into our car.
17. Do you wear a nametag at work?
Thankfully no, but I have a nameplate on the outside of my cubicle.
18. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?
Probably just a Pepsi...not a huge Taco Bell fan. Though I used to like those caesar crunch wraps or whatever they were called.
19. Have you ever had a garage sale?
Our neighborhood has a huge one every year. I think my Xbox has gone unbought for two straight years. Might have to lower the price again this year. $50 anyone?
20. What color is your iPod?
I don't own an iPod. But if I had one, it'd probably be orange or red.
21. What is the last alcoholic beverage you had?
Haven't had one. Ever.
22. Are you happy right now?
For the most part, yes. I'd be happier if my typing wasn't making the cord on the lamp jingle and I didn't have to leave for work in 20 minutes.
23. Who came over last?
My mom and grandma. We don't get a whole lot of non-family visitors around here. One of the drawbacks of living in Albany.
24. Do you drink beer?
See question 21.
25. What is your favorite key on your key chain?
Probably the one to the door to our garage. I don't think I've ever used it. It's shiny.
26. What was the last movie you watched at home?
X-Men II. I have Close Encounters of the Third Kind DVR'ed and a free preview of HBO this weekend, so that's about to change.
27. What is in your pocket?
My keys in the left, my cell phone in the right, and my wallet in the back right.
28. Where do you hurt?
My toes. They're not really loving the extra running I've been doing. Perhaps I shouldn't tell them about the 3.5 miles I'm planning on putting them through this afternoon.
29. Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear?
Ha. Yes I have. My aunt made Rachel and I make one right after we got engaged. He's a monkey wearing a baseball uniform, and he's got two hearts...one from each of us. His name is Wootie, and he's in Jonah's room now.
30. What's something fun you did today?
Well, it's 6:40 am, so filling out this thing is about the high point so far. I'm singing along to Sammy Kershaw's "Queen of my Double Wide Trailer" right now, so that's pretty fun too.
31. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart?
The garden area. It's about the only place you can escape the NASCAR influence.
32. When is your birthday?
August 8th. Last year, my birthday was 08-08-08. This year I turn 30. Talk about going from a high to a low.
33. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?
Nope. My wife does not tolerate clutter. Of any kind.
34. What kind of milk do you drink?
Non-fat.
35. What is something you need to go shopping for?
Arbor Vitae and quite possibly a new ceiling fan.
36. What is your favorite item at Costco?
Aidells pineapple teriyaki chicken meatballs. Amazing!
1. Your ex is on the side of the road, on fire. What do you do?
I'd like to think that I'd grab the blanket in the backseat of my car and smother the flames, but really I don't know. Last week I thought there was a snake in our bed and I just jumped out and let Jonah sit there looking at me like I was crazy. Way to protect your son, Andy.
2. Your best friend tells you she is pregnant. What is your reaction?
I'd probably tell her congratulations and then start thinking about if Rachel and I are ready to go down that road again.
3. When is the last time you wanted to punch someone in their face?
See the last note I wrote....
4. What is the last thing you spent money on?
hamburger buns, milk, and bananas.
5. Who is the most attractive male on your facebook list?
Cazzey Cereghino, hands down. The man played Moses on the History Channel!
6. Do you think you gained or lost weight this past month?
I'd like to think that I've lost weight since I've started running more often, but I've also been eating more, so it's probably a toss up.
7. Crunchy or Puffy Cheetos?
Never had the crunchy ones.
8. A person on your facebook list just called you. What do you have to say to them?
Depends on the person. If it's Grant, I probably say, "No, I didn't watch the Laker game." If it's Dave, I probably say "you know you're not supposed to call between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am." If it's anyone else, I'm probably happy to hear from them.
9. What are you craving right now?
Food, but that's like a constant. From the moment I wake up til the moment I go to sleep, I'm almost constantly thinking about what's next on the menu.
11. When you buy something and your change is 2 cents, do you keep it or tell the cashier to keep it?
Keep it. Never know when you're going to buy something that costs $4.02.
12. What color is your tissue box?
Gray. It's boring, the way a tissue box should be.
13. Do you have a ceiling fan in your room, and if so, is there dust on that fan?
Absolutely there is dust on it. We got this fan that's controlled by a remote control only, and the remote doesn't work. I need to start working on that here pretty soon.
14. What is the last voice mail you received about?
Dad confirming that he was coming down on Saturday to help plant arbor vitae in the backyard. No more looking at the crazy neighbor that accused Rachel and I of stealing his rocks!
15. Have you blocked someone on Facebook before?
Not that I can remember. I've hidden a few people's posts, but not outright blocked anyone.
16. Scariest thing you've experienced in the last year?
Probably when that giant branch broke off a tree on highway 20 during a windstorm and just missed slamming into our car.
17. Do you wear a nametag at work?
Thankfully no, but I have a nameplate on the outside of my cubicle.
18. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?
Probably just a Pepsi...not a huge Taco Bell fan. Though I used to like those caesar crunch wraps or whatever they were called.
19. Have you ever had a garage sale?
Our neighborhood has a huge one every year. I think my Xbox has gone unbought for two straight years. Might have to lower the price again this year. $50 anyone?
20. What color is your iPod?
I don't own an iPod. But if I had one, it'd probably be orange or red.
21. What is the last alcoholic beverage you had?
Haven't had one. Ever.
22. Are you happy right now?
For the most part, yes. I'd be happier if my typing wasn't making the cord on the lamp jingle and I didn't have to leave for work in 20 minutes.
23. Who came over last?
My mom and grandma. We don't get a whole lot of non-family visitors around here. One of the drawbacks of living in Albany.
24. Do you drink beer?
See question 21.
