I will never get this

Texas weather consistently confounds me. A few days ago I was with my little brother sitting on my back porch sipping some awesome sweet tea and enjoying the mid 8o degree temperatures. We decided to throw the football. After approximately 3.1 throws it started to rain very lightly. Over the next 45 minutes it poured rain and hail. once the rain had subsided we went outside to find that it was in the low 50's. RIDICULOUS!

Anyway, after tonight I am off for three days and I am very excited. My wife and I will get to work on the back yard and get it ready for so many summer shindigs. We will also get to go jogging at the very beautiful San Gabriel park ( a new favorite pass time) and actually prepare a meal together, sit down at the table and eat together, and then she'll clean up the mess I make while eating. No seriously...I'll help too...kinda...I mean I'll provide entertainment while she cleans up.

We have finally entered the last stage of our great kitchen hutch build and will be installing it tomorrow. I really love building things with my hands and also working together with Kimberly...so this project has been great fun for me. It's almost a shame to complete it.Oh well...we need to put our dishes some where.

I know soda is bad for you...I know this. I also know that I am an addict and there are alot worse things to be addicted to. I am trying to ween myself off of soda by switching to caffeine free. I still just can't bring myself to drink diet. It tastes like rat poison smells.

Just to update you all on the job hunt situation, I have a seemingly good situation in which a company got my resume through a friend who works there and liked what they saw enough that they are trying to create a position for me. The work I would be doing is in my degree and badly needed in the company, but creating a position can take some time. To follow the wisdom "don't put all your eggs in one basket" I am continuing the search for a better career. Keep me in your prayers.

I am getting very excited about the traveling my wife and I will be doing this summer. My little brothers wedding in May is in Montana, where I have never been. Less than a month later we will head to South Dakota for Kimberly's cousin's wedding. I have also never been there, but I have a great interest in that area and it's people.

So, this summer will be the greatest summer ever and I am very optimistic about what it holds. Opportunity abounds!

LONG weekend recap

The weekend was long...not the recap. Here's some of what I did:

Played my madden Season (currently 16-0 heading into play offs with an injured QB)
Hunt out with my beautiful wife
Purchased and set up a new patio set. SWEET!
Played at my friends back yard driving range...I suck at golf.
Watched me some March Madness
Started painting a piece of furniture for our kitchen
Job searched
Read "Lake Woebegone Days" by Garrison Keillor
Hung out in my back yard with Rovy

I know what your thinking. "Justin" you'll say. "You didn't go anywhere or do anything really exciting." Then I'll shoot you a slight grin and say..."Exactly." I loved just hanging out. It was good for my soul.

Also, even though I was on vacation I did a good job not blowing my diet and I am proud to say I am still on target for the whole looking good thing.

I have a very interesting prospect for a new career and I am praying that it comes through. I feel pretty strongly that this job would be really great for me and that the company I would be working for really needs me. That's a good feeling. The problem is that they have to create the position for me to fill and that can take some time. Oh well. It's out of my hands.

I have another long weekend this weekend...only this one is 3 days instead of five. Nice.

What have you been up to? Let me know

T minus 5 and a half hours!

That's how long I have until my vacation starts and I am super jacked about it! There will be kayaking, grilling,disk golfing, playing of madden '05 n PS2, hopefully getting to see some friends I haven't seen in a while, yard work, and general fun.

My wife and I went running this morning...yeah...in the morning. I hate early morning, but after you get your athletic attire on and get out the door...you will be so glad you did! First of all, when we got home is was almost 9am and we were full of energy and had a ton of time to do what we wanted. Secondly, research shows that if you exercise first thing in the morning you will lose more weight, have more energy, and retain information better for the whole day. That's a pretty sweet side affect.

I started playing Madden in Franchise Mode after a discussion with my brother about the possibility of making to the super bowl. I am in week 6 and with one of those weeks being a bye...I currently stand 5-0 and lead the conference. I know this may sound lame, but I need some sort of football to get me through to the start of the NFL pre-season.

So, um...nobody offered to give me an iPod yet. Selfish, yeah? That's alright. For your next birthday I am going to buy you an iPod...except it will be for me and I won't actually give you anything.That's what!

5 Days

That is how long I have away from work starting Thursday. I am extremely excited about this and plan do accomplish quite a bit during this time. One thing I hope to accomplish is relaxation. Yeah...maybe get a massage...finally. I also want to work around the house, spend a ton of time outside, get together with friends, make great meals for my wife and I, exercise, play some music, and maybe get a tan. That sounds like a sweet week to me.

I went running yesterday and I had a feeling afterwards I would like to share with you. I am sore. I hurt in muscles I had almost forgotten. In addition to the pain is an urge to do it again. I am feeling good about my fitness plan.

