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« June 2004 | SammyD's Rants July 2004 Archives | August 2004 »


July 31, 2004

Although the night started kinda slow, at least for me, once fall out boy took the stage the fun began. There were many crowd surfers and ocassionaly a mosh pit broke out (one time leading to a young lass geting knocked out) but it was really cool. The crowd knew and loved the songs and I don't think it'll be to long before we see them all over the place. They've got a CD coming out on Island records later this year so it should be good.

There with me were Brandon, Val, and Jen. Even though i invited all the other cribbers, apprently no one else trusts my taste in music (even though I've seen a few shows they suggested and they were just boring or annoying as all hell).

After the show I took Jen for a little drive in my new car on the interstate and then took her to her car...she almost ran out of gas when she left...so she was headed straight for the gas station.

Earlier in the day I had a fun little experience. I was shredding paper in my basement when my paper shredder got full..so I emptied it into a bag and took it outside to my garbage bin. When I got back to my front door, i realized...i don't have keys on me...heck i didn't have pants on... So there i was in boxers and a tie-dyed shirt locked out of my house. So i figured I'd give brandon a call, since he's got a spare key. I went over to my neighbor's and he let me use the phone and a phone book so that I could call brandon. I called and left a message...and then i started to wait. The bell tower down the street rang noon...and then one. I tried to do some work outside, but it wasn't much good considering that all my tools are locked in the garage and I didn't have shoes on (to walk on the rocks to pull weeds). A little after one i went back over to my neighbors and ask to use thier computer and I then looked up brandon's cell phone number. I got a hold of him and a little while later Val came over and let me in my house. It was a long and boring time. It was a good thing that it wasn't too hot out or it would've been a long boring, very uncomfortable time. I'm glad i didn't have to pay a locksmith to get back into my house or break a window or something like that. Hopefully I learn my lesson. It was kinda telling later too...cause when Jen came over and we were about to head to the show, I almost for got the tickets. AND when we got to the show I left the tickets in my car. Maybe I'm just losing my mind...oh well...

Posted by SammyD at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)



I also got a nice hand written letter from Shannon, catching me up with what's going on in her life...and that's pretty cool...I would like to say that i'd write her back in the same fashion, but my hand writing is terrible and it's like punishing people to make them read it...heck it's like punishing myself to make myself read it.

Posted by SammyD at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)



So I took my car to Acura to try to get rid of this strange whistling/humming sound that happens around 70 mph or so...I drove around with the service manager for awhile and was not able to get it to make the sound.

They did tighten the hood and increase the posts that the hood rests on so it should, in theory, be more firm...but who knows? Hopefully that fixes it.

I then picked up my friend Seth, since his wife had to work late and they commute to Des Moines together. We went to a guitar shop, where I saw a double acustic guitar...a 12 string and a six string all on the same body...it looked pretty cool. We came back here and hung out for awhile. Bri arrived and We then were going to walk down the street a ways and while we were coming out of my house, Dave drove by, so i called him up and we all ended up going down to Chef's Corner Kitchen for dinner. It was yummy.

After that dave took off home, seth and bri headed back up to ames and I retrieved my voicemail from Brandon. I called dave and invited him along to go to "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" which turned out to be a silly, but funny flick. I laughed quite a few times.

Tonight I filled up my gas tank for the first time in my new car. Now it starts sucking money out of my pocket....

So tomarrow I should finish cleaning (with enough time to play a little backgammon, I hope) and then head over to the House of Bricks and see Fall Out Boy perform. I know that a few people are coming to that show and I expect it to be really cool. The show starts a bit early (5:PM), but it is an all ages show, so what can you expect.

Then sunday, my oldest sister Cara and her family (hubby and 4 kids) will be coming through Des Moines on their way west back to Seattle. So they'll get to see the house for the first time. They'll also be bringing my youngest brother Isaac and he'll be spending the time here through Thursday morning. I'm pretty excited. It's nice to know that someone actually wants to come and hang out with me.

So it's a 5 day weekend! Woo! I dunno what we're gonna do with the time...but it'll probably be fun :)

Posted by SammyD at 12:13 AM | Comments (0)



July 28, 2004

So I put my car in...MY GARAGE! I was amazed...but it actually fit...it's kinda a tight fit and it's not easy (but not hard either) to get out on the driver side, but it does fit...

