Life, According to Chris

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, Night! (and...day!)

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:26:13 GMT

Slept in nice and late and then decided it was high time to pull out the lawnmower and cut the grass...first time this season. It was getting really long in some areas and brown in others. Grrrr. Also trimmed along the fence and patio with the weed eater and then sprayed Weed-and-Feed on the lawn.

After which my friend, Aaron, came by and we took his BMW convertible (named Uma) out for a nice ride in the fantastic weather. We drove up through Suncrest and over the mountain into Utah County and came out by the Micron/IM Flash Technologies plant. We then wrapped back around to the freeway and drove back. It was a nice day to do that! His new stero sounds great! :D

Afterward, we played Guitar Hero. However, the extra guitar I purchased last week (paid for in part by the gift card given to me by Aly and

everydave for my birthday-THANKS!) wasn't working properly. This is the first time I had pulled it out to use it and the whammy bar wouldn't register. So, we couldn't battle (every time I got slammed with a broken string hit, I'd die because I couldn't fix it using the whammy bar) and ended up playing the Co-Career instead. It was fun. We then went to dinner at Cafe Rio after which we went our separate ways. I was able to exchange the guitar that night for one that worked. I then vegged at home until breakfast at the VI that night with the gang.

All in all, a good day. :)

Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener...

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:15:23 GMT

So, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is parked in the Hilton parking lot that is adjacent to my office building. I saw it on the way to work today and it made me smile. Just thought I'd share.

For some interesting info, see: Wikipedia

I've escaped from the house! Woo hoo!

Fri, 09 May 2008 16:20:56 GMT

I cannot believe how much I've slept in the past two days. I totaled it up and since Wednesday I've slept over 30 hours. Wow. However, I woke up this morning and felt well enough to come to work...so, here I am. :) Not 100% but MUCH better than I have been. :)

So, something amusing I saw this morning on my way into work. Big ol' Hummer H2 on the side of the road with a UDOT Incident Management truck pulled up behind it. My first thought was that it was a female who needed help with changing a flat tire. Nope. It was some dude who needed help changing his tire. LMAO. The UDOT guy was down on the ground changing the tire while the guy was standing there watching. If you need to drive something that big to show your manliness but can't change your own tire, that kinda defeats the purpose. Right?

I hate being sick...

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:21:06 GMT

Stayed home again today. I did, however, try to get ready for work. Alarm went off and I got up and said, "screw that" and went back to bed. Maybe tomorrow...getting bored and narcotics make me have weird dreams...

I've got the plague...

Thu, 08 May 2008 00:54:36 GMT

OK, so it's not really the plague...but feels like it.

I woke up this morning and my breathing was really crackly and raspy. Uh oh. I promptly called my doctor's office and they were able to get me right in this morning. Turns out I have a sinus infection and bronchitis. FUN! *both thumbs in the air* They had me do a breathing treatment with a nebulizer in the office and gave me a couple of prescriptions to go fill: a z-pack, and cough syrup.

When I got home I made some soup, took the medication, and then went back to bed. Slept all day long. Woke up at 6:30 pm. Not sure if I'll be going to work tomorrow or not. We'll just see. My head feels like its going to explode, so I'm going to go find some Tylenol or something. Then I think I'll go make some more soup and read or watch TV or something...

Being sick, MINI stuff, and one last B-day bash...

Mon, 05 May 2008 22:53:53 GMT

Freaky Friday
After work and the gym, I went home and played Guitar Hero until meeting up with Jana for dinner and a movie. We saw Made of Honor. I quite liked it. We then stayed in the common area of the theater (Jordan Commons) and talked until a cranky theater worker told us we had to leave because all the movies were out. *shrug*

On my way home Lafawnda's radio display started flashing. Everything on the radio was working fine, but the display was flashing. Nothing I did (turning the car off, turning off the radio power, popping off the security plate, going into the menus, changing the clock time, etc.) resolved the issue. When I got home, I pulled the radio fuse out and let the radio reset itself. That did the trick. After putting the fuse back in and resetting the clock, everything was working fine. Weird, odd, freaky things happening to my car now that I'm out of warranty. I think someone called it planned obsoleteness? hhhmmm...

