It's Been Some Time Since We Last Spoke

Couple quick things while I still remember them:

1. Strawberry Dum-Dum pops taste just like that numbing stuff that dentists use right before they give you the shot. You know, they stick that pinkish-reddish goop on a q-tip and then delicately place it along your gumline so that the surface where they are going to stick the needle is desensitized? Yep, tastes just like a strawberry Dum-Dum pop. Unless you had the cherry goop, which tastes nothing like a cherry Dum-Dum pop. That one tastes like every other "cherry" medication out there.

2. I've decided my favorite time of year is the last half of spring, summer and the first part of fall. I like it warm for the most part, but today it was neither warm nor cold when I stepped out of the office for lunch. It was calm with a cool breeze. Perfect weather for anything outdoors. But then, I kept walking to my car and felt the sun shine down. I swear to you, I heard angels. It was like a warm wind, but not a wind at all. Just a gentle wash of warmth. Fantastic. On the downside, considering it is September, this is signifying that winter, my nemesis, is on its way. Still, going to enjoy this climate while its still enjoyable.

3. Go watch "Warrior". As expected, I loved it. Then again, I watch UFC fights and buy into dramatic movie characters. What wasn't nearly as expected was the girlfriend enjoying it. It was a later showing, and she's not shy about dozing off during a movie. She was on edge for the better part of the movie. The characters are all very well developed and it's almost impossible to avoid getting wrapped up in the dynamic relationships between the characters. You find yourself at times rooting for and against each of the three main characters, and none of it feels contrived. Just a solid movie from start to finish. It does have a fighting element, but it doesn't get deep enough into it to throw off those unfamiliar to the octagon (in the movie's case, a hexagon because UFC has trademarked the eight-sided ring). It's most certainly worth your $8.50.

4. Ribs are really good. I forget this from time to time, because in a steakhouse I almost always go for the steak. I mean, it's called a steakhouse and I hope there is a valid reason for that moniker. If there was a ribhouse, I feel I would have to order the ribs over the steak, but I'm yet to find out, and the closest alternative is a place called RibCity, where I had the pulled pork lunch plate. Anyway, went up to Park City and had the ribs (St. Louis spareribs. Baby back ribs annoy me with the low meat to bone ratio. Too much work, not enough payout) at Bandit Grill. Absolutely delicious. Only downside is that they didn't have a half-rack option. Thankfully, they do offer take home boxes and I've had ribs for dinner for the past three nights now. Odds are, tonight will make it four. In case you were wondering, they are fantastic. Just moved up a notch in my book.

5. Fall TV schedule is kicking off. Ask me if I checked the DVR to see if there was enough space to handle my course load of shows. Thankfully, there is plenty, and if needs be, I'll just hook up a hard drive to the thing and never worry about it. I mean, I watch a fair amount of shows. House, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Fringe, TUF, Jersey Shore, Top Shot, One Tree Hill, and those are just the ones I can name without pausing. Yes, it sounds like a lot, but it averages to like an hour a day. And other than an occasional Storage Wars or Pawn Stars (History Channel owns me) and, of course, sports, I don't watch a lot of TV. Thanks to the DVR and online streaming, I'm able to keep up with all of these. I know, it's impressive.

6. I miss the second TV. Watching college football is fantastic, but it was better when I had two games going at once. Now with one, I'm having to flip back and forth, and I always feel like I'm missing something. The better part of the week will be spent on figuring out how to make the picture-in-picture work on the TV. I know it's not the same, but it will have to do.

Word.

If You Wanna Go And Take A Ride Wit Me

As the White Sox play out the rest of the string, and the Diamondbacks lock up the NL West, I feel it's appropriate to discuss my past doings with all of you.

For reasons I'm still not 100% sure of, work got extremely busy from August 18th, until about Tuesday (Sep 6). Like, 3 to 4 fold more busy than the average day. Most people would get upset if their work days suddenly felt like three crammed into one, however, since my job is mostly commission based, I was more pleased than an Arkansan in a "Everything Made of Buffalo Bone" shop. (Let's not kid ourselves. Who wouldn't be ecstatic in that shop?) The downside is that it didn't leave a lot of time to slap something up here. For that, I make no apologies. I had to choose to between making money, and informing the two people (Ok, mostly just my sister, a couple times a day) that read this about my activities. When typing this out leads to cashing checks, maybe I'll shift my focus. Do not hold your breath, as I know I don't have the time to commit to such an endeavor, and I question whether I have the literary chops to develop something that interesting. How many sites do you visit on a daily basis? How many of them are so you can read something? I have about 5. Couple blogs, ESPN, MSN and Grantland. I'm sure there is someway I could have a notification inform me of a new post, instead of having to check on the daily, but I like checking things, and they are kind enough to link blogs to other friends so that I don't have to type in all of the other addresses. For that, I say thank you.

