That's What Friends Aren't For

A few of us went out last night to party it up for Dave's last night in town. Dave is my roommate's brother, and it's going to a downer not having him around for 2 reasons: 1) his connections with Mayo Clinic, and 2) he cleans the house as much as I do while my other roommates do NADA.

On Dave's last night here, we meet up at Westfire, a new restaurant "slash" sports bar "slash" club. Westfire is usually hit or miss, but it is great because it's close to our house and it is non-smoking. Anyways, I see this girl I find attractive and mention it to Dave. And Dave says, "I know that girl at Mayo, wanna talk to her?" Liquid courage kicks in, and Dave introduces me to Liz. And we start talking for awhile and eventually go dancing, and few minutes later, another one of my friends, Gene, comes to BLOCK by dancing not with us, but trying to dance with me. Yeah, NOT COOL. Unfortunately, I didn't know his humor becomes twisted when he excessively drinks or sees others having a good time when he's not.

But this is not the end of Gene's wrath. Meanwhile later, this girl I've wanted to meet for the longest time at the RAC shows up to Westfire. I've only seen her out at the bars one other time, but I see her at the gym all the time. However gym really isn't the place to throw game. Well, just when I thought opportunity knocked, the door slammed shut. Gene in his drunkenness goes over and talks to this girl, and seems to be holding his own for a few minutes. But eventually, body language starts to speak for itself because she starts to look over in direction of the group I'm standing in. This is when I know she wants to talk to me. She eventually asks him to introduce her to my friends and myself, and as they are walking towards us I can tell his a little pissed because he knows he just got played. And here comes BLOCK No. 2 from Gene, "Jason this is Sara. Sara this is my buddy Jason I was telling you about...you know, the one with herpes." This is when my jaw broke the tile on the floor. How do you respond to something so ludicrous?!? Unbelievable, Gene. Just because some people are trying to have a good time doesn't mean you gotta go ruin it for others...and their reputations. Well, it will definitely make for interesting conversation the next time I see her at the RAC.

Two girls. Two Blocks. Too bad. Lesson learned: Choose your friends wisely, but even more so when you go out on the town.

School's Out for Winter

Finished my final exam in VLSI Design through the University of Minnesota today. I am definitely mentally drained. Amazing how one hour of intense testing can drain the mind. I feel completely useless right now. But thank goodness it's over...well, at least until next semester.

Dentist appointment tomorrow. Hoping for NO cavities.

And then Saturday, I'm off to the Homeland....Auburn, Washington. Home sweet home.

In the Home Stretch

The Fall semester is almost done. Have one more project to finish up by Monday, and a final exam on Wednesday. I can't wait until it's over. This Sunday, I get to watch the SeaChickens play the ViQueens. I can't wait to be disappointed again by blowing a double digit lead late AGAIN. At least the Sonics are doing well...but in time, they will let me down too. I hate sports.

Saw Blade Trinity last night. My friends did not like it as much as I did. Then wanted non-stop butt-kicking action, instead they got a blend of snappy humor and PG-13 action. Let's not forget how good True Lies was. I wouldn't say Blade Trinity was the greatest movie I've seen in 2004, but I was definitely entertained. Best Movie of 2004: Incredibles. Worst Movie of 2004: Alexander.

House Search Continues

Luckily work has slowed down just before the Holidays. It has given me time to look for houses in Rochester, and time to talk to mortgage consultants. Went house hunting just this past Tuesday. But I'd say it was more of an chance to see the quality of homes built by particular builders, and styles of houses. Since I'm not seeing the house I like out there on the market, I'm leaning towards building new. I found a floorplan I really liked, but now I just have to see if I can make the finances work. After speaking with a few lenders, I would be living on bread and water if I don't get a roommate. Looks like I'll be in savings mode for the next couple of months pooling as much money as I can for a down payment.

Lots of decisions to make in the next couple of weeks. I am definitely hoping I can get most of this straighten out before flying back home to Seattle.

What's not helping is that my class is taking up my free time. In the next two weeks, I have a homework, project and a final exam. Oooh, I really can't wait to take a vacation.

A Maryland Thanksgiving

I may have ate twice my body weight this past Thanksgiving weekend in Baltimore. Uncle Billy & Auntie Colette sure know how to keep the house stocked with plenty of food. Day 1 included: Pot roast, shrimp, chicken, and Swiss chocolate. Day 2 (Thanksgiving Day): Turkey, pancit, lumpia, green bean casserole, salmon, pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple cider, mamon. Day 3: Dim sum and an assortment of 12 other Chinese dishes, Krispy Kreme donuts and milk. Day 4: Waffles, bacon, sausage, burgers, fries, chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes. Day 5: Eggs, rice, pot roast sandwich, mashed potatoes, chicken wings and a strawberry milk shake.

