When I'm Bored...

New Website Idea

2006-04-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

Money is starting to get a little tight around our house these days. The wife is still staying at home with the baby, and we're living off my income. With mortgage, bills, and doctor bills, money is running thin. The wife is going back to work next month, but only on a part-time basis. We said from the beginning that we didn't want daycare or family members raising our children while we worked.

I've always been intrigued by the idea of making money on the side in a work-from-home business. I've been doing a lot reading and research on the different ways to start a profitable website. I quickly became overwhelmed at the amount of information I found. But I've been digging through a lot of it, and I'm starting to get some idea on what I want to do.

The whole idea, obviously, is to come up with a very specific topic, one that would apply to a niche market. I've been brainstorming for several days trying to come up with an idea that hasn't already been established on the web, or maybe one that has been established but one that I could compete with. Once I have the foundation for an informative website, the next step would be to set up an affiliate relationship with a business that sells products related to my website. For example, if my website was all about vaccuum cleaners, I could have links to businesses that sold vaccuums. If somebody bought a vaccuum by clicking in from my site, I would get commission for that sale. Simple enough, right? It would be if only I could come up with "the next big idea". I'm tossing around some good ideas though, so hopefully I can get something established over the next few months.

Have any of you ever heard of "Site Build It!"? It's a website building company that has all of these tools bundled in together that help you build your site. They have a tool that will calculate keyword supply/demand to help you come up with the most profitable website idea.

If any of this interests you at all, I encourage you to check out the Site Build It! website. They present a very convincing case for using them to build a website. If you have a SBI website, please let me know how your experience has been with it. I'm anxious to hear some reviews about this site.

Random iPod song questionaire

2006-04-20T14:42:00.000-05:00

My friend Karyn discovered a cool questionaire, where you answer each question with the next song title that plays with your iPod on shuffle. I hardly ever fill answer these things, but since this one involved my iPod, here goes. Feel free to post answers to your own quiz in the comments, or in your own blog.

How does the world see you?
"Clarity", John Mayer (I hope the world sees me as clear.)

Will I have a happy life?
"Grey Street", DMB

What do my friends really think of me?
"Sorry, So Sorry", Howie Day (Hahahaha!)

Do people secretly lust after me?
"Beneath the Balcony", Iron & Wine (That's right. I'm sexy up here on this balcony. Lust all that you want to!)

How can I make myself happy?
"Holy Manna", Union Trio (How appropriate. Holy Manna is the only way to make yourself truly happy.)

What should I do with my life?
"He Woke Me Up Again", Sufjan Stevens (Sometimes I do feel asleep.)

Will I ever have children?
"Hold You In My Arms", Ray LaMontagne (I hold my baby in my arms every day.)

What is some good advice for me?
"Talk", Coldplay (Very appropriate, as I'm so bashful at times!)

How will I be remembered?
"Situations", Jack Johnson

What is my signature dancing song?
"New Slang", The Shins

What do I think my current theme song is?
"Ants Marching", DMB (Aren't we all ants, marching back and forth?)

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
"Sitting Waiting Wishing", Jack Johnson (Waiting and wishing for what?)

What song will play at my funeral?
"Such Great Heights", Iron & Wine

What type of women do you like?
"Delicate", Damien Rice (I promise this is what came up)

What is my day going to be like?
"So Long, So Wrong", Alison Krauss & Union Station

I can't believe how true some of these came out! This is amazing.

The Muckrakers Contest - Win A FREE CD and T-Shirt!

2006-04-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

Some friends of mine are having a contest where you can win a copy of The Muckrakers new CD, Front of the Parade. You can also win a cool Muckrakers T-Shirt. If you haven't heard the Muckrakers yet, you need to now! Their music reminds me of a cross between Barenaked Ladies, Matchbox 20, and Guster. Their on-stage and lyrical humor create an awesome concert experience. Read an excellent in-depth review of Front of the Parade here.

Sign up for the contest here.

Stupid TV

2006-03-24T10:49:00.000-05:00

I guess I can kiss my TV goodbye. I had picked both Duke and Gonzaga
to be in the Final 4, and they both lost last night. I practically
have no chance at winning now.

Are You Bored With the Treadmill of Life?

2006-03-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

By Gary Simpson

Every week for years and years you get up in the morning, go to work, come home, pay the bills, get up again, go to work, come home, pay the bills. Sound familiar? You're on what I call "the treadmill of life."

Unless you are happy with this existence you had better start doing something to change it. Because, if you don't, in ten years time, and with a few more wrinkles and some more gray hair, you will still be getting up, going to work, coming home and paying the bills.

You see, most of us get into this routine. Pretty much we fall into it, obliviously. Everybody else is doing it. It's just the done thing. Or is it?

Well, who wrote the script?

If this is "normal" for you then I can almost guarantee that after years and years of doing it you will one day wake up and wonder why you keep doing it.