Sick Saturday
I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat from Haites, congestion, and a cough. :( It was HORRIBLE. I am such a WIMP when it comes to being sick. But, was I going to let that keep me away from a movie and looking at my potential MINI? Heavens, no. Should it have? Definitely, yes.

Went to see Iron Man with the gang. I wasn't expecting much, and didn't know anything about the movie. It was great! LOVED it! It will be one that I own. :) After which, I went to the MINI dealership and spent a couple hours there. I checked out the MINI that came in and decided that there were too many things that I didn't like about it. I decided to order one instead. So, after completing the paperwork (everything is ready to go, just have to finalize the order with my deposit) I went home and crashed. I was SO drained...probably shouldn't have been out of bed...let alone out of the house.

Super Sunday
It was Fast Sunday this past Sunday which means I don't answer the doorbell in the late morning. It is always the Deacons or Elders in the Ward coming around for fast collections, dropping off the Ward newsletter, and asking me to come to church. Just not interested. Plus, I wanted to stay in bed and read.

Later in the day, I got together with my friend, Joe, for my birthday. We went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (yum!) and then went back to my place and played Mario Kart Wii that he gave me. SO fun! After which, we watched 27 Dresses. That is such a cute movie! I'm a sucker for chick-flicks. Ya, go figure huh? Joe left shortly after the movie and I played more Mario Kart before going to bed. Probably over-did it again, but come on, being sick on the weekend is just not an option. As Erin always said, "Better living though denial!" :)

MINI Monday (today)
Got up...no, really, that is an accomplishment right now...and debated calling in sick. Instead I took some Dayquil type cold medicine stuff and got ready for work. Got to work late, but at least I showed up, and then debated with myself about what to do about my car situation.

Lafawnda's radio did something weird again today...on the way to work, the display wouldn't change when I changed the station...odd...After flipping through the other preset buttons, it started working again...odd...just don't want to have to replace the radio before selling her. gggrrrr

Called the credit union today to confirm a couple of details and found out everything was a go for my loan. They were even willing to lock-in the rate until the car comes in (estimated delivery of 8-10 weeks with a 12 week max). However, I've really been second guessing my decision to order a MINI now. I think I got caught up in the excitement of getting a new car (especially while mine is starting to do odd things) and lost track of my priorities.

Don't get me wrong, I can afford a new car, but I've been really working on saving money. My financial planner wants me to have enough money in the bank to float myself for several months without an income, should the need arise. I'm doing pretty well, but am not quite where I want to be yet. Also, I still have some debt left from installing a patio awning last summer and other landscaping related expenses. I had already decided at the beginning of this year that I was not allowed to get a new car until that debt was paid off. Well, if I get the new car now, I'll have that payment AND the backyard debt. However, if I wait 6 more months (late Sep, early Oct) I can pay off the debt and get a new car with the same amount of money I was planning on putting towards the car now.

After talking with a couple of people, I decided that it wasn't smart to get the MINI now. I can't plan for the unforeseen...and that frustrates me. While I am worried about things going wrong with my car (one of the main reasons for doing it now), it doesn't mean that things will. If they do, oh well. I have savings, I'll get it fixed and move along my merry way. If things don't go wrong, all the better and I can sell her in 6 months without needing repairs. I just felt uneasy getting locked into 5 years of (expensive) car payments while not having other debt paid off. Its not necessarily what I WANT to do, but it is what I NEED to do.

Responsibility sucks.

Updates, updates, updates...

Fri, 02 May 2008 21:22:55 GMT

Really, I am trying to write everyday. However, since I have not yet, I'm going to do updates in the meantime. Birthday, orthodontists, and a MINI...oh my!