10 pounds heavier, I'm finally full. What a weekend. Plenty of laughs with cousins. One particular moment involved my cousin's girlfriend, Noreen, who came out with the Cabellons & Bersamins for lunch and a movie. After lunch we all went to see the movie, Alexander. Well, our family's claim to fame is our clever wit, and sometimes our not so clever wit. Anyways, the family is standing in line to purchase tickets, and while standing next to Noreen, I read a name of a movie which was playing at the theater, What The #$*! Do We Know (substituting '#$*!' with the word 'bleep'), and I say it in such a way that where it sounds like I'm asking Noreen a question. She innocently just shrugs her shoulders not knowing what I'm talking about. And after I realize she really doesn't know what the "bleep" I'm talking about, I point to the sign above the box office, and tell her, "I'm just joking with you. It's just a name of a movie that's playing". She set off a sigh of relief thinking that I was just giving her the family test of wit. Hahaha. Good times.

Oh yeah, don't see Alexander. Terrible doesn't begin to describe that piece of BLEEP.

Busy Before The Holidays

Phew...thank goodness Thanksgiving is in two days. And I'm going to spend it in Maryland with relatives this year. Up until today, I have been swamped at work and school. Over the past seven days, I had to finish up a school project and another homework assignment. As well as support two separate projects at work. And on top of all that, my manager asked me to start training two members of our team. It doesn't sound like much...but believe me...I wasted my entire weekend sitting in my office chair instead of watching mindless TV on a couch at home.

But pretty soon, all those memories will be gone...once I go into a Turkey-coma.

Future Homeowner

One of my friends just closed on his new house the other day, and a bunch of us helped him move in. And I was fairly impressed with his new home. Then this past Sunday, I was helping my other friend frame his unfinished basement, and we got to talking about housing. And it definitely got me into the mind set of possibly purchasing a home in Rochester. Since I may easily be here another 4 to 5 years finishing up my graduate degree at the University of Minnesota while working at IBM, this would be the most logical investment I could make.

Not sure how I'll make the finances work just yet. But I will be sitting down with a mortgage consultant tomorrow to discuss what options are available to me.

Scrabbled Minds

Took my first midterm in over 3 years for a graduate class I'm taking this Fall semester. And it wasn't a complete disaster, but the waters were definitely choppy on the Open-book Seas of Midterms. Our professor definitely threw a curve ball at us, and mentioned he had a reputation of giving easy tests. Well, apparently he's trying to change people's views of him. But I'm glad to be over with it. At least until the next exam.

Yesterday, my roommates and I decided to play a little game of Scrabble. And now we're hooked. Dan won 3 of the past 4 games we played, but I dominated our last game for once. I was board game champion of the house for a week until I lost to Scrabble yesterday. The games I won prior to Scrabble were called Puerto Rico, Carcassone, and The Farming Game. The Farming Game is based on areas located in eastern Washington, which was told to me by my roommates from farms in Northern Minnesota and Central Iowa. As lame as the Farming Game sounds, it's much more complicated and intriguing than it's big brother, Monopoly.

I plan to reign as the Board Game Champion of 5047 Manor Brook. Muhahaha (not a valid Scrabble word).

Crazy Confucius

Before voting over the lunch hour today, my buddies and I went to Hunan Garden for eats. As usually we talked football for half an hour, and then reminisced about the past Halloween weekend, and retold stories of weekends past. Of course my roommate, Dan, was the butt of all jokes because some of the funniest stories involved him.

After a hearty meal, I opened my fortune cookie and it read, "A very attractive lady has a message for you." At first I thought, yeah right. Don't mess with me, Confucius.

After voting, I went back to work and checked my email, and one new email popped up in my Inbox from a "Lee, Janice". My first thoughts were, "Who is Janice Lee? Is this stupid Spam?!?" I opened it up, and it was from this girl I briefly met at my buddy's wedding a few months ago. I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from her, and it definitely brightened my day.

By the way, she's attractive...very attractive. Confucius didn't mess with me.

I Can't Swim

I went to the Gym last night to avoid the trick-or-treaters. I shot baskets for a half an hour, and was draining long range shots without jumping. But when I tried jumping while shooting, I couldn't hit a basket. Usually it's the other way around. Then I proceeded to lift weights for another hour. Still trying to kill time, I decided to hit the pool for a couple of laps...