25. What is your favorite key on your key chain?
Probably the one to the door to our garage. I don't think I've ever used it. It's shiny.
26. What was the last movie you watched at home?
X-Men II. I have Close Encounters of the Third Kind DVR'ed and a free preview of HBO this weekend, so that's about to change.
27. What is in your pocket?
My keys in the left, my cell phone in the right, and my wallet in the back right.
28. Where do you hurt?
My toes. They're not really loving the extra running I've been doing. Perhaps I shouldn't tell them about the 3.5 miles I'm planning on putting them through this afternoon.
29. Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear?
Ha. Yes I have. My aunt made Rachel and I make one right after we got engaged. He's a monkey wearing a baseball uniform, and he's got two hearts...one from each of us. His name is Wootie, and he's in Jonah's room now.
30. What's something fun you did today?
Well, it's 6:40 am, so filling out this thing is about the high point so far. I'm singing along to Sammy Kershaw's "Queen of my Double Wide Trailer" right now, so that's pretty fun too.
31. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart?
The garden area. It's about the only place you can escape the NASCAR influence.
32. When is your birthday?
August 8th. Last year, my birthday was 08-08-08. This year I turn 30. Talk about going from a high to a low.
33. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?
Nope. My wife does not tolerate clutter. Of any kind.
34. What kind of milk do you drink?
Non-fat.
35. What is something you need to go shopping for?
Arbor Vitae and quite possibly a new ceiling fan.
36. What is your favorite item at Costco?
Aidells pineapple teriyaki chicken meatballs. Amazing!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Think people!
Most days I really have no problem with my job. My job asks very little of me, and as a result I live a very stress free existence. Sure my days are filled with minor annoyances like any other job, but for the most part, I just kind of keep to my cube, get my work done, and surf the 'net.
However, today I was verbally abused by a lady who thought I had screwed up, when, in fact, it was her own mistake. I was so taken aback by her anger that I didn't really even acknowledge it to her face. I kept thinking she was joking.
So here's the story. This lady brings over a cash deposit from the university. Part of my job duties are to receipt any cash that comes to the building. She has two checks for $10 each, and $100 in cash. Her deposit form says there is $110 total, but it's unclear if that's the cash total or the overall total. So here's the conversaton
Me: There's only $100 here
Her: Yeah and?
Me: Your form says $110
Her: Well maybe you should add the checks then.
(I can't state how angrily and holier than thou she was when making this statement. It was as if she thought I had no clue how to count.)
Me: Well the checks are $10 each, so that would bring the total to $120, which still doesn't equal $110
Her: Well where's the error then?
(This was almost said as a challenge.....along the lines of "I dare you to show me how I screwed up")
Me: I don't know, you made up the form.
Her: Well, someone's missing and I don't know who it is.
Me: Neither do I.
Her: So you're telling me that I have to take this whole deposit back to my office, then bring it all the way back over here?
Me: Or you could leave the deposit here and email me the name of who the $10 belongs to so I can receipt them.
(I'm not sure where she got that I told her to do anything. People are always annoyed that they have to bring currency to the foundation...they'd much rather stick it in the mail. Which is fine if it's your own personal money...you can trust the campus mail people. But when it's a donor's money.....I think you better make sure it gets where it needs to go. At any rate, her mood did a 180 at this point)
Her: Alright, thanks for your help! Sorry about the mix-up!
Me: No problem, have a good evening.
I mean seriously....before you start going off on someone, shouldn't be 100% sure that they made the mistake? I learned this lesson a long time ago, when I challenged a Carl's Jr. employee as to why he kept serving the people behind me and not calling my order. It was at that point that he explained to me that my order included onion rings, which were still cooking. I'm pretty sure my burger was spit on that day.
Anyways, it was a perfectly horrible way to end my work day, and now I'm all fired up and feel like I need to go Randy "Macho Man" Savage on someone and drop a flying elbow right in their solar plexus. Instead I think I'll just go for a jog when I get home.
However, today I was verbally abused by a lady who thought I had screwed up, when, in fact, it was her own mistake. I was so taken aback by her anger that I didn't really even acknowledge it to her face. I kept thinking she was joking.
So here's the story. This lady brings over a cash deposit from the university. Part of my job duties are to receipt any cash that comes to the building. She has two checks for $10 each, and $100 in cash. Her deposit form says there is $110 total, but it's unclear if that's the cash total or the overall total. So here's the conversaton
Me: There's only $100 here
Her: Yeah and?
Me: Your form says $110
Her: Well maybe you should add the checks then.
(I can't state how angrily and holier than thou she was when making this statement. It was as if she thought I had no clue how to count.)
Me: Well the checks are $10 each, so that would bring the total to $120, which still doesn't equal $110
Her: Well where's the error then?
(This was almost said as a challenge.....along the lines of "I dare you to show me how I screwed up")
Me: I don't know, you made up the form.
Her: Well, someone's missing and I don't know who it is.
Me: Neither do I.
Her: So you're telling me that I have to take this whole deposit back to my office, then bring it all the way back over here?
Me: Or you could leave the deposit here and email me the name of who the $10 belongs to so I can receipt them.
(I'm not sure where she got that I told her to do anything. People are always annoyed that they have to bring currency to the foundation...they'd much rather stick it in the mail. Which is fine if it's your own personal money...you can trust the campus mail people. But when it's a donor's money.....I think you better make sure it gets where it needs to go. At any rate, her mood did a 180 at this point)
Her: Alright, thanks for your help! Sorry about the mix-up!
Me: No problem, have a good evening.
I mean seriously....before you start going off on someone, shouldn't be 100% sure that they made the mistake? I learned this lesson a long time ago, when I challenged a Carl's Jr. employee as to why he kept serving the people behind me and not calling my order. It was at that point that he explained to me that my order included onion rings, which were still cooking. I'm pretty sure my burger was spit on that day.