Maybe it will be next year, maybe in a few years, maybe it will take another ten or twenty or thirty years. Hey, maybe you are wondering about it right now! Are you?

What are you going to do about it? What is the defining event that will allow you to jump off the treadmill? To answer that, you need to know why you are on the treadmill in the first place. I can categorically state that 100% of people who are on the treadmill do it to pay those darn bills that seem to appear almost magically every day in our letter boxes.

Let me put you to the test. If you had no bills to pay and could exist comfortably without money would you still you get up every morning and tootle off to work? Well, would you? Do you have something else that you would rather do with your time? Do you enjoy battling the highways and the subways with hundreds of thousands of other commuters?

What are you going to do about it? To replace your income will open up your life to a whole new spectrum of options. Think about it.

But how can you achieve such a thing? How can you replace your income? How can you get off the treadmill that will command your life until you retire?

Just think - when you "retire" with that nice little super-annuation and retirement benefit - then you can REALLY enjoy yourself. Heck, maybe you can even take that ski trip that you have spent all your youth waiting for.

Have I got you thinking? I hope so! Don't wait until all your youth and health has been spent in the system before you realize that there could have been so much more to life.

This article comes with reprint rights providing no changes are made and the resource box below accompanies it.

To learn how you can get off the treadmill click here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Simpson

I can taste the victory

2006-03-23T10:22:00.000-05:00

March Madness is upon us. It's the perfect time of year for me. If I were not hindered by work, I could sit down and watch every single NCAA basketball game from Day 1 til the championship game. People all across the country paid their $5 and filled out a bracket in a winner-take-all office pool. This is the first year that I haven't participated in a money pool. The one I'm playing in is much much better.

The local ESPN radio station, 1340AM, is having a free bracket contest, where the winner will receive a 42 inch flat screen LCD TV from Best Buy. I emailed the station after the first two rounds were completed, to see where I stood. I had been keeping up with my score on a copied version of the bracket I turned in. I could tell that I was doing quite well. The station manager replied and said that I was tied with 3 other people for SECOND PLACE. He also said that the guy in first place had no chance whatsoever of winning, because the team he picked to win it all, had already lost. All 4 of my Final 4 teams are still in it. So I have a chance!

General Update - Baby

2006-03-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

Life has been grand over the last few months. Being a father is the
best experience I've ever had. Our little guy is almost 5 months old
now, and it amazes me how much he is growing and changing every day.
Everybody says that he looks just like me, except for his bright blue
eyes, which either come from my mom, or my wife's dad. I've started
introducing him to people as Mini Me.

Honestly speaking, I think he's the best baby I've ever seen. It may
sound biased, but I'm telling the truth. He never cries unless he is
hungry, or sleepy. He is happy the rest of the time. He doesn't even
cry when he fills his diapers with stinky poopy. The other night, he
must have pooped at 2 or 3 in the morning. We woke up the next
morning to a nasty surprise, and it was already starting to dry up.
He had a nasty diaper rash for a while after that, but he still didn't
fuss or cry about it.

He also is sleeping wonderfully. He takes 2 naps a day, and sleeps 12
hours a night. It was horrendous for the first 3 months or so, but we
finally got him in a sleep routine that is working very well. There
for a while, I didn't think I'd ever get a full night's sleep again.

Every day I go home for lunch and play with him for a few minutes.
His little face lights up when he sees me, and a big smile spreads
across his face. It's the best feeling ever. I hate having to go
back to work. He is only just now getting to the point where he will
laugh out loud. It's hilarious to watch him try to laugh. There for
a while, he just couldn't figure it out.

I can't believe how fast he is growing, and it seems like yesterday
that we were bringing him home from the hospital. I hope we're doing
everything right.

General Update - House

2006-03-22T13:02:00.000-05:00

Springtime is rapidly approaching. Acutally, Spring is already here.
But you wouldn't know it if you walked outside right now. It snowed a
little last night and it was 28 this morning as I came to work. But
we have had some nice warm days recently. My birthday was the 11th,
and it got up to 80 that day. So Mother Nature had a great birthday
present for me.

Warm weather means that I can finally get out of the house and do some
yardwork. I asked for yard tools for my birthday, since we now
finally own some yard to work in. For presents, I received a shovel,
rake, hedge clippers, water hose, and hose reel. The house's previous
owner was a landscaping freak, and had flower beds all over the place.
So last Saturday, I took my clippers and cleaned out all of the dead
flowers. It is my goal to remove some of his flower beds, and fill
with dirt and sow with grass. He left a huge pile of topsoil in the
back corner of the back yard for me to work with. But I am afraid
that this task will require more than just a shovel and a rake. I
hope to find a neighbor with a small tractor and loader.

We also have no lawn mower. I don't know how I'm going to handle this
situation yet, as mowing the yard is a necessity. The wife is still
staying at home with the baby, so we're still on one income. Money is
tight and we simply can't afford a lawn mower, unless we get a push
mower. And I really don't want to have to push-mow our yard. It
would take ages! Hopefully, we can borrow a mower until we can figure
out what we're going to do.