So this is good news I guess...now I just have to see if I can get a garage door that will work with that garage....that'll be a trick.

Not that the big glass paine on the side of the garage really protects it from anything...but it's nice to know that it fits.

Posted by SammyD at 7:36 PM | Comments (0)



July 27, 2004

So last night my big blue alienware system was being all instable so I'm like...lets update a few thigns and see how it feels

Try to update the bios...and FAIL!...so now all my current email (didn't get a change to back it up) is sitting on there.

Initially I thought it was the video card (since Josh suggested that the beeping could be that...but after putting in a new video card that I picked up today...no such luck...

Got home...installed it...got sliced by the computer case (on my elbow). then the computer wouldn't even turn on anymore...so I'm like screw it I have to mow the lawn.

It actually seemed to go pretty Fast...Dave stopped by and checked out the new car when I was almost done and I got a complement by my friendly neighbor lady.

So now it's now...and I'm gonna get an electrition or somebody in here to check out the voltage levels or something cause this how has just eaten way to much in the way of hardware...maybe it's just timing...but still...this seems like a load of crap.

On a good note, My oldest sister Cara is coming sometime on Sunday and with her she'll be bringing my youngest brother Isaac. Isaac will be haning out until thursday morning when my dad and him will be taking off to...utah? I think...to help out my youngest sister Lovina with her new baby (yet to be born I believe). Fall Out Boy is Saturday..and I'll be taking Monday, Tuesday, and Wednsday off!

WOO!

Although before then I gotta finish my import scripts for work...and that's no fun at all...I hate data transformation.

Posted by SammyD at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)



July 25, 2004

The sunset slowly glides through the windows, giving the of white shades a slight glow about them. A large candle burns, glowing red through the wax. Shadows of objects ofset the stubby candle. The lights from the eletronic equipment bathe the room in a slight glow. The only other light in the room comes from a small laptop, displaying the world without wires.

Feelings of lonliness abound....overshadowed by the need to empty and the ocassional buzz of the dryer cleaning the sheets for just me...and no one else.

The box distracts, if only for a little while, of the life that I have. Ocassionaly I get up to look out the window at my big shiney blue sleek piece of modern happiness.

Posted by SammyD at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)



Initially I was gonna avoid a few people and surprise them on monday with my new car...but it didn't turn out that way.



here are the pictures of my 2004 Acura RSX type S:






Posted by SammyD at 4:36 AM | Comments (0)



So Friday night (since it's early in the morning), Josh, Adam and I headed downtown to see 515 Alive. What it basically was, is a bunch of stages all over the court ave area with techno music (of various types) blasting all over the place.

It was fun...we wandered around for a while, got hungry, ate at Buzzard Billys and wondered some more.

Eventually we headed over to the main stage and were eventually joined by Jen, Mikey and some other people I don't know.

After a bit of waiting, DJ Swamp took the stage...

It was fairly amazing. I had my doubts, but I'm glad I went. I also was able to snatch a record tossed into the crowd...I only had to fight a little for it ;) Adam Got a captain morgan t-shirt.

At the end, he would light his hands on fire and then spit kerosene (I think) out of his mouth and create big fireballs. He also lit a couple of records on fire and scratched them (until they melted, I suppose).

So after that I took Adam and Josh home and headed over to the Crib. I was greeted by Mikey, Jen and another person, who were well on their way to getting sauced...I waited around for a little while and, since I didn't want to join in the festivities, I headed home.

After I left I felt a little depressed and decided to do some computer work (mostly for my next post)...and this led to me upgrading the firmware on my router...which failed...

So then I had to hook MY computer straight up to the internet, download the firmware again and the flashing tool and then re-flash it...

After much effort and annoyance...I'm back connected to the internet....so that's why I'm up so late...oh..and the fact that I'm still a little wired on the iced double shot mocha that I had early in the evening...I guess that's one bad thing of not being as much of a caffiene addict as I was...

Posted by SammyD at 4:34 AM | Comments (0)



July 22, 2004

So I've been test driving cars over the last few days. I drove the Honda Civic Si, Acura RSX, Mazda 3, 6 and RX-8. It's been a lot of fun driving around....

And I think I made a decision...so tomarrow I'm gonna go in and talk about it and see what deal they can get me.

I'm freakin excited.