The Birth Week Continues
Wednesday night my family came down to Salt Lake to take me out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I had called a week in advance to find out tentative wait times for weekday nights. They mentioned that it was typically 15-20 minutes (even for a group of 8), and was best to come as early as possible as the wait grew the later it got. I got there 15 minutes before my family was to arrive (as we had planned) to get a buzzer. This was done in the attempt to have a table by the time they got there. Well, when I got the buzzer, they told me the wait was 45-60 min. Oh well...it was worth the hour wait and we had a good time. Afterwards we were all supposed to go to my house to open gifts. Unfortunately, we got out of there much later than we had anticipated. In addition, it had been snowing. So, they all decided they needed to head back to their respective homes but we came up with a plan. I went home and then called them on their Bluetooth connected car phone (so everyone could talke and hear) and opened my gifts over the phone. Kinda funny, but better than opening them all by myself.

Thursday, everydaveand Aly took me to dinner. We went for sushi at Aly's favorite place, Tsunami. It was SO good! I still find it hard to believe I love sushi so much. :) We had a ton of sushi (loved all of it, except the eel nigiri), I tried Saki (didn't really like it), and had a fabulous desert. Jana also joined us; we had a fun evening. Thanks again, everydave and Aly! After that I went home and was finally able to sit down and play Guitar Hero. Julie gave it to me on Tuesday for my birthday. It is such a fun game, and very addictive! I kept saying to myself, "I really need to go to bed. OK, one more song...I really need to go to bed. OK, one more song..." I did that until 1:30 a.m. lol

Tonight it continues with Jana and I going to dinner and then to go see "Made of Honor." I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie for a couple of reasons: 1. I like chick-flicks 2. Erin always told me that I was going to be her "Man of honor" if she ever got married again...it will make me remember her fondly. So, tonight should be fun. :)

Braces...one more time...
Oh what we do for beauty. About a month or so ago I had to make a trip up to Logan to get a couple of bondings to my permanent retainer fixed. Well, last Saturday one of the ones that was repaired came off again. I called the office and they scheduled me an appointment. So, Thursday morning I got up at 5 a.m. (for those of you who know me well, I hope you didn't just die of shock), was out the door by 6 a.m., and was in Logan by 8:00 a.m. Only I went to the wrong office. For some reason I thought my appointment was in their Hyrum office. So, after sitting in the empty parking lot of a locked building for 15 minutes, I decided to call their office. They told me they were in the Logan office that day. Well, luckily I still made my 8:30 appointment. Anyway, after taking a look at the broken bonding, we talked about what to do. We decided to go ahead and rebond the tooth to the retainer and then in January I'm going to be doing Invisiline. We'll take off the permanent retainers and then I'll have three different retainers that I will wear 24/7 for about 9 weeks (each for a 3 week period). This will move all the teeth back into their correct positions. After which, we'll put the permanent retainers back in. I'm waiting until January because I can then pay for it with flex-spending. C'est la vie. I was back in Salt Lake, and at work, by 10:00 a.m. It was kind of a long day...

To MINI or not to MINI? That is the question.
So, the sales person I've been working with at the MINI dealership just called me to let me know that the MINI I was looking into getting just arrived. I was wanting to wait until January to get one, but now I'm just paranoid of something happening to my car. I'm not sure if I'm just over sensitive now to stuff because of this paranoia, but I think my fuel pump might be going out. Also, interest rates on auto loans just dropped again. So, right now might be a really good time to just go ahead and do it. Anyway, this MINI that just came in is almost exactly the same as the one I would custom order. Really, the only two (main) differences is that this car is red instead of black and it has 16" instead of 17" rims. I'd like to go look at it tonight, but won't have time to do so before they close for the evening. So, going to go and look at it tomorrow. If those two things don't bother me that much, then I might just go ahead and do it. Ugh...what to do? What to do?

