Well, it's been 12 months since the last post, wow the time really flies! Here’s a brief summary detailing my 2008.
I know you have all been on pins and needles to hear if I had passed my PE exam back in January. Unfortunately I passed all but the seismic portion, so I vengefully returned to Sacramento in April and am happy to report that I received my letter in July stating I had passed, and am now licensed in California. As an aside I will also always remember the day that I received my result letter as the day I spent drinking Miller Lite while floating down the Truckee River on an inner tube and getting completely sunburned head to toe...those of you who received a phone call from me once I received news will remember that day as the day "some drunk dude called me yelling about a test and inner tubing?"
While we’re on the subject of river rafting…my company sponsored a raft race down the Truckee River from Caughlin Park to West Street Plaza (See pictures to the right). We did very poorly (19 out of 24 I believe) but the proceeds went to the Truckee River Foundation http://www.truckeeriverfoundation.org/ and the Transplant Network. http://www.thetransplantnetwork.com/
I recently got another dog, his name is Kirby (Puckett), and he is a golden retriever. He is much lighter in color than Booker (See photos to the right). He keeps me on the edge of my seat whenever I'm at home, and to my surprise he and Booker get along very well, which is more than I can say for he and Nermal. He is about eight months old and is going to be neutered next month (ouch) as he is quite the little hump happy puppy and my couch is threatening a sexual harassment suit.
Rib cook off was excellent as always. The city has a lot of events throughout the year, the majority of them in the summer. They are all are pretty fun, but all take a back seat to the rib cook off. This year I tried to get a table on multiple nights although, with the increasing popularity of the event, the Nugget felt the fair thing to do was to hold a lottery for the tables. Thus I didn’t get one and will have to wait another year to hopefully get one on the weekend with friends. Those of you that don't have even the foggiest idea what I'm talking about...for shame. http://www.nuggetribcookoff.com/ check it out. You can return here after a you get a little education...it's okay I can wait.
What else is new, well I'm still single...wait that's not new. Oh, a couple of my friends got married...then a couple others got a divorce...circle of life I guess. Ryan finally proposed to Caitlin just shy of a decade of courting...yes people still use the term courting. If you have any interest in their wedding info you can check them out here http://www.ryanandcaitlin.weddingwindow.com/ but return quickly, you don't want this blog to get cold.
I’m 26 this year, so I’m officially closer to 30 than 20. As is the case every year my birthday fell near Halloween. This year I decided to celebrate by dressing up as the devil and heading down to the Peppermill with some buddies to ogle the scantily clad women standing in line to get into the new club (The Edge). I spent most of the night drinking beer and re-gluing the horns to my forehead. For those of you who are used to attaching porcelain to your face, you know how frustrating that process can be. For those of you who don’t, you have been wasting your life.
Downtown Reno has spent a lot of effort and money over the past few years in an attempt to boost tourism and image. The city has done really well with the locals in the creation of the Whitewater Park and by sponsoring “beer crawls” http://www.renobeercrawl.com/ and the “wine walk.” This year for the first time Reno put on a “Turkey Crawl” downtown the day before Thanksgiving. The buy in was canned food for the needy and the whole thing was sponsored by Miller Brewing Co. This is one of the only beer crawls I actually finished this year as they only had 10 bars on the list (shot and a beer at each bar) as opposed to the usual 18. Never the less a good time was had by all and the proceeds went to a good cause.
Turkey Bowl this year was one of our best yet. This year marked the 10th anniversary for our Turkey Bowl, an event which has had just about as many venues. This year we took it to Plumas Park, as Hidden Valley Park (the site for the previous three Turkey Bowls) has been turned into a dog park. Unfortunately we just aren’t in the kind of shape we used to be, but at least we all depreciated at the same rate. I’m sure passing teenagers would have wondered why we were playing football in slow motion…punks. Let’s see how well they play football after 10 years of beer drinking and ignoring fitness.
