ERRRR, I'm so mad.  I had thought of a perfect question to pose to all of you but alas, the hustle and bustle of the day has made me forget it!  Why!?

Monday night I went to bed about 7:30pm since I was tired.  I woke up about midnight and ate dinner.  I was tired.

Yesterday nothing exciting.  I cooked a real meal...I've been neglecting cooking lately but now that it's nice out and I can start using the grill I'll be out there more.  Yesterday was quite the accomplishment since Amanda actually ate the chicken!  Isn't that amazing!

Work has been really busy.  I have drill this weekend....we'll be in tents and it will probably be rainy.  Fun fun fun!

Nothing else new. 

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Ok, I just remember my question....

What is the longest you have ever had a library book without having to buy it?

I have had a book checked out since 12/11/2005.  Yes, you read that right, nearly 2 and a half years I've had a book sitting in my closet.  Yes, I have read it and no it's not overdue.  It has been renewed 39 times.

What in the heck makes me suddenly have a night full of lucid dreams?  I dream most nights but most of them are pretty uneventful, then last night I had non-stop lucid dreams.  I'm talking crystal clear dreams that could be mistaken for real life.  I used to have more frequent lucid dreams but lately it's been more and more infrequent.  In the dream that I remember most vividly (also the final dream before waking up), I was escaping prison.  Well, technically I escaped pretty early on in the dream and was on the fun for most of it.  The funny thing was that in this dream I 'knew' a couple of other people in the dream.  Usually my dreams are full of random people but last night I was on the run with the guys from 'Prison Break'. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that's cheesy but that's who I was on the run with.  No, we didn't get caught, although we did go to Disney World to meet up with someone.  I guess that is where everyone that escapes from prison goes...kind of like you've won the Super Bowl.

According to the dream interpretation stuff that I read escaping from prison is a pretty good dream. 

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Nothing exciting this weekend.  The weather was bleh so I didn't get to do anything that I wanted to outside. 

On Friday nothing exciting.

On Saturday we met up with friends.  We conversed, ate, and drank.  It was fun.

On Sunday I ate breakfast with Amanda and two people that she worked with, that was nice.  In the evening we ate sushi. 

That was our weekend, it was pretty uneventful.

I watched two movies.

The first was 'I am Legend'.  Amanda and I watched it in the theater, I thought that it was pretty good but then again I've always been a sucker for zombie movies.  Back in the day, I used to rewatch movies quite regularly but lately I don't do that very often.  This was the first intentional repeat in a long time.  When I popped the blu-ray disc in the drive it offered me the chance to watch the theatrical version or the alternate version.  I figured what the heck, and watched the alternate version. 

Let me just say, that if they would have used this version in the theater it would have received much better reviews.  I don't want to spoil anything but it really wrapped things up much nicer. 

I also watched 'No Country for Old Men'.  I thought that it was good, but I'm glad that Amanda didn't watch it because she definitely would have been disapppointed.

Ok, that's my weekend. 

Today is turning into one of those days.  It started early and who knows when it will stop.  Why the heck does everything come all at once?

Nothing exciting yesterday.  I took the day off from running as planned.  I probably would have went for a run but it was stormy outside. 

It's rainy again today and will be all weekend long.  It warmish today though at 67 degrees, but this weekend will dip into the lower 40s.

No idea what I'm going to do for lunch today. I typically eat Subway most days but I'm beginning to grow tired of the same thing nearly every day.  I wish that there was more semi-healthy fast food out there but the choices are painfully slim. 

This weekend Amanda works, so that leaves me at home.  Not sure what I'm going to end up doing, I just wish that the weather was nice out.  I may end up working a little bit since all this extra work crap has pushed back a job that I need done by Thursday.

That's it for now...crappy update but I'm hungry and am going to go get....Subway.

Wow, it's Thursday already!  How exciting is that?  That means that we are only a day away from Friday and the start of the weekend.  I can't wait for the weekend to be here, even though it looks like it is going to rain all weekend long.