Anyways, it was a perfectly horrible way to end my work day, and now I'm all fired up and feel like I need to go Randy "Macho Man" Savage on someone and drop a flying elbow right in their solar plexus. Instead I think I'll just go for a jog when I get home.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Bureaucracy at its best
So this morning I opened the garage door to leave for work, and a dog comes running in, almost as if he's been waiting patiently for me to open the door for him. Jonah loves this and immediately demands that I put him down so he can pet this dog. Not knowing anything about the pooch, I was hesitant. The dog was friendly, but hyperactive. So I go to put Jonah in the car, and before I can do so, the dog goes under the car door and hops into Jonah's car seat. Well, this isn't going to work. So I coax the dog out of the car and get Jonah situated. The dog is hovering trying to find a way back into the car. Our neighborhood streets are deserted, this dog isn't with anyone. So I do the honorable thing, I'm taking this dog to the humane society!
Only the humane society isn't open at 7:30. Furthermore, the humane society isn't open on Mondays. There's a number on their answering machine for Linn County animal control. I call that. No answer. No answering machine. About this time, it dawns on me that I live in Benton County. I can get their humane society to take the guy. Nope....they're not open on Monday's either. I get to work, and look up the number for Benton County animal control. The guy who does animal control is on vacation until Wednesday. "Can you keep the dog until Wednesday?" the guy asks me. Really? There's a whole government paid position to handle this problem, and you're putting it on me, the guy who found the lost dog and is trying to prevent it from getting hit by a car? So then the guy says "well where did you find the dog?" "At my house in North Albany," I say. "Oh, well you need to call Albany's humane society then." I explain that they're closed. So I get transferred to the Albany PD. They tell me I need to call Corvallis because the dog is currently in Corvallis. I tell them they won't take it because the dog was found in Albany. So then they say "well we can't come and get it." I know this. I am fully aware of the inability of gov't entities to cross imaginary borders. "I'll bring it to you," I say. "Ok, take it to your house and an officer will come get it when they have a chance." What is this the cable guy? Just sit at your house and wait for the cops who may or may not have time to get it? I kindly ask if I can just bring the dog to them. I am put on hold for a while, and finally I am told that that will be fine.
All because a dog jumped into my car.
Only the humane society isn't open at 7:30. Furthermore, the humane society isn't open on Mondays. There's a number on their answering machine for Linn County animal control. I call that. No answer. No answering machine. About this time, it dawns on me that I live in Benton County. I can get their humane society to take the guy. Nope....they're not open on Monday's either. I get to work, and look up the number for Benton County animal control. The guy who does animal control is on vacation until Wednesday. "Can you keep the dog until Wednesday?" the guy asks me. Really? There's a whole government paid position to handle this problem, and you're putting it on me, the guy who found the lost dog and is trying to prevent it from getting hit by a car? So then the guy says "well where did you find the dog?" "At my house in North Albany," I say. "Oh, well you need to call Albany's humane society then." I explain that they're closed. So I get transferred to the Albany PD. They tell me I need to call Corvallis because the dog is currently in Corvallis. I tell them they won't take it because the dog was found in Albany. So then they say "well we can't come and get it." I know this. I am fully aware of the inability of gov't entities to cross imaginary borders. "I'll bring it to you," I say. "Ok, take it to your house and an officer will come get it when they have a chance." What is this the cable guy? Just sit at your house and wait for the cops who may or may not have time to get it? I kindly ask if I can just bring the dog to them. I am put on hold for a while, and finally I am told that that will be fine.
All because a dog jumped into my car.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Dreams
So my dream last night was too weird not to share with people.
I somehow ran into a few of my friends from elementary school. (To protect them from any embarrassment and or confusion as to why they were in my dream, I will omit their names. I truly have no idea how they ended up in my dream anyways.) Friend One and I are playing playing Monopoly in some random dormitory lobby. Friend Two walks past and says she is heading to her apartment and wants to know if we need to do any laundry. I just so happen to have a large pile of laundry sitting next to me. So I enlist Friend One's help to load my laundry into the back of Friend Two's Chrysler Sebring Convertible. We then drive to her apartment. Friend Two goes to unlock the door while Friend One and I gather up the laundry (why I didn't have a laundry basket or some type of bag, I don't know).
As we round the corner with our arms full of laundry we see Friend Two being threatened by a crazed Indian mathematician holding a switchblade. By Indian, I mean from the country India, and I knew he was a mathematician because he looked completely unathletic and was wearing glasses and a pocket protector. The crazed Indian is making absolutely no sense, which scares Friend One into throwing the laundry on the ground and running back to the car. Indian guy seems intent on fighting me, and figured threatening my friend was the best way to do that. I tell him that if he really wants to fight, we can, but it's not exactly fair if he has a switchblade and I have some dirty socks. Surprisingly, he agrees, and throws me a hay hook. Hay hooks are basically long metal hooks with a handle used to move bales of hay. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I can defeat and uncoordinated mathematician with a switchblade with this hay hook, so I motion to Friend Two to run up to her apartment and lock the door. She does, and the fight commences.
