August 15, 2004

            I think this update may be short and sweet.  Anywhoo, last week I went to see the play Mamma Mia! in Cincinnati.  The play was awesome and I bought the soundtrack. If any of you out there are musical nuts, let me know and I'll get you a copy.  Seeing the play also gave me an opportunity to visit the UofC campus and it's surrounding areas.  I was even privileged enough to visit the ghetto places where the Cincinnati riots happened.  Let me tell you, I rarely have to fear for my life, but this was one of those times. People just walking up to your car window and stuff...kinda scary if you ask me!

            We also got to go boating last sunday.  Tried slalom skiing and basically got close but got dragged through the water about 20 times.  Oh well, next time i'll have it!  Anyway, those pictures are online so go ahead and check out all the good times.

            I had a disaster yesterday doing laundry.  Seems Jim left a pen in his pocket and all his white shirts developed magical royal blue spots all over them. So I had the pleasure of spending 9 hours on Saturday with a toothbrush trying to remove stains from shirts. Fun times, let me tell you.  I learned two things yesterday. #1. Always have oxy clean on hand and #2. Don't leave pens in your pockets, you'll be sorry. Trust me on this one.

        Well, that's about it for now. I told you it would be short. Maybe I'll go golfing or something fun like that.  So I guess I'll leave you with my songs of the moment:-)

Songs of the Week:

The Offspring - Worst Hangover Ever

Papa Roach - Getting away with Murder

Earshot - Wait

Bob and Tom - Church League Softball Fistfight

Blue is suddenly not my favorite color,

Jim

July 29, 2004

            Well hey hey hey, I'm back again...with a new server.  This is my third try at a server and this one looks promising. The first one told me I had no more space after uploading 4MB (even though they said I had 50MB to work with.)  Then the second server let me upload but was always down and no one could ever see it.  But hooray, Jason found me 150m.com which gives me 50MB and a reliable server to work with. Here's hoping this one doesn't crash on me too!

            First thing....today's Jenni's 21st birthday. So happy birthday Jenni! May alcohol and old bastard dog beer (yes it's a real beer) cloud your mind and help you forget about all the problems of the world for years to come! ;-)  So anyway, I suppose if any of you forgot, she would probably want me to tell you to have you all send her something.....probably hard cash or princess cut diamonds...so yeah....get to work on that all of you!

            Last weekend was busy for me.  On saturday I went with my uncle to fly remote controlled airplanes.  It's been years since I've seen him fly.  We took the trainer plane out and I got to steer it around a bit.  Trust me kids, it ain't easy!  I took a few pictures and made a small movie about the expedition. Perhaps if you're nice i'll upload a few this week. Stay tuned... we may go out this weekend with his pattern plane (the friggen fast one that does all the tricks and shtuff) so there may be more pictures on the way.  On sunday we went and say Jesus Christ Superstar at a shakespear outdoor play festival. I never have seen it before and only knew the overature theme. I must say though it was a very good production. If you ever get a chance to go see it, I would recommend it!

            I've been playing my uncle in tennis a lot lately.  Still can't beat the guy cuz he just reeks of awesomeness, but I've won a game or two;-)  I guess I won't be going to wimbledon any time soon. I'm sure the queen will be disappointed.  I haven't been out golfing in over 2 weeks.  I think I'm going to hit the range this weekend and make sure I can still hit the ball lol. I'd hate to get back to school and suck as bad as I did when I went to the range at school last spring!  Luckily, when you're at the range, it's almost guranteed there will be people that are way worse then you to make you look really good.  And if not, there's alway a dad that takes his 3 year old to the range that hits the ball a foot or two. So I suppose if worst came to worst if I compare myself to the 3 year old...I'm friggen awesome! Go me!:-) I've also been running 2 miles every few days. I'm getting progressively better.  My first time out it took me about 25 minutes and I had to stop and walk a few times.  Now I'm running the whole 2 miles and finishing in about 18 minutes.  Progress is being made.  Sure I ran a 14 minute mile in high school, but this is kentucky where the roads are on hills. For all my friends in ada, a hill is something where the land increases in slope. Yes, believe it or not, my ohio buddies, the whole world isn't flat;-)

            Even though I'm 400 miles from home, i've been lucky enough to keep in touch with all my friends back home in Michigan and in ada.  I'm really thankful for that!  Thanks to all of you for keepin' in touch with me until I get back to the great white north!  Which reminds me, my aunt told me they only have snow for about a week during the entire year down here....SCARY!  When it's winter (and I'm not driving 150+ miles) I WANT SNOW!   The two just go together....snow...winter...snow....winter!  Does Cactus and winter make any sense?!?! NO! Of course not!  Anywhoo, point is, if you're like me and like a good snowball fight or want to pull off a feat of engineering and build an 8' tall snowman like Anne, molly, and I made last spring.....the great white north is the place to be!  If you're into marrying your cousins or next of kin....Kentucky is for you:-)  And if anyone from kentucky is reading this, before you grab your torch and pitchforks to come skewer me...I'm just kidding! 