And when I say a "couple" of laps, I mean 6. I was seriously cashed out. I'm like a rock in water. My lungs were screaming like I was a smoker (which I'm not), and my legs were not moving. I really need start doing cardio cause 6 laps is ridiculous.

Note to self: do not go into the jacuzzi in the men's locker room ever again. Let just say you don't smell good when you come out of it. Yeah. Gross.

Rufio vs. Peter Pan

I finished reading Peter And The Starcatchers, a prelude to the original Peter Pan, two nights ago. What a fantastic book. It is action packed cover to cover, which is definitely my type of book. You learn the mysteries and secrets of Peter's powers and back stories of other characters. There's one part I thought was hilarious (not giving it away), it was when Peter and the orphan boys were starving and being fed there first meal on their voyage at sea, and Little Richard explained to them what he ate when he was starving. You'll just have to read it to find out. (Speaking of food, I am hungry. Dinner time.)

I can't wait for the next book to come out in the series. Too bad it probably won't be for a while. Boooo.

Lousy Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks should be 5-1 with 3 wins in our division. Instead, they are a disappointing 3-3 with 1 win in our division. How did they give up a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter a few weeks ago? And then today, lay an egg in Arizona (a perennial crappy team). I am glad that I can't watch a team of underachievers because they don't broadcast the games in Minnesota. Maybe I should become a Viking fan because they at least know how to win.

Don't get me started with the Husky football team. Thanks for the ulcer, Seattle Sports.

Beer Pong Correction

Turns out we didn't we that last game of Beer Pong. My buddy and opponent, Gosh, had to recap the story for me. This was our conversation on instant messenger:

Jase (10:35 AM) - yo...u there?
Gosh (10:36 AM) - hey
Jase (10:37 AM) - did you guys win the last game of beer pong?
Gosh (10:37 AM) - yup
Gosh (10:37 AM) - triple over time
Jase (10:37 AM) - were you the last people we played?
Jase (10:37 AM) - i seriously don't remember
Jase (10:37 AM) - you and zack, right?
Gosh (10:37 AM) - the funniest part is how we got into tripple over time
Gosh (10:37 AM) - it came down to the last 2 cups
Jase (10:37 AM) - are you serious about the triple OT?
Gosh (10:38 AM) - yeah
Jase (10:38 AM) - oh my god
Jase (10:38 AM) - i don't remember this at all
Gosh (10:38 AM) - you drank your last cup by accident
Gosh (10:38 AM) - so we figured we won
Gosh (10:38 AM) - tim took a shot and missed
Gosh (10:38 AM) - and then you took about 20 minutes to take your shot
Gosh (10:38 AM) - but then zacked knocked over our cup by accident
Gosh (10:39 AM) - so we went into another over time where we got all 3 of your cups before you got any of ours
Jase (10:39 AM) - lol...that's hilarous
Gosh (10:39 AM) - the funniest party was how we were all being so cocky
Jase (10:39 AM) - how did i drink a cup by accident
Jase (10:39 AM) - yeah...i remember the trash talking
Gosh (10:39 AM) - i don't know, you thought the ball went in there
Jase (10:39 AM) - LOLLLLLLLLLLLL
Gosh (10:40 AM) - i remember I put the pinata on my head and went dancing around
Gosh (10:40 AM) - i was just laughing the whole time
Jase (10:41 AM) - oh...i wish i could have seen it...but i must have blacked out
Matthew Goshgarian (10:41 AM) - i have 2 bumps on my head cuz I tried to break the pinata by ramming my head into it and I hit the wall
Jase (10:41 AM) - LOLLLLLLLLLLLL

That was a memorable night, but some parts aren't easily remembered. Drinking games, no more.

Hawaii

I have been completely worthless all day. I have been resting and recovering on the same couch for the past 8 hours. All thanks to last night's Hawaiian theme party at CP's apartment.

It may be a chilly 35 degrees in Minnesota, but CP did not let that stop him. Homeboy spared no expense by decorating his pad with balloons, a tiki piñata, straw hats and leis for everyone, a plastic turtle sandbox (which held the keg), and little umbrellas for every drink. Just about everyone dressed for the festive occasion.

