Free Pizza Happens

So today at work was pretty busy and I had worked through the normal lunch hours. It was no big deal, it happens from time to time. So it was around 2:30pm this afternoon and this guy that works on my floor comes into my office, throws an olive garden box down on my desk and said, "There just about an entire pizza in here, I hope you haven't had lunch yet."
I was quite surprised to say the least. I opened the box and there was on piece missing from the pizza, which was replaced by 3 still warm trademark Olive Garden bread sticks. It really was a beautiful site. If I was capable of tears I just might have shed a few.

Several times I have been patron the Olive Garden and experience quite a diverse selection of foods, but this is the first time I have ever even seen an Olive Garden pizza. If by chance you are a fan of the pizza food group as myself and have yet to experience an Olive Garden pizza I would definitely suggest you give it a try. I would not say it is the best pizza I've ever had, but it was one worth noting.

Big scare

Last week on Friday morning I went to send a quick e-mail before heading to work and that's when it all began. The instant my internet browser was open, before I could do anything, an alert notification appeared informing me that my computer had been compromised by 6 viruses, 2 worms, and over 1200 bits of spyware. About a minute later another window appeared telling me that one of the worms has infiltrated my e-mail and had already sent an infected e-mail to every one of my contacts. I was pretty worried that I was going to receive several hate texts from newly infected people and that all my computer data was lost.
As I did not have much time before I needed to leave for work I promptly set my anti-virus software to work. When I arrived home from work approximately 9 hours later the initial scan was not yet complete. It took 11 1/2 hours to scan my computer to locate all of the aforementioned problems. Once all the problems were located it software took 4 hours to remove the viruses. After over 15 hours of my computer running my anti-virus software was unable to remove 2 of the viruses and one of the worms.

I was at a total loss as to what to do. I computer savvy friend of mine told me it would be in my best interests if I just saved everything I could on an external hard drive and completely re-format my computer. So that is what I did. If you haven't ever done that before, it take about 8 to 10 hours to delete your hard drive and then another hour or two to load all your software and saved files back onto your computer.

So I spent the majority of my Friday and Saturday dealing with computer problems. I guess the bright side is that as far as I know there haven't been any e-mails sent from my accounts to people as a result of the viruses.

Death by elevator

I was talking with friend as I was leaving work today. As per my normal routine I decided to take the elevator down to the main floor. Apparently there are stairs but I'm not quite sure where they are. Anyway, I my friend and I boarded the elevator, joining 5 other people from other floors of greater altitude. The elevator door shut, as it should have, and then suddenly the elevator dropped one foot then came to an abrupt stop. The door opened while the elevator was beeping and I could see that we were about 12 to 18 inches lower than the sixth floor. Then the door shut, dropped, I'm guessing, about another foot, the elevator began to beep again and the seven of us sat in a stopped elevator for about 1 minute. In elevator time 1 minutes is equivalent to ho long 1 minute of wall sits seem to be. After 1 minute the elevator began to move in a normal fashion again and all passengers were delivered unscathed to the lobby. Well one lady might have had a little bit of an anxiety attack, but I'll never know for sure.

As a result I thought, maybe I'll start taking the stairs, then I found out that you need to have an access card to even enter the stair well because they don't want vagrants spending the night in the building. Which by the way happened a couple of times last week. Some guy was spending the night in the mens bathroom on the 17th floor. I don't think he was doing any harm, just a little hard on the nose and eyes from what I was told.

Long story short, you never know when the elevator your riding in could send you into a 6 story free fall and either give you a cool war story to tell or possibly cripple you or end your life.

View

I work on the sixth floor of the Zion's Bank building in down town SLC as mentioned in a previous post. Believe it or not my office has a window with a view. It's not really a glamorous view but a view that I can always look at due in part because it is always changing. For the time being and probably the next year or so my view includes a construction site. All day long, should I be tired of working, I can look out the window and see big trucks and tractors driving around and moving dirt. From my office it looks like little kids playing with Tonka trucks without the little kids moving the trucks and tractors.

Sometimes I find it somewhat hypnotic, why, I don't know. Once in while when the weather is pleasant I think it would be quite satisfying to do such work and in the future to be able to point to buildings and tell family and friends that I helped build that building. There are a few houses and restaurants in the Salt Lake area I have helped build or remodel but they are few in number.

