Quick Thoughts 5/31

• I got notified yesterday that I am entitled to some settlement money in a couple of class action settlements.  One was for Sprint, and the other was from Edina Title Company.  It’s not big bucks, but it’s worth my time to send in the paperwork and get a few bucks back.  The notice for Sprint came with the bill, so if you’re a Sprint customer, don’t just throw out the extra material that comes with your statement this month. 
• We switched gears up a little bit and watched Crash last night.  I did enjoy this movie, and the same is true for most of the people I’ve talked to.  I liked how all the characters “crashed” into each other in their lives.  It kind of makes you stop and think about how your actions will affect other people who cross your path in life.  Good movie, and the more time I take to think about it, the more I like it.
• My lawn is already starting to dry out, but I’m not willing to water it yet.  I like having a green lawn, but I’m not willing to constantly water it.  A lot of my neighbors have been watering constantly already.  There really is no point to watering during the heat of the day though, as most of the water evaporates, and I just shake my head when I see that.  I’m going to let it go dormant this summer and try to get the roots to dig deeper.  I think I have a shallow root system right now.  We’ll see what happens and if I’m correct in my thinking. 

I love three day weekends

The switch has been flipped, and summer is officially here, with temps over 90 degrees this weekend.  We had a fun and productive three-day weekend.  I got all my yard work done by noon on Saturday, before it got too terribly hot.  Yesterday I bought and installed a couple of ceiling fans for the upstairs bedrooms.  My arms are going to be pretty sore tomorrow from working above my head so much.  I also put my grill to good use this weekend.  We had brats on Friday, ka-bobs on Saturday, and chicken last night. 

We watched two more movies this weekend, Wedding Crashers, and The 40 Year Old Virgin.  I was actually disappointed with Wedding Crashers.  I expected it to be funnier.  The 40 Year Old Virgin was a lot funnier, and Holly and I both liked that quite a bit.  For some reason, it kind of reminded me of Office Space; probably because a lot of the film centered around the workplace, and the co-workers. 

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any pictures, so here are a couple recent ones of Payton.  We also went fishing this weekend, and with some help from Grandpa, Payton caught himself a little fish.

 

Quick Thoughts 5/25

• Thanks to my buddy Jason, I have a half a dozen DVDs to watch in the next two weeks.  These are all fairly recent movies that I just hadn’t gotten around to seeing yet.  Last night we watched Anchorman, which I rather enjoyed.  It actually surpassed my rather low expectations, and I found myself laughing quite a bit during the movie. 
• For those in Rochester, the cheapest gas in town is at Fleet Farm.  It’s generally two cents cheaper than everywhere else, but if you buy anything in the store, you get a four cent per gallon discount coupon, so really it’s six cents cheaper per gallon.  Also, the coupons have an expiration date on them, but they told me that they would take the expired ones still, so don’t throw the old ones away.  I think people are starting to realize that they have the cheapest gas in town, because it’s always really busy at the pumps.  Most of the time you have to wait for a pump to open up.  Hopefully that will improve after they build and open the new mega Fleet Farm down the road.  Not only is it the cheapest gas in town, but now for me, it’s also the most convenient place to fill up on the way home from work.
• We lost our first softball game of the season last night.  Unable to string any hits together, we only scored three runs over seven innings, and ended up losing 5–3.  It was there for our taking, but we just couldn’t score. 
• I’ve got The Best of Enya playing right now.  It’s been quite a while since I’d listened to this, and I forgot how peaceful and relaxing it is.  I remember we had this CD playing at the hospital while Holly was in labor with Payton.  I guess that makes it more special now too. 

Quick Thoughts 5/24

• This is a pretty crazy week of weather here.  We had frost on the ground Monday morning, which I don’t think a lot of my beans are going to survive, and now I see they are forecasting a high of 91 on Sunday.  Yes, it does get hot in Minnesota.  (When I’ve traveled to other parts of the country, you wouldn’t believe how many people think it’s cold and snowy in Minnesota all year long.)
• After returning home on Sunday from another weekend in the Chicago suburbs, I found that I had caught my second rabbit of the season.  This was a feisty one, and I could tell that it had been eating well.  I think I have the rabbit problem under control…for now. 
• I finished watching Peter Jackson’s King Kong last night.  That movie didn’t need to be three hours.  Some three-hour movies fly by and you lose track of time.  This was not one of them. 
• This is newsworthy?  Looks like they’re going to have chicken for dinner tonight.

