So, this weekend I attempted to put on a protective clear bra on my front bumper/hood. The instructions made it look super simple. The web site selling it of course said that it is easy for anybody to install... yeah. Well I cleaned my car super well just like they said I should. I didn't see a speck of dust. I turned on ALL the lights in the garage and even brought out an extra light. I start installing the thing and it immediately becomes apparent that my garage really isn't dust free as this sticky plastic was apparently the air's equivalent of a Swiffer Sweeper because once I installed it, I noticed a ton of dust and small particles under the plastic. I told myself it would be ok and pushed on to the actual bumper, I had just finished the hood. Well the bumper is where the real nightmare began. As you all know bumpers aren't flat, they're curved and have lines and ridges to make them look better. These aspects of the bumper made it virtually impossible for me to get the plastic to fit properly, and each re-application I made, more dust would be trapped. I eventually gave up and ripped it off and put it back on it's original packaging.
K ends up coming home and I am beating myself up because I just wasted $300. I ask her to help me make one last attempt, and she accepts. She's so nice. Anyway, we try to apply the thing in one piece for about 30 mins and we about give up when K has the bright idea to cut it into pieces where it doesn't seem to fit properly. At this point, I figure anything is better than just wasting $300. So I agree and we get it installed. Yay! So I take the car out in full sunlight and find out that not only is there dust under the plastic there are lots of water-filled bubbles that we didn't see to remove in the low light in the garage. So I can honestly say even with a few paint chips, my car would look better than it currently does now! I can fix the bubbles with a needle, but the dust and lint is stuck! I'll probably end up removing it all after the winter and I'll re-acess whether or not I should have it professionally installed. I can get the same thing installed professionally for an extra $150 or I can do just the bumper w/o the hood and mirrors for the same price. All I really care about is the bumper anyway because it already has a couple small rock chips. So hopefully I'll be able to convince K to let me pay somebody to install it in the spring ;) Either that or I'll just start saving up for a bumper repainting :)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
@ the top of my mind
...is cheesecake ice cream! K and I made a delicious batch last night as our first trial with the ice cream maker we just got as a belated wedding gift. And to be honest, I think K and I love ice cream, deserts, and preparing foods so much that I think we may actually use this thing more than once a year. Believe it or not, it is actually sort of practical for us to have it. Let me tell you why. I love ice cream and milkshakes. So first and foremost, this will be a major motivator. Second, it only takes about 30 minutes to make a simple ice cream start to finish. (well if you don't include freezing the mixing bowl. So it would take us roughly that amount of time to go to the grocery store and back to buy ice cream. And third, we often buy various dairy products in bulk because mainly K bakes so much for others. So we often already have some sort of cream on hand. And instead of letting it go to waste, why not make some ice cream and freeze it! So as you can see, it actually is practical to have an ice cream maker!But back to the cheescake ice cream. It was delicious. It was very heavy because the first two ingredients are 2 soft cheeses, followed by whole milk and sugar. So needless to say, you'll get pretty full on just half a cup of this stuff. I tried to eat a heaping cup and I couldn't finish it. This particular recipe is a bit heavy for my taste, but it would be good to garnish a hot brownie or maybe it'd be good in milkshake form because this recipe is also very sweet so watering it down with milk wouldn't hurt it! I want to try to make a hybrid of this recipe and vanilla ice cream one day to see if I can make it feel a little lighter. I could also use 2% milk possibly or maybe light cream cheese, but who knows if the lower fat content and higher water ratio would make it develop more annoying ice crystals!
The next thing on my mind is beef jerky. Can you tell I'm hungry? I haven't eaten lunch yet and I've got cravings on my mind! I want to try making jerky at home because the stuff you normally get at the store is super tough and dry. I have had very good jerky over the years, but I am not sure how to make it so that it doesn't feel so dry, or even tough for that matter. There are brands out there that are neither tough nor dry. Well all jerky is chewy to some extent, but I don't want to have to feel like I'm going to lose a tooth pulling it apart. So maybe this weekend or the next I will venture into attempting to make the perfect jerky. But I have a couple chores that I really should take care of first, one is re-staining the deck for that nice winter coat, and the second item is putting a clear bra on my car. I need to protect it from chips, and these sticky applications can take a long time to do right. So really I need to figure out how to do all this and make jerky, because that's what I really want!
