KCK-Blog

Still here...

2008-09-16T06:36:00.002-05:00

I doubt anyone even looks at this any more but it HAS been on the edge of my to-do list..just never makes it to the top...

Lots of happenings going on...some of which can be seen in out Picasa photo albums...

Went to the Chiefs last preseason game and nearly got washed away...I don't remember standing in that hard of a rain since the front yard at the LCA house my junior year which turned into mudslides in the front yard...good times!
Our house has been on the market since Memorial Day and of course no interest. There are a total of 5 houses on our STREET for sale right now, 2 of them empty...the one on the end of the block sold a few weeks ago, but we've only had 1 showing since the 4th of July!! Needless to say, we aren't going anywhere any time soon!!
Amber is 28 weeks along, with December 9th due date. So we'll have quite the Christmas present this year!!
With the house not selling and Amber very pregnant, we've moved the office to the basement and converted the room upstairs to the nursery...just missing the crib and changing table.
October 11 is the baby shower, girls will do the shower-thing upstairs, guys will be downstairs watching sports and playing Wii
Royals game tonight, woohoo! Its nice living in a town with pro sports but when both teams suck, it definitely losses some appeal...

I'm sure there is much much more, just gets hard to remember it, so I will try to keep this better up to date for anyone that may still read this...

Free Money!

2008-04-18T08:46:00.002-05:00

This is legit, suprisingly! Its a Paypal-like "bank"...for signing up you instantly get $25!!

Blog a blog about it...

2008-01-23T09:42:00.000-06:00

For some reason, even when I'm wasting time, blogging isn't on the top of my time wasting list...I guess I'll have to practice wasting time more until I get it right!

Spent the weekend in the AZ...Went to the Grand Canyon on Sunday. Absolutely amazing! The craziest part was the fact there was 6 inches of snow on the ground. Its tough to picture the "desert" with snow, but it happens...I'll upload pictures of the trip tonight.

Overall the trip was good, quick, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think there is a reason that I live 6 hours from any family...family in crazy! We did get to spend more time getting to know James' girlfriend, Misty. They are spending over two weeks there, luckily for them they are going around seeing all the sights...Sedona...Grand Canyon...possibly Mexico.

If you've ever worked in a restaurant the following blog is addictive...

Playoffs?!?

2007-12-03T15:36:00.000-06:00

So Saturday, Mizzou gets stomped by OU and on Sunday the BCS bowls decide to crap on them as well!! Illinois and Kansas get spots in the big bowls while Mizzou is left out in the cold...well so to speak, they still get the Cotton Bowl vs. the run-heavy Ar-Kansas.
I doubt that a playoff system would have helped them but going from No. 1 in the country to out of the BCS bowls just sucks for them!!

Randomness - Crime?

2007-11-15T13:41:00.000-06:00

Maybe I'm change Thursday to crimes of the week....

Virtual Property theft? What is "theft"? Does it require actual things you can touch? Apparently not, a 17 year-old stole $6000 of virtual furniture and now is facing burglary and hacking charges...

Joke of the week

2007-11-14T10:59:00.000-06:00

Not so much a joke but it made me laugh...

Here

Image P2

2007-11-13T20:36:00.000-06:00

More blogging, less time?

2007-11-13T14:55:00.001-06:00

I would love to blog more just haven't figured out how to make it more part of my time-wasting-time...

I'm thinking of having a different "theme" for each day of the week and try to fill up as much as possible (most likely with the help of the most wonderful time-waster stumbleupon)

Monday-Sports from the weekend
Tuesday-Image of the Week
Wednesday-Joke of the Week
Thursday-Most random of the week
Friday-Weekend plans
Saturday-Star Gossip of the week? Doubt this will last....
Sunday-Words to live by for the week?

We'll see how this works, may change days as think of better "themes"

Start with Tuesday....

Holiday travel....

2007-11-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

View Larger Map

Garth BROOKS!!!

2007-11-12T00:30:00.000-06:00

What an amazing show! 3+ hrs of music. He has such a good time performing. I can't imagine he won't be back on road in the near future. He's got soooo many amazing songs. He played most of the great ones, missed a couple (i.e. Standing outside the fire and if tomorrow never comes). Good times!!

Freaker's Ball

2007-10-29T18:00:00.000-05:00

Wow what a show!!!

Very impressed with Drowning Pool. New HUGE fan of Stone Sour. I liked them before the show, but didn't really realize how heavy they were. Good Times!! Definitely more interested in metal again: Slipknot, Mudvayne, Breaking Benjamin, 10 Years, Hinder, Seether, System of a Down, Static-X

Latest

2007-08-28T14:11:00.000-05:00

Some progress in "plans" as thought about last post...

Looks like we will be in Wisconsin! Most likely on a lake somewhere between Baraboo and Madison. Sounds like I won't be making "engineering" money to begin with, but will have some other perks, such as a car and housing!! The plans are beginning to solidify to move in Fall '08. Since we won't have to have a down payment on a new house we can take the profit of selling our KCK house ($50k+) and pay off any credit or bad loans (i.e. current car). SO......

Ultimately that changes some of our current decisions in Warrensburg! I now just want to get rid of the house (even if we have to lose a little). My realtor quoted me $850 to fix our crappy bathroom and sand and patch the hallway. Which is about what I started thinking....$1000 to just get it done. We'll paint what needs to be painted (bedrooms, hallway and ceilings) and just see if we get any bites on the market! We HAVE to sell for $95k but with the huge fenced in backyard, storage shed, off street parking in the back, no dead trees, full basement (that needs work), usable second bath in basement, 3 bedrooms, and all appliances included, we should be able to get that amount. Big negatives on the house: kitchen counters are outdated (<$500), dishwasher needs work the look "complete"(<<$200), basement has some water issues (~$2000), wiring is not grounded (~$2000), nice wood floors need to be refinished (~$1500). So if I wanted to make the house near perfect another $5000 does would make it close. BUT I don't want to spend that kind of cash with no guarantee on returns. It would be great if we could hired a contractor and make those changes and get $110k, but there are no guarantees and the market sucks so...we'll hope for the best with what be got and not lose any more money on the house!!

Thoughts

2007-08-15T13:15:00.000-05:00

Sitting here with a gut rolling with Arby's 5-4-595, finishing up a report for the KC downtown airport, thinking...

What's next?

Well in the present tense: wait for Damian to finish (or start) reviewing my report to compile and send out. Head to Lee's Summit for more commissioning, then to W'burg to verify the house is powered and empty.

But then what? I'm not meaning tonight or tomorrow or even this weekend, though this weekend may have a HUGE impact on "what's next"

What's next is the next phase of life. Amber and I have spent the past couple years "playing house". We've lived our lives basically by ourselves and for ourselves. Some connect with my family, very little with hers. This weekend I hope to talk with Dad and determine the first steps for "what's next".

The plan for the past year or so has been to pick up and move back to Iowa and work for/with my Dad running his furniture stores. Now I originally wanted nothing to do with working for my Dad, hence why I went to school in Indiana and got an engineering degree. At the end of my senior year I the idea was more tolerable, spending the better part of 4 years on my own, doing what and who I wanted. Little to no responsibility other than graduating (which I somehow accomplished in a clean 4 years). I took the GMAT (with Daddy's money) with the idea that since my GPA wasn't great I would go and get my MBA. I pushed it and actually got accepted to couple Iowa colleges (UNI & U of Dubuque), was all but ready to pull the trigger and start the next 2-3 year run of school. But my finger fell off the trigger and let those opportunities fall to the wayside with the hopes of making my own money and not relying on Dad for another couple years. Ironically I worked for him for 6 months while attempting to find my own money, living in his cabin and driving his insured car. Amber was a foregone conclusion, we were going to get married, just when and where. Now don't get me wrong, I did question whether I was ready or even wanted that commitment, but lets face it, I love the woman. Even with all the little stuff I wouldn't change that decision. So I finally get the job in Sedalia, MO for way to little money and 7 hours from home. I didn't ask for help (hell I never actually asked for the interim job after I graduated). I moved myself down to Sedalia, and decided to move Amber down with me. She hadn't officially graduated and did not have a job, and there was little to no options in Sedalia for ChemE so it fell to much decent-but-not-130k-tuition-degree paycheck. We rent a nice little country house and got Max, our first "kid" that was ours (Domino was first but he was Amber's). We got married and decided we wanted to move to Warrensburg so she could maybe find a job in the city (KC). So we bought our 100% financed first house and went 90k in debt (aside from the misuse of credit cards along the way). The house had so much potential and we wanted to do some much to it and with it. But there's that little problem of $$. We added a fence and shed in the back yard (on credit of course) and made some minor changes inside, mostly paint. I then move on a better paying job in KC and increase my mediocre paycheck to at least average (20% increase from Sedalia). To accommodate this pay increase we decide to buy a car (debt now totaling almost 200k). Amber finds her perfect job which means another move and another house. We could have gotten something small and cheap but hey we're DINKs now and can get whatever we want, right? So we find a 180k house and arrange for that too. We found friends of friends to rent-to-own the W'burg house so we're set. For some unknown reason the bank allows us to 100% finance this house too. Yep thats ~$350k with two houses, a car, school loans, and credit cards. Not once do we ask for help from our parents (though I thought we might have to). Granted Dad was nice enough to furnish our house with lots of really nice things so thats one big thing we've never had to pay for and he gave us the title to the car I had been driving.

