Since I live here

Since I live in Gunnison, CO I thought this was a fitting video to add to this little blog.

Life

Here is the skinny as they say. I both love and hate my job. Right now it is more of a hate. It has been a long summer and I am just burned out. Working 7 days a week is tough on me and I won't lie about that. The last day I wasn't at work was back in April when we were closed for my Grandpa's funeral. As it stands right now, I will have been at work 361 days out of 365 this year. Now you can see how easy it is to get fed up with work. It also sucks because this is a retail store and I have to be nice and polite every day to people I would rather just punch in the face. Also, my hours at work suck. I work at least 8 till 6 every day. This makes for a long week, especially when I have to stay later than that. Sad thing is that from here until Thanksgiving my hours get extended and that is all that gets extended. I am just expected to work longer and harder because it is beneficial to the business. I hate it. I am tired of it. I am very seriously thinking about telling my dad to shove it and walking away. I am there. There has to be more to life than the life I am living. I don't think we are suppose to work all the time and not enjoy the wonders all around us. There are really two problems for me from here.

First is the major problem. I don't know if I really can leave. I know I can quit and walk away and that there is nothing my dad can do to stop that. That isn't my problem. My problem is that I care too much and feel too responsible. Let me explain, but I can really only scratch the surface. I do everything here for the most part. The IRS, State of Colorado, the bank, or any of our vendors call and they talk to me, not my father who owns the business. Legally I can't even sign a check on the business account, but I handle everything for the business. Isn't that screwed up? I know how things would run if I left. I spent years straightening things out and I know they will revert as soon as I leave. I don't want that on my conscience. We have a busy and thriving business (I thank GOD for it). Two of us who have been doing this for a while sometimes have a rough time handling everything. I know my dad, he won't cut back and this will only add stress to an overweight 60 year old man. That worries me. As much as I hate my job, I would hate worse for me to leave and then my dad get sick or worse because I left and he tried to do the whole thing by himself. I see that happening and that has kept me here and kept me from moving many times. Why I feel responsible is beyond me, but I do and I still can't shake it. If I could get over that one hurdle I would be gone. As much as I want to leave, I can't. That means I will probably be here hating things until who knows when.

Second issue. If I were to walk out of the business and leave it high and dry, I would have to move out of Colorado and I really don't want to do that and I don't know if I even can. I love this state and I love the cold weather and I know I couldn't handle a hotter climate that I would have to move to. No matter what I was doing, if I was in this town or even the state, I would get drawn and sucked back into things. Distance, as in miles between us, would be the only thing that would keep that from happening. The heart wrenching thing is that I really am contemplating moving. All of you know where I would move to, which state at least.

There is a third issue. I don't have a clue what I would do for employment. In all honesty I have been my own boss for so long that I don't know if I could subjugate my will to someone else's easily. I speak my mind and let the chips fall where they may these days. Where I am, there really is no one above me. This also means that my pay grade is higher now and I would probably have to take a cut in pay. That isn't so much of an issue to me though. I could definitely take a pay cut if I lost some responsibilities and not have to deal with some of the crap I have to deal with. This crap gets on my nerves and I am tired of dealing with it. I guess it could come with working as much as I do for 8 + years. The lack of free time and then the little free time I have is really starting to eat away at what is left of my soul. The reality is that all of the people I care about (except my parents) and the people I really think of as friends, are so far away from me and I am missing out on some important things and events in their lives. What also doesn't help is that there is no selection of quality women up here to seek out. We won't go into that today. As you can all tell my life and my emotions are in a tail spin and in turmoil.

The Last Legion

I saw this clip on the television and I have to admit that I am dying to see this movie. I am curious to see what you think of this movie and to see what you guys think it will do. I have to admit that I will be in the theatre to see it when it comes out. Yeah, probably by myself but at least I can enjoy it that much more.

Everytime I watch it, It makes me laugh

The title really says it all. I don't know how many times I have seen this clip. I watched it first a few days ago on G4's "Attack of the Show" and I have watched it countless times again on youtube.com. I just love it. I hope you enjoy. The wobble is awesome. Watch, laugh, and understand.

Pathfinder

This post is mainly for Blair Thomas. He asked me about this movie because he never heard of it and I thoroughly enjoy it.

It is about time!!

I know, I know that I have been really bad about blogging. I tend to blog in spurts. Sometimes I blog often and then there are the majority of times when I don't blog for months. I have to be honest. July sucked and I am glad it is August. I know it is just another day, but my outlook for August is bright. July started off fine and well enough and then the bottom fell out. First thing that hit me from no where and left me wondering what was going on was that I found out that Tiffany is married. Even better is that she got married sometime last year, before she called and got back in touch with me. Even better, she still hasn't told me that she is married. I think she is in denial and might not like being married to the guy she married. Here is the kicker. Mr. and Mrs. Levenger were in town and came to the business and chatted both my dad and I up for about 30 minutes. They didn't tell me then. I, being the guy I am offered to take Mr. Levenger fishing on some private water and he took me up on it. He kept talking about Aaron, I think or Eric I am not sure, so finally while he was fishing and I was talking to Mrs. Levenger I asked her what was going on. That is when I found out. She was shocked that I didn't know and wasn't happy that her daughter hadn't told me. Here is some disturbing info. Tiffany still to this day tells me she loves me and goes into in great deal how much she loves me. She also tells me that I am her best friend. I am doing my best to back out of this "rock and a hard place" I am in. I don't like being in the middle and I definitely don't want to come between her and her husband. I have cut way back on how much I talk to her, but that isn't stopping her. She calls and texts still.

On July 11Th, 2 Jehovah's Witnesses came onto my posted "Keep Out" and "Beware of Dog" property. Well, after trespassing and provoking Thor and not leaving, Thor bit one of them. I had a court date on the 11Th to get my dog out of jail and then yesterday I had the trial. Thankfully, the judge and I agreed and saw things the same and I was found not guilty. I was in court for 30 minutes and my lawyer was myself. That is all I am going to say about this topic, if you want to ask me more, email me. I have to admit that the Internet helped my research tremendously.

There were more things that made July horrible, but I am not going into them. The Internet is such an open and public place and I don't know who actually reads this stupid thing. Discretion is the better part of valour.

I get my Blu-Ray copy of 300 tomorrow and I will watch it over and over and over again. I can't wait. That is going to be all that I watch this weekend. Cranking up the stereo and letting her roar. Good night and good luck.

I want to be a Ninja Warrior

This show is awesome. I wish I could do what they do. I was bored one night and started surfing through all my tv channels on my dish. It is a lot of channels to go through. Needless to say, I stopped about 54 channells into it because I saw this show titled "Ninja Warrior". Now I am hooked and I watch it every night. It is an awesome show. It looks to be as physical and hard as anything I have ever seen. Enjoy the clip.

Interesting Days

I guess I will start off by apologizing to all who read this little commentary on my life. I haven't posted in a while. I know how I am with blogs I check. I wish they were always updated every day and I enjoy them when they finally are. I am bad about not posting as you all know. Lately, things have been hectic and crazy for me. These are true, but also excuses. I will post a true update soon. I will make the time. I should now, but I don't have it. I have to get caught back up on work right now. I am not dead, I am still out here doing my thing. I recently went to the Dallas area and I now remember why I live here. I left on Sunday about 6, got to Rockwall (where my sister Michelle, her husband Tucker, and my Niece Aubry) live at 8:45. I left Monday from Wills Point around 2. Yeah, I was there for a very short time. I had to attend a funeral, but that might be a topic for another post. I found that Texans don't like to drive slowly or even close to the speed limit. Actually, I fit in with that, but I can't stand the traffic, heat, and humidity. Whirlwind trip is all I can say. Now comes the catch up. I promise, I will do an actual post soon.

