Weekend Video ~ Richard Simmons Style

I have done it.  5 days, 5 posts.  I don’t count Saturday’s and Sunday’s for blog posts, because there doesn’t seem to be very many people that are blogging on the weekend.  I hope you enjoyed the video.  I know the first time I saw it, I was laughing so hard I almost started to cry.  Nothing like a good laugh to finish off the work week huh?  Enjoy your Labor Day weekend everybody!

Doing My Part For Mother Earth...Kinda

For those of you who know me, you know that I am conservative when it comes to politics. There is no way that I would ever think of voting for Comrade Obama. I am coming to grips with having John McCain as the nominee for the Republicans, even though there are some big issues that I disagree with him on. One of those issues is the whole "green" movement. Specifically Global Warming.

I don't believe in the myth of Global Warming for even a second. The earth has been warming and cooling, and then warming up again for millions of years. I am sorry, but the premise that we are doing something that is affecting the warming of the earth is one of the most moronic things to ever be mentioned. Especially since it all comes down to a different kind of green. The green of money.

It is not a well known fact that Al Gore is part of an investment group that stands to make millions off of the Global Warming scam.(If you want to read more, check out stories here and here) Of course the worst one in my eyes is G.E. They use their numerous media outlets (NBC in particular) to push different green technologies. The one product that I am very hostile towards are the compact fluorescent light bulbs. They say to use them because they use less energy, and can last for like 16 years. There have even been calls for all incandescent light bulbs to be banned, since they are not considered "eco friendly" like the CFLB's are.

Now I don't know about you, but to me the light emitted from CFLB's is crappy light. I light the nice yellowy glow from an old school light bulb. Not the whitish blue color that those rounded dung bombs produce. That, and you have to wait for the sucky things to warm up. And if you are a user of CFLB's, I hope that you know a little fact about them. They contain mercury. In case you don't know, mercury is a neurotoxin. Neurotoxins are bad. Well, unless you like nerve damage that is. Of course this is only if you drop one. I hope you have a steady hand.


All of this brings me to what this post is about. One of the things that environmental wack jobs pound on is the amount of fossil fuels we use. If they had their way, we wouldn't use any. Of course if that was the case, you could kiss all airplanes goodbye. But since these are not rational people that we are dealing with here, they don't want to hear it.


So about a year ago, Glenn Beck was talking on his show about how whenever he and his wife would drive their SUV's around Manhattan, they would always seem to get dirty looks. He explained about how the people there were disgusted by the fact that they owned not just one, but TWO SUV's! Two gas guzzling, environment destroying SUV's. This made Glenn think about some kind of sticker he could put on his car that might throw off these liberal envirowackos, and lead them to believe that these SUV's aren't as evil as others. And so the Hydrocarbon Eco sticker was born.

Now for those of you who don't know, hydrocarbon is another way to say OIL. That is what makes these stickers so great. Here is what they look like:




Pure brilliance if you ask me. Green border, and upside down mother earth, the word "eco." You can't go wrong with this sticker. It looks like all of those tree hugger stickers you see on those V dub vans and slug bugs that greenies drive. (well, for those who can afford them, the Toyota Prius. Talk about an ugly P.O.S! But that is another post by itself)

Here is the one that I have on my Accord:

So ladies and gents, those of you who are tired of the looks you get for using your right as an American to drive the monster that you do, these stickers are great. I have had two different people ask me how I converted my car to a hydrocarbon car. Both times I just smiled and said that I was lucky enough that someone had made it that way before I purchased it. And now every time I drive by a butt ugly Prius, the green freak will look at my back window, and think that there is another do gooder on the road trying to save the planet. It makes me giddy just thinking about it!

If anyone is interested in buying some, you can get them here. They come two to a pack, which comes in handy to those people that live in either Seattle, Portland, Boulder, (Colorado) or Northern California, since they will most likely be torn off of your car by some crazed environmentalist.

Hey, I remember that band...they are still around?

How many times have you asked yourself that question? About a year ago I was asking myself that. You see, there was this band that came out my senior year in high school called Nada Surf. They had a song called "Popular" that was, well, popular. If you don't recall this song, here is the video to refresh your memory

Remember it now? Of course you do! Well, I bought their CD, High/Low, that this song was on. At first I wasn't too impressed, but then it grew on me. When I worked at Eddie Bauer, I would listen to the song "Ice Box" off of that album over and over again while I would play Mario World on my Gameboy during my 15 minute break. They were one of my favorite bands.

But I never heard of any other CD's they had released. I chalked it up to them being a one hit wonder, and that they had broken up and went about their lives.