The inside of the house is looking good. We finally unpacked the last
box a few days ago. Inside the last box, we found a package of
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" that we had bought on a whim at the
grocery store. Like two idiots, we opened the bag and sampled every
single flavor. From Lemon Drops to Booger, to Vomit, we had them all.
It was fun.

Everything else in the house finally has a place, and I have finally
learned to remember where most everything has been put. I say most,
because there is one thing that neither one of us can find that we
really need. We still have a few pictures to hang on the walls, but
the rest of the house is in great shape.

General Update - Job

2006-03-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

My job is fantastic. I couldn't be happier with it. I can't really
say much about it, because I work with confidential data, but I can
say that I am a Data Analyst, and I work with the data in Excel. I
love working with numbers, and that is exactly what I do, all day
long. I'm sure it will eventually get boring and monotonous, but it
hasn't yet. And that's probably the main reason that I haven't been
posting to the blog much. Because I haven't been "bored" at work that
much. And that was the whole reason for me creating the blog in the
first place. So am I bored now? Yes, slightly. But only because I
am caught up with work and am in the middle of some downtime.

Sellout

2006-03-15T18:02:00.000-05:00

I had all but given up on this blog, until I had a look at my
statcounter history. Surprisingly, it seems that there are a few of
you out there that come by every day to see if I've posted anything
new. But even more surprisingly, is the fact that I get 15 to 20 hits
a day from people who type "i'm bored" into either Yahoo! or MSN
searches. Of the millions of results that are returned for the "i'm
bored" phrase, I am somehow the number 2 result.

So in creating my blog, choosing my title was either a stroke of
brilliance, or just dumb luck. Either way, I'm still getting tons of
hits on a daily basis. So, I thought I'd try to make a little money
off of my brilliance (or dumb luck) and add Google's AdSense to my
sidebar. The wifey is a stay-at-home Mom now, and we could use any
extra cash that we can muster up. So, if you are indeed truly bored,
why not help out a single-income family with a 4 month old baby, and
click on some google ads. The little guy has to eat!

I promise to start posting again very soon. We still have no internet
at home, and I still have a hard time of finding time at work to post.
But work is slowing down, and I have lots to catch everybody up on.
Being a new father is quite adventurous!

..keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars..

2005-12-30T10:55:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything music related in a very long time, and since
my blog appearance is dominated with music, I suppose I should post
something musical.

To those of you iPod or iTunes users, you know that iTunes keeps track
of your song playcounts. Since I've had my iPod for most of 2005, I
thought it would be a great idea to create my own Top 100 of 2005. I
created a playlist where I ranked my songs by the number of times that
I listened to them throughout the year. I took the top 100 and
flipped the sorting so that I could have a countdown to my favorite
songs.

I'm listening to it today at work, and it's making the day fly by. My
goal is to make it all the way through. I'm on song 88 working
backwards. iTunes said the playlist was 6.5 hours long, so I should
get through it during my 8 hour workday.
I know you're on the edge of your seats now, waiting for the
unveiling. So without further ado, I bring to you Jason's Top 100 of
2005.