Wow this has gotten long....

Now I sit, still wishing I wouldn't have eaten all that Arbys, with what could be a huge weight of bills and problems on my shoulders. We've received a grand total of two months rent from our "tenants". So we've been paying two mortgages and all our other bills (plus tithing). Amber does the bills and checkbook so I rarely if ever look at our bottom line, but she stresses enough for the both of us. But that brings us back around to that question of "what's next?"

Our tenants have moved out and we will begin fixing some basics at the Wburg house to make a sellable. We are hoping to receive the whole years rent from our former tenants ($7500 btw). And to sell the cotton-picking house ASAP without losing our ass on realtor fees (5% of sale price ~$5000).

Then there's this weekend when I talk with Dad and find out his "master plan." I am looking forward to moving back "home" though that could either be W'loo, Dubuque, or WI. Ultimately I would prefer to "fix" the gaps in his business, specifically technologically, and slowly work my way to "owner." Mom has said that he wants to just give me a store. That scares the crap out of me!! I have no doubt in his ability to help me, but I want to work hard not to work hard, ha! I don't want to put in 80 hours a week and be constantly be stressed about "how bad business is." At the same time, enough of Dad has rubbed off on me and I want to "win." I want to be the best at the business thing. I'm not sure yet what "win" means yet: most money made (net or gross), run everyone else in the ground, both or even stuff I haven't thought of yet!! I still plan on going back for my MBA so I can be a prepared as possible for what may be coming ahead, what ever that may be.

This next phase in life all may include kids. The actual non-furry (hopefully), two-legged, boob-chugging rugrats. Amber wants babies. I'm not so keen on the idea. Ultimately its the last sign of "growing up." Granted many would argue being a third of a million dollars in debt is grown up. But I've seen many "kids" that are owned by the bank and creditor. I'm not saying I have a complete "Peter Pan" thing going but there's just something about "growing up" that scares me.

Places I've been

2007-06-06T14:09:00.001-05:00

My Visited US States

Get your own Visited US States Map from Travel Blog

So there I was....

2007-01-09T08:37:00.000-06:00

Not much new or exciting going on in KCK. Let's see since I've blogged last...

My parents came down for Thanksgiving and saw the new house (and I made an amazing turkey!!).
We (Amber and I) went down to Phoenix for Christmas. I really like visiting the area, but there is no way I could live there. We played golf (Amber's first time ever) on Christmas Eve day, good times...I broke 100 (99) for the first time, though it was a par 65-ish course.
Been helping Rob & Jen build there house some. Wish we had more time to do more for them, but its hard to keep up our house with the dogs and just life.
Next week we're going to Maui!! Should be a blast!! Hopefully I'll remember to video tape and take pictures!

Weekend=driving

2006-10-31T15:03:00.000-06:00

Last weekend went well, drove from KC to UP (of Michigan). its about at 14 hours jaunt! I stopped at my parents in Iowa and then me and my mom drove to Green Bay and stayed the night. We then went to Esky and I saw my mom's mom (who I hadn't seen in 10+ years). The point of the trip was to bring her a computer so she can use the internet and she's not very computer literate so it should lead to some interesting phone calls to and from mom. We saw the Rogers clan and had a good visit.

Back to work today and as you can see from this blog I'm hard at work!

Next weekend is Bassett's wedding! I'm very excited about heading to Indy and see friends from college and stopping by Terre Haute and visiting the newly remodeled house and eating a Tweety from Chucks! Good times. We plan on leaving early on Friday and driving to get there around lunch time probably a little after...Amber is planning on staying at Allison's and if I don't get any better offers I'll be there too.

Look at me I can post...

2006-10-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

So its been a little while since I've done anything on here...as soon as we get internet back at home I'll try to change that!

We finally moved into our new house in KCK! It a great, huge, four level house in a subdivision. I never wanted to live in a subdivision but (right now) its not too congested. Also its right by an amazing shopping area, Legends.

I'll try to get some pictures uploaded when we get everything in place...we have so much crap and so many boxes!!!

So just after I start to get settled into the house, I get to drive up to the UP....long long drive...14 hr or so. I'm going up to Iowa Friday and meeting Mom then driving the 7 or 8 hours to Escanaba to visit family for a quick weekend and back to work on Monday.

Then on the 10th of November we're driving to Indy for a wedding which I am looking forward to!! I miss everyone out there a lot and can't wait to stop by the house and see all the stuff they did over the summer!!!!

2006-07-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

Eddie Murphy - Delirious - Ice Cream

Greatest standup ever!!!

What a week!

2006-06-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

So its been an interesting last week or so...
Flew up to Green Bay last Friday and was picked up by mom and Kelsey. We had a couple hour layover at O'Hare. We stayed overnight in GB and headed up to Escanaba the next morning. Spent some time with family and friends over the weekend (it was Whitlee's graduation party). Went and visited my great grandma's grave on Sunday. And we headed home Monday....well tried to. Mom dropped us off at GB airport around 1pm for our 2pm flight to Chicago. We boarded the plane and sat on the runway for about an hour because Chicago closed the airport due to thunderstorms. We finally got to Chicago about an hour and half late, so our connection may be boarding soon so we quickly walked across the airport to our gate. The plane wasn't even there yet....and it was scheduled to board in 5 minutes...nothing was posted about it being delayed. I ran back and grabbed us some Chicago dogs (mine loaded, Amber's naked). Turns out that flight was another hour or so late. But we did board the plane. We then sat on the runway for about 4 hours (literally). Finally the pilot said that we could not fly to KC because they would be over their 16 hour daily limit. So eventually the plane turned around and went back to the gate. While on the plane I called and got us booked on the next available Delta flight to KC (Tuesday night @ 5:30). We went to the customer service desk they directed us to, as did hundreds of other people, so we decided to say forget it and check into a hotel. We grab the yellowpages and made reservations for a Marriott Suites near the airport. We then had to search for Terminal 4 (which did not appear on ANY maps around the airport) Turns out the arrows point where we needed to go just pointed to a wooden box (the walkway was under construction). We finally figured out where to go and went the the hotel. It was a very nice place for only 150 bucks or so. The bar was closed, but were able to get an interesting assortment of items from the gift shop. We ordered breakfast for the morning as well. We were slow moving the next morning, in no hurry to sit at the airport all day. We thought about going siteseeing but didn't want to deal with the hassle of a taxi or anything. We got to the airport and after telling the ticket lady the machine wouldn't work for us, we finally got her to help us. We got put on standby for the 3:30 flight. We ate lunch and sat by our standby flight gate. Plane was full, except for 1 seat....no dice. 5:30 it was. We moved across the airport and sat at our gate. Some thunderstorms shutdown the airport for a couple minutes then everything was clear. Our plane came in and deboarded...then they told us that the windshield was cracked and would need to be fixed. This delayed the flight an 1 or 2. Right before we boarded they said that the flight was moved to a different concourse, so people took off for the new gate, then they said, nevermind we'll take this plane. We boarded and they were still working on stuff in the cockpit. Finally they get it all fixed up and we taxi onto the runway. Then it starts raining and lightning out...shuts down the airport for 2 hours. Feeling some deja vu.... Finally we take off and land in KC at 10:15pm on Tuesday (we should have landed at 8pm on Monday). Luckily through all this we didn't have any checked baggage...

Then I spent the week (3 days) working out in Leavenworth (4 hrs a day of driving: 45 minutes to the office, 1.25 to the site.) Craziness! I would have just stayed at Rob and Jen's a night or two but I had to pick up a guy in Odessa...

Also last weekend we started to prepare to build a chainlink fence in our backyard. Its going to be lots of work. We had to clear a lot of what looked like poison ivy. Neither Amber or I got a rash, so either we aren't allergic to it or it just looked like it...

Saturday we also took a tour of a B2 at Whiteman. Very cool stuff!! We got to sit in the cockpit and everything!! They are much bigger than I thought!

More fence work as we can, hopefully a lot this weekend!

