Nourishment

It has been a while I know. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging on a more regular basis. Just a short note for now.

Tonight we had a session at stake conference. Before the show even started, they had laid out a big refreshments spread on a few tables in the back of the cultural hall. Said hall was also being used for overflow seating, so the food was nearby and ready for the taking. As soon as I saw it I thought, "How hilarious would it be if midway through the meeting someone just got up and helped themselves to a plate of food and then went and sat back down?"

Second, during the closing prayer, the pray-er asked that the food would "nourish and strengthen" us. Now I know prayers are sacred, so I don't want to cross the line, but here goes anyway. You are asking for cookies, fudge, brownies and punch to be good for our bodies? It just always cracks me up when people ask for desserts and other sweet snack type food to be healthy for our bodies. Almost like asking for "no harm or accident" before a church ball game.

Loving Wings

Last night at the show Dave dedicated a song to his wife. That got me thinking about all the women I have dated and especially about those I wanted to marry. I had a long elaborate post planned out, but as I sat down to write the thing I couldn’t figure out how to say what I feel. I do know that all the women I dated, and some that I was just friends with, are all amazing. Somehow I have had been able to convince these women to date me. Still trying to figure that one out. Those that are married have great husbands [who are way better for them than I ever would have been] and those that aren’t one day will [and those guys will also be a way better fit than I ever could have been]. I don’t regret any relationship I have had. There are things I would go back and do differently, but I wouldn’t change who I’ve dated.

Anyway, I have heard Dave talk about his daughter as he announces a song called “Butterfly” but and his sisters occasionally, but I have never heard him talk about his wife in relation to his music. So when he dedicated this song to his wife I was a bit taken aback. I had heard the song a lot, but paid more attention to the words last night. The song stuck a cord with me and describes how I have felt about the relationships I have had. As the song was ending all I could think was that I hope to someday find someone with a pair of Loving Wings.

"My heart was made of broken bones
My soul a bag of stick and stones
Then you along this dusty road
Have come, my love, to take me home

And I give to you my everything
Because you've given me these loving wings
And angels have all gathered 'round
To hear me sing my love out loud

You lightly lifted me away
Out of a darkness cold and gray
And I work beneath the midday sun
A cold blue water, you have come

And I give to you my everything
Because you've given me these loving wings
And angels have all gathered 'round
To hear me sing my love out loud

So take your place here next to me
And I'll take my place there next to thee
No matter how far we may roam
It's by your side I make my home

And I give to you my everything
Because you've given me these loving wings
And angels have all gathered 'round
To hear me sing my love out loud."

-DJM

Gorge 2008

Labor Day Weekend has usually meant one thing over the past several years: a trip to Wenatchee, WA. It is a small town in central Washington with some pretty amazing scenery. It is right along the Colombia river and pretty close to the mountain ranges of Western Washington. There are some great golf courses around the area, and some of the best hamburger joints in the country. But the real reason I have been here every Labor Day Weekend for the last 6 years is that the Dave Matthews Band has an annual concert series just down the road at the Gorge Amphitheatre. Last night was my 15th show at the Gorge and it was one of the most unusual shows I have ever seen of DMB. About 10 days ago, their saxophonist, LeRoi Moore passed away. It was pretty unexpected, and the Band and fan base was fairly shocked. DMB played 4 shows after his death, and then canceled two shows this week to attend the funeral of their brother, friend, and band member. Last night was the first show back after the funeral. The mood in the air was definitely somber.

Before the show started my brother and I talked to one of our friends who works on the crew. He said that the week had sucked. They had flown across the country for a funeral, and flown back across the country for the shows at the Gorge. Not only were they exhausted from the travel, but they were emotionally drained from everything the had to deal with during the week. It was pretty amazing they were able to put on a show, and play as well as they did.
The first night about midway through the show they put up Roi’s photo on their video screens and just stopped everything. The crowd went nuts. Throwing glowstick, chanting out “Le-Roi, Le-Roi,” screaming; things were just wild. I had a pretty good view of the stage and it looked like the band was trying to have a moment of respect for Roi. I think the crowd went beyond anything they were expecting, and at one point Dave was looking to calm a few people down. This went on for about 5 minutes, and in the end it was a nice moment Roi.

The second nice tribute they had for Roi, and they did this all three nights, was to have a video montage of photos and video of Roi growing up and his time with the band on the video screens during the encore break. The music they set this to was the song #34, which is purely instrumental and really features Roi on the horns. That was actually really cool to see glimpses of Roi off the stage and see what he was involved in before the band started.

And finally, on the second night they sang a song called “Sugar Will.” But on this night Dave had changed all the words except for the chorus and made the song about Roi and his life. It was pretty awesome, and hopefully I’ll be able to track down a copy of it somewhere online.

Apart from the shows, this was surprisingly a very emotional weekend for me. I found myself on the verge of tears often. I know why, but I was surprised at how strongly I reacted and how powerful the emotions were. For the past several months I have been working compiling the photos we have of my dad and getting them in a book. A few weeks ago I decided to try and put the life history he wrote in the same book, and so I have been going through his life history and editing it. Nothing too major, just fixing some misspelled words and correcting some basic grammar. But I have spent a lot of time thinking about my dad and how much he means to me. [Side note. Growing up he used to edit all my school papers. It was a bit surreal to be editing his history. The role reversal was unexpected and an interesting experience] Now, a lot of Dave’s songs deal with death and God. So after spending all that time working on Dad’s history, and then being at a concert that was a tribute to the fallen band member, it brought out a lot of emotion. I found myself thinking more about Dad this weekend than I have in a long time. It was a good experience, but an emotional one.

The second reason this weekend was so emotional is that the songs Dave sings that aren’t about death are about love and relationships. This weekend, way more so than at previous shows, those songs spoke to me quite a bit. Dave has such a unique way of writing and describing love, and there were several moments were I caught myself thinking about past relationships and what might have been. I’ve loved and lost more than once, each time the end has been quite painful. But the love I’ve felt during the good times is greater than the pain that comes with the end. And if the possibility of an ending and the pain the comes with it is what you have to risk for the beautiful times, then that is a risk I am willing to take.

