hkwonger.blogspot.com

Marital Rating Scale (1939)

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:53:00 +0000

Teehee. Merits and demerits, a Marital Rating Scale by Dr. George W. Crane, 1939.

Click on images to enlarge:

Big Bad Buckeye Football Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:01:00 +0000

Came across U.S. Department of Education's Athletics Programs database. Interesting stuff:

Ohio State, not surprisingly, brought in the most football revenue in the Big Ten with a cool $65m. What's surprising is Ohio State didn't spend the most money on their football program in the conference.

Big Ten's big spender would be Wisconsin. On a per player basis, though, Ohio State still spent the most money. What's also surprising is Penn State, while bringing in the third most revenue, expended the least in the conference.

Thanks to its low operating expenses, Penn State has the highest gross margin. Even at Purdue's 85.7%, lowest in the Big Ten, college football is still a stinkin' profitable business.

What does this all mean?

I love college football
I miss college football
I am desperately avoiding studying for the CPA exam
Go Bucks!

I am an accountant. I can't help it.

Honda Cog Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:04:00 +0000

2008.12.06 - More Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Study break for nerds:

2008.11.17 - SNOW!

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:48:00 +0000

View from my apartment about 5 minutes after it started snowing.

I guess I'm not going groceries shopping today anymore!

2008.10.24: LeBron's Shoe

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:11:00 +0000

Jenna's friend caught LeBron's shoe after the Cavs-Wizards preseason game at the Schott at Ohio State.

Nike Football: Leave Nothing commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:33:00 +0000

Pretty sweet Nike commercial with LT and Troy Polamalu

NFL Week 6 Lowlight: Dan Orlovsky, not NFL material

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:25:00 +0000

2008.10.18 - Cornhole

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:22:00 +0000

Becoming more of an Ohioan by the day... played cornhole for the first time today.

82 yard punt by Andy Lee of the 9ers

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:01:00 +0000

Ummm... punting from his own 10 yard line. Booted it into the opposing end zone for a touchback...

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80b691c7

Andy Lee, you are the man.

2008.10.16 - Gas Prices

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:52:00 +0000

Octane 93 for $2.849 per gallon in Columbus, OH. Booya!

2008.09.27 - First OSU Football Game

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:41:00 +0000

vs. Minnesota @ the 'shoe. Beanie's first game back since foot injury in season opener. Terrell Pryor's second start. OSU 34 Minnesota 21.

Goodbye, WAMU.

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:56:00 +0000

On September 25, 2008, the banking operations of Washington Mutual, Inc - Washington Mutual Bank, Henderson, NV and Washington Mutual Bank, FSB, Park City, UT (Washington Mutual Bank) were sold in a transaction facilitated by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Good bye, WAMU. You will be missed. Don't worry, your deposits (and mine) are unaffected (source: FDIC):

All deposit accounts and all loans have been transferred to JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio (JPMorgan Chase Bank). All former Washington Mutual Bank will reopen for normal business hours as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and on line services will remain available.

You may continue to use the services to which you previously had access, such as, safe deposit boxes, night deposit boxes, wire services, etc, as normally available at each branch.

Your checks will be processed as usual. All outstanding checks will be paid against your available balance(s) as if no change had occurred. Your new bank will contact you soon regarding any changes in the terms of your account.

2008.09.17 - Ohio Stadium Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0000

The Business School arranged a stadium tour for us at the end of orientation. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't know we're getting a tour due to the whole no-power-no-internet situation. Had to make due with my phone's camera:

View from one of the fancy suites:

On to the press box; we don't need no stinkin' credentials:

Overlooking The Horseshoe from the press box:

50-yard line about 10 rows from the sideline:

End zone view. I didn't get to step on the field. Boo.

The "off limits to public" part of the tour - The Recruit Room:

Band room:

I'll be with 100,000 screaming fans next time I'm there.

Hour 45 without electricity...