Blair's Hard Work

My dear friend Blair Thomas has been working so very hard on a little project for me. As most of you know, Blair is the reason I even have a blog. Well, now he tells me I need a myspace page. Well, I told him that the only way I would have one is if he created it. Well, he did just that. He has worked very hard on it and here is the link: http://www.myspace.com/andyboston30. If you want to look, that is cool with me. If not, and you want to still keep up with this Hermit, I will still use this blog as a primary. I do have to say a great big THANK YOU to Blair for all his hard work and taking time out of his day to do something for me and my benefit. What an incredible friend he truly is. Everyone else, have a great day.

Blood Work

Every year I have blood work done just to check to see where I am on the health scale. I am alright but there are things that I probably should work on but doubt if I will. My cholesterol is higher than last year and is in the high category. It is 225, but there is some good news on that. My good cholesterol is also high. It is 73. I have no idea what any of these numbers mean and I don't care. My triglycerides are 48 which is good. Here is the one that actually warrants my attention. My iron is way high at 232. Normal range is 45-170. Blair tells me to stop eating red meat. I might be able to cut back a little, but not much. I love that stuff. The other count that is high is my calcium. I think that is fine with me and calcium is good for strong bones. I really should take all of this work that I had done to my doctor to see what he says and what he wants me to do, but I am a cheap bastard. I feel fine and I don't worry about any of this stuff. I do above the average of cardio exercise (3-5 hours a week) but I do eat what I want and that isn't so good. Oh well. I will just keep on keeping on. My cholesterol will always be high because both of my parents is well over 300. I might change my diet, but I wouldn't put any money down on it if I were you. Side note: My mom is doing great and her knee and leg are healing quite nicely. She is walking now without her cane. Things are improving and progressing nicely.

Following the Crowd

Since everyone else decided to do it, so did I. I am going to do my little Easter post. But following with the non normal and idiotic manner I keep my life, it will be a little different. Since I don't have kids (don't want them either) I didn't see the need to worry about the Easter bunny. I did think about going rabbit hunting and letting Thor have cooked rabbit for dinner but I decided against it. I still should have. I did go to church and enjoyed the extended service. First things first, I went to work and then church. After church, I went back to work. About 5 I went home and made me some dinner. It was a nice bowl of cup of noodles. You may think that sad or pathetic, but I love them. I eat them all of the time. It is my second favorite meal. First is and always will be mac and cheese. I just love that stuff. After that, I did some laundry and then played with Thor and then watched some recorded television. Yeah, I know that is pretty laid back and you might think it a little sad. Well, that is what I do. I know it pales in comparison to everyone else's life, but I don't care. Since Tiffany got back in touch with me on Christmas, this marks the first Holiday that I haven't talked to her. She did tell me this morning that she has a story to tell me. I should hear about it tonight. She went home (from Birmingham AL to Dayton TN) to see the family and now I can't wait to hear what went on. I am going to the gym about 6 tonight to make sure I get back so I don't miss her call. My curiosity is perked. Anyway, that was my Easter.

Life As I Know It

Here goes. As well all know, I am single and have no one special in my life. That annoys me at times but for the most part I am happy with it. For whatever reason older women and children love me. I have several older women that always tell me that old line about "if I was younger". Yeah, it creeps me out also, but I smile and move on and out. I am also battling money issues these days. I want to buy a house and some land, but I don't have and make near enough to actually do that. Also, I am thinking about buying a Porsche. I just want one and that is the only reason I have been entertaining that thought. Don't ask me why, because I know it is just a phase I am going through. Thor is almost 5 and I just don't see where the time went. In a way I know and understand all of you parents out there. He is just like a kid to me and it is amazing to see the time has just run away and he is middle aged. He doesn't think so. It sucks when a 160 pound dog thinks he is a lap dog and all he wants to do is play. Don't get me wrong, we play and have a great time, it is just that he can overpower you in a heartbeat. I was playing with him the other day and we were playing with his favorite ball. Next thing I know, I am flat on my back with him standing over me and staring right in my face. Interesting sight. Anyway, I am trying to find some reasonably priced land, so I can give him all the space he needs and wants. It is great to watch him run and enjoy himself in the open spaces. Soon, I will post a picture of him.

Like I said, there is no special person or significant other in my life that I am aware of. For all of you interested and wondering, Tiffany and I still talk quite often. We spend between 2 to 3 hours a week on the phone with each other and countless text messages. I have been dying to ask her how much her parents hate me, but I never get up the nerve. I know, I am a weak and a weenie. She went home this weekend to spend Easter with her family, so I doubt if I hear from her until she gets back to Birmingham. I understand that and it doesn't affect me one way or the other. I know there are bets out there on whether or not she and I get back together and I can't help either side. As Schultz always said, " I know nothing, I know nothing!!"

Life is smooth and easy here so far. We have had the warmest winter I can ever remember. Fishing is incredible and fun. I am so ready to take the top off of the Jeep. I can hardly stand having it on. Really and truly my days are mostly spent goofing off and playing on youtube.com. Besides that I do actually get a little work done and some things accomplished. I constantly keep my eyes open and actively search for real estate deals and just keep moving forward. I am thankful for my life and the wonders I have been blessed with. To everyone who reads this blog, Thank You. I hope you enjoy it. Any of you that have any questions or want to know anything, ask. I don't mind answering any questions you want to ask. My life is an open book and I have nothing to hide. I need to live life more to the fullest, but I am just living my life the way I see fit. I am having fun and I think that is what matters. I have very few regrets so far and I think that should say something.

Jeeping

Okay, we all know I have a Jeep and I am dying to go out and exploring with it. There is one thing I fear...............wrecking it. This video shows what I am afraid I am going to do. It is actually kind of a funny video. I laughed and I cried. I felt the owner's pain.

Eragon the Movie

I watched this movie last night and had great hopes for it. Yes I am still a kid and the idea of dragons still is exciting and entertaining to me. The other reason I was excited about this movie is because I have read both of the books in the Inheritance trilogy. The third book isn't published yet, but when it comes out I will read it. The books are excellent and I highly recommend them. The movie is good and I recommend watching it, especially if you haven't read the books. The movie leaves things out that I thought were crucial to the story. Basically, the movie is about a tyrant who now controls a once peaceful and prosperous land. Before he became king, the land was ruled by dragon riders and their dragons. He lead a revolt and killed all the riders and dragons (you kill the rider and the dragon dies as well). Anyway, Eragon is the hero of the story, but has a long way to go. I included the trailer for the movie so you can judge for yourself it you want to see it. I give this movie a 7. Decent family movie. I give the books a 10 rating. The imagination is so much better and more powerful than anything Hollywood can produce.

New York, New York

Honestly, today is the day I have been waiting for since October. Any one who knows me knows this. Today is the opening day of Yankee baseball. The season opens today at 1:05 Eastern for the Yankees and I can't wait. We all know how huge a fan of baseball I am and this is my time of year. The season is so short, only 162 regular games. Oh well, I am just happy that it is that time of year again. For my birthday this year I even bought a new Yankee hat for myself. Anyway, I just had to comment about the start of the season.