100: Nickel Creek - Jealous Of The Moon
99: Ray LaMontagne - Hold You in My Arms
98: Sufjan Stevens - For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless
in Ypsilanti
97: Iron & Wine - Fever Dream
96: Nada Surf - Inside of Love
95: Iron & Wine - In My Lady's House
94: Union Trio - Holy Manna
93: Ray LaMontagne - Hannah
92: Dave Matthews Band - Grey Street
91: The Shins - Girl on the Wing
90: Iron & Wine - Each Coming Night
89: Sufjan Stevens - Dress Looks Nice On You
88: Iron & Wine - Communion Cups And Someone's Coat
87: Ryan Adams - Dreaming's Free (I'm Alright Today)
86: Damien Rice - Delicate
85: Jack Johnson - Cupid
84: Iron & Wine - Cinder and Smoke
83: Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
82: Gavin DeGraw - Chariot
81: Howie Day - Brace Yourself
80: Amos Lee - Arms of a Woman
79: Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching
78: Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die?
77: the muckrakers - When the Morning Comes
76: Dave Matthews Band - What Would You Say
75: Iron & Wine - Upward Over the Mountain
74: Ray LaMontagne - Trouble
73: the muckrakers - through my door
72: The Shins - Those to Come
71: Iron & Wine - The Sea and the Rhythm
70: The Shins - The Celibate Life
69: Iron & Wine - Teeth in the Grass
68: Howie Day - Sorry, So Sorry
67: Ray LaMontagne - Shelter
66: Iron & Wine - On Your Wings
65: Jack Johnson - No Other Way
64: Iron & Wine - Lion's Mane
63: Amos Lee - Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight
62: Iron & Wine - Jesus the Mexican Boy
61: Gavin DeGraw - I Don't Want To Be
60: Guster - Homecoming King
59: Jack Johnson - Holes to Heaven
58: Sufjan Stevens - Good Man Is Hard To Find
57: The Shins - Girl Inform Me
56: Iron & Wine - Free Until They Cut Me Down
55: Dave Matthews Band - Dreamgirl
54: John Mayer - Clarity
53: Blues Traveler - Carolina Blues
52: Iron & Wine - Beneath the Balcony
51: Jack Johnson - Belle
50: Dave Matthews Band - Bartender
49: John Mayer - 3x5
48: Jack Johnson - Situations
47: The Soggy Bottom Boys - I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (radio version)
46: The Shins - Gone for Good
45: Iron & Wine - Her Tea Leaves
44: Jack Johnson - Crying Shame
43: Sufjan Stevens - He Woke Me Up Again
42: The Shins - Pink Bullets
41: Howie Day - Collide
40: Iron & Wine - Muddy Hymnal
39: Sufjan Stevens - Holland
38: Jack Johnson - Posters
37: John Mayer - Neon
36: Jack Johnson - Breakdown
35: Iron & Wine - Love and Some Verses
34: Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender
33: Ben Harper - Steal My Kisses
32: Maroon 5 - Sunday Morning
31: Jack Johnson - Flake
30: Beck - Girl
29: Iron & Wine - Jezebel
28: Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
27: Jack Johnson - Constellations
26: Joe Purdy - Wash Away
25: Jack Johnson - Do You Remember
24: Iron & Wine - Sunset Soon Forgotten
23: Jack Johnson - If I Could
22: The Shins - Fighting in a Sack
21: Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
20: Iron & Wine - Woman King
19: the muckrakers - Working My Way
18: Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights
17: Jack Johnson - Never Know
16: Iron & Wine - Naked as We Came
15: The Shins - Turn A Square
14: John Mayer - Bigger Than My Body
13: The Shins - Know Your Onion!
12: The Shins - The Past and Pending
11: Damien Rice - Cannonball
10: Iron & Wine - Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song)
9: Jack Johnson - Staple It Together
8: Iron & Wine - dearest forsaken
7: Jack Johnson - Good People
6: Iron & Wine - Passing Afternoon
5: The Shins - Young Pilgrims
4: The Shins - So Says I
3: Jack Johnson - Better Together
2: The Shins - Caring Is Creepy
1: The Shins - New Slang

And if you're wondering, I listened to New Slang 31 times in 2005, and
I listened to Nickel Creek's "Jealous of the Moon" only 6 times.

After doing this list, I realize that I need more variety in my music.
This list is DOMINATED by The Shins, Jack Johnson, Iron and Wine, and
Sufjan Stevens. Heck, my top 10 are all Shins, JJ and I&W. So my New
Year's Resolutions are to try new music, and start drinking water
instead of Mountain Dew.

Happy New Year's to you all. I hope you have a happy and prosperous one.

I'm Still Here

2005-12-21T15:28:00.000-05:00

Does anybody still come here? If so, I sincerely apologize for not posting since our son's birth over a month ago. We've been extremely busy, as you might guess, and the blog has taken a back seat to many other things. Since his birth, the baby has been in the hospital for 3 nights (more on that in a minute), we have completely moved to Bowling Green, and I am still adjusting to my new job.

Our son is 6 weeks old now and is the cutest thing ever. He is starting to smile, laugh, and he responds with cooing when you talk to him. I mentioned that he was in the hospital earlier. He has acid reflux really bad, and the reflux has damaged his airway. Doctors say he has a "floppy airway". It causes him to have sleep apnea, where his airway will shut off for a few seconds while he is sleeping, and then he gets choked and gasps for air. He was in the childrens' hospital for three nights over Thanksgiving. It was really scary to us before we took him to the doctor. We all had to take shifts and stay up with him during the night. We were afraid that he would not start breathing again once his airway closed. They gave us an apnea monitor to hook him up to at night. It will alarm if he has a bad apnea episode. So this has allowed us to sleep much better. I'm crossing my fingers, but I think that he is starting to get into a good sleeping routine, finally. It was rough for the first few weeks. Now, he eats around 9 or 10 pm, and will go to sleep soon after. He wakes up around 4 or 5 to eat again, and then he goes right back to sleep. Then he sleeps til 8 or 9, waking up to eat again. His eating was very sporadic there for a while, eating from every 2 to 4 hours, and when he wasn't eating, he was crying. It made for some rough nights. But bless my wife though, because she lets me sleep through the week since I have to get up early for work. I then sacrifice my sleep on weekends to help her out so that she can catch up on sleep then.

We have finally moved! It is so awesome to finally be back in Bowling Green full time. We've been moved into the house for three weeks now. Boxes are still stacked here and there, and we aren't even close to having everything put away yet. It's been a slow process. My wife is staying at home with the baby, but she hasn't been able to do as much as she wanted to, because he needs so much attention. She has gotten other family members to come and babysit once or twice a week, which has given her time to put a few things away. I am off for a few days over Christmas, so hopefully the two of us being at home will allow us to get the house in order.