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:32:00 +0000

*Courtesy of Columbus Dispatch

Midwest was hit by hurricane-force winds Sunday afternoon. Franklin County in Ohio (where I am) is hardest hit in the state, with 58% of the city without electricity. It really could've been been much worst - it's an Inconvenience right now but at least we don't have homes destroyed, cars turned over or under water...

With over half the city in the dark...

Coffee shops with internet access instantly becomes the most popular hangout in town
Looking for food becomes a daily challenge
Ice is the most in-demand item, followed by flashlights, batteries and gas. Hrmm, gas was $0.50 cheaper a few days ago...
Entering every intersection without traffic lights is a life-or-death situation
The most portable light source is my cell phone (sorry, flashlights at Target were completely raided)
My electric toothbrush is almost out of juice!
Charging my cell phone becomes a carefully calculated exercise - if I drive to x, I can charge my phone for 10 minutes with the cigarette lighter, followed by y minutes directly from my laptop...
Taking out your contacts in the dark is as hard as it sounds
Who won the (insert team A) vs. (insert team B) game on Sunday???
10:30 bedtime

Even with all this craziness, I'm still alive. Soooo this is how people lived in the 1800s before electricity.

All these inconveniences is not without positives, though. Got to hang out with gracious classmates with POWER, LIGHTS, WORKING FRIDGE and INTERNET CONNECTION! Oh yeah, they're pretty cool too.

Latest update: power will be restored in Columbus for half the customers without power within 2 days, or 4 additional days (6 days from today) for remaining customers. Hospitals, schools and heavily populated areas get priority, and we've got a hospital and a school nearby... *please please please*

More from around Columbus:

2008.09.14 - Windy in the Midwest! 84°F + 60 mph wind?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:55:00 +0000

(Video version is on Facebook)

The remnants of Hurricane Ike will combine with a quick moving cold front to bring windy conditions to the region today. Surface winds will continue to increase this afternoon... with sustained south winds of 25 to 40 mph and gusts near 60 mph.

Just lost power...

Road Trip Final Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:49:00 +0000

From California, we crossed 10 states before arriving in Ohio 8 days later.

My favorite to least favorite state:

Wyoming - spent more time in Wyoming than any other state during the trip. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are amazing.
Illinois - Chicago alone is enough to push Obama-land up to #2.
Montana - if I didn't bury my swim trunks deep in my car, I would've gone for a dip in the river by a hot spring too
South Dakota - Mt. Rushmore is cool, Corn Palace is funky. Other than that, just I-90 and a lot of hay
Idaho - can't say much about Idaho... barely inched into Idaho for a grand total of less than 10 minutes on the freeway
Utah - Mormon country = everything is closed on Sunday. I want my Hire Big H root beer float!
Wisconsin - don't remember much about Wisconsin other than the big people at Burger King
Minnesota - drove right across Minnesota. Lots of wind mills?
Nevada - lots of desert and flat plains. boooooorrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg
Indiana - the only gas station I stopped by had huge pot holes and gravel roads. Bathroom was nasty. Didn't make a very good impression, Indiana.

We averaged a nice and leisurely pace of less than 400 miles a day, with the biggest chunk of driving on the first day from San Jose to Salt Lake City (768 miles):

As expected, most of the cost from the trip went to lodging and fuel:

Other random notes:

The Valentine 1 did a good job picking up the highway patrol... all 5 or so of them we ran into over the course of the trip. It sets off some false alarms, as expected. It's a useful tool if you understand its limitations - it's NOT a cop detector; it's a RADAR detector. And it's not a license to drive like an idiot.
We didn't exceed 100mph - not even once!
People are not very big on toilet seat covers outside of California - protection is NOT provided by the management
The mountain states sure like their fireworks! We thought about picking some up for kicks, but putting that inside a car next to the gasoline canister is probably not the wisest thing to do.
Your car WILL get dirty inside and out. You WILL find random things in the most random places in your for weeks after the trip. Deal with it.

Fuel mileage kind of stinks, but that's to be expected with a roof rack, packed car and crossing the Rockies and its 10,000ft elevation.