Nothing exciting on the home front the last few days.  I have ran three nights in a row so that is good.  Each day I've ran progressively further and at a better pace, but I'm afraid that I may begin to push too fast and end up hurting myself.  I'm seriously contemplating taking the night off, but we'll see.  Actually, I probably will since I have to work  a little late this evening.  Yesterday I was going to take the night off but I ran anyways and it actually felt pretty good.  I'm really looking forward to a month from now when I'm more in form.

I'm also kind of dieting.  I'm not going to do Weight Watchers this summer.  I really don't want to spend time thinking and researching food before I eat.  I'm going for a more balanced approach...starting with eating numerous small meals during the day in hopes of speeding up my metabolism.  I'm trying to put something in my pie hole every two hours and so far this week I've been fairly successful.  On this weekend trip to the grocery store I need to buy more things for the small meals/snacks.  The one thing that I have noticed is that I'm not as hungry at meal time but I'm hungry more often.  Now I just need to start working on portion control at dinner and I'll be set, you know, reduce the size of meat and starches and increase vegetable size. 

Ultimately I don't want to lose a bunch of weight but just work off some of the winter buildup. 

I have a couple of 'thinking' topics to tackle but I'm going to hold off on them for now since work beckons!

The commercial that I hate the most is the commercials for Bob Rohrman automobile sales in Lafayette Indiana.  They feature a guy about 60 years old dressing up in stupid costumes and a cartoon lion going 'Bob ROOOOARRRRRMAN'.  It's super stupid but the guy owns one of the largest private companies in Indiana so it must be doing something right.

Here is an example that I found real quick.  Yeah it's old and from the 80s but it is nearly identical to what they do now.

   

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Boy, things are really starting to get backlogged at work.  It seems like everything is coming at once, thankfully I think that in about three weeks things will start to settle down. 

Yesterday I went for a run outside.  It was the first outside run since the fall.  It was beautiful outside and it sure beat the treadmill.  I'm far from the shape that I was in Oct/Nov but I should be fine with a month of solid running.  I've been able to get in decent shape in about a month of training, but Lord knows that it's inevitable that one of these times that one month will stretch into 5 months.  I guess that I would be wise to be more active next winter.

The new TV shows are finally on!  Last night we watched the first new episode of 'The Ghost Whisperer'.  I don't know whether half of the show was written by the producer during the strike or whether the writers were really rusty after working the picket lines and ruining every the entire season of TV....but the show was really quite cheesy.  Hopefully some of the other new shows that are out get better because this was bad. 

Is anyone else still pissed about the writers strike?  I know that I am.  I don't want to get into the semantics of the strike but it really did a number on a lot of shows.  There were quite a few shows that were sitting on the cusp of extinction and the strike did them in.  Thankfully a couple of shows that I thought rocked this year have been brought back for a second season....most notably Chuck and Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Unfortunately Jericho didn't make it on the second attempt.  

TV just pisses me off....

The networks have been dicking  messing around recently with air dates and hybrid releases and it's quite dumb.  Just follow the traditional schedule of new shows in the fall with new episodes through Thanksgiving and then reruns through the holiday season with a new episode or two around Christmas, and finally pick up new episodes around mid-January.  Throw in a couple mid-season replacements around Feb/March and be done with it.  Quit doing stuff like a 3 month hiatus or a late season start for a renewed show.  It kills viewer ship.  I figure that the average person has X amount of TV they watch a week and they can typically follow Y number of shows.  X is pretty constant but Y = (S1+S2+S!).  S1-S! are the primary variables in the mix here and when say S4 goes on hiatus some other show will step in, say S9.  Because X never changes when S4 comes back it will not be watched or some other show will have to be removed from Y.  Is that confusing?  It makes sense to me....

X=Y(S1+S2+S!)