The last thing on my mind is glassdoor.com. This web site helps people compare salaries and reviews of companies. I heard about it on CNN this morning and I really wish I hadn't. I have this thing where I feel like I didn't try hard or do well in life. It is a common re-occurring theme and I have to struggle with it a lot (see last blog post). Just seeing what the average salary was for Google and Facebook in California made me wish I had tried harder in school and gotten a job at one of these places instead of "settling" for Motorola in the job that I initially got. Even the Google jobs in Chicago pay more starting than I currently make. But there are two problems with this envy. One, I can't change where I am today, I can only work hard to make sure I do my best in the future. Two, even if I had applied myself 100% in school, I am not sure that I would've been Google material. I like to think of myself as smart, but I swear to you there are varying levels of smart, and the people that get paid more than my current salary right when they graduate college are the top tier of smart. Some are certified geniuses. So why do I let myself get so down about not being the best in the world? I will never always do better than everybody, and honestly even if I did work at Google I'd probably still be jealous of somebody or something. This is a major struggle for me. Logic tells me that I am doing well in life and that I am working hard, but my emotions tell me that I am a huge dummy and haven't tried hard enough in life. It's frustrating!
But at least I know that I have a loving wife to come home to that can cheer me up even on my gloomiest days. And it's things like that that really matter in life. I keep reminding myself that. It's important to remember to enjoy what you have going for you in life. I really am looking forward to that cheesecake ice cream sitting in the freezer, and I am also looking forward to having my car back from the shop. I'm looking forward to meeting with my church small group today and just having a good conversation. I am looking forward to seeing where life takes me.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Maybe I should start blogging again
I guess now that I'm officially married and have been since July, I should probably do what boring married people do best. Spill my uncensored thoughts online in what I would proclaim as an "edgy and inspiring heartfelt journal of my life-musings" Sound about right? Yeah, I thought so.
Anyway. This year has been a busy one. Besides getting married. I got a promotion, then later found another job. I also bought a new car and sold my truck that I kept for 10 years! So wouldn't you think that life is just peachy? Well it is, but really, my new job has given me a lot of time to think about just how important work really is in the larger picture. It isn't. It's just a job, it's how you pay your bills. It's your life that's really important. So I've recently began attempting to figure out what I really want to do with my life. That's the hard part.
I had a bunch of goals as a kid: Graduate college, get a good paying job, buy a house, get the car that I've been drooling over, date a lot of hot girls, and marry the most beautiful one inside and out and then have kids. A couple months ago, I realized that I had accomplished all my goals, well minus the kids part. I thought to myself "is this it? What do I do now?" I couldn't really think of anything. So here I am today, thinking again, is this it? I know it's not, but why don't I see the next step. I mean technically, I could just do what I am doing and just coast through life, but the ego inside of me makes me want to do something, anything that has some sort of meaning, something that will make me say at the end of my life "my life mattered"
We're all so insignificant when you really think about how big the world or even the universe is. This insignificance can sometimes put me in a rut. I want to feel like I was put here for something. I mean to be an engineer and buy a nice car and get married, is that why I was put here? Anybody could've done that. What am I supposed to do? I suppose I need to ask God. In all honesty, that scares me. What if I don't hear an answer, what if I don't like what I hear? I mean I'd hate to hear that my purpose was to be a run-of-the-mill regular person, who didn't really apply himself most of his life, but once he brought some sad person true happiness. Sure that's great in all, but I still want to think that I was put here for something more.
I guess somebody might tell me, life is what I make of it. So maybe my ultimate goal should be really be to just live in the moment and see the glass half full. Maybe today, that will be my first step. Today is a good day.