"You and me, have a better time than most can dream of, better than the best…. whatever tears at us, whatever holds us down, and if nothing can be done, we’ll make the best of what’s around. Turns out not where but who you’re with that really matters. And hurts not much when you’re around…"
-DJM

Steady as We Go

So I haven't posted a blog entry in a long time, and I have more interesting things to blog about, but lately relationships have been on my mind.  And today I heard a song I like by none other than The Dave Matthews Band. I have heard it before, and always liked it, but for some reason today the lyrics stood out to me.  So here they are:

I'll walk halfway around the world

just to sit down by your side

I would do most anything, girl

to be the apple of your eye

Troubles they may come and go

but good times they're the gold

So if the road gets rocky, girl

Just steady as we go

Any place you wanna go

you know I'll be next to you

If it's treasure, baby, you're looking for

I'll search the whole world through

Troubles they may come and go

but good times they're the gold

So if the road gets rocky, girl

Just steady as we go

When the storm comes you shelter me

When I don't say a word and you know exactly what I mean

In the darkest times you shine on me

You set me free

Keep me steady as we go

So if your heart wrings dry, my love

I will fill your cup

and if your lead gets heavy, girl

I will lift you up

Troubles they may come and go

but good times be the gold

So if they road gets rocky, girl

Just steady as we go

shine on me, baby

-Dave Matthews 

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Saturday I might have done something stupid. I had arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night, and I was ready to go out into the city and see a few of the sights. As I stepped out on the streets from my hotel, the first person I saw asked me for spare change. I realize that I don’t look like most everyone else in Rio, but there are a few things you can do to minimize people asking for handouts. One is to look like you don’t have money. That morning I had put on my watch out of habit, and since it is all metal and shiny, I decided to take it off. There were a couple of street kids on the corner; the best word for them is mulekis. Anyway, they saw me taking off my watch and one of them approached me and grabbed my shirt and said something that I didn’t understand. I don’t know if he was trying to speak English, or just be quiet, but I understood the fact that he wanted to rob me of something. At the same time he was grabbing at his waistline, I think to imply that he had a gun. Based on the way his shirt and shorts were so loose to his body, I figured if he had a gun it had to be really small. Anyway, as he continued to imply that he wanted me to give him something, I just flat out told him “no.” I said “no” once or twice more, and he let me go and walked away. The way he left was pretty interesting. He was really upset, but not with me. It was almost as though he was ticked off as himself for not being more intimidating and not having more success in the attempted robbery.

I guess if he had really pushed the subject and actually shown me a gun, I would have reacted a bit differently, but in the moment I just figured he wasn’t that much of a threat. I spent the rest of the day shopping for souvenirs, and went to the top of Pão de Açucar, or Sugarloaf Mountain. The views from up there are awesome and it was pretty amazing to see all of Rio from that vantage point. This part of the world is a pretty amazing place with all the juxtaposition of amazing natural beauty against the sprawl of mankind, as well as the contrast of the rich and poor. Still it is an amazing country, and I love coming down here any chance I get.

10,000 Spoons when all you need is a knife

On the way to the Airport in Campinas I saw a church called “Evangelical Church of New Jerusalem.” The church wanted to be as accurate as possible in their assertion of being the Church of the New Jerusalem, so they had built a very cheap imitation of the gold top of the Dome of the Rock. Am I the only one who finds it ironic that a Christian church is using a replication of one of the most holy Muslim places in the world as their symbol?

Strange

Most of the people here in Brazil I am meeting with are able to speak pretty good English. That said, a majority of the time we are speaking in Portuguese about a variety of topics. I have actually been pretty happy that when I have a meeting they feel I understand well enough that they don't default to speaking English. That said, it is intersting that we can have an entire conversation in Portuguese, and then at the end they will say something like "I'll be back in 5 minutes" but they will say it in English. Really? After an hour of only speaking Portuguese you thought that phrase would be incomprehensible?

Maybe they want the practice, which I totally understand, but I still have to laugh to myself every time it happens.

Plus or Minus 20 years

Brazil is an interesting place. I think technically it is considered a third world country, although I might be wrong there. Either way, there are definitely parts of the country that are very well off and doing well in life, however there are more people on the other end of the spectrum with hardly anything. That said, Brazil to me seems to be either way ahead of the US or way behind.

Today one of the guys I was talking to was reminiscing about how 20 years ago you had to wait forever to get a land line for a telephone installed in your house. Well, were I lived 7 years ago, you still had to wait years for a land line to be installed. As a result, most people had cell phones. I don't know if this is still the case, but back then if you received a call on a cell phone it didn't count against your minutes. You only used minutes if you made a call from a cell phone. I think Brazil today has a more advanced cell phone network, and from what I can tell people here take advantage of it. Most people can't afford a computer to connect to the internet, but they can afford a cell phone and access the net. Speaking of cell phones, I have seen a few iPhones here, and there isn't even an official iPhone carrier in Brazil yet.

Also, in the States we are trying to get off our dependence of gasoline. Well here in Brazil, at almost every gas station you have three types of fuel: Gasoline, Alcohol, and Natural Gas. And a lot of cars are flexible between Gasoline and Alcohol, and a fair amount of vehicles use all three types of fuel. It is pretty amazing that here in this "poor" country they have the infrastructure to pull this off, and with all the wealth the US has we can barely make hybrids economical.

However, Brazil is a bit behind when it comes to traditional roles. One interesting thing today was the secretary of the office today spent most of the day bringing us drinks and snacks and making sure we were comfortable. Not only did she bring those things, but she brought them on a serving tray and poured our drinks for us. Also, at one point she got her boss his afternoon medicine to make sure he would take it. I don't know many secretary's in the states that do those kinds of things, but I imagine it would be rather rare. I could be wrong on that though.

And this has nothing to do with how "advanced" or not Brazil is, but they drink Coffee here like it is a shot in a bar. The cups are tiny, and they drink all the coffee in one swallow, maybe two. No wonder they think Americans are excessive. One Grande Latte Cappuccino from Starbucks is the equivalent of like 10 of their coffee's. To be fair though, I think there coffee is way more concentrated than a typical American coffee.