Posted by SammyD at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)



So here are the pictures

Me, Spencer and Dayln plaing Crazy Taxi

Walking down to Snookies for treats.

Snookies

Playing Bocci in my backyard.

Posted by SammyD at 5:45 PM | Comments (0)



July 21, 2004

So I walked out...with thunder and lightning visible all the way, but I though it could make it there and back again...but I was mistaken. In front of the excersize place, about a ten minute walk from home, it started raining.

It slowed down when I got close to home. I tried to go in the side door to the kitchen (to avoid the wood floors)...but I couldn't get the door to unlock...

So I went around back and climbed up on the deck and went in the back door...

Luckily my iPod is still working...cause that would be terrible.

Also...I've been cycling out the current set of socks that I have...slowly throwing them away...then I will replace them with a few packs of new socks. No more almost worn out socks!

Posted by SammyD at 9:27 AM | Comments (0)



July 20, 2004

Here is what I meant, but I don't think it came out very well.

1. For someone to change a habit (or lack there of) they need to make a conscious effort to do it themselves.

2. Providing someone positive (good job) or negative (nagging) renforcement may help someone who has a desire to change, but if they have no desire to change it will not help them.

3. In my experience, negative renforcement (nagging) for a habit that I have had no desire to change may have paused my activity, but only while that person was there, it didn't actually change the habit.

4. All of the bad habits I have changed came about because I wanted to do it. My friends, siblings, parents, and etc had little effect on my habits (I only hid the bad habit from them). Except, when you hang out with people that still have that habit you are trying to break, it does make it harder.

For example, when I quit smoking I also quit going to places where I would smoke in and avoided people that I smoked with and avoided situations that I would smoke more (normally).

5. I listened to a lot of complaining/nagging from my parents/family/friends, but I ignored it.

However, this is just what I think and my experience. The habits discussed were not things like Smoking or ingestion of soda or etc. Changing things that are more core to you takes a bit more from the person. My friends don't keep close track of their finances because they don't have to, but in college, I got burned and had a check bounce because I didn't realize that a check (from a month or two before) hadn't cleared. I made a decision to keep close track of my finances after that...but again it was me responding to it and decided to do it myself.

It was always an internal desire for change, not the external influences (hacking, bad teeth, yearly bronchitis, or parental nagging). Some of these played into my decision, yes, but not to any major extent.

I'm not saying it won't work or will work. I can just share my experiences.

Posted by SammyD at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)



Dateless Losers, by Reel Big Fish

We are all on our own with no one by our side
You are so lucky, beautiful and bright
All the cool kids go steady they're making out at 12-
we sit in our rooms alone
by ourselves it's Friday- no phone call, nobody asked us out

We are the dateless losers- lonely until we die!
So unappreciated, why, why, why, why

We're not so bad you know, but you won't give us a chance
Take us to the movies, to dinner, or to dance
Not perfect, not too hip- but we need lovin' too

We are the dateless losers- lonely until we die!
So unappreciated why, why, why, why

Posted by SammyD at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)



So I went down to Raccoon River to play pool like I normally do. I was expecting some company...or at least one person's company, but alas I was alone again. Not that it's a bad thing, cause I was playing so bad that it was good that there were no witnesses.

So after a while of goofing off after I got home I decided it was time to catch up on my paper work...of sorts. and fill out stuff...since I'll be going single now.

So I filled out my RSVP to go to my former co-worker Jared's wedding here in the Metro...in September

And then I filled out the little form and wrote out a check for $35 to go to my 10 year High School reunion...Not that I particularly care...but I'll be in town anyways for another Wedding recpetion (Wade's)...at least in theory.

Now I need to find out when Clif's wedding is...and I think I'm done for a while...

It does feel a bit wiedr that it was just over 10 years ago that I graduated from High School. I don't feel that old...well sometimes I don't feel that old. I know I'm not at the point that I thought I would be...well...I honestly don't remember...cause it's not like I had a 10 year plan...All I was really thinking about back then was the summer and going off to Iowa State in the fall. I've never really made long term plans anywhere...long term for me is what I'm doing next week...or maybe the week after...I rarely plan far in advance.

I suppose it's a good thing that my work is so flexable so that when I want to take some time off I can.