Lost...

2006-05-10T08:51:00.000-05:00

Since I lost my cell phone over the weekend, I lost everyone's number!
Call me (same number) so I can get your number back into my phone, if I don't answer just leave some degrading message...
If you don't have my number and want it...let me know

Survived...

2006-05-08T08:39:00.000-05:00

So I survived Pig Week...too bad my cell phone can't say the same...

Had a great time visiting friends, but it did help me remember that I don't really miss college as much as I thought I did...

Pig pond ALL night Thursday...."party" on Friday...Rusty on Saturday....good times....

I'm going to steal some good pictures after they get posted....I love cake!

Weird....

2006-05-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

My stomach just made a noise that sounded like an Alien was about to pop out of it....no pain involved just a really strange gurgling and growling...

that is all

Happy Easter!

2006-04-14T16:08:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone has a good Easter holiday weekend!

My fam is coming down to visit. Kelsey and Mom haven't seen the house with stuff in it yet! Should be a good time

God bless!

Life is going smooth....

2006-04-05T10:11:00.000-05:00

Nothing too exciting has been going on recently. Everything is going pretty well. Amber has a job. Going to Pig Week in a month. Parents are coming down next weekend for Easter. Another weekend with nothing too important to do. So far so good

Carpool

2006-03-29T07:54:00.000-06:00

So Amber and I have started reverse carpooling...we leave a car in a commuter parking lot in the city and take one car home...It works well except I get to work a half hour early now and I can't leave early or anything...so I just have time to kill in town when I was spending the time sleeping...

Something new...something different

2006-03-21T10:25:00.000-06:00

I'd like to get back into actually posting stuff on here regularly...So we'll see how long this lasts.

Life has been hectic, but not overly so. I've got friends that are moving and dealing with housing issues and such. But we're pretty stable. There is lots of work we want to put in the house, but that won't happen until we get our money a little better in order (read: when we have some)

I'm enjoying work, still haven't got into the complete swing of things, but its better than where I came from (completely different environments!!) I do miss a lot of the people though.

Amber is heading to her grandpa's funeral tonight, so the next few nights will be just me and the kids...

Other than that life is good...looking forward to Pig Week and seeing friends again!

A Picture Share!

2006-03-10T17:13:00.000-06:00

The new car. 2005 Galant

Slight learning curve...

2006-03-09T11:31:00.000-06:00

So I'm working for a MEP consulting company by KC, and I have no working experience at all in this field. I touched on lots of it in college, but that was a few years ago...and I had Bassett to help me through it. Now no Bassett, and no clue! Money is good, so I'll work through it!
Got a new car, pictures to come. Its a Mitsubushi Galant, 2005, silver, leather interior. Very Nice.
The commute is a little longer than my old job, but it goes by quickly. Only thing that changes is my night starts at 6 now instead of 4-4:30 like it did before. But I do sleep in an hour too. So there are compromises. Overall looks like a good trade.

new job

2006-03-07T07:11:00.001-06:00

started my new job yesterday. i think i'm going to enjoy it! something completely different than i've done in the past. good times

Yes, I am alive...

2006-02-22T18:19:00.000-06:00

I've been a complete slacker for what? Over two months now. I've had internet, had time, just never sat down to write in this thing. Why? Cause I'm lazy.
We're in process of trying to train Max to bring us a sandal we always have by the back to door to tell us when he wants to go outside...after the first day he actually brought it to us a few times, but now he has reverted to retarded...he has no idea what we're trying to get him to do. Stupid dog.
I put in my two week notice at my job on Monday. March 3rd will be my last day at my first "real" job. I accepted a position for sys-tek in Blue Springs, MO. More money and something different. I will actually get to use some of my education here hopefully. I have no experience, but am getting more money than Duke...something is wrong with this. It will be a longer drive, around 50 minute drive (15-20 longer than I currently do).

COLD!!!

2005-12-07T10:39:00.000-06:00

Wow its been cold the past few days...not getting above 20F...and Iowa has been spending lots of time below zero! Scary cold. No snow here but there is supposed to be tonight.
Another demo last night...no sale...yet....
Amber has job training today for a parttime position at CMSU bookstore...hey its money! She had a phone interview on Monday for a semi-leadership position at a cheese factory. Sounded great, except she would be working 2nd and 3rd shifts....so when I would be coming home she would be going to work. The work experience would be awesome for her, so we'll just have to see where God leads us.
I'm debating on where I want to be in the future...both in career and location. I am itching to be closer to my family but there are many factors working for and against that. Also with the job thing I don't know what I want. I don't hate where I'm at, but its also not my "dream job" either. There is a position that will be openning at church that I would love, but have little to no experience for...a technical engineer to handle the new equipment being install for the gym renovation ($700,000 worth of stuff!) I might investigate into that and see what I can find out about that. It would have to be a full time thing for it to be worthwhile...but who knows....
It does not seem to be Christmas time...I don't know why but this year has flown by!

What a busy time!

2005-12-01T09:10:00.000-06:00

So life is busy, crazy and great right now!
Working 50+ hours at Duke, another 10 or so with Rainbow stuff and a bunch of church activities.

Went to Iowa last week and had a great time with my family. I'm really itching to move back up there...if it wasn't SOOOO cold. Its 10-20 degrees colder there than MO. I don't want to leave our church and friends here though...the house I'll be happy to get rid of!

For Christmas this year I think me and Amber are going to ask for movies, games and giftcards for clothes. We are set (if not overstuffed) with house stuff. Sure we could use a area rug or artwork, but overall we're great (thanks to my dad). So we want to compile a list of movies we want and games we need...any suggestions?

Weirdest dress code ever

2005-11-12T23:57:00.000-06:00

The bar we tried to go to tonight had a dress code of no athletic shoes...wtf!

--- go@blogger.com wrote:
Success!
Your "movies i m..." post made it to Blogger. (Your mobile blog is kdog2515.blogspot.com)

movies i must buy

2005-11-04T17:31:00.000-06:00

van wilder and old school

--- go@blogger.com wrote:
Success!
Your "cop in camo?" post made it to Blogger. (Your mobile blog is kdog2515.blogspot.com)

On a related note...

2005-11-03T18:38:00.000-06:00

I made the mistake of looking into http://facebook.com.... Many that could keep me entertained for a long time...
Facebook me!

I've already got ahold of some people I haven't talked to in years!!

Crazy!!!

SSDD

2005-11-03T08:19:00.000-06:00

How can you be so busy and still be bored? One of those mysteries I guess...

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but if you do you need to come visit us in Missouri!

Whoever said owning a house was a good idea...

2005-10-24T08:52:00.000-05:00

deserves a shotgun blast to the face!

We got done with our 3rd demo (which sucked!) and when we got home, our dogs were standing in 4" of water in the basement!! I have no idea where it came from or how to get rid of it!! Amber is going to call a plumber today and hopefully figure it out today. I really don't want to keep throwing money at this money pit if its going to be a piece of crap!

So we are 0-3 with our demos, and only have 17 more to go. I've got a bunch figured out with the who's just need the when's. So if you want a Rainbow cleaning system demo just let me know! You get a free gift...

Boy, a month goes by fast!!

2005-10-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted here in almost a month.

Nothing too exciting has happened...I didn't go to homecoming...Amber's mom & stepdad came up last weekend. Oh yeah, me and Amber have picked up a money-making venture...selling Rainbow vaccum cleaners. If you haven't seen one work you don't know what you're missing!

Work has also been very busy, working on a A&W/Taco Bell refrigerated cabinet.

School-sick?

2005-09-21T13:08:00.000-05:00

Its weird, for some reason I've been very school-sick recently (you know, not home-sick). I miss college (and sometimes high school). All the friends I used to have and hangout with on a daily basis. I think I'm going to start going out for beers with Greg again, I need more social interaction! Now I'm not knocking home life at all. Everything is great there. Me and Amber are happy together. I haven't had a chance to mention this to her or anything yet, mostly cause I wasn't completely aware of it.
I really want to go to homecoming next weekend, I think I'm going to have to go...

A Picture Share!

2005-09-08T15:58:00.000-05:00

Serving shelf i designed

Homeowner...

2005-09-08T07:51:00.000-05:00

So we've had our house for almost a week now. I'm impressed with the progress that we've made with it! Bathroom is useable (not painted or remodeled like we need to but its clean and functioning). The bedroom is painted...yay no more bright red with pink sponge paint! The living room is finally all patched up: 20-2" dia holes and hundreds of nail holes later. Amber is going to attempt to prime it herself today and we'll paint it tonight to be ready to put stuff in there when my dad comes down to help us move. After we get all the furniture in the house we can concentrate on the kitchen, and think about getting a new stove...grrr.