But where my night turned bad was playing a little game called Beer Pong. Winners of a game get to stay, and well...my buddy, Tim, and I won eight games in a row. Here's the list of the people we shut down:

1. Jenny & Jesse - sex appeal was their weapon of choice.
2. Dan & Lily - Lily was on fire, thank goodness she had D1 as a partner.
3. Gosh & Vaughn - if the game had a backboard, Vaughn would have broke it.
4. Team Eric (Iseler & Tourdot) - couldn't hang, lost by 4 cups.
5. Dan & Lily - wanted revenge, but only got served.
6. Juice & his wife - we were disadvantaged because they drank water.
7. Jenny & Jesse - a blessing to play these ladies twice.
8. Gosh & Zack - they talked the most trash, only to get owned in the end.

Champions we were for a night. But the reward was a trip to Hangover-ville. So this champ is retiring from Beer Pong. Going out as a winner, but more so after a valuable lesson learned.

Vote 2004

I usually don't follow politics. But this Presidential Election has me hooked on watching the 2004 Presidential Debates, and yesterday's lived up to its billing. I enjoy looking at the goofy expressions on President Bush when he's shocked at the statements of Senator Kerry. And anytime you see that face, you know he's going to give a rebuttal statement. It's even better when Bush rips on himself, for example the question was about the women in his life, and the President remarks about his wife and himself:

And she speaks English a lot better than I do. I think people understand what she's saying.

What was he thinking? Hahaha. Still, I know what I'm getting out of Bush. And with Kerry, I feel like his some of his words are empty promises. But that's just an opinion from someone who doesn't follow politics. The next three weeks should be interesting for both campaigns, and I can't wait to hear more.

Vote on Election Day. I know I'm looking forward to it.

Yankee Hater For Life

I will always be a Seattle Mariners fan for life. Since moving to Minnesota, the Twins have grown on me to be my second favorite MLB team. I think it's because of our common bond for hating the Yankees with a passion. Add more fuel to that fire after the Yankees won yet another American League Division Series against the Twins in the same manner they did last year. How disappointing it is to win the first game in New York and come home to lay eggs and lose the series in four games. I went to ALDS Game 3 on Friday, and what I thought was going to be a guaranteed victory for the Twinkies after Jacque Jones' homerun in the first inning, quickly turned out to be nothing more than an early lead. $35 for tickets flushed down the drain.

Boston, you are going to be my temporary favorite team for the playoffs. Why? Because you're playing the Yankees next.

On a side note: I don't share the same love for the Timberwolves because KG travels more than Ewing. Nor do I like Vikings because their purple is weak...there's only one true purple, and that's Husky Purple.

Check Your Health

Our work had a free health screening service provided today. My blood pressure is at 128/82. My body fat is at a whopping 22.6%, up from 17.5% last year. And my cholesterol is at 159, same as last year's. I definitely have to work on improving those numbers though. "FOCUS" is the key.

Got a 10 minute massage at the screening service too. That was much needed with my lower back bothering me from sitting at a desk all day. I'll have to focus on my posture too.

On another note, I'm going to the Yankees vs. Twins Game 3 of the ALDS tomorrow. Go Twinkies!!!

Wrong House

Last night, my friend (Ryan) drove me to another friend's (Mike's) house to play poker. I've been to Mike's several times, but this time I wasn't driving and wasn't paying too much attention to where we were parked. While getting out of the car, I was on the phone giving another friend directions over to Mike's. Well, Mike's neighbors' house is an exact replica of his and the only thing that differentiates the two is color. But at night, color doesn't come into play. Distracted by the phone call, Ryan and I walked up to the door of the house we parked in front of and knocked, and since no one said anything, we walked right in like we owned the joint. I looked to my left and right while on the phone, and thought it was odd that it was really clean inside with hardwood floors. And thought to myself, "Vaughn doesn't have hardwood floors, does he?" When the light bulb finally turned on, the owners of the house politely said, "Can we help you?"

Looking like a bunch of idiots, Ryan and I apologized for our foolishness and moonwalked out the door. Hahaha. People of Rochester...Lock your doors.

What's That?

Have you every known someone who annoyingly repeats a little catch phrase without consciously knowing it? Back in junior high school, this one girl would transition all her sentences with the word, like, but she never made any comparisons. One of my friend's professors would always end a statement with the word, right, as if to as a question but never intending to do so.

Most of the time these nuances go unnoticed like white noise. But there are the select few who pick up on these quirks immediately, and fail to keep to themselves because the pain is too much for them to bear, thus have everyone else suffer along side with them.

Over the course of the week during our lunch hours, my friends and I have been discussing such a topic. Mitch Arends, one of my good friends in town, has a terrible habit of saying "What's that?" At first I thought it was because he was deaf. But after having it pointed out by another friend, I knew exactly what he was talking about. When Mitch calls me up on the phone, he is notorious for interrupting your responses with a habitual "What's that?" It makes me so mad to the point where I have to yell on the phone to tell him to shut up for 10 seconds so I don't have to repeat myself.