Fast forward to 2007. I am watching TV, and a cover of the 80's hit by OMD, "If You Leave" is playing on the show that is on. The voice sounds very familiar, so I hit the Internet to see if I can find it. And to my surprise, it was Nada Surf! Turns out they stayed together, they just never had any more commercial hits.

I discovered that the band I thought had disappeared had actually released 3 other albums:

The Proximity Effect in 1998, (they re-released it 2002 with one different song)

Let Go in 2002,(GREAT Album by the way. I can listen to Let Go over and over again)

The Weight is a Gift came out in 2005. Another good album. I don't like it as much as Let go and Proximity, but it is still a good album.

Just this year they released their newest album, Lucky.

So it goes to show that you might think something you like is gone for good, but it isn't always the truth. Feel free to check out Nada Surf, (I have some of their songs playing right now on my page!) and let me know what you think. And thanks for reading! (I am 3 for 3 this week...I must say, not too shabby!)

A Game for the Ages!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might remember this post I did a while back about shopping at Wal-Mart after 10 p.m. Well, if I would have had this Bingo board that night, it would have made my trip a lot more exciting. Just think; you, your husband, and another couple could make a game night out of going to Wal-Mart. Get some popcorn chicken from the deli, a coke out of the soda fridge, and spend the next 30 minutes trying to get a bingo. Heck, you could even do it on a Monday for family night!

I can’t take credit for the creation of this, but major kudos to the person who did. Be sure to open this image in another window and save it so you can print off your own. You (and whoever else wants to join) could be playing Wal-Mart bingo tonight!!

(2 days, 2 posts…I told you I had some good material coming up!)

Monday Morning Sound Bite - Redneck style

OK, now I know that I have not been the most active blogger the last few weeks, but that is going to change. I have some posts that I am going to do this week that I have been thinking about for awhile now. But until I get to them, enjoy this quick clip of a 911 call, which no doubt originated somewhere is Arkansas. Enjoy!

On This Date in The Year 2000....

....I married the woman of my dreams at the Moore Mansion in Pasco, Wa. I have been in a euphoric state ever since.

When we met, we looked like this:
When we were married, we looked like this:

And today, we are like this:

8 years of fun, frivolity, and most of all, love and happiness. Thank you Lisa for the best 8 years of my life so far...may it keep on getting better and better. I love you!!

Lazy dog days of blogging

I have several different things that I want to blog about, but sitting outside and enjoying the last real month of summer is a lot more fun.  I mean, c’mon, where would you rather be?  In a pool cooling off, or in front of a computer screen writing blogs?  I plan on getting back on track next week.  I think I will look up some Karl Marx quotes so you mindless brain stems out there who are thinking of voting for Mr. Barrack Hussein Jimmy Obama-Carter can see how similar these two men are.  I could make a game out of it…the title could be something along the lines of “Original Communist or Democratic Nominee?”  But until then, enjoy the video.

Some good advice for my fellow Men!

Right now I am sitting at work with everything done that I had to do for the day. While trying to think of things to do to pass the next 6 hours by, I decided to write a blog. Now I don’t have internet at work, so I have to do my posts via email. Did any of you know you could do that? You just make up an email address with blogger, and you can email your posts. You can even include pictures. But the one thing I haven’t tried is to include a video.

So, that is what I am trying to do right now. I attached a video I received this morning to the email to see if it would work like the picture does. This video would actually be really good for my weekend video, but I needed something to experiment with. If it doesn’t work, I guess I will save it until Friday. But if it does work, then you get to enjoy it a day earlier.

One more thing, thanks to all of those who sent me birthday wishes either on this blog or Lisa’s. I had a great day. And for those of you who are going to be hitting the 3-1 this year, it wasn’t as bad as turning 30. It actually wasn’t bad at all. That is, unless you are still depressed over hitting the big 3-0.

I'm having a birthday, shout hurray! Won't you sing to me today?

So today is the day that 31 years ago at 2:25 p.m PDT my mother Susan gave birth to me. The first born. The first boy. And the first headache that she had to deal with. So in honor of this most joyous of days, I submit for your reading pleasure 31 things that you may not know about The Donald. It was not easy coming up with 31 things. Well, that is until I got to the end, and all these ideas started to pop up in my head. But I stuck with what I had, and I think it will be entertaining to say the least.

First up are some pics of me from childhood, and on up to High School.

Here is the paper proving that I was born, my birth certificate.

Next we have a picture of me with my Mum. She guesses that I was around 5 months old. She was pretty stoked that I found a pic to use that shows what a skinny hottie she was then.
My 1st birthday with my very own birthday cake!