Its my birthday today, but 24 really isn't that special of a birthday, doesn't mean much, other than I'm the same age as my wife again (for a couple months).

Good weekend in Indy

2005-08-23T08:04:00.000-05:00

Another friend married! No one else in my fraternity yet but it was one of Amber's best friends, Allison. We went up on Thursday night and I dropped her off at Allison's apartment for the bachelorette party. I then went to Milf's and sat around and talked awhile before we headed to Broadripple for some drinks. Nothing to exciting, just felt weird cause it was the first time I've been "out" since I've been married, and of course there were many attractive girls to look at so it was just weird to be completely "taken". Apparently we just missed the bachelorette party. They went to the same area though they hit the dance clubs and we were just hanging in some other bars. I was going to go out with Milf again on Friday but I'm too old for 2 nights in a row apparently!!
Friday went to breakfast with Amber after surprising her by showing up at Allison's unannounced. Dropped her off with the wedding party and headed to Merkel's apartment. We watched all his tivo'd shows and I tried my hardest to stay awake. Went back and picked Amber up and went to the rehersal dinner and ate the mystery Porkey. We sat with Allison's friends from high school, very strange but fun group of girls. I headed back to Merkel's with the thought that we would meet up with Milf and Ashby, but once I sat on his couch I couldn't get the motivation to get up again. Which was for the better because my back had been bothering me for the past few days and I really needed to just get some sleep.
Saturday was another lazy type day. Went with Merkel to get Allison's wedding present and then ate at BD's Mongolian Grill. It was good, not great but good. First time I've seen a white guy running the big flattop. Had to run to David's Bridal to get Allison a garter cause she couldn't find hers on the way to the wedding.
The wedding was nice, I wasn't a big fan of the pastor but its hard to compete with Pastor Bob!!
Went to the reception (a 45 minute drive across town). It was at the Indiana Historical Society. It was a very fancy place. They had us stand around the upper balcony for a long time with FREE drinks and hors'dervs (or however that is spelled.) Food was okay, everything was a little cold...OSHA would not have been happy. Danced some with Amber and talked with some people we knew from Rose. I didn't drink too much cause I had to drive 6 people home! We did stop at White Castle on the way back to Merkel's though!
The whole weekend made me missed being in college and seeing all these people everyday. You really take it for granted what you had! I had a great time in college made a lot of friends (most of which I won't see or talk to again which is sad). Of course there are a few things I would do different but overall it was a great learning experience!

7th straigh year

2005-08-22T08:20:00.000-05:00

Somehow Rose did it again!

http://rose-hulman.edu/news/articles/usnews06.htm

cop in camo?

2005-08-05T16:17:00.000-05:00

ever not see who pulled you over? saw a trooper wearing camo writing a ticket on the side of the highway

Finally cooler weather!!

2005-07-27T09:24:00.000-05:00

Its been so ungodly hot the past couple weeks! 100+ for about 5 days straight, plus the a/c in my car is out! That makes for a very long ride to and from work!
It rained last night so it is finally tolerable temps.

My little sister, Kelsey is down visiting...well kind of, she's down sitting in front of my computer all day talking to people online. It okay though, gets her away from Mom for a little while so they don't kill each other. We're planning on going to Worlds of Fun this Friday night. Should be a good time. Possibly going mini golfing tonight if the weather allows it.

My parents are coming down next week to visit (which is why Kelsey came down this week, so they can bring her home) Its a long drive to do over the weekend, doable but only if there is a good reason!

2005-07-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

I've decided to start a new thing: posting interesting pictures I find (or steal from the newsgroup). Here's Natalie Portman and psycho-weirdo Hilary Clinton...

Tonight is D-Day

2005-07-13T09:13:00.000-05:00

It all comes down to this....

Fireworks

2005-07-05T12:20:00.000-05:00

The holiday weekend went well. I was originally hoping to make it to my family's cabin in Illinios but that was a much too long of a trip to make with 2 dogs and a broken A/C. We went to Warrensbug Fri to see what was around. Found my new favorite bar!
Saturday we did a whole lot of nothing, went for a walk on the trail by our house.
Sunday went to church in the morning then back to W'burg for a church picnic at the Community Center (which is only a few blocks from the house we are looking at). If its not too expensive going there on a regular basis should be fun. Met up with Rob & Jen and went to their house for games and fireworks. Good times!!
Monday was cleaning day. I spent the morning cleaning up everything outside, front and back porch, garage and burned trash. Amber cleaned up the inside and then I vaccumed. It feels good to have a clean house!

Our dogs are acting strangely...well stranger than usual. Max was yelping every time he got up on Sunday...I'm hoping its due to him being a lazy fat ass and his muscle were sore from walking. He was better on Mon only yelped a couple times. Isabelle still isn't eating right, I don't think she likes her food. She'll wait for Max to finish, go check his bowl, then go to hers, after I tell her to eat a couple hundred times! Even then she won't eat very much. I know she's a puppy but she should be eating more than she is I think, we may need to switch to can food. Amber is worried about giving her canned and Max dry...but they are DOGS!! Things don't have to be fair. Also they have been running across the road recently, not good when its a paved road where they can be hit by cars going 55+. So we are putting them on their leads in the back yard but they aren't leaving the back porch...Last night we left them out there for almost an hour and when we let them in the house Max started to act like he was going to poop in the house. So I yell at him and take him outside put him on his rope and kick him off the porch. Then he went. Isabelle did the same thing this morning. We may have to move the location of their ropes and see if that helps. I cant wait for us to have a fenced in yard with a doggy door so they can go in and out as they please.....some day!

Wake up to the sound of rain...sort of

2005-06-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

I noticed that Sarah's last post was about thunderstorms...it hasn't actually rained here in a while and the 90+ weather is getting old already...

Anyway, I DID wake up to the sound of rain this morning...well some sort of water at least. Max, my 100 lbs white shepard, woke me up by nudging my hand. I roll over and see that its not even 5AM. They usually wake me up around 5:30 or 6. I just tell him to to lay down its not time to get up. A few seconds later I hear the sound of running water. He had lifted his leg on our pile of clothes...Apparently it WAS time to get up!!

Home Shopping Network

2005-06-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

So everyone seems to be buying houses right now! Amber and I are looking into buying a house in Warrensburg, while she's searching for a job some where around Lee's Summit (KC). I realize (like with everything in life) that I'm pretty clueless of finaces and such. Outside having a job as a cook in HS for spending $$, I never had to deal with moneys. Luckily, Amber has helped her mom as long as she can remember, so that helps. All this home buying mumbo jumbo is beyond me though: equity, 80/20, PMI, mortgage... Ok, so I know the basics of some of it but I don't know it well enough to be able to haggle and stuff. Oh well another learning experience

Pictures finally

2005-06-20T15:28:00.000-05:00

I ripped off Merkel's idea and am now posting pictures on Flickr...http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviskj/

Enjoy!

first wedding as a married couple

2005-06-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

We attended our first wedding after ours sat. A couple that went thru the engaged couples class with us. Their first kiss was today...their purity is refreshing

A Picture Share!

2005-06-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

18 year old newbie stripper my buddies tried to pick up

A Picture Share!

2005-06-14T12:09:00.000-05:00

My puppies

New new start?

2005-06-14T11:52:00.000-05:00

So they've introduced a new Mobile Blogger option...I might actually post at least a little more often now!

Ok, I'm finally back...

2005-01-31T21:15:00.000-06:00

Nobody have a heart attack but I'm finally making a post again (if there's even anyone who still looks at this page!)

I'm starting a new web page http://keenan.greenpride.com

It might take me a little time to get used to updating this stuff again now that I have internet that I can use whenever I want...though waiting for dialup sucks...

Lots going on in my life, I will update on both here and my webpage (I think I'll use my free time at work, as soon as I get some).

St. Lunatic.....

2004-11-09T18:58:00.000-06:00

So I'm in a great hotel...on company $$....free drinks....hot tub....right by a bunch of restaurants and a mall....

Spending 8:30-4:30 in Solidworks training sucks...especially when I can get most of the shit done in half the time it takes for everyone else....

Happy Halloween

2004-10-31T18:22:00.001-06:00

Great game: http://www.exbyte.net/files/games/54a84e57afe1ebad1d5e7828b9b3b65bmaze.swf

So its Halloween...and I've successfully done absolutely nothing! Stayed in my room and watched football and horror movies and of course play many hours of video games. I went to Wal-Mart to get a new GC game and realized that I must be one of the 5 people in the world that play GC...there are about 50x as many PS2 and Xbox games and the selection really sucked...mostly kiddy games...I was hoping to buy X-Men legends cause I hear its actually a well done comic book game but no luck, oh well less money I spend now....