I am not trying to knock Brazil, just point out differences I find interesting. I love this place, and enjoy the time I spend here. Just trying to paint a picture of how some things here are different than Americans are used to.

Different Country, Same Customs

Today is the equivilent of valentines day here in Brazil. That actually makes my outing to the park earlier a little easier to understand - there were couples everywhere lounging and engaging in some light lip action. Then again, that was a typical Brazilian date in the Northeast part of the state, so maybe it is like that all the time. Anyway, tonight I went out for dinner in a neighborhood known as Vila Magdalena. It is a pretty cool part of town, with a bunch of restuarants and bars all close together. Lots of people walking around, decent music playing, and of course people are looking to hook up.

I picked a restuarant that looked fairly nice, and it was awesome. I ordered a dinner that consisted of a huge pice of beef, a piece of the shoulders of the cow I think, sausage with cheese in it, and potatoes. It was a dinner meant for more than once person, and I polished off the whole thing myself. It was so big I actually took a photo, which I will place online once I return to the states.

Anyway, to set the scene, I was at a table by myself. The table to my left had three guys who were probably in their thirties who were out on the town looking to hook up. One of these guys was the designated hitter, and he would be sent out to whatever table they thought had good looking women to see if they would be receptive to meeting the others and what they were up to for the night. He always came back to his original seat, and never took any of his buddies with him. The table to my right had three ladies who were probably in their late 20's to early 30's. They were quite attractive, and one of them reminded me of a Brazilian version of Scarlett Johanson. Needless to say, the men to my left were falling over themselves trying to hook up with the ladies to my right, and with me in the middle I had a front row seat. The guys were pretty goofy, and the girls wanted nothing to do with them.

Later on, the three guys asked if they could join me so they could be closer to the ladies. I agreed, since it would be fun to see how I did with my Portuguese in a social setting like a bar, a setting I have not been in here in Brazil. I was pretty pleased. I understood almost everything, probably 95%-98% of what was going on, and from what I could tell they were able to understand everything I was saying. Anyway, at one point two of the girls took off to the bathroom and the designated hitter went over to talk to the Brazilian Scarlett. He sat there for maybe 5 minutes conversing with here, and the second her friends came back they kicked him out of his chair without even asking his name. It was hilarious.

Half an hour later or so the four of us left and the guys wanted to show my one other bar, to which I obliged. We weren't there very long when they decided to leave and I needed to get a Taxi. I went back to the restuarant I ate at to get a Taxi and I ran into two of the three girls from the table next to me. I stopped them really quick and asked them what they thought of my "friends." If I remember correctly, they said "Eles sao chatos." Which, translated loosly, means "They are morons." I laughed and we chatted for a bit. I could tell they guys were not making a great impression, yet they thought they were the bomb. The ladies ended up being pretty cool once they realized I wasn't trying to hit on them. Different language, different country, but things are still very similar.

So, when it was all said and done, it was a fun night.

Oi

This is being written from the comfort of my hotel in Brasil. Got here this morning after an all night flight. The first cool thing to happen on the flight was the Flight Attendant actually assumed I was Brazilian. First time that has ever happened. That was about all thas good though - I didn't sleep all that well on the flight down here, so once I checked into my hotel, I took a nice nap.

The cab ride over to the hotel was fun. I got to talk about everything from the gas industry in America, to the Presidential race, to US geography. At the end the driver mentioned that he understood 80% of what I was saying. I'll take that. I haven't spoken much Portugues in the last two years, and I have never really politics or refueling cars. Hopefully I can get back into the groove here pretty soon. Along the drive I was able to recognize a few things from the last time I was here in Sao Paulo. I am actually at the same hotel I was last time. A pretty nice place, but this is no Marriot.

Once I had woken up and I decided to go out exploring. There is a huge park near my hotel called Parque Ibirapuera, and it's probably half the size of Central Park in New York. I walked over there and explored the park for a while. It was a pleasent afernoon, and if was fun to be out and about. Now I am back at the hotel taking a break. I need to get a plan for tonight. I know i could always go to a Brazilian steakhouse, but I will probably have a lot of that next week, and I really am not all that hungry, so well see.

Ate Mais.

Going Back

Next week I'm headed to Brasil.  Excited and nervous all at the same time.

It's been a while...

I know I haven't posted much here lately.  I have been busy with social events, travel, and homework.  I know I haven't been in school for two years, but I had a homework project due last week that I was working on.  See, my youngest nephew is in First Grade, and he his class read a book about a character named Flat Stanley.  You can read all about the book and the "Flat Stanley Project" here.  

Thomas had deemed me worthy to have his Flat Stanley for a few days, and so I needed to take him on some adventures and show Stanley around Atlanta.  This is not my first experience with Flat Stanley.  Two ye

ars ago his older brother also had a Flat Stanley to send off, and that Flat Stanley came to see my graduation.   Flashing back a few months ago to when my sister (the mother of these two boys) was in Atlanta, we were joking around as to how funny it would be if Flat Stanley "grew up" while he was away and returned as an adult.  So when I got Flat Stanley, my first project was to figure out how to make a large version of him.  A few digital scans, help from Adobe Acrobat, and a big cardboard box later, and you can see the result.

I took an exact-o knife to the edges, and cut out a 48 inch tall Flat Stanley.  Just as an FYI, that is the average height of a First Grader.  I also shrunk him down to about 8 inches, but that wasn't as fun or as challenging.  I took these various Stanley's out with me and took some documenting photos, and created the appropriate dialogue to chronicle our adventures together.  

Here is the final travel log of my adventures with Flat Stanley.  


















My intention was to make it fun for the kids and the teacher.  I hope both audiences get a kick out of Flat Stanley's adventures.

As a side note,  I was meaning to send back the life size Stanley back with the original, and I had even devised the method as well as a PVC pipe exoskeleton to support him.  Unfortunately, my bonding device didn't work as planned, and I didn't have enough time before the deadline to fix it.  If I had one or two more days, there would be a 48 inch Flat Stanley occupying the corner of my nephews first grade classroom.  Alas, it was not to be.  

This was actually a lot of fun.  I probably went a bit overboard (and over the head of a first grade sense of humor)  but it was worth it.  I'm am actually a bit sad that this is the last nephew, so I won't have another chance to do a Flat Stanley project.  I think that is why I did a lot with this one - I knew there wouldn't be another chance.

