xkcd Rules!

I have wanted to update this for a while, but to be honest, I've either been too busy (often) or too lazy (almost as often). That being said, here are a couple of xkcd comics that will more or less take care of this post.

                                                                                       (this panel especially)

For your amusement

This is the lipographic poem I mentioned in an earlier post. I make no claims as to its quality, but it has amused me and now so I will put it up here for my wide viewing audience of 4 (ish) readers.

Little Miss Muffett Lipogram (minus I and U)

Wee Dame Maryanne sat on her low seat

Chewing on oats so gray.

Along came a mean gnat,

Who sat down in the flat,

And scared Dame Maryanne far away.

 
As I said, there were no claims to its quality. I had to get a grade, and in the process managed to amuse myself, so where's the harm in that? I certainly didn't pull that off in any of my math classes. I bid you adieu.

Can you feel the electricity in the air?

Something is coming...you can feel it in the currents as they rush toward you on the morning breeze. A very special blog update will be coming soon that will overshadow all my other blog updates, and make you feel all warm and tingly inside when you see it. In the meantime, take a few minutes and enjoy the first part of a few hours of my time; the updated Picasa albums! Go down this page and you will see my links on the right side; you can access the public page from there.

The aforementioned update should be on here by Saturday night. I know you're breathless with anticipation, but please stop flooding me with all of the E-mails and comments you've been sending me up to this point, okay? It's embarrassing. :-) (I'm pretty sure no one reads this...)

PS- The new profile picture is from Prom 2004. Yes, I know, very James Bond; that really is a Walther I'm holding.

Yay for President's Day!

Sooo, time flies when you're (mostly) having fun! Monday was great first and foremost because I got to sleep in for a change (first day since Saturday the 7th I'd gotten to do that for various reasons). Abigail and I had breakfast together, then my dad and Susan came to my place. At that point the girls went shopping and to a movie and my dad and I hung out for a while, eventually to be joined by Andrew, then Travis. We had originally planned on going to the driving range that day, but I was sore from sledding the day before and Andrew was tired from being up all morning waiting to get a seat to see President Obama speak on Wednesday (today).

So instead, we got Weinerschnitzel for lunch (one of my favorites!) and played Rock Band. We briefly played Halo, then played Ghost Recon for the remaining time until the girls returned, and my dad and Susan left soon after that. We then ordered Pizza Hut and Travis' wife Kim joined us while we played Rock band again.

I made the mistake at that point of confessing that I had started a new band at the beginning of the day to protect the score of my own band (which is pretty decently high since Rock Band 2 allows you to play through Tour mode by yourself). I think I half offended half amused everyone, but since I did have some amatuers with me (especially my dad) I felt justified. I didn't want to worry about my score; I just wanted to have fun! It turned out to be a good thing as I got at least three Achievements that day. Go me!

I had hoped to write on Monday but alas (or not), there was no time! This weekend was a great stress reliever and a whole lot of fun. Thanks go out to all of my friends who spent time with me as well as my parents, Abigail's parents, and of course Abigail herself. Special shout out to Susan for going to the movies with Abigail, she needed a break!

Snow Day

I actually have a decent amount to write about, but one quick entry is all I have the time or energy for at the moment. It's been a busy weekend so far, and thankfully I have Monday (President's Day) off! Yay!!!

Yesterday was fun. We went to the VNSA book sale (a big annual event) out in Phoenix where I spent a surprisingly reasonable amount of money on books; my forgotten neglected love. My parents, my friend Andrew, my sister Susan, and her friend all went (although we split up upon arrival for convenience) and much fun was had. That night my in laws came over and my father in law (Al) helped me with a few household projects (such as repairing the doorbell) before my mother in law (Dianna) arrived with their Christmas present to each other: a Wii.

We played it for some time. Video game connoisseur that I am it was the first time I had ever played one and I enjoyed it immensely. They decided to leave it with me for a while since they will be busy for at least a couple of days anyway, which I had no problem with at all.