My back has been absolutely killing me the past couple weeks...I started going to a chiropractor but it hasn't helped at all...not even a day's comfort...it sucks! So I tried the massage therapy thing...getting rubbed down by a short pudgy woman isn't very attractive....and it really didn't help me any...its really starting to concern that I'm not getting any better.....

Work is starting to actually be work...and looks like I started working at another place where I'll be a computer guru...I'll be in charge of teaching people how to use MS Project because I made the mistake of saying I used it in a class before...dumbass

Week 1 done...

2004-10-24T15:53:00.000-05:00

So I've been working for almost a full week now...and been spending most of the time doing jack...They haven't given me much to do and have barely talked to or seen my boss.

But I realized that I am in an area that makes TH look sophificated...with lovely words like: Mizurah and punkin...just to name a few

How bout them BoSox?!?! What a playoffs this has been!!! I've been hanging out drinking beer with one of the guys that I work with...think Kid Rock in a trailor park...good times

The starting of my job

2004-10-18T18:52:00.000-05:00

Well I'm now in Sedalia, MO. In another hotel room....this is getting old...at least I'm not paying for this one. The apartment that I'm going to be staying in the next 3 months isn't finished, something wrong with the ceiling or something.
Tomorrow I'm actually "starting" my job. Today consisted of going to Duke and sitting there a couple minutes then coming to the Hotel Bothwell (my new "home") and thats about it. I was slow on getting moving, talked with Amber for a bit (we had a great weekend at Brown's wedding!) and went out to get a PO box and bank account. Got the form to fill out to get a PO box, but the bank lobby closed at 4pm and I got there at 4:20...stupid banks!

Also I HATE THE YANKEES...that is all.

Finally employed!

2004-10-06T16:32:00.000-05:00

I got a job with Duke Mfg in Sedalia, MO.

Next up, Homecoming this weekend!

Heading down to Missour-ah

2004-10-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow may be the day, well okay, Wednesday. I'm going down for my second interview with Duke. And assuming that I don't screw it up, it sounds like I'll be walking away with an offer. Also today I got accepted for an interview (on Rose campus) for another steel company. It worked out well cause its on Friday the 8th (day before Homecoming). So things get complicated once again!

My week is going to be very busy as well! Down to Sedalia tomorrow, staying at the Comfort Inn. Meeting with the VP on Wednesday morning, driving back home that night. Head to the cabin Thursday to reload on clothes and such. Head to Terre Haute Friday for interview/drinking at the house. Game/more drinking on Saturday. Then most likely home (cabin) on Sunday. Wow what a long week!!

Things can get better...

2004-09-24T13:38:00.000-05:00

So after I thought it was a lost cause....the headhunter guy thats been trying to get me a job at Duke in Sedalia, MO called me back and said that I'm still in the running!!
Now I'm going down to Sedalia again to meet with the VP of Manufacturing on the 5th and it sounds like if it goes well I'll walk away with an offer! It sounds like its going to be $38000 but my guy is pushing for $40k+. I would take just about anything right now.

Its funny how life works...this last week I was just thinking about finding a second part-time job in Dubuque and looking for an apartment so I could have a place of my own, not drive so much, and not have to drive the winding roads when winter starts. Then Gary (the headhunter) called me 6 times in 2 days with various information about Duke. Also I received a call from a guy I've got working for me in Chicago for an Inside/Outside Sales position about a possibility with an environmental company by Joliet. So I had weeks of nothing then a few prospects in a day!

Amber has been down visiting for the past week and a half or so. Its been a lot of fun, hot tub, movies, games (both cards and video) and stuff. She's in a holding pattern too now, finished her summer job and started searching for a real job.

Construction at the store (Slumberland) is slow going...very dirty and messy and little business. Luckily road construction is detering anyone from coming to that side of town anyway. I'd prefer a torn up store with no one in it than a perfectly done store and noone buying anything!

I need to make some trips to various places around the country visiting friends and family...but luckily my boss has put me on weekends so I can do anything! We're in process of hiring a college kid to replace me...so I may ask for the time off or reschedule so I can make it up to the Cities and U.P. sometime.

I don't think I'll be going back for Homecoming...hopefully I'll be moving/house-hunting that weekend in MO!

Another week goes by...

2004-09-13T21:13:00.000-05:00

Nothing too new here.... Still waiting to hear back from Duke, I'm gonna call them tomorrow and hope for the best.

Went out with some guys from work on Saturday to celebrate my b-day. Drank lots of different alcohols, and realize that my tolerance is still quite high. I work for 11 hours tomorrow, so that should be a very long day!

Post-Labor Day

2004-09-07T11:38:00.000-05:00

I'm back at "work" again, wasting my time answering phones and twiddling my thumbs. Today I work from 9:30 am until close (8:00 pm).

Irwin's wedding this weekend was a blast. It was great to see so many alumni that I haven't seen in a long time, even Fast Eddie was there. Add an open bar, made for a great night.

I turn 23 tomorrow, and it makes me realize that after 21 birthdays don't really matter anymore. There aren't the presents and parties like when you're a kid; no new freedoms or responsiblities. Its an excuse to drink, but do you really need a reason?

Restart...someday

2004-09-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so those who care, I am still alive!!!

Still job hunting. Just got back from an interview in Sedalia, MO with Duke Mfg. Which is kinda funny cause "Duke" was a running joke with my buddies in high school, ask if you really want to know why....

I'm still "living" in Illinios. All my crap is still boxed up so I really don't even remember what I own anymore! I hope that I will be somewhere of my own soon.

I turn 23 in a week.

More to come as I think of it.

2004-05-06T23:27:00.000-05:00

So this has been a rough year....I really don't want to into the real world...

This year I've have tendinitis in my shoulder. This year I've had bronchitis, TMJ, more problems with my scoliosis...its going to be expensive to be on my own...

9 Class days....23 actual days left

2004-05-04T14:15:00.000-05:00

Pig week has come and gone and I'm pretty sure there wasn't an night I didn't drink in the pond, good times!!!!

Its amazing how little I have to say recently...

Done with school in 10 class days!! And graduate on the 29th! Man, who would've thought I'd make it this far.

For those who know Dan Kinsel: he's been in the hospital since Thurs or Fri and started Chemotherapy to help correct his low blood count problem. Please pray for him and hope for a fast recovery!!

Still no job yet, but I did get paid $150 to go to that interview at Balemaster...so if I can just get an interview a week I'd be okay for a little while....

2004-04-26T10:34:00.000-05:00

Spent the weekend at the cabin!! I love that place. Worse case scenerio is I live there this summer and work for my dad in Dubuque.

Had an interview on Friday that went really well. It was for Balemaster, in Crown Point, IN. The position is for field service engineer. The job would consist of 2/3 travel and the rest of the time I'd be on the phone avoiding from traveling. So I would be travelling, all expenses paid, all around the country from Cali to NY. Lots of bonus perks as well!!! So I'm hoping for the best!

2004-04-19T14:18:00.000-05:00

The FE was Saturday...boy that was a lot of stuff I wish I didn't remember....oh wait, I didn't remember most of them.

Backing up a little, Amber and I went to "Whole Ten Yards" and if you liked "Nine" you'll like this one. Matthew Perry is hilarious, and I always love Bruce Willis playing the semi-serious, but funny characters. There are a couple scenes that just cracked me up.

After the FE on Saturday we started drinking on the front porch, played some horseshoes out back then went to Chuck's for a Tweetie and a few pitchers. Amber and I played darts and won both games, beating Tim & Zara and Bassett & Amy. Good times...

I'll spill more about AZ when I get around to it

2004-04-13T00:49:00.000-05:00

Spring break was a trip to Arizona with Amber. It consisted of almost 60 hrs of driving, openning day at Bank One Stadium, a day of seeing the red rocks of Sedona, and lots of movies and doing nothing.
The drive down there was an adventure....ran out of money on tollroads....drive belt fell off her car....driving through frickin' snow in New Mexico....and nearly 30 hours on the road.
God was with us on this trip. When the belt fell off we luckily stopped off at an exit that had an open service station that could look at our car and was able to get the belt in a few minutes....

More to come its late and I have more to do......

2004-03-31T14:58:00.000-06:00

Ok so I'm a slap....

Last few days before spring break...heading down to Arizona with Amber Friday after classes and driving until we can't drive anymore, grab a cheap hotel room then continue early the next day, hopefully making down there by Saturday night sometime.

I finally posted almost all the Jamaica pictures that I have: Pics

Most pictures will be posted sometime soon!

Well I need to go to a meeting and work on my paper that's due friday and I have a test which I need to read the book Solaris for...yeah thats gonna happen....

