My loving sister has brought to my attention a ridiculous error in my previous post. Even though this post is probably making me a tad late for work, I think it's worth the investment to clear up any confusion that may have resulted. I can't have people going ~9000 minutes before my next regularly scheduled post......
I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE.
While I will give Justin some credit for trending the right direction (I'm not afraid to say he's come a long way since his days as lead moron for the boy band), he's nowhere near man-crush level. I'm willing to publicly admit he's not a loser, but that's about as far as it goes. Sorry Justin. If you'd quit wearing so many scarves, and you can get someone to make your right hand look less gargantuan maybe even more people would like you. These aren't easy things to look past as a shallow society.
FIRST, I should apologize. I did not realize that Lou and Lori had both left comments on my earlier blog (hello, auntie's!). I have now changed my settings so that I get an email anytime someone leaves a comment, so from now on I can respond appropriately to any future posts.
I got Sick this Week
So I caught some random bug this week. I stayed home and slept thursday, and have been doing excessive amounts of napping for most of the last week. For a couple of days I also had a slightly sore mouth, which I think is a new one for me. It was like having a sore throat, except it was my gums, inner cheeks, and other various pieces inside my mouth. If I hadn't already had mono, I would have perhaps guessed I had it. But then again, I I hadn't already had mono, I wouldn't know what it felt like, and probably wouldn't have made a comparison to it. A quick stop at WebMD.com gave me this helpful advice (paraphrasing) - "Don't always assume it is herpes". Well thank you for that nugget of medical wisdom. Although I appreciate their concern, I happened to be a step ahead of them in this particular regard. I think Wikipedia and WebMD have two things in common.
They both have TONS of information
Their usefulness is counter-intuitive
I would never have guessed that Wikipedia would be even remotely useful, but it turns out there's a TON of good information on it. Sadly, WebMD sounds like a good idea, but it ends up just being a place that people search on when they are afraid they caught an STD. Anyway.....the good news is that I'm pretty much back to normal.
Oliver Got Sick Too
In what appears to be an unrelated incident, Oliver gave the impression that he had a near-death experience friday night. Here's the short version of the story......He fell out of bed friday night (occasionally he is allowed there) and was scurrying around like he was trying to escape some sort of pain. His back leg definitely wasn't working correctly, because he had a serious alignment issue that was forcing him to constantly turn right (insert Derek Zoolander ambi-turner joke here). After walking all the way around 3 sides of my bed (going right), he sadly rammed into the wall and then scurried out of the bedroom where I caught him and he peed on the floor. Then he took off again and threw up back in the bedroom. So I picked him up and took him to the safety of the ceramic tile in my kitchen (where he threw up a little more). By the time I did some initial clean-up of the various fluids, he had calmed down a lot and seemed fine. We went outside and he took a dump, but basically acted like nothing had happened. I have lots of possible explanations for this, but I really have no idea. I'll be keeping an eye on the situation, but he seems unphased now.
As a sidenote, is there a veterinarin version of WebMD? It seems like the philosophy of self-diagnosis and half-measured solutions is better suited for pets than people anyway.....just sayin'.
The 'Get to Know Michael' Pop Quiz
What does Michael have in common with a typical teenage girl????
a. He is self-conscious about his body
b. His texting antics are out-of-control
c. He has a crush on Justin Timberlake
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If you guessed 'c', you'd be correct. I inexplicably had an extra $33 in text charges on my bill this month! Stop the madness! People need to quit texting me, and they probably will as soon as they realize that I'm not that likely to respond anymore unless it's really warranted.
Entertainment Section
I saw the movie "Burn After Reading" this weekend. (By looking at my blog you'd think I went to the movies alot, but you'd be wrong.) I don't really recommend this movie for anybody, although if you love other Coen Brothers' movies you will likely go anyway. Suck-o.