I only have one window in my office but if look out the other direction I get view which includes most of the SLC Temple and most of Temple Square. It's a pretty good view, considering its my first full-time job out of college.

The Ultimate Home Cinematic Experience

For roughly the past year I have a owned a projector. I have not had a quality screen on which to watch the output of said projector. Since I was in college and dealing with mediocrity the norm I was content to project movies, sports, and other programming on a white wall, which produced a glare in the middle of the picture, or a white bed sheet pinned to a wall with thumb tacks.

Being a recent grad school graduate I decided it would be advantageous in upholding the esteem of my degree if I did not profess a bed sheet hung on the wall as a movie screen.

Since purchasing a manufactured screen from a store or off the internet would cost me money my greater judgment forbid me to spend I had to find another avenue. I decided I would revert to the natural instincts of man and build one from scratch with my own hands and sweat.

Notice saw below is worn and used and on the front there is a piece of metal wire that shouldn't really be there.
I started this journey by collecting some man tools: tape measure, stapler, circular saw, power drill, and a power sander. I took some measurements and when off to the 1 of 2 man emporiums; you may know it as The Home Depot. I do not necessarily prefer Home Depot over Lowe's, its just where I went.

I purchased 1x2 boards and the necessary brackets and quickly returned home. With my shirt off and my sweat glistening on my chest I cut 45 degree angles in the boards and proceeded to fasten them together with metal picture frame brackets.

Once I had the a good sized wooden frame put together it was time to try and find a material worthy of becoming the face of my home entertainment for years to come.

I asked the people at home depot if they had anything worth of the type of responsibility mentioned above. They told me I was crazy. I looked deep within myself and realized that this finished project was important to me, so swallowed my pride and lost a few man points and I went to a fabric store on my own looking to buy fabric. I had no idea what I was doing there or even what I was looking for let alone where in the store to look for it. Finally after talking to a person or two I decided on a piece of fabric I deemed adequate. I vacated the store as quickly as possible.

Once I had the screen home I took a stapler, whose use is mainly to staple insulation into walls of homes, and I began to fasten the screen to the wood frame I had previously constructed. After a good deal of time the screen was finished and all that was left was attaching it to the wall.

Now the screen is completed, attached to the wall and with 5.1 surround sound aiding the projector and the screen I am able to provide the Ultimate Home Cinematic Experience to others and myself. Watching movies with this set-up is almost as good as being in the theater.

Here is just a preview of what it looks like in action. The picture is of a TV commercial and is even more clear and crisp when watching movies or HDTV. It really is more spectacular in person, so anyone who wishes to share in the delight of the ultimate movie or TV viewing experience, feel free to give me a call or just come over. If there are any other developments I will let you know.

Unlike any other

After a life time of accepting what was provided for me I have finally taken the plunge and purchased the nicest bed I could ever hope to sleep on. I purchased a king size Bragada bed off of the internet. The Bragada web-site claims to have been in business longer and has the same memory foam as Tempurpedic, but happens to cost less.This bed is as wide as it is long. I still have yet to purchase a set of king size sheets due to a healthy dose of lazy. So for the time being I've placed a flat sheet down over the left portion of the bed and then use another flat bed sheet between myself and the blanket. I have been to the store a couple of times with the mission of getting some sheets. To this point I have been very disappointed with the local Wal-Mart.

I also became keenly aware that any blanket I possessed would be less than adequate to accompany my lavish king size commodity. Since it has been such a long time since I have bought a new blanket I decided to try and make the decision easier until and I asked my mom if she would make me a blanket for my bed. Little did I know that she would make me go to a fabric store and select fabric for said blanket. Did you know that roughly 80%-90% of fabrics in a fabric store have flowers on them? Who knew? After several minutes of aimlessly wandering through the isles and sifting through a myriad of flower patters I was able to find something that didn't have flowers and wasn't boring as my mother deemed most un-flower patterns. My wonderful mother has not yet finished this king size quilt yet, but it should be pretty sweet.

With this bed I sleep better at night in comfort like I have never thought possible. Memory foam took me a couple of days to get used to, but now I wonder how I ever lived without it.

