Baby Shopping

No, I didn't go shopping for a baby. Today, Mel and I went shopping for some items for the new baby which should be here in less than six months! K's Merchandise in Cedar Rapids is closing, so we went there to check out what they had. One of the things we were looking for was a crib. They had some that we liked, but we decided to look a bit more before buying one. One thing that we did buy was a car seat with a stroller. It's one that comes with a base that stays in the car and we should be able to get an extra base for our other vehicle. We just need to snap the seat into it. We would have waited to get it, but they only had one left in stock and we really liked the one we saw there. I really want to get to painting and decorating the baby's room, but we haven't picked out any specific paint colors yet. We do have a few colors that we are choosing between though.

Alone for the Evening

Mel went out with some of the girls from work this evening. They are going to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then they are going to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders hockey game. I was planning on getting together with some friends later to play pool and darts, but those plans fell through as Captain Creative isn't feeling too well. So, I think I'll just stay home and watch TV tonight. I did get dinner from Hardee's a while ago and I have been watching Office Space. I think I may spend some time working on Mel's and my personal web site while having a few beers. I haven't updated the web site in quite a while, except for adding a guestbook a couple of months ago.

Why Young People Move From Iowa

A recent commercial in Jum Nussle's campaign for Iowa governor states that young people leave the state because of the high taxes in Iowa. I suppose that may be true for some people, but I think a lot of the young people who leave Iowa do so for other reasons.

1. Iowa is boring! I have lived other places, some more interesting than others, and I have to say that compared to some other places, there really isn't a whole lot to do in Iowa. Sure, Iowa's a great place to raise a family. If it wasn't, I think I'd want to leave the state, but this isn't a big concern for a lot of young people.
2. Many of these young people have lived in Iowa most of their lives. It's only natural that many of them would want to get away from the places they have spent their entire lives and experience more of the world.
3. Some of the places these young people move to may have lower taxes, but the cost of living there is not much less, in fact in some of the places, it higher. One of the places that the commercial shows as a destination for young people leaving the state is Minneapolis. That's not exactly an inexpensive place to live. And many people leave Iowa for Chicago. I'm sure the cost of living there is much cheaper. Sure.

Now I suppose that there may be somewhat of a lack of jobs in some areas because of the way Iowa structures its income taxes. Having federal income tax deductiblity on the taxes lowers taxable income but does have the effect of making the tax rate seem high. But in the past few years, the state has actively campaigned to get people to move back to Iowa, and some people do. If there were no jobs, would these people be coming back? While I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy, it wouldn't get be to move from Iowa.

Friday the Thirteenth

Well, today is Friday the thirteenth, but I had no bad luck in my day. Work wasn't too bad. I had plenty to work on throughout the day, and the tasks I had to work on provided enough variety to keep the day from becoming boring and monotonous. Nevertheless, I am glad that the weekend is finally here, and I don't think I have anything planned for the weekend, so I should be able to relax a bit. I will do some yard work and work around the house this weekend, but I don't think we are going anywhere this weekend. Having schedules to visit people out of town can make the weekend stressful, but there's none of that this weekend.

Emergency Response

Yesterday morning at work I spent about four hours being trained to become a member of my company's emergency response team. We received training in CPR, use of an AED, and some first aid. It had been a while since I had received CPR training; it was my senior year in high school. The CPR training did not just include training on CPR for adults, but also for children and infants. I was hoping for this. While I do want to help people at work who need it, I also want to be prepared for emergencies at home as well.

Snow!

When I left for work this morning I was a bit surprised to see snow on the ground. It was only a light dusting of snow on the grass, but it was snow nonetheless. To top it all off, there were light snow flurries while I was driving down the interstate to work. Now I really need to get the snowblower into the shop to get fixed!

Mr. Negative

I am someone who tends to worry a lot. I don't know why, but it seems like I am often looking at what can go wrong in a given situation. Take today for an example. My manager at work is in the office for a few days this week. He works in our Texas location, so I don't see him too often. He scheduled individual meetings with all of us who he manages while he's in town. While I know that everyone is meeting with him and that it's just a chance to see what's going on, I worry about the meeting. For some reason, I'm afraid of all of the things that could go wrong when meeting with my manager. Oh, I am certain that things will go just fine. When I had a manager who was in the same office as me, we had a biweekly half-hour meeting. Nevertheless, I can not wait for this meeting to be over with this afternoon.

Chet Culver and IPERS

Some people I know have a problem with Chet Culver's position regarding IPERS. He has previously made a suggestion for investing up to three percent of IPERS funds in new Iowa companies. His opponent and those supporting him have said that this is a risky endeavor, even pointing out in a commercial several new companies that have failed. The thing is that no policy needs to be changed in order to do this. Apparently, a portion of IPERS funds have been invested in venture capital for twenty years now. The only change is that Chet Culver would want to give more preference toward companies starting in Iowa instead of elsewhere. This could help Iowa's economy by helping to create new jobs here in Iowa. As someone who has money in IPERS, although I admit that I as I am no longer a public employee, I am no longer making contributions to IPERS, I don't think this is as dangerous as Jim Nussle and his supporters would have you believe.

Happy Columbus Day!

I hope everyone out there in the blogosphere had a happy Columbus Day, or Thanksgiving Day if you are Canadian. Oh, and for the Japanese, happy Health and Sports Day.

Star Trek DirecTV Commercial

I saw this commercial the other night and I found it amusing. I knew it was only a matter of days before I would find it on YouTube.

This Weekend

I had a pretty busy weekend. Yesterday, Mel and I went to Waterloo for the birthday party of the six-year-old son of a friend of hers. It was a nice party. We spent a couple hours at their house, watched her son open presents, and then had some cake.

In the evening, I got together with Captain Creative, the good captain's son, Homercles, Jason, and Scott, another friend of ours, to celebrate Captain Creative's birthday which was earlier in the week. We had dinner at the new Red Robin restaurant in town. They have pretty good burgers, and their selection is quite extensive. I had the Santa Fe burger which contains a Poblano pepper, guacamole, sautéed onions, crisp tortilla strips, and Ancho mayo on an onion bun.

After dinner all of us except for Homercles and Captain Creative's son headed off to Riverside to visit the new Riverside Casino. It was fun. I didn't gamble all that much money. The casino was really nice. The atmosphere was a lot better than at the Mesqwaki Casino in Tama. The space was a lot more open and it wasn't too smoky. There was a nice fountain on top of the bar area in the center of the casino. They also had a lounge act, which wasn't that great, but it was something to listen to. They had more table games than the Meskwaki casino but I didn't think the variety of slot machines was that great. Maybe that's because they only had four of the one slot machine I really enjoy, Wheel of Fortune. Also, I didn't see any that had progressive jackpots. There may have been some, but I didn't see them. I also had a hard time finding any nickle slot machines. I eventually found them. I did think that they had way too many penny slots.

When we left to head home, we stopped at the convenience store near between the casino and Highway 218. There I ran into some students I had taught when I was teaching at Highland Junior/Senior High School in Riverside. The cashier and another employee were students I taught my first year at Highland in 1999 when they were freshmen. There were a couple more students of mine getting cash from the ATM. They were seventh graders when I taught them my last year at Highland. Now they are seniors in high school. I thought that it was somewhat likely that I'd run into former students of mine when I was there. I'm just glad that none of them were the cocktail waitresses in the skimpy outfits at the casino. That may have been a bit awkward.

This morning, Mel and I went to the church that we have been attending the past several weeks. After the service, there we met with someone about becoming members. We got a tour of the building and got a lot of information about the church. It seems like a very nice place.

After eating lunch, Mel and I went to Iowa City and Coralville to shop for maternity clothes for Mel. Our shopping trip was successful.

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

This video I found on YouTube is hilarious! It combines footage from Star Trek with the
of "Knights of the Round Table" song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Check it out.

Thank Goodness Tomorrow Is Friday!

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. This has seemed like a very long week for some reason. I am so glad the weekend is almost here. Except for a few minutes before I fall asleep, I haven't seen Mel since Sunday. This has been the one in four weeks that she has to work until 11:30 P.M. Thankfully, she's going to work a little earlier tomorrow so she will be getting home from work before I go to bed. This weekend is pretty busy though. On Saturday we have the birthday party for the son of a friend of Mel's to go to. Then in the evening, I am getting together with some friends for Captain Creative's birthday celebration.