Anyway. This year has been a busy one. Besides getting married. I got a promotion, then later found another job. I also bought a new car and sold my truck that I kept for 10 years! So wouldn't you think that life is just peachy? Well it is, but really, my new job has given me a lot of time to think about just how important work really is in the larger picture. It isn't. It's just a job, it's how you pay your bills. It's your life that's really important. So I've recently began attempting to figure out what I really want to do with my life. That's the hard part.
I had a bunch of goals as a kid: Graduate college, get a good paying job, buy a house, get the car that I've been drooling over, date a lot of hot girls, and marry the most beautiful one inside and out and then have kids. A couple months ago, I realized that I had accomplished all my goals, well minus the kids part. I thought to myself "is this it? What do I do now?" I couldn't really think of anything. So here I am today, thinking again, is this it? I know it's not, but why don't I see the next step. I mean technically, I could just do what I am doing and just coast through life, but the ego inside of me makes me want to do something, anything that has some sort of meaning, something that will make me say at the end of my life "my life mattered"
We're all so insignificant when you really think about how big the world or even the universe is. This insignificance can sometimes put me in a rut. I want to feel like I was put here for something. I mean to be an engineer and buy a nice car and get married, is that why I was put here? Anybody could've done that. What am I supposed to do? I suppose I need to ask God. In all honesty, that scares me. What if I don't hear an answer, what if I don't like what I hear? I mean I'd hate to hear that my purpose was to be a run-of-the-mill regular person, who didn't really apply himself most of his life, but once he brought some sad person true happiness. Sure that's great in all, but I still want to think that I was put here for something more.
I guess somebody might tell me, life is what I make of it. So maybe my ultimate goal should be really be to just live in the moment and see the glass half full. Maybe today, that will be my first step. Today is a good day.
Monday, May 31, 2010
One step closer
Today I bought my suit for the wedding. And I got the best deal ever, if I do say so myself. My favorite suit store, Men's Warehouse, currently has their buy one get one suit sale going on. So if you're in the market for a new suit, why not get two! Anyway, They always have some sort of sale going on. So you really shouldn't ever have to pay full price for a suit. And that's where this story begins...
K and I have been looking for the perfect gray summer suit for me to wear for our wedding for the past couple months and have been getting nowhere. First, we were too early in the season, and no store had gray suits. Then when we tried later, all the gray suits we could find had a thread pattern that K did not find appealing at all. I didn't mind half of them, but this is her day. So I will wear the suit she likes the most. A week ago K finally goes to Men's Warehouse, the store I had told her was our best bet all the long. We hadn't made it there though because my shopping tolerance is about 2 hours and we'd always stop at some other store first and then I'd be too tired to go to Men's Warehouse. But we finally made it a week ago and lo and behold, K immediately finds "the perfect suit" I was ecstatic. Then I noticed the price... $600. And it was the only suit I saw that had no sale tag on it. I was very bummed to say the least. I almost gave up, but K said that to have faith that it would all work out. And as we walked out of the store, no suit in hand and with my thoughts of my money vanishing before my eyes, I tried to remind myself that this was a once in a lifetime event and that "all working out" meant that I get the suit and make K very happy, no matter what the cost.
So I go home and scour my email for any coupon codes in my MW emails that I subscribe to, and I found a 20% off coupon for Memorial Day purchases made online only. So I was a little happy, but I still felt like spending $480 on one suit was a lot. Most my suits were $250 or less... But $480 wasn't THAT bad. So I was happy. So I just waited until today. And I kept faithfully checking my email for an even BETTER coupon. And what do you know? a couple days ago MW announced a buy one get one sale on designer suits! So I did the math and re-read the terms of my 20% of coupon. And nothing said that the coupon only applied to one item or did not apply to on sale items. Now I was getting excited... I thought to myself, "2 suits for the price of 80% of one! what a deal!!!!" I couldn't wait to buy my suit now. I just had to pick another suit. So I decided to maximize my discount and get 2 equally priced suits. And today I bought them both. I am so happy. I get two awesome suits and K gets the suit she really wanted me to get. What an awesome ending. It really did all work out and I am glad that K had the faith and foresight to know that no matter what happened it would all work out!