Two days ago, another friend tried to test Mitch by pointing to his shoes, and asked him, "What's that?" And without hesitation, Mitch quickly responded, "What's....thaaa...", catching himself in an awkward situation because he realized that he answered a question with the same question. Hahaha...you got served, Mitch. We don't have the heart to tell Mitch's wife about this because she'll probably divorce him if she knew.

What's that?

A Rivalry Continues

Saying that the Green Bay Packers hate the Chicago Bears (and vice versa) is an understatement. The two superfans I know, also two of my best friends, live up to the billing of resentment for each other's teams. Matt Karlen is a die-hard cheesehead; the guy loves Brett Favre more than Madden himself. Samir Shah is Bears fan extraordinare; can't watch a Bears game in the presence of others because he's superstitious and throw temper tantrums. Well, Week 2 of the NFL season brought out the worst in this rivalry of fans when the Bears upset the Packers at Lambeau Field.

Both Matt and Samir have been bickering back and forth on our fantasy football league message board. Over the past 2 days, the two have managed to write over 2 dozen posts arguing about their team and bashing the others. Even though Samir has the edge with the Bears winning, I still have to give proper due to Matt for coming up with the most clever post of the week because it made me laugh the hardest. This is his post...

Today's game show!
by: Panty Raiders (matthewkarlen)
Topic:What does $5-$20 million a year get you?

Q:If you're a football team?
A:Brett Favre

Q:If you're a baseball team?
A:Barry Bonds

Q:If you're a basketball team?
A:Tim Duncan

Q:If you're the Chicago Bears?
A:SHIT
Message: 76 of 90.

Right now the superfan match is tied, Samir-1 (for a Bears win) to Matt-1 (for making me laugh).

Acronyms from Monday: MNF, CP, TO, RAC

Thanks for hosting a great MNF (Monday Night Football) party, CP (Chris Perez). Too bad for all the Viking fans that showed up though. I'll admit, I was cheering for TO (Terrell Owens) and the Eagles to win for fantasy football purposes; despite many of my friends being Vikings fans. Won an office pool league and two fantasy leagues this week thanks to that touchdown-that-shouldn't-have-been by TO. I'm definitely glad it wasn't challenged by the Vikings.

CP is a grillin' machine. I ate two burgers, a dozen bite-size pizza rolls and 6 chicken wings. As an old friend once said to me, "You gotta eat big to get big." I'm sure he meant to eat healthier though. Good thing I worked out before the MNF party at the RAC (Rochester Athletic Club). 5 pounds heavier and a sore chest today is worth the rewards of this past Monday night. Especially the laugh I got when CP walked right into his screen door while tending the grill. I'm the only one that saw I and he asked me not to tell anyone. Does writing about it count? Hahah...good times.

Soccer Is Over

The company soccer season is finally over. I can now rest all my injuries up until January when the Broomball season starts. For being supposedly friendly games among co-workers, physical play was the theme of the season. My friend last night suffered a 7-stitch gash to forehead on a 50/50 header; the other guy suffered a similar laceration to his forehead. The worst injury to our team is still my other friend tearing his ACL as he tried to avoid a clip from an opposing player. But through it all, our team came out with a winning record at 6-4-0 and ended up in 3rd place. With much inexperience on our team and being our first year playing together, 3rd place is nothing to be ashamed of. Next year, thoughts of 1st place aren’t a pipe dream.

Here are our team awards...

• Top Scorer: Jeremy McJunkin (a.k.a. Junker) - scored 6 goals in last night's game alone.
• Sickest Move: Tim Gerdes (T-Pod) - spin move with the ball through 2 guys, and blasted the ball into the upper right goal with a powerful left foot. Sportscenter Top Ten.
• Defensive Stud: Josh Westbrook (Westy) - made my job at goalie easy with him playing sweeper, and is infamous for his game time cartwheels.
• Not Knowing The Rules: Pete Kubista (Sneaky Pete) - got red-carded for intentionally stopping a ball with his arm in the penalty box. Oops.
• Most Likely to Fall: Candace Pederson (Candy) - she's just clumsy.
• Second Half Season Hero: Ryan Pendergast - our team needed a stopper, and he filled that need.
• Whine With That Cheese: Eric Iseler (Ice) - when is this guy not complaining?
• Worst Injury: Jesse Smith - matching ACL injury to go with his repaired right one.
• Got Skillz: Chris Mwarabu & Funsho Aduloju - born to play, ready to roll.
• Most Improved: everyone else on the team - Matt Goshgarian (Gosh), Jim Chen, Zack Garbow, Dan Nelson (D1), Becky Vossberg and Ryan Cradick.
• Worst Goalkeeper: Me - to my credit, I was also the best.