Bond, James Bond

I waited and waited and finally got the opportunity to watch "Casino Royale". I have to admit that I really enjoyed this movie. It is action packed and great. It is what a Bond movie is suppose to be. Fights, intrigue, suspense, killing, and fast cars. Realize this movie is more of a throw back to the starting of Bond's career as a 00 agent. He is not refined, but more crude. He gets the job done. The polished look we are all accustomed to is not here and this movie should not be discredited because of that. We all have our starts and can't be smooth and savvy at the beginning. We are all a work in progress and I am thankful that this film shows that. It is a different side of Bond that we never see. This movie rocks and keeps rolling the entire time. I was very impressed with the chase scene on foot towards the beginning of the movie. The choreography here was tremendous. I wish I could move like that. I was not all that impressed with Eva Green as a Bond girl. Daniel Craig on the other hand is awesome. On my list of favorite Bond's, Sean Connery is still first and Craig comes in second. The ending of this movie is awesome with the tie in of the signature Bond theme and the best last line in any Bond film. I give this movie a 10. I actually bought it on Blu-Ray and will watch it many times. I own every Bond movie and have seen them all at least 20 times. I am a Bond fan and this one rates right up there towards the top. I highly recommend it. Here is the trailer for the movie.

Viewer Satisfaction Request

Here it is in the simplest form. I am working and trying to make this blog something you enjoy and like to read. I don't know how I am doing. I finally added songs and video clips for your enjoyment. People have asked me to vary my updates and give a little different view than just text. I am working on doing that. What I could really use is some input from you, the actual reader of this blog. This blog is more for you than for me, so feel free to comment and let me know how I am doing. I need your feedback to make this site better and more enjoyable. Let me know your thoughts and I will try to accommodate them. Thanks

Whitest Kids You Know

I started watching this show last week. To me, it is hilarious. As I do with all of the television I watch, I record it first and watch it whenever I get the chance. There are a few shows that I watch the actual day it shows. This is one of them. Realize, it is wrong. Plain and simple, they cross lines here but it is still funny. I can't believe they get away with some of this stuff. The video is just an example of what I am talking about. Since I have Dish Network and about 1000 channels, I am lucky to get this station. It comes on "Fuse". They have an interesting line-up of shows. If you have this channel, I think you might find something interesting and enjoyable to watch. Enjoy the video.

Movie Four Brothers

I rented this movie from Netflix. It really is a good movie and I enjoyed it. I guess that is what really matters. The sad thing is that I saw it right after I watched "300". The movie is a feel good movie. As I did with "300" and will probably continue to do, I have included the trailer for the movie. I give this one 8 out of 10.

Movie 300

I actually went out to the theatre and saw this wonderful movie. It truly is an awesome movie. This movie gets my highest rating of 10. I actually got chills and wanted to be in the movie. I wanted to take part in the battles and be there during the fighting. The cinematography is just incredible. Fight scenes are impressive and I just love this movie. I can't wait till it comes on to DVD. I will watch it over and over again. It is a bloody movie and shouldn't be watched by anyone except adults. There is also a little nudity and some sexual situations. Excellent movie. Instead of me telling you all about the movie, I am putting in the actual trailer from the movie. Enjoy.

Movies

I know I haven't been posting movie reviews. That is because I have almost been too busy to watch them and I have been too busy to post about them. My life has been crazy busy the past couple of weeks. Nothing note worthy, though. My parents took a vacation and a trip to Texas to see my sisters and my niece. They were gone 8 days. What a fun time for me. Honestly the only part about being at work alone that sucks is that I am here all day (7 till 7). That makes for a long day and then I went to the gym and got home around 9. Also I have finally fully recovered from food poisoning. I also got to take care of their dog while they were gone and that was interesting. Every morning around 2 she would get up and pick a fight with Thor. That was no fun. Moving on. In the past two weeks there have been movies released that I want to see and there have been 4 movies I watched on DVD. I really want to see "300". It looks awesome and it is playing in Crested Butte and it might be worth going up there. I hate CB and I only go up there if I get paid to. "300" might be payment enough, we will see. The 4 movies I watched were Mission Impossible 3, Scary Movie 4, Snakes on a Plane, and Jet Li's Fearless. I am going to go from best to worst.

Jet Li's Fearless. This was by far the hands down best movie I watched. It is an awesome movie and I highly recommend it. Jet Li's character is an impressive martial artist and is striving to be the best in his country. He succeeds but at a very high price. He never learns control and to pull back until very painful and horrible things happen. He wanders around and almost dies after his family is killed and a village takes him in and gets him back to health. They teach him restraint and how to live amongst people. He comes back to the world he left only to see great change. He starts a school (which is still open and growing after all these years) and then makes a deal to fight 4 people with the government which is corrupt. He wins the first 3 easily but is poisoned during the 4Th. He wins the fight, but dies shortly after. All in all this movie is excellent. I rate it 9 out of 10.



Snakes on a Plane. I have to admit it, part of this movie freaked me out. I really enjoyed this movie. It is a guilty pleasure that we all have seen, but no one admits it. This movie is simple and delivers just as it promotes. Deadly snakes set loose on a plane and they go nuts because of the pheromones that have been sprayed onto lays and given to passengers as they leave Hawaii for L.A. I hate snakes and that is what freaked me out. I know this movie isn't even probably because I really believe most of these snakes would have killed each other before being released out of their crate. Anyway, it is a great guilty pleasure movie and I recommend it. I give it 8 out of 10.

M.I.3. This movie was as it portrayed itself. I enjoyed the movie. I am sure all of you have seen it, so I won't go into the details. Double crossed by the government and the usual stuff. I liked the movie for the pure action flick and the nice fact that I could get into the movie and lose myself for a bit. For a decent action flick, this is a good choice. I rate it 7 out of 10.

Scary Movie 4. Hilarious movie. It is a fun movie that makes fun of all of the other thrillers. I own all of them and they crack me up. This one isn't as good as 3, which wasn't as good as 2, which wasn't as good as the original. This is almost always the case in sequels. But, it is still a funny movie. Don't expect anything serious or a plot that goes anywhere. It lives up to what it is: A funny movie poking fun at serious movies. Rent it on a day that you don't want to think, want to get lost in something making fun of something, and you just need a quick laugh. I rate this movie 7 out of 10.

Alright, there are my movies reviews that I have been slack on. Until my next post, don't do anything I wouldn't do and the easy ones at least twice.

Sunday 2-25-07 Movie

Last night was an enjoyable experience. The movie I chose to watch was "The Transporter 2" on Blu-Ray disc. First things first, it was no where near as good as the first one. I loved that movie and hoped that the sequel was 1/2 as good and it was better than that. This movie has good driving and police evasion scenes. The action is good and the fight scenes are very well choreographed. I like the main actor, Jason Statham. I have seen a few movies he has been in and am impressed with his ability. I have enjoyed every movie I have seen with him in it. Anyway, here is the plot with a little back tracking to get you up to speed. Mr. Statham's character's name is Frank Martin. He is a driver and usually never even looks at what he transports. He does the job and does it well. This time he is a kid's chauffeur and promises to protect him. An assassin kidnaps the kid and gives him a deadly virus that spreads through the air. The main goal is to kill the kid's dad and all the people he breaths on because they are cracking down on the drug trafficking. Anyway, all ends well but the race and the fight to get there is the best part. I was a little skeptical about this movie, but it delivered a good ride. I give this movie a 7.5.

