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Childrens Play Place Not Safe for Adults

2014-07-30T00:27:00.000-06:00

A while ago we went to a play place. Caroline was doing a little filming and by chance happened to catch this moment on video. Ironic she ends up being embarrassed that she captured it. :)

This reminds me of being a kid

2014-06-26T23:41:00.000-06:00

When my family would go camping as a kid, my mom would usually buy a box of capri sun for hikes or whatever. I was excited when I opened the fridge and saw this:

The funny thing is I didn't remember that is was spelled "sonne". That's funny...

So what's happened to my potato chips?

2013-09-24T23:53:00.001-06:00

I ate a few chips this morning. Well, that's not entirely true. I ate an entire bags of chips...that's certainly more than a few.

They were yummy. Though after finishing the bag I was a little concerned to read the expiration date. Not because it had passed, but because what it says right below it.

Since when are potato chips manufactured (MFG)? Is my food really manufactured? That sounds so wrong?

I can hardly imagine anyone...

2013-02-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

checks this blog any more. It's been over two years since my last post. But just in case you are wondering I'm alive and well.

Not sure about that guy ^ though?

The other day something interesting happened. I hadn't taken a lunch to work. Forgot to bring this along:

(my actual lunch box it quite similar to this). So I decided to go out for lunch on my own. I went to a noodle place a co-worker had taken me to before. They didn't have an English menu so I pretty much pointed at the one that looked similar to what I'd had before and told them "that one".

They quickly prepared my order and soon I was happily on my way back to the office to enjoy my noodles. When I got back to the office I asked my co-worker what I'd purchased. She said it was pork. I was cool with that. Then she continue to describe what kind of pork. It turns out my noodle didn't have meat in them so much as they had pig organs in them. Don't worry they cut up the organs so they were bite size. Pretty soon I came to realize that I had a digestive organ in my noodles. A large pig digestive organ...that is to say the large intestine of a pig was cut up and cooked with my noodles.

Okay, I thought that's interesting. I can try it out. See what it's like. When I opened the lid of my bowl (which began to seem awfully large at this point) I could smell what reminded me of pig pens. I'm pretty sure you all know what kinds of materials the large intestine houses. And I'm pretty sure you can imagine how housing that over the life-time of a pig my thoroughly saturate it with a particular smell. What I'm guessing you can't imagine is why anyone would eat that!

I tried it. I started with a very, very small piece. I'm happy to say it didn't taste quite like the bowl of noodles smelled. So I tried about half of my bowl before I decided I couldn't do anymore. One time the scent got to me as I was chewing a piece and I almost lost it. That's always a good sign you might want to stop eating something. :)

Have a nice day.

What Blizzard

2010-11-24T08:48:00.003-07:00

So there's been a bit of pandemonium over a blizzard warning the weather service issued for last night and this morning.

News weather men were issuing all sorts of cautions:

"Hunker down, wait it out a bit. It's going to be that significant." -- Glen Merrill, NWS.

News headlines read:

Residents urged to prepare for expected blizzard conditions

Tuesday blizzard likely to deliver a whiteout punch.

The power companies were panicking:

"Rocky Mountain Power says this major storm could knock out power."

So what did this end up doing to my front yard? Well this is what it looked like this morning when I left for work:

It's a miracle we survived. Something we have to be thankful for on Thursday.

Open Letter to Senator Hatch

2010-10-15T09:02:00.006-06:00

Dear Senator Hatch,

Recently there has been a lot of talk about extending the Bush tax cuts. I think for the most part Republican legislators want the tax cuts extended at all levels. The President has come out in support of extending the tax cuts for everyone's first $250,000 of income and allowing the top two tax brackets to return to 2001 levels.

Senator Hatch are you in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts to everyone for only their first $250,000 of income? You mentioned a frustration that politics is getting in the way of extending the tax cuts via your twitter feed. The most reasonable and best plan I've heard at this point is to extend the tax cuts to only the four lower tax brackets. Households' whose marginal tax bracket is one of the bottom four tax brackets constitutes 98% of American households. What good reason is there for not extending the tax cuts to them?