Thanks for a great season, looking forward to next year.

Growing Pains

If only I was getting taller. Unfortunately, my body just tells me I'm getting older. At 5:00am this morning, I woke up all of a sudden with the worse cramp I've ever experienced. It was like someone took a rusty knife and stuck it in the back of my left calf, and twisted the handle. Several hours later, it still is cramped. I've tried massaging the knot of my leg, but to my dismay, my body despises me. Add this to my list of current injuries: 1) sprain of outer left ankle, 2) sprain of inner right ankle, 3) slight lower back pain, and 4) muscle cramp in left calf.

It's good to be 26. On a lighter note...Happy 21st Birthday, Allison!!!

Completely Worthless

I am still feeling the aftermath of excessive drinking of Saturday night. Jim hosted a going-away party for two other close friends, BK and Renee. Drinks were provided by the house. I tried Jungle Juice for the first time and for the last. I passed out pretty hard last night; forgetting to take out my contacts. Thanks for being DD, Jesse.

Surprisingly, I woke up with a little headache. But my body was completely drained of energy and fluids. Luckily, the NFL season began this week, and sitting on the couch watching games was about all I could do. Hooray, Seahawks. Good win, good weekend, good times…

Showing Improvement

You could not ask for a better day to go golfing. Sunny skies and no wind in Rochester is a rarity at this time of year. I went back to Meadow Lakes Golf Course to redeem my free round of golf. Had a few 3-putts to inflate my score, but a steady front nine score of 41 helped me achieve a personal best of 89 over 18 holes. I only lost one ball today. Where lost balls are a good indicator of how my round is going.

So far the weekend has treated me well. Yesterday, I won a 14 person poker tournament hosted by a co-worker. I was a newbie to their group, and took them all out. Don’t know if they’ll invite me back. But that is okay, there are plenty more “fish” to fry in Pokerland.

Wireless And Ready

Thanks to my good buddy, Mitch, our house is now wireless ready. Stupid firewalls, access points, routers, SSIDs and other mumbo jumbo. I know nothing about networking. Now I can be lazier than ever on Sundays when I can check the internet and watch football on TV from the comforts of the couch. Only if I was equipped with a Stadium Pal, then I wouldn't have to get up from my seat at all. This is technology at it's finest.

I also gave blood today for only the second time in my life. Found out that my blood type is B-positive. Got a Taz, the Tasmanian Devil, covered band-aid. Yeah, I'm cool.

Back From The BWCA

Spent the entire Labor Day Weekend in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness with 4 good friends: Matt, Dan, Bart and Derick. This is my second BWCA trip in as many Labor Day Weekends. Here are some highlights of the weekend...

Thursday, Sept. 2nd (11:30pm): Left Rochester for Northern Minnesota. Had to wait for Bart to arrive from his London trip. Surprisingly, the 6 hour drive to the BWCA went without trouble. Sleep was lacking.

Friday, Sept. 3rd (6:15am): Searched for a restaurant that was a favorite in past years, turns out it burned down last year. Settled for the next nearest restaurant, Coho Cafe. Since it didn't open until 7am, we caught some shut eye until it did. However, once inside the Coho Cafe, we had to wait a half hour for the cook to show up. Too bad the quantities of their meals were not proportional to their wordy descriptions on the menu. (9:00am): After packing our gear into Duluth bags, Derick got a bit thirsty. Being his first time ever to the BWCA, he was not good at packing his bag, and packed his Nalgene bottle full of water at the bottom of his bag. Looking for water, he reached for the nearest Nalgene bottle to him. He asked, "Is this anyone's water?" Dan answers seriously, "That's oil," as in cooking oil. With no hesitation, Derick decides not to listen to Dan, takes a good swig of the oil, and swirls it around in his mouth for a few seconds. After spitting it all out, "Yup, that's oil." Too funny. (11:00am): Embarked on the Lady Chain of lakes. Portaged and canoed out to Lake Polly. It was basically a relaxing day since we didn't get much sleep the night before.