Quick Thoughts 5/18

• Another ‘W’ for our softball team last night.  We’re now 4–0, but that’s how we started last year’s 4–8 season as well.  I have a feeling we’ll do much better this year though.
• Yesterday marked my seven year service anniversary with IBM.  I just realized that this morning while looking at the calendar.
• Most of the crops in my garden are up now, but those darn rabbits are chewing on my peas.  I still have the trap out, but I think I’m dealing with the smarter bunnies now.  They forced me to put up a chicken-wire fence last night.  We’ll see how well that works. 
• This is kind of funny.  It reminds me of the time at Iowa State when a kid climbed out the den window on the tenth story of Wilson Hall and sat out on the ledge.  While he was out there, he sobered up enough that he froze up, and was too afraid to get back in.  Crazy kids.
• The CSI season finale is tonight.  I don’t think that William Petersen’s (Gil Grissom’s) contract got renewed for next season, so it will be interesting to see how they get rid of him tonight.  (He was upset about all the CSI spin-offs.)  I suppose that will be a shock for people who haven’t followed the behind-the-scenes headlines, especially when it looks like Brass is the one who is going to die right now.  Whatever happens, I bet they don’t kill Grissom off, just in case they can persuade him to come back.  I don’t see the show lasting long without him.

Pitt-stop

While driving into work today, a commercial came on the radio that gave me something to blog about.  Did you know that you can now get Botox injected into your armpit if you sweat uncontrollably?  As the commercial said, “Do you sweat through your shirt, even in the middle of winter?”  Well, as a matter of fact, yes I do, but Botox would be the last thing I use to treat it.  But then again, I don’t think I have “primary axillary hyperhidrosis.”  If I think about the times I’ve pitted out in the winter, it usually involves shoveling snow, or while in college, I had to walk about a mile from my dorm to the campus, which would always raise my temperature and cause me to pitt out. 

There’s just something about injecting Botox into your body that seems wrong to me.  Botox is short for “Botulinum Toxin Type A.”  Call me crazy, but I always thought toxins were bad, and I also thought botulism was a bad thing too.  I think the risks outweigh the benefits, especially when most of the conditions that are treated with Botox are generally not extremely serious to begin with.  (i.e. removing facial wrinkles.)  I’d much rather be a little embarrassed from having a pitted out shirt, than having poison injected into my body.  Wouldn’t you?

Quick Thoughts 5/9

• Here are some of the most popular myths in science. The Mythbusters have tackled some of them, but I learned a thing or two here that I didn’t know. The chicken living without a head reminds me of the Bigshow chicken video.
• It’s not even June yet, but the Cubs are in the middle of a big swoon, losing seven straight games. I hope Derek Lee is a quick healer…the Cubs are really missing him right now.
• We caught our fist rabbit of the year yesterday. I have to keep them out of the garden. (Don’t worry PETA folks, it’s a catch and relocation program.)
• Who’s going to win Survivor this season? It would be nice to see Terry continue his domination, but I have a feeling Cirie will end up winning it. I’ve watched every season of Survivor, but the funny thing is, after about the first three seasons, I couldn’t tell you who the winner was. They all just blur together after that.
• David Blaine is pretty amazing. He failed to hold his breath for nine minutes, but still lasted over seven. I held mine along with him, but barely made it past one minute. I think his feats would be a lot more impressive if he wasn’t a magician though. Since he is, a lot of people are kind of like, “Is he doing that for real, or is it some sort of illusion?” That’s the way I feel at least, but I’m pretty sure his endurance stunts are the real deal.
• Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! 36 years today.

It's Softball Season Again

Softball season has started again, and we already played our second game of the season last night.  We’re off to a good start, as we’ve won both games, but I have not forgotten what happened last season.  (We won our first four games in convincing fashion, and then proceeded to lose the final eight games of the season.)  Our team got a new sponsor this year, and that means new t-shirts.  The shirts are “dreamsicle” orange with a navy and white Glynner’s logo on the front.  They practically glow in the dark, but I think they the main reason we are winning!

Right now I’m batting .500, but had a legitimate double last night.  I bat left-handed and generally I like to line the ball right up the middle, or right over the second baseman.  Last night I noticed that the outfielders were shifted pretty far to the right for me.  There was a huge hole in the outfield between the third base line and where the left fielder was playing.  I decided I was going to try to exploit that.  The first pitch played perfectly into my plan.  It was an outside pitch, and that made it easy for me to take the opposite way.  It landed about two feet to the right of the foul line, and then tailed to the left, into foul territory, away from the outfielder who was franticly trying to get to it.  By the time he got to the ball, I was already half-way to second base.  That will probably be my offensive highlight for the season, so I’m pretty happy about it right now.

Quick Thoughts 5/2

• Did you watch any of the NFL draft this past weekend?  What I don’t understand is why someone would want to attend the draft in person as a spectator.  It’s painful enough to watch on TV.  I wonder what they have for entertainment between the picks?  I bet they sell a lot of beer though. 
• So last year the Bears had a pretty decent defense, and I sub-par offense.  What do the Bears do with their first five draft picks?  They use them for defensive players, of course.  I think a lot of Bears fans are scratching their heads on that one.  I hope Angelo knows what he’s doing.
• The Bulls have been playing pretty decent basketball against the Heat.  I’ve actually been watching their playoff games…something I haven’t done in years.  The series is tied at two games each, now that Chicago won both games at home.  Game five is tonight in Miami.  Go Bulls!
• It’s official, the old house is sold!
• I’ve got some Audioslave playing right now.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoy their music.