Reno got a new sports team this year, the Reno Bighorns, a development league basketball team that acts as a feeder for the Nicks and the Kings. The last week of November some of the guys and I decided to check out the inaugural game after being coerced with promises of free tickets and dollar beers courtesy of Scruples Bar and Grill. To my surprise we actually had a pretty fun time…the dollar beers did contribute somewhat to the enjoyment I’m sure. After two hours of screaming and enthusiastic jeering, I noticed that the mascot wasn’t holding up his end…ultimately leading to our defeat…I decided to tackle him. On the way out of the events center he was shaking hands and high fiving everyone, I lowered my shoulder and speared him, I was thankfully not arrested, and to my enjoyment, received many fist bumps and high fives on the sidewalk outside.
We just recently participated in this year’s downtown Santa Crawl (28 bars in this one, no chance in Hell), an event that I look forward to each and every year for the inexpensive drinks, large crowds, and yes…scantily clad women (I’m feeling a trend here). For anyone interested in the night of debauchery feel free to check out the website at http://www.renosantacrawl.com/ they should have pictures up soon.
Well, that’s about it…back to eating Christmas cookies and dreading all of my 2009 New Years Resolutions. Happy holidays everyone!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Christmas Time
Well, it's the end of the year; therefore it's time to update everyone on the past year's exploits.
The year began as it does for most people (I'd imagine), with a New Year's resolution to lose weight and get into better shape. I'll follow up this blog with one solely dedicated to my workout schedule and dietary regimen so as not to bore those of you who don't care. Basically the punch line is that I set a goal for myself to lose 65 pounds by year end, and I'm proud to say that it's currently December 10th, and I only have six pounds to go.
But enough about me let's talk about Booker...my dog (see the many pictures to the right of the blog if you still don't understand). He turned 1 year old on February 24th, so I had a birthday party for him. As crazy as he is by himself, those of you who know him can imagine what a hectic house I had that day with another half dozen dogs and a dozen people. Mom made a "safe for dogs" birthday cake, while I picked up a human cake from Costco...yellow cake, not Soilent Green. We barbequed brats and chicken, and mom put together goodie bags for all of the visiting pooches. Needless to say, Booker slept like a baby that night.
A week later we thought it would be fun to go back to the farm in Milford where I got him (about 45 minutes north of Reno) to visit his mom and the other dogs she lives with. I was surprised to see that Booker's sister, Zoe, was still living with Tom and Cindy. They opted not to sell her because as a newborn she got a cut across her face that became extremely infected, so much so that we all thought she was going to die. She made it though, but by the time she was able to leave the nest, she had already become too accustomed to life on the farm, so Tom and Cindy decided to keep her. See the photos on the right for Booker's family reunion.
As you can imagine, the dog and cat consume most of my life. In fact I spent a ridiculous amount of time this past summer building a dog kennel (which I finally finished) only to find out that Booker can jump higher than I had predicted when I designed the thing. I'll need to add a small extension on top to prevent the jumping out...ah the never-ending backyard projects. Anyway, I decided to have Booker neutered this last fall, a decision that he was not a part of. It didn't change his temperament at all, although he no longer humps the stuffed animals...Conor, I know you're disappointed.
I left Quad Knopf in May and started working for John Welsh's company Telesto, which turned out to be a better decision than I could have known at the time as Quad Knopf laid off a good chunk of their staff including their entire civil engineering department in the Reno office. Things are going great at Telesto. In a time when the residential market has slowed dramatically we are able to keep extremely busy with John's mining projects and civil projects brought in by the newest partner David Hagen. It's just nice to know that we can thrive while others have to close the door.
The summer came and went, and September was upon us yet again which means it was time for the rib cook-off. As I mentioned before, I had been sticking to a relatively strict diet, but with eight months to sort out the logistics I felt reasonably confident that consuming my weight in pork would not hinder my efforts. Never-the-less to watch me you'd swear I was trying to re-gain what I had lost. I emerged from the mass of pork eaters a week later to find myself a changed man; I was a ravenous animal devouring anything that had even the slightest hint of the Texas Outlaws Sauce on it. A couple of salads later I was back on track, just in time for Italian Festival, this is more of the same, but instead of taking place in Victorian Square and serving overpriced ribs, the City of Reno blockades Virginia Street through downtown so the Eldorado can set up their pasta tents (they're exactly what they sound like) and sell overpriced spaghetti and ravioli. Anyway I get excited about the Italian Festival every year, probably because I don't remember each previous year's experience. Don't get me wrong, the pasta and garlic bread is great, it's just the atmosphere that's lacking, the entertainment is terrible, and with everyone standing shoulder to shoulder attempting to eat their spaghetti without spilling their plate the whole experience seems to be more like looking for a contact lens in a mosh pit than enjoying a nice EXPENSIVE plate at a "high class" establishment. Maybe now that it's documented I just might not get so excited next year.
