Wow, well I hope you enjoyed the past few days videos, including an appearance by T-Pain. Today moved pretty slow, probably due to having a little too much fun last night. Yesterday was beautiful, but the weather took a turn of the worse today.
It might snow again! I’m ready for spring.
I’m sitting down, trying to brainstorm a blog post. Usually, if I don’t have much to say, I don’t say anything or I dig through my drafts to find something relevant. It is kind of funny to look through the few unfinished blog posts and see the no-longer relevant titles like “Happy New Year!” and “Happy Holidays” or analysis from the elections.
I have been less of news-whore since this fall’s campaign, so I’ve missed a few opportunities to post articles that have been of interest to me. Plus, I’m not sure what people like more: my political grand-standing or just daily musings? Let me know.
For today, I came up with this title. “Keeping Busy”. In some respects, I thought this title laughable. What does it really mean to be busy? I can say from personal experience that my perception of business inflates how busy I actually am. This is true for everyone. The things that matter most to us are those that most directly affect us. Obviously, our schedule and daily routine is one of the main things affecting each of us everyday.
I talked to Dan yesterday. He was providing me even more help with my recent server project. Earlier in the day, he couldn’t text me because he was at work. I felt busy doing homework, but my day was constrained only by myself and a late-night practice. Dan was stuck at work, constrained by losing his job if he chose to just walk out. I feel busy everyday at school, as the work piles up and midterms get closer, but again that is constrained by time and the work I put in before that day.
At times, it is easy to feel infinitely busy, in other words so busy you cannot get everything done. Often this is true, there are only so many hours in a day. But how often is this case only because of choices we have made earlier? Probably always.
There is another constraint though, besides the ones driving you toward 100% productivity. Any human being that I know needs to relax, we can’t be busy all the time. Ironically, I find myself stressed out all too often trying to figure out how I’m going to relax. Sometimes…you can plan too much.
I chose the title keeping busy to reflect the effort that goes into staying on task and the lack of effort which can create business. To put it another way, both choices are keeping me busy.
While it is easy to exaggerate beyond anything reasonable. We also have to consider that I spend some time playing video games, watching movies, and surfing the web. Evidently, there is free time to be had. My goal for this Spring is to focus some of that free time into working out more. Past winters, I have replaced running, swimming, biking, and playing tennis with lifting. Too cold to be outside, so go to the gym. This winter, let’s just say I did not go to the gym as much as I would have liked. So I need to get back into shape. I firmly believe that being back in Minneapolis will foster that activity. It is one of the best places to run, bike, and just be outside.
Everyone…you’ve had fair warning. Pump up your bike tires, get out your tennis rackets, and get ready for summer (it’s coming…I swear!).
A beautiful day in southern Utah. An unsuspecting couple. And a small airstrip.
Monday night, Monica and I went to the Moab Brewery in Moab, Utah (Moh – Ab). As previously mentioned the town had a strong sense of adventure. In the bar, they were playing a video of a local skydiving group. A phone number flashed on the bottom. Monica and I started talking about it. She wanted to go. I was surprised and a little nervous. I’ve always wanted to go and she had said previously she might be a bit too nervous. But now the moment was coming where I might ACTUALLY go. And now…I was nervous.
Anyway, nothing came of it that night. We woke up in our fairly nice hotel room, went down to breakfast, and another sign came. Reading through a brochure, we spotted several ads for skydiving. It claimed to be America’s most scenic drop zone. Since, I have only gone once, I cannot confirm this. Driving to the airport, I can say that it was beautiful. We were right on the edge of a national park.
At breakfast after a little bit of thought…Monica said let’s go. I was not quite ready yet. She insisted…let’s go at 10. I could tell she wanted to jump right into it and get it over without thinking about it. I needed some time to process and rationalize the risk/thrill we were considering engaging in. Then, we made a decision. We would drive out to the airstrip, check things out and decide.
So we did that and we gave it the green light. We were going to jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet.
I’m going to leave this post as a teaser (so you come back and read tomorrow). But I will say that of things to do before I die, mechanical bull riding and skydiving are now checked off the list.
Kansas City turned out to be a lot of fun. The highlight of the night was easily going to a western themed bar that had a mechanical bull that you could ride for free (after paying a small cover to get in). Inside, there were a lot of people and the atmosphere was fun. Monica and I both decided to give it a try. It was tough, but a LOT of fun. I would recommend that everyone ride a mechanical bull at some point.
As I mentioned last post, there is a new area in KC called the Power and Light District, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, and entertainment in this area, including a movie theater and a bowling alley. It is obvious the area is new and intended to draw people into the city. It reminds me somewhat of Minneapolis’s Block E. The cool thing that KC has that MPLS doesn’t have is the weather to have a big outside pavilion that has a stage and a lot of seating. It also has electric heaters on the roof for cooler nights, making it very versatile.
Tonight, we stayed in Pueblo, Colorado. Honestly, it has been interesting getting into the Southwest and leaving the Plains. The atmosphere changed quite a bit. Pueblo is slightly depressed economically, but it has a historic main street area that is quite charming. Recently, they built a River Walk that has several restaurants and stores nearby. It gave the downtown area a much more personal (and safe) feel.