On a related topic, I am trying to eat right and make better food choices. So far the hardest thing to deal with is the desire to snack alot. I love having something to munch on and what I didn't realize the insane amount of calories I was putting into my body between meals. Terrible. I'm workin on it though. Give me 6 weeks and I will look different.

Similar Stupidity Part 2

Today's installment is about parenting or the lack there of among cultures. All of these styles have been witness numerous times by myself while trying to do my job in a place of business. I submit the following:

White people are an interesting group to watch with their kids. I understand that there are a million different parenting style, but one that belongs almost exclusively to white parents is the "Put a cute little leash on your children" technique. Ironically, the parents that leash their children like animals are usually the same parents who think they can "negotiate" with a screaming 2 year old who is pissed off at the world because their mommy and daddy didn't buy them that Hanna Montana inflatable singing cereal bowl/doll stage. Talk about sending mixed signals.

Black parents tend to be more old school in their approach to child rearing. I am a HUGE believer in spanking, but there is a time and a place...and time is not right now while you are shopping in my store. Do you know how awkward it is to be reaching out to take some one's credit card only to have that hand swiftly redirected to the a$$ of a child standing less than two feet away?! And it only gets better when they hand you the card that was just used as an instrument of punishment. "Alright ma'am, here's your receipt and your tool of infant gluteus destruction. Have a great day."

The last category of parenting has been observed in every culture, but seems to run rampant in Asians, middle eastern families, and Mexican nationals. I am speaking of the hands off approach. You've all seen these people. There kid is tearing a store to shreds or just as often peeing in a fitting room, and the parents act as though they are no more responsible for the child than they are the weather. My favorite part is when I have repeatedly asked the kids to stop whatever socially unacceptable behavior they are engaged in numerous times (my max is 3) and after seeing no change in actions or attempts to reign in unruly youngsters by the parents...I kick them out of my store. The parents always look shocked and incredibly offended that I would be so brazen as to ask their child to please not defecate on the jeans. How rude of me.

I want to make sure not to leave out a parenting group that also spans all races and genders...the one's that actually do a good job. I saved them for last because they aren't very funny and also...they're pretty rare these days. I go out of my way to tell kids what a great job they did shopping and compliment the parents as well when I encounter the rarest of all beasts...a well behaved child.

Well that's it for this episode, but stay tuned for the next installment of Similar Stupidity.

Just an Update

I feel like I am doing a good job of keeping this updated lately. Today I have no particular topic to discuss other than some things I have been thinking and working on.

Fitness - I have talked a little bit about how I want to get back into good shape and be a good steward of the body God gave me. So, this morning my wife and I went out and purchased some clothing and shoes more appropriate for the pursuit of physical fitness. When I was a kid I loved to wear shorts and cowboy boots, but some how that look doesn't translate when you are in your mid to late twenties. I have written down my goals in easily measurable metrics and I am optimistic about meeting those goals.

Music - I have been playing some new songs with my younger brother and liking what we have created. Our combined efforts always seem to take us a mellow and somewhat understated direction that is foreign to me. It's very cool.

Massages - I freakin' love massages and would get one every day of my life if I could. Anyway, I have recently become completely addicted to watching massage training videos on youtube. I know it sounds weird, but just watching them is insanely relaxing. Be careful when you are searching for these videos...there are some not so family friendly ones out there. I suggest any of the technique videos posted by "massagenerd". Pretty much anything with nerd in the title is safe.

iPods - I don't own one, and I am starting to see how incredibly convenient they are. I have a large collection of music, most of which is in CD format and it is very annoying to have try to switch CD's while I'm driving...not to mention dangerous. I also don't like the idea of keeping multiple volumes of CD books in my car...that's just asking for trouble. So, I want to get an iPod, but before I go crazy and buy whatever $200 version is popular right now, I thought I'd see if anybody wanted to sell me their older version. I assume they all work in basically the same fashion, so a used one would be a good test run. Let me know if you or any one that you know wants to sell ( or give ) me their old iPod.

Summer - I have not been a fan of summer for most of my life. However, I have decided that this summer will be amazing! I want to take weekend trips with my wife and friends and family. Try new things and see new places. It will be great.

I leave you with a joke:
A guy with amnesia walks up to a woman in a bar and says "So...do I come here often?"

Similar Stupidity

I am not the type of person who believes that all cultures are really just the same. However, there are areas in which we are very similar. Today I want to focus on one those similarities that are hilariously ridiculous.I feel like this may end up being a series...so stay tuned. ON WITH THE SHOW!