I never figured out why this guy wanted to fight me, but it becomes obvious within a few seconds that I could really kill this guy if I wanted to. He's tripping over his feet, keeps calling time-out to adjust his glasses, things like that. I feel bad for the guy, so rather than rip his face off with the hay hook, I keep bonking him on the head with the curved part of the hook. Finally, the guy starts crying and runs off. I run up to the apartment, where Friend Two thanks me and says she'll be waiting in the car while I put my laundry in the washing machine. I do, and then open the door to head back to the car, only to be confronted by the same crazed Indian! I ask the guy if he really wants to go through that whole thing again, but the Indian says that no, he is not the same guy, but his twin brother. He apologizes for his brother's behavior and wants to know where Friend Two is so he can apologize to her. I start escorting him to the car, when these two little kids with strong Texas accents start pointing and yelling "Mama, Mama, he's escorting an illegal alien!" Not wanting to deal with this, we start heading for car a little quicker, until "Mama" comes around the corner in her cutoff jeans and flannel shirt tied in a knot at the bottom. She's screaming about how I need to take this guy back across the border immediately, or she's calling INS. At this point I get really mad and start yelling at this lady about how not all people of color are illegal immigrants from Mexico, but she is undeterred. She calls INS, the FBI and every other three letter agency she can think of. You'd think that I would just sit around, wait for everyone to show up, get the thing sorted out and be done with it, but because it's a dream, We get in the car and try to make a getaway from the crime we didn't commit. We're crusing down this road while Friend One, who has been hiding in the backseat, keeps muttering how we should've just finished playing Monopoly and Crazed Indian's Twin yammers on about how this never happened to him back in New Delhi.
Then, as the choppers and police cruisers close in on us as we fly down some wooded highway under a full moon, I wake up. I almost felt cheated. I tried to go back to sleep, but my son, who decided he just couldn't stand another minute in his crib and had to come into bed with us at 3:30 in the morning, was snoring so loudly that falling back asleep was impossible. Too bad.
I somehow ran into a few of my friends from elementary school. (To protect them from any embarrassment and or confusion as to why they were in my dream, I will omit their names. I truly have no idea how they ended up in my dream anyways.) Friend One and I are playing playing Monopoly in some random dormitory lobby. Friend Two walks past and says she is heading to her apartment and wants to know if we need to do any laundry. I just so happen to have a large pile of laundry sitting next to me. So I enlist Friend One's help to load my laundry into the back of Friend Two's Chrysler Sebring Convertible. We then drive to her apartment. Friend Two goes to unlock the door while Friend One and I gather up the laundry (why I didn't have a laundry basket or some type of bag, I don't know).
As we round the corner with our arms full of laundry we see Friend Two being threatened by a crazed Indian mathematician holding a switchblade. By Indian, I mean from the country India, and I knew he was a mathematician because he looked completely unathletic and was wearing glasses and a pocket protector. The crazed Indian is making absolutely no sense, which scares Friend One into throwing the laundry on the ground and running back to the car. Indian guy seems intent on fighting me, and figured threatening my friend was the best way to do that. I tell him that if he really wants to fight, we can, but it's not exactly fair if he has a switchblade and I have some dirty socks. Surprisingly, he agrees, and throws me a hay hook. Hay hooks are basically long metal hooks with a handle used to move bales of hay. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I can defeat and uncoordinated mathematician with a switchblade with this hay hook, so I motion to Friend Two to run up to her apartment and lock the door. She does, and the fight commences.
I never figured out why this guy wanted to fight me, but it becomes obvious within a few seconds that I could really kill this guy if I wanted to. He's tripping over his feet, keeps calling time-out to adjust his glasses, things like that. I feel bad for the guy, so rather than rip his face off with the hay hook, I keep bonking him on the head with the curved part of the hook. Finally, the guy starts crying and runs off. I run up to the apartment, where Friend Two thanks me and says she'll be waiting in the car while I put my laundry in the washing machine. I do, and then open the door to head back to the car, only to be confronted by the same crazed Indian! I ask the guy if he really wants to go through that whole thing again, but the Indian says that no, he is not the same guy, but his twin brother. He apologizes for his brother's behavior and wants to know where Friend Two is so he can apologize to her. I start escorting him to the car, when these two little kids with strong Texas accents start pointing and yelling "Mama, Mama, he's escorting an illegal alien!" Not wanting to deal with this, we start heading for car a little quicker, until "Mama" comes around the corner in her cutoff jeans and flannel shirt tied in a knot at the bottom. She's screaming about how I need to take this guy back across the border immediately, or she's calling INS. At this point I get really mad and start yelling at this lady about how not all people of color are illegal immigrants from Mexico, but she is undeterred. She calls INS, the FBI and every other three letter agency she can think of. You'd think that I would just sit around, wait for everyone to show up, get the thing sorted out and be done with it, but because it's a dream, We get in the car and try to make a getaway from the crime we didn't commit. We're crusing down this road while Friend One, who has been hiding in the backseat, keeps muttering how we should've just finished playing Monopoly and Crazed Indian's Twin yammers on about how this never happened to him back in New Delhi.
Then, as the choppers and police cruisers close in on us as we fly down some wooded highway under a full moon, I wake up. I almost felt cheated. I tried to go back to sleep, but my son, who decided he just couldn't stand another minute in his crib and had to come into bed with us at 3:30 in the morning, was snoring so loudly that falling back asleep was impossible. Too bad.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Senior Year
Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! At the end, choose 10 people (or more) to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to "notes" under the tabs on your profile page, copy and paste my note in the body of the note, delete my answers and type yours, tag 10 people (in the right hand corner of the app). Then click publish.)
IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...
1. Did you date someone from your school?
I suppose you could call it dating, but I was terrible at being a boyfriend. I was a mess when it came to interacting with the opposite sex.
2. Did you marry someone from your high school?
Sure didn't. Anyone who knew me in high school definitely did not view me as marriage material.
3. Did you car pool to school?
With Grant. I think we listened to 2Pac - Wonda Why They Call U Bitch every morning on the way to school for six straight months.
4. What kind of car did you have?
1995 Ford Mustang. Sounds cooler than it was....trust me on this one.
5. What kind of car do you have now?
07 Jeep Compass. Is cooler than it sounds....trust me on this one.
6. Its Saturday night...where are you now?
Either at an OSU basketball game or watching a movie on the couch with Rachel and Jonah
7. It is Saturday night...where were you then?
Most likely playing video games at JR's apartment, or possibly playing mini golf at Bullwinkle's.