Losing

I think I have done a pretty good job of overcoming my competitiveness.  I don't say this out of pride.  Many times I wish I was more competitive or had the same drive I had when I was younger to win or at the very least know that "I left it all out on the field."  Going forward I need to make an effort to get that back.  I settle too much.  

Anyway,  the reason I bring this up is that I got recruited to play on a friends softball team a few weeks ago.  They placed me at pitcher.  I haven't pitched in softball ever, and I maybe pitched two or three innings in Little League.  There is a good reason it wasn't more - I wasn't good at throwing strikes.  (But I could throw far for my age, so I played center field)  

I was actually a pretty good pitcher for the team.  I struck out 5 or 6 batters over the course of 4 games, and I think I only had 4 walks.  Not a bad ratio for softball.  However our record was 1-3 during that stretch.  Tonight we had a playoff game, and I really wanted to win.  While it isn't all my fault, we got smoked.  I'm pretty frustrated not only with our defense, but also the fact that I was 1 for 3 from the plate.  Normally I have a much higher batting average, in fact in Little League I was the go to hitter.  While I am sad the season is over, it was nice to feel those competitive juices again, and I think I will try and do more sports to get some of that competitiveness on a more regular basis.  And in the meantime I'll work on my batting so I am more prepared for the next season of softball.

Work?

For a number of reasons, I have been thinking about leaving my job recently.  Nothing has happened at worked that is so horrible I just cant stay any longer, but there have been a number of events that have grown into a fairly big desire to throw my name into the job market.  I haven't done anything about said desire yet, and I don't think I will until the end of the summer, but it is on my mind and so I am writing it down.  One reason I have been thinking more about a new job this week is that I read an article in "Smart Money Magazine" about revenue management in the banking industry.  I have always found it interesting to contemplate pricing and how you can sell services and market products, and this article fit right into those thoughts.  

In the article they profiled two of the biggest names in revenue management, and it turns out one of them runs a consulting company whose headquarters are 2 miles from where I currently reside.  His company helps identify solutions to increasing top line revenue for their clients, something that sounds pretty interesting.  I found out I only have a few degrees of separation from the CEO and one of the members of the Board.  These tidbits have left me daydreaming of what it would be like to work there.  Obviously I am no where near an interview, let alone a job transition, so it is all just wistful thoughts as of now.  A boy can dream right?

Bakers Dozen?

Some of our local church leaders have challenges our congregation to learn a set of scripture verses that we call "The Articles of Faith."  Today during church a representative of these leaders, after stressing the importance of the challenge and speaking about how he believes it is inspired, asked the congregation how many of us had memorized all 12 verses.  Too bad there are actually 13 verses.  The best part is the speaker didn't realize his mistake until several people on the stand said 13, progressively louder, until the speaker heard them.   Poor guy, he started off his talk with several jokes that didn't get so much as a courtesy laugh (he even paused expecting laughter, and almost didn't believe that there wasn't any) and this mistake drew the biggest laughs of the day.  At least he knew a majority of the congregation was paying attention.

Vitamins

I just saw the following headline on CNN.com:

"Research: Vitamins may increase mortality"

I would have to disagree with the headline. After years of my personal research, it is my expert opinion that taking vitamins provides no increase to your mortality. I'm pretty sure the biggest factor in determining a persons probability of mortality is their birth. Once a person applies for and attains a birthday, their mortality is pretty much guaranteed from that point on.

Underdog's

A few weeks ago I was at a store and they were having a sale on DVD's.  I saw a copy of Seabiscuit, and while I had seen the movie before, I bought the DVD mostly because it was a good deal, not because I was a huge fan of the movie.  Tonight I watched it for the first time after bringing it home with me, and I have to say it was one of the more emotional movies I have recently watched.  My eyes got watery multiple times during the movie.  

I think the main reason for this is that Seabiscuit was an underdog, just like my Dad.  My Dad was born during the great depression, and didn't have the same range of options as we enjoy today.  He was lucky enough to go to college, and was the first member of our family to obtain a college degree.  He then parlayed that into an extremely successful career, due to his ability to set goals and work hard to achieve them.  Watching the movie reminded me so much of my Dad and how he overcame so many challenges in his life.  He passed away just over a year ago, but he still has a huge influence in my life.  I try and live so that he would be proud of me, and I find myself still trying to do things that we spoke about while he was alive.  Anyway, watching the movie about overcoming setbacks and doing your best were probably two of the most dominant themes of my Dad's life, and if was a good reminder of how valuable those qualities can be in determining your success in life.

Predictions

As some of you may know, I am a fan of apple.  I have recently upgraded or bought for the first time a number of their products.  Including, but not limited to, a Time Capsule, an iPod Touch, and an Apple TV.  The iPhone is next on my list, but I am waiting until iPhone version 2.0 comes out.   Within apple products there is always much speculation as to when the next version of a new product will be released.  It is in this spirit that I offer my own prediction for when iPhone 2.0 will be released.  The reason I am publishing this prediction on my blog is so that if I am right, I'll have proof of how genius I am.  And if I am wrong, well then I will be no different than a majority of bloggers that are making their own predictions.

First, Apple has already stated that they are working on a new software update for the iPhone, and that update will be released in June.  It only makes sense to distribute the new hardware version once the new software version is in place and ready to go.  So we are looking for a launch sometime during June.  Also, for that past few product launches, Apple has just barely meet their deadline, often releasing new products just days before the end of the target month.  Throw in the fact the original iPhone was released on the 29th of June and Apple always releases products on Tuesdays, and I think the next revision will be be released on June 24th. 

Some might argue that it will be released during the World Wide Developers Conference that takes place the first week in June, but I would disagree.  Apple has already demoed the new software to be placed on the iPhone when they released the Software Developers Kit in February.  I am going to stick to June 24th and see how I come out.  And whenever it is released, I plan on adding the iPhone to my current collection of Apple products.

Could I have been

The following exchange from "The Office" has been replaying in my head today:

Dwight: Just think. That temp agency could have sent you anywhere.
Ryan: I think about that every day.

