Glory

As I mentioned recently, maybe a week or two ago, I am playing organized basketball again.

And while the start of my post-retirement career was rather rough. Today, I made a break through.

In the previous two weeks I probably shot about 15% from the floor. No one needed to guard me past 10 feet from the basket, because I wasn't going to make it anyways.

Though, my long range is nowhere near back to where it once was, my shooting percentage tonight was somewhat improved. And I managed to score 8 points, which is a pretty big deal for me.

And I won the game. Sorta.

We went up about 12 points in the first half, thanks to some absolutely amazing shooting from one of our guards.

After she came out we managed to blow the lead and the rest of the game was close, very close. So close, in fact, that it went into overtime.

2:00 minute, running clock overtime. I was fouled on the arm, and it was in the bonus. One and one.

I made the first, the clock continues to run down. I made the second. Mind you, I had been 0-for-6 since in regulation.

They weren't able to get a shot off and we won. VICTORY!!!

Speed Bumps

The land of Olympic spirit is big on speed bumps. Really big.

There is a complex speed limit of 15 mph, and since no driver is trusted to go that speed, it is enforced with many, many speed bumps.

There are eight speed bumps I have to drive over everytime I leave or return to the dorms.

This means each day I drive over at least 16 speed bumps.

On days that leave the complex more than once, I drive over 32.

And my car, which I love sits very low to ground. I almost killed it turning into a driveway today.

Basically, I am pretty sure that I will need new shocks by the end of my time here. Possibly even in the next month.

I am just praying that my little car survives.

I killed the carwash

Colorado is very into putting chemicals down on the roadway when it snows. And where I came from we used gravel.

So now, whenever the temperature warms up enough for the carwashes to open, I take advantage.

This morning when the temp rose to blistering 50-something, I knew there was an opportunity. Plus, I needed gas.

I found a station that could meet both my needs, filled up the tank, and purchased the deluxe carwash. Awesome.

I was excited.

Then I sat in the line waiting for my turn. 20 years later, I got the chance to put my car through the wringer (literally!).

Unfortunately I overestimated where my front wheels needed to stop and overshot the spot.

And the car wash wouldn't start. Not only did it not work for me, but it wasn't working for the people behind me either.

While the gas station gave me another wash, since the only thing that had happened was a little moisture spattered my car, moving the chemicals around slightly, I was uninterested in waiting in another five car line up for another turn at the wash.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

- - - - -

Another awesome story I just had to tag on.

I went and saw the movie Juno tonight with a couple friends. Very enjoyable.

As we were leaving the theater, there were some younger girls (middle school, perhaps) trying to jump up and touch the restroom sign in the hallway.

My friend reached up and touched the sign, he being more than foot taller than the young lassies.

There was a pause.

And then one of the girls said, "Show off."

We laughed the entire way to the car.

- - - - -

Two more brief, random thoughts, since I am obviously on a roll.

First I keep wanting to spell line, 'lign.' Like sign I guess, I am so glad I have a college eduation.

Secondly, I drank about 80 oz of pop, or soda, at the movie. And all because it was only 25 cents to upgrade to the large. That gets me everytime.

- - - - -

The end.

Refrigerator

Refrigerators are scary appliances. Not on their own, but with our help.

There is one fridge in the conference room at one that I keep my lunch in everyday.

I have been working there for three weeks now. And I swear that none of the other items in that fridge have changed since I started.

There's a large vat of something. Unknown objects in plastic bags. And ice so thick on the freezer portion you could make sno-cones for everyone. Really gross, discolored sno-cones.

It's just disturbing.

So people, clean out your fridges!!!

Don't wait until there's mold growing and you can no longer identify what is in the tuperware.

Think of the future of the world, and your unborn children.

That is all...my public service announcement of the day/week/month/year/lifetime.

The Servery

Can I just say how nice it is to be eating good food.

I have always hated that veggies and fruits tend to go bad before I eat them. No longer is this a problem.

Here in the land of Olympic Spirit I get to eat lots of fruits and veggies. And they differ everyday. And I feel good.

So good, in fact, that the healthy eating combined with exercise has helped me lose 10 pounds from visit to the doctor in December.

So yay me!!! And yay fruits and veggies!!!

Awkward

My job requires me to interview athletes, coaches, and many others. And I am new to this organization of men in spandex.

So tonight, while I was mostly successful, I also managed to embarrass myself.

Good job.

This afternoon at work I was given an assignment for a feature story. As in seven hours ago I was given the assignment.

After doing some research on the athlete, getting a decent start, I decided to call him to set up a time to meet. I was thinking sometime in the next couple days.