I now have a big stack of paper on my floor that I need to shred...but my desk looks cleaner :)

Posted by SammyD at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)



July 18, 2004

So my brother and his wife and kids showed up around 1:PM. Showed 'em the house, played some video games, fed 'em, took 'em down to snookies (ice cream shop) and then came back and played a few rounds of Bocci and off they went. It was kinda fun to play Bocci with Hyrum and Spencer and Dalyn.

Minutes after they left, I grabbed Apples to Apples and headed off with Josh and Cortie to the Crib and from there headed out into the country south of town and went to Norm and Norma's. They had quite the spread and it's really to bad that I wasn't hugry at all cause I had lunch so late. It was fun to spend time with all of them and later when we started playing apples to apples it was very entertaining. I got home aroun midnight and went to bed.

On the way home I did make a little inappropriate comment...and well..Sorry Courtie.

Posted by SammyD at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)



July 17, 2004

After a long day of doing lots of work and meetings. I headed over to josh's to hang out before we went bowling.

So we watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force and I had seen a few episodes before...but I just couldn't stop laughing. We also saw Equilibrium which was kinda a mix of the stories behind Farenheight 451 and 1984...it was pretty good...at least in the theory behind it.

Adam and Courney shouwed up and we headed over to bowling. Now...I haven't been bowling in ages and well...I really suck at it. But it was fun.

Posted by SammyD at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)



July 16, 2004

Not that I am surprised in the slightest...at least as it relates to me. Apprently I will never be that guy.

All I can do is support my friend in what she decides to do and be there for her.

Posted by SammyD at 9:11 AM | Comments (0)



July 15, 2004

So last night I met up with Jen, Dusty, Josh, Ryan, MikeyG, and Adam to celebrate Adam's 21st birthday. I remember turning 21 and I had a good time... Adam is 7 years and 7 days younger then I am. We started at The Hideaway, where Josh's mom works, played a few games of pool.

After that, since one or two of us are under 21, we headed back to the crib. I took Adam out to the hyvee (since they had not originally planned on going to the Crib, and didn't have anything there).

We got back and Jerry and Renee showed up. Jerry, Renee and I took adam down to Sully's and got him pretty good. About an hour later, e got back to the crib and nobody was there....or so we thought. I guess Ryan had gone to bed, Mikey went to work earlier, Jen Dusty and Josh had all fallen asleep. Oh well...for much as I heard people wanting to imbibe...there certainly wasn't a lot of it.

So there was a comment made early in the that I don't think is true, but really kinda hurt. But it shouldn't, I guess...I don't know. I'd like confirmation, but I don't think I'll get it. Oh well.

Later in the night, when we found everyone sleeping at home, certain comments were made and I couldn't believe that they were. Even if it was true, which I'm certain it is not, it's no diffrent they want to live their life or currently living thier life. It seems wierd to me that people can talk so causually about that without knowing. I know I don't know the entire story, and I'm a new member of the Cirbbers group, but even so. And I'm not sure, but I think I've heard it before too. Maybe they are just kidding...maybe not...but either way it's not something that I think people should talk about in that way.

I got home around 12:45 and waking up this moring was really hard...but oh well...Adam had a good time, I think, and that's what matters.

Posted by SammyD at 9:29 AM | Comments (0)



July 14, 2004

I've been listening a lot to Fall Out Boy and a lot of the lyrics that they have speak to me. One of my favorite songs right now is Grand Theft Autumn (Where is your Boy):

Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.

When I wake up, I'm willing to take my chances on the hope I forget
that you hate him more than you notice I wrote this for you.

You need him. I could be him...
I could be an accident but I'm still trying.
That's more than I can say for him.

Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.

Someday I'll appreciate in value, get off my ass and call you...but for the meantime I'll sport my
brand new fashion of waking up with pants on at 4:00 in the afternoon.

You need him. I could be him...
I could be an accident but I'm still trying.
That's more than I can say for him.

1-2-3-4!

Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.

(won't find out) he won't find out
(won't find out) he won't find out

Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.

Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman. (he won't find out)
Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.

Posted by SammyD at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)



So one of my friends was upset by one of her friends. And as it goes with anyone that you are close with, when they are sad, you can't help but feeling sad for them too. Not that you can change the situation, but the mere fact that they are sad upsets you.

I don't know what happened, but I hope I can be as helpful as I can when it comes to making her happy again.

