Latest Events, What's Coming Up

Dear reader,

I have been busy with lots of things. New business, still working for others as a supplement to my income, continuing with my education, etc...

This past weekend Teresa and I went camping at one of Iowa's most-used parks, Viking Lake. A great weekend, except for three things.

One, never camp with an old tent. It will surely rain. And you will most certainly get up in the middle of the night and drive fifteen miles to find a hotel. And the power will definitely go out in the morning, leaving you wondering "who shot J.R.?". or something like that.

Two, never forget to put sunscreen on your body when heading out on a lake. The water is like a magnification mirror of the sun's rays and two hours quickly makes a lobster out of all of us, especially the whiter ones.

Three, never attempt to make coffee in the same vessel as the prior evening's trout. I needn't further address this issue.

I have pictures, but not many, and will post more later tonight.

For now, relaxing with some fresh made tacos and a movie, The Saint with Val Kilmer. Good? Dunno.

Working on another book, "What Would Google Do?" by Jeff Jarvis. Way cool.

Also thinking about wiping the entire blog and starting over. Any thoughts on that? What would you like to see? More specific content? More content in general? More pictures? Do tell.

Thank you, dear lone reader, for staying loyal. :-)

It's been awhile...and OCHO!

Since I have posted here last, and although it's not been a priority, it's not been forgotten.

The latest news on me is that I have left the jewelry industry to build my own business, in the building services industry. Sounds like fun, I know, but it has its upsides. First and foremost, the opportunity for financial success lies mostly in enterpreneurial endeavor. The rest is just cake.

If you've read this far, you should have the right to be first to know that Lance Armstrong has just confirmed in Vanity Fair!

I just saw him speak last week at the Boots, Business and Barbecue luncheon at Kemper Arena, and he said nothing about this. I guess he had to make his commitment to the editors at VF to allow them first rights of announcement. Fair enough.

Ocho!

And then there's Henry Rollins, who seems to agree with me that Senator McCain (Sleepy John) will be the next Pres.  Sure hope so.

Countdown to the show!

I'm on my way to Iowa for my first Foo Fighters concert since well, never! Serj Tankian from System Of A Down and a band from Texas called Against Me! will be opening up for them at Mid America Arena in CB, Iowa. Teresa and I will be driving up and meeting my good friend Bags for the show, then we'll hang out for a couple days visiting some of her family and doing a little trailrunning.

One trail we plan on hitting is the Lake Manawa Trail, which follows around well, you guessed it, Lake Manawa. Then we'll find somewhere longer to run and test out my new dual-bottle carrier.

Thanks for reading!

Vehicles VIN number

Just a little helpful info for all my internet friends:

 

 

VERY VERY IMPORTANT" 

Subject: Your vehicles VIN number 
 
 
Here is information worth the price of your car  ... WHAT WILL the car thieves THINK OF NEXT?   The car thieves peer through the wind shield of  your car or truck; write down the VIN # from the  label on the dash, go to the local car dealership  and request a duplicate key, based on the VIN #.   I didn't believe this e-mail, so I called Chrysler-Dodge and pretended I had lost my keys. They told me to just bring in the VIN # and they would cut me one on the spot, and that I could order the keyless device if I wanted to. 
 The Car Dealer's Parts Department will make a 
duplicate key from the VIN #, and collect payment 
from the thief who will return to your car.  He doesn't have to break in, do any damage to the vehicle, or draw attention to himself.  All he has to do is walk up to your car, insert the key and off he goes to a local Chop Shop with your vehicle. You don't believe it? It IS that easy. 
 To avoid this from happening to you, simply put some tape (electrical tape, duct tape or medical  tape)  
across the VIN Metal Label located on the dash board. 
By law, you cannot remove the VIN, but you CAN cover it so it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief. 
I urge you to forward this to your friends before some other car thief steals another car or truck.  I slipped a 3 x 5 card over my VIN NUMBER.  
 PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS . 

 

THERE"S NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS, MOVE ALONG

So the past few weeks have been pretty stale.  I’ve taken some much needed rest to let my body slip into an easy state of being.  I actually developed a blister a week after laying off the running!  Weird…

 

Been thinking about upcoming races I want to do this fall, and even though I haven’t been running much I think I could possibly do a little better than last year, given my rest period.  I just really haven’t felt like running, that’s all.  I know all the benefits of it for stress relief, and how it can get you through tougher times, but I’m just trying to decide if it’s good for me right now.  Sounds strange, I know.  But it’s what I’m thinking.  So maybe if the weather keeps its cool through the weekend I might go out for a short run on some trails, maybe out to Lawrence to check out the River trails, get a fresh feel for them.  

 

That’s all for now...

OZZFEST!

Oh, the joys of festival-type concerts! A friend of mine scored some free tickets for Ozzfest. First let me say this is not what I would have spent money on. A little too wild for my money at this point in my life, but a good time nonetheless!

We went out around midday, drank a few beers in the parking lot, and probably served some underage chick a beverage intended for adults. Oh well, that’s what her parents get for letting her go to the show by herself!

Once inside, we walked around for a bit, checking out the scene and then wandered over to our seats. We were in row 18, right at the middle of the stage!!! Son of hibachi, that was sweet! Snapped a few pics, some I can’t post here, and some video too.

Many of you may not know, but I play guitar. And I grew up listening to Ozzy Osbourne, courtesy of my older sister. For some reason, I loved it. I knew (at least my parents tried to teach us) that kind of music was bad. Oh well. I’ve always loved the guitar of Zakk Wylde, he just makes the unholiest sounds come out of that six-stringed contraption. So it was with great pleasure that he graced us with his presence for this tour. What a freakin’ show!

I’d never seen Ozzy before, and to actually get to see him with Zakk was cool. Almost made it worth the $9 beers and $8 everything else!

So here’s some pics, enjoy!

See yas around!

Are you gettin' fresh with me?

She points to the blueberry’s stem sticking out of the muffin and I say “at least you know it’s fresh!”.  I still have a bellybutton, does that mean I’m still a newborn?  She says no, but sometimes you act like a baby.  And I just walked away with what dignity I could.