My new job has definitely gotten better than when I first started. I would sit here for days at a time, twiddling my thumbs without anything to do. The office here is divided up into several different departments, and the different departments are busy at different times of the month. My department is busy during the first 2 weeks of each month, while other departments that we share data with, are busy during the rest of the month. I started my job in the third week of a month, therefore leaving me with nothing to do for two weeks. Then when it finally came time for me to train and learn my job, the baby was born and I was out for that. So, I had to wait another month before finally learning each of my duties. I have performed my duties on my own for one full month now, and I love it.

Again, I apologize for not posting in so long. My priorities have definitely changed since the baby has been born. To give you an example, our computer is still sitting in a box. Before he was born, I was on the computer every single day. I guess if we had internet at the house, the computer would be unboxed and running, but we don't have internet. And won't for a while.

I'm sitting here trying to think of a funny story to tell about the learning experiences that come from a new baby, but am having a hard time coming up with something good. There have been lots of funny times, and lots of times where I was ready to rip my hair out and stand on my head. But the funny and cute times makes me forget about those nasty times (almost forget about them anyways).

I guess I could talk about baby poop. Pooping is always a funny conversation topic. Especially when you're talking about babies. Right now, his poop looks just like creamy caramel with sesame seeds scattered all throughout it. I hear that this is perfectly normal, even though he doesn't eat caramel, and he definitely doesn't eat anything with sesame seeds on it. And he is the gasiest baby I've ever seen. When he farts, you hear it. And when he poops, you almost have to cover your ears it is so loud. He grunts and gets all red in the face and everything. It's quite comical. Until it's time to clean it up. I almost got pooped on for the first time last night. I try to change as many diapers as I can when I'm home with him, to give my wife a break. I was holding him last night when he almost blew his diaper off from the force of some poop. We've learned to wait a few minutes before changing a diaper, because it takes him a while to complete the process. I waited several minutes last night before changing him. I had his diaper off and had his bottom all cleaned up and was reaching for a new diaper. Just then I heard a small puff of air come out of his butt. I had just enough time to grab a new wipe and hold it in place to catch a little more poo. It was gross, but all I could do was laugh. I caught it all and he didn't make a mess, and it was only a little. And you'll notice that I said "We've learned to wait..." earlier. My wife has gotten pooped on more than once. If I didn't have the warning fart, he would have surely pooped on me. I won't even get started on how many times he's peed on us. I think baby boys have fire hoses in their penises. At least ours does. It shoots halfway across the room.

I'll go ahead and apologize now, but I can't promise a new post anytime soon. Christmas time is here and we'll be driving all over the place to show the baby off to family. I do promise to start posting more once we get internet at home. But that might not be until January or February. To those of you who keep coming back every day, you're probably starting to expect nothing new. So I hope I've surprised you with something new today. And thanks for the dedicated readership.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and please remember the true and only reason why we celebrate this season.

He's here!

2005-11-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: I apologize for keeping you all in suspense for so many days. Everything has been extremely hectic, as you can probably imagine. Plus, I try my best to keep this blog anonymous, and I hadn't decided how I was going to post this yet.

He's here! Our son was born Sunday Nov 6th, at 4:39 PM. He was 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and was 21.5 inches long. Since all babies look alike when they're so young, I see nothing wrong with posting the hospital's picture of him.

Picture

We've all been on a roller coaster ride since Sunday morning. My wife's water broke on the toilet at 7:30 Sunday morning, and we were at the hospital around 10. She had contractions all night Saturday night. The contractions lightened up when we got to the hospital, but since her water had broken, he had to go ahead and come. The doctor sent orders to give her patosin to make her contractions strengthen. And it worked. She had an epidural around 1 pm, and the labor progressed quite quickly from then on.

At 4 pm, it was time to push. My wife's doctor is a great guy, and he's very funny. He was cracking jokes while she was pushing. The epidural was working so well, she was laughing and cutting up during the whole thing. One of the nurses finally said "It's time to get serious! We gotta get this baby out!" We all had another laugh at this, before actually getting serious. Just a few short minutes later, he popped out and said hello.

We went home Tuesday afternoon. It's been a whole new experience being at home, as opposed to being at the hospital. When we wanted to sleep, we just called the nursery and they came and got him for a few hours. There's no nursery at home. Last night and Tuesday night were pretty rough. He cried all night both nights. I'm back at work this morning, and am quite exhausted. But other than the lack of sleep my wife and I are both experiencing, everything is perfect. It's hard to believe that I'm actually a father now. My life has been changed forever.

IT'S TIME!

2005-11-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

WIFE'S WATER JUST BROKE. GOING TO HOSPITAL NOW.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE.

HOLY COW!!!