Posted by SammyD at 9:24 AM | Comments (0)



July 12, 2004

So this past friday I had a little get together with a few friends. It was fun. A bunch of diffrent people showed up and I think at the top I had maybe 15 people there. I think the party was a success and we played Apples to Apples til 3:00 in the morning or so. Then everybody went home and I crashed.

Saturday I pretty much layed aroudn and did nothing. I didn't even shower until like 8:PM...and I didn't start cleaning up after the party until 9:30. I also spent a while talking to shannon on the phone :)

Sunday...sunday was a backup stuff and rebuild my computer day. I reformatted my Alienware computer and reinstalled quite a few things...and I'm almost done with it.

I also got an email from my older brother saying that he wants to come down this weekend (which is cool). I talked to my parents and they told me that my youngest sister Lovina should be giving birth sometime this month or early next month. Woo...another child I get to spoil without having to deal with the consequences :)

So it was kinda funny...apprently a construction crew cut the power over by where Jen works so they've been on backup power and now have to shut down. It reminds me of when some Qwest sub-contractors cut through 100 pair of copper and basically cut the phone/data wires for a large chunk of downtown Ames. This was when they were running a OC-196 to our office from the Qwest central office a few blocks away.

Posted by SammyD at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)



July 10, 2004

So here's the pictures from camping...


Here's me awake before everyone else. Our campsites.



Jen's civic, Dusty's Dad's Truck and my accord



Here's the pavillion that was down by the lake. Nice for playing scrabble and cards and etc.





So this area is a beach...when the water isn't so low...so you have the
safety area out there so that people don't get hurt...



You also have the changing areas that are...well...flooded...which is kinda
gross cause there are bathrooms there and people were swimming
near it.




so the road ends in water...but the sign doesn't face the road...so nobody
can tell...I kept waiting for someone to drive into the lake...but
it didn't happen.



The most advanced of facilities was availble to us...of course there is
a full modern bathroom up the campground a bit.



Here's more signs that had lost there place because of the high water.



Obviously the out doors are not the cleanest place




So there's dusty to greet the day of the birth of our nation.



Jen joins us (she had been up earlier).



Jen and Renee work on putting braids into Dustys hair...





Dusty makes sure it looks good.



And the tossing of the little blue footbal begins




Celebrating our nation by taking it easy.



I thought these clouds looked very cool...although I don't think the picture
did them justice.



So on monday morning I went out to take a picture of this farmsted near
the entrace to the campground.



I just thought it looked cool...life growing out of the decaying leftovers
of our past.








Iowa corn behind the weeds.



The road is closed because...well...it ends in water...



So here's where the spillway for the dam is. Apprently in the floods of
1993 a lot of fossils were uncovered by all the water pouring over
it...The site said that there was a lot of water (it had a number,
I just can't remember) that passed over the spillway.










Jen poses near the fossils.



Here's the other side of the dam...where water and sludge pool.



Josh inspect the fence for flaws.



So every so often one of these flowers pokes up from the weeds around the
fence.



And after that both my camera's memory cards were full.

Posted by SammyD at 3:47 PM | Comments (0)



So I talked to my friend Shannon for the first time in quite awhile today. I was glad to hear her voice again (even though she was just waking up). We did a short run down of what's been happening for the last while and it was good...however I guess I'm not past the whole funeral thing a week ago....cause well...I pretty much broke down.

I really miss having Shannon around, cause we know each other well enough where the kidding is and where the seriousness is.

I know that I have trouble opening up to people and there are only a few people that I feel that I can do that with, and she's one of them. Most of the time I know I don't let out a lot of emotion...for whatever reason, but I feel that it's ok around her.

I'm glad she got through that rough patch of her life and is back on the path to being the successful woman that she deserves to be.

Posted by SammyD at 3:44 PM | Comments (0)



July 9, 2004

So today in 2001 I started working for Iowa Health System and in that time we've brought in almost every site related to IHS (I think around 50 or so) except for about 3 (one comes in today and another comes in next friday).

I know I don't talk about work much here, cause...well I don't want to complain about it. Or say some of the silly things that we do or don't do. I have really enjoyed working for IHS, even though I know that it has played hell on some of my current and former co-workers. I think that a lot of the stuff that goes around that people don't like, I get protected from because of my boss. So it makes quite a bit of diffrence.

I also feel apprciated here, which is important. My opinion matters, I'm well comepensated for what I do, and I feel trusted. I'm glad that I came here.