This year

I have recently have graduated from Utah State with a Master's Degree and have moved to Salt Lake City. On January 1st I began working for Zions Bancorporation as a Human Resources Generalist. It's a lot like what Toby on the office does except the people I work with don't hate me or pity me just yet. Its a pretty sweet deal I even have my on office on the sixth floor.

I live down town about 2 blocks north west of the conference center. Since I work down town at Zions I walk to work every day, sometimes twice a day due to forgetting to make a lunch or forgetting my wallet. It takes about 15 min for me to get to work, the best part is no matter what the weather and no matter how many people get in accidents my commute to work does not change. However, I will say that since its been below freezing just about everyday when I go to work that walking isn't always as nice as it may seem.

Why would some one do this to me????

I had something ripped away from me without any notice. One of my most prized possessions stolen leaves a pain that would be difficult to reproduce. For over a day now there has been a pit in my stomach, as well with a sense of longing. In the next year or so I was planning on replacing my current bike with a new one. I understood that the bond I have with my current bike would be broken at some point in time; but not now, not like this. That was an issue to be addressed in the distant future. There were so many more big decisions I thought I would have to make before I seriously considered a new bike. It’s been one day and I have had several moments of weakness were I stop what I’m doing and find myself lost in a nostalgic moment of the way things used to be; the different trails I rode, the awesome jumps I landed and the crashes that left me with a few extra man points, a scar or scab, and a story to tell. Now for the first time in my life I feel somewhat vulnerable. Anything in my life whether I hold it dear or not could be dashed to pieces or ripped from my grasp at any point and leave me without direction. Several times throughout the day when I see other bikes or when something reminds me of my bike I want to curl up in the fetal position and weep for a hope of better times to come.

I have only two hopes for my bike now and those are that my bike somehow finds its way home or that the new owner of the bike takes care of it and creates fond memories for many rides to come.

Fresh Start

I will not try to fill the gap from the last time I attempted to start blogging again, however, I do feel as though I could post at least a couple of times a month.

That is not to say that people even read my blog, but if your out there I will post for you, and if your not out there I guess I will post for myself or an imaginary friend of some sort. This will have to do for now until I have the capacity for more.

Good Day

Last night was one of the days people are most proud to vocalize their aligence to Utah State University. The Aggies as you probably know beat the University of Utah in one heck of a basketball show down. If you missed you not only missed a great basketball game but you missed on great adrenaline rush. Watching one of the bigger players on the court take a three point shot with only seconds left in the game silenced the crowd for what seemed to be more than a breif moment in time. As the basket was made without even touching the rim the entire Spectrum erupted in one truimphant cheer. It was so loud you couldn't hear the announcer, the referee's whistle, or even your own thoughts.

The Aggies didn't win by a lot, but they won nun-the-less and that's all that matters. Basketball season is just about the only time of the year USU fans can be proud students of their school and be able to back it up with a sports team. Next week at BYU will also be a game worth watching.

Same old, same old; or is it?

Sometimes life seems to constantly repeat itself. Everyday I do three things. I go to school, work, and the bathroom. Occasionally I will make small detours to Beto's or some other safe haven where I can replenish my supply of life. I don't know why but Beto's can cure just about anything. Or maybe it just creates a new illness so I don't focus on what else is currently plagueing me.

I need something new once in a while. Something like going to the Jazz game. Truth be told I get to go on Saturday night for a company party. If only this year at the Jazz game could be half as fun as last year.

Last year I watched a good game with an attractive girl, won a free twelve pack of sprite, got amazing brownies from mama Larsen, and learned that there is a store in Layton that sells "Giant Puppies." Hands down one of the best nights of last year. This year there will be amazing food, an attractive girl and what else is in store for me is yet to be discovered. Only time will tell. One thing I don't think could be topped is my new found knowlegde of the existance of giant puppies.

How valuable is your time?

I know it has been a while since my last post and I apologize. Long story short I get lazy and that's all I have to say about that.

Lately the concept of time has been on my mind. I have had a lot of thoughts on the subject some are stupid and some I thought have potential to be insightful.