Saturday, Sept. 4th (6:30pm): After a tough day of canoeing against the wind and through long lakes, we were rewarded with the best campsite on Lake Phoebe. We had the pick of the litter since we did not encounter anyone else that day. For the second year in a row, I was the fishing ace. I caught the only walleye fish of the group, and it was a good 14 inches long. Caught a few bass too, but not nearly as impressive as the walleye.

Sunday, Sept. 5th: Caught some more bass in the morning on Lake Phoebe, but released them all. Canoeing was much easier this day because of the calm winds. Stayed at Lake Beth. Took a swim in the 60 degree lake. Yeah, I was the only fool to do so. Rained that evening and through the night, but it didn't ruin our spirits. Too bad we ran out of liquid spirits that evening.

Monday, Sept. 6th (11:00am): A hot shower never felt so good. Cost $4 for a shower from the outfitters up there. But it's definitely worth it, especially when you have a 6 hour drive that awaits you. (12:00pm): Listened to my first ever book-on-tape, The Jester, on the ride home. Not bad at all. I would definitely recommend them for long road trips.

Good times...

Standing: Matt, Bart, Jase. Sitting: Derick & Dan

Just Desserts

Earlier this year, a Vietnamese restaurant opened up a mile away from my work. I've convinced a bunch of my friends to go there (some hesitant and others not), and they are now hooked on Vietnamese dishes. Hardly any of them order the Pho. And I'll admit, it's not the greatest, but it's the only place I can get my fix unless I want to drive 90 miles up to the Twin Cities.

Today, my roommate treated me to a lunch at Pho Hoa for helping him mix and pour concrete for the footings of the deck to be built (a.k.a. Ewok Village...but that's another story). The owner there recognizes my friends and me, and he always tries to guess how many we have in our party. Usually we have 5, and he seats us at our usual round table. But today we had 7 in our party, including a newbie to the restaurant. As with most Vietnamese restaurants, it's not uncommon to find people ordering by number rather than trying to butcher the name of the dish. Well, here's how one of the conversations went as we scanned the menu:

Ryan (the newbie): "What's good on this menu?"
Tim (Michigan co-op): "Whatever you do, don't order 99."
Ryan: "Really, what's that?"
Tim: "Oh? There's a 99, I was just making a number up, didn't know there was even a 99th dish."
Me: "Tim, you idiot. But seriously, you can't go wrong with #41 or any of the 50's or 60's if you don't like soup and prefer noodle dishes or rice dishes."
Ryan: "Hmm... Ok. What's a Meat Pie?"
Me: "Actually, it sounds kind of funny, but it's really good. It's like a Vietnamese version of a meatloaf. Sort of."
Dan (my roommate): "Do you get ice cream with that?"
Everyone else: "What?"
Dan: "Ice cream?"
Everyone else: "Why would it come with ice cream?" Puzzled looks on everybody's faces.
Dan: "You know, ice cream with pie."
Everyone else: *laughing at Dan*
Me: "Wow, someone was snorting a bit too much of that concrete powder yesterday."

Yeah, it's really not a funny story unless you were there. Thanks for the free meal, Dan. But sorry, no ice cream. On a lighter note, my fortune cookie read: Your income will increase. Now that would be just desserts.

No More Room On My Plate

My manager walked into my office today, which he rarely does. So I knew it was not going to be my day when he asked me if I saw this particular email. Well, obviously I didn't see it because the contents of the email suggested for someone to investigate this new line of work. It was his subtle way of asking me, "can you do this?" Gee thanks, boss.

I am actually looking forward to doing this new task, but at the same time my current workload is not a friendly one. And the kicker is that I am going to start taking graduate classes this upcoming semester. This EngiNerd is in for the Fall of his life. Sweet pun. *self-hi-five*

A Four Letter Word

GOLF. Sometimes the game is good to you. Other days it's not. Today was the latter. Meadow Lakes was the battlefield of choice today. Lost half a dozen balls to the creek lined course. Surprisingly, I shot a 102. First my putter failed me, and then I developed the shanks on the back nine. Could have been worse.

The only positive out of the whole day was that my friend and I got two free rounds with carts and 2 free buckets of balls for the driving range. Since I still had a semi-bad ankle, I could only play with a cart. However, a tournament was going on and the course's cart supply was all used up. An hour after our original tee time, we finally got a cart to ride. And for our patience we were rewarded. Though with ying there's yang. On the last 3 holes it began to pour cold rain. FREE...another four letter word. It was just too good to be true.

Bring On Book Six

Finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was a bit disappointed in Harry's character. Though I understand he's going through his teenage years. Granted, I still enjoyed the book. The 3rd book is still my favorite even though the movie couldn't represent.