Would i do it again? Absolutely, but not for a couple of years. And not with my car. I'd like to do a 3 to 4 day sightseeing drive in a convertible next. Down the east coast, maybe?

Miles driven: 3,010
Gallons of fuel consumed: 133.626
Average fuel economy: 22.525
Average price per gallon (premium): $4.04

Day 8: At Long Last - Ohio!

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:51:00 +0000

Blogging from: my apartment; Columbus, OH

Oops, wrote this earlier but forgot to post.

After 8 long days... FINALLY!

Yes, there's a city named Mechanicsburg.

You know you're getting close when...

Highest number of bogies detected by Valentine 1 at the same time: 8

Miles covered today: 356
Road trip mileage count: 3,034
States visited: Illinois, Indianapolis, Ohio
Miles to Columbus, OH: 0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 7: Exploring Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:13:00 +0000

Blogging from: downtown Chicago, IL

We're taking a break from racing across the country and spent the day exploring Chicago.

Beautiful view of a parking garage from my motel room:

First stop: Sears Tower

The view from the 103th floor of Sears Tower is surprisingly good for an overcast day:

View to the North:

The Kansas Comet, one of my favorite football players of all time:

Chicago River:

Street view under the elevated loop:

The Navy Pier. This is way cooler than Fisherman's Wharf:

We took a double decker bus tour around Chicago:

Traffic light gets pretty close on the upper deck:

Buildings in front of Chicago River:

Elevated Loop:

Still on the double-decker bus tour:

Wendy doesn't look very happy:

You can take your yacht to the restaurant:

Millennium Park:

Cloud Gate / chrome bean in Millennium Park:

Cool reflections under the Cloud Gate:

Group shot. I wish we had more time to hang around here for more pictures.

Good bye, Cloud Gate:

Rock n' Roll McDonald's:

Hot dog for appetizer at Portello's:

Before heading next door to Gino's Pizza for dinner:

Heather falling asleep from the 45 minute wait:

Yen, Heather and Wendy being fobby:

I wish we had more time in Chicago. So many more places I want to visit! So many buildings to see! Museums to visit! Plays to watch! Games to go to!

In the immortal words of our Governator: "I'll be back."

Columbus tomorrow.

Day 6: Four States in One Day

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:22:00 +0000

Blogging from: Downtown Chicago, IL

Not too interesting today. We spent most of the day in the car and crossed Minnesota and Wisconsin and into Illinois.

Read 'em and weep - $3.639 a gallon for premium octane 91 gas, suckas.

I-90 South Dakota bugs:

Minnesota is big on windmills:

It started raining after Albert Lea, MN:

Illinois likes toll booths:

Traffic heading into Chicago:

Very excited about no driving tomorrow for the first time all week -- we're taking a break from driving and touring Chicago.

The "L" train runs right by my motel room in downtown Chicago. Do'h!

Miles covered today: 573
Road trip mileage count: 2,678

States visited: South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois
Miles to Columbus, OH: 364

Day 6: Hot Chocolate Break in Wisconsin

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Blogging from: a block away from the State Capital in Madison, Wisconsin

Stopping for a coffee / hot drinks break.

I didn't know the Onion is in print in addition to the online version. Their office is in Madison, Wisconsin!

Go University of Wisconsin?

It's raining in the Heartland. We should arrive in Chicago in time for dinner tonight.

Day 5: Mount Rushmore and across South Dakota

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:14:00 +0000

Blogging from: Sioux Falls, SD

Milestone of sort for the GTi on the way to Mount Rushmore National Monument:

View of the Presidents from the 244:

Presidents' Faces:

Photo series by request. G. Washington:

T. Jefferson:

T. Roosevelt:

A. Lincoln:

Our impression the Presidents - Wendy as Washington, Heather as Jefferson, Yen as Roosevelt, me as Lincoln:

Nick Clifford was an original Rushmore driller, but he's kind of a jerk. He only let me take this photo because he's too old and frail to object and wouldn't sign my postcards because I didn't buy his book.