The weather has thrown a wrench in our plans. A big storm hit the West Coast and the forecast indicates much cooler temperatures are coming. As Dan commented on last post, the great thing about road trips is flexibility. We’ll see where we end up.
Stay tuned.
Yesterday was so unbelievably beautiful I had to stop, pinch myself, and figure out whether I was dreaming. Could it really be? Could the end of winter be in sight?
It was so nice out yesterday, I was embarrassed to be wearing a coat.
There are several things I’ll miss about winter, mostly missed opportunities to ski and skate. But I have confidence that next winter will arrive without any problems. That being said, I am sooo excited about having warm weather again. I need to start running and biking, the gym just isn’t doing it for me.
Also, the arrival of Spring means the arrival of spring quarter. Graduation is coming up and although the job market is a little scary, I can’t believe 4 years has already elapsed.
Happy holidays everyone! The blogging hiatus continues as I am enjoying the holidays. I’ve been from Minocqua, WI to Whitewater, WI and back to Chicago. Today, we head up to Whistler and I am really excited!
I’ll try to post more regularly up there and give you a snow report!
Hello!
Another blogging holiday. I’ve missed this outlet for the past few days, but have enjoyed myself relaxing and eating plenty.
Monica and I went to her folk’s place for the holidays and had a great weekend. I have to give a shout out to them and the delicious Thanksgiving Day meal.
I made a big mistake though when we left because I forgot my laptop! That required me to take a very early trip this morning to the Northern border of Illinois. I met Monica’s dad and got my laptop back. The bad news was the transportation-related nightmare for one of the busiest days of travel – snow. Chicago was expecting approximately 4 to 5 inches of snow with northern Wisconsin getting about an inch. This was a reversal from a few days ago where the opposite was supposed to happen. In the end, I think the original guess was correct because Wisconsin got snow and Chicago got a bunch of sleet and wind.
Today, I had an awful grocery shopping trip. I’ll exclude the name of the store though. I enjoy the experience of grocery shopping (besides paying). The store I was at is in the middle of remodeling, so the atmosphere was that of a store in war-torn Eastern Europe, rather than Chicago. I made it out less $150, but with enough supplies for a while.
All of the sudden it got cold. Yesterday, Dan sent me an instant message inquiring into Chicago’s weather. That’s when it hit me…it is friggen’ winter again.
Yesterday, I literally wanted to run between buildings to get to my classes. It was one of those days. Where the cold just hits you – a smack in the face. I like winter, but I’m just not ready for it yet. The transition between fall and winter is the hardest of any seasonal change.
The saddest part of the change for me is the inability to be outside, I’ve been running a lot and biking a decent amount this summer. At first, I thought I’d be able to keep it up before it snows, but now I’m skeptical. Its just too cold to be outside to run. More accurately, I’m just to wimpy to go do it.
I feel like using this chilly weather to set a few goals for the winter:
1) Figure out what the hell I’m doing next year.
2) Be a more responsible scheduler.
I did not think I would be saying this already, but the quarter system has doomed me to start thinking about finals. I was paging through a syllabus and realized we have a paper due on the last day of class – March 6. If someone told me something fun was happening on March 6 I would be excited because that means it is close. When I was told this quarter was ending the second week of March…I got a little scared.
The weather around Chicago has been crazy lately. Snow Storm Warnings. Flash Flood Warnings. Wind Chill Advisories. I do not know how to prepare for today.
So I have turned to the blog. I have decided to start making more posts in the ‘Life’ Category because I realize all of you might not care about Real ID. My recent choice to use the blog as a depository for research does not exactly cater to this crowd. I do think it would make a great debate case though!
By John Coleman
It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long term scientific data to create an illusion of rapid global warming. Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the “research” to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a consensus.
Environmental extremists, notable politicians among them, then teamed up with movie, media and other liberal, environmentalist journalists to create this wild “scientific” scenario of the civilization threatening environmental consequences from Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical agenda. Now their ridiculous manipulated science has been accepted as fact and become a cornerstone issue for CNN, CBS, NBC, the Democratic Political Party, the Governor of California, school teachers and, in many cases, well informed but very gullible environmentally conscientious citizens. Only one reporter at ABC has been allowed to counter the Global Warming frenzy with one 15 minute documentary segment.
I do not oppose environmentalism. I do not oppose the political positions of either party. However, Global Warming, i.e. Climate Change, is not about environmentalism or politics. It is not a religion. It is not something you “believe in.” It is science; the science of meteorology. This is my field of life-long expertise. And I am telling you Global Warming is a non-event, a manufactured crisis and a total scam. I say this knowing you probably won’t believe a me, a mere TV weatherman, challenging a Nobel Prize, Academy Award and Emmy Award winning former Vice President of United States. So be it.
I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct. There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril. I am incensed by the incredible media glamour, the politically correct silliness and rude dismissal of counter arguments by the high priest of Global Warming.
In time, a decade or two, the outrageous scam will be obvious. As the temperature rises, polar ice cap melting, coastal flooding and super storm pattern all fail to occur as predicted everyone will come to realize we have been duped. The sky is not falling. And, natural cycles and drifts in climate are as much if not more responsible for any climate changes underway. I strongly believe that the next twenty years are equally as likely to see a cooling trend as they are to see a warming trend.
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