I'm kind of bummed out that I can't kick it with my friends in the Twin Cities tonight. My sprained left ankle is too painful to stand on. I need to let it heal for the Boundary Waters canoeing/camping trip next week. That trip is a little more important.

I guess I'm watching Olympics on a Friday night while icing my ankle. Fun. Unfortunately, I already know the result of the USA quarterfinal basketball game thanks to the internet and NBC's delayed coverage. What was the US thinking when they made Boozer, Carmelo and LeBron late additions to the team? Where are the long range shooters? Answer me that. I'm going to watch the WNBA from now on. Go Seattle Storm!

Worth The Pain

The epic sports rivalries of Jordan versus Bird, Red Sox versus Yankees, Michigan versus Ohio State will always be debated as to which is the best by sports fans until the end of time, or when beer ceases to exist on the planet (whichever comes first). However in the microcosm of small town sports, there is a new rivalry to be spoken of in the days (not years) to come...the Rochester IBM soccer teams of Cabellon versus Yanes.

First, a little history... I played for Yanes' soccer team for the past two years, but hardly got any playing time. And that was understandable because I've never played the game in my life. However, as the circle of friends grew over time, so did the pressure to form a new team surmount on my shoulders. Along with the defection of myself from Yanes' team, came 4 of my friends. Oops. No hard feelings. We have a (not so) secret nickname for our soccer team, The Darkside.

Tonight was the first ever meeting between our teams. We dealt the first blow taking a 1-0 lead, but not even 10 minutes later they equalized it on broken play. I play goalkeeper for our team, and I deflected their first attempt. But on the rebound of the deflection, one of our defenders made sloppy clear and they put away the second attempt. To make matters worse, I ended up spraining my only good ankle (note: I sprained my other ankle 2 weeks ago playing 21 in basketball...foolish). The pain of having to watch a tight game from the sidelines was almost too much, but I'm sure that was the feeling in my ankles and not my gut. I came back like Rocky versus Ivan Drago in the 2nd half to GK with a 3-1 lead. With 2 useless ankles, I miraculously made save after save. Am I that good? That's for you to decide. We won the game 5-1, and dealt Yanes' team their first loss of the season. The Darkside's record is now 5-2-0. With 3 games to go in the season, the championship is at stake. However, Round 2 of Cabellon versus Yanes is still to be played. Stay tuned.

Fantasy Football Fever

Thanks to the Arends for hosting a BBQ and online-nerdfest-draft party. The burgers were great and the "puppy chow" too. By far the best fantasy football draft party I've ever been to.

Unfortunately for the 3rd year in a row, I have been foiled in my attempts to draft Shaun Alexander in my fantasy football league (Midwest League). Thanks you very much, Mr. Ortmeier.

I think I have a pretty good team nonetheless. I drafted these guys, in the following order: Edgerrin James, Kevan Barlow, Terrell Owens, Matt Hasselbeck, Duce Staley, Jamie Sharper, Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Justin Fargas, Garrison Hearst, Anthony Simmons, Keyshawn Johnson, Jeff Garcia, London Fletcher. James Jackson, Freddie Jones, Dhani Jones, Olindo Mare, Eli Manning and Jerramy Stevens. Like anyone cares.

Not only can I wait for the NFL season to begin. But I am looking forward to the many football discussions the Struggletown Crew will have during the lunch hour. We endlessly talk about football as if it is our second job. Only if it paid by the hour. Go Seahawks!

Hot In Herre

Minnesota needs to rename itself to Southern Canada. What has happened to our summer? Don't think we've even had one here in the Midwest because it's been so cold. Yet tonight is a rarity. All the windows are open in our house, and it is still freakin' 80 plus degrees inside. I would turn on the A/C but our electric bill is already through the roof. I can't sleep.

Why does Minnesota have the most unpredictable weather on the planet? Today it was a humid 80 degrees, but you'd never know looking out the window because of the dark overcast. Yesterday, it was bright and sunny. But no...it was cold and breezy. Thank goodness I'm not a meterologist. Nobody would want to be my friend if I was.

Respect This Fish

Played 5 hours of Texas Hold 'Em last night. A waste of time? Maybe. But I won money, so I can't complain. In fact, quadrupled my money. Nothing like strangers disrespectin' your style of play. They thought I had no clue what I was doing because I lost about every hand I played. Well, it turns out I just had bad cards. Fate fooled them. When the tides finally turned later in the night, I made my moves. And the fish became the fisherman. World Series of Poker, here I come.

...Not.