Just One Month to Go

I'm glad we have just over one month until Election Day on November 7. I am getting so sick of the political ads on TV. So few of them seem to be positive ads about a candidate. They are almost exclusively attack ads. And would someone please tell me why the ads against Bruce Braley use the word "liberal" as if it were a dirty word? And oh my goodness, Bruce Braley is a "peace candidate." The horror!

What Day Is It?

Ok, something must be wrong with my mind. When I got home from work today, I was sure that tomorrow was garbage day. Our garbage is picked up on Friday, not Thursday, so apparently I can't keep my days straight. This is the second week in a row when I thought the week should be over before it was. So, when I spoke with Mel on the phone tonight - she's at work - I said something about taking out the garbage. She then asked me why I took out the garbage tonight already since it's only Wednesday. Needless to say, I felt pretty ridiculous then. So, I quickly brought the garbage, recycling, and yard waste back from the curb, hoping that none of the neighbors had seen what their crazy neighbor had done.

More Stuff for eBay

In cleaning out the closet in our basement, I have found more things to sell on eBay. I haven't taken the time to get them ready yet, but I have quite a few Star Wars and Star Trek magazines that I am going to try to sell. From looking at completed auctions on eBay, it looks like they have a fair chance of selling. I also have quite a few old Star Trek calendars that also seem to be selling. I also have several comic books that I may try to sell. With all of this stuff, I may be pretty busy with eBay for the next few weeks.

Gas Prices

Gas prices in Cedar Rapids have finally dipped below $2 per gallon. On our drive home from work yesterday the price for a gallon of gas had dipped to $1.999. Now if the price would just keep falling, say to maybe around $1.50. Oh I know that's unlikely to happen, but it would be nice. If gas prices continue to fall, maybe I can stop car pooling to work as much. I do like the benefits of sharing a ride - I put fewer miles on my car, I spend less on gas, and I save gas - but I also like the freedom of being able to go in early or stay late if I need to. Also, I can then listen to what I want to on the radio without bothering others. I'm pretty sure I'll be continuing to car pool for a while though as it does save money. But sometimes, it's nice to drive alone.

A Funny SNL Sketch? You Tell Me.

The new season of Saturday Night Live debuted on Saturday night. Now I, as well as many others, am of the opinion that Saturday Night Live just hasn't been that funny in recent years. However, I did find this one sketch poking fun of the TSA to be funny. I was actually laughing out loud. Now I should have turned off the TV after that, because the rest of the show pretty much sucked. Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone else actually thinks this is funny.

Trip to Waterloo

Mel and I visited my mother last night in Waterloo. We drove up there because my mother had a few things she needed done in the house that she could not do on her own and I'm guessing that she's tired of having her brother-in-law come over whenever there is something that needs to be done. Basically, I just had to help her move a couple of dressers upstairs and remove a birds nest that was on the outside her condo. We had a nice visit and had a good dinner at Beck's in Waterloo.

Being in Waterloo for the evening made me think of some of the things that I like better about the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area better than about Cedar Rapids. Now when my family moved to Waterloo at the beginning of my senior year of high school, there was absolutely nothing positive that I could see in my new hometown, but having lived there for nearly two years recently, I discovered that the Cedar Valley has a lot to offer. One thing I miss is the restaurants. Oh sure, there are plenty of places to eat here in Cedar Rapids, but I miss a lot of the locally owned restaurants in Waterloo and Cedar Falls. I'm sure there are some really good locally owned restaurants here, but I just haven't found them yet. Also, the bike trail system in the Cedar Valley is fantastic. The trails in Cedar Rapids are adequate, but kind of boring. There just aren't that many paved trails here. Of course, there are things I like better about Cedar Rapids as well, but a lot of that is based on childhood memories from when I grew up here. Maybe we should just move someplace completely different. Las Vegas comes to mind.

(Just kidding Mel and Anna. I don't plan on moving anywhere anytime soon.)

Being a Nosy Neighbor

I just got back home from checking out my neighbor's house. A for-sale sign went up in their yard of a house across the street from us a few weeks ago, just days after one went up at the house next door to ours. The next door neighbor's house sold within the wekend, but the house across the street is still for sale. I decided to check out the open house to see what their house is like. It is priced significantly higher than what our house is valued at and what the next-door neighbor's house sold for. I have to say that the house is beautifully decorated. The Realtor, who recognized me as a neighbor, told me that the owner finished painting the day the house went on the market. Apparently, they are wanting to move because they are expecting a second child and would like to move to a neighborhood with more young children. I told the Realtor that we too were expecting a child, so there would be some more children in the neighborhood soon enough.

I spoke with the Realtor for a little while, while I was there, she told me about my next-door neighbor and her selling her house. The Realtor told me that the lady is crazy! She allegedly threatened her husband with a gun. I had heard this from another neighbor, so I'd believe it. She told me that the reason that house sold so fast was that someone in the neighborhood bought it for a child of theirs and his or her spouse. She thinks that the couple may be expecting a child as well. If this is true, it would be great because our child would have someone in the neighborhood about his or her age to play with. And if the neighbor across the street ends up staying, there will be yet another child our child's age.

Got My License

... to teach, that is. Now that I am no longer teaching, I no longer really need a teaching license. However, as I work in test development, my employer likes to be able to say that they have licensed teachers in the position that I am in, and as they will reimburse me the $85 fee for renewing it, I might as well keep it current. Now I am licensed to teach in the state of Iowa through October 2011! Besides, if I ever return to teaching, and I don't mean to imply that I am thinking about it, it would be nice to have a valid teaching license.

Cleaning Out the Closet

This morning I have set myself to the task of cleaning out the closet on our basement. Since we have moved into our house in April of last year, there have been several boxes of junk in the closet in our basement. Now that we are finding the need to make one of our spare bedrooms upstairs into a nursery, we need to find places to put some of the things there, so the junk in the basement closet has to go. Now I just have to find a place to store all of the spare cables and phone cords that I removed from the boxes.

An Eclectic Mix

An interesting mix of music came up on my iPod this morning. The first song was Belle from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. That was followed by the 1992-dance tune Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap! The music then changed into Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire. It was then that my iPod made a complete 180 by following the Bach cantata with Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up. I don't know how that song could have been any more different from the one before it, unless of course something from the 2 Live Crew followed it.

Change at Work

Ok, it's really not anything too interesting, but I had my cubicle at work reconfigured today. Whoopee! Now instead of facing the corner away from the entrance to my cubicle, I am not facing the corner next to the entrance. Now I can see people as they approach. This is especially helpful when someone comes to talk to me when I am listening to my iPod. Now I know they are trying to talk to me, so I can turn it off. I like my cubicle's new arrangement, but it will take a little getting used to. Everything is backwards from how it was before.

My Birthday

It's not my birthday yet, that comes later next month, but I really do not like the time that leads up to my birthday. One thing I find annoying is that people tell me I shouldn't be buying anything as my birthday approaches. Then to make matters worse, after my birthday, it's just a couple months until Christmas, so I am still not supposed to buy anything. I wanted to buy the new Weird Al Yankovic CD that came out yesterday. I suppose I can wait until after my birthday. If I don't get it then, I may buy it before Christmas. I have plenty of other things people can get me as Christmas gifts after all.

Off the Wagon

Well, I didn't stay committed to my diet for very long. Last week I didn't really keep track of what I ate, except on Monday. It wasn't too bad though. I only gained four-tenths of a pound. I am going to try better this week.

Determining the Baby's Sex

Yesterday, just for fun, Mel looked at a chart online that is supposed to predict our baby's sex based on her age and the month of conception. Apparently, the chart comes from a tomb in China where is was buried for 700 years and is supposed to be 93 percent accurate. I think the rate of accuracy is probably a bit closer to 50 percent though. Anyway, according to the chart, we are going to be having a girl. However, in looking a bit this morning, I found a similar chart that says we'll be having a boy. I guess we'll find out in a little over six months.