So without further ado, here are the two suits I bought! ...for the price of 80% of one :)
K and I have been looking for the perfect gray summer suit for me to wear for our wedding for the past couple months and have been getting nowhere. First, we were too early in the season, and no store had gray suits. Then when we tried later, all the gray suits we could find had a thread pattern that K did not find appealing at all. I didn't mind half of them, but this is her day. So I will wear the suit she likes the most. A week ago K finally goes to Men's Warehouse, the store I had told her was our best bet all the long. We hadn't made it there though because my shopping tolerance is about 2 hours and we'd always stop at some other store first and then I'd be too tired to go to Men's Warehouse. But we finally made it a week ago and lo and behold, K immediately finds "the perfect suit" I was ecstatic. Then I noticed the price... $600. And it was the only suit I saw that had no sale tag on it. I was very bummed to say the least. I almost gave up, but K said that to have faith that it would all work out. And as we walked out of the store, no suit in hand and with my thoughts of my money vanishing before my eyes, I tried to remind myself that this was a once in a lifetime event and that "all working out" meant that I get the suit and make K very happy, no matter what the cost.
So I go home and scour my email for any coupon codes in my MW emails that I subscribe to, and I found a 20% off coupon for Memorial Day purchases made online only. So I was a little happy, but I still felt like spending $480 on one suit was a lot. Most my suits were $250 or less... But $480 wasn't THAT bad. So I was happy. So I just waited until today. And I kept faithfully checking my email for an even BETTER coupon. And what do you know? a couple days ago MW announced a buy one get one sale on designer suits! So I did the math and re-read the terms of my 20% of coupon. And nothing said that the coupon only applied to one item or did not apply to on sale items. Now I was getting excited... I thought to myself, "2 suits for the price of 80% of one! what a deal!!!!" I couldn't wait to buy my suit now. I just had to pick another suit. So I decided to maximize my discount and get 2 equally priced suits. And today I bought them both. I am so happy. I get two awesome suits and K gets the suit she really wanted me to get. What an awesome ending. It really did all work out and I am glad that K had the faith and foresight to know that no matter what happened it would all work out!
So without further ado, here are the two suits I bought! ...for the price of 80% of one :)
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010
what a fun ride...
Well, Over the past month I had campaigned to become what they call a Chevy Rider and I got pretty far! It was a fun experience and although it would've been nice to make it all the way, it was still fun pushing myself to see how far I could make it! The Chevy Riders are a group of people that go around to events and around town in the latest Chevrolet cars and advertise events, give away prizes, and of course show off the cars!
The contest started with me filling out an application, then I was selected as one of the top 100 finalists. I was then instructed to get all my friends, family and random strangers I could think of to vote for me to win. So I did just that. I made it into the top 25. Then I pushed a little harder and made it into the final 10. At this point I was contacted for an in person interview and live trial. Both of which were super fun and I realized I would've been good at doing promotions. In the end I was not selected due to my current workload. But as far as I can tell everybody who saw me work thought I did a great job and I walked away with a new sense of accomplishment!
The contest started with me filling out an application, then I was selected as one of the top 100 finalists. I was then instructed to get all my friends, family and random strangers I could think of to vote for me to win. So I did just that. I made it into the top 25. Then I pushed a little harder and made it into the final 10. At this point I was contacted for an in person interview and live trial. Both of which were super fun and I realized I would've been good at doing promotions. In the end I was not selected due to my current workload. But as far as I can tell everybody who saw me work thought I did a great job and I walked away with a new sense of accomplishment!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
I love America
For this:
That's right, 2 fried chicken breasts, mayo-based sauce, bacon and cheese... I should probably eat this in the emergency room, you know, just in case...
[source: http://consumerist.com/2010/04/kfcs-bacon-sandwich-on-fried-chicken-bread-kills-people-everywhere-on-april-12.html]
That's right, 2 fried chicken breasts, mayo-based sauce, bacon and cheese... I should probably eat this in the emergency room, you know, just in case...
[source: http://consumerist.com/2010/04/kfcs-bacon-sandwich-on-fried-chicken-bread-kills-people-everywhere-on-april-12.html]
Check out my latest photos
So I went to another photo shoot recently with the purpose of re-creating the feel of some of Ansel Adams' portraits. Here are the results.... I'm pretty happy with them.