            Work is going really well.  I'm kinda in a lull right now in terms of work due to everyone being in china right now, but things will start to pick up soon. In the meantime I've been spending a lot of time teaching myself solid modeling using I-DEAS.  My first parts I designed should come in today.  If I'm lucky, they should all fit together and work wonderfully.  Well, one out of two isnt' bad.  If it all just fits together, I'll be happy!

            Song(s) of the moment:  STP - Interstate Love Song

                                                Smile Empty Soul - Sillouettes

                                                Bob and Tom - Beer Run

                                                Pat Godwin - Gangsta Folk

Anywhoo, that's all for now.

Adds value to the company,

Jim

June 25, 2004

    Hello everyone and welcome to my first installment of my little journal of life in Kentucky.  Basically this gives me a place to write about whatever I feel like writing about.  Two reasons for doing this are:

1) I can never keep what I write short enough to fit in my AIM profile :P

2) It makes it easier to keep everyone up to date on what's going on!

    So anyway, since I missed a few days, I suppose I should congratulate my Detroit Pistons for humiliating the Lakers and winning the NBA championship!  I'll be honest, I follow hockey a lot more then I do any other sport, but I still root for all my home teams no matter what.  Hey, if we can't have the Stanley Cup, I'll take an NBA championship!  Anyway...GO PISTONS! Do it again next year!

    For those of you who have been living in a cave or somewhere with little to no communication (ada), I am working at Lexmark this summer.  Again, if you live under a rock or have never used computers...they make fine quality printers for all your printing needs.  I work in the Laser color printer division. However, I can't say what i'm working...something about being shot if I say anything yada yada I get whipped with a hickory stick etc. etc. and so forth.  Anyway, it's a lot of fun and I work with the nicest people.  So! Buy a Lexmark printer (or ink cartridge) and help pay Jim's salary!  There's nothing like knowing you're making a difference in Jim's life by making him slightly richer!

    I guess the other "big" event this week was my 21st birthday on June 21.  First off, I'd like to thank all of you who called me to wish me a happy birthday.  Sometimes you forget how many people like having you around and monday was a reminder of how lucky I am to have such great friends! Thanks you all (Kentucky translation: Ya'll) very much!  Anyway,  my aunt and uncle took me out to Outback Steakhouse ( First time there....not too shabby!)  and then we came back to the house and had a little cake and I unboxed gifts from my family at home:-). My sister got me the Q95.5 phone scams vol. 6 CD and my uncle and aunt got me a Yosemite T-shirt from the trip they took out west a week ago.  I think this year's reoccurring theme was "The Simpsons"!  I got the Simpsons Season 4 DVD box set,  my brother got me a Simpsons puzzle, and my parents got me a Homer Simpson talking bottle opener!  And for all my alcoholic friends of mine out there...yes.....I did have a drink.  There....the never ending curse has been broken.  You people can stop complaining about it now and lay off me! YEESH. In case your wondering, I didn't like it (yech!)  Oh well...alcoholism here I come :P

I saw the movie "Dodgeball" tonight.  Very funny!  If you are a person who spent all their childhood dreaming of becoming a dodgeball champion and wooing all the ladies...this movie is for you! Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way to a better you!  Fun fact: The guy who plays the dodgeball champion in the "How to play dodgeball" instructional video is Hank Azaria. You may know him as one of Phoebe's boyfriends from "Friends", but I know him better as the voice of Moe the Bartender, Professor Frink, and Apu Nahasapima....whatever from The Simpsons.

Sunday, my Uncle Greg and his family are coming to visit Kentucky for a day before heading up to Cedar Point.  Should be a great time and maybe a few pictures will be taken.  It's always great to see Greg and Sue! 

Anyway, that's about all for now.  I think I"ll end these things with random stuff that doesn't quite fit in anywhere else.

1. Classic song that is stuck in my head this week: Whitesnake - Here I go again

2. Favorite Simpsons Season 4 DVD quote of the week: Homer: I call the big one Bitey.

3.  I can't take hints surprisingly! Whoa!

Until next time!