Posted by SammyD at 9:18 AM | Comments (0)



July 7, 2004

So I went down to Centro with Jen for my birthday dinner.

Now I've eaten there a few times...their pizza is good (coal fire brick oven) and I've had a business lunch there a time or two.

But not like this. The bill was hefty and it was worth every damn penny.

I had this butterflied pork chop in a rosemary sauce. The prok was from a small farm here in Iowa and it was fresh and you could taste it. I also had this bleu cheese salad and the bleu chease was to die for. Jen had a steak and just by the look on her face you could tell that it was good. I also had asparagus that was good (shocked me...almost every other time I've had aspargus I've disliked it) and these creamy mashed potatoes that were heavenly.

On top of that we had desert. I had the carrot cake (quite certain the best carrot cake I've had) and jen had the Godiva chocolate cake (she let me try it) and let me tell you...mmmm! Damn! that's all I got to say about that.

I was a great end to a good day I'm glad I went, I'm glad I had good company.

I also got to talk to Nathan when I got home and that was cool too :)

What a good day.

Maybe being 28 isn't so bad :)

Posted by SammyD at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)



(card selected and narrated by Spencer) - Sam how old are you? are you eight, are you nine, are you eleven, how old, I do not know how you are can I come to your birthday or not?

I love you - That's all; probably he is fifty-ten.
(hyrum says - enjoy the day. Happy Birthday)

Posted by SammyD at 4:55 PM | Comments (0)



July 6, 2004

so in about two hours I'll be 28 years old. Now to my friends and family who are older, they might not get this...or they might...but I'm feeling old...and unaccomplished.

I have a good job, I have a beautiful home, things are generally going good. I am happy with the way most things are...but there is still one big gaping hole in my life.

I see how happy my brother and sisters are, and how happy some of the couples I know are and I wonder why can't I be this way? I know a lot of sarrows can come from life, but there is a lot of happiness too that offsets it.

I want some things, but I'm afraid that if I ask for them then I'll ruin a friendship...or damage it...and I don't want to do that either.

I really like the group of friends that I have and I'm glad of the twists and turns that my life has taken. And other then one big gaping hole in my life, I am generally happy with my life.

This past weekend, even though I did have fun, and I tried to keep a positive attitude...a few times I almost broke down because of all the emotions related to last week...It really didn't feel appropriate to bring it up during an enjoyable weekend either. I suppose, like all things, with time it'll grow distant.

At the end of the month, I'll be getting to see Fall Out Boy and I ordered tickets for myself and Jen today at work. Brandon warned me that he got an email from the venue warning them that the show is getting close to be sold out. They have got to be my favorite band right now. I've been listening to them almost every day (which I hardly ever do) and am just generally pumped about the whole thing.

I was gonna bake a cake for myself tonight, but after mowing the law, I didn't feel like driving all the way over to buy a cake pan, bowls and other cake things and then go to the store and get a mix and etc. Maybe I'll make one for the party that I'm throwing for myself on Friday. We'll see.

Normally, around this time, I'd be buying myself some extravagent birthday present, but I think I'm not gonna do that this year...I still have yet to see how much things will cost in relation to all of my house bills (I've still yet to see a water/sewer/garbage bill) and I think my big purchase will eventually be a car but I have to figure all the financial stuff out first. Now I'll not be getting the car I want but something more sensable.

I had a nice long conversation with Nathan last week. It was good to catch up with him. I should get my bum out there sometime this year or next and visit. I know they'll be out here twice this year (Wade's reception and Clif's wedding). And I really haven't taken a vacation in a long time...just short trips here and there (as my ever growing PTO bank shows).

Tomarrow I'll be going down to a resturant that I haven't been to in a while and It should be good. The company will be at least.

Oh well...life will continue to move forward...

1.5 hours till my birthday.

Posted by SammyD at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)



July 5, 2004

So I started packing up my things and got ready to go...

On my way over to the campsite, I jamed to the tunes on my iPod and raced along under the protection of my radar dectector.

Getting there sometime in the afternoon there were a fw people sitting at a pavillion playing cards and a few others tossing a football around.