The second thing that pisses me off about the networks is that they are so damn slow to realize that they are losing viewer ship to the Internet.   They still rely on the archaic method Neilsen ratings.  They typically cancel/renew shows only on this rating.  They ignore video rentals, torrented media, Tivo'd shows, and other TV watched over the Internet.  This has been especially harmful for the more 'geeky' shows that have higher geek viewers and thus a higher percentage of alternate viewings.  Their main argument is that the only viewers that matter are the viewers that watch the TV at it's regular time because they watch the commercials which is what generates the revenue for the network.  Fine, that's a reasonable assumption but you need to recognize the changing tide.

Follow the changing tide by doing a couple of things.  First, put non-obtrusive product placement on more shows.  Think the Nissan vehicles in Heroes.  They are mentioned in the show ie Hero saying "I want to rent a Nissan Versa".  The cost of these placements need to be increased to offset the reduced Nielsen viewers but the increased alternate viewers. 

Second thing, is offer more high quality video on your website of every episode of every show.  The only network that is close to doing it right is ABC.com .  They offer HD quality streaming video.  The other networks have crap for quality.  The main fault with ABC is that they don't offer every episode, only the past two or three.  ABC's quality is sufficient enough that I connect my laptop to my 56" TV and watch it full screen.  They force you to watch a single 30 second ad at regular commercial breaks and that is fine for me.  The other networks have crap for quality and when I watch their shows I opt for a commercial free alternate source like sidereel.com.  Networks you need to listen....I will watch your commercials on your streaming video if you have a high enough quality and if the commercials are short. 

If the networks do those two things some good TV might possibly be saved.  If not we are going to end up with more Law and Order and other CRAP because those shows that are for 'old folks' are watched the traditional TV way and receive the higher Nielson ratings.  

Wow, that was a pretty good post.  I had no idea it was going to take that direction when I started, but it's ok. 

Isn't it amazing how a little sun on you neck can make you suddenly more alive?  After months and months of hibernation I ventured outside this weekend and sat on our deck in the wonderful Sunday sun.  What a great day! 

Ok, now on to the weekend update.  It was a good weekend, unfortunately it's Monday so that means that the weekend is currently kaput. 

Friday, Amanda's sister Susan came over.  She stayed the weekend with us since she had some orientation or something for school.  One of Amanda's friends came over as well and we played a little bit of Rock Band.  That was fun, it was the first time in ages that I've played.  I should really start playing again, because I forgot how much fun the drums are....and how I have no rhythm. 

We went out to dinner at Applebee's.  After dinner we were going to go to a movie but we ended up going back home instead.  The girls went upstairs to play Rock Band and I sat down to watch some TV.  After TV I watched a movie in bed and fell asleep shortly thereafter. 

On Saturday I woke up early to cook Susan and Amanda breakfast.  I made homemade pancakes and it just reiterates how pancakes are my least favorite breakfast food to cook.  They are nothing but a pain in the ass.  I didn't eat any since I hated cooking them so much.  Amanda went back to bed and I finished the movie that I started the night before.  The movie was 'The Mist' and it was really kind of crappy.  It was a total big budget B movie.  It was cheesy, predictable, and full of bad acting.  Thankfully it was a Netflix movie and that means that I'm out nothing but time. 

In the afternoon Amanda and I cleaned the house.  It wasn't too bad, we spent about two hours doing assorted things in the house and it ended up looking nice. 

That evening we went out to eat and we were going to go see a movie but we ended up going home instead.  I fell asleep on the couch downstairs fairly early and woke up about 4 am with a stiff back. 

On Sunday we got around and just hung out.  My aunt and uncle were coming down from northern Indiana.  They haven't visited us before so it was fun to catch up and show them the new house.  We hung out at our place for a little bit and then went to get a late lunch.  Then we came back home and sat on the deck in the sun.  It rocked sitting outside!