Sunday was the only day I watched a movie. Netflix didn't deliver my 3 on Saturday and that ticked me off. Next weekend should be a little more action packed on the television. I was also ticked because HBO pushed back the next episode of Rome. Great show and I look forward to it every Sunday at 7.

Progression

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. That was interesting. Her recovery is going well and last week the doctor told her that she can now put 25% of her weight on her foot. She is getting around fairly decently, but still requires quite a bit of help and attention. This isn't so much a bad thing. She does have a knack for needing something done at the absolute worse time for us, though. Anyway, she has been getting out some and going to church. She plans to actually teach her class this coming Sunday. We keep telling her moderation and to no try to do everything all at once. It is falling on deft ears. Oh well, she is the one that has to deal with the pain and all that. Last night we took her out to dinner. She was pretty happy and did a great job. The people at the restaurant treated her really well. We know them very well and explained her situation when we made the reservations. I have to say it was one of the best evenings I have had and one of the best meals. But anyway, things are progressing nicely and we are slowly getting back to normal. I did have to change when I worked out yesterday so that I could go with them to dinner. I left work at 1 and went out to the gym. It is kind of odd to not be at work at that time of the day.

Bullet Points to the Head

As all of you can figure out, there will be no movie post this week because I didn't have the chance to watch a movie. Things are busy for me and all the tivo'd television programs are starting to annoy me. They are shows I enjoy and want to watch, but just sometimes don't have the time to. I had 26 hours of recorded shows when I checked the other day. Oh well.

A few of you are wondering what is going on with Tiffany and I. That is a great question and I really wish I had a more solid answer to give you. The honest fact of the matter is that I am not totally sure. We are friends and we are getting along wonderfully. The thing that makes me wonder if there is not more on the horizon is the fact that she and I talk quite a bit. We actually have a conversation at least twice a week. We talk for about an hour each time. The odd part about this is that I don't do that with anyone else, not even my family. I can't tell you how many text messages are sent between the two of us. My phone is always telling me that memory is low and that I need to clean out my messages. Anyway, the real way I am looking at what is going on is that we are close friends. If things change, that would be awesome. The only thing is that for things to change, she is going to have to move to Colorado from Alabama. I won't and more to the point, can't move. I have now moved more into the phase of me running the business and my dad just being the figure head. I am fine with that but it does shift the stress more on me. That is a good thing since he turns 60 this year.

At 30 I should have some stress. Thankfully, it isn't that much and it is only work related. The only other stress I have in my life is paying bills and trying to find a house to buy. Paying bills is really no stress. I don't spend more than I make. Actually, I put about 1/4 of my paycheck into some mutual funds each month. House hunting is driving me nuts. I would have to double my paycheck to buy a house in this town. I am working now on trying to find some land and then build a house on it and that is interesting there also. So really there are no updates on that front. I want about an acre of land so I can raise Great Danes. I would love to start a Dane farm. Side project that may not ever happen.

I have to admit this and all of you know this and have known this for a long time. I am an idiot and I am a fairly private person. People I know get mad at me all the time and tell me about it. It is usually because when I am on my own time and away from work, I keep to myself. I go to the grocery store with a list and a plan and I keep my head down and get it done. Away from work my modo is "Speak when spoken to". At work I have to be nice and friendly to everyone that I see. It gets old and you start to get worn down by it. Everyone wants to know everything about everyone and that annoys me. I am fine knowing what people tell me. The other fact is that there are only a few people that I even start a conversation with. Even at the gym, people want to talk to me and delay my workout. I am there to abuse myself, not to jibber jabber. Once the headphones are on, I ignore everyone. I realized yesterday that a really attractive girl was talking to me and by the time I noticed what was going on, it was too late. There are downsides to my approach, I know. Once I was off of that machine, I looked for the girl to apologize, but she was gone. Oh well.

Honestly, things are good with me. I can't complain about my life. GOD has been good to me. The reality is that I am better than I deserve. If you really think you life is bad or that you have a lot of pain, go visit a nursing home. It will do you and your soul good to see just how blessed your life is. No matter how bad you think you have it, there is always someone in worse shape.

Sunday's (2-11-07) Movie

I watched a classic and I loved it. "Ran" was the movie. It is basically "King Lear" in a Japanese version. It is in Japanese with English subtitles. It is by Akira Kurosawa. This guy is legendary and I have enjoyed every movie I have seen by him. I don't care that I have to read the subtitles. One of my favorites by Kurosawa is "Seven Samurai". As all of you know, I love Samurai movies and even Samurai anime. I am hooked. This movie is awesome. I give it an 9. Check it out and you won't be disappointed. Even the critics say that this is one of Kurosawa's most compelling films.

Saturday's (2-10-07) Movie

"The Covenant" was the movie of choice for Saturday. I have to admit that I really enjoyed this movie. I can't say that is was without flaw, because it wasn't. Basic plot: 4 boys have magical powers (witchcraft) that is passed down to them as long as they are the eldest male. The bad part is that the more they use their power, the faster the aging process is and the power usage is very addictive. At 13 they realize and get a small portion of it and at 18 they get the whole shabang. 5 Families in total have this gift and one is thought to have been killed off. Next, boy meets and new comer wants revenge on the "Covenant" for past sins. Yatta, Yatta, Yatta. Final fight scene was short and left you wanting more. All in all, I give this movie a 7.5. I enjoyed it probably because I kept thinking how cool it would be to have those powers and what I would do with them. Anyway, it kept me into the movie. Visually it was awesome especially since it was on Blu-ray. I recommend seeing the movie.

It's Monday

Well it is Monday and it is time for my normal movie review post. This week is going to be different. I didn't watch any movies. I got busy doing a whole lot of nothing and I watched recorded CSI's and other television shows like that. Yeah, my weekend was pretty dull as normal. I did get the laundry done and my workout done. I didn't watch the Super Bowl because I didn't care about it. I haven't watched the Super Bowl since college. I just don't care about football. I watched Rome last night and I absolutely enjoy that show. I also cleaned, which took an hour out of my off time. Other than that, I really was just a dumb on a log. I know that the Colts won the Super Bowl because Tiffany is a big Bears fan and I got to hear about the poor Bears and their loss from her. That is the only reason I wanted the Bears to win, because Tiffany wanted them to win. I will try to do better this weekend and watch something interesting to report back on. Any movie suggestions would be appreciated. I can't wait for "300" to come out in March. I almost went to the theatre to see "Smokin Aces" this weekend. I should have. I really want to see that movie, also.

Saturday's (1-27-07) Movie

Saturday was the only day I was able to watch a movie. Sunday was spent doing things that had piled up on me. Laundry, cleaning, dusting and organizing were just a few of the wonderful things that took priority and my time. They definitely needed to be done. As you all know because I told you I was going to, I watched "Talladega Nights" on Saturday. Here is my review. I found the movie to be fairly funny. There was more hype to the movie and I was left feeling like I missed out and paid to much to see this movie. It was a Netflix movie and I still feel taken. Oh well. I am not going to get into the movie or plot line because by now all of you have probably seen it. There were some hilarious parts and I did enjoy most of the movie. On my scale of 1 to 10, I would give this movie a 6.5. I know this review is short and fairly boring. I just don't have the energy or desire to do much more. Sorry.