8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
I refereed little kids basketball in the winters, worked basketball camps in the summers, and drove a tractor for dad on the weekends.
9. What kind of job do you do now?
I'm a gift processing specialist, which is a fancy way of saying I play on facebook all day and deposit checks in my spare time.
10. Were you a party animal?
I was the opposite of a part animal. I was more of a party vegetable. I'd be there, but I was the one who kept people from doing things that would draw the attention of the police, and then drive them home at the end of the night. I was pretty popular for my designated driving capability.
11. Were you considered a flirt?
Probably....because once it got past the flirting stage, I had no clue what the hell I was doing.
12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
Absolutely not....of my many talents, music is not one.
13. Were you a nerd?
Think anyone else was bumping Sir Mix-a-Lot and Young MC in the parking lot in 1997? Well, they weren't.
14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
Nope.
15. Can you sing the fight song?
Nope. I think it was set to Notre Dame's music, but I can't remember the words, if I ever even knew them.
16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)?
Probably Mrs. Lipari-Jones. I gave her a lot of crap, but she gave it right back. One time she told me to go to hell....in a nice way I think.
17. Where did you sit during lunch?
Good question. Many times at McDonalds...that was the year that Monopoly first happened. I ate quite a few quarter pounders that year.
18. What was your school's full name?
Wilsonville High School - pretty basic
19. When did you graduate?
1997
20. What was your school mascot?
Wildcats.
21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Senior year? Yeah. I enjoyed it.
22. Did you have fun at Prom?
Sure did....I picked the right girl to go with, had a good time, dinner was fairly cheap...all in all a good night. I remember some guy down on the Waterfront called me a "true pimp" for giving my date my jacket.
23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?
I don't, and that's a shame. She's a really cool person.
24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
Only if someone else plans it! The 10 year was fun, but planning it was a bit of a pain.
25. Do you still talk to people from school?
A few.
26. School Colors?
Navy and Silver
27. What celebrities came from your high school?
So far, none that I can think of.
(To do this, go to "notes" under the tabs on your profile page, copy and paste my note in the body of the note, delete my answers and type yours, tag 10 people (in the right hand corner of the app). Then click publish.)
IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...
1. Did you date someone from your school?
I suppose you could call it dating, but I was terrible at being a boyfriend. I was a mess when it came to interacting with the opposite sex.
2. Did you marry someone from your high school?
Sure didn't. Anyone who knew me in high school definitely did not view me as marriage material.
3. Did you car pool to school?
With Grant. I think we listened to 2Pac - Wonda Why They Call U Bitch every morning on the way to school for six straight months.
4. What kind of car did you have?
1995 Ford Mustang. Sounds cooler than it was....trust me on this one.
5. What kind of car do you have now?
07 Jeep Compass. Is cooler than it sounds....trust me on this one.
6. Its Saturday night...where are you now?
Either at an OSU basketball game or watching a movie on the couch with Rachel and Jonah
7. It is Saturday night...where were you then?
Most likely playing video games at JR's apartment, or possibly playing mini golf at Bullwinkle's.
8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
I refereed little kids basketball in the winters, worked basketball camps in the summers, and drove a tractor for dad on the weekends.
9. What kind of job do you do now?
I'm a gift processing specialist, which is a fancy way of saying I play on facebook all day and deposit checks in my spare time.
10. Were you a party animal?
I was the opposite of a part animal. I was more of a party vegetable. I'd be there, but I was the one who kept people from doing things that would draw the attention of the police, and then drive them home at the end of the night. I was pretty popular for my designated driving capability.
11. Were you considered a flirt?
Probably....because once it got past the flirting stage, I had no clue what the hell I was doing.
12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
Absolutely not....of my many talents, music is not one.
13. Were you a nerd?
Think anyone else was bumping Sir Mix-a-Lot and Young MC in the parking lot in 1997? Well, they weren't.
14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
Nope.
15. Can you sing the fight song?
Nope. I think it was set to Notre Dame's music, but I can't remember the words, if I ever even knew them.
16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)?
Probably Mrs. Lipari-Jones. I gave her a lot of crap, but she gave it right back. One time she told me to go to hell....in a nice way I think.
17. Where did you sit during lunch?
Good question. Many times at McDonalds...that was the year that Monopoly first happened. I ate quite a few quarter pounders that year.
18. What was your school's full name?
Wilsonville High School - pretty basic
19. When did you graduate?
1997
20. What was your school mascot?
Wildcats.
21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Senior year? Yeah. I enjoyed it.
22. Did you have fun at Prom?
Sure did....I picked the right girl to go with, had a good time, dinner was fairly cheap...all in all a good night. I remember some guy down on the Waterfront called me a "true pimp" for giving my date my jacket.
23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?
I don't, and that's a shame. She's a really cool person.
24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
Only if someone else plans it! The 10 year was fun, but planning it was a bit of a pain.
25. Do you still talk to people from school?
A few.
26. School Colors?
Navy and Silver
27. What celebrities came from your high school?
So far, none that I can think of.
My life in music
This is pretty fun. Send to all of your music friends!
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For the first question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button TWICE
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...just type it in man!