2 years old, and living out in West Richland. Ahh...my 3rd birthday with a cookie monster cake. My uncle Brian and my sis Heidi were there to share. Birthday number 5!! And what do you know? Another Sesame street cake!
And here I am in the 4th grade. Don't you love those shadow pic shots? 6th grade. Still skinny as a bean pole.
Freshman year ASB card. Senior Year Prom, 1996. I took Andrea Leach. She is now a Seattle Seahawks cheerleader. Well, for the past 2 years anyway. I haven't heard if she is doing it again this year.
Here is Lisa and I in our engagement pics.

Getting ready for my 10 year High School reunion, 2006.
And a picture of me and Lorelai standing next to sweet Elisabeth when she is a day old.

I hope you enjoyed all the pics. Now that you have been patient, you are ready to be treated to my list. Here ya go!

1. I like to get pedicures. Nothing like getting some strange woman you don’t know massaging your feet. In fact, I should get one for my birthday. It has been too long since my last one.

2. I like to get manicures too. Say what you will, but number 1 and 2 are livin’ it up in my book. Don’t knock it before you try it.

3. I was (and still kind of am) the worst nose picker…EVER! As the comment my Mom made on my memory blog yesterday indicates, I had an addiction. I would go to the bathroom during elementary school just so I could pick in peace. During my first basketball game as a youth, I spend the game running up and down the court with only my left hand free.

4. I was so paranoid when I was younger, (and once again, still guilty) of going bald. I called hair club for men when I was 16, but they told me that until I actually started to lose it, there wasn’t much they could do for me. Around the age of 22, I came to the conclusion that when men lose their hair, it starts growing out their ears. So I started to pluck any maverick hairs that sprouted out of my ears. Hey, I still have a good head of hair. I must be doing something right.

5. I used to have one of the worst potty mouths in the country. I would have made a Marine Drill Sergeant blush. The bad word that I wouldn’t use was the lord’s name in vain. But swearing like that stopped being fun when I was around 18. Now swear words only escape my lips when some bonehead does something stupid in traffic. For the most part I have adopted made up swear words…some of which I have learned from my father.

6. I have lived in Kennewick practically my whole life. I had a couple stints in Richland and West Richland when I was a kid, but my parents wised up and moved to Kennewick when I was 3.

7. My first car was a 1993 Geo Prism. I purchased it when I turned 20 years old, and I paid for it myself. No help from anyone.

8. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 19. My parents told me that if I was to get it earlier than that, I had to pay for my own insurance. Since all of my friends drove, I saw no need to get one until I really needed it. I just bummed rides off of them.

9. I think that whatever I try to do, I should be able to do it right the first time. If I don’t get it right, I get frustrated, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. I will work at it until I have perfected it. Unfortunately, my daughter Alexandra received this trait from me. I never knew what a pain in the butt I could be until I experienced it with my own children.

10. My Mom blogged about this a while back, but I need to come up with 31 items, so I will use it anyway. I never had to learn how to ride a bike. I just hopped on one when I was 5 and took off. My friend Chris would trade me his bike for my Spiderman big wheel, and we would each have a great time.

11. Out of the 7 BMX bikes I had as a kid, 4 of them were stolen, and two of them I cracked the frame. I think the bike gods were trying to pay me back for never having to struggle to learn how to ride. That or I just lived in a crappy neighborhood.

12. I am by no means a dumb person, but I received horrible grades in school. I did not like to do assignments or homework for that matter. I would ace pretty much all of my tests, but since a big part of the education world is actually turning IN assignments, my grades were that of a loser who was one F away from dropping out of school. This caused great angst for both my teachers and my mother.

13. I love numbers, and am pretty good with them.

14. When I was younger, all I wanted to be was a stockbroker or an accountant.

15. I almost joined the Army when I was 18. I was all signed up, and I was going to be an accountant for them. (Well, I guess I would have been a bomb counter or something like that, but it would work up to accounting) But when I ended up a ½ credit short from graduating, they tore up my contract. I then decided that it wasn’t for me.

16. I have a pretty good memory for almost everything. I can remember little details that others forget, and then don’t believe me when I tell them. If there is one thing I have a hard time with is remembering names. Faces I am money with, names…not so much.

17. When I was in high school, (and several years out of it) I could dunk a basketball. Not too shabby considering I am only 5’ 8”. My hands weren’t big enough to go up with the ball, so I would have to bounce it a la Spud Webb, or have someone throw it up to me. I still have the hops, but going up with around 190 lbs on my frame is a little harder than going up with 150.