Gellin' Like a Fellon

2005-10-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

I have this certain pair of black dress shoes that I absolutely love. They're cool and stylish, and I got them really cheap from a discount shoe store here in town. They would have been over $100 full price at a department store, but I got them for under $30. I hardly ever get to wear them though, because most of my pants are khaki, and therefore the wife suggests (or demands) that I wear brown shoes with the tan khakis. .

Now that I get to play dressup for work every day of the week, I get to break out my navy pants, and therefore my stylish Kenneth Cole black shoes. Last week when I wore them, they really hurt my feet. I tried them again today, and by lunch time my feet were throbbing. So on my lunchbreak, I went to the corner CVS store and grabbed some Dr. Scholl's massaging gel insoles. So ladies and gentlemen, it's official... I'm Gellin' like Magellan. Or a like felon. I'm in Heaven, cause I'm soooooo gellin'.

And they really are comfy.

Work Perks

2005-10-26T14:38:00.000-05:00

My golf swing is starting to look pretty darn good for the upcoming spring and summer golfing season. You can hardly imagine the surprise on my face when I found out that my workplace has a gym, and that this gym has a golf swing net. And to top it off, gym membership is free.

I've been grabbing fast food a lot over the last two weeks, since my parents' house is 30 min away and since we aren't living in the new house yet. Today I grabbed a quick lunch from Chick-fil-a and had an extra 30 minutes to waste during my lunch break. I thought that it was the perfect time to try out the golf net. I grabbed my golf glove out of the car and went straight to the gym.

They have a bag full of clubs and a big basket of range balls. I ended up having about 20 minutes to hit balls, and I hit roughly 40 shots. It was fantastic. This is going to do wonders for my golf game. My glove is now going to be a permanent resident inside my cube until spring arrives. Velcro sticks to my walls, so I just have it hanging up on the wall. I've already gotten an "ew, what's that?!" from a coworker.

BTW, this is my first entry of submitting a post by email. Let's hope it works ok.

First Week

2005-10-22T20:09:00.000-05:00

I know lots of you were probably expecting a "First day at work" post, or maybe a "Second day at work" post. Sorry to disappoint you. You'll have to settle for a "First Week" post instead. I had some free time on Tuesday morning and I had perfect intentions of doing my "First day at work" post, only to go to blogger.com and get an "Access Denied" screen. CRAP. Then I tried to go directly to my blog, only to be denied again. On the Access Denied screen, it also said that all message boards and online clubs were blocked. DOUBLE CRAP.

I then went to check out my fantasy sports page and see how my fantasy football teams fared over the weekend. Once again, Access Denied. TRIPLE CRAP. This time, it said that games and fantasy sports were blocked. In just a few short minutes, I realized that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. If blog browsing, message board browsing, and fantasy sports were all blocked, then I guess that meant that I would be working a little bit harder than I had at my previous job.

Besides the blocked internet content, the new job is awesome. The people are great, and the atmosphere is wonderful. I am in the research and analysis department, and my job title is Forecast Analyst. And no, I'm not forecasting the weather. I'll be analyzing sales forecasts for my company and will help determine how much of our products will be shipped to the stores that sell our products.

Once again, I am in a cube. I was hoping for a step-up at the new job, and thought I might get my own office with a door and everything. But I'm in a cube again. It is a much nicer cube though, so I guess that will have to do. My department is located right on the edge of the main entrance and lobby. There is a stream that runs through the lobby, with water trickling down the rocks and everything. I had to pee several times throughout the week. They say you get used to it after a couple of weeks though. The ceiling is full of skylights, and the sun shines directly into my eyes for about an hour every day. This is good though. I like seeing blue sky above me. The roof is shaped like a funnel in a couple of places. When it rains, water gushes down the funnel and through a hole and into the stream below. I haven't seen this yet, but I'm looking forward to the first big rain.

I also get free milk anytime I want. It's a very weird perq, but one that I enjoy. They have 2%, skim, and chocolate, and it is served fountain style in the canteens. After the first week, I'm averaging one glass of 2% and two glasses of chocolate a day.

Like I said, the job is great. But the best part is being back home. I didn't realize how much I missed it. Every evening after work, I head straight to our new house and get started on my second job. With help from family and friends, I have gotten the wallpaper stripped from both the dining room and kitchen. The baby's room has also been painted, thanks to help from Derick and Jeff. So my first week of working on the house has been productive. I'm staying with my parents through the week, since we haven't moved into the house yet. That's been a bit weird too, but in a good sort of way.

I just found out that blogger has a feature where you can post to your blog by sending an email to an address, which in-turn will publish to your blog. So since I can't browse blogs at work, at least I'll still be able to keep posting to my own.

Am I Immature?

2005-10-13T20:39:00.001-05:00

We've been going to childbirth classes for the past few weeks, every Wednesday night. Whenever we tell people this, they always say "Oh, Lamaze lessons?" but these classes aren't just about Lamaze. They're about everything, from the beginning and end of labor, and beyond. We've had three classes and we've only talked about Lamaze for about 5 minutes. I saw my first up-close-and-personal video of a baby being born at the very first lesson. There was no warning whatsoever! We start watching this very modest video about the stages of labor and, all of a sudden, the camera goes close-up on a woman's vagina and the little sucker slipped right out. I was expecting a video, but not on the first night. Whoa. But the classes have been very helpful and I am very glad that we're going.