I noticed that I have a tendancy to be somewhat judgemental about how other people use their time. I am judgemental about how I use my own time. For instance I look at a person who is playing a video game and think what a waste of time. Is that because I myself don't really enjoy video games and it would be a waste of my time or becasue I genuinly think video games are a complete waste of time. An activity that should only take place if a person has absolutely nothing to do with their life. Then being the hypocrite that I can be I'll go home and watch TV. I may think of it as a waste of time and I might not. It would just depend on what else I have to do for the rest of the day.

My point is, every little thing we do shapes our lives. If I have a stressful day at school or work I need to unwind a little bit and a good or even a poor quality TV show helps me unwind and prepare myself for what I have to face next. If someone is playing video games they may just being wasting time but they might be escaping the pressures of the world if only for an hour or two.

So is it really a waste of time. If you unwind a little so that you can sleep better or so that you can focus better on goals you are trying to accomplish it may not be a waste of your time. You can do something you enjoy and later when it comes down to accomplishing the important things in life you can really put your mind to it.

I know that for me before I have to do a big homework assignment that I enjoy a good TV show or a Sudoku puzzle. It tends to be a way to build up reserve energy and focus that I can use later when I'm in the middle of a long tedious day at work or a school project. It may look like a waste of time but perhaps in the long run a little slacking off will prove to be beneficial to later performance.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that everyone likes to waste or spend time in their own ways. Your way may seem like a waste of time for me but not everyone enjoys TV or a friendly game of basketball. The things people do have shaped their lives and have made them who they are today. Every experience a person has impacts their life in one form or another. I once asked my brother if he had ever regretted some of the things he did when he was younger that he got in trouble for, and he told me that he doesn't have a single regret. I was baffled. I inquired futher and he told me pretty much what I have just shared. He said that he is happy with who he is right now. Every experience, good or bad, is a part of who he is. In some instances he wished he could have learned some perticular lessons through different avenues, but had his life been filled with different experiences he may not have learned the lessons that are instrumental in how he views life and what helps him make decisions.

Really I don't know why I just wrote all of this but it feels good to express myself even if only a couple of people read it. I think it is important to try and live our lives so that we are happy with ourselves every step of the way. However, if you do make a mistake like I do just about every day, don't dwell on it just learn your lesson. Let your mistakes help you grow as an individual. Spend your time in the ways you want whether others think it is a waste or not.

If by chance you still check my blog on the off chance that I would post something new let me know that you are checking and I will post again hopefully within a weeks time.

Back to Basics

About a week ago I was reminded of what makes a true man tick. Thanks to a good friend of mine I was able to go back to the basics of man hood. If your confused you havn't had a good project to work on in a while.

I was able to help take apart a old Chrysler New Yorker. We took the windows out, ripped all the crome off the car and ripped out the seats. The best part was the dirt, sweat, and all of the grunting that was involved. While trying to rip out the back seat I think that just about popped a couple of veins from using pure brute strenth to rip the once cozy seat from it's resting place.

When the sun was just about gone down I looked at myself and couldn't help but notice that after some good physical manual labor that I had earned at least 2 extra man points for the day. Just before we got in the car to go home I stood there with my hands at my side, the last bits of day light barely able to glisten off of the sweat that ran down my greasy and dirt covered arms. A truely satisfied feeling came over me as I realized how important it is to revert back to basics once in a while and let yourself be a man.

Sorry that I don't have any pictures of the truely magnanimus scene that transpired that day.

Off my rocker

It's funny the way things work out. I mean if you really think about it most things end up different than originally planned. In fact it seems the more planning I try to do the futher from my intended path is were I end up. However on the flip-side should I not do any planning my life tends to fall into a routine that turns everything I do into boredom.

So if every plan we've constructed is sure to drastically change along the way why then do we continue to plan? I'll tell you why it is because we don't have a clue what we want. At one point or another we may think we really know what we want, and some people do, but if we really knew what we wanted I think we be more ambitious tenatious about acheiving our dreams.

When we really want something, do we really want it? Is there some other sort of motivation? Do we only want other things because other people have them or do we want them because it is socially expected?

What types of things do you think you would be without if none of the above impacted you decision on what you really wanted? Would you car be different? You clothes would definitly be different.