Movie Preview

I already know one movie I am going to watch this weekend. I am going to watch Talladega Nights. Tiffany assures me that I will love this movie. It is on Blu-Ray which should only add to the experience. The other movie is still up for debate. If any of you have any suggestions on a DVD to watch on Sunday, I am all ears. I don't remember what Netflix is sending me, but it can wait if any of you throw out a movie and can give me a decent reason why I should watch it (a decent reason to me consists of "because I said so"). I might watch the Covenant. Looked alright, but now I am wondering about it. I know one weekend is going to be the M.I. trilogy. I will watch all three that weekend. Another weekend will be the Saw trilogy. All of these movies are now out in BD which is good for me. I am all about HD these days. As you can tell today, work is boring and I don't have much to do. I almost brought my PSP to work today to play Burnout. I decided not to because I still have my FreeCell and Solitaire addiction to fight.

Repaired Knee

I haven't given an update on my mother's condition in a while, so I thought I would today. She went to the doctor yesterday for another check up. She had x-rays done and then spent about an hour and a half with the doctor. Everything is fine and just going according to plan. The doc did upset my mom by telling her that "Yes, 6 weeks is normal for this surgery, but it could take as much as 8 weeks." My mother was not too happy to hear that. The knee cap hasn't healed, but it has only been 3 weeks today. Not too surprised that it isn't healed. Actually the doctor said she would have been extremely surprised if it had already healed. The screws are good. They are holding and haven't slipped. Everything is good. She has rehab and they come to her three times a week. She is still in the motion machine that takes her knee from -2 degrees to 90 degrees. Yesterday they told her that she can start going past 90 degrees but to stop at 120 degrees. My mother is going crazy though. She has only left their house 2 times in three weeks. There are only so many books to read and so much television to watch. They have dish network and they have almost every channel, but that doesn't help. Now she is talking about trying to go to church on Sunday. My dad, Melissa (my oldest sister), and I all all telling her no. Too many rowdy kids and too much of a danger for her to get hurt. I suggested she wait until she can put weight on her leg. We are trying a 3 faced attack on her and I think it has worked. We shall see. Anyway, that is where things sit and I mean sit for most of the day.

My Workout Goals

I am trying to get back up to running 6 miles. My goal is to be back there by the end of March. I am running 3.25 miles right now. By February 1 I am going to push it up to 3.5 miles. After the run, I walk 20 minutes in which I up my speed and elevation every minute. Once I get to 15% grade, I continue to up my speed but start dropping the elevation back. Once my 20 minutes is done, I kick the pace to 8 miles an hour and run another 1/2 mile. By the end of that 1/2 mile, I am up to 9 miles an hour. I feel like I am going to die by the end of that. After that, I hit the bike for 22 minutes. Every 3 minutes I up the resistance. I usually get 5.5 miles done every day. Then I hit the weights. Now, I the only thing I try to increase is my miles I run. I could care less about the rest of it. I do vary my weight workout and try to increase the reps and then the weight. I work on strength and reps instead of bulk. Bulk is something I don't need to add. I added that the most part of my lifting career. Now it is time to maintain and work on endurance. Anyway, this is my routine and workout. I enjoy it and that is all that matters to me.

Throwing Caution To The Wind

My body is sore and tired, but that doesn't stop me from working out. My shin splints hurt a great deal, but that doesn't stop me. I did take the weekend off from running and biking, but that was all I could stand. Working out is addictive and can be harmful. I am the poster boy for that. I keep plugging along. It is hard to walk today because Monday and Tuesday I went to the gym. Last night I spent 1:45 out there putting my body through the ringer. Oh well, I will just pop a few more Advil and move on. I can honestly admit that I am a junkie for the gym these days. Missing two days drove me insane (more so than I already am). I missed it so much. It was really hard to bear. I know this sounds nuts, but it is true. I talked to Tiffany last night and the funny thing is that she is the same way. She is sick, but still is training for her Triathlon. She is still swimming, running, and biking everyday while sick. I knew better than to try to explain to her to rest her body. Plus, then I would be a hypocrite because I don't listen to my body when it wants rest. I just keep pushing on. Here is the good thing (I think). My desire to workout is not motivated by anything but the sheer entertainment I feel by working out. I love it. It is the best part of my day. I am not like some of these people who have to workout because they are worried about what you and I think about them and their weight. I do it because I want to and enjoy it. I step on the scale about once a week just to see where I am. I don't really care. I don't mind telling anyone that I weigh 225 pounds and I wear a size 36 pant. I am only 5 foot 10 inches tall. I like who I am.

Netflix

I just decided to renew my Netflix account. I am happily surprised at the amount of Blu-Ray format movies they have. That is the main reason I re-upped. I have spent the last hour or so changing my queue and now I have about 50 movies in there that I can't wait to see. Not all of them are BD, but actually over half are. I am only going to get 3 at a time. I figured with the way things go for me, that should be plenty. I might actually have to find time during the week to squeeze another movie in. I don't think that is possible. My Dish Network DVR has about 25 hours of recorded TV shows that I want to get to. I will try to clean that up here in the near future. I did think it was cool that Netflix held onto all my information from about a year ago. They even had my old queue which was definitely in need of an overhaul. Now things are good and I should start seeing movies again in the mail.

Sunday's (1-21-07) Movie

This movie was a little odd and disturbing to me. It was thankfully short. I watched "Corpse Bride" on Blu-Ray. This movie was alright. I did enjoy the movie, but I was left feeling a little shafted. I don't know why that is. I think my expectations were set a little too high. It was a Burton movie and I expect awesome things from him. Anyway the plot is another simple one. A guy is getting married to a girl he has never met. The preacher scares him at the rehearsal and he can't get his vows down. He leaves and is in the woods trying to work on getting his vows right. He doesn't realize that he ends up wandering into the graveyard. He fools around and drops the ring onto a finger which he believes to be a limb. He gets his vows correct and up pops the "Corpse Bride". She takes him to the land of the dead and he tries to figure out how to get back "upstairs". Things top side go nuts and the girl he is suppose to marry ends up marring another guy that plans on killing her for her parents money. He has done this many of times and it is obvious that he did this to the "Corpse Bride". Anyway, the poor sucker stuck in the world of the dead decides to off himself and marry the dead bride. They go top side to make it official and then the confrontation starts. In the end, the dead take care of business and the dead and the living take care of the living. I was disturbed by some of the dead design and the character of the worm and black widow spider. Something just didn't sit right with me about them. Oh well, I did find the movie to be entertaining and I don't know how many times I will watch it again. It is a decent family movie and fairly funny. Very predictable and easy watching. I would give it a 6.5 rating. Enjoy.

Saturday's (1-20-07) Movie

My movie tastes vary from day to day. I go from Disney to Jackass to Vampire movies. Anyway, I watched Crank on Blu-Ray. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I will definitely watch it over and over again. I laughed my butt off. I don't think this movie was originally designed to be funny, but it was hilarious to me. Simple plot: A hit man is being retired by the gangster he works for. When I say retired, I mean killed. They give him a drug that stops the heart and blocks the adrenaline gland from producing normal amounts of adrenaline that keep your body and heart functioning. He is given 1 hour to live. He prolongs this hour by doing things that increase his adrenaline. He has sex with his girlfriend in the middle of "China Town", he drives his car through a mall, evades police all over the city, things like that. To me, it was such a comical movie. I really did laugh almost the entire movie. That is just my screwed up since of humor. I would recommend this movie highly to anyone without kids present. It really isn't a family movie. It has a ton of violence, some nudity, and really foul language. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being highest, I would rate it an 8.