2004-03-09T17:32:00.000-06:00

Well I'm back from Jamaica....I'm alive....I had a blast.....stories to come......

2004-02-26T10:34:00.000-06:00

Go here if you want to see whats happening at Chucks via Live Streaming Video.

Classes are over and Jamaica is only a few days off.

Yesterday was an adventure! I slept in quite late and then Amber came by after her last test. We attempted to go tanning after lunch and such, but when we got there I realized that my card was in my pants from the night before and Amber's was at her house, so we didn't end up tannning. We then had to go back to the house to get something that Amber needed to return to Wal-Mart. We then drove to Wal-Mart and we went in and walked around and then realized we left the thing that Amber needed to return was still in the car. After Wal-Mart we went to Papa Murphy's and thats when she locked her keys in her car. The funny part is I had my keys with me but had left them in the car when we walked in to get the pizza. We had to wait 30-45 minutes for the tow truck to come and unlock her car (for a amount of $30.) Hell I coulda bought a Gamecube game for that!! We went to Blockbuster and rented, Cabin Fever, a pretty good horror flick that doesn't follow the normal storylines, and Matchstick Men, a great movie with a crazy ending.

Today is the Chucks-a-thon and I'm gonna head over there for a Tweetie.....

2004-02-15T15:12:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Valentines Day and it was a great day!!
Amber and I went to Indy. The drive there was uneventful, then we got there and did a few laps in attempt to find a parking garage. We walked a few blocks and walked into Nordstroms and then into Circle Center Mall. We walked around the mall, mostly window shopping. We stopped at Piercing Pogoda and got her her Valentine's Day present, a belly button ring with some dangling hearts and a cool blue hoop.
We sat around an people-watched for awhile then went and saw "50 First Dates." Which is one of my favorite movies ever!!
On the way back to the parking garage we were almost mugged. A big homeless looking guy bumped into me and turned around like he was going to follow us for a few steps then stepped into a dark alley....Amber and I quickened our steps and made it back to our car and quickly drove home.
Another great night!

2004-02-15T14:37:00.000-06:00

Friday night there was a party: White Trash Bash

As every party I remember here, it started really really slowly with very few people around, and it picked up some as the night when on and I drank more and more beer. The lawn was covered with crap ranging from trucks to lawn ornaments to bonfires in attempt to give the white trash feel...anyone else see the redundancy in this?

Overall it was a great night, especially after the night before!!

2004-02-15T14:31:00.000-06:00

Where do I begin?!?

Thursday night went to Sonkas had a good time with a bunch of Lambda Chis and Ms. Hoke hung out with us for a while. Amber (my girlfriend) came by after doing some work and showering and such and hung out and had a few drinks. She then went to play pool with Joe for a while. I did my usually walking around (as much as you can in Sonkas) between the pool table and the table we were sitting at. Amanda Martin came down and so I talked to her for a while, which is something I haven't done in FOREVER!! When I waved Amber over, she just shook her head at me and continued hanging out with Joe and everyone over at the pool table. So eventually it was time to leave, and guess what? We had the priviledge in bringing Joe home. Soon after dropping Joe off I mentioned that I didn't like that idea, especially it being sprung on me as I got into the car. At about this time, those lovely blue and red lights were flashing in the back window. They told Amber to get out of the car and they kept her outside in the cold for a good 15 minutes or so. Then they asked me to get out of the car. They asked me how I was doing and I said fine except I didn't appreciate them keeping my girlfriend out in the cold. They then asked me to step on to the sidewalk and stand heel to toe. I was compliant and did like they asked. I then asked why I had to do this? One of the officers then asked me to place my hands on my head and then he slapped cuffs on my wrists and walked me to the back of his car and hauled me off to jail.
Making a longer story short, I spent the next 10 hours sitting/sleeping on hard concrete with drug dealers and who knows what. I was release 2 hours after they said I would get out and was told I have a court date Tuesday morning at 8:30 am for Public Intox and Disorderly Conduct. So I get PI for getting asked to step out of the car and Disorderly for asking a question...gotta love the police force on a slow night.

2004-02-02T14:46:00.000-06:00

Wow its has been a long while since I've last put anything in this thing? What has happened? Honestly I don't remember anymore....

Saturday, Amber and I made a last second decision trip to Michigan so we could pick up her car. We left around 1:30 got there around 6 and then left the next day around 11:30 getting back around 5. That makes for lots of driving in a very short amount of time. I bruised my heel playing basketball last week, and driving that much absolutely killed it. I can barely walk today, it sucks. To top it off it was icy rain this morning so I had to apply even more force to keep myself from falling.

The Panthers almost did the unthinkable. Game was tied with a minute left, then the Patriots did what they did best all season (16 straight wins), came down in the last play of the game and kicked a game winning field goal with time expiring. Now remember thats twice that that has happened in the last 3 years (both times it being the Pats). Now that is great football!!! That game had everything, a great defensive 1st quarter, frantic scoring at the end of the 2nd, Janet's boob during half time, and an amazing finish, where I know I was on the edge of my seat!!

2004-01-20T15:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, so back to the weekend...

Nel-Dogg came down Friday night and bought 8 cases of Bud Light Tall boys which where finished off shortly after midnight i believe. I started the night off by playing Drunk Driver (the card game not the car). Went through 2 beers and almost a full deck before I finished. Good 10 minute game! Spent the night wandering the house not sticking any one place for very long. I spent the whole night with a beer in my hand so the end is pretty foggy. I'm pretty sure I spent some time on the front porch and tv room as the night was coming to a close, but who knows!! I went to bed around 4 am.

Amber had initiation all day on Saturday so I didn't get to see or talk to her all day. Woke up around 1:30-2 and went to 1st Wok. Then around 5 we left for Indy to go to the Indianapolis Ice game. Me and Frankie stood in line for about 45 minutes to get Sterling Marlin's autograph on a can coozy, Coors Light 6-pack case, and a license plate. Sterling won the Daytona 500 twice. After the hockey game we went to Hooters which is always a good time. Our table ate 150 wings and drank 6 or 8 pitchers of beer. And it was the first time in a long time that we had a good looking waitress...not the quickest...but you really don't go for the service....let just say I was impressed that her tank top was able to hold on....Then the hour drive back to the house. We got back to the house and more drinking was in order. Dulin was around so he has some Rolling Rock to consume. A few games of flippy cup/survivor were played. I had one good, one horrible game. Another night of wandering, drinking, and hanging out. We played Carpet Ride about 2 hours too late but still had a blast with it...I ended up covered in mud but other than that a great time!! Bed that night was around 5 am.

Finally got to hang out with Amber again on Sunday, though spent much of the day sleeping. Then we watched the two Championship games...Go Pats!! Go Cats!!!!

2004-01-19T14:39:00.000-06:00

Yet another week down and another beginning of another...

Panther are going to the Super Bowl!!! (and the colts aren't!) The Patroits are making an impressive 3rd showing out of the last 7 years.

Really don't have too much to say this time around..... I'll tell more about the weekend when I get a chance

2004-01-13T14:57:00.000-06:00

So a few more days have past, a few more things to worry about.

School is winding down, well winding up with projects but coming closer and closer to an end.

I had an revelation the other day about what I may end up doing in the future (read: after May) I think I might go to grad school for business, yes, get my MBA be one of the business types, I think that would increase my chanced of getting a real job a great deal, especially since my engineering grades aren't where I would like them, and since I am planning on taking over for my dad with Slumberland Furniture someday, this would kinda kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Plus added bonus is that I should be able to complete it in less than a year. I was looking through the paper work on UNI's webpage and it sounds extremely interesting and very very easy, especially compared to my engineering stuff I've been doing for the past 3 years. The only hitch may be letting them overlook their "prerequisites" Most of which consist of remedial math and computing with some management and econ and stats stuff, most of which I've dealt with in the past. So ideally I'll be able to BS to the head of the MBA department and say how I may not be an expert at the concepts in those classes, I am familar with the topics and will be able to hold my own in the graduate level courses after graduating from a school like Rose-Hulman. So we'll see how far this takes me before I run into a brick wall and go from there....

2004-01-09T08:45:00.000-06:00

Another week gone by...for some reason this week just flew by....its amazing how fast time goes when you don't do anything!! Well bomb a test and care even less is something I guess. I really need to figure out how to get through all this shit in my head before I completely implode on myself and get myself in a hole I can't get out of....

I hate how I can never let myself be happy....

2004-01-07T15:17:00.000-06:00

Ok so its good to be back kinda....I enjoy being able to party and just crash and not worry about driving home or feeling awkward in asking someone if I could stay at their place.