Slow Day At Work

Yesterday was a busy, but slow day at work. The day seemed to just drag on and on. I suppose that is because I spent the better part of seven hours reviewing fifth-grade math test questions and to make things easier, the items were arranged by the content they were assessing. That made the items seem a bit repetitive, although they were all completely unique. It also didn't help that the people who sit immediately around me in the office were all out. This week seemed pretty long.

The Kansas City Ren Fest Revisited

As I blogged about a couple weeks ago, Mel and I recently took a short vacation to Kansas City where we attended the thirtieth annual Kansas City Renaissance Festival. One of the reasons we went there was so Mel could see her favorite pirate band, the Jolly Rogers. I think Mel likes them because of the guy in the red tights. (Just kidding Mel.) I have now found some video of their performance on YouTube and am posting it here for your viewing pleasure.

This first video is of their song "One For the Road."

And this second song is called "Curvy Girls."

The XM Has Returned!

While I was driving to work yesterday morning, I hit one of the preset buttons on my car radio. It was a button that was set to an XM radio station. A few months ago, I called XM because I was still getting free satellite radio which I shouldn't have been getting still. I was afraid that they'd end up sending me a bill. A few weeks after I called, the XM radio stopped working. Well when I tried it yesterday, I found that the XM radio was once again working in my car! Cool! Now I don't plan on listening to it all the time, but it's nice to know it's there, and it's free!

Weight Loss After One Week

After one week of returning to watching what I eat, my weight is down 3.8 pounds. It was a couple pounds lighter before the weekend, but Mel and I ate out twice this past weekend. On Friday we met a coworker of hers at Olive Garden, then on Saturday we went to Bourbon Street, a restaurant in Cedar Falls, where we met Mel's cousin, his parents, and his girlfriend. Both meals were very good, but I think we can keep from dining out this week.

New Truck

Well we bought a new truck yesterday, and it's not black. Mel has insisted on three things about the vehicle she drives.

1. It has to be a truck.
2. It has to be a Dodge.
3. It must be black.

Well, she test drove a couple of trucks. One of them was a black Dodge Dakota and the other was a silver Dodge Ram 1500. She like the feel of the Ram much better, and it was roomier inside. While the Ram was more expensive than the Dakota, there was a better cash-back offer on the Ram, so they ended up being about the same price. So for the first time in quite a while, Mel will be driving a truck that is not black. Personally, I like the silver color better. I think it won't show dirt as well and it does look nice.

When we got the Ram home, we just managed to squeeze it into the garage with about three-quarters of an inch clearance between the top of the truck and the garage door. Today we need to clean out the garage so it fits better lengthwise.

Truck Shopping

Now that Mel and I will be having an addition to our family, we need to look into getting a vehicle with more seating for Mel. Right now she drives a Dodge Dakota with regular cab. Putting a baby seat in the front of the truck isn't ideal. Today we're driving to Des Moines to see her truck guy about getting an extended cab truck. For some reason my wife insists on driving a truck, and it has to be a Dodge. I suppose I can live with that. Now if I can just get her to compromise on the color. She insists that it be black, but I think she's open to negotiate on that issue.

Hayden Fry Endorses Nussle

Hayden Fry is endorsing Jim Nussle's campaign for Iowa governor. Is this really supposed to impress anyone?

I'm Gonna be a Daddy!

I have been waiting to write this blog entry since July 30 when Mel and I found out that she was pregnant. She's eleven weeks along now so we are beginning to tell people outside of our family. Oh, we had each told a few people at work and a couple of close friends, but we're now ready to tell everyone we know. Mel had her first appointment with her actual OB doctor this week. We had previously met with the OB history nurse to supply background information about each of us and to get information about what Mel should and should not be doing. Today we got an ultrasound and received some photos of our baby! According to the sonographer, the due date for our baby is April 6. We are very excited as this is a first child for both of us. He or she is going to be the first grandchild for my mother and the fifth for Mel's parents. My mother was especially excited when we told her last month as I think she was wondering if this day would ever come. Anyway, I'm sure I will have a lot more to write in the future about the baby, but until then, here are a couple of the photos we got today.

A Difficult Time

I hate to write this considering what my next blog posting is going to be, but I feel it is something I need to day. A friend of mine since high school came back to Cedar Rapids from Las Vegas this week to visit her family. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer about a month ago, so in addition to visiting her family for the week, she wanted to help out around the house as well.

Mel and I had planned on getting together with her for dinner some time this week. I hadn't heard from her since she got into town at the beginning of the week, so I called her and left a message for her to call me. Well, last night she gave me a call and I could tell right away that things were not going well. Her mother's doctors initially thought they could remove the cancer surgically, but they then determined that was not possible, so they were going to try chemotherapy instead. She was to begin chemo yesterday, but the doctors realized then that the cancer was too far along to respond to chemo, so it seems like they are out of options. It seems that all they can do now is try to make her comfortable.

I would like to think that I can relate to what my friend is going through since I lost my father about fifteen months ago, but I don't think I can. Her situation is just so different from mine. When my father had his heart attack is was sudden and unexpected. There was a lot of initial shock, but then we had to deal with the fact that he was gone. In my friend's case, her mother is still here and all her family can do is wait. Despite my father's passing, I can not begin to understand how my friend must be feeling right now. I just hope she and her family can find a way to cope with what is happening with them. Of course, I'll be here to offer any support I can.

Elect a Pirate to Congress

I was looking at the Cedar Rapids Gazette's voter guide online the other day when I came across an interesting candidate for Iowa's first congressional district. The candidate's name is James Hill and the party he is identified as belonging to is Pirate! On his website, he claims to be the only drunken pirate seeking office in the U.S. I have to day that I don't doubt that one bit. And I have to say that is quite a shame. If there is one thing our government needs more of, it's pirates. They certainly couldn't do any worse of a job than some of our current elected officials. Of course, if the pirates then decided to plunder our booty by raising taxes too much, then I'd have a problem with it. Other than that, a pirate congress could be fun to watch.

Weight Loss

I have started watching what I eat again. This includes increasing the amount of exercise I get. Once again I am using the Weight Watchers program to watch what I eat. I'm not going to the meetings though, I am just using the books that we have at home. My goal is to lose thirty pounds. I plan on adding something to the sidebar of my blog to track my progress. Since I won't weigh in until Monday, don't expect to see anything until then.

Extended Weekend Vacation

I hope no one has been concerned about my recent absence of blogging, but Mel and I started our weekend early on Thursday, taking a trip to Kansas City. Our drive to our hotel was fairly uneventful until we got to downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was there that our directions from Map Quest failed us. We did end up finding our hotel, a Holiday Inn in Overland Park, Kansas, without too much difficulty though.

When we got to the hotel we were disappointed to find that the pool was closed for repairs. What was especially disappointing about this was that I booked the hotel on Travelocity. They have a commercial where they warn some people that the hotel pool at the hotel they have booked has been closed. Now where was that damn gnome to let us know our pool was out of service. Anyway, we survived the weekend without the pool.

On Friday we went to the Kansas City Zoo. Going to the zoo on a weekday after Labor Day had the advantage of making the zoo a lot less crowded. There just weren't that many people around. However, because it was less busy, many of the food service areas were not open. I think there were only two places in the zoo where we could get food. We had a good time looking at the animals. The Kansas City Zoo is nice, but personally I like the Omaha Zoo better.

On Saturday we went to the thirtieth annual Kansas City Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs. This was the main reason we chose to go to Kansas City for a vacation. We had a lot of fun wandering around the grounds all day. We had considered going to the Twin Cities to the renaissance festival up there, but we chose Kansas City instead so Mel could see a band she likes, the Jolly Rogers. The photo below shows her with the band.



The only photo we took of me on this trip was with the SPAM Mobile which was parked outside the gates to the ren fest. What was really ironic was that I was wearing the SPAM T-shirt that I had purchased at the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota, this past spring. This is one of three SPAM Mobiles that roam the United States promoting SPAM (the luncheon meat, not the junk email). People all over the festival were commenting on my shirt, many of them singing Monty Python's SPAM song.

A Short Work Week

I went back to work today after the extended weekend, but it's going to be a very short week for me. Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week. Mel and I are each using some of our vacation time this week. She had to work the past eight days straight, so it's good that she's going to have about a week off now.