Too Much....

I am not sure why I find events at church so blog worthy, but something about large group settings create opportunities for me to find humor in the proceedings and happenings that occur. Today was no exception.

During the first meeting of the day, two cell phones went off. Now I am sure that the owners of said cell phones did not intend for their new (or old) ring tone to be heard by everyone else in the meeting, but things happen. Granted, it was a distraction, but I didn't think it ruined the meeting by any means. In fact, I thought some of the speakers took more away from the meeting with their various stories.

Anyway, afterwards, one of the members stood up and chastised everyone for not turning off their cell phones before entering the building. She mentioned that over the last few weeks she has been keeping track of how many times cell phones go off and the number was "off the charts." Really? Off the charts? You mean to tell me there isn't a chart big enough or with enough capacity to contain the number of cell phone rings in a one hour period? I didn't realize the capability of charts was so limited. I thought for sure we could track down a chart that would go up to at least two. Maybe even three if we look really hard.

I shouldn't be so hard on the girl, but I think it was her tone that really irked me. She then went on to say something along the lines of "Please turn off your cell phones so that those of us who are here to fill our lamps with oil can do so." I guess I don't believe that the cell phone offenders want to "fill their lamps" any less than the rest of us do. I just think mistakes happen sometimes.

If only I had the girl's phone number. I would call it every week during church just to make sure she had her cell phone turned off. How awesomely ironic would that be.....

Day Dreaming

Today David Neeleman announced he is going to start an airline in Brazil.  I found myself thinking "I should email him and figure out if he needs any help."  Nevermind the fact that I am just an Analyst, have never met the man, don't have any idea where the company will be based, and don't have any experience starting an airline, but in my mind I was a perfect fit for his new venture.  If any of you know him, put in a good word for me, will you.  

Politics....

So I don't claim to know much about politics. In my office and amongst a majority of my old classmates, I would be near the bottom in terms of political knowledge. This year, either due to me making more of an effort, or just being surrounded by it, I have become a bit more aware of the various candidates and what they stand for and the current political story of the day. First, in the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I was born and raised in Utah and was there during the 2002 Olympics. That being said, I was never fully convinced Mitt Romney was the best man for the job. Not that I like any of the other candidates any better, but I after reading some of the comments Romney made, I just felt a bit uneasy with the idea of fully supporting him.

That said, one of the things I have found most interesting was the amount of coverage Romney's religion received. That point was made even clearer in the past few weeks with the "scandal" involving Obama's Pastor. Obama's church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, has some interesting statements on their web page, yet I have yet to see Obama be asked to define his religion and what role it will play in his Presidency.  I have always thought that the differences in what was in the media was due to bias in the media.  I think I am wrong.

I hate to apply stereotypes, but it is the only way I can explain this difference in my mind.  Mitt Romney positioned himself as the King of the Conservatives. The portion of the vote he was trying to win is typically a very religious segment of the population, and their religious views are very influential in what they consider to be politically correct. Whereas Obama is King of the Liberals, and is trying to win the votes of a segment of the population to whom religion almost never defines their political views.  I now believe that the Media wasn't biased, but they were reporting the aspects of the Candidates candidacy that were important to there respective political bases

I don't know if this is truly the case or not, but it allows me to believe the media is still objective and is not trying to exert undue influence based on the implied trust the receive from the American public.

Eye of the Tiger....

Tiger Woods didn't win today. This is the first time this year that sentence applied to a tournament that Tiger Woods played in. Much has been said about the his winning streak, and the form and dominance that Tiger has obtained thus far this golf season. In fact, he looks so good on the course, that most Sports Writers have already mentioned the fact that "this could be the year Tiger Woods wins the grand slam." That is pretty amazing when you think about it. The first major of the year is still two weeks away, and people are already talking about Tiger winning the grand slam. You would at the least you would wait until after the first major, and then talk about the chances the winner has of winning the next three, but not with Tiger. With him the conversation starts a month before the first major.

I bring this up not because I am a big Tiger fan. I think he is an amazing golfer, but I wonder how many golf stories and shots I haven't seen or read because of the amount of coverage Tiger receives each week. I bring this up because I am amazed at how well the other PGA professionals have handled his dominance. A prime example occurred last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. On the last hole, Tiger Woods sank a 25 foot birdie putt to win. Who did he knock out of first place? Bart Bryant. What did that putt mean to Bryant? It meant that he would not have enough points to reach the top 50 and qualify for the Masters. It meant he didn't have a PGA Tour victory that would qualify him for the Masters. It was a difference of $400,000 in prize money. And the reaction of Bryant when hearing the roar of the crowd indicating Tiger had made his putt for the win? Something along the lines of "Man that guy is good." I don't know about you, but I think I would have reacted differently.

A lot has been said about Tiger Woods, but not enough has been said about those he competes with. The rest of the field has witnessed one of the most dominant players in the history of the game win 64 times in the last 11 years. That is 64 out of roughly 440 total PGA Tour events. That means Tiger has taken home more than 15% of the total possible trophies. I am not sure how many events he has played in, but it is possible he has a higher win percentage than the batting average of most major leaguers. I am surprised we haven't heard more of "If Tiger wasn't around, I would have won X number of times." Or "If it weren't for Tiger, I'd have been number 1 in the world for X weeks." Or "If Tiger wasn't so good, I'd be with Elin." It must be frustrating to continually see the same name at the top of the leaderboard Sunday night, and it is a sign of the maturity and graciousness of the other professionals on tour that we don't hear more people complain or whine about the dominance of Woods. Indeed, if Tiger wasn't around there would be a number of differences in the world of golf, and I think we should give more credit to those on the course with who continue to compete and give it their best to get in Tiger's pathway into the history books.

Too Smart

I found out that my sisters family got a new TV recently. It was my 7 year old nephew who informed me of this new toy sitting in their living room. The reason he brought it up was because this TV has a feature where, as he explained it, multiple people can have a set of favorite channels. This meant that all the kids could pick their top four channels and program them as their favorites. Want to know what he picked? Check it out:

1. Discovery Channel
2. History Channel
3. Animal Planet
4. Disney Channel

I don't know how many 7 year old kids would have Disney as fourth on the list and Nickelodeon not even present. I can understand Discovery Channel, but the real surprising one to me is the History Channel. Apparently his older brother had a similar list, while the older brother had ventured outside the mold and included ESPN and ESPN2.