The other things that have kept me busy are some road trips. The weekend before labor day, I went down to St. George with a couple buddies and the girlfriend. We had a blast, played some golf and hiked the Narrows in Zion's. I should note that the girlfriend was the only girl there. Yes, she did come golfing with us. She became very good at driving the cart, as well as smiling and telling me that "Oh, it looked like a really good hit" when I would knock the ball into the trees/water/highway. She's kind like that. She's also forgiving because on the golf course, well, you tend to relax a little bit. Which can get awkward, given that when you relax on a golf course it is usually with a bunch of guys. I feel/hope this is universal, but same gender comments and conversation are different than mixed gender ones. In those potentially awkward moment, she would either feign having not heard it, or she would just smile and shake her head a little. We'd all laugh, except for whomever made the comment that time, and then keep on playing.

(This is the one photo taken during this entire weekend, just before we started the hike in Zion's. I'll let you figure out who is the girlfriend.)

The hike was terrific. It isn't a steep hike, but it is long, and you spend the entire time in a knee-deep stream. It took me a little while figuring out how to secure my footing on the submerged, rocky terrain, but after that you just keep going. The cool water keeps you from feeling too hot at any given point, so you never feel like it's a chore. However, once it's over and you're sitting on the tram back to the parking lot, you realize just how much work you put in. Either way, I highly recommend it, and if you have the time, stop by the Bistro (that's its name) in Hurricane on the way out. Delicious food there. They seemed to be seasonal, so they probably shut it down in the winter, which is when the national parks in that area shut down as well.

So I came home from that great weekend, put in my week of work, kaplan, and softball, and then this past Labor Day weekend, I went up to Idaho Falls. I've made two trips to Idaho, and one trip through it. This was the first time that I was not having to wear multiple layers or question whether I should put tiger balm on my toes to remind me they still exist. It was a little brisk, but nothing a pair of jeans and hoodie couldn't fix.

The girlfriend needed to go up there because her dad had just accepted a position in New York, and would be moving there for the next 5+years. By the time this posts, he'll already be there. She asked if I wanted to go. Another chance to take a pseudo vacation outside of Utah County? Yep. I'm going to do that.

We left Friday right after I got out of work. I didn't stop to eat before leaving, so by 8pm, I was hungry something fierce. Thankfully, we were entering the bustling metropolis that is... Malad. I'm pretty sure that Malad is in Idaho, but it might still be Utah. It was near the border, and the girlfriend let me know that it was the last quasi-town until Pocatello, another hour or so down the road. Pulled into some diner and had the biggest fried pork sandwich I've ever seen. It was too big for me to pick up, and I vastly preferred my food picked up as opposed to forked and knifed. (And yes, it is knifed, not knived. I had to look it up because it looked weird.) On the upside, it was really good with some gravy and mashed potatoes.

Got into Idaho Falls, stepped outside, and was really glad I had a hoodie in the car. The days never got cold, but the mornings and evenings were a different story. We made it to the girlfriend's mom's house around 10 pm, and ran outside to lay on their trampoline and look at all the stars. (bee-tee-dub, there are a bajillion stars up there that you forget about until you find yourself in some remote place and are able to pause and just look up. It is truly amazing.) She brought a blanket, but that wasn't good enough. I was literally shaking for a couple minutes as natural survival instincts kicked in and my body realized it needed to generate more heat to keep core temperatures within reasonable ranges. The next night we went to a drive in movie. Yes they still exist. Rumor is that there are only about 20 or drive ins still operating in the United States. Idaho Falls has two of them. The point of the matter is that this time, we brought three blankets. One was a denim blanket made from swatches cut out of jeans. I did not know this was common practice. It is. This thing was fantastically warm. We had a lovesac in the back of her sister's truck and with three blankets, we stayed warm while being visually assaulted by "Smurfs" followed by "Zookeeper". For the sake of all things good and holy, avoid both of these. Run, do not walk away from them. Slap anyone over the age of 8 who suggests either of them. If you see a fire, try and put it out by tossing every copy of them onto it. Either the pile with smother the flames, or the flames will consume the pile. Win-win.

The rest of the trip was highlighted by her grandfather's 92nd birthday, as well as a number of visits to/with her relatives. We spent most of the time with her sister and brother-in-law. Aside from letting us borrow said truck/lovesac/blankets, they invited us over a number of times to play with their kids and talk after the young'ns had retired. Great folks there. Couldn't thank them enough for their kindness and sincerity.

Oh, and we watched the BYU game with her dad and his wife. Tough game to watch, but thankfully the Cougs pulled off the victory. Should be an interesting matchup against Texas this weekend.

Came home Monday afternoon so I could have some time to prep for the Kaplan class I had Tuesday night. It was a great trip, and got to see a little more of the girlfriend's family. Great people up there.

Word.