New Weekly Monday Posts

Okay, I have decided to start a new thing every Monday. Since I don't have much time during the week to do much of anything, my weekend gets jammed packed with things I wanted to do all week. This being said, I still am taking the time out on Saturday and Sunday to watch a movie each night. The main reason I am able to do this because the gym is closed and I usually take off from work around 5. Saturday's and Sunday's for whatever reason are extremely slow for us starting around 4. Yesterday, I was actually the only one at work after church. Honestly, I can handle the business by myself most of the year. There are only a couple of months that I even need help. But anyway, my next couple of posts will be about the movies I watched this past weekend. Realize that I don't actually go to the movie theatre because I am cheap and lazy. I wait for everything to come out on DVD or Blu-Ray now. The closest theatre to me is 30 miles away and I am to stubborn and lazy to drive that far. I know that is nothing to most people, but when you get use to a small town and everything being within 1 to 2 miles (5 minutes tops) from you, you get spoiled. On to the next post.

Grow Up

As all of you know, I need to grow up. I admit it. I still see myself as a kid and even act that way. I don't know why, maybe it is because I work with my father and I see people I have seen for years that I grew up with. Whatever the reason, I feel like a less of an adult and sometimes act like less of one than I probably should. I do know that physically I am not a kid anymore and I have to pace myself and there are more pains every morning than there were the previous day. I know that I am closing in on 30, it doesn't scare me, and I actually see myself more about 20 most days. Granted I have a ton of responsibilities that I couldn't have handled 10 years ago. There are some things that I have matured up to and there are others that I am dragging on. When I think about the fact that my parents already had all three of us by this age and that most of my friends have kids, that is when it slaps me in the face that I am old (or getting there). Also, when I actually decide to do something responsible, like trying to buy a house instead of a Corvette, I realize that part of me has grown up and that it is waiting on the rest of me to catch up. I am not a kid anymore and I need to start acting closer to my age. I will work on it, but I make no guaranties.

Big Decisions

I have been trying to decide what I am going to spend some money on. Now I am talking about a big purchase. I have been trying to decide whether or not to buy a new Corvette or grow up and put a down payment down on a house. There are problems with both. The main thing holding me back on the house is the price. In this valley that I live in, the price of a house is astronomical. It is crazy what you have to pay for things up here. I also know as soon as I do something, the bottom is going to fall out of the market. That is always my luck. As you can guess, I am more leaning towards the house rather than another vehicle. A Vette would be so nice, but it would also be a 3rd vehicle. A small house, 2-3 bedrooms with 1-2 bath, would cost me anywhere from $175,000 up. That is where I sit. I am tired of the renting game and since I want more than one Great Dane, I have to suck it up and decide on a house to buy. I am even looking at buying land and building a house on it. There is just nothing here that is reasonable. The value of a house is no where close to the cost and that bothers me and sends up a red flag to me. Oh well, what can you do? Bite the bullet, deal with it, and move forward. The main thing is to continue to move forward.

Wonderful Winter Days

Most people dislike the winter season. I love and enjoy the winter. I am not so much crazy about the way negative temperatures we get up here (-40 or so), but I do enjoy some of the other things. Actually this winter has been mild for us. This week (January 15 to now) has been the coldest of all of our winter. Believe it or not, it hasn't even hit -2o here yet. That is shocking to all of us. It has gotten close -19 (HA!). Anyway, the best part about winter is that it is our slowest time of year. I get a break. I don't work, actually. I do very little. I play a lot on the computer and goof off. I can admit this and enjoy it because it only lasts a short time. Once it warms up, we get busy. We are all hoping spring comes early. The fact of the matter is that you can only do little for so long before you get bored. I am about to that point. With my mom laid up, 8 to 6 is the best part of my day because I am at work. No matter what I am doing, I stay here and my dad goes to help her out. Once I am off work, my mom has all kinds of chores for me to do. I don't mind and gladly help them out. I went to the grocery store for them the other day. That was interesting. That was the first time I spent $150 at the grocery store in a long, long time. I am one of those people that doesn't mind going every day or every other day for myself. A list scares me. I go and do whatever I feel like. Depending on whether or not I am going to eat dinner, that dictates going or not to the store. Once there, it is whatever strikes me as to what I buy. I only eat dinner once or twice a week so it isn't a big deal. I eat dinner on days I don't go to the gym. If I ate after my workout, it would be closer to 10 and I go to bed at 10:30. There is no point to that.

Passing By

I have been told by numerous people that life is just passing me by and that I am not living this life to the fullest. Their reasoning, is because I am not married and because I have no kids. Yeah, I am closing in on 30 but who cares. At times these comments annoy me and get me down, but for the most part I blow them off. I have a good life and I do what I want when I want. I am as independent of a person as you will find these days. I don't like being confined and having people telling me that I can't do this or that I have to do that. With all that being said, I don't believe marriage to be a prison or anything like that. It can be heaven if you marry the right person, or hell if you don't. Also, I don't like or want kids. My oldest sister and I are similar along this line. Neither one of us want kids and my other sister wants 5. That is fine for her and her husband but not for me. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy other people's kids as long as when I have had my limit, I can give them back. The only kids I will ever have are dogs. I treat Thor like my kid and he is spoiled. He is also disciplined and knows what to do and what not to do. He knows if he steps out of line what the consequences will be. I like my life and sure there are things I wish I could change, but I don't know anyone who doesn't want to change something or other in their life. All in all, I disagree that life is passing me by. I am not just killing time. I am doing what I want, when I want to do it. If that isn't living, I don't know what is. I am a simple person, I know it, and I enjoy it. Some people love me and other people hate me. I am just another person in the crowd and that is how I like it.

Blu-Ray and HD DVD

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about the difference I was going to see from a Blu-Ray (BD) disc movie to a regular DVD movie playback. Well, after watching the same movie (X-Men III) on both formats, I was blown away with the quality of the Blu-Ray. I am definitely going to switch from buying regular DVD's to buying Blu-Ray discs. I mean to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised not only in the resolution and the true HD output, but also how well the HDMI cable transmits audio. I am sold. Right now there aren't that many movies in BD format but there are more and more being released on a daily basis. Even Netflix has a selection of about 200. Now all this also makes me wonder about HD DVD's. I have been following and trying to speculate which version is going to better the other. I still don't have an opinion on the matter, but I did notice that there are a ton of overlapping movies on each format. It seams like quite a few of the companies have decided to go all three ways (regular DVD, BD, and HD DVD). I checked on a HD DVD player and they will run about $500. I might spring for one sometime, but before I do I will have to upgrade my TV. There is nothing wrong with my current TV, except the fact that it doesn't have enough HMDI inputs. That is kind of a bummer.

The Truth

Here goes. I hate ( I know "hate" is a strong word and that is why I am using it) the show "American Idol". This show really pisses me off and annoys the crap out of me. I know everyone else loves this show and thinks it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The only part of this show that I like is Simon berating the contestants. The rest of the show annoys me so much that I cannot watch it. To give the devil his due, I watched an hour of it last night. I still hate the show and I won't subject myself to another viewing of it. Tiffany loves "Idol" and she tells me all about it. Another reason I hate "Idol" is because they make such a huge deal about it and give it airtime where shows I actually enjoy watching usually are. These shows (like House) get put on the back burner and pushed back a few weeks. House is one of my favorite shows (only "Rome" on HBO covets more of my time) and now I have to wait to see it until we get into the regulation Idol. From what I saw last night, Idol is in for a rough season. I almost got scared thinking that some of these people actually think they can sing and should be allowed in front of public. WOW!! Anyway, I hope all of you out there enjoy your beloved show and make it a success again. Not really, I am lying. I really hope it flops and goes away. I don't want them to be mad, I just want them to go away.