They are the ones that are most impacted by the difficult economy. They are the ones who've been struggling the most. They are the ones who've been losing share of income over the last several years. They are the ones who deserve a little bit of help. They are the ones who with the extra money are most likely to use it in ways that can help get the economy humming again. They are the ones who you ought to be concerned about most.

The arguments about small business getting hit with large tax increases are over stated. Less than 3% of small businesses reach the fifth tax bracket. And even if they do only their income over $250,000 (after expenses) would be taxed at a slight increase of about 7.5%.

The argument that the economy needs the tax cuts seems like a good one. The tax cut extension will be most useful for the lower and middle classes. The top the 1-2% of Americans are the ones who by far received the largest tax breaks in 2001 and 2003. They are the ones whose incomes have been growing the most. They are the ones who are least likely to spend a small tax break on consumer goods. They are the ones who don't need that help. Consumer spending is the biggest driver of our economy. Lower and middle class Americans have the biggest impact here.

Extending the tax cuts to all tax brackets seems unwise. Many from the right have complained about government spending especially since the past election. Why would you compound the deficit issue? Clearly cutting off revenues does not stop congress from spending more.

If you are upset about politics preventing a tax extension from passing then step up Mr. Hatch and tell the senate that you will work on getting the tax cuts extended for the bottom four tax brackets. They only need one senator from the right to get this moving. One brave man willing to stand up for what is right. I understand the dilemma you must be facing considering a good portion of your donors are likely from the top 2% group. Please don’t forget you represent 100% of us not just 2%.

Resources:
2001 Tax Rates
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040tt--2001.pdf

2010 Tax Rates
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf

Hit Counter

Wow...I haven't been here for a while

2010-08-21T08:58:00.002-06:00

So it's been a while since I've been to Wahooo. Apparently, I was so happy with my bracket a year and a half ago that I decided I didn't need to post again. Well I didn't do as well on the bracket for 2010.

Here are a couple of other cool places I hadn't been in a while:

Delicious
Evernote
Flickr
Linkedin

later.

A Perfect Round for My Bracket!

2009-03-27T22:58:00.004-06:00

Wow. I don't remember having a perfect round for a while. I'll take it. I (luckily) picked all the winners from the Sweet 16 round. I've moved into first place for all of my groups. I'm now in the 98% percentile (still only ranked 30,424th) on Yahoo Tourney Pick'em.

Well my ranking probably won't, last but now it's forever recorded in the blogosphere.

Looking to send a Fruit Basket for Christmas

2008-12-13T16:54:00.002-07:00

A friend of mine has a pretty nice little site I wanted to mention. He's done a nice job on it. It's all about fruit and gift baskets. If you are looking into sending a fruit basket for Christmas you should have a look at his site.

Fruitbasket reviews tells you who all the main fruitbasket companies are plus he offers you a discount link to them. I've seen some pictures and the fruit looks tasty!

What do you think about 9/11

2008-12-02T15:01:00.002-07:00

This past year I've been doing some research on what happened on 9/11. A friend of mine kind of sparked my interest. I just watched a video on YouTube that was pretty interesting.

If that doesn't work you can see it here.

Can You Get Under Their Skin

2008-11-25T15:06:00.003-07:00

Do you have any friends that you love to bug? To see if you can get under their skin, just for fun? Well if you don't you should get one. Check out this IM conversation I had with one of my friends (I changed his name to "Friend"):

Ryan: you find a new place to work. I heard there were salary cuts at Company X. Is that true?
Friend: Dunno about that, but they are continuing to lay people off.
Friend: And no, I didn't find another place. To tell you the truth, my online portfolio is outta date, and I think it's hurting me.
Ryan: why is it out of date? oh you mean your website?
Friend: Right. The content and the look and feel are very out-of-date.
Ryan: Um...yeah it's a bit out of date.
Ryan: the last experience on there is a job from 2003?
Friend: Right. One small example of everything that needs to be updated.
Ryan: wow you had a 3.8 gpa?
Friend: I now have the Adobe Creative Suite at home, though, so that'll make it easier.
Friend: I spose I did.
Ryan: class of 2000? You're old Friend. Your almost coming on your 10 year COLLEGE graduation.
Friend: Yep, there's dirt and then there me.
Ryan: and I'd take dirt
Ryan: you might be older than rocks too.
Ryan: your biography could use some work.
Friend: Um...yeah.
Ryan: "under construction" come on Friend
Ryan: that is so 1998
Friend: Sue me, I made that web site five years ago.
Ryan: and you're still working on that page?
Friend: No. I shifted my priorities. Maybe you should just surf away from my website now.
Ryan: well there's nothing else for me to see...so I might as well!
Ryan: the splash open has got to go too btw.
Ryan: seriously
Friend: LIKE I SAID I MADE IT FIVE YEARS AGO.
Ryan: You know what Friend. It's just my opinion, but I think your online portfolio is outta date and might be hindering you job hunting.
Friend: GEE THANKS I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!!!