It was a nice calm day...it rained lightly on and off but it wasn't a big deal at all. I participated in the ball throwing and played a couple of games of scrabble (I actually won one (zoo on a triple word score (thanks to adam)). Later a few of the cribber's friend Jojo showed up with a game called Apples to Apples. It was a fun game where you had a category or topic (like boring) and words or events that you try to explain that are related to the topic and the judge (for the round) decides who wins. So you would get some really odd combinations (like Exciting and MidWest (that was me)). It was just basically a goof off day.

I didn't eat lunch before I left...so by the time I got around to eating (10:PM) I was pretty hungry and made myself a couple of very plain ham sandwhiches. Now because I know I snore like a bear...or like Dave says a chainsaw, so I decided not to sleep outside persay and tried to sleep in my car. Well I tried sleeping in the backseat but after around an hour I had a leg cramp or two and decided that wouldn't work. So I got out of the car and got into the front passenger side seat and leaned it all the way back. After a while I was able to fall asleep...but I imigine I didn't sleep very well...cause I got up at 5:30 AM (with the sun).

I wondered around for a while and took pictures of a few things and finally remembered that if I wanted any semblance of warm water in the showers up the street, that'd I'd probably want to head up there. Unlike the previous trip, where the water seemed to have been directly drained from iceberg runoff, the water was actually very nice...and it did wake me up for the day.

Coming back from the shower I see Jen up and she was curious where I had slept the night before...so I explained it all...

Eventually people got up...and after a nice lesurely morning (Jen, Dusty, Josh and I went to brekfast thrown by the Ely fire department) we decided to go to the beach...after talking with the Park Ranger, we found out that both the beaches near our campground were really kinda closed and if we wanted to go to a beach, we'd have to go to the one near the dam. So we headed down there.

It was a fun time...I watched people, Dusty, Jerry, Dave, Josh, Jen (I finally got to see the suit that she had been talking about, and I thought it looked good on her) and eventually Renee tossed a football around in the water. I walked along the water and it was cold...although it probably would've been refreshing, I still didn't get in. I got a lot of sun (which normally is a bad thing for my pale self) but after a while we decided to head back to the campground and eat.

Later, at my prompting, we headed up to Cedar Rapids to visit the town of my birth and watch the fireworks. Now apprently a few things had changed since I last saw fireworks there. the Science Station has an IMAX theater, there's a whole walkway behind the science station and other buildings on the Cedar River. There's also a building and bank on what used to be this empty field. We walked down by the science center on the sidewalk by the river and staked our place to watch the fireworks. It was quite crowded and they no longer fire the show from the island (which we were right near) the fired them from a floating barge.

The display was really better then I rememebered and I think we all had fun. I was proud of my hometown.

Getting out of downtonw Cedar Rapids, however, was a big pain in the ass. We sat in stop and go traffic in a parking garage for a long time, when we finally got out, I took Jen, Dusty and Josh (dave, jerry and renee were in another car) on a tour of my homes in CR...pointing out one of the schools that I went too...and other landmarks (Nathan's parents house on C ave, which if I got the right house was boarded up) and my house on C ave. I took them to see the second house on Chestnut lane and where my parents live now. I stopped by and said hi to my parents, Joseph and Isaac (josephy was breaking the law and lighting off a bunch of fireworks).

We headed back down the the campground and called it a night. Since the quality of my previous nights sleep was so wonderful, I slept in the storage tent (well not really...it was Jen's tent that nobody was using) and used my new self-inflating mattress....eventaully I fell asleep. It was weird though...cause I guess there was a slight incline so the first try I kept sliding off my mattreess...and when I rotated the mattress so that I was 90 degrees to where I had been, I kept sliding down... Apprently I didn't disturb too many people...to much...but almost everyone heard me (I think Jerry's the only one that slept right through it).

I again woke up at 5:30 AM so I took a shower (warm again) and decided that I'd go take pictures of this barn and silo near the entrance to the campground. I did...came back...and still had to wait for awhile before people woke up.

Most everyone decided to head home this morning. Jen, Josh and I headed over to this rubble from the spillway by the dam. In the floods of 1993, millions of gallons of water went over the spillway and unearthed and deposited a bunch of stones and etc that had fossils in them. We looked at them and around noon:30 we headed back towards des moines.

Me...I had trouble staying away...and I think I actually fell asleep a few times (while driving) for very short periods of time. about half and hour outside of Des Moines, I threw in the Fall Out Boy CD and I was fine for the rest of the drive.