Papa's got a new Pair of Shoes

Well, I decided I needed a new pair of shoes. Actually, I bought two new pair. I bought an everyday pair and a new pair for running. The shoes I wear everyday during the winter are about 3 years old and are worn out. I only wear shoes during winter. The rest of the year I wear sandals. Birkenstocks, to be specific. I don't really like wearing Birkenstocks in the snow, so I switch to Nike tennis shoes. In the picture below, you can see my new shoes. The Nike Junga's are my everyday shoes and that is the pair on the left. On the right, are my new Nike Air Max 360's. I had to order them online because I couldn't get them here in Gunnison. We don't have a big enough market for them. I am wearing the Junga's to workout in until they get here sometime later this week. The Junga's are comfortable. I am pleasantly surprised. The worst part about running shoes is that they cost me about $175. I am picky, I know. I could get cheaper ones but I don't settle anymore since I have he money. I do wish they would last just a little longer also. My old running shoes turned a year old last week. They are really screwed up. The shocks are gone and the sole is ripped almost in two. Anyway, I got new shoes and am happy.

The Jeep and Winch

As much as I want to add the winch to my Jeep, I don't know if I am actually going to be able to do so. It would cost me about $2000 to have the winch I want and have it installed. Usually that wouldn't be too much of an issue with me, but this year is different. I can't in good conscience spend that much money accessorizing a toy when I don't know what exactly is going on with my parents financially. I know I have to worry about myself and let them take care of themselves. I just can't. I have already offered and tried to give my dad some money to help out in the expense of my mom's ordeal. They have insurance, but insurance doesn't cover everything. Yes, I know the financial status of the business and I can tell you it from memory. That doesn't help the personal accounts and I don't know them. I am not setup to be involved there. My own personal financial data and the business is all I know and am responsible for. If I do get the winch I want to put on the Jeep, it won't be till sometime late May or June. I could settle for a different winch, but I don't do that. I learned a long time ago that I don't do well settling for things. It is always better off for me and my state of mind if I get what I originally decide on, no matter if it is more expensive. That being said, sometimes I have to wait to get things the way I want them and that is way better than regretting getting a substitute product. I know this is odd, but we all have our own quirks we have to deal with. Quirks are what makes each of us different and interesting.

Another Mom Update

She saw the doctor on Tuesday ( I know I am slacking on my posting and I should have done it sooner). Everything is going according to schedule and the doctor was happy where everything was and how things are going. We now only have 5 more weeks of non-weight bearing on her right leg. Her physical therapy is another issue. She hates it and we are thinking about skipping it for a while. The reason she hates it is not because it is hard or hurts. It is because they do nothing and charge a huge fee. I think they are going once a week to therapy to get the exercises and then my dad is going to help her do them. He is going to act as her therapist. This isn't as bad as it may seem. My dad actually has a pretty good back ground here. Before he owned the business I now run, he was a teacher and coach. He was a high school head football and track coach. He has an intensive and full knowledge of kineseology and all that kind of stuff. He actually diagnosed this problem exactly. He has always done this. He is right on and exactly correct and his summary is always the same as the doctor's. We don't understand it, but we are lucky and grateful for it. Physical Therapy is going to cost on the upwards of 10K and it is something we can do, so it is looking like my parents are going to forget the hospital and their 3 times a week visits. The other issue is getting my mom up and down 17 stairs each time. We don't want to re-injure the knee and that is just asking for problems. She still uses a motion machine to work on the range her knee can move. She does this 4 hours a day. So, it isn't like she is just lying there and not moving her leg. This is where we sit. Now I get to fight with the insurance company.

My Life

To most people my life is boring and plain. In all honesty it is. I don't do much besides work. I really don't have much of a social life and I really don't have time for it. All I do now runs me around and I have a real lack of free time. Especially now that my mom is injured and can't walk for another 5 weeks. I have more responsibilities helping to take care of her and make sure we all get through the rehabilitation process for her leg. Generally, my day starts at 7:30. I get up and get ready to go to work. I am at work til usually 6. Yeah, I get to spend 10 hours everyday at work. I don't get weekends off. Work isn't so bad, but since I am usually the only person here, it can get very chaotic. My dad spends at least half of his time at home taking care of my mom, or worrying about her. I understand the worry (except I don't worry about things) and so I send him home because he is annoying the crap out of me and it is better for all of us just to see him leave. After I leave work, I go to the gym. You might say that this is free time for me and the 2 hours I spend out there is me doing what I want to. The sad thing is that really isn't true. It is part of the routine and if I miss a day it really annoys and ticks me off. It is to me just another part of my day. This means I usually get home about 9. Then I have so many things to take care of there. Things pile up. I usually watch TV for about 30 minutes to an hour before I go to bed. My tivo is jammed packed with shows I want to watch, but have missed. I am glad that I can record 25 hours of HD or 150 hours of SD or some combination there of. I usually end up watch the HD first, just because they take up so much more room. Anyway, here is a view of my life right now. In there somewhere, I make room to play with Thor and talk to Tiffany. I actually schedule those two times before I let myself indulge with something mindless. You have to keep on your toes playing with Thor. He is over 150 pounds these days and quick as lightning. He is such a great dog and the time I get to spend playing with him is a much needed release.

Tiffany Update

I just thought you might want to know this info. Tiffany and I talk quite often these days. It truly is wonderful. After almost a year of not having the pleasure of hearing her voice and thoughts, I have been enjoying her again. She told me back in December that she wasn't looking for someone to call and talk to everyday or anything like that. Since then I think we have had some form of communication (text or voice) every day. I have to admit that I enjoy talking to her. Our conversations are like they use to be. We talk for 30 minutes to an hour and it seems like it has only been a couple minutes. We talk about everything and anything. It has been great and I believe it will continue to be great. I think I will even get the pleasure of seeing her this summer. Her family always do a couple week trip to Colorado and she always comes. We are talking about her mom, dad, and Tiffany. That is how I met her. I think this year they are going to bring their Jeep and if that is the case I might go Jeeping with them a few days. I still have to put that winch on my truck and now I have to put in a new windshield. Mine is cracked and looks like a smile with a tongue sticking out. Anyway, I plan on calling her tonight and see what is going on. She moved to Birmingham Alabama and is enjoying her new place. We never know what might happen. Things might get interesting again this summer. I really doubt it. If she wants the nature of this relationship to change this time, she is going to have to move to Colorado. I have too many responsibilities and duties here that I can't bail on. I will keep you informed.

Update on my Mother

As all of you know, my mom's knee is messed up. Last Wednesday she had surgery and had 3 screws put in. She had a broken knee cap, both sides of the meniscus were messed up, and had part of another leg bone broken. All in all the surgery took 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The surgeon said that she thought it went well and was very pleased with how everything went. Thursday we took my mom home and that was interesting. My dad and I had to help her up 15 stairs. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she has to go back to the doctor for a check up. She can't put any weight on her leg for 6 weeks and then has 4 to 6 months of physical therapy. Things are interesting but going well. I want to express my appreciation to any and all of you that care. I will be keeping everyone updated on this situation as soon as something changes.