Yen devouring a buffalo rib for lunch:

Lots of hay by the interstate in South Dakota:

Corn Palace at Mitchell, South Dakota. It's the "only corn palace in the world," and "serves the local community as a venue for concerts, sports events, exhibits and other community events". The outside mural is redesigned each year with a new theme.

Streets of Mitchell, SD:

Lots of bugs on South Dakota interstate:

Doing another rear view mirror shot to end the day's post :P

Other highlights/random thoughts:

Lost an hour again crossing into Central Time Zone. Not so good for traveling.
Traveling with 3 girls = lots of Michael Buble
There's no GPS signal in South Dakota...?
I hate Wall Drug

Miles covered today: 466
Road trip mileage count: 2,105
States visited: Wyoming, South Dakota
Miles to Columbus, OH: 930

Day 5: I hate Wall Drug

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:38:00 +0000

Wall Drug is a drug store, restaurant, gift shop, museum, chapel, etc. all rolled into one in Wall, South Dakota. They are known for their bazillion billboards along highways in South Dakota and other neighboring states.

Blasting down the I-90 at 90 mph, that means I see a Wall Drug billboard every minute. It drove me nuts. Here's a small sample:

Still 30 miles from Wall Drug:

They even have a dinosaur?

I refuse to allow to let their annoying advertising tactics "get me". We did not stop at Wall Drug.

Not as ridiculous as these Wall Drug signs, though:

Day 4, Part II: To the Presidents' Faces!

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:36:00 +0000

Blogging from Sundance, WY.

Some snapshots on the drive out of Yellowstone and across Wyoming on the SD870.

Snow! In the summer!

Some rock thing we drove by / under:

More scenery:

Lake in Buffalo Bill State Park:

Cody, Wyoming:

Must be a big town! They have a Wal-Mart! Note the hills in the background:

I'd love to make this drive again in the future in a convertible, possibly a Miata:

5U? Yup, his license plate is just 5U. What a beast license plate number. You can only pull off something like this in a state like Wyoming.

Didn't know Wyoming is LDS/Mormon country:

These three-wheeled motorcycle things are pretty popular in Wyoming:

More road scenery:

Standard mountain driving maneuver - overtaking:

Free science lesson: air pressure is higher at lower altitude and lower in higher altitude. This is what our water bottle looks like after we descended 5,000 feet:

This speaks for itself:

What the heck is octane 85.5???

Blasting down the I-90 at dusk:

I leave you, my two readers, with this shot today:

Mt. Rushmore and South Dakota tomorrow!

Miles covered today: 440
Road trip mileage count: 1,639
States visited: Wyoming
Miles to Columbus, OH: 1,375

P.S. I lost the tumbleweed roof rack trophy :(

Day 4: Bison!!! Finally! And the rest of Yellowstone

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:58:00 +0000

Blogging from Sundance, Wyoming

Day #3 in Wyoming! The girls stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs cabin. Some jerkface Focus-driving Californian decided to show off his/her fantastic parking skills by blocking our car:

Who does that?! Seriously.

Walking around town:

Maybe you get one of these postcards. Maybe you don't.

Public service announcement:

First stop of the day is the Mammoth Hot Springs:

A look back at the hotel and cabin:

Gas at Yellowstone is $2.25 per gallon?!

You Wish!

Elk sighting! They're just chilling on the grass:

Pulled over for moose sighting. Sorry, no picture of said moose.

3D model of Yellowstone National Park at the Canyon Village Visitor Center. I'm a sucker for these things:

Lower Falls:

I was really there!

Bison!!!!!!!!!! Lots of them!

Bison getting closer!

Cute kid counting bison.

This one was ~ 20 yards from us!

Animal sightings in Yellowstone:

~~Elk~~
Bear
~~Moose~~
~~Bison~~

We didn't see any bears, but 3 of 4 ain't bad.

Picnic lunch at Yellowstone Lake:

Writing more postcards by the lake:

I'm hardcore. I eat dogs for lunch:

That's Yellowstone. Mt. Rushmore, here we come!