I was just kind of sitting in my room and realized that I have a lot of stuff. I was just pondering why I bought half of the things that I have or why I have held on to it so long. It's kind of shocking that there are so many small and insignificant influences in our lives that have a tendency to shape who we are. Kind of a weird post I know but oh well.

Summer=Freetime??

I have just graduated with a BA in Marketing and people always ask me what I want to do with it. I tell them, continue going to school. So I graduated and yet it seems like I still have yet to recieved the bench mark of freedon that is often associated there with.

Also, another school year has bit the dust and summer has come. Usually with summer comes the anticipation of a care free world in which everybody has the same goal, have fun all day everyday. Well, I think that is a disallusioned thought because now that school is out I don't have anymore freetime than I did before and other people seem to have less.

I think that I'm hitting that phase in life were I'm beginning to realize that I can't be a kid forever. I do try my best to keep in touch with my inner child, but it seems like inevitability is closing in on me and I can't escape. There always seems to be talk of the future. Children don't think about the future and neither do I. Kids like to ride bikes, play games, get dirty, and spill ice-cream down the front of their shirt. I like to do the same things that kids do, but it can be difficult because I seam to be stuck in some sort of adult world. My boss doesn't appreciate me getting dirty or playing hide and seek while on the clock. I guess I can understand why, but if I still have to go to school than I think that I should still be somewhat immune fromt he reallity that plagues the real working force.

Maybe I'm just crazy or maybe I have a problem with people ruining my fun. Either way it seems as though either school or work always take their toll at the least opportune moment. I now just rely on the fact that I only have a year and a half left and then who knows? As long as the inner child can last for another ten years I think I can make it through just about anything.

School?

I don't know about the rest of you but I still have a about 1 week of school left and about 4 weeks worth of school work to complete before the end of the week. However, due to a lot of things, some I can control so I can't, I have checked out a long time ago.

I think I checked out a couple of weeks before spring break. My condition has only gotten worse and the pressure to succeed has only increased. The amount and quality of work required of me has increased and only one phrase has been able to help me keep even realatively on track.

"One day it will all be worth it!"

Meaning one day I will get a real job that will require the skills that I obtained in college. It will help me provide for a family that I one day might have or at least help me collect toys that I wish I already had. Either way after school it had better be worth it or else! I didn't really know what I was doing when I delayed the worth it part by enrolling in a masters program, so I still have another year and a half after this current term is over. So the phrase that has helped me through the last five years must remain strong and stay my attention span and study habits through another degree that I have been told will be worth it.

Candy bars

I have often wondered how one chooses a candy bar. I myself have my favorites, however, when purchasing candy I don't always buy my favorites, sometimes I'll buy something else. But really, how do you choose your candy?

Do you base it all on past experience, a dare, by the ingreidients that you think they contain, fat content, carb content, the name, or do you just close your eyes and reach for whatever lucky morses shall grace your taste buds because all you need is sugar? Tell me what motivates your candy purchases.

The only reason I ask is because I'm in a situation without any candy and I'm trying to decide what to consume the instant I can break free from this sugar free environment.

Girls=Chimps??

Many of you may have already read this, however, many of you may not have.

Have you ever had a hard time trying to understand women? I sure know
I have. Then the other day it hit me. The reason that I'm having a
hard time understanding women is that they may not have evolved as
much as men have.