Been updating my webpage. Though I need suggestions on what to do to make it better and to add to my lists. So contact me if you have any thoughts.

I'm gonna be starting a second blog thing in the near future...rather than it telling what I'm doing its gonna be more of a prayer board type thing: who I'm thinking about or needing or wanting. That kinda thing, we'll see how it works and who I give the link to.

2004-01-05T14:17:00.000-06:00

Christmas break is over, classes started today. Boo!!!

I get to see Amber though, YAY!!!

But I don't get to see Denean anymore...boy my life is full of ups and downs.

Break was relatively uneventful. Spent the first week with my family and the second working at AJs, the place I've been working on and off for the last 4+ years. Its really sad that I not work for months/years and still not forget anything!! I made $300 so it made it worth while.
I got my GameCube and a couple games, a bunch of candy and little electronic games, and a couple sweaters from my grandparents. I didn't get the "house stuff" like I thought I was going to get though. I got an apron, some wooden utensils, and a salt and pepper grinder. You'd think people would realize I'm graduating in the spring and will be getting my own place so I need stuff and not clothes but oh well.

My drive back yesterday was a pain in the @$$. It took me well over 3 and a half hours to get to Peoria and there were times where going above 40 mph was impossible. Then I hit Peoria and the snow changed to rain and everything was better...not perfect but better. For a while I was watching ice build up on my mirrors and other parts of my car thankfully not my windshield. I made it home I think less than 8 hours but not by too much.

Going to the Rose basketball game tonight after chapter and lamp pass. We're voting in a new Alpha, sounds like well have have a super senior/grad student president....

2003-12-22T17:10:00.000-06:00

So its Christmas break! Yay boring!!

I miss Amber, I'm bored out of my mind and my family is insane.

I found out one of my major presents already :-( I'm glad I'm getting it but I wish I was going to be a little more surprised.

Going the the grandparents' on Christmas Eve, prolly stay home on Christmas and then I'm working this weekend cause I need money.

I'm getting an abnormal chunk of skin removed from the middle of my back tomorrow to get tested further :-/ Kinda anxious to just know if it'll come to anything or not. I've been around/through enough peope with skin cancer I'm not quite sure what to think....oh well...what happens happens I guess.

Time to go make dinner and then play more video games....

2003-12-18T14:27:00.000-06:00

Well its nearly Christmas break. I'm looking forward to getting away from Rose again, but I'm am dreading being alone again for those 2 weeks. Now I know I'm not going to be alone alone, I'll be with family and hopefully friends, but there will be someone special missing at my side. I will be making some moneys though, going back to the restaraunt I worked at over the summer.

Denean's brother is getting married next July. He is 2 or 3 years younger than I am....boy I'm feeling older and older everyday!! Denean is one of the bride's maids of course and has been helping with the dress and flower shopping and such. That brings back lots of memories for both of us. Going back to last year (1 year, 3 or so months ago) when we (she) were doing the same thing. It makes me remember how big of a f*ck-up I am/was and how much I hurt her. Through it all though my life has continued and now I'm will someone else really great, so I guess I have to agree (with some reservation) that the saying that "Things happen for a reason." Cause there have been a lot of growing experiences that I've been through since then that have formed me into (what I feel) a better person. Granted I bounced my face many times on rock-bottom before I was able to actually "grow," but all in all maybe its best all that stupid shit I did happened. I just wish I could've taken the brunt of the pain and suffering and not Denean. It did help me understand that my actions can and will hurt people, probably the people I love and care about.

2003-12-15T14:37:00.000-06:00

Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football

Gotta love the playoffs!! Pending a giant game from the Miami defense or the Eagles kicker, I knocked off the number one team in the Lambda Chi fantasy football league! He was 13-0 and I ended the regular season at 6-7, major upset!!

Went out with Denean for last time in Terre Haute Friday night, frequenting the Terminal and Sonkas. Had a good time, nothing eventful happen, but it was fun to hang out with her, Becky, Andy, Collin and Rachel.

The Christmas party for Ryves Hall with Tri-Delta went well over the weekend. Got to hang out with Jen and Amber and see some girls I haven't seen in a while. Went with Andy to Sonka's for a Burger and Brew after the gift exchange (where I received a fringed, tiger-print thong-thing. No there will not be pictures posted later). It then began to snow. This made it impossible for Andy to make the trip home for the game on Sunday, bummer.
The "party" that evening wasn't nearly as eventful as the ride from Amber's to the house. Along with the slick roads, a train was stopped on the tracks covering all major roads. We waited a while until Amber couldn't wait to any longer, so we made a trip to CVS.... We then decided to go around the train, taking us north past ISU going not to far from the 5+1 before finding the end of the devil-machine. The party consisted of us and Tri-delts and that was about it honestly. Doty was back and its always good to see him, especially when he spends the last part of the night all over a freshman (yes he is 25 or 26). Boy I can't wait until I'm an alumni!!!

Sunday consisted of well sleep, sleep and more sleep, it was nice to get that much but I got NOTHING accomplished which is never a good thing!!!!!! Grrr, I hate how good things can be bad like that.
Also picked up a way to waste even more time: Dr. Mario 64 for about $7 yesterday.

Denean left Saturday morning, drove with her parents to Bloomington, IL and sat in a hot tub for most the night, until she was kept up by her snoring parents until 4:30 in the morning.
*Insert any joke about me snoring here*

The final Lord of the Rings comes out this week. Hope to see it with Amber on Friday (if her schedule is clear) before I go home on Saturday.

2003-12-08T14:45:00.000-06:00

Well week 2 of 18 left....(or so) Is it bad I'm counting down already??

I really need to get job but I really don't know what I want to do. I plan on keeping my options open but I may end up focusing on stuff back home: ideally Rockwell or John Deere. I would love to move somewhere warm for a while but we'll see what God lays in front of me.

Some emotions were flying the weekend, which I feel bad about especially since I'm the center of some of them. I feel bad for a few friends that are having extremely difficult times right now. My prayers are with you.

Then it comes back to me, which I hate dealing with and worrying about. But the more I think about it the more I see I've put myself in a win-lose situation. No matter what happens, I'm gonna get hurt. If I don't do anything different I'm gonna get hurt. If I change anything, I'm gonna get hurt. Its like my heart is strapped in the middle and even if something pulls away the "winner," I'm still gonna get a chunk of me torn off.

Well that's enough emotion for awhile ;-)

Hopefully basketball goes as well tonight as I played last Wednesday... at least I have that to look forward to with like doubt...I know I'm gonna suck half the time

2003-12-06T10:53:00.000-06:00

Help day today. Here's a hint: don't wear shoes with holes in the bottom of them when you work outside.

So I got a big brother Thursday night: Matt Austin. He's a great guy. Somehow he reminds me of Ashby.....
My first little brother got a little brother too: Jonathan Davis. So my little brother's little brother is my dad...hmmmm....

Eat at Mi Pueblo last night, so good! Came back tried to watch a movie but Amber started falling asleep and then we decided to walk around. Ended up singing DAC and then went up and got destroyed in a few games of Euchre. Its funny how it can be fun to lose.

Spending some time with Denean this afternoon since this is the last weekend she's going to be here. :-(

Well back to work or something

Things have been

2003-12-04T20:58:00.000-06:00

So the week is almost over....

Spent last night alone, which was a first for a while...didn't like it to much, but I'm gonna be having 2 weeks of it soon :-/

Tonight is the Big Brother ceremony and I'll actually be getting a little brother again!!

But that means its prolly gonna another lonely night.....

Tomorrow is Friday though!!! Mi Pueblo for dinner and renting a movie and a few games should be a good night

Before another night without Amber...boy this week sucks....

2003-12-02T14:25:00.000-06:00

Ok break is over, a new quarter has started. I survived last quarter, but like usual just barely.

Break was great. Amber and I went to Michigan to visit her family for a few days. Saw Craig Morton at Comedy Connexion and laughed until I cried, good times. We then headed to the cabin on Monday, and of course ran into a snowstorm. Everything was fine, traffic was slow and there was a 10-car pile-up before Battle Creek, so we sat stopped for a little while. After we got moving again things got interesting: There was enough snow coming down that normal highway speeds were impossible so at a crawling 40 mph traffic was a bear. Somewhere after Battle Creek a car in front of me hit their brakes, so I tapped mine to start slowing down. This is when my car decided it didn't want to go straight anymore....I corrected it fishtailing a few times, then thought I might want to stop before I hit the ditch going at any sort of speed (been there not fun). So I slammed on the brakes and this caused the car to start spinning. If you've ever been in a car accident you know how weird of a thing time becomes. Everything happened in a split second, but seemed to take forever as it was happening. With the grace of God we started spinning just as the highway met up with an onramp giving us an extra 10 feet or so and was slowed to a stop by those rumble strips on the edge of the road facing on-coming traffic of both the highway and the on ramp. An angel was with us because we avoided the ditch (being HOURS from anyone we knew) and all other traffic missed us as well. In a few mile span we saw close to a dozen cars and a handful of semis in the ditches, so we were very blessed with our brush with disaster.