These classes only briefly touch on breastfeeding. They have another class for this and they encourage taking this extra class for those that are going to breastfeed. Our breastfeeding class was earlier tonight, and this is where the title of this entry comes into play. My wife works at the hospital where we are having the baby, and all of the classes are at this hospital as well. She worked today, and I met her in the lobby before class. I went into the class with the expectation of seeing lots of boobs. And I was not disappointed. There were boobs in the pamphlets, diagrams of boobs and the milk glands up on the walls, and the teacher even had a stuffed boob that she held up to her own chest while demonstrating the different techniques.

To be a guy with very little baby knowledge, and have even less breastfeeding knowledge, I was a bit embarassed through the whole thing. And I caught myself from chuckling under my breath a few times while the teacher said words like "nipple", "pinch", "squeeze", and "massage". And, much like the other classes we've had, a video was shown. And again, it started out quite modest, and progressed to the point where the boobs started popping out left and right.

After a few chuckles and getting past the immaturedness (word?) in me, the class was very educational. I really did learn a lot about the female breast, and I'm quite amazed at what it is capable of doing.

Unemployment

2005-10-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

We closed on our house last Friday, so we are now homeowners! After signing our names a thousand and one times, the owner gave us the keys. It was a great feeling walking into the house for the first time, knowing that (after 360 payments) it was ours. We went straight to the dining room and started peeling wallpaper from the wall. I think we're going to be pretty lucky with that. The top decorative layer peels right off, and the glue layer will come off with water and scraping. And the walls were primed underneath.

So a week ago today was my last day of working. I've been off for a week. It's been niiiice. It's almost been like a vacation. I've stayed up late and slept late every day. I got the new Tiger Woods 2006 golf game and I've been playing the heck out of it. If you haven't played it, it has a "Game Face" feature, where you can create a golfer and customize the face to make it look like yourself. Mine looks EXACTLY like me. My virtual golfer started out with roughly the same skill level as the real me, but has quickly progressed and he could kick my butt on a real course, no problem.

But for most of the week, I've been pretty bored. There just isn't much to do in this little apartment. I'm longing to be working on the new house, but that would mean I would have to leave my wife up here by herself. She is still working by the way. She's in her 35th week of pregnancy now. She's beginning to wish the little guy would go ahead and come. But he'll be here soon enough.

Last Day

2005-09-29T09:08:00.000-05:00

Today is my last day at my job. All day today I've been thinking to myself, "This is the last time I'll park here in this spot", "This is the last time I'll show my ID badge to the guard", "This is the last time I'll login to my computer", "This is my last no. 2 in this bathroom," etc. It is a sad day for me, but I just have to try and think about all of the happy things that are to come.

My new life will officially start tomorrow. We close on our house tomorrow. I just walked over to the credit union and transferred about 80% of our savings into my checking account. And tomorrow I will write the biggest check that I've ever written in my life, and in exchange we will receive the keys to our new home.

Then in two weeks, on October 17th, I will start my new job in Bowling Green, two hours away from here. And then in six weeks I will be welcoming our new son into the world. I can't believe that things are happening so fast.

But today, I have to say goodbye to many of my friends. These are people that I have spent 9 hours a day with over the last 2 and a half years. I will miss them severely.

Snap, crackle, pop!

2005-09-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

No, not rice krispies. My neck! I've never been to a chiropractor before. Not before Sunday afternoon that is. My wife has been going off and on since she was a little girl. Since being pregnant, she's had a lot of lower back pain. We went to Bowling Green again this last weekend for a baby shower, and we didn't make it there in time for her to go to her normal chiropractor on Saturday.

She has a family friend that is a retired chiro. She went to him until he retired. He put all of his equipment in his basement, and he does part time work in his basement now. She called him on Saturday afternoon and asked if he would have any time on Sunday after church to give her an adjustment. He said he would be glad to, so we drove over to his house after we had lunch on Sunday.

I've never seen a back adjustment, so I went to the basement with them to watch. He popped my wife's back and did everything he was going to do to her and she got off his adjustment table. Then he looked over to me and told me to lay down. I said, "huh?" And he told me again to lay down on his table. I said, "okay." I truly have been having some back and neck pain lately and have been more and more curious as to how it would feel to have an adjustment. My wife has always said it was wonderful.

So I laid down and he rubbed all over my back, trying to get me to relax. Then, out of nowhere, he pushed down hard and "pop, pop, pop!" all the way down my back. Then he made me turn my head to the side and he leaned with all his weight on my neck. Major poppage. It hurt at first, but felt amazing right after. Then I turned my neck the other way and had some more major poppage. My neck hasn't hurt since.