18. Speaking of weight, I didn’t break the 100 lb. barrier until half way through my freshman year.

19. I knew that I was going to marry Lisa before we even met in person. She knew it too.

20. When it comes to music, I have a diverse collection. About the only kind of music that I don’t care for is country, and I even have some of that. Mostly Garth Brooks, since he can actually sing w/o doing the annoying twang sound. Don’t believe me? Give his rendition of Kiss’s classic “Hard Luck Woman” a listen. You won’t even believe it is him singing. Music loving just runs in the family I guess.

21. I have had to be stitched and/or stapled up 6 times, and have broken my wrist too. I and the emergency room were practically on a first name basis when I was a kid. I also had a concussion once when I closed my eyes to ride my Uncle Brian’s bike down a hill in Des Moines, and ran into a car’s side view mirror.

22. Between the ages of 16 and 21, I lived in my parent’s back yard in a playhouse that they never finished for me and my siblings. I actually started to sleep out there as early as 14 years old during the summertime. For the first few years, the only covering I had was an old blanket that I had nailed up as a roof. My senior year in HS I added wooden sides and a wooden roof. Out there I had my bed, a TV, a VCR, and an old couch. My electricity came from an extension cord that was hooked up around the side of the house. I would stay out there until around late October, when it would be too cold to sleep anymore, and I would move back into the house. My friends referred to it as the pimp pad. Since one of my favorite books as a kid was My Side of the Mountain, I always wanted to live out in the woods some place like that. My backyard was close enough.

23. I have been into two fist fights in my life. They both happened before 12 years of age. One was when I was 5 years old, and I was forced into fighting a kid named Bobby Petty. I won the fight when I hit him in the mouth and made his lip bleed. He was up on the crotch kick scorecard, but because of the blood he ran home. The next fight was in 5th grade with a kid named Michael. We were out on the playground playing soccer when I hit him with the ball. He tried to punch me, and then I punched him back. He ran off crying. After recess they called me to the office where is parents were, and his dad said he was going to whip me. I was so scared. I guess I should also mention that when this kid tried to fight me, he had a broken arm. I don’t know why he started something with a broken wing, but that did not stop me from saying my fight record was a perfect 2-0. And like I said, that is the last fight I have ever been in. (Although there have been other times I was close)

24. After Lisa and I were married for about a year, I started to gain weight…FAST. I was around 175 when we first were married, and by 2002 I was up to about 225. I would get tired tying my shoes. One day one of my co-workers (The one that I egged his car. If you don’t know about that, you missed this long post!) told me that I was fat, and that I needed to stop pigging out. It hit me really hard, and I started to lose weight. I was then laid off from work about 3 months after that, and with no money for food, I soon started to drop the weight. By the time I went back to work 9 months later, I had lost 40 pounds.

25. Ribs are my favorite form of meat. I especially love baby back ribs.

26. I am left handed, but shoot a basketball with my right hand.

27. My first car, the 1993 Geo Prizm, was stolen on Valentine’s Day, 1998. I have my suspicions on who stole it, but never any concrete proof. It was found in the Rancho Riata area and was totally trashed.

28. I hate olives. Green, black, purple, orange, it doesn’t matter what color they are, they are all disgusting.

29. When I was 14, I shot myself in the hand with a BB gun. On purpose. Now that story would make a good blog. I will keep it in mind.

30. I didn’t fly on an airplane until I was 22. It was to go down and meet Lisa’s family for the first time in June of 1999. The first leg of the trip, I spilled my coke into my lap, and for the rest of the flight I had to sit in a puddle of soda. I stained my shorts, but Lisa told me that you couldn’t notice. When we arrived at LAX, I went into the bathroom and saw that my bride to be had fibbed a little. Actually, a lot. The whole seat of my pants were brown. And the next few flights we made down there, Holly (my MIL) would tell me to be careful with my drink.

31. Last but not least, I love my family more than anything in the world. More than the Aerosmith concert that I had floor seats for in 1998, more than playing sports, and even more than Disneyland. I would not be where I am today without my wife and best friend Lisa.

I hope you enjoyed the pics and the 31 facts about me. The list could have gone on and on, but I am only 31 after all! Thanks for reading, and have a great day thinking about me on my birthday.

Memory Blog (Wasn't my last blog about memories too??)

I have seen this on countless other blogs, and I decided that I wanted to get in on the action. So, I am doing the memory blog post. You know how it works. You leave me a comment about a memory that you have that includes me somehow. It can be anything. Someone who only reads my blog, you could tell me what one of your favorite posts are. Or even a comment that I left you. And I know that I have called out these people before, but I would like to see something from the blog stalkers that I have. You know who you are Mr. and Mrs. Blog Stalkers! Show me the money...errr....I mean memory! I would love to see them. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

And look for my birthday blog this Tuesday, August 5th, when I list 31 things about me that you may not know. Fun huh? Until then, get those memories a flowin'!