7. Tag people to do it too
IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE
1. Opening Credits:
Johnny Cash - One Piece at a Time (not bad......)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4pAwosnIQE&feature=related
2. Waking Up:
Notorious B.I.G. - N*ggas Bleed (yup...first thing in the morning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92luJ5vNNH0
3. First Day at School:
Britney Spears - Piece of Me (Man, now that would be a great movie scene....me as a 5 year old with my Scooby Doo lunch box walking into school with Britney blasting and all the little kids staring at me and my principal just shaking his head as I walk by)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4NayXtzsBo
4. Falling in Love:
Lil Jon - What U Gon' Do (I'm guessing this relationship didn't last too long)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i2icZ_Ubf8
5. Losing Virginity:
Nelly - Wrap Sumden (Always use protection!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7fWb3AVbCs
6. Fight Song:
Cadillac Don & J-Money - Peanut Butter & Jelly (this would be one strange fight scene. I picture myself getting out of a low rider wearing a long coat that starts blowing in the wind, showing off my gun holster.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ycRFd3_Gc
7. Breaking Up:
Gretchen Wilson - Homewrecker (Kinda works, makes me sound like a cheater though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edOynjUTMnc
8. Prom:
Shenandoah - Church on Cumberland Road (Sorta works)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhwdvXElR8
9. Life:
Ric-A-Che - Coo-Coo Chee (I encourage everyone to listen to this song...as one of my friends put it, "I'd love it if I was in a hammock during the summer"
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/366048529
10. Mental Breakdown:
Taylor Swift - Cold As You (I could see myself just crying alone in the fetal position in the shower while this song plays)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr8On5pJtdc
11. Driving:
2Pac - Heaven ain't Hard to Find (Really wish Will Smith - Cruisin' would've come up here)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHlpoL43hho
12. Flashback:
Gary Allan - Right Where I Need to Be (Yes....flashing back to a perfect date with the love of my life....I love it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpIAMvJ-txw
13. Getting Back Together:
Dierks Bentley - Feel That Fire (I picture us kissing as a building explodes in the background and the camera is circling us at a very rapid pace)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJlNAxnOn_g
14. Wedding:
Mark McGuin - Mrs. Steven Rudy (Ummm...this is a song about coveting your neighbor's wife....not so cool. Ideally I would've had a Keith Urban song going here.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbnDFITUM0Y
15. Birth of Child:
Katy Perry - If You Can Afford Me (Babies can be expensive.....very true)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C9lldQuKhc
16. Final Battle:
Petey Pablo - Raise Up (This one's for North Carolina! I can think of no greater honor than to die in batlle for the Tar Heel State)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-26bRZEedZg
17. Death Scene:
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby (Because nothing kills the mood like a little Ice. I may put into my will that this plays as they put me in the ground.....just so the last memory everyone has of me is one where they're smiling and shaking their heads going "Wow Andy. Wow.")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-is6S_b_g
18. Funeral Song:
Toby Keith - Should've Been a Cowboy (Also a good one to go into the ground to)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hz0EXXZU8g
19. End Credits:
Nas - One Mic (Nice....very classy movie we just produced)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrlZUlcV_Fg
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For the first question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button TWICE
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...just type it in man!
7. Tag people to do it too
IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE
1. Opening Credits:
Johnny Cash - One Piece at a Time (not bad......)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4pAwosnIQE&feature=related
2. Waking Up:
Notorious B.I.G. - N*ggas Bleed (yup...first thing in the morning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92luJ5vNNH0
3. First Day at School:
Britney Spears - Piece of Me (Man, now that would be a great movie scene....me as a 5 year old with my Scooby Doo lunch box walking into school with Britney blasting and all the little kids staring at me and my principal just shaking his head as I walk by)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4NayXtzsBo
4. Falling in Love:
Lil Jon - What U Gon' Do (I'm guessing this relationship didn't last too long)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i2icZ_Ubf8
5. Losing Virginity:
Nelly - Wrap Sumden (Always use protection!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7fWb3AVbCs
6. Fight Song:
Cadillac Don & J-Money - Peanut Butter & Jelly (this would be one strange fight scene. I picture myself getting out of a low rider wearing a long coat that starts blowing in the wind, showing off my gun holster.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ycRFd3_Gc
7. Breaking Up:
Gretchen Wilson - Homewrecker (Kinda works, makes me sound like a cheater though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edOynjUTMnc
8. Prom:
Shenandoah - Church on Cumberland Road (Sorta works)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhwdvXElR8
9. Life:
Ric-A-Che - Coo-Coo Chee (I encourage everyone to listen to this song...as one of my friends put it, "I'd love it if I was in a hammock during the summer"
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/366048529
10. Mental Breakdown:
Taylor Swift - Cold As You (I could see myself just crying alone in the fetal position in the shower while this song plays)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr8On5pJtdc
11. Driving:
2Pac - Heaven ain't Hard to Find (Really wish Will Smith - Cruisin' would've come up here)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHlpoL43hho
12. Flashback:
Gary Allan - Right Where I Need to Be (Yes....flashing back to a perfect date with the love of my life....I love it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpIAMvJ-txw
13. Getting Back Together:
Dierks Bentley - Feel That Fire (I picture us kissing as a building explodes in the background and the camera is circling us at a very rapid pace)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJlNAxnOn_g
14. Wedding:
Mark McGuin - Mrs. Steven Rudy (Ummm...this is a song about coveting your neighbor's wife....not so cool. Ideally I would've had a Keith Urban song going here.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbnDFITUM0Y
15. Birth of Child:
Katy Perry - If You Can Afford Me (Babies can be expensive.....very true)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C9lldQuKhc
16. Final Battle:
Petey Pablo - Raise Up (This one's for North Carolina! I can think of no greater honor than to die in batlle for the Tar Heel State)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-26bRZEedZg
17. Death Scene:
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby (Because nothing kills the mood like a little Ice. I may put into my will that this plays as they put me in the ground.....just so the last memory everyone has of me is one where they're smiling and shaking their heads going "Wow Andy. Wow.")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-is6S_b_g
18. Funeral Song:
Toby Keith - Should've Been a Cowboy (Also a good one to go into the ground to)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hz0EXXZU8g
19. End Credits:
Nas - One Mic (Nice....very classy movie we just produced)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrlZUlcV_Fg
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
25 things about me
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. I finished typing my 25 things a few days ago, and then deleted the whole thing by accident. I just did this again. This is my third time typing 25 interesting facts about myself.