In the evening Amanda and I went to a movie (finally!) after thinking about it all weekend.  We went to the new theater that is about a mile from us.  It's an all-digital theater with 16 screens and they also have an IMAX.  We watched 'Leatherheads'.  I thought that the movie was fun but not all that great.  I am still not sure if it was supposed to be a comedy or drama.  It sat on the fence and needed to go in one direction or another but it never did.  The movie theater really surprised me how unfinished it was.  The theater was originally supposed to open up last week, but they delayed a week.  I don't think that it should have even opened up this week.  The interior was far from complete.  They weren't done painting, didn't have trim up and it looked like we were 'testing' the equipment because the thing has another two or three weeks of work to be finished.  The theater itself was fine and they have these high-back comfy chairs that made the movie even better. 

After dinner we went to Steak 'n Shake and had an un-healthy meal.

Then we came home and went to bed.

So that's my exciting weekend.  I will leave the dialogue to a later time because work beckons.

I need to stop watching sad movies.  This week I've watched two movies and each one of them has been kind of sad if not depressing.  I need to start sticking with action and comedy's and stay away from drama.  Yesterday was "The Kite Runner".  It was a pretty good movie but I found it quite depressing.  Granted it was a fictional story, but the whole situation surrounding Afghanistan was pretty true.  It's quite a shock to see the transition of a poor but functionally stable Afghanistan in the 70s go through upheavals by the Russian invasion and finally the suppression of individual freedoms by the Taliban. 

Last night Amanda went out to dinner with some other girls, I stayed at home and watched the movie.  Nothing else exciting happened.  I was going to go for a run and actually changed my clothes and was walking to go outside when there was a clap of thunder that put a quick end to the thought of running outside.

It's kind of rainy and crappy out today so I'm not sure if I'll be able to run outside this evening.  Hopefully I'll get to this weekend.  I'm also hoping that in the next week or two I can start golfing again.

Ok, that's it for now.

I'm pleased that it looks like no one left with the name change.  Hopefully it didn't cause too much confusion but I'm really excited that it's finally done.  I've been trying to change my Xanga name for years and have been unsucessful.  I didn't really like having my real name out in the open...now it's gone so that rocks.  I registered my 'old' name back just so that I could redirect people to this site in case someone had the old one bookmarked.  The only negative to come out of the move is that I may lose some Google rankings, which I could really care less about.

It's been awful quiet on Xanga lately.  I may have to 'go fishing' for some new people to subscribe to...it's been a while since I've done that but it usually produces a couple of interesting people.  Unfortunately with all the new Xanga jazz the use of blogrings has really died down and those are no longer a good source of interesting people.  I'm not sure how I'm going to find new reads, but my other source is pretty much used up.

I'm so excitied that tomorrow if Friday.  I'm looking forward to the weekned off since last weekend I didn't get to rest and relax.  This weekend we don't have any ginormous plans but we do have some people visiting so that will be fun.  One thing that we need to do is clean...so there will be lots of cleaning this weekend.

Nothing else earth shattering, I'll try to get up a post later on tonight, but right now I'm going to get the hell out of work!

Is spring ever going to show up?  Seriously, winter is hanging around long this year.  Thankfully Saturday and Sunday look beautiful so we *might* have some nice weather on the horizon.  I'm excited to get the sun on my back and do something outside.  I want to pick up my running routine but it's so hard to do it on the treadmill.  I don't have any particular goals or events to train for this year and that may be a problem.  I'm the type of guy that likes to pick some goal or race and then train for it. 

Simply saying that I'm going to run will probably result in my sitting on my ass.  Not quite that extreme but it's easier to shove aside if I don't have a goal.  Maybe I'll look at some of the races scheduled in the area and train for them.  The one race that I would love to run is a 15k near my hometown on Labor Day.  I've wanted to run it for years and a 15k is a nice race to run.  It's a short race that doesn't tear you up and you can run another race a week or two before without any ill effects. 