See, Tech Writers have a sense of humor ;)

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:13:01 GMT

This came through today on a Technical Writing list serve to which I belong. I just had to share; I was laughing my butt off...enjoy! :D

Odds and Ends

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:16:56 GMT

This entry is full of odds and ends relating to the week and to provide updates on previous posts...

Last Night
Went to the gym last night and 10 minutes into my strength training workout I nearly passed out. I had just gotten done doing back exercises and suddenly I got light headed and my hearing went down to about 1/4 the normal volume. My trainer looked at me and said, "You look really pale, Chris. You OK." I told him I was light headed and getting nauseous. He told me to sit on the ground and went and grabbed me a Carb Energy Drink. Apparently I had over exerted myself. I spent the remaining 20 minutes of my training session trying not to puke. He told me that I shouldn't do anything more that evening and to head home once I felt better. I stayed sitting for about another 15 minutes or so and then went home. I felt really stupid...ugh...

Orthodontist
Called my old orthodontist up in Logan and explained the situation with my teeth. They made time for me to get in to see him the next day. So, I took part of Wednesday off and drove up to Logan. He gave me three options of what we could do:

Immediate and easiest fix. Push the two front teeth together and rebond the permanent retainer.
Longer but better fix. Take the permanent retainer off and use a removable retainer for a few months to move some teeth back into place and then place a permanent retainer back in.
Best but longest, and most expensive, fix. Remove the permanent retainer and get the Invisaline braces to move all of the teeth back into their original places and then place a permanent retainer back in.

Well, in discussing what to do, he and I both decided to try the first option and to see if I could live with it. He pushed the two front teeth together, rebonded three of my teeth and sent me on my way. I'll live with this for a few months and then decide what to do. The nice thing is that this was a free fix. So, we'll see...

My Evil Twin
So, Ryan and I have been e-mailing back and forth for about two weeks now. He allowed me to clear the air with him of my issues and concerns and now we are working on getting to know one another again. It's good progress and we'll see where things go.

That’s all for now...

Old dog, new trick...

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:24:17 GMT

So I get home from the gym tonight and as I'm getting out of the car I don't hear Daisy howling. Usually she hears the garage door go up and is at the door leading from the garage to the inside of my house letting me know she is waiting for attention. Every once in a while this happens, usually when she is outside in the backyard where she can't hear the garage door.

I go inside, set down my gym bag, and proceed to the sliding door leading to the backyard while calling Daisy. At this point she typically comes bounding in through her dog door and all is well. However, nothing.

Hmmm...maybe she is upstairs asleep and didn't hear me? I continue to call for her while climbing the stairs. No jingling of the collar or the sound of four small bounding feet can be heard. Double hmmm...

At this point I'm thinking that something is wrong. A million things started going through my mind...Maybe someone climbed over the backyard fence and took her? Maybe something happened and she got trapped behind or underneath something? Maybe she got into something and choked? I started searching the upstairs for her. I looked under beds, behind furniture, in closets...everywhere. No sign of Daisy. I'm panicking at this point.

I went back down stairs, opened the sliding door and looked for her in the backyard. No sign of her. However, I did see a gap beneath the fence and the ground in the north-west corner of the yard. Oh crap.

I called Bluffdale Animal Control and got a recording...their offices closed at 5pm, but referred me to the Salt Lake County Animal Control and listed a number. I called them and they said they didn't know why Bluffdale was having me call them, "We can't help you. You'll have to call Bluffdale back in the morning." Swear words.

I was debating what to do next when the doorbell rang. My heart leapt. I answered the door and a couple of neighborhood kids said that Daisy had gotten out of the backyard and the neighbors were watching her. I ran over there and rang their doorbell. Ah, there she is! I'd recognize her bark anywhere...The door opens and it is her! I thanked the neighbors profusely and was informed that the numbers on her dog collar were not working. Oops...I don't have the home phone anymore and I changed my cell number back in October. It hadn't even crossed my mind to update those. Hi, I'm Chris...I'll be your moron for the evening... *hits forehead with palm of hand*

I took her home and then promptly went and inspected the gap in the fence. Ah, it makes more sense now...Daisy has been busy! Little twerp dug the grass down to the dirt and got enough out of the way to be able to squeeze through the fence. I went to the garage and found some old cinderblocks to use to block the hole until I can get a permanent fix.