This morning when I was at work, I got a phone call from a friend and former coworker of mine. It was someone I taught with at Highland Junior/Senior High School in Riverside, Iowa, a few years ago. She is taking a graduate class and needed to interview a teacher or someone who was recently a teacher, so she called me up. She needed to ask someone about a school they taught at, so I told her about my experiences at Waterloo West High School. The questions were mainly about the attitudes that students, staff, and parents have toward the school, the administration, and the counseling staff. Some of the replies dealing with student attitudes reminded me of why I decided to leave teaching. Anyway, I hadn't seen her in a while so it was nice to get together. She, her husband (who works for the same company that I do), and I all ate lunch at Bob's Your Uncle in Iowa City. The past few times I have been there, the service has been terrible, but it was better today. I still don't think I would go there if I wanted a quick lunch though.

I Am Chewbacca

I took this same quiz in May last year and I ended up being C-3PO then. I have to say that I wasn't too thrilled with that. Well today I decided to retake the quiz to see if my Star Wars personality has changed to someone else, and it has.

Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Labor Day Lunch

I just got back home from having lunch with my good friend Homercles. As we often do, we went to the Metro Buffet for some fine Chinese buffet food and for the variety of freshly made sushi. I always end up walking away from that place with too much food in my belly, and today was no exception. Besides enjoying the food, it's always nice to catch up on what's going on with Homercles. After our meal, we took a trip to Target to do a little shopping. Wandering around the Super Target was probably just what we needed after stuffing ourselves at the buffet.

New Blog

I just started a new blog to showcase my Yoda collection. It's not completely up to date at the moment. Hopefully I will be able to get to that in the next month or so. Maybe I'll get it all done tomorrow, but don't hold your breath for that.

Today in Church

I really shouldn't be doing this, gossiping about someone in church, but I am going to anyway. Today at church, a couple walked in a couple minutes late. That really isn't an issue. People arrive late to church all the time. What I saw this morning that surprised me was the the man in the couple was carrying in a large Styrofoam cup of coffee from a local convenience store! I have never seen anyone bring beverages to church, except for maybe something for a young child to drink. What's next? Maybe people will begin bringing soft drinks and popcorn to keep them occupied during the service.

Comment Problems

I was talking with Homercles on the phone last night and he mentioned that he had a problem leaving a comment on my blog. After a little investigation, I discovered that this is a known issue with Blogger in Beta. Apparently, users who haven't switched to the beta version can not currently leave a comment while logged in as themselves. They can however select Other or Anonymous and then leave a comment.

One Final Posting for Today

It's going to look like I spent all day on my computer, but that really isn't the case. I actually got quite a bit done around the house today after getting the car's oil changed. My wife got home from work a little while ago, but she was tired and is taking a nap. As there isn't much to watch on TV, I've been checking out videos on YouTube. I was looking through a search of Leonard Nimoy when I came upon this video by a rap group called Lords of the Rhymes. This group apparently gets most of the material for their music from The Lord of the Rings. I have tried downloading the MP3s of their songs from their website, but I keep getting an error. For now, I guess I'll just have to settle for the video of their song "The Lords of the Rhymes." Beware, there is explicit language in the video. So make sure the little kiddies aren't around.

The Fields Medal

Last month, mathematician Grigori Perelman turned down the Fields Medal, which is a prestigous award in mathematics. He won the medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture. I'm not going to attempt to explain the conjecture. Instead, this video of Steven Colbert should do the trick.

Answers to iPod Songs Quiz from Thursday

I have posted the answers to Thursday's list of iPod Songs in the comments section of that posting. So, if you want to know the answers, check it out.

Good Morning

I am writing this post to my blog from the waiting area of Saturn of Cedar Rapids. The change oil light on my VUE came on late last week, so here I am getting the oil changed and the tires rotated. Later today, I need to take my snowblower into a Toro dealer so I can get it checked out. Fortunately, that won't cost me anything as it's getting repaired due to a recall on the gas tank. I figure that is something that should be fixed before winter arrives. This will be my first winter using this snowblower. It was my parents', but my mom moved into a condo a few months ago and snow removal is provided, so she had no need for it anymore. This was pretty good timing as the snowblower I had been using started falling apart last winter. By the end of the winter, one of the wheels had fallen off! It never worked too well for me. The machine was fifteen years old. My parents had given it to me when they bought their new one in 2003.

I hope everyone likes the new layout of the blog. Besides chosing a new template for the blog, I did a little tweaking to the HTML code to make some other adjustments. It just didn't look the way I wanted it to. I haven't added the Photo of the Week yet. I haven't decided if I am going to keep doing that or not. I may just post photos periodically. Besides, I hadn't been doing too good of a job at getting them up weekly. There may be a few other changes to the content of the sidebar, but I don't know what yet. I was going to work on it some here at the Saturn dealership, but the keyboard on this computer isn't too good, making it harder to type. Also, this computer is running Red Hat Linux and the Blogger Beta doesn't seem to completely support the Mozilla web broswer with this operating system. I'll probably work on it after doing a few household chores once I get home.

Blog Changes

I am going to be making some changes to my blog this weekend. First of all, I am changing my profile photo to a drawing of myself. I feel like I am copying Homercles by using a similarly designed character, but I don't think he'll mind. I tried to get the photo to look as much like my photo as I could. I didn't include the drink, but that's alright.

Old Photo

New Drawing

I've also considered starting fresh by clearing out all of my old blog entries, but I think I have decided against doing that. I can't think of any reason why I should remove the old blog entries. The new ones won't be much different from what I've already posted, so those will all remain.

I may change the general layout of my blog, so don't be surprised if you come back next week and see a completely different-looking blog.

Blogger Beta

I just moved my blog to Blogger Beta. I haven't looked at it enough yet to take advantage of any of its features. I may work on that some time this weekend. So far, everything seems pretty much the same, although the interface is slightly different.

iPod Songs

After hearing a song for the twenty-fourth time today on my iPod, I decided I would list the songs that have been played most frequently on my iPod. However, instead of listing the songs my name, I am going to list the first line or two of each song. Can you name the songs and the artists or where they are from? No cheating! I don't want anyone Googling the lyrics to find out the title. If the title of the song, or part of the titleof the song, appears in the first line or two, I will replace it with a blank. Please be aware, there may be some obscene lyrics below.

1. Played 24 times:
__________
If he was here right now,
He'd make a plan
And he'd follow through,
That's what __________.

2. Played 17 times:
One two three uh!
My baby don't mess around
Because she loves me so
And this I know for shooo..

3. Played 16 times:
Woo Hoo Hooooo?
Woo hoo wooooo!
Debbie just hit the wall
She never had it all

4. Played 15 times:
My gift is my __________
And this one's for you
And you can tell everybody
That this is __________

5. Played 14 times:
__________
__________
__________
Coming again, to save the mother __________ day yeah
__________
Freedom is the only way yeah

There is a for-way tie for sixth place.
6a. Played 12 times:
I know there's something in the wake of your smile.
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yea.

6b. Played 12 times:
Fuck, fuck, fuck
Motha motha fuck
Motha motha fuck fuck

6c. Played 12 times:
God has smiled upon you this day.
The fate of a nation in your hands.

6d. Played 12 times:
I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough. I've seen the toughest around.

Finally, there is a two-way tie for tenth place.
10a. Played 11 times:
Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before

10b. Played 11 times:
Ladies and Gentlemen
As you know we have something special for you
At Birdland this evening
A recording for Blue Note Records

So, if you know what these songs are, write a comment with the titles.

I Never Thought I'd Do This...

but I am now posting a YouTube video on my blog. Here is one person's response to Stephen Colbert's Jedi Video Editing challenge.

Iowa

I found this quiz through Sara's blog. Of course, there were a few questions that none of the answers really fit me, such as the one about the state fair. I know about it, but I've never been. And what about the Hawkeyes or Cyclones question? The answer Panthers was missing!

You have 81% Iowa in you!

Nice score! Are you embarrassed or proud of being so much Iowa? I would be proud, it's great being so closely tied to the Hawkeye State.

Do you have Iowa in you?