Clothing - so many people dress in such ridiculous fashion that we are all forced to take note and there seems to be similarities in all of them. Alot of white guys walk around wearing "vintage" stuff that their dad probably wore 30 years ago. In a similar way, alot of black guys walk around wearing t-shirts that are so large it makes them look like a toddler wearing their daddy's undershirt. Similarly stupid. American youth, at least for a time, was very interested in Asian culture and specifically their style or writing. People bought shirts that had Chinese characters on them with captions that said things like "strength" or "power" when all the while no one in this country knew for certain what those symbols actually meant. Now the craze of wearing American words and phrases has hit Asia. Yes, on every street corner and in every teenage hot spot in China you can find a young man or woman wearing a shirt that proudly proclaims in GIANT bold letters "HAMMER THONG FISH BERRY" and a corresponding caption that undoubtedly says something brilliant or rebellious, but was at least coherent.

If there's one thing we can learn from this let it be that no matter how cool you think you look right now, chances are, in a few years you will realize how ridiculous you actually looking.

A bunch of stuff

So, I really love craigslist. It's awesome to have an outlet through which you can sell crap you don't want anymore, to people who think it's worth something. Very cool.

Lately I have been feeling a strong need to get a massage. Some people are not OK with the idea of a stranger rubbing them down, but I think having a friend that was a masseuse would be way more awkward. Think of the countless scenarios in which something gets weird during the massage forcing you to make up a reason that you can never see your massaging friend again! Perhaps you get so relaxed that while said friend is rubbing you down you release the built up gas caused from digesting Taco Cabana (why did you eat Mexican food before a massage?!), or perhaps your friend says something weird like "Have you ever thought of getting this removed?" (while poking at a mole on the inside of your upper thigh), or maybe the friend walks in and very slowly and professionally removes the sheet covering you naked body. SEE?! It's way less weird to get a massage from a perfect stranger. I win.

I have this idea for a recipe. So, I am gonna take a Tilapia fillet,bread it in crunched up tortilla chips, oven bake it, and the cover it in queso! Does that sound awesome or what?! Yes!

Dancing with the stars is maybe the worst show I've ever seen. They get all these D-list celebrities to get up and dance and then judge them. Look, the only reason they are one the show is because they suck so much at acting, their profession, that they can't get real gigs...so if they suck that bad at their job it's a pretty safe bet they are going to suck at something they are trying for the first time.

Daylight savings time is stupid. People say it's for the farmers, but I have news for you...a farmer is up when the sun comes up. It doesn't matter if the clock says 3pm or 4am, if the sun is up than so is the farmer. Let's just leave time alone and be normal. Like Arizona who does not recognize daylight savings.

I got a sweet beach cruiser type bike to ride around and try to get some exercise, but for some reason the bike pump I have won't fill the tires. I tried blowing the tires up with my mouth so I could get out. By the time I got it rideable and woke up on the garage floor, I figured I probably did enough of a work out just blowing the thing up. So I sold the bike and kept the tire. Now I just sit around and inflate the tire with my mouth.

*CAUTION* If you are easily offended or lame...do not read this post!

I want to talk about how America has been ruined. It is insane what the government pawns off as progress. Today I am going to list a couple of things that are completely messed up about the United States of America. I love my country, and it is for that reason that I want to point out it's mistakes and help rectify them. Here we go.

Things that are ruining America:
Political Correctness - this is a ridiculous attempt to make every body stop "calling names". I am sick and tired of checking the "Caucasian" box on applications. I'm white! It's perfectly fine to call me white, and I think it's perfectly fine to call somebody black instead of African American. Guess what?! Most the black people in this country have never seen Africa! And if you are saying they are African American because that's where their ancestors came from then why don't you call white people Scottish Americans, English Americans, German Americans and so on?! BECAUSE IT WOULD BE STUPID! Being PC bothers me on alot of levels, but the most important is that it goes directly against our first amendment. Aren't we, as citizens of these great united states, afforded the freedom of speech by our founding documents? I guess I misunderstood our founding fathers.

Affirmative Action - why do you have to hire a certain number of certain people groups? This, again, is stealing our freedoms. I don't like the idea that people would not hire somebody because they are a certain race, religion, or gender, but more than that I hate the idea they those people can be FORCED to hire people they don't want to. I have also been told by a friend of mine who has been hired under affirmative action, that it sucks to never be sure if you got the job because you are good at what you do or just because you're a minority. Also, being a white middle class male, I am now much less likely to get a job if a minority or a woman with the same qualifications applies for the job. Not because the other candidate does better work, but because they employer is scared they will get sued if they hire the white guy instead of the minority. Awesome.

Abortion - That's right! I'm going there. If you read our nations founding documents you will find that one of the very first rights listed in the Declaration of Independence is LIFE. As in "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". How have we forgotten this right? The first right a person is given? Tying into my other two complaints about the government, how is it politically correct to refer to a human life as "an accident" that can simply be taken away. And secondly, how is it possible that we live in a day and age where the government will tell you who you can and cannot hire, but they won't stand up and say "You can't kill your unborn children!". I can make no since of this.