Instead I found myself agreeing to 7:30, less than three hours ago.

The interview went fairly well, except for one moment.

I had typed up some questions, but had not phrased one well. I asked the question, and the athlete looked at me quizzically.

I attempted to rephrase.

He waited. I mumbled. I blushed. He laughed and called me cute.

Years later I came up with a modified question, now not entirely sure what I was asking. He graciously answered, coming up with his own direction.

I unzipped my jacket and moved on. Boy, did I feel professional.

Alone

How sad would it be to die alone?

Not like, sitting at home by yourself. But having no friends, cut off from your family, so alone no one knows you need help.

That would suck. And it happens to people.

I would like to say that now that I have come to this realization, now that a moment in life has opened my eyes, I will reach out to anyone that seems alone.

But it's not that easy. It's going to take some little steps.

A 'hello' here. A 'how are you doing' there.

Maybe then, I can make a difference.

Whirlwind of Death

The laundry facilities that are available for use in the dorms are fairly nice. There are washer and dryers and are free, except for the detergent that you must provide. Not a big deal.

Today however my friend and I stared death in the face in the form of an industrial dryer. She had transfered all her clothes and had started the dryer.

As a side note, when I say industrial, I mean industrial. You could fit three or four small children into these dryers.

Anyways...the dryer is started. She realized she needed to add one more shirt to the load.

Thinking this was your normal dryer, she opened the door, only to have the clothes continue to spin at supersonic speeds, jumping out of the dryer of their own accord.

It became apparent that there was no way she was going to be able to get all her clothes back in alone, and the dryer was not going to stop anytime soon.

So I waded into the mess. As blocker I attempted to keep clothes in while she attempted to gather them off the floor and stick them back in.

After what seemed a lifetime, the clothes were back in and the door was closed. And we were covered in sweat.

Awesome. But we were victorious.

That one game, played on ice.

So I consider myself to be fairly sports literate. I know schools, teams, athletes, basic stats, the current news.

But today I found myself somewhat lost. At a sporting event. It was weird.

I watched a hockey game. Meaning I tried to track that little black thing as it flew across the ice. Well, maybe it's not quite that bad.

For the most part, I really didn't get much of the strategy or intricacies. Why people were penalized. Stuff like that.

On the plus side, we (meaning the home team) won. 5-4. It was exciting. And I mostly clapped at appropriate times.

Go me.

Snow and stuff.

Today I had my first snow day from grown up school. I woke up this morning, somewhat late, and was getting ready for work when my roommate turned on the television.

As I continued getting dressed I kept my eyes on the closures and delays scrolling along the bottom of the screen.

Then I saw it...School District 20 - closed.

A feeling of disbelief passed through me. The other intern with the organization of men in spandex knocked on the door. He was also unsure.

I grabbed my cell phone and placed a call to my supervisor.

It's true!!!

Work is cancelled. The office is closed.

I passed the word on to my fellow employee and set about changing out of my work clothes.

Then I realized...since only two of us don't have work. What the heck am I supposed to do with myself all day?!

Return to the Hardwood

I want to apologize for my last post. That was weak. Sauce. Or weak sauce as it is more commonly known. On to the real post...

Some of you may be aware that I played two years of community college basketball. I am by no means a superstar, but I enjoy playing the game.

Tonight I played some rec league basketball. It was sweet.

And by sweet I mean that I could barely breath afterwords and scored a total of three points.

But we won. By one point. After our opponents missed a free throw and a put back. But we won.

And I played 35 of the 40 minutes. That definitely counts as a work out.

afoienvaoi egfhaoegh

Some of you may have noticed the unique title of my blog. Congrats.

Basically I couldn't think of any good anecdotes or real life situations to share with you. So, gibberish is what you get.

I bet you feel lucky.

And I only worked one eight hour day all week. That was pretty sweet. Especially since I got paid for 40 hours. Sweet.

Fastidiousness

Everyday I commute about 20 minutes to work. I am truly an adult today.

Today I saw something absolutely hilarious. At least it was to me.

I am stopped at a stoplight, having just missed the left turn arrow. Meaning I was going to have to wait five minutes or so.

Then, an older ford pick-up with an older navigator, probably from the 80s, pulls up next to me. The man gets out of his truck and begins wiping off his windshield. He probably works on it for 2-3 minutes.

Then he gets back in his pick-up and drives away.

Did I mention part of the pick-up was held together with duct tape?

Early Release

For the second time this week, I was released early from work because of snow. Yay!

Apparently grown up school has snow days, too.

That also means I haven't actually worked an hour day yet. Bummer.

I told my supervisor that I am building my stamina this way. :)

Hmm...