We finally arrived at the cabin after making a few detours in Chicago...errr...ummm... I mean taking a scenic route. The cabin was amazing as ever. Amber was very impressed: "Its so beautiful I want to cry." It has to be my favorite place to be. I struggled to make a fire for about a half hour or so and finally got one lit (with some help from Amber). Mom and Kelsey arrived a while later and we hung out and watched Two Towers.

The week went really well at home, spending most nights playing board and card games with the fam. Mom kept the wine flowing too, which always is a good thing.

Thanksgiving itself was quite uneventful overall. Nothing bad mind you just nothing of obvious importance. My house was filled with people of all ages, a handful of kids and a number of adults, nearly 20 people total. Good food, good times.

Friday, got my car serviced and went shopping for a short time. We then went to Haunted Mansion, which was better than I expected, which doesn't mean too much since I didn't have that high of expectations but was worth sitting through, had a few funny spots and a couple times where Amber nearly screamed.

Then there's Friday night..........we went out with my best friend from middle school and his wife. Hit up Benigans and drank a fishbowl of liquer (come to my room and see the glass). Then we drove around Cedar Rapids, reminiscing about the last 7 years: when and where we lost our virginities, where we almost got beat up, etc. We then went to a redneck racing bar, which was a lot of fun. There was a live band playing though shots were $3.50. Got pleasantly drunk there then went next door: Dancers Ranch. Much fun was had by all....with the quote being said: "You're just jealous the stripper liked me more than you."

The next few days were mostly uneventful, with a safe drive back to school. And now school is in session and sucks.

Randomness for the day: So I walk into the bathroom and there's an old guy at the urinal just standing there picking at his nails with both hands. A few dribbles splashed out, he then zipped up, washed his hands and walked out. Another reason why I don't want to get old!!!!!

And I seem to having lots of emotional ups and downs as of late....Not completely sure why but I know it sucks. Denean's heading back home in a couple weeks, and after Christmas break I don't know when or if I'll see her again, :-(

Well that is all for now. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this updated a little better than I have in the past.

2003-11-13T10:56:00.000-06:00

Wow its been awhile since I've posted. No particular reason that I can think of other than I'm really lazy....been doing some work, though not much.

Spent the afternoon walking around Hawthorne Park with Amber. I love 65+ degree weather the 12th of Nov....but we're paying for it today....as its somewhere around 30 degrees....I REALLY HATE THE MIDWEST WEATHER!!! San Diego or something like that sounds really good on days like today.

Its finally 10th week, which in my world turns out to be one of the easiest weeks of the year. I need to finish up my Mechatronics project and write a paper for Ethics and then 3 tests next week then I'm done.

Break should be extremely interesting. Amber and I are going up to Michigan to visit her family on Friday, then we're driving to my cabin on Monday, possibly meeting my mom there or something. Then home on Tuesday sometime. Finally back to Rose on that Sunday or so!

I get to be Denean's fashion designer again this weekend, she needs an outfit for a family event. I guess its just a good thing I act straight most of the time! Other than fashion and teddy bears holding balloons, I guess.

2003-11-06T10:45:00.000-06:00

Everything seems to be going really well right now. I really can't complain about anything....well except for that whole shitty grades thing, but I'll get over that.

I'm so ready for this quarter to be over and to go home for a while and at least not have classes. Its looks like that Amber will be going home with me, I just need to figure out when I want to go home.

Not too much to say today, or at least right now.

2003-10-30T11:28:00.000-06:00

So yeah, I love how life can get insanely complex in a matter of days.

Anyway, I'm as happy as I've been in a long time, so I can't complain!!

Went to the doctor with Denean yesterday: she's got bronchitis. Yikes!! I never get sick from her illnesses (knock on wood), or at least haven't in the past 5 years, but that doesn't mean I won't be a carrier and give it to others (i.e. Amber)....if I do, sorry!!

And I was putting thought into various aspects of things, including my blog (and others) after talking to my mom, who said she felt like she was doing something wrong by reading this (isn't that cute!). But these things can be dangerous in that ANYONE can read them. Any information is then open to the public and can be discussed with whoever and for whatever reason they like. Its public domain, its not like it was confidentially told to you (which brings up a whole other topic I really don't want to go into). So to myself and anyone else: If you don't want your personal matters discussed, don't write them in a way that can be view by any and everyone!

On a similar note: I really wish people had the balls to say stuff to the people that matter! I'm not saying I'm better than anyone on this topic, cause I know I've failed to do the correct thing more often than not in my life.

Once again, party this weekend!! Plan on jagging ISU tonight sometime. Also TNA is having a Halloween party tomorrow night at the Vault. I don't know where or what that is, but supposedly it should be a really big party! Should be fun!!!

2003-10-29T15:10:00.000-06:00

So another "Weekend Wednesday" over....oh wait, I had 4 hours of lab and 3 hours of work, and next quarter really isn't any better, I think I've got 6 hours of lab scheduled.

I've ordered Barn Dance sweatshirts, security for the party this Saturday, and oh yeah made things "official." (If you don't know what I mean then you are not talking to me enough.)

And if you are wondering yes there is a party here this Saturday: Barn Dance featuring Busscrew

Thanks to Fast Track Apparel and Duece

Also next Saturday (Nov 8th) there is a Toga party with the help of Tau Nu Alpha from ISU. Should be a shockingly good party!!

2003-10-27T00:32:00.000-06:00

Wow 2 posts in 2 days end of the world or something!!

Actually I'm just avoiding homework like usual.

Things are weird right now, and I'm not completely sure how or why. "Something in the water" as some cute girls said tonight.

Nothing new to any extent on any end. My grades aren't where I want them, I didn't get anything from the career fair, and to top things off I don't know what I want in life right now. I'm having a blast with what I'm doing, but I really don't know what direction I want ANYTHING to go. So over all I'm having a quite depressing night and really don't know how or why exactly. Though I'm sure I could guess on at least part of the reason; not that I want to say any names: Denean. Oops did I say that outloud? But to be honest she has been the reason for the major of my mental anguish over the last year, but, yes, I admit (as I have for a long time) it is MY fault. Its really bad when you sum up the last 3+ years of your life in an adlibbed line:

"All the money that I'll be making isn't worth what I've lost"

2003-10-25T17:02:00.000-05:00

So its been a while since i've had the time or at least taken the time to do much with this thing. Not too much has happened. Fall break was quite uneventful. The house is looking amazing after being remodel. If you've seen it before, you really need to now; if you haven't seen it before, now is a great time to!! Also had the career fair on Wednesday, but that was rather unsuccessful, so looks like I'm gonna have to rely on the internet and contacts. Denean is back home again this weekend, this time her grandpa flew her back. So that makes three straight weekends we haven't seen each other.

Well next weekend is Barndance and the weekend after that is Toga party so its gonna be a busy couple weeks for your friendly neighborhood Epsilon!!

Well its time to clean my room and get ready for my date tonight.....

2003-10-14T12:28:00.000-05:00

So its finally (or already) Bid Tuesday, I'm anxiously awaiting 5pm to see who will become my brothers, a few guys specifically I'm hoping for, though I'm being my usual pessimistic self. I've got two tests today, one down, one to go. I ended staying up WAY too late last night, but I think it was worth it. I'm heading home tomorrow afternoon, long lonely drive. Well time to continue to study (read:cram). Hope break goes well.

2003-10-09T13:17:00.000-05:00

Its amazing how nice missing class can be

2003-10-07T19:24:00.000-05:00

Holy Crap!! There is only one week left of rush! Damn 5 weeks goes really quick, I forget how much I actually liked the 8 week thing, even though it felt soooo long. Things are looking up on my end of things with the guys that I've been rushing hard! I'm very excited. I hope everyone else is having as good luck as I am! A couple guys in particular seem to be making good progress, if not completely in. Last night was another movie night, so not much sleep expect for that done during my classes again! I really need to stop that!! I did wake up to register however, so that was nice, got all the classes at the times I wanted and looks like I have some fun people in my Kukral class. BW3s tonight then SAC tomorrow, along with ELC stuff, and Pool/Poker tourney Thursday, followed by Second Formals Friday and Sunday and going to the drag races Saturday night! And of course on top of all of that a decent amount of homework is building up! Hell yeah, life is busy, but what a blast it is right now!!!