I'd like to pick up another half marathon in the second half of the summer in the August time frame but we'll see.  What I'd really like to do is try a half triathlon.  I think that would be pretty bad ass but training for a full or even a half would take probably a year of continuous training to be respectable.  Just so you know a full triathlon is 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike section, and a 26.2 mile run.  Yes, it's pretty hard core.  A half is half those distances.  I think that I'm a year from being in good enough form for a half.  The one thing that really intrigues me about participating in a triathlon is that some races group the participants according to weight class.  That would be bad ass....especially since I'm a big guy and weigh usually between 215-235 pounds.  Every time that I've ran a race I'm always the big odd ball in the crowd. 

Is anyone else in absolute awe over the out of control energy prices?  I'm talking gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and electric.  It's getting a bit crazy.  Thankfully I drive a pretty consistent 300 miles a week so I only have to gas up once a week, which means that I pay nearly $40.00 a tank right now.  My car gets between 26-28mpg which is less than it touts but still better than 12mpg.  I can start to see how some people with trucks and SUVs are starting to feel the crunch as the cost continue to climb.  Filling my tank up is only $10 a more a time now at $3.20 a gallon compared to when gas is around $2.50.  It would be another story if I had a big ass SUV.

The thing about this whole energy crisis is that it's so much larger than just gas.  It's huge and people have no idea how much it's going to affect everything in the next few years.  We are at the very top of the spiral right now and things are just going to get worse and worse.

• Ethanol - renewable fuel.  Let's plant more corn to make more ethanol.  Farmers want to make more money so they plant corn instead of soy beans and cotton.  Corn continues to get more expensive which means ethanol costs more.  Since corn is more expensive it costs more to feed animals that we eat or use for food.  That means beef, chicken, pork, and milk costs more.  Are you enjoying your E-85 now?  They aren't planting as much cotton domestically since they make more per acre with corn so cotton is more expensive which drives up the price of textiles.  Textile companies in order to save a few bucks to offset the increased price of cotton moves more and more mills overseas.  Then with the falling dollar those mills cost more money.  I'm not even going to touch on how corn is one of the most destructive crops on earth.  Farmers have to pump tons of fertilizer, insecticides, and pesticides into the earth to make the corn grow.  So now we have to deal with polluted water supplies which increases the cost of water treatment which increases the cost of water.  All of this so that we can move gasoline from 5% ethanol to 10% ethanol. 
• Natural Gas -  We have lots of natural gas in North America.  A lot of it comes from Canada.  The US dollar is weaker right now and it is nearly on part with the Canadian dollar.  That means that your dollar today buys you 30-50% less natural gas than it did two or three years ago. 
• Electric -  We love electric.  We are continually increasing our demand.  In order to meet the demands in the 90s and 00s we built lots and lots and lots of power plants.  The cheapest fuel at the time was natural gas.  Natural gas power plants burn clean, produce little pollution, and they are cheap to make.  The problem now is that gas is expensive so electric has to increase it's price.  We haven't built a nuclear power plant in like twenty years so that's out.  Wind power is a pipe dream and we are a decade away from seeing wind power produce 5% of our demand.   Solar power is an option but it's too expensive.  We've put a dam on nearly every dam able lake in the country so no more hydroelectric. 
• Crude Oil -  Weaker dollar means less oil for a buck.  Instability in the middle east drives up cost.  Chavez and Venezuela drives up costs.  Hostile oil fields in Nigeria drives up costs.  OPEC controlling production drives up cost.  Not enough refining capacity in the US drives up cost.  Crude oil isn't going to get any cheaper.
• Coal -  Dirty but it's the US's most abundant fuel.  Good luck trying to build a coal power plant in California.  

We are just hosed...seriously this could be the edge of the "Great Energy Depression".  We could see rising energy costs put people out of work and see unemployment clime above 15%.  We could see people give up their creature comforts in order to have the necessities (vacations, A/C, extra freezers, etc.).  Could we possibly have something like Roosevelt instituted in the 30's with workers?  Could unemployed people be used to build new alternative power stations? 

Hopefully something good comes from all of this...safe nuclear, more fuel efficient cars, a usable electric car...something.

Ok, in other news nothing exciting is going on.