New Online Writing Group Site

2008-10-30T07:00:00.002-06:00

I've been helping some friends of mine with a what I think is a pretty cool site. I know some of you are pretty good writers. This site is a place aspiring or current writers can go to help them improve their writing. The online writing group site is Review Fuse. The way it works is you sign up to get a login and then you can submit your work. Since it's just in the beginning phase they are accepting short stories or first chapters of books. Then after you submit it you are guaranteed to get reviews on your work from your peers. People so far have quite liked it. Of course we are looking for me people to join the community so if you are into writing you should check it out.

Bear Warning

2008-07-30T11:12:00.004-06:00

This image was forwarded to me in an email earlier today.

Serious Campaign Message...

2008-07-16T12:16:00.003-06:00

If you haven't seen this yet it's pretty funny.

JibJab's Time to Campaign.

A Little Perspective

2008-07-02T11:26:00.004-06:00

So lately I've realized that I have a skewed perspective of reality. I know ... unbelievable. So I'm think that my perspective skew happens to more people than just myself. Here it is.

I feel like our little family is of modest means (which relatively speaking is likely true). I look at our simple home and our simple cars and see modest things. The I drive around a little and see what seems like lots of very nice homes and expensive cars. I translate this to mean "wow lots and lots of people are much better off than we are". So I was checking some number on the US census site and found numbers that didn't confirm my perspective. Like the median income of a US household is $46,000 a year. So 50% of all households in America (one of the richest countries in the world) make less than $46,000 a year; furthermore, 80% of all households in the US make less than $91,000 a year! That's 8 of 10 households make less than that. The vast majority of people. It's funny how we think everyone is better off than us. While it is true that lots of people are better off than us it's not by as much as I was thinking. It also easy to assume people are making over $100K or even a million but chance are quite slim, very few people make that much money. And some how we are good at ignoring everyone around us that isn't as well off as we are in our own town and community not to mention the rest of the world.

Source: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/ineqtoc.html (table IE-1)

Yahoo: LeBron James Now Playing for Jazz

2008-05-16T23:35:00.003-06:00

It's true. I read it on the internet from a reputable sports news site. Don't believe me? Take a look.

Who did he carry? Hmm...still looks like he's wearing his Cav's jersey though. I don't think Sloan will like that.

A Bird Pecking On My Window

2008-05-15T15:04:00.003-06:00

If the title wasn't clear enough, there is a bird pecking at my office window. Yesterday this same bird (I'm assuming) was pecking on my window. In fact it was about the same time yesterday that he pecked. It lasted for about an hour.

He can't see me because the window are the one way kind. So I thought maybe I'd bang on the window to scare him away...didn't work. It must be a one way sound window too because I can sure hear his peaking, but all the banging and slapping I did brought no reaction from the bird. Everyone in an office around me sure heard it though.

Maybe the bird's deaf? He does kinda move and turn his head in a jerky, twitchy, birdlike way. Maybe that means all birds are deaf.

Oh he stopped pecking for the moment...

Dang in the amount of time it took me to do a quick reread he's back. :(

Little Bro Waking Up

2008-05-06T10:57:00.002-06:00

My little bro is now in Indiana serving a mission. When he was still at home he was infamous for needing incredibly loud alarm clocks. I think it was partly because he would black out his window in his bedroom so at noon it would be dark enough to feel like midnight. Anyway...he sent an email about his morning today that cracked me up.