Sometimes I feel like I am falling....

This has just been one of those weeks. I've almost walked into my leasing office and bought out my lease. I have almost gone to Brazil. I have almost walked into my managers office and put in my two weeks notice. I have almost done a lot of things. Most of which seem like a great idea until I actually thing about the fallout that would occur. This is one of those weeks where I just want to get away. Go somewhere familiar to me, yet that still has places to explore and crowds to hide in. Where I can disappear and be forgotten about, where the people that I talk to don't know me and don't care about where I've been or where I am going.

The good news is that my washer is now finally working without leaking water, so at least I can have clean clothes should I ever decide to act out on my fantasy escape plan.

H20

A few weeks ago I was doing laundry and after washing my clothes I noticed a small amount of water under the front of my washer. It was a small enough amount that I wasn't overly worried about a leaking washer, but enough water to where I made a mental note to be on the lookout for more water. The next time I did laundry water again made an unscheduled appearance at the base of my washer. I called the landlord and they arranged to have a new washer delivered to my apartment.

Today I used said washer for the first time, and just as the spin cycle was finishing up, there was a knock on my door. A handyman who was doing some remodeling in the apartment downstairs was outside ready to inform me that water was coming through his ceiling directly below my washer. I guess my new washer didn't solve the problem. The weird thing is there is no visible water on my floor under the washer at all. Now I am starting to think there might be a leak in the drainage pipe. Guess I'll find out in the next few days.

Reverence?

Today at church I sat behind a couple. Apparently, they are that into each other.  They sat and snuggled all during the meeting, air kissing, air eskimo kissing, playing with each others hair, making little inside jokes, giggling, and basically engaging in all manner of behaviors that are sickening to all those not in the first two weeks of a relationship. (Disclaimer: I have no idea how long they have actually been together, but it seemed like they were in the early stages of "I- like-you-ness")

This could have been distracting behavior, but I didn't mind all that much.  Until the end of the meeting that is, and then they crossed the line. A moment that should have just been a private deal between the two of them turned into a moment that was shared with me and whoever else behind me was watching.  At some point, the girl actually popped a zit on the dudes forehead and then rubbed whatever zit goo got onto her finger off on the shoulder of his shirt.   That is wrong on so many levels, but how that got on the list of things ok do to in church during a service is a mystery to me.  A mystery I hope to never personally have the answer to.

Genius Idea of the Day

Situation:
You call Customer Service of your "favorite" utility/service/travel/government agency, and after going through 26 different sub-menus you are placed on hold while a customer service agent becomes available. You end up on hold for anywhere from 5 minutes to 6 hours while simultaneously being subjected to awful hold music, pointless repeating ads, and breaking out in sweats over whether your cell phone battery is going to last long enough.

Solution:
After filtering you though all 26 sub-menus and deeming you worthy of speaking to an actual human being, sub-menu 27 should allow you to enter in the phone number where you wish to be reached. Then when it would be your turn in line, the company calls you back and you are immediately greeted by the friendly voice of a customer service agent. How awesome would that be?

Go ahead - someone take my idea and make it reality. I don't want any of the credit, just the ability to avoid being put on hold.

Everybody's happy.....

I've been on again/off again with my morning radio. When I was in high school I would listen to Radio from Hell religiously. It played in Salt Lake City on x96. The DJ's were irreverent and funny, and they played an awesome selection of alternative music. Whenever I go back to Salt Lake I try and catch their morning radio shows.

Since my arrival in Atlanta I have found a morning show to listen to on my way to work that is entertaining and fun to listen to: The Bert Show on Q100 (that really means 99.7 on the radio dial. I don't get it either). They do a few things I haven't heard done before and I like their format. Today's post is about something they are doing right now.

For as long as I have been listening to The Bert Show they have been talking about an event called "Bert's Big Adventure." For this event the radio station has picked 13 kids with chronic and life altering illnesses and has provided them with the ultimate VIP all expense paid trip for them and their families to Orlando so they can spend a few days in Disney World. I actually feel a bit more connected than I think I normally would because my company is providing the air transportation there and back for all the people involved in the event. I am very proud to be working for a company that is giving a little bit back to these kids and their families.

Driving into work this morning they were doing their send off radio show. They show was broadcast from a hotel lobby with all the family's there playing in the background and getting ready to head down to Orlando today. I was struck by how committed everyone is to this event, and the difference it makes in peoples lives. A statement that hit very close to home was about how going to Disney World outs these sick kids on equal footing with other kids their age who have also been there. It is a chance for them to feel "normal." For the last 15 years of my Dad's life, he battled a chronic disease. He did everything he could to maintain "normalcy" during this time, and he was always proud of himself when he was able to achieve those moments in his life. I could relate very easily to how the family's must feel about their sick children having the same opportunity and being able to forget their illnesses for a few days. Thinking about this I was actually getting a little emotional on my morning commute.

I was able check out the Send Off party a few hours later. The energy in the room was palpable. The kids were having a great time, and with the exception of a wheelchair here or there, you never would have been able to tell anything was wrong. Some of the kids had their faces painted, and others were talking to the Disney Characters that were at the party. There was no complaining, no crying, no negativity at all. Just joy, anticipation and excitement.

I hope all those kids have the time of their lives. I'm sure this weekend will be an amazing memory for all those involved. I'm also grateful that The Bert Show is giving back to the community in such a profound and meaningful way. Hopefully we will all have a chance in our lifetime to be part of something as special as this Adventure. Imagine how happy we would all be then.....

Luner Eclipse

I was looking forward to tonight. I was going to see what kinds of photos I would be able to get of the eclipse. But the clouds decided they wanted to see the show also, which means I now have an obstructed view. Wonderful.

And I was a boy....