So today I went with my friends Travis and Kim and their little niece Riley so the littlest one could see snow for the first time. It was fun to do something totally random and fun for a change although I know it probably disappointed my dad that I wasn't in church today. Today is one year since my grandfather's death, but I did at least give him (my dad) the message I wouldn't be coming. I promised to say a special prayer that day, although I said it for my dad and not for my grandfather as I think my dad had meant. My dad's beliefs are definitely an amalgam of his Catholic upbringing and our current church, but I think the important thing is his heart is in the right place.

Anyway, we hit the road about 9:45 or so (after some delays not worth mentioning) and eventually stopped for the snow outside of the Pine-Strawberry area on the Pine trailhead, which was nice because it was safe. You can find the pictures on my Picasa page here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rainchaserknight. It's the new album called "Snow Day." We had a lot of fun overall and I am so glad Travis invited me. It made me realize I need to do more things like that; I used to have a lot more fun when I was random. As I've grown older I've gotten a lot more structured and afraid and that's made me a lot more unhappy. I think I need to work on that.

We stopped in Payson on the way back and saw Travis' grandparents. Considering what day it is for me that made me a little sad but I didn't say anything. I never had much of a relationship with my mom's father or any relationship with her mother (she died before my time), and my relationship with my father's parents (it being his dad in question) is similar, although I did know them better. His dad did at least get to come to my wedding before he died, which was very pleasing. When I can find a picture I will put one up under the family album on Picasa. Anyway, Abigail and Matt and Travis all still have living grand parents (Andrew too, actually) that they have a relationship with, and that's something I am jealous of. Barring something horrible my children will get to have that and I am very grateful, but sad because that's something I missed out on.

Wow, this turned out to be longer than I thought! Anyway, hope to have more time tomorrow; I have a bit more to write about. Friday was kind of interesting as well, and I've just had some things on my mind I'd like to get down here. Hope all is well with you, and that someone out there is reading this.

All the best,

-Scott

I have done something different today!

So last night after work a bunch of people came over (specifcally Travis, Kim, Matt, Angela, and Andrew) to play Rock Band which was naturally fun times. We also played a little golf as well after Matt and Angela left. Abigail was upstairs studying, sadly. However, when everyone had gone, Andrew invited me to go hiking/geocaching with him the next day (today). Although I was hesitant about the prospect of getting up early on a Saturday I accepted.

We journeyed up Usury Pass Mountain around 10 AM (after stopping at Bashas' and Dunkin Donuts). It was an epic quest from the beginning, and we knew we had quite a feat ahead of us. We took frequent breaks and paced ourselves, which made it rather pleasant...you know, except for the pain and the parts where I thought I was going to die. Like the time I almost fell off the mountain and Andrew had to grab me by my shirt (he was going for the belt, in his defense).

(slightly melodramatic narration begins)

Eventually we made it up to the Wind Caves (which seriously sounds like a destination from an RPG to me), which is nearly to the summit, and that is where we had lunch. Good times. We got to sit and enjoy the view from there and relax for about half an hour before continuing on. At this point I thought we had undergone an ordeal but no; the most arduous part of all was yet to come! For as we continued on our quest to reach the summit we passed a sign that read, "Dangerous Area: Proceed At Your Own Risk!" We were indeed forewarned by this sign and although we were but novice hikers we were convinced that our will, our spirits, and our courage would get us to the top (along with our legs, of course).

We proceeded on, and immediately the trail was much harder to read and much narrower. The cliff face seemed much nearer, and there were times my life flashed before my eyes. I felt like Dante making his epic journey in some way, with Andrew as my Vergil (although we were ascending, which was somewhat anachronistic). We continued onward for another hour, managing to lose our way off the trail twice.