2. I've been to 10 major league baseball stadiums, but have only seen games played in 9.
3. Two questions I always answer yes to: "Would you like to go on a walk?" and "Do you want a Costco hot dog?"
4. Two questions I always answer no to: "Would you like to hold this gun?" and "Would you like pickles on that?"
5. If I could have dinner with any four people, I'd eat with Barack Obama, Magic Johnson, Reese Witherspoon and Bear Grylls.
6. We would eat salmon.
7. I have no idea what I would say to any of them.
8. I refuse to use chat slang like "LOL" "BRB" or "C U L8R." I can type fast enough that these things don't slow me down, plus I think they make me look dumb. I also think this is the reason so many people can't spell anymore.
9. Someone in my family has either been enrolled or employed by Oregon State University almost continuously since 1907.
10. I cry more than I used to. I think this is because I'm a parent.
11. I smile more than I used to. I know this is because I'm a parent.
12. I think Rachel and I had a boy because we couldn't come up with a name for a girl.
13. We settled on Jonah for our son's name because she liked it from the kid's name in Sleepless in Seattle, and I liked it because Jonah Nickerson led OSU to the national championship in baseball.
14. I'd rather be too cold than too hot.
15. Two girls have asked me the question "do you think she's cuter than me?" Twice I said yes. Twice the girl was mad. Twice I refused to apologize.
16. My hair started going gray in 10th grade.
17. I dyed my hair once using some Just for Men that my brother got me for Christmas. I looked like a freak with freakishly brown hair. I refuse to ever dye it again.
18. All of my grandparents lived to see their 85th birthday. I think this is a good sign.
19. I am a teetotaller.
20. I had to look up how to spell teetotaller. I'm still confused, because it said "teetotaller or teetotaler" and then gave a definition.
21. I visited Alaska with the sole mission of seeing a wild moose. I ended up taking a taxi to the Anchorage Zoo on my last day there to see one in captivity.
22. On January 1, 2010 I will be 30 years old. However, I will have lived in parts of five decades (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s). I know this is true for everyone born in 1979, but I still find it awesome.
23. I believe in aliens, ghosts, bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster if for no other reason than I think the world is more interesting if these things exist.
24. I can never remember important things like when the bill is due, what time I need to pick up my son, or what we need at the grocery store, but I know all the words to Bust a Move by Young MC, even though I haven't heard the song in years.
25. The only thing harder than figuring out 25 interesting things about yourself is figuring out 25 people that would be interested in reading 25 things interesting about yourself.
(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. I finished typing my 25 things a few days ago, and then deleted the whole thing by accident. I just did this again. This is my third time typing 25 interesting facts about myself.
2. I've been to 10 major league baseball stadiums, but have only seen games played in 9.
3. Two questions I always answer yes to: "Would you like to go on a walk?" and "Do you want a Costco hot dog?"
4. Two questions I always answer no to: "Would you like to hold this gun?" and "Would you like pickles on that?"
5. If I could have dinner with any four people, I'd eat with Barack Obama, Magic Johnson, Reese Witherspoon and Bear Grylls.
6. We would eat salmon.
7. I have no idea what I would say to any of them.
8. I refuse to use chat slang like "LOL" "BRB" or "C U L8R." I can type fast enough that these things don't slow me down, plus I think they make me look dumb. I also think this is the reason so many people can't spell anymore.
9. Someone in my family has either been enrolled or employed by Oregon State University almost continuously since 1907.
10. I cry more than I used to. I think this is because I'm a parent.
11. I smile more than I used to. I know this is because I'm a parent.
12. I think Rachel and I had a boy because we couldn't come up with a name for a girl.
13. We settled on Jonah for our son's name because she liked it from the kid's name in Sleepless in Seattle, and I liked it because Jonah Nickerson led OSU to the national championship in baseball.
14. I'd rather be too cold than too hot.
15. Two girls have asked me the question "do you think she's cuter than me?" Twice I said yes. Twice the girl was mad. Twice I refused to apologize.
16. My hair started going gray in 10th grade.
17. I dyed my hair once using some Just for Men that my brother got me for Christmas. I looked like a freak with freakishly brown hair. I refuse to ever dye it again.
18. All of my grandparents lived to see their 85th birthday. I think this is a good sign.
19. I am a teetotaller.
20. I had to look up how to spell teetotaller. I'm still confused, because it said "teetotaller or teetotaler" and then gave a definition.
21. I visited Alaska with the sole mission of seeing a wild moose. I ended up taking a taxi to the Anchorage Zoo on my last day there to see one in captivity.
22. On January 1, 2010 I will be 30 years old. However, I will have lived in parts of five decades (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s). I know this is true for everyone born in 1979, but I still find it awesome.
23. I believe in aliens, ghosts, bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster if for no other reason than I think the world is more interesting if these things exist.
24. I can never remember important things like when the bill is due, what time I need to pick up my son, or what we need at the grocery store, but I know all the words to Bust a Move by Young MC, even though I haven't heard the song in years.
25. The only thing harder than figuring out 25 interesting things about yourself is figuring out 25 people that would be interested in reading 25 things interesting about yourself.
Monday, January 12, 2009
I'm a very polite vampire.....