My first time skiing I was five years old. I don't remember much about the experience, except that I never could get the hang of the whole pizza slice. Plus the whole "put you weight on your left foot to turn right" concept was way beyond the comprehension of my 5-year-old brain. I remember a few runs, but mostly I remember being on the ground. A lot. I also remember my older brother going down the hill backwards watching me and trying to teach me how to ski. I know know he was just trying to help, but at the time I thought he was emphasizing how bad I was at this whole skiing thing. He could go the whole way down backwards and I could barely go 100 yards facing the right way. I went once again when I was six, and then I retired and hung up the skis for a few years.

Fast forward to age 12, and suddenly I had a bit more coordination and athletic ability. And after a few times skiing with my brother, I was able to do fairly well. That was the start of a long recreational skiing career, one which is still going strong. I don't know if I ever thanked my brothers for teaching me how to ski, and then continually forcing me out of my comfort zone so I could improve, but I owe them for allowing me to have a wonderful hobby which I can share with my family.

Since picking up the traditional alpine skiing, I have added snowboarding and telemark skiing to my repertoire. The Christmas season is one I look forward to all year long because to me it means spending time with my brothers on the slopes enjoying one another's company, the beauty of the snowcapped mountains, and the challenge of the hill. Recently, my brothers kids have started to ski and snowboard as well, so now we have one more generation in on the tradition. The only downside to this is that my sister and her kids live in rather far away and have never been able to join us.

You might be wondering what this is all about. If everything goes well, tomorrow I will be headed to Colorado for a weekend of skiing with my oldest brother and some of his coworkers. I didn't get to ski much during the Christmas season last year (more on that in a future post) and so I have an itch to get out there and feel the wind rushing past me. I am looking forward to the weekend, and Friday morning can't get here soon enough.

Everyday things change, but basically they stay the same....

So last week at work my boss called me into his office and asked me to close the door. This is the first time this has happened in my new job, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I never would have guessed what was coming next. My boss proceeded to explain that he had been promoted to Vice President of our version of the HR department. Now we are in the finance department, so this will be a bit of a switch for him. I also thought it meant there would be changes in the finance department, but so far there have been none.

The selfish part of me is hoping that the Trickle Down effect will lead to a promotion for me, but I know if that happens I am going to be way overwhelmed. All I can do is be patient, which is something I have proven to not be very good at.

I'll keep ya'll posted on how this all develops.

Elated Bliss?

In my previous employment, my employer used the acronym "RAVE." This was meant to be an a form of recognition on an internal website where any employee could recognize outstanding service by any other employee in the company. It was thus possible to "RAVE" a fellow employee if they did an outstanding job, or to be "RAVED" if you were lucky enough to not only be an overachieving employee, but to also have some other employee recognize your overachieverness, and then take the time to tell all the other employees about the awesomeness of your overavhieving state of being. I was never RAVED. I prefer to think the reason was because either no one had the wherwithall to follow through on any one of the numerous times they thought "That was totally RAVE worthy, I need to write about that moment" or because all my moments were RAVE worthy, and thus no one moment stood out from the rest to my fellow employees. Either way, I was RAVE-less.

The reason I bring this up is because at my current place of employment we were talking about employee recognition, and I told my fellow employees about RAVES. One mentioned the fact that a rave can also be a party, which according to wikipedia is a

"dance part[y] (often all-night events) where DJs and other performers play electronic dance music, which may also be referred to as 'rave music', with the accompaniment of laser light shows, projected images, and artificial fog. Popular rave dance styles include breakdancing, popping and locking, shuffling, glowsticking, liquid dancing, and poi."

The same employee also brought up the fact that the drug Ecstasy is also used a lot at raves. Upon hearing this, a second employee turned to me and asked if Ecstasy is still really popular and easily available. I'm not sure what it is about me that says "I know about the popularness and availability of pyscotheraputic drugs" but aparently I was the man most likely to have the answers. I had to inform my coworkers that I was not the party animal that I appear to be and had no knowledge of how easy or costly ecstacy is to find. I hope they weren't too disappointed in me. At least I don't have to worry anymore about not getting a RAVE.

Office Quote of the Day

"Peach Iced Tea. You're going to hate it."

-Michael to Stanley after choosing a soda for Stanley from the Break Room vending machine.

Scary?

Which of these two characters would you most likely keep small children away from? If you said the dude on the left, I would agree with you. A seedy mustache is much creepier than a sophisticated goatee. However, many places I have worked/studied felt otherwise. They would allow a mustache, but a goatee (or any other type of beard for that matter) was strictly prohibited. I never understood this. So to prove a point me and a fellow coworker grew mustaches over the last week. He got more crap than I did, mostly because he saw more people outside of work than I did. At one point his friends put together a photo shopped a "To Catch a Predator" promotional flyer with him as the big star.

As for my experience with a mustache, one manager started laughing midway through a conversation and offered this explaination: "I'm having a tough time keeping a straigt face looking at you." I have had a goatee several times (I'm a rule breaker - I live on the wild side) and never once has this happened to me. So, since my friends didn't get a chance to rag me for my new look, I'm giving you all a chance to zing me. Fire Away.

New Title

So when I started this whole blogging adventure I was unaware of just how many decisions I would have to make in a short period of time in order to have my very one piece of webistate (Real Estate on the Web. Has anyone ever used that before? If not I call dibs.) What web address do you want? (Too bad all the good ones were already taken) What format do you want to use? Do you want a picture on your profile? Public or Private? Searchable or Non-searchable? Can anyone post? Do I want adult content or content just for kids? And what is your Title? Almost as imposing a question as "What is your Quest?" I did pretty well until the Title question, and then I froze. I couldn't think of anything good, or unique, or funny, or thoughtful. So I came up with two one word questions. (I don't even think that is really grammatically possible, but that never stopped me before.) I felt really sheepish about my Title, and resolved to work on coming up with a new one.

I have always liked music, and I have seen some friends use Music very well on their sites. So I decided to scour some of my favorite bands for a lyric that I thought would be fitting. I came across several and then had to narrow it down to one to represent everything this blog will EVER be. Ok, probably a bit dramatic.

I decided on "Tomorrow Is No Place To Place Your Better Days." I have a tough time not procrastinating, so I thought that would be a fitting thought to have every time I log in to blog - a small reminder to not wait until later to do what I want to. No reason why I can't start being the person I want to be today. Also, seeing as how I this blog will be a surrogate journal it should be a record of what happened today (or yesterday, or last week, but at least the recent past...you get the idea), I figured this new selection would be a kick in the pants to keep up with my new found hobby of blogging.