I also caugh the end of the David Blaine "Dive of Death", and that was pitiful. BUT, if you were let down by this, perhaps this little video clip will cheer you up. (Note: Everyone is obviously welcome to watch this, but if you aren't familiar with David Blaine's "Street Magic" you probably won't appreciate this clip. I'm kinda looking at you, Mom and Dad :-)
In other comedy news, I'm going to see Jim Gaffigan here in Dayton this thursday. I'll let ya know how it goes.....
I'm frantically working on a plan to go to Alabama to play golf in November. They have a bunch of courses that are part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail that are supposed to be awesome for fall/winter. More to come on this....
Oliver is Having a HORRIBLE Week
In addition to his strange illness, Oliver also has an owner who is intent on plucking all of his long hairs out. Here's a picture at ~50% completion. I've gotten much better at this and I can pretty much get this done in about 3 hours of effort. But in general it's not really that good of a time. It's probably his version of a human's trip to the dentist.
Political Commentary
I'm not sure if you've all heard about this, but it turns out that America is screwed. How do I know? Well, Lou Dobbs and Ron Paul were the only people I saw on CNN or MSNBC that were making any sense. And that is in the book of Revelations as a sign of the apocalypse (NEWEST New Revised Edition....they caught another monk typo). It doesn't matter who gets elected, they are just as screwed as the rest of us. In fact, they may be even more screwed. We're probably just about due for an assassination attempt (Note to Secret Service - I'm just speculating, not planning.) I'm estimating that we may be back to 'normal' in 3 presidents. But they might as well announce now that the guy who wins this election won't get re-elected because he's not going to be able to un-do all the stupid shit that's happened already. I'm not even that motivated to go vote now, despite my location in a swing-state. Sorry Barack and John, that's just bad timing for you guys. PUT YOUR MONEY IN A COFFEE CAN AND BURY IT IN YOUR BACKYARD!!!!! (jk)
So, many of my neighbors continue to not have electricity due to the hurricane-strength winds last sunday. According to the Dayton Power & Light website there are still over 38000 people without power here in Dayton. I'm lucky to not be one of those.
I officially got my 1st post-promotion paycheck this friday. I'd be more excited about it if I hadn't been told I was getting promoted last November, only to have it take until now for it to get done. The government can obviously make even the simplest, straight-forward good news and manage to piss people off about it. But I'm over it, and it's just in time for October, which just happens to be one of those glorious 3 paycheck months (I get paid every 2 weeks). I've got a fever, and I think the only cure is more Playstation 3! (well, just one would be enough) I dont' really have a fever, but I've seriously been fighting off Playstation3 procurement urges off and on for about a year. If I'm going to waste money I really oughta buy a bed. Mine is a piece. But for 5 years I figured I'd just keep using this one because if I ever get a serious g/f (stressing serious here) she'll probably either already have appropriately nice bedroom furniture or she'll certainly be in charge of picking new stuff out. Segue.............
Potential Procreation Update (for Megan)
I have consistently spoken out against 'persistence dating'. This is when someone pursues another and the pursue-ee says 'no thank you' many, many times, but eventually gives in and goes on a date. I've never understood the logic and have been quite critical of this philosophy in the past. The phenomenon lives on mostly because every time it happens it gives false (kinda false) hope to all the people getting the 'no'. Well, I gave in and went on a date with a girl that's been jonesing for a date for quite awhile now. That was a mistake. Hopefully she's not reading this, but she surely should know that it didn't go all that well. Nothing horrendous, just kind of an 'eh...' experience, and one that doesn't warrant further investigation. But we did go to a thai restaurant that is part of the group known as the 'Dayton Independents', which I'd never heard of before. As you might imagine it's a group of independent restaurants that have a loyalty rewards program in place. I am now going to slowly start going through this list to check these guys out (there's only about 20 restaurants in the list). In conclusion, I tried the persistence dating scene, and will now go back to criticizing the participants. I can take 'no' for an answer; and now I'll expect any progressive, forward-thinking female pursuer to do the same.