I think I need to apologize to the women out there who were offended by my post implying that these books were making girls wish their boyfriends were vampires. After the first book, I was still unconvinced. The second book was so slow and tough to read that it took me 3 weeks to start reading the third one after I finished. Well, that and the fact that I wasn’t about to pay for a hardcover copy, and people I knew who had the book were having trouble remembering to loan it to me. Now that I’ve read all the books, I can see that they have an appeal beyond simply “girl meets boy, girl finds out boy is vampire, girl falls in love with vampire, vampire loves girl so much he won’t eat her even though her blood smells SOOOOOO good.”
Though that part is there. The lovey dovey stuff in the books is so over the top, I found my eyes glazing over everytime Bella and Eddie were alone, only to have to go back and re-read all the mushy stuff to find the one sentence that tied that conversation to whatever the next scene was.
The biggest thing about these books is that they’re long enough that the author is able to bring the characters to life. The first book is almost exclusively Bella and Edward, but as the series progresses, you learn more and more about the peripheral characters, and you start to identify with one or many of them. You start to think about which characters you’d like to hang out with, which one’s you’d want to date (for me it’s unquestionably Alice) and which ones you wouldn’t mind if they were eternally damned.
Reading that many pages and investing that much time in the story is much like the feeling I got after playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I’d spent so much time with my gangsta that when I drove down the street, I’d be convinced that I could just use my car to block traffic wherever I wanted and take a better car from the old lady behind me. I would think about “what would happen if those guys on the corner suddenly pulled out submachine guns and opened fire? How would I react? What would I do?”
With the Twilight books, you almost can’t help feeling as if you’ve moved to Forks and are constantly seeing vampires and other supernatural things. Rachel remarked that she had trouble concentrating at work the other day when measuring people’s blood sugar levels because she was worried that if she poked somebody’s finger too hard and they bled a little too much, one of the other patients might not be able to contain their vampiric bloodlust any longer.
The ironic thing is that I hardly have any interest in vampire cultures. I’ve never read another book about vampires, I didn’t wait in line on opening night to see “Van Helsing” (still haven’t seen it actually) and only watched the Blade movies because TNT insists on playing them every weekend. Much like I don’t have any real interest in “Thug Life” yet was completely consumed by Grand Theft Auto. Sometimes people just like to get away from the mundane life of “eat, work, sleep.”
I also saw the movie this weekend. First off, nobody who didn’t read the books would ever consider that a good movie. Second, I was a bit bewildered by the girls in the theater who gasped when Edward first showed up on the screen....did you not know who was playing him? Did you honestly not know what he was going to look like? Thirdly, I’ve never been to a movie where the foreshadowing was picked up on instantly by ever single person in the theater. Every inside joke was hilarious, every hint about future happenings was blatantly obvious. Very different atmosphere than most movies I’ve been to. And finally, any guy who sees the movie will not be able to get over how horrible the special effects were. One of my friends equated the way the vampires moved to The Flintstones “driving” their cars. Not that far off. The only scene that involved special effects that was even remotely well done was the baseball scene in my opinion.
So when I finish the 4th book (I’ll finish tonight), I’ll have to take a week or two to “move out of Forks” so to speak. But then what? Do I start reading Harry Potter? Lord help me if I start down that path.....
Though that part is there. The lovey dovey stuff in the books is so over the top, I found my eyes glazing over everytime Bella and Eddie were alone, only to have to go back and re-read all the mushy stuff to find the one sentence that tied that conversation to whatever the next scene was.
The biggest thing about these books is that they’re long enough that the author is able to bring the characters to life. The first book is almost exclusively Bella and Edward, but as the series progresses, you learn more and more about the peripheral characters, and you start to identify with one or many of them. You start to think about which characters you’d like to hang out with, which one’s you’d want to date (for me it’s unquestionably Alice) and which ones you wouldn’t mind if they were eternally damned.
Reading that many pages and investing that much time in the story is much like the feeling I got after playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I’d spent so much time with my gangsta that when I drove down the street, I’d be convinced that I could just use my car to block traffic wherever I wanted and take a better car from the old lady behind me. I would think about “what would happen if those guys on the corner suddenly pulled out submachine guns and opened fire? How would I react? What would I do?”
With the Twilight books, you almost can’t help feeling as if you’ve moved to Forks and are constantly seeing vampires and other supernatural things. Rachel remarked that she had trouble concentrating at work the other day when measuring people’s blood sugar levels because she was worried that if she poked somebody’s finger too hard and they bled a little too much, one of the other patients might not be able to contain their vampiric bloodlust any longer.
The ironic thing is that I hardly have any interest in vampire cultures. I’ve never read another book about vampires, I didn’t wait in line on opening night to see “Van Helsing” (still haven’t seen it actually) and only watched the Blade movies because TNT insists on playing them every weekend. Much like I don’t have any real interest in “Thug Life” yet was completely consumed by Grand Theft Auto. Sometimes people just like to get away from the mundane life of “eat, work, sleep.”
I also saw the movie this weekend. First off, nobody who didn’t read the books would ever consider that a good movie. Second, I was a bit bewildered by the girls in the theater who gasped when Edward first showed up on the screen....did you not know who was playing him? Did you honestly not know what he was going to look like? Thirdly, I’ve never been to a movie where the foreshadowing was picked up on instantly by ever single person in the theater. Every inside joke was hilarious, every hint about future happenings was blatantly obvious. Very different atmosphere than most movies I’ve been to. And finally, any guy who sees the movie will not be able to get over how horrible the special effects were. One of my friends equated the way the vampires moved to The Flintstones “driving” their cars. Not that far off. The only scene that involved special effects that was even remotely well done was the baseball scene in my opinion.
So when I finish the 4th book (I’ll finish tonight), I’ll have to take a week or two to “move out of Forks” so to speak. But then what? Do I start reading Harry Potter? Lord help me if I start down that path.....
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