October rolled around and it was time for me to stop procrastinating studying for my California PE exam. As I've already passed the national exam a couple of years ago, all I needed to take was the California specific portions...the seismic and the surveying. I'm keeping my fingers crossed until they release the results in February, which makes it difficult to use a fork, but I'm getting by. Oh yeah, I turned 25 on the 30th of October, thanks to those of you that remembered me, those of you that didn't, don't feel too bad, I probably won't remember your birthdays either, in fact I'm taking you out of my Outlook contacts list after I’m done typing. Moving along Halloween was a bust; I put on my old baseball umpire uniform, as I had little time to prepare a costume because of the aforementioned exam. We spent the evening sitting around Stocking's house waiting for the "Fun Boy's" to finish their costumes. They originally wanted to go as 80's punk rockers, but when everything was said and done, they looked more like 80's flamers...see attached photo, it's a little grainy (camera phone...plus I was probably laughing too hard). By the time we left (around 12:45) there really wasn’t anything left to do, so I went home, while the Fun Boys went downtown to get stared at and spit on … that last part may not be true, when I’m not there I tend to imagine things.
Leaping into November, my conditioning increased so I could be in football shape for our yearly game on Thanksgiving Day up at Hidden Valley Park-TURKEY BOWL 2007. I'm happy to say that we had our best turn out yet, about 22 people. We opted to play "two hand touch" since Kyle had broken his leg two years earlier in a more manly game. That's not to say that there wasn't a fair amount of contact, being the fatty that I am I was stuck up at the line for two hours of bumping and shoving. My team won the first game 7 touchdowns to 1, but we lost the second one 2 touchdowns to 3. After the game I headed over to Randy and Juliette's house for Thanksgiving dinner, since they were out of town, Ryan and Caitlin were watching the homestead and asked if I wouldn't mind frying a turkey...I didn't mind at all. Since this was my first Thanksgiving without mom she thought she would help by making a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie, and oh yeah, a friend of Paige's also made us a pumpkin cheesecake...we get it, I'm fat. The food was great, and a great time was had by all.
It's now December, the year has come full circle, and I'm a little lighter, wiser, and in awe that I was able to go through an entire year without even thinking about enrolling in another graduate program.
Happy Holidays Everyone
The year began as it does for most people (I'd imagine), with a New Year's resolution to lose weight and get into better shape. I'll follow up this blog with one solely dedicated to my workout schedule and dietary regimen so as not to bore those of you who don't care. Basically the punch line is that I set a goal for myself to lose 65 pounds by year end, and I'm proud to say that it's currently December 10th, and I only have six pounds to go.
But enough about me let's talk about Booker...my dog (see the many pictures to the right of the blog if you still don't understand). He turned 1 year old on February 24th, so I had a birthday party for him. As crazy as he is by himself, those of you who know him can imagine what a hectic house I had that day with another half dozen dogs and a dozen people. Mom made a "safe for dogs" birthday cake, while I picked up a human cake from Costco...yellow cake, not Soilent Green. We barbequed brats and chicken, and mom put together goodie bags for all of the visiting pooches. Needless to say, Booker slept like a baby that night.
A week later we thought it would be fun to go back to the farm in Milford where I got him (about 45 minutes north of Reno) to visit his mom and the other dogs she lives with. I was surprised to see that Booker's sister, Zoe, was still living with Tom and Cindy. They opted not to sell her because as a newborn she got a cut across her face that became extremely infected, so much so that we all thought she was going to die. She made it though, but by the time she was able to leave the nest, she had already become too accustomed to life on the farm, so Tom and Cindy decided to keep her. See the photos on the right for Booker's family reunion.