Dress Code

We got a reminder at work today that this Friday is the last day we can wear shorts to work for the year. The dress code in our building allows us to wear shorts between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Because of this, I am going to take advantage of the final two days of shorts-wearing season no matter what the weather is like. Then after Friday it will be 269 days until I can wear shorts to work again. Of course, I can get around that rule if I work at home for a day. Heck, then I don't even have to get dressed at all!

Exercising Again

I haven't gotten much exercise since completing RAGBRAI one month ago today. So tonight I got on the elliptical trainer for a workout. I had planned on exercising for twenty minutes, but the phone rang with three minutes remaining in my workout. It was my wife. So I talked to her for a bit on the phone. I didn't end up finishing the last three minutes of the workout. Tomorrow night I plan on going back to the Bowflex. If I can get back into a pattern of exercising most nights, I should be able to get in better shape and shed a few more pounds.

On My Own

Mel is working second shift this week, so I am stuck home alone to fend for myself in the evening. During this week I'll hardly get to see her. I usually try to call her from work some time in the morning, but we can't talk long since I am working. She'll call me in the evening as well. I usually try to stay up to see her when she gets home from work shortly before midnight, but I barely made it last night. I'll probably be asleep before she gets home tonight. She also has to work this upcoming weekend. At the end of next week, Mel and I will be going on a vacation to Kansas City. We plan on going to the zoo and to the Renaissance Festival. Mel's been to the renaissance festival before with her friend Heather. It should be a fun, extended weekend.

Who's the Idiot?

One of my pet peeves is signs that have incorrect spelling, grammar, or punctuation. One of the punctuation errors that I see quite often is the inappropriate usage of apostrophes. Here is one example of such an error. In this case, Marge Trowbridge, a supporter of President Bush, is holding a sign that says, "HELP! I'M→SuRRounded By Idiot's!" I noticed that she chose to use an apostrophe with the s, indicating that something belongs to an idiot. Of course, she means "Idiots" without an apostrophe. What's really ironic about this sign is that in trying to call others idiots, she pointed out her own ignorance regarding the correct usage of punctuation. Don't get me started on the use of the arrow. I don't know what the hell she's trying to accomplish with that.

Trying Out Another Church

Yesterday morning, Mel and I tried another church. This is the second that the two of us have gone to together since moving to Cedar Rapids last year. I went to another on my own on Easter, but that church isn't for us. Anyway, we went from trying a church with a very small congregation to what is probably the largest church in town of the type we are looking for. I have to say that I did like this church. It was big enough that we can blend in with everyone else if we want to and they have four services every week, three on Sunday, so we will have some choices about when to go. I'm not sure if we'll be checking out any other churches or not before we make a decision, but I think this may be the one.

Kernels Game

Mel and I went to a Cedar Rapids Kernels game last night. This was actually the first time I had ever been to a Kernels game. I had been to plenty of Cedar Rapids Reds games, but I hadn't attended any games at Veterans Memorial Stadium since the team was renamed the Kernels in 1993.

The reason we went was that my company was offering tickets to the game at a discounted price. These tickets included unlimited food and drinks through the seventh inning. So it was a pretty good deal. What I didn't realize until I went to get food though, was that the selection of food available at no additional cost was limited to hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, popcorn, and peanuts. We also had a selection of Bud Light or Miller Light as well as a fairly good selection of sodas. What Mel really wanted was nachos, so at one point during the game, I ended up wandering around the stadium to get her some. Our seats were in the Randy Kuehl Honfidence Pavilion behind the left field wall. It provided a different view than what I have been used to in going to baseball games. Most of the time we went when I was a kid, we sat along the first base line. Anyway, we had a good time watching the Kernels beat the Beloit Snappers 4 to 1.

Strange Encounters at Hy-Vee

Last night Mel had some coworkers, a former coworker, and the friend of the former coworker over. After chatting for a bit, we got around to ordering some pizza a little after 8:00. Well, we didn’t have a whole lot in the house to drink, so on our way to get the pizza, Mel’s coworkers Anita (who is a former student of mine), Penny (Anita’s sister), and I went to Hy-Vee to get some beverages and ice cream. While we were trying to decide which type of beer to purchase, two men approached us and tried to help us make a decision. One of them grabbed a bottle of beer from the shelf and started plugging the beer—one that included chocolate as an ingredient—as if he was a representative of the company! This was a bit odd. Eventually he and his partner started to walk off when they struck up a conversation with another man—one who was wearing a University of Georgia shirt bearing just the G logo of the school.

The man who promoted the chocolate beer said, “Go Bulldogs,” as the older man in the red University of Georgia shirt passed. The older man then said that he only bought the shirt because it was cheap. In fact, he had bought it quite recently and this was the first time he had worn it. The chocolate beer guy was apparently the first person who had recognized the shirt as representing the University of Georgia Bulldogs. The older man then told us that he says it’s a Green Bay Packers shirt for the color blind. Anyway, the other two men left and we were stuck in a conversation now with this other man. Meanwhile, we still had not picked out a type of beer to drink. Penny then indicated that she’d drink anything, except for Guinness. This new guy than said that he literally would drink any beer since he collects beer labels. He had recently been to some beer festival in Madison, Wisconsin. At this point we quickly picked up a six-pack of beer—Killian’s Irish Red—so we could get out of the Hy-Vee and get to Pizza Hut to get our pizzas.

Running into strange people when buying beer at Hy-Vee wouldn't have surprised me too much if it had been later at night, but it was only 8:30!

Rebecca the Liberal Pirate

My sister, Rebecca, emailed me this photo of her with her birthday cake; her birthday was earlier this month. As I haven’t changed my Photo of the Week in quite some time, thus making the title “Photo of the Week” somewhat inaccurate, I am going to make this photo this week’s Photo of the Week. I’ll try to change it next week, but who knows.

Anyway, Rebecca—who turned thirty this year—and her friends like to decorate a cake for her each year. I am assuming that was this case this year as well. So here’s my sister, wearing a Liberal T-shirt with her cake bearing the message “Happy Birthday RRRrrrr!” The Rs not only relate to the sound that pirates make, but also can be thought of as representing Rebecca.

Violent Video Games = Free Speech?

A judge in Lousisiana has blocked a state law that bans the sales of violent video games to minors claiming that the law violates free speech rights? Four other states have had similar laws blocked on the same constitutional grounds. I don't understand this. So a video game is speech? What about movies? Can the government prevent minors from seeing or buying movies just because they are violent. Several months ago, my wife and I, who are both in our thirties, had our IDs checked before we went to the R-rated movie A History of Violence. There were no sexual themes in this movie. It was simply very violent. Why did the theater need to verify our ages. If we had been minors, wouldn't the free speech rights of the movie company have been violated if they couldn't get their message across to minors? What about Playboy magazine. Why isn't prohibiting their sale to minors also a violation of the First Amendment? I guess it will be completely up to parents to monitor what video games their children play, not that I think they shouldn't be, but keeping minors from buying some video games would make things a little easier for parents.

Damn You IAU!

Ok, I don't really wish to damn the International Astronomical Union, but they sure caused me some inconvenience at work today. Who would have ever thought that a decision by a group of astronomers would cause me any problems whatsoever? Of course I am referring to the whole demotion in the status of Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. I can't go into details due to confidentiality issues, but we had to make some very last minute changes to ensure scientific accuracy in one of the products we produce where I work. The item is now immune to any additional meddling by the IAU.

Back to Work

I went back to work today after staying home sick for two days. I'm feeling quite a bit better than I was earlier in the week, although I wouldn't say that I'm back at 100%. Hopefully once I complete my course of antibiotics, I'll be feeling as good as I usually do. It didn't seem like my being gone for the past two days created much additional work for others. That's good as I would have felt bad if it had done so. I even had a piece of birthday cake waiting for me upon my return to work. The cake was from a coworker's fiftieth birthday party which was Monday.

A Visit from the Plumber

Last week I mentioned that we had some plumbing problems at home. Well, the plumber just left and I am very pleased with the service. The bill wasn't nearly as bad as I was fearing it would be. He even fixed a couple other things while he was here. After he called his office to find the price to charge me, he asked me if anyone in my family was a teacher because the name was familiar to him. I didn't think he was referring to me, so I mentioned that my dad was an orchestra teacher. The plumber was a percussionist at Kennedy High School in the late 70s and early 80s when my dad taught there and had him as a teacher for symphony orchestra. It still seems like I can't go places without running into people who knew my dad.