I'm going to need to bake some cookies for the neighbors and take them over on Saturday. However, since my last attempt to bake cookies turned out pretty horribly (long, but seriously funny story!) I think I might try to bribe suzie_lightning to help me out...I hear that while she's been on Nyquil her cookie baking skills returned... ;)

Daisy, the escape artist. Sorry, there will be no repeat performances...I hope...

It's a Cavity Free Me! However...

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:38:21 GMT

Happy to report that my dentist appointment went well...no cavities! Yea! Also, since I have started flossing everyday since my last checkup, everything else looked good too...so, I didn't get yelled at. ;)

However, I now have an appointment with an orthodontist...ugh...it seems that I wasn't going crazy when I thought my two top front teeth were getting a gap in between them. Apparently, a couple of the cement bonds that hold my permanent retainer to the back of my teeth have come off. Since I've already had braces three times in high school (long story) I am not about to let things get out of hand.

Here's to hoping that they have some tricks that can get the three teeth that have started moving back into place. I don't want to have to do the full braces thing again... *sigh*

Wish I had put more money into my health flexible spending account this year...coulda, shoulda, woulda...

Happy Birthday, SPAM!

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:23:47 GMT

I don't know why I found this so funny...but this morning, as I was getting ready for work, a radio DJ announced that SPAM turned 71 today. Just thought I'd share...

Yea for Clearance Furniture!...and Friends with SUVs...

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:45:22 GMT

OK, so my story starts this past Saturday.

I was driving up to my parents house in Syracuse when my Dad called and said he and my Mom were at RC Willey with my sister. My sister was looking for something decorative to hang on her stairway wall...not that that is important, yet, so we'll focus back on me.

The point of telling you this is that I decided to meet them at the store before going to their home; I love to shop! Anyway, while I was there, I decided to see if RC Willey still carried my couch. When I bought my couch about four years ago, I also purchased one matching arm chair with the intention of eventually purchasing another one. I wanted to have two armchairs to match the couch. Well, in those four years I just never really had gotten around to it. However, I now had the opportunity to see if they even carried the line anymore.

While my sister continued to drag my parents around the store, I found a sales person and asked them if they could help me. The nice man looked up my account, found the stock number of the arm chair, and then checked their inventory. Sadly, the line had been discontinued BUT they had one (1) matching arm chair left in the entire company! Right then and there I said I'd take it.

Now, the point of my sister comes into play. After two hours at the store with my parents, she walked out without purchasing anything. Me, I was there for ten minutes, with NO intention of actually buying anything that day, and spent a lot of money. lol

The chair price was $599 (ouch!) but since it was the floor model, and the last one left, they said they'd take off $100. Still kind of high, but hey, I'd been wanting to do it and would not really have another opportunity to do so. He quickly called the store where the chair was located and wrote up the sales ticket.

Since I couldn't make it to the other store location that evening, and RC Willey is closed on Sunday, I went in last night (Monday) after the gym to inspect the chair before paying for it. (This is where it gets good!)

After much searching, I finally asked someone to help me locate my soon to be chair. He said it was on the third floor. I didn't even know that they had a third floor! So, I found the stairs up to the third floor and noticed that the sign said, "Clearance Center." Hmmm... I made my way up there and soon found my chair, with *drum roll please* the price marked down to $209!! Woo Hoo!

I went to pay for the chair and told the cashier that I would need to pay to have it delivered. Now, I can fit a lot of stuff in Lafawnda (my Ford Focus sedan) but not an over-sized armchair. She politely informed me that because it was a clearance item, delivery was not available. Hmmm... "Well," I said, "I won't be able to take it tonight as I don't have a car in which the chair will fit." She seemed hesitant at this point. I was then informed that clearance items needed to be taken when they were paid for. Double hmmm...