Then he got me on my side and felt of my pelvis. He said my pelvis was higher on one side, by about an inch. So I laid on my side and pulled one leg up. He pressed hard on my knee of that leg, and hard on my shoulder and twisted my back around so hard that I felt my pelvis fall back into place. Again, it hurt a little at first, but felt amazing when it was over.

After he did all the popping, he made me stand up. He took my half-inch thick wallet out of my back pocket and made me stand on it. Then he said to try and imagine this sensation happening to my hip all of the time, because I always sit on it. And it made perfect sense. He told me to never sit on my wallet while driving long distances, and to take it out when I'm at work.

It's been two days now since my adjustment, and my neck and back have felt wonderful. I think I may start going to my wife's chiropractor every once in a while from now on.

How did this happen?

2005-09-16T07:54:00.000-05:00

I haven't really been watching my stat counter as often as I used to. I used to watch it every single day, because I was fascinated that people actually came to my site. Now the fascination is long gone, and I might look at the counter once a week. I just looked at it and noticed that I'm getting TONS of hits from MSN.com's search engine.

If you go to www.msn.com and type in 'i'm bored' with no quotation marks or anything, you get 4,301,914 results. Guess who is the number 1 result.... me! I don't know how in the heck this happened. This makes me feel special. If you've come here looking for something to do when you're bored, I hope I haven't let you down. I feel somewhat obligated to provide some sort of entertainment for all of you bored folks. About the only thing I can do is point you to some sites that I go to when I'm bored at work.

Lately, I've been wasting lots of time at eBaum's World. It has a lot of games, funny videos, funny audio clips, optical illusion stuff, etc. It is the ultimate site to go to if you're bored. Then there's also the flash game site that I used to waste time on. But I've masted most every game there, so it's not so much fun to me anymore.

Feel free to leave comments on any other sites you may know of that are great to waste time on if you're bored. I'll have to add a link section of "bored" sites.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Trailer!

2005-09-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

The full length trailer for the new Harry Potter movie was released this morning. Watch it here!

Click here for Larger Version

Stargazing treat

2005-09-08T22:10:00.000-05:00

I've always loved stargazing. I always keep my eye on astronomy websites for upcoming rare stargazing opportunities. Tuesday night presented another awesome viewing. The crescent moon teamed up with Venus and Jupiter to form a straight line across the western horizon. I grabbed my digital camera and tripod and snapped these pictures.

In order to snap a good picture of stars at night, your camera must be able to make long exposures. This allows more light to "soak in" to the camera. My camera is able to take a 5 to 6 second exposure. I zoomed out and was able to capture a passing car and it's streaking head and tail lights.

I've been tagged

2005-09-08T08:26:00.000-05:00

I don't normally agree to do this type of thing, but this time I thought... what the heck? I've been "tagged" by Jeff. Plus, my blog hasn't been top priority lately. This'll give you a chance to get to know me a little more.

10 years ago: (1995) I was 15, wow. I was a sophmore in high school. I had just played my first round of golf ever, and I was on the junior varsity golf team. I was beating kids at golf that had been playing their whole life and everybody thought I would be awesome. I did get better, but it didn't get me anywhere.

5 years ago:(2000) I had just started my junior year at WKU. My wife and I had been dating since January. And I was working evenings for the US Postal Service, at the Remote Encoding Center in Bowling Green.

yesterday: Yesterday was my first workday of the week, after a long weekend. My wife had her regular doctor appointment. I took a long lunch to go with her. The baby is fine. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel, because that is our favorite place to eat, and my wife's birthday was Tuesday (and we couldn't eat there on her actual birthday).

5 snacks I enjoy: Reese's peanut butter cups, Nabs, Ice Cream, chocloate "Snack Pack", bananas

5 songs I know all the words to: Pig (Dave Matthews Band), Best of What's Around (DMB), New Slang (The Shins), Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis; the song I play my guitar and sing to my wife when I want brownie points :) ), Amazing Grace

5 things i would do with 100 million dollars: Buy a mansion, two new cars, courtside season tickets to Rupp Arena, education for my unborn children, donation to my church

5 places I would run away to: Scotland (birthplace of golf), Hawaii, Yellowstone National Park, Alaska, Grand Cayman Islands

5 things I would never wear: Cowboy hat, female clothing, checkered pants, earring, leisure suit

5 tv shows that I love: Andy Griffith, Friends, Blue Collar Comedy, That 70's Show, Extreme Home Makeover

5 bad habits: Forgeting names, staying up too late, being lazy with house work, wasting time on stupid stuff, chewing my nails

5 biggest joys: God, My family, My friends, Music, Being outside for the last hour before sunset

5 favorite toys: iPod, computer, guitar, golf clubs, recliner

4 people I’m tagging: 4 people??? I doubt if I tagged 4 people they would fill this out for themselves. If you're a regular reader and haven't done something like this, then consider yourself tagged. Let me know if you decide to do this.