Still at Home

I stayed home from work again today. I just didn't feel well enough to go to work. I am feeling a bit better now, so I will be back at work tomorrow which is good, since I hate having to have others pick up for work that I should be doing. I spent much of this morning sleeping, then I watched the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner from Sunday night. It was pretty funny, but it seemed that a lot of the jokes focused on George Takei's recent coming out as being gay. One more thing I have to say about the Roast is that Andy Dick is quite bizarre, licking the faces of Farrah Fawcett and Carrie Fisher, and attempting to lick Nichelle Nichols as well.

Sick Day

I'm staying home sick from work today. This is the first time I have used a sick day since spring 2003. I just find that I am not sick too often, at least not enough to stay home from work. Either that, or I'm always sick on a non-work day, which is such a waste of a day to be sick. I must say that calling in sick to work is a bit less of a hassle now that I am not teaching. It seems that it is more work to get ready for a sub than it would be to just go to work and deal with feeling like crap all day. That said, I don't have any plans on calling in sick for work more often now just because it's less convenient. If I were still teaching, I'd be staying home today as well.

Now I am sitting at home waiting for a call from my doctor's nurse so I can schedule an appointment today. I'll be seeing a new doctor for the first time today. On my previous visit earlier this year for a physical, I found out that the doctor I was seeing, also for the first time, was leaving the practice there to work for a local hospital in a different role. So my second trip to this doctors' office will be to see a second doctor.

Wiretapping

So the Bush administration's warrantless domestic wiretapping program has been ruled illegal by a district judge. This ruling will of course be appealed. I'm sure it will end up going all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. It's very possible that this program is helping in the "war on terror" but the president is not above the law. If this program is helping, he needs to find a way to make this program comply with the law. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows for warrants after the fact, but if this is not enough, he needs to get his minions in Congress to pass laws allowing this warrantless wiretapping.

A Leisurely Drive

Our meetings here in Minnesota were scheduled to finish up today, however we worked at a quicker pace than anticipated and we wrapped up our meetings yesterday afternoon. We considered returning to Iowa last night, but by the time everyone was done it would have been at least 11:00 before we got home. Besides, it was too late to check out of the hotel without being charged for the night and to top it off, I wasn't feeling the best, having a headache and pressure in my head. As I was going to be the one driving, we decided we might as well stay the night and leave in the morning. I really prefer this as it will be light during the entire drive home. The four-and-a-half-hour drive, not including stops, feels quite long when it is dark most of the way. And after working a full day, it is very tiring. So I will be having breakfast in the hotel restaurant this morning before taking off for home.

IDed for Drugs

I just had my ID checked for the first time for buying over-the-counter medications. I've been kind of achy the past few days. Besides that, I've had a bit of a headache and my head has felt a bit stuffy, so this evening I left my hotel to go to Target to buy some medication. I ended up buying Aleve Cold & Sinus which contains pseudoephedrine. I was hoping that having an out-of-state driver’s license wouldn’t cause any problems, and it did not. I of course understand the purpose for the pharmacist’s recording of my personal information and I completely support it. If this helps to make it harder to produce methamphetamine, I am happy to comply.

Why Do Things Happen When I'm Gone?

I am once again in Minnesota for a few days for work. This evening when I called home, my wife told me that there is a small leak into the bathroom in the basement. It seems like things like this only happen when I am out of town for work. It doesn't sound too serious for the moment, so hopefully repairs can hold off until I return later in the week.

On a somewhat related topic, yesterday I got a phone call from the company which provided our home warranty for the first year we were in the house. They tried to get me to renew the service, but I declined. I am beginning to regret that right now.

Time for Bed

I have not stayed up this late in quite a while. I'm usually in bed by 10:00 at the absolute latest. This past week though, I was staying up until just before midnight so I could see Mel as she worked second shift this week. Yesterday after work she went to Ankeny to help her sister with a garage sale for the weekend. She will be returning tomorrow afternoon. So, how did I spend my Friday night without my wife? Did I go out with friends? No. I put up a curtain rod and cellular shades. Then to make the evening even more fun, I just spent the past three and one half hours checking over test items for work. This task is due on Monday, but late Monday morning, I will be leaving to office to head for Minnesota for a few days for work.

I timed my work really well tonight. After watching Match Game on GSN, I put Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith into the DVD player to watch. And just as I am finishing writing this blog entry, the credits are drawing to a close. So good night everyone!

Do They Think I'm Stupid?

One of the credit cards I use regularly is my Discover Card. I like their Cashback Bonus. One of the things I like about it is the ability to get my $20 cash bonus as a gift card worth more than $20. One offer they have is to get a $25 Red Lobster/Olive Garden gift card for $20 worth of cash bonuses, but that's not all, they also offer a $45 card for $40 in bonuses. Maybe some people would go for that, but only people who can't do simple arithmetic. Why not get 2 $25 gift cards for $20 each?

Burglary

I was reading the crime log in the newspaper this morning and I discovered that a house just around the corner from our house was burglarized last week. Now the log doesn't provide any additional details besides the address, so I don't know if the thieves got away with much or not. I suppose it could have been as simple as someone stealing something from an unlocked garage. Of course, it could have been much more. You can bet that I am going to be certain that my doors and windows are all locked. Of course I keep them locked all the time anyway.

eBay Auctions

Please excuse me for this little advertisement, but I have just listed some Star Trek: The Next Generation Galoob action figures for sale on eBay. I'm guessing that my regular readers really wouldn't care to buy these, but I thought it would be worth a shot. However, if you are interested in action figures of Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, Geordi LaForge, Data, Tasha Yar, Worf, or a Selay alien or a die-cast Starship Enterprise please feel free to follow the links to eBay and place a bid.

I have about twenty or so Playmates action figures from all of the various Star Trek series as well, but they don't seem to be getting any bids on eBay. My wife is going to help her sister with a garage sale next weekend. Perhaps she can take them along there to sell.

No More XM

This morning I was driving to Ankeny for my niece's birthday party. After listening to some music on my iPod, I decided to switch to the XM satellite radio. Unfortunately, the XM radio in my Saturn is no longer functioning. I had called several weeks ago to let them know that I didn't want to continue the service beyond my free trial. However after that call, I still received the service. I guess they finally got around to shutting it down. That's alright. It was nice to listen to, but I guess I can live with the regular radio, CDs, and my iPod which can be plugged directly into the stereo.

New Photo of the Week

I haven't changed the photo of the week in quite some time, so I figured I'd do it this morning. The new photo of the week is from Mel's and my vacation to Jamaica this past June. It shows Mel and myself at a restaurant at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, overlooking the beach below.

Whoop Dee Freakin' Doo!

Tomorrow and Saturday are the days of Iowa's back-to-school tax free days. Calling them tax free days, as many stores do, is a bit misleading. The only things that are sold without sales tax, in addition to things that normally do not have sales tax, are articles of clothing priced at under $100. This sounds like it could be a really good deal, but the savings don't necessarily add up to all that much. In locations where the sales tax rate is 5%, buying clothes tax free results in a net savings of about 4.8% (not 5% as some journalists would have you believe). Instead of paying $105 for a $100 purchase, the final price would be just $100, a savings of $5 out of $105, which is slightly less than 5%. Anyway, I wonder how many people would rush out to a store if they were having a sale where clothes was a whole 4.8% off, or even 6.5% (the amount of savings in parts of the state where sales tax is 7%) off.

Now I have bought clothing on the so called tax-free weekend before, only to find store have better sales the next weekend when sales tax was again being charged. By buying clothes during the tax-free weekend, I actually ended up spending more money than I would have if I had waited a week. I guess the feeling of sticking it to the state is appealing to some, but I for one would look for the better deal.

Happy Happy

I am really happy right now. I finally have the speed from my DSL connection that I should have had all along. I called Qwest yesterday to complain about the slow speed of my connection. It was no faster than a dial-up Internet connection. A technician came out this afternoon and fixed the problem. Now I am cruising on the net.