So there you have it. Also, first person to identify the song the lyric comes from gets a gold star.

Depressing…

Today I had one of the more depressing moments of the last couple days. As I was driving home I was listening to the radio, nothing to spectacular. Then after one song, the DJ made the following statement:

“Coming up in infotainment news we have an update on Britney Spears. Back in five minutes”

After this statement, I found my self lost in the following thought:

“I hope I am still driving home in five minutes. I’m curious to know what happened”

A month ago I could have cared less, and now I wanted to extend my commute to get the scoop. This thought was depressing to me on many different levels. First, I couldn’t believe that I had become emotionally invested in the Britney Spears story and now cared what the latest news on her was. Second, I’m upset that it didn’t occur to me that if I did miss the late-breaking Britney news, I could always check CNN or MSN and get just as good of an update.

I need to find some new things to care about.

Voting Matters

So today I voted for the first time since the election for my High School Student Body President. It wasn't anything earth shaking, but it was interesting reflecting on the ideology of voting while I was waiting in line. It is humbling that wars were started over the right of The People to have representation, and today we take such a cavalier attitude toward the whole process. Somewhere in the history of our great country voting stopped being treated as a civic duty and became almost an afterthought for too many people. I am included in the afterthought group, so I am just as guilty as the next person of neglecting my duty as a citizen. I would be willing to place a wager that the founders of our country had higher expectations of us and our commitment to our country. Makes me wonder how great a country we would have if we lived up to their ideals and principals. If everyone took to heart the words of the late John F. Kennedy and truly asked themselves "not what [our] country can do for [us], but what [we] can do for [our] country," imagine how much stronger of a nation we might become.

Also, on another front, does anyone else hope the Fed allows a recession to happen? I feel like we are delaying the inevitable, and the sooner we start the recession the sooner we can work to get out of one. I also don't like the fact that it appears that the Fed is reacting to movements in the market. Since when was it the Fed's job to stabilize markets? Markets have, do and will fluctuate. If they try and limit the downside exposure to bad events, then they must also be limiting the upside potential. Their job is to provide a stable monetary and financial system, not to ensure the market doesn't react to negative pressure. Maybe I believe to much in the ability of markets to allocate resources where they are most needed. But I think allowing markets to naturally rule is better than providing bailouts. Bailouts have the potential consequences of creating incentives for people to take on more risk than they otherwise would.

I read the other day that a congressman is threatening to block any proposed mergers between major airlines. He is worried that larger airlines will remove smaller routes and charge higher fares. These are legitimate concerns, but don't complain if these same airlines, unable to merge, file bankruptcy again. If such a bankruptcy happens again in the near future and that airline is unable to emerge from bankruptcy protection, then the end result will be the removal of an airline from the landscape - the same result as would happen in a merger.

On a lighter note, Apple upgraded their iPhone and iPod Touch today, with the result being that I now want an iPod Touch more than I should. I am still going to hold out for an iPhone until they release a phone that runs on the 3G data network.

And did anyone else see that move Deron Williams put on Chris Paul last night? What a sweet juke and power dunk to finish it off.

Snow

Also, Snowbird is getting hammered with snow. Something like 100 inches in the last 10 days, including 24 inches yesterday. It is days like today when I think Skibums have the right idea....

Exciting News

Ok. So I have two big news items. The most important piece of news in terms of significance is that one of my good friends is pregnant. I know she has wanted to have kids for a long time, so this will be a great thing for her. She sounded super excited when she told me, and I'm stoked for her to be nearing the next phase of her life. She is sure to be an awesome Mom.

Second, and this has more of an impact on my life, is that Dave announced a tour stop....with Tim....in Hawaii. I have seen Dave and Tim in Europe, so it only makes sense for me to go and see them on US soil. Plus, it is in HAWAII! It is part of the Kokua Fesitval to raise money for the environment, and is sponsored by companies such as Patagonia. Jack Johnson is also part of the festival. I am already planning on going, so the only question becomes how much time do I spend there before the concert. I think I might fly in a day early and hang out on the Island.

Customer Service

First off, let me assure all my faithful readers that I am still gainfully employed. Turns out there was never any HR conspiracy to get me out of the company. More so a comedy of errors where upon I was without benefits and seemingly without pay at the same time. Both issues have since been resolved and I can now rest easy. Not that is has ever been a challenge for me to rest. A more accurate statement would probably be “Now I don’t have to worry about bouncing my rent check.”

I feel like I have spent this week on the phone dealing with customer service departments. I think I have placed an average of two calls a night to various companies I deal with. This is one of the wonderful experiences I had.

I called my bank this week to try and get a few things worked out with some of my accounts. I spent quite a while on the phone and spoke to various people, and never did get the help I was looking for. So I sent my bank an email telling them how disappointed I was with their service. I just got a reply, and the following is a part of it:

“Please note we have taken the necessary steps to ensure that we have provided proper education on the transferring of calls to the appropriate unit.”

Noted! I'll even write that on a Post-it, so it can be noted on the offical workplace notepad! I feel so much better about the lousy customer service now. I am almost tempted to call back and see how many people I talk to again to verify how well their “phone call transferring education” program is going, but I don’t want to lose another hour of my life.

Who would have known

This is a day that never should have arrived. I never thought I would enter the online world of blogging. I always thought blogging was for "those" people. I never really had a picture of what "those" people were in my mind, I knew I just didn't want to become a member of "that" group. I have nothing against bloggers - some of my best friends blog. I just never felt the desire or the compulsion to share all my thoughts with the world. Who would find what I have to say interesting? What would I talk about? It actually kinda feels like I am on my first date with the internet. I'm nervous. I don't know what to expect from this relationship. I don't know how long it will last. What do I talk about? What if the internet doesn't like me? If I don't post for a few days is the internet going to think something is wrong? Is she going to ignore me or play games? Only time will tell I guess.

So, I feel like I should start of my blogging life with something interesting. Here goes - I think I got fired this weekend, but no one told me. Seriously, I think my HR department wants me gone.