Finally we managed to make our way up to the top (nearly 3200 feet up) and to the area where the geocache was! It was a moment of great celebration. We took a while to rest and took some photos (which will eventually find their way on here, I assure you) before finally heading back down. Naturally heading back down was much faster, and the total trek downward was only an hour or so in itself!

(slightly melodramatic narration ends)

Along the way Andrew found a second geocache that we had passed on the way up (which I think turned out to be a good thing considering how much foot traffic there was during the earlier time). Apparently you're not supposed to let them get discovered by people who aren't part of the game for risk of them getting destroyed, so that could have been bad if we'd found it before.

We got back to the car at about 4 PM, which made our total outing about 6 hours long. Thus our epic quest was completed! We stopped at a Bashas' on the way back to my house for extra water as while we had brought quite a lot, we went through it all in 6 hours and were quite thirsty by that point.

Speaking of which, I am going to go as it's now after midnight and I'm rather tired and sore. Next time I see you, Andrew, you're in SO much trouble for suggesting that! More later, hopefully with pics.

Hard day at the job...

As I have said before, normally I don't care for my job. It's not really my cup of tea, and on a good day it can be boring. Not that I'm not grateful for it, and I definitely have learned from it, but I would not choose this as my lifetime career.

However, there are definitely some days that are better than others and yesterday was one of them. It was a very normal day up until lunch, but when Nate and I got back, my boss said we could spend the rest of our day building the gingerbreadhouse for our department's entry into the hotel-wide gingerbread house contest. w00t.

Here is a picture of the beginning.

We had a lot of ideas, so my boss went out to a few stores and bought some supplies-mostly candy. Nate and I did all the grunt work, but it was good times nonetheless, I must say.

It took us about 3.5 hours or so (not including clean up), and this was the end result:

The house from one side...

And from the other!

A close up of our diverse snowman...oy.

My one worry is that they made a "Home Forclosure" sign and put it next to the (chocolate colored) snowman, and since this is going to be judged by our guests, I hope no one gets offended. Not that I'll get in trouble or anything, but I would hate for something to ruin their impression of the hotel. OH well, it's not my problem.

Still, it was fun times, and it gave me an excuse to take all the stuff off my desk and scrub it with cleaner, which I haven't done in about a year or so. Seriously needed. Blech. It's not like I'm a neat freak, but you should have seen how much dust can accumulate behind a monitor in one year! Not to mention all the rubber bands Nate appears to have shot at me when I wasn't looking. Hmmm...

Yes, I am still alive

I am, as you have guessed, not yet dead. However, I have been extraordinarily busy. Well, extraordinarily for me...lately. Um yeah, so I've been busy. Extraordinarily.

Kudos should go to me as I am at the same job. I haven't yet managed to get the manager to do my 90-day review, but since she spends most of her time in court with her son (don't ask, because I don't know), it's not exactly possible. I would be shocked if I got anything less than favorable since, after all, I still work there.

Abigail ran into said manager in Target the other day when we were doing our registry. (So for those of you who are reading this, we are registered at Target. Buy me stuff. And if you don't like what we picked out, give me-ahem- us a gift card. You know, for us. Not just me. ) That was, incidentally, great fun and amusement, mostly for me. I got to use the scanning gun for most of the time, but after a while she couldn't take it anymore and I had to give it up. Really, Meg, you should know by now: give a guy something to play with, and he will play. That's what we do. No guy reading this wouldn't have used the opportunity to shoot lazer beams at others. And random packages. And in your eye to see what happens. I think I've made my point.

Abigail and I also picked out a new apartment that I will move into in about a month. I will throw a moving party (read: help me move stuff) at that time. I will get to live there alone for about three months. Needless to say, I am psyched. Granted, less than three months of independent bachelorhood isn't that glamarous, but it is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

I haven't seen much of anyone lately, and for those of you I should be seeing, I apologize. Most of you have my new number, and if you don't and you would like it, let me know. Until next time, same Bat time, same Bat channel.