I quickly got on the phone to call my Mom to find out whether my Dad took their SUV to the airport or if he left it this week with my Mom. The home phone was busy. I called her mobile phone. No answer. Oh, this is getting good... It is now 8pm and the store is closing in one hour. I'm desperate for help now. Who else has a truck or SUV that I can call? everydave!!

I quickly called everydave and discussed my situation with him. We decided that each of us needed to measure our respective items (me, the chair and he, his SUV) to make sure it would fit. Luckily, it appeared it would. everydave left immediately to come help and I went to the Will Call area to have the chair preped.

everydave arrived and, luckily, the chair fit. With my new purchase in everydave's Jeep, we drove to my house and unloaded the chair.

What an ordeal, but I am thrilled to have it! However, I'm even more thrilled to have such an awesome friend (with an SUV...lol) who would drop everything and come help me move a chair at 9 at night...thanks again, everydave. :)

The Return of the Evil Twin?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:33:21 GMT

So, life sometimes is really quite interesting...

I had a friend in high school who, for all intents and purposes, was my long-lost twin brother. We were so similar, it was scary at times. We even referred to each other as "our evil twin."

I don't know what triggered or caused it, but while we were in college, Ryan's personality completely changed. Among other things, he was constantly lying to me, of which several times I caught him, he constantly stood me up after we had made plans, and he kept blowing me off. I felt that I was the only one who cared about the relationship anymore. I decided that our friendship had become an unhealthy one for me. I made the hard decision to sever our ties.

It has been about six years since I have heard from Ryan.

My Mom called me late last week to tell me that she had received a letter in the mail from Ryan. It stated that he had been trying to locate me for the past several months but had been unable to do so. So, as a last resort, he contacted my parents and asked them to pass on his contact information to me. The letter basically stated that he wanted to find out what had happened to our friendship and wanted to make amends. This intrigued me, so after a few days of pondering what to do, I sent Ryan an e-mail on Sunday afternoon.

He wrote back and said he had been going through a lot of hard personal changes in his life recently and was dealing with the aftermath of previous mistakes. He wanted to fix whatever had happened between us.

I feel that everyone is entitled to a second chance, especially when they realize past mistakes and are tying to fix them. I wrote back and stated that I would be open to a dialogue between us. So, I guess we'll see what happens.

Life is so interesting sometimes. While I lost my best friend to cancer just a month ago, I now have a previous one who wants to enter back into my life...

A Blog? But why?

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:46:22 GMT

Well, I figured that since one of my goals for this year was to start and keep a journal that I should probably get started on it.

Question: Why do I want to keep a blog?

Short Answer:

This blog will be my very own place to:

Keep a journal
Stay in touch with friends
Provide an outlet for me to rant and rave

Long answer:

Well, the LDS church advises it's members to keep a journal. While I do not really consider myself a Mormon anymore, I do continue to hold many of the LDS teachings and values close to heart.

I can remember when my family lived in California and my parents bought me my first journal. At the time, I believe I was about nine or ten years old, I didn't really want to keep a journal. I thought it was "stupid." My Mom, being the wise woman she is, told me that I didn't have to keep it, as long as I placed an entry in there that said something to the fact that I didn't want to keep it because I thought it was stupid. I still remember that to this day, and sometimes wish I had continued to keep a journal so I would remember more of what happened when I was growing up.

The only time in my life when I have faithfully kept a journal was when I was a missionary for the LDS church. While that is a time in my life that I do not look upon with great fondness, I am grateful that I kept a journal.

So, to make a long story short, this blog will be, first and foremost, a place for me to keep a journal. It will also provide me with a place to emotionally unload my rants and raves. In addition, this blog will allow me to stay in touch with friends. That is if I decide to share it with others...

But, since you are here, sit back, relax, and enjoy, "Life, According to Chris."