Also, our new windows (the glass kind, not the Microsoft kind) were installed in our house. They should help with the heating and cooling bills as they have a higher R-value than our old leaky windows. They also block noise better than the old windows did. Now we just need to get some new window coverings for the new windows. Hopefully our rebate from the gas company will cover much of that cost.

Reflections on RAGBRAI XXXIV

The final day of RAGBRAI XXXIV on Saturday went quite well. It was hot, but I was able to make it from Coralville to Muscatine by 9:30. The final day's ride wasn't too tough. I only rested for a total of 20 minutes that last day because I really wanted to make it to the end to dip my bike tires in the Mississippi River.

This year's ride definitely had its ups and downs. The first few days were quite hilly, there was the heat and humidity, and let's not forget the violent thunderstorms Tuesday night. Then of course there was the appearances of Lance Armstrong in Newton and Coralville with his riding on Wednesday and Thursday.

While riding on Monday and Tuesday, I was thinking that this would be my final RAGBRAI, at least for a while. I thought that I should take next year off. This is a thought that I frequently have in the early days of each year's RAGBRAI. However, by the end of the week, I had completely pushed that thought out of my mind. I am really looking forward to riding on my eighth RAGBRAI next summer if I can. Of course, if the route is through southern Iowa, I may have to reconsider that.

It's amazing that a group of over 10,000 strangers can get together for a week of bike riding and completely trust each other. In every town we pass through, cyclists leave their bikes unlocked as they go to get something to eat or to use the restroom. The hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bikes that sit around unsecured just boggles the mind.

Even those who would not normally get along . . .

can end up getting along.

I do have one regret about this year's RAGBRAI. I really wish I would have ridden the century loop on Thursday. At the moment I got to the loop during the ride, I didn't think I'd have the energy to make it. However, as the clouds covered the sun later in the day and it got a little less hot, I think I would have been able to make it. I can always try it next year.

I am looking forward to riding on RAGBRAI again next year. I only have 356 days to get ready for RAGBRAI XXXV!

Hot and Humid

Today's ride from Marengo to Coralville was fairly easy, but it was pretty hot and humid. I left our campsite shortly before 6:00 and was in Coralville by 9:35. The only really challenging part of today's ride was a steep hill going into Cosgrove. That hill was awful! To make it worse, we had to turn before going up the hill, so we lost much of the momentum that we already had. I only stopped once today. That was for breakfast in Williamsburg, where I had some breakfast pizza.

Tonight we are staying at the house of one of my coworkers, and the hospitality is fantastic! Her husband picked up a keg of Bud Lite from Hy-Vee, and they even cooked dinner for us. I did not partake of the dinner because my wife came down from Cedar Rapids to see me. We went across town to dinner so we could avoid the crowd from the RAGBRAI riders. I can't wait to see her again tomorrow morning when she picks me up in Muscatine.

Here are some photos I have taken so far on the ride. Once I get home I am going to fix them up so they load faster.

The first photo is of the Superior Hawgs team bus as we are loading it in the parking lot of the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.


Here I am dipping the rear tire of my bike in the Missouri River near Sergeant Bluff.



The Cookies Barbeque Sauce guy was cooking up food in one of the towns on Tuesday. I think it was Redfield.


Here's Lance Armstrong as he spoke in Newton on Wednesday.


Riders were encouraged to wear yellow on Thursday in honor of Lance Armstrong and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Seeing Lance Armstrong

The rest of yesterday's ride was pretty good. It wasn't too hilly, but it was warm. I went to downtown Newton early last night to see Lance Armstrong when he appeared at 8:00 p.m. He gave a short speech after receiving a proclamation from the state's first lady. In his speech he spoke about how more money needs to go to cancer research. He also indicated that he planned to ride all of RAGBRAI next summer.

Today's ride from Newton to Marengo wasn't too bad. There were quite a few hills early in the day and it was hot and humid, but at least the sun was hidden behind clouds for a good portion of the ride. Also, the last 14 or so miles from Victor to Marengo were fairly flat. It is still really hot this afternoon. The temperature is only 85 degrees, but it is very humid. Hopefully it cools off for sleeping later.

Stormy Night

I am a bit tired today after not getting much sleep last night. Two big thunderstorms came through Waukee while we were camping there. The first one was around 11:00 in the evening. I stayed in my tent during the storm, watching the lightning and the people who were running down the sidewalk for cover. That storm seemed to last a while, but I don't think it was more than 20 minutes or so. Then right around midnight, a announcement was made over loudspeakers that another storm was coming in about 15 minutes and the emergency shelters would be opened. I opted not to go to the shelter, after all, it was just a thunderstorm, not a tornado, but I did leave my tent to sit on the bus, which was located a few feet from my tent. The storms seemed to miss us for a while, but after a couple more announcements about storms, one came through around 2:30 a.m. that lasted until around 3:00. It was then that I finally got some sleep. My tent did withstand the 20-mile-per-hour winds that came with this storm better than my tent survived the big storm on last year's RAGBRAI. I just heard that more storms are expected for tonight. Great!

The ride today hasn't been too bad. There aren't as many hills, but we have had head winds much of the day. Right now I am in Elkhart, after passing through Granger and Polk City. I am about 30 miles into the ride today with another 40 to go. Stay tuned for more coverage of RAGBRAI XXXIV from Mathman.

RAGBRAI XXXIV Days 1 through 3

I'm writing this post to my blog from a Iowa Telecom trailer in Waukee. I'd post some photos with this blog entry, but I don't want to mess with plugging my camera into the computer. With is attached to the table, it's hard to reach the USB ports.

Anyway, I thought I'd update everyone on how my first few days of RAGBRAI have gone so far. We had a long bus ride from Cedar Falls to Sergeant Bluff on Saturday. We had to stop twice for repairs. The first time coincided with our lunch in Fort Dodge. The generator, which we haven't yet used, was leaking some oil. We spent an hour or so getting it fixed. Then later, we stopped in the western Iowa town of Early to fill the water tanks on our bus. It was then that we discovered a leak in the hose for the shower. We spent an hour or so there as well. Fortunately, we were parked at Crossroads Restaurant and Lounge. We spent some time enjoying margaritas and other adult beverages as the hose was being replaced. We did eventually get to Sergeant Bluff by 5:00. A couple of other members of our team and I made the mistake of going to dip our bike tires in the Missouri River. After riding five miles, three of which on very bad gravel and sand, we got to the river. We then got to repeat the trip to get back to our campground.

Sunday morning, some of us departed from Sergeant Bluff around 6:15. Our ride took us through the towns of Bronson, Anthon and Battle Creek. I had been told that this would be one of the hardest days on the ride, but it wasn't too bad. The nice tailwind we had throughout the day made out eastward journey fairly easy, despite the hills. I arrived in Ida Grove by 11:30 a.m.

While Sunday wasn't bad, Monday was brutal! We had strong headwinds most of the day. Our only respite from the wind was for the brief parts of the ride when we headed east, and by then we were so exhausted that I didn't feel much difference. The hills were just as bad as the day before, but the wind made it so much worse. On Monday we passed through only three towns, Boyer (which was barely a town), Arcadia, and Manning, before arriving in Audubon. The 77-mile ride took us from 6:00 until 3:30 p.m.!

Today was much better. Despite being hilly as well, we didn't have a headwind. I was able to make it to Waukee by 1:00. The bus however, didn't arrive until after 3:00! Needless to say, some of our team were quite upset. Hopefully the bus arrives before us tomorrow.

I may post some more later in the week if I get the chance. I'll also put up some photos once I get back home.

Returning the Tent

I tried to set up our new tent last night so I would know how to do it when I am on RAGBRAI next week, but one of the parts was damaged. So after work today, I have to stop by Scheels in Coralville to exchange it for another one. Aside from the damaged part, the tent is really nice. It's pretty big, almost too big for RAGBRAI. However, the size will be good if Mel and I ever go camping together or if she joins me on RAGBRAI next year.

Because I'll be on RAGBRAI, I may not be blogging much next week. I may try to find a computer to post some entries to my blog while I gone though, but don't be surprised if I don't write regularly next week.