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Sunday, December 27, 2009
a few things
- I had an awesome Christmas. I got a new camera/laptop backpack that's friggin huge and has a ton of compartments and configurable storage. So it's pretty much perfect. I also got a 42" reflector kit with a stand. It works great especially since I still only have one off camera flash. I also got some cologne from K. So I'm sure I'll be smelling much better in the near future. My sister gave me some awesome gift cards and I now have 2 new sets of work out pants! Oh yeah, I had a lot of fun with my family and took plenty of time to contemplate the meaning of Christmas. Between playing with my new camera stuff ;)
- I think I broke my truck. So when I am stupid and I forget not to use the parking brake when it's below freezing. My rear passenger wheel gets stuck. There are 2 ways to fix this. Well 3, but the third is boring. 1, you can stick the sucker in 4WD Low and gun it and hope you knock the wheel loose. And 2, you can bang at the drum brake with a hammer. I opted for # 1 today because, well I forgot about #2. And around my parent's house, they don't use salt so the roads really stay pretty slippery. So I drove about a block with 3 wheels spinning until my truck just decides not to move anymore. At that point I have my sister get out and she tells me that my front wheels were not spinning either. OOOPS. Guess I broke 4WD. So I call the tow company, they bang on my drum and get the wheel loose. I hobble it back to my parent's garage to let it thaw (option 3) My car made a nice squeeking noise the whole way, which was super fun. After the thawing, I drove it around and the 4WD seemed to be behaving again, but I'm still suspicious. So I'm taking it in before making the long drive home to make sure I won't die when my wheels fall off 100 miles out. So I'm stranded! yippie!
- I can't wait any longer to get the gosh darn Camaro. If I had a fancy dancy new car. I wouldn't have these old car problems. I'd also be so much cooler. As we all know, a car is an extension of one's ego, and often is used to compensate for something. And for me it's to compensate for driving around in a gold compact pickup truck for 10 years! I want a car that I'm gonna love until I have kids. It may be my only chance and I don't want to miss out on this one. I want my gosh darn Camaro! When my truck broke, I got all excited and I prepped myself to overextend my credit prematurely so I could leave Iowa in at least a 2LT/RS Camaro! But just my luck, the dumb truck still drives!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
So I got to thinking
Once you enter the working world. Time passes a heck of a lot quicker than it did when you had your life evenly divided into classes, semesters, and years. Now you pretty much just have years, and day to day and week to week and even month to month kind of just meld together. There really aren't as many milestones and really there seem to be less memory making moments. So It has become obvious that my perception of time passing has been greatly accelerated. I mean I created this blog about 3 years ago. I think but I still feel like it wasn't that long ago. I've had my camera for over a year, but it still feels brand spanking new. I've been working out daily for almost 4 years now, and I can't believe it.
Why does life have to pass by so quickly? I like life. I love living it. Why can't it just take a moment and slow down? I really miss the feeling where it took so long to get through one semester and each phase of school was broken down into a few year increments... I mean it really made it so easy to break apart the time. Every day now, I drive to the same place, work in the same cube, and talk to the same people. Nothing changes. So it would appear that I forget a lot. There is nothing memorable happening. It's scary. I remember my relationship I am in, but there are so few distinct milestones, it is all melded together. It's crazy. But still, I love life, in all its phases. I will take every day and try to enjoy it one day at a time.
Why does life have to pass by so quickly? I like life. I love living it. Why can't it just take a moment and slow down? I really miss the feeling where it took so long to get through one semester and each phase of school was broken down into a few year increments... I mean it really made it so easy to break apart the time. Every day now, I drive to the same place, work in the same cube, and talk to the same people. Nothing changes. So it would appear that I forget a lot. There is nothing memorable happening. It's scary. I remember my relationship I am in, but there are so few distinct milestones, it is all melded together. It's crazy. But still, I love life, in all its phases. I will take every day and try to enjoy it one day at a time.
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