Cooking Update
I'm risking comparisons to Steve Correll in '40 Year Old Virgin' with this section, but I do like to cook. It's officially fall starting tomorrow, and that means it is completely reasonable to start firing up the crock pot. I do own the Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes, (BBSCR) and also the CIA's Soup cookbook. With the CIA book I've learned that you'd better set aside 4 hours of time and make sure you have an internet connection. There's going to be some assumed knowledge in the recipe that I don't have. But with the BBSCR you basically just cut a bunch of stuff up and throw it in the crockpot. This friday I made 'Golden Beef and Apple Cider Stew', and I give it a 6 (out of 10). Nothing spectacular here, and I probably won't make it again. It had all the usual suspects in a typical stew (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, beef), and also obviously had apples and apple cider in it. It was certainly edible and tasted good enough for me to eat it for about 4 meals, but I won't go so far as to endorse it.
Travel Update
No travel plans here, but I did actually enter in the Tampa Bay Rays' raffle to win the chance to buy postseason tickets.......unlikely I'd go, but it doesn't cost anything to throw my name in the hat.
Movie Review - Tropic Thunder
This could have almost gone under a previous section. I went with a female friend, but it's been decided that this wasn't a date. Actually this female friend is Meghan, who came with me to Lindsey and Brent's wedding last year. ANYWAY, Tropic Thunder is unlikely to be enjoyed by anyone that can't deal with really crude humor. If you're into that type of thing it's certainly worth a rental, but maybe not worth going to the theater to see. Tom Cruise has a small part in it, and he manages to steal the show and be the funniest character in the whole thing.
Alright, I gotta get back to reading a case-study for my Master's class. Maybe I'll include a picture next week...........
Well, according to the news, 100,000 people don't have power in the dayton area because we've had hellacious winds today (sustained winds up to 50mph with gusts over 70mph). Luckily my condo still has power. But I was at Dorothy Lane Market this afternoon, which is a fancy-pants grocery store that has amazing produce, deli, etc., and the power went out there just before I was getting in line to check out. (I bought all the ingredients for 'Golden Beef & Apple Cider Stew'. I'll let ya know how it turns out.) They couldn't get their generator to work, and after about 20 minutes of standing around in the dark they started just estimating the cost of items in people's carts and letting customer's pay with cash. I'm pretty sure I got a good deal, as my estimated cost was $32, but usually I spend closer to $50+. But I don't ever pay attention to how much crap costs at the grocery store. I just grab something and throw it in the cart.....I was at the mercy of the 16 year old cashier, but she was definitely estimating low and I wasn't going to stop her.
Since you're reading this you know that I survived my trip to Rome, NY. But as I mentioned earlier, my hotel was very creepy and should probably be the setting of a horror movie. Heavy forest surrounding a 1-story hotel with the exterior doors isn't a good idea. Don't go to 'The Beeches' in Rome, even though this picture doesn't look that horrible. It's unsafe.
I went to the baseball Hall of Fame this wednesday, and that place is officially impressive. They know how to do a hall of fame. Basically the entire town is the 'hall of fame' because all the stores and crap around the actual HoF are devoted to baseball too. I was only there for just over 2 hours, so I didn't even come close to seeing everything. But I did take plenty of pictures. Here's the Cardinals official locker (with random stuff in it), and Ozzie's plaque.
I also had a pretty Christmas-y week. I finally cooked up the awesome beef and noodles Aunt Lou gave lots of us at Christmas. That's some good eatin'. The only 'problem' is that it could feed about 10 people. I've eaten it for basically every meal since friday, and I'm only about half way through it. While at the HoF I bought some Christmas gifts, which is easily the earliest I've ever done that before. Landon's getting a book called 'Hello Fredbird', written by the one and only Ozzie Smith. Maybe it will overtake Cars as his favorite thing on earth! (Unlikely....)