Used

That is the way I feel these days, Used. I don't feel this way towards most people or from most people. There is just this one girl in my life that I feel this way toward and from. She only contacts me when she needs something. We are (were, I haven't quite decided what to do) friends or so I thought. I don't have any other friends that use me like this girl does. It doesn't help me that I am actually attracted to this girl. The worst part is that the attraction is only physical. Anyway, like I said, she only calls or texts me when she wants to borrow one of my vehicles, wants me to give her a ride, wants me to pick up something for her, or if she needs to borrow money. Yes, I am an easy target and I know it. I have asked her out, and I get some really lame excuses or we set something up and she bails on me at the last second. It is like she wants everything I have, except she doesn't want anything to do with me and definitely doesn't want to be seen in public with me. I can understand that, I look at myself in the mirror everyday. It was funny to me because on Saturday night she called me and only wanted to know if she could borrow my truck to get from her work to her house (she works as a nanny close to where I live, I mean within 2 blocks). I told her no (Blair would be happy and proud [he has been helping me see the error of my ways and showing me how much of an idiot I am]) and then about 3:30 she text messages me begging me to let her use a vehicle or give her a ride home when I went to work. I ignored the text message and then about 9:30 on Sunday she sent me another one asking if I would leave work and take her home. I told her again that I couldn't help her. The worst part is that I feel terrible and like a bad friend because I didn't help out. I know that I need to be strong and actually do something about this because I am tired of this game she plays me with. I guess I am just too nice. I am thinking about telling her my thoughts and giving up on our friendship (can you consider it a friendship if it is 1 sided?). I would appreciate any thoughts any of you would like to hit me with.

Gunnison Weather

For all you wondering, it was a nice 9 below zero this morning when I got up. Our weather has been nice and unseasonably warm. I am not complaining. Yes, -9 is warm for us. Usually it is -30 or below this time of year. There are days where -9 is our high. That might sound strange to all of you, but it is life in the Mountains. We love it and are use to it. It is sunny and nice. At 11 this morning, it was 10 above. I know it is 22 degrees below freezing, but you don't really notice it. I have actually been colder in Abilene on some of those upper 30's to low 40's days with rain and wind than I have ever been here. Dry cold is awesome, especially in the sun. Thor even loves it. He is spunky and energetic until it gets to about -25. Then he wants to be inside. -20 and warmer, he loves being outside doing who knows what. We play for about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time I can afford. Tennis balls and then we switch to his Wiggly Giggly ball. He loves that thing and can entertain himself for the majority of the day. It is a 7 inch hard ball that makes noise every time it is moved. He has a 4 1/2 inch one also, but he loves the bigger one. He carries it all around the yard and even through the doggy door. Yeah, he has a huge mouth, just like me!!

Side Note:
Before I forget, January is the month that my dear friend Blair was born. Back in 1977 on the 6th (I think I am right here) Blair was brought into this harsh world and has brought light and laughter into it every day since. Blair, you are a great friend and I love and care about you and your family more than you will ever know. You are closer to me and mean more to me than family.

Change in Workout

I have decided to mix up and change my workout a little bit. Variety is the spice of life and one of the trainers out at the gym highly recommends switching things up. Well, I decided to mix both my time spent at the gym up and my daily normal routine up. I added ankle weights to the mix. I wear weights on each leg and am going to increase the weight every two weeks or so. This is every hour I am awake. I have them on right now, actually. I figured it couldn't hurt and can only make me stronger. I will add weight, but significantly less during my workouts. I am going to start with 2lbs during my 3 mile run. Gotta start off slow and not push myself too hard.

Here is the kicker. My mom is at the Hospital and has surgery sometime on the 3rd. My schedule is being modified and changed, so I don't know how everything is going to play out. We shall see and we will get it done. That is all I can say. I am blessed and thankful. Things could be a ton worse for me. I am doing better than I deserve.

PlayStation 3

I have the PS2, the PSP, and now I can finally say that I am a proud owner of a PS3!! The main reason I have wanted the PS3 and bought one is because I wanted the Blu-Ray disc player. Now this doesn't mean that I will or won't be buying and playing games, but it does mean that I will be buying Blu-Ray discs now instead of regular DVD's. I thought it is funny that Sony's Blu-Ray disc player was priced at $999 and the PS3 was $599. A $400 difference really sold me on buying the PS3. Now I have to give credit to my wonderful sister Melissa. Out of the wonderful, giving, and caring heart she has, she checked around Abilene for weeks to find me a PS3. She did this all on her own and without me asking. When she found one, she called me to see if I still wanted and if I had bought one yet. What a wonderful sister I have. In more ways than this tiny one, my sister truly is great and I love her dearly. She is an awesome person and I am thankful to be related to her. Today I got my Monster cables to connect everything up and get things really started in HD. Everything in my home theatre is SONY. My receiver cost $2000 and is fully HDMI setup. All my cables are the expensive Monster cables. I notice a difference in the output and quality and that is all that matters. Oh I can't wait to play with these things. I have to redo and re-configure my system and I am looking forward to it. Now the only thing I have left to do is some upgrading of my speakers. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Speakers are something that I am not too up on or familiar with. Right now I have some decent BOSE speakers. All in all, I have 2 Sony receivers and 11 speakers hooked up to 3 amps. I have a 400 and a 301 disc DVD players and then my dish network satellite receiver. Now I have the PS2 and PS3 hooked up and it is time to play. That is where my home theatre system sits right now.

2006 Year in Review

Here it is 2007 and I thought it only fitting to do a year in review. Well, as all of you know this will be short.

January rolled around and I broke up with Tiffany. Not my finest hour. I spent the next few months lost and wondering what the heck I was doing and why I was doing what I was doing. The only really positive thing I started to do was hitting the gym again after years of absence.

March came in nicely and I stole the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon I love to drive. I think I drive it more than my truck.

May saw me take the top and doors off of the Jeep and start to have fun again.

June, July, and August flew by and I don't remember much about them except that there was more rain than I can ever remember us getting.

September and October saw my crying over the New York Yankees loss in the first round of the playoffs. Man, I love baseball and the Yankees!!!! These months along with November are my busiest and horrific months of work.

December rolls in and things get interesting. I make mad rush trips to get family in and out for the Holidays, my mother blows out her knee trying to save a cat, and then Tiffany calls me and we start down the friends path once again.

All in all, I am glad to be rid of 2006. My past is in the past and I hope things are better this year. I did a lot of things in 2006 that I regret, am not proud of, and that hurt a lot of people I care about. I am still working on resolving some of these things and getting friendships back in order. To all of those that I hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry. To all my friends that have stood by me, THANK YOU. I know 2007 will be so much better. I know this because I know I am not the same person I was a year ago. I am happy and enjoying life these days. GOD has blessed me in more ways than I can count and I am grateful. Whatever happens this year, I am ready to take the challenges and trials head on. My outlook for 2007 is bright. I remember this time in 2006 and all I can say is that last year was the darkest year of my life. Even my parents noticed and commented on the change in me last year. I can say the harshness and hard times last year have helped me appreciate and put things in perspective. Life is great and I am looking forward to an incredible year. I will do my part to keep all of you informed. This blog is the only outlet of information I use. To all who read this blog and actually care about me and my life, Thanks. I appreciate it. My only request would be that you leave a comment ever so often so I know you happened by. Let's make 2007 great!!