As you can imagine, the dog and cat consume most of my life. In fact I spent a ridiculous amount of time this past summer building a dog kennel (which I finally finished) only to find out that Booker can jump higher than I had predicted when I designed the thing. I'll need to add a small extension on top to prevent the jumping out...ah the never-ending backyard projects. Anyway, I decided to have Booker neutered this last fall, a decision that he was not a part of. It didn't change his temperament at all, although he no longer humps the stuffed animals...Conor, I know you're disappointed.
I left Quad Knopf in May and started working for John Welsh's company Telesto, which turned out to be a better decision than I could have known at the time as Quad Knopf laid off a good chunk of their staff including their entire civil engineering department in the Reno office. Things are going great at Telesto. In a time when the residential market has slowed dramatically we are able to keep extremely busy with John's mining projects and civil projects brought in by the newest partner David Hagen. It's just nice to know that we can thrive while others have to close the door.
The summer came and went, and September was upon us yet again which means it was time for the rib cook-off. As I mentioned before, I had been sticking to a relatively strict diet, but with eight months to sort out the logistics I felt reasonably confident that consuming my weight in pork would not hinder my efforts. Never-the-less to watch me you'd swear I was trying to re-gain what I had lost. I emerged from the mass of pork eaters a week later to find myself a changed man; I was a ravenous animal devouring anything that had even the slightest hint of the Texas Outlaws Sauce on it. A couple of salads later I was back on track, just in time for Italian Festival, this is more of the same, but instead of taking place in Victorian Square and serving overpriced ribs, the City of Reno blockades Virginia Street through downtown so the Eldorado can set up their pasta tents (they're exactly what they sound like) and sell overpriced spaghetti and ravioli. Anyway I get excited about the Italian Festival every year, probably because I don't remember each previous year's experience. Don't get me wrong, the pasta and garlic bread is great, it's just the atmosphere that's lacking, the entertainment is terrible, and with everyone standing shoulder to shoulder attempting to eat their spaghetti without spilling their plate the whole experience seems to be more like looking for a contact lens in a mosh pit than enjoying a nice EXPENSIVE plate at a "high class" establishment. Maybe now that it's documented I just might not get so excited next year.
October rolled around and it was time for me to stop procrastinating studying for my California PE exam. As I've already passed the national exam a couple of years ago, all I needed to take was the California specific portions...the seismic and the surveying. I'm keeping my fingers crossed until they release the results in February, which makes it difficult to use a fork, but I'm getting by. Oh yeah, I turned 25 on the 30th of October, thanks to those of you that remembered me, those of you that didn't, don't feel too bad, I probably won't remember your birthdays either, in fact I'm taking you out of my Outlook contacts list after I’m done typing. Moving along Halloween was a bust; I put on my old baseball umpire uniform, as I had little time to prepare a costume because of the aforementioned exam. We spent the evening sitting around Stocking's house waiting for the "Fun Boy's" to finish their costumes. They originally wanted to go as 80's punk rockers, but when everything was said and done, they looked more like 80's flamers...see attached photo, it's a little grainy (camera phone...plus I was probably laughing too hard). By the time we left (around 12:45) there really wasn’t anything left to do, so I went home, while the Fun Boys went downtown to get stared at and spit on … that last part may not be true, when I’m not there I tend to imagine things.
Leaping into November, my conditioning increased so I could be in football shape for our yearly game on Thanksgiving Day up at Hidden Valley Park-TURKEY BOWL 2007. I'm happy to say that we had our best turn out yet, about 22 people. We opted to play "two hand touch" since Kyle had broken his leg two years earlier in a more manly game. That's not to say that there wasn't a fair amount of contact, being the fatty that I am I was stuck up at the line for two hours of bumping and shoving. My team won the first game 7 touchdowns to 1, but we lost the second one 2 touchdowns to 3. After the game I headed over to Randy and Juliette's house for Thanksgiving dinner, since they were out of town, Ryan and Caitlin were watching the homestead and asked if I wouldn't mind frying a turkey...I didn't mind at all. Since this was my first Thanksgiving without mom she thought she would help by making a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie, and oh yeah, a friend of Paige's also made us a pumpkin cheesecake...we get it, I'm fat. The food was great, and a great time was had by all.
It's now December, the year has come full circle, and I'm a little lighter, wiser, and in awe that I was able to go through an entire year without even thinking about enrolling in another graduate program.
Happy Holidays Everyone
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
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