[I'll] take you all through one of my days ... here goes
6:25 my first alarm went of
6:28 or so i finally turn it off then go straight back to bed -- i fall back asleep
6:30 3 symaltamous alarms all go off each placed in a specific spot so i have to get up and walk around. then finally i make my way to the kitchen and i do some dishes yahda yada yada...

That cracks me up. 3 simultaneous alarms in 3 different spots to force him out of bed and walking around. I love it. It's pretty dang clever. A noble effort to ensure he's doing what he's supposed to.

1 Way Not to Advertise to Your Own Advertisers

2008-04-25T08:27:00.003-06:00

So at work I am in charge of some of the advertising we do on different sites. Today I got an email from one company we buy a little advertising from, and I just kind of find their messaging a little...funny. Here's a partial screen shot of the email:

Like what else are they going to tell me? They are the people I give money FOR advertising. Like they'd say, "During economic down turns a good way to cut costs is by reducing your advertising." Maybe the first draft of this email did say that. I bet that copy writer doesn't have a job anymore.

Oh...I know you're wondering. YES, I did enhance the image with my cool red underlining.

Next Time You're In an Elevator

2008-04-16T21:50:00.002-06:00

That just cracks me up!

A News Story Worth Following

2008-03-31T10:37:00.003-06:00

Okay this is a funny story. You may have heard about it. Last Monday Hillary Clinton gave a speech in Washington DC and she talked about some of her experiences as a First Lady. She mentions a trip to Bosnia where she was "under sniper fire" (second paragraph). Well it turns out that's not the story many...er...everyone else remembers. Check out this video on You Tube regarding the story.

She's been claiming all of this experience advantage over Obama. Apparently some of that "experience" may have been fabricated. I don't know who I'll vote for in the Presidential election in November. But integrity is going to be a key factor in my decision.

Anyway enjoy the story. Not good for the Clinton campaign...especially in my book.

2008-03-12T20:08:00.003-06:00

Raking Leaves

So I walked outside the other day and I saw this:

What a clever little boy.

2008-03-08T19:54:00.006-07:00

Getting the Best Bang for Your Buck at the Pump

Only fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening...your gallon is not exactly a gallon.
Avoid toping off the tank. Do not fill the gas tank past the first "click" of the fuel nozzle if it has an automatic shut-off. You often loose that extra gas you put it due to slosh over.
Pump your gas at the slower speed. It takes longer but the faster the gas moves the more it evaporates. The more it evaporates the less gas you get into your tank.
Fill up your car when it’s half full. When there is more air taking up space in your tank the gas can evaporate faster. So keeping the tank more full will reduce the amount of gas you lose due to evaporation.

Resources: Tips 1 and 2 come from the Utah Geological Survey site. Tips 3 and 4 come from some random guy who claims to have worked in the oil business for years (so take ‘em with a grain of salt).

Also if you are interested in buying gasoline from companies that don’t get their oil from the Middle East the US Department of Energy shows that on their web site.

Here’s a cheat sheet if you don’t want to look at the full list.

Exxon, Mobile, Chevron, and Texaco import 1/3 of their oil from the Persian Gulf area.
Sinclair, Flying J, and Shell do not import from the Persian Gulf

2008-02-29T09:49:00.003-07:00

This rare day deserves a post

You may think I'm talking about it being Leap Day (not sure if that's an official title), and I am—but it's more than that too. Today is payday at Doba. Since Doba pays out every 2 weeks that means February was a 3 payday month. Now 3 payday months happen twice a year so that's not a big deal, but the chance of it happening in February is very rare. Here's the brake down.

First it has to be a leap. Second the 29th has to be on a Friday. Third the 29th also has to be payday.

So mathematically there's a 1 in 4 chance it's a leap year, 1 in 7 chance the 29th is on a Friday, and 1 in 2 chance that that Friday is a payday. That means at Doba February wont be a 3 payday month again for 56 (4*7*2) years! It'll be 2064 next time. I'll be 84 years old. Come to think of it there is a really good chance I might not even be alive.

Go February! It's your time to shine.

2008-02-14T16:05:00.003-07:00

Hobos Have Moves!

Check out the hobo do his dance.