My first inclination that my hypothesis might be true was somewhat
confirmed the other day while I was sitting in a meeting.
Just so we're on the same page as me, when I think of community
grooming, I think of chimpanzees or some sort of primate. If you
disagree, you can stop reading now and save both you and I time about
arguing are differences of what comes to mind when we think about
community grooming. Not that I think about community grooming very
often, but occasionally it gets brought to my attention.
So I was sitting there paying attention as much possible for a
mid-twenties aged male with some degree of ADD. Anyway, I was sitting
there and the girl sitting next to me, yes I was able to sit next to a
girl, starts pulling hair off of the person in front of them. She
pulled four or five strands of hair off the person in front of them
and then she proceeded to move lint off the their shirt. Not to
mention she was trying to do it without letting the "now groomed"
person finding out that she was grooming them. I said to her, why are
you doing that. She said, I don't know, it was bugging me that some
things were out of place. I told her that was stupid and she should
stop. She went to groom another person in front her. I promptly
stopped her and challenged her to let it be and see if she could just
ignore the fact that another girl had shed a piece of hair from her
head and it was sitting on her shoulder. She couldn't it, it drove
her crazy that she was not able to groom another person.
Back to my original train of thought, girls have a tendency to act
like chimps and groom other people.
Another link is you might have also noticed if you have ever been
exposed to chimps at all. To explain this next thought I used to go
to this park that had some chimps in a good sized animal friendly
environment. Anyway, the chimps would play and have a good time, and
them BAM!!, one chimp would take something too far and the chimps were
in a fight. They would scream at each other and try to scratch each
other. They would fight for about a minute or two and then they would
each retreat to a different monkey and started making chimp noises
while pointing at the other chimp with whom they were fighting with.
I don't know exactly how long the fights would last, but when I would
go to the park four or five days later the same two chimps would be
playing again as if nothing had happened before.
When I noticed the correlation of the fight, friend, fight, friend
relationship I couldn't help but think that most of the girls I've
known in my life have, on a few different occasions if not several
different occasions, have acted the same way. I don’t know if it was
just a coincidence or if there may actually be a pattern, but in a few
different areas, girls and chimps seem to have a some common ground.
Not that I think that girls and chimps should start hanging out or
getting to know each other better, just simply pointing out the fact.
Besides, guys really like girls and guys, in most cases think that
chimps are really cool.

Ode to sweats

Don't expect a poem or anything, but I would like to take a minute to show my appreciation for sweats and how great they really are.

You know that feeling when you get up in the morning and you just don't want to have to do anything at all but you know that society frowns on the absence of clothing? I sure do. The only thing that gets me through times like those is a nice pare of sweat pants. These are the best kind of pants because in when it's cold they comfort you, they don't restrict, or try to hold you back in any way. Sweats just let you be you.

They're not a respecter of persons whether male or female, big or small, athletic or lounger, they embrace every person willing to held by a soft, slightly cusioned peice of fabric. If you think about it the ancient Greeks probably would have worn sweats instead of nothing if the climate would have allowed it.

There may be some nay sayers saying nay to the universalness of sweats. Saying that if you want to "look sooo good" that you can't being wearing sweats. I would combat that by saying that a girl who is confident enough to be seen in sweats and still flirt with guys as though she were all spiffed out gives her bonus points. I would dare say that there may be room to expand the market for sweats and introduce a line of formal were. Meaning that you could by a pair of sweat pants that you could put a crease in. A pull over top with a collar that has buttons down the front that are for looks only and a tie that is just screen printed on. Of course in the places the tie cover there would be no buttons. To top it all off a pair of slippers that could pass for dress shoes, but be so comfortable that you wouldn't ever want to take them off.

If this new line of clothing was developed you might see more people walking or jogging to and from work. When people got home from work they wouldn't need to change immediately they could just start unwinding. Thus a little more relaxation quicker. More relaxation faster than before and people jogging or walking to work just makes for an all around better american society.

So let us not feel pressured to dress up all the time. Let us look at what could be instead of what is. Wear sweats more often than before and increase your overall quality of life. Share the phenomenon that is sweats.

Hunt for the Jade Monkey

What is a jade monkey? Does anybody really know. Is it an item of value or is it as simple as an old man making the monkey figurine out of jade. Mr. Burns has led me to believe that there is more to the jade monkey than meets they eye. Because if Mr. Burns is after a jade monkey then it almost has to possess some sort of harnessable power.

"You must find the Jade Monkey before the next full moon" - Mr Burns

What is so important about that monkey that it needs to be found in a months time?

What do you think? Does a jade monkey have ways of empowering a person? Or could it simply just be that a jade monkey could make ones collection complete?

I personally would like to get to the bottom of this whole jade monkey business. If the monkey is capable of helping me with school? If so I would like to know. Could he make it so that at work I can do less work and make more money? If so I would like to know. If this jade monkey is all that he could be cracked up to be it just might be worth spending some time and effort at least looking into this whole jade monkey business.

Let me know what you think. Look at this picture, it might help you form your opinions of what a jade monkey might be capable of. Sorry that the picture is so small but it's all I could find in a limited amount of time.