My Damned Honesty

Once again, trying to do the right thing doesn't pay off. As I have previously written about, my wife and I bought a new car at the end of January. This car came with an XM satellite radio with three free months of service. We enjoyed listening to the XM radio, but we decided it wasn't worth paying the $13 or so each month that the service would cost to continue after three months. April ended and I was expecting the XM radio to stop working. It continued to work. Recently I decided that I had better call them because I would hate to get a bill for months of service. Apparently the ID connected to our XM radio was not associated with any other information, so they had no idea that the radio was working I guess. We could have continued listening to the XM radio for free! Anyway, the customer service representative said it would be deactivated soon. Maybe he did something wrong, because four hours later, when I was driving home from work, I noticed that the radio was still working. If it continues to work I can be comfortable with the fact that I tried to do the right thing and be honest. It's not my fault if the customer service representative didn't properly deactivate my radio.

Getting Ready for RAGBRAI

Mel and I bought a new tent this past weekend for me to use on RAGBRAI. I was going to set it up last night so I could seal the seams and so I'd know how to set it up when I need to next week. However, just as I was thinking about doing it, I saw that there was a storm in Benton County, just west of my home. Therefore, I held of on setting up the tent. I'd like to treat the seams before it gets rained on. Hopefully I can take care of that tonight.

My Sister and President Bush

My sister is in Germany for a few weeks for a program of some kind. I'm not exactly sure what she is doing there, but anyway, I got an email from my mom last night urging me to check out this AP photo on Yahoo! My sister is the head at the center of the bottom of the photo, the one with the outstreached arm clad in black.

Here's another photo of President Bush in Germany. My sister is not in this photo, I just found it amusing and thought I'd share it.

License to Steal

It looks like if you want to shoplift items valued under $25 from Wal-Mart, you not have carte blanche to do so. According to an article on CNN.com, Wal-Mart will now only prosecute shoplifters who are caught taking merchandise worth $25 or more. So carefully add up those prices before walking off without paying at your local Wal-Mart.

Stuck

Well, I'm stuck at the place where I am having meetings this week. I would have liked to return to my hotel 45 minutes ago, but I have to wait for a couple other people to get done with their meetings for today. At least this gave be a chance to get caught up on the 55 email messages that I missed at work since leaving for Minnesota yesterday.

Back to Minnesota

I'm back, in Minnesota that is. It's time for another few days in the Twin Cities for work running committee meetings to look at test questions. I usually enjoy these meetings, and I'm sure this time will be no different. Driving from Cedar Rapids to Saint Paul does make for a long day though after spending four hours in the office in the morning. We used to stay at a hotel in Bloomington in which all of the rooms were suites with separate living rooms and bedrooms. This hotel does not have that, but this time I am in an executive suite which is just a standard room with a refrigerator and a microwave hidden in the armoire. The room also has a Sleep Number bed. From previous stays here, I think I have determined that my Sleep Number is 40. And of course, the dining out is always nice while here on business. We usually go to places we can't go to back in Cedar Rapids. I am really going to try to be good with not overeating this time.

Beer, Beer, Beer

Last night Mel and I went to the wedding reception for her supervisor from work. We went with a few other of her coworkers, one of whom happens to be a former student of mine from when I taught at Highland in Riverside, Iowa. It was a lot of fun, considering that I knew neither the bride nor the groom. We all pretty much sat at our table at the back of the reception hall. I kept walking across the room to the tap to keep our pitcher of beer full. I much say that we had plenty to drink.

I had been thinking about relaxing a bit this morning before starting to work on cleaning the basement, but I think I will go out for a bike ride instead. I could use some exercise to burn off the calories from all that beer. Besides, today will be the last day I have a chance to go cycling as I'll be in Minnesota for work all this week. My goal is to ride at least 25 miles today. I was hoping to reach that point yesterday, but I came up 1.12 miles short. At least I didn't get a flat tire this time. In fact, I think I will follow the same route I was riding last Monday when I did get a flat tire. This time I'll keep a better eye out for glass!

Excellent Movie!

Mel and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last night and we both loved the movie! It was packed full of action and humor. The special effects and costumes were fantastic. Some of the fight scenes were great. I have to say that I had never before seen a three-way sword fight in a movie (or in real life for that matter). I think Mel and I may have to go see the movie once again before it leaves the theaters. Now I really can't wait until next summer when the next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean is released so I can see the resolution of the movie's cliffhanger.

She Wants to be a Pirate

In honor of today's release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, this week's photo of the week is of my wife standing behind a pirate skeleton (or is it a skeleton pirate) at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We already have tickets to see the movie tonight. As soon as I get home from work, we are heading over to the theater for what should be a great movie. Mel has been really excited about seeing this. We had considered going to the midnight showing of the movie this morning as she doesn't have to work today, but I didn't think I'd want to show up at work exhausted. That's why I took a personal day from school last year for the opening of the final Star Wars movie.

Jamaica Part 5 - The Final Two Days

It’s been a few days since I have blogged about Mel’s and my trip to Jamaica, so I suppose I should finish up with the posts on Jamaica. For most of the last two full days we were in Jamaica, Thursday and Friday, we were at the resort’s beach. After having breakfast at the buffet at one of the restaurants, we went to the beach. For about six hours both of the days, we alternated between lying in the beach chairs and swimming in the sea. Leaving the beach on Friday was difficult as it would be the last time we would be there on this trip.

Friday evening was the bon voyage party in the pavilion on the Manor side of the resort. We enjoyed the buffet and the drinks. However we didn’t stay for the main festivities of the party. At 8:00, we headed back toward our cottage on the Riviera side of the resort. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:13 Saturday morning, and with a two hour drive there as well as needing to get there a couple hours before the flight left, we wouldn’t be getting much sleep.

We checked out of the hotel at 2:00 in the morning and by 3:00 we were on a bus to the airport. We really enjoyed our trip to Jamaica and our stay at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. We are hoping that we will have a chance to visit again. If we do go again, you can be sure that our flight back home will not be leaving at 7:00 in the morning!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone is having a happy Independence Day. Mel and I took the opportunity to relax most of the day. We did go see Superman Returns this afternoon. It was a good movie. I am really glad that I watched the 1978 Superman earlier this weekend on the satellite TV. Some of the lines from this movie were taken directly from the original movie and other parts made references to parts of that movie. I also liked how the opening credits were similar in style to the original Superman, and even though he didn't compose the music for the movie, John Williams's original Superman theme was of course used. We enjoyed the movie, even though it was a bit long. It seemed to me that there were parts that could have been cut some.

This was the second movie we had seen in four days. We saw The Da Vinci Code on Saturday. It was also a good movie. It was full of action and I really liked Tom Hanks's character. He wasn't the typical hero from an action film, but it really worked in this movie. The movie also brought up some interesting ideas. Now I think I should read the book.

We'll be seeing another movie next weekend when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens.

No-Work Monday

I really enjoyed not having to go to work today. I was able to sleep in come, getting up at 7:30 instead of my usual 5:30. I then went for another bike ride. I rode 25 miles before I got a flat tire. Unfortunately I didn't have a spare tube with me. I was still a few miles from home, but Homercles was kind enough to come pick me up. The two of us had a nice lunch at Bennigan's. I had hoped to buy some spare tubes for my bike after lunch, but both bike shops in town were closed for the Independence Day holiday, so unless I drive down to Scheels in Coralville tomorrow, I won't be out again on my bike until at least Wednesday.

A Beautiful Afternoon

Mel is off shopping with some friends today, so I thought I'd take advantage of this beautiful afternoon to get some cycling in. I just got back from a thirty-seven-mile bike ride, and it was great! I'd have ridden longer, but Mel should be home soon and we have plans for the evening. We are going to be watching Mel's friend's four-year-old son while his mom plays softball this evening. Perhaps I'll be able to get out for another lengthy ride tomorrow morning.

The Superior Hawgs

This week's photo of the week was taken before last year's RAGBRAI. It shows the team bus for the Superior Hawgs, the group I ride with. This year the bus had a fresh coat of paint. This was a very good thing, as the year before, we got pulled over for having a bus that was school bus yellow. Apparently only busses used to transport students to and from school can be school bus yellow.