So now I'm back home and after eating grilled out food all weekend, what do I do? I grill out again :) I also took a nice nap (which I needed).

All and all...it was a fun weekend. Spending time with friends was good. Although, before I go camping again I'm gonna have to take care of my little sleeping issue...it's not really fair to the people around me to sound like a chainsaw while they are asleep.

Posted by SammyD at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)



July 3, 2004

So I drove up north to Albert Lea and arrived at my older brother's house. I met Diane's brother, sister and their spouses and Diane's parents.

So after they finished preparing we headed over to the cemetery. The spot where the burial plot was had two big trees growing over it and it was near the bottom of a hill. It looks like a really peaceful place. My older brother set me up with his video camera and I taped the whole thing. I tried to keep the camera as steady as possible and after the funeral was over I tried to make a few establishing shots, getting people from diffrent angles.

The ceremony was good...until the end where they put the coffin in the ground...It was my understanding that they usually wait until everon goes before they do that...

I then had my dad show me where Grandpa was buried. It was close to the lake and near the back of the cemetery. My uncle Steve said that he was close enough that he could cast a line out if he wanted to. The stone was a really dignafied and looked very nice. It's no less then grandpa deserves. What I found so surprising was that it didn't seem so long ago...but apprently it it was 8 years ago.

We headed towards the chapel for a potluck and I got to sit down and eat with my family.

Then I spent the rest of the day playing with my nieces and nephews and cousins at Hyrum's and Grandma's home. It was a lot of fun. My older sister Emily and her husband Brent and their kids and Jed, Joseph, and Isaac, My uncle Rod and his two girls. I really enjoyed the afternoon and it took my mind of the whole thing.

We all ate dinner and gramma's (mmmm....grammma food) and around 9:30 I drove home.

Reliving all the emotions that form before was maybe good...maybe bad, but I'm glad I went to the funeral. Hyrum and Diane will probably be coming down here later this month (after diane recovers more) to see my house. And Isaac will probably be coming over sometime this summer to spend some time over here.

Now I gotta feel if i'm up to going camping or not...I think I am...but i don't think I'm gonna be particularly social. but it'll be nice to see everyone. It's also nice the amount of support that I have gotten from my friends about all of this.

Posted by SammyD at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)



July 1, 2004

So I'm sitting here doing laudnry...playing around with my wireless stuff, waiting for my friend to call (it's his birthday) and I get a call...thinking it's him I quickly answer...

But no...it's the neilson ratings...I'm gonna be a official tv watcher in a few weeks...So that'll be interesting, I suppose

I'm also not going camping yet...Jen has already probably taken off to the campsites and probably alreayd out there. I would've liked to be there, but things do happen...and family is important.

Recently I've felt quite a bit closer to my family then I have in years. Maybe it's because I feel like I don't have to hide parts of my life anymore...or maybe because I'm just in a better mood or something. I don't know. But I think it has been good.

It's really to bad that this all has to come about by the bad event of the week...but I think it was happening before too.

Posted by SammyD at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)



So last night We were all invited to Clicks to celebrate Chris turning 27....so now he's an old man like me...at least for a little less then a wekk.

It was a fun time...although due to the circumstances, I didn't have that much fun....

Today is my friend Nathan's Birthday...so for the next 6 days he's older then me...

It seems like a lot of people are clicking over another year in this segment of summer.

Later this month is Shannon's birthday too and my sister Emily's.

Posted by SammyD at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)



So They are finally going to send me a new bike...not the route I was hoping for...but a route none the less. So i faxed off my proof of purchase and They'll contact me about how this whole bike exchange thing is gonna work.

Hopefully the new one won't be such a piece of crap.

Posted by SammyD at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)



So 18 minutes at 32 seconds into my 30 minute excersize bike ride this morning ended with the crank assembly breaking again on my NordicTrack SL720.

So this is what...the 4th time that it's broken? I can't imigine how expensive it has to be to send out the repair guy 3 times...let alone four. I'm gonna call and try to get my money back from them...or from Sears where I bought it...and if not...I'm gonna keep making them come out and fix it until they fix it for god, take it back, or the warrenty runs out (I suspect the warrenty will run out first).

I just need to go buy some weights and do something like that...it's kinda hard for weights to break.

Oh well...I'll take my manual back to work and call them today and go back to my morning walks (which are generally more fun anyways).

Posted by SammyD at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)


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