So first of all, it has not and is not supposed to snow 15 inches.

Someone lied to me. We are getting about five. In fact, we may have that much right now. But that's no big deal.

Secondly, I went to my first day of grown up school. And was quite successful. Except for being kind of late. But it wasn't really my fault. Really. And I let my boss know. Again, no big deal.

Last, at least for now, the interns here have already gotten in trouble.

*Gasp*

Apparently there have been noise complaints from some rather well known swimmers and their coaches. Which is funny only because most of us were in bed by 10 p.m. last night.

We are the first group of interns to get in trouble before we have met with the intern manager. Awesome.

So now we have been lectured and threatened with moving into a triple dorm room. Including moving all our stuff. Yuck!

Hopefully nothing comes of that.

The Threat

Supposedly it is supposed (good use of vocabulary, I know.) to snow 15 inches tonight.

That normally wouldn't be a big deal, but I have to drive to the first day of work.

It's a 20 min. drive normally, and I haven't actually been there yet. So add 15 inches of snow to that equation, and it's scary.

Pray that the weatherman is wrong.

Storage-less

So I have moved into the dorms and am feeling rather Olympic.

However, I have a gripe. There is not enough space to fit all my stuff.

I know that dorms generally have less storage than a personal bedroom, but this is the least amount of space I have ever seen.

There is a total of seven drawers and four feet of hanging bar/shelf to be shared by two people.

And I thought I had cut down what I was bringing.

On the plus side, the room does have cable television, a refrigerator, and a sink. And there are two desks. But I still have more stuff than space.

This could be interesting.

Mile High Class

My dad and spent last night searching priceline for a cheap(ish) hotel right in downtown of Nuggets' city.

We ended up selecting Magnolia, and while we have to pay for parking overnight, it has been an overall wonderful experience.

After spending way more time traveling than we needed to, so we got a little sidetracked in the middle of nowhere, we arrived at our destination about two hours later than planned.

The hotel lobby looked promising, and the doorman was friendly. The room featured two queen beds with real bedspreads and velvet pillows, and a bathroom that contained shampoo, condition, lotion, bath wash, makeup remover, and two bars of soap. And there were robes in the closet.

Based on the recommendation of the clerk, Pops and I set our for a classy restaurant that was suitable for the average person.

Our appetizer was hummus (served in a tumbler) with three types of cracker-like bread products (set in a cloth napkin), and pickled olives (just plain delicious).

Overall, the food was delicious and beautifully presented, the staff was wonderful, and the restaurant itself was beautful. Fun and colorful with funky light fixtures and rich colors.

We returned to the hotel for milk and cookies. Chocolate or strawberry milk, and three types of cookies. They were served in a room featuring 13 types of seating implements, a large water feature, and a billiards table.

Basically I feel like a classier person than I was when the day started.

Lessons Learned

Today I drove through three states over the course of about eleven hours. It was pretty awesome. Here's some of the fun that the day included:

• driving over a cattle guard on a freeway off ramp
• crossing four mountain passes, but not actually seeing snow on the ground
• eating amazingly large quantities of BBQ for dinner
• my car used 17.5% of the gas a Hummer would have since leaving home
• gas costs the same amount everywhere in Big Sky country
• rest stops are few and far between in Big Sky country
• you can listen to a lot of music in eleven hours
• oops...i forgot my cell phone charger (that's going to work out well)

So that's all I could come up with. There was more, but I can't remember now. My brain is slightly tired. On that note...g'night.

New Years

My family and I ventured to the eastern side of the state for New Years with some of the fam. The whole holiday was a return to my country side. While I wasn't raised on a farm, on the myspace surveys I score pretty high in the hick category. So it was a return.

First of all we completed the drive to find that we couldn't actually make it to where we were staying because snow had made the roads impassable. So Mom, Pops, Sis, Puppy, and I made and unplanned stop. The apartment was empty of food. Bummer.

The next day was spent waiting for the snow plow to make it through the roads. New Year's eve that is. Finally at about 3pm we were able to venture out into the wilderness. It took me back to my days on the Oregon Trail.

The night was spent eating, drinking, being merry, and was completed by swing dancing in the hay loft. And funny moments provided by multiple family members.

New Years really completed the whole experience though. I sledded twice. Once during the day, and once at night. At one point we were able to connect three sledding implements, pile seven people on, and hurl them all into a heap at the bottom of (or partway down) the hill. It was pretty amazing, and awesome!

Most of us are now moving like old people with random bruises across our bodies, and we weren't able to stay awake for a full movie. But it was so worth. Oh to be a kid again!

Awesomeness!!!