That's all I've got this week. I need to crank on a paper for my master's class that is due tomorrow.....
So, I'm in Rome, NY. My best analogy for describing this glorious town is to imagine Salem, IL, in 1983 (Effingham has too many restaurants to draw parallels to Rome). Basically what I'm saying is this place has no appeal for out-of-towners.
I was originally supposed to be traveling with a co-worker that has been here several times before. She didn't end up making the trip, but she did manage to recommend the hotel I'm staying at. This recommendation was poor. I just stepped out to take a picture, but it's dark and I fear the dark woods just beyond my door (btw, Pujols just hit a 3-run homer to tie the Cubs!) This is one of those old-school hotels that is one-story and has all the doors to the rooms on the outside. What makes this one creepy is that it's surrounded by thick forest. It does have free internet and digital cable, but the setting is slightly unsettling. As a non-obese male in his 20's I doubt any perpetrators would view me as the lame zebra in the pack, so I really don't think I'm going to be targeted. But I wouldn't want to stay here alone if I was a more inviting target. And I'm not going to be thrilled if some senior citizen gets attacked next door...
The only good thing about this trip is that I'm only 50 miles from Cooperstown, NY, so I'm going to hit up the baseball hall of fame before my flight out of Syracuse tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes if I keep doing this blogging thing. For now I'll just back-fill you all on some other halls of fame:
Football Hall of Fame - Canton, OH. Don't waste the gas. Total letdown.
Hockey Hall of Fame - Toronto, Canada (the 52nd state). Much better than the football hall of fame. It's reasonably interesting even for non-hockey fans.
Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland, OH. Another mediocre review. My hall of fame experience so far has led me to speculate that all of them are just OK.
OK, I'm done. But I'll post a video that you all may find humorous for its saturated level of ridiculousness.
While on the phone tonight, Megan pointed out some funny videos on her blog (that I regularly forget to check), and I decided I should play along on this blogging phenomenon. It does seem to be a good way to keep everybody more up to date on my comings and goings. I obviously won't be discussing details of work on here. But rather than focus on what WON'T be on here, I'll give everybody some teasers of what WILL be covered.
Travel excitement - When I travel to great places (like Rome, NY!) I'll paint the scene for everybody and it'll be almost like you were here yourself (minus the part where I got up at 3:45am to catch a 6 am flight).
Sports excitement - I know everyone wants to hear about my glorious career as a rec. league sports superstar! You all already know this, but people take sports way too seriously, even as adults. For better or worse, I have already honed my athletic skills back when it seemed more appropriate to spend 30 hours a week trying to master a game. So now I amuse myself by dominating people that think there are professional scouts in the crowd of 20 people watching the games. I hope this stops being amusing before I tear my ACL, but the smart money is on my career ending under the knife. Maybe I'll surprise myself and stop while still intact......
Dating excitement (some of it) - I'm just gonna throw a little bit of this information in there to try to calm some nerves. Anytime I'm interacting with females my age and Megan is around, her desperation on my behalf is palpable! ;-) Don't panic. Even if I don't find a keeper in the next few years, I'm getting close to the point where I can be somebody's marriage Round #2. I'm told these girls have much lower expectations and a wealth of knowledge on how to make a relationship work!
Random Theories - I've got 'em. Now I'm gonna share 'em. Examples - half-sized loaves of bread (someone has since stolen this idea from me and started producing them), how to fix the DH problem in major league baseball, how my old lady of a neighbor could quit banging her front left bumper on the garage everytime she pulls in (it's called 'reverse'). I will likely only be amusing myself with these stories.
I'll be attempting to adopt the 'sunday updates' theory from Megan, but I can't make any promises at this point. We'll just see how it goes.
Everybody else is doing this blogging jazz, and ,as much as I'm inclined to poke fun at it, it does keep me more 'in the loop' with everybody. So, I'm going to participate a little bit.....
