One of my favorite comic strips to read is Zits. I actually have a Zits daily calendar that I religiously look at every single morning when I come down for breakfast.
For those of you not familiar with this comic strip, it's about a middle-aged set of parents, Connie and Walt, and their 15 year old son, Jeremy. It's appropriate for me at this time because my wife and I have a 16 year old son and can relate to most of what's in the comic.
In one particular comic, the parents and the son are having dinner when Jeremy says, "I have a good idea." Of course the parents look up from their food as Jeremy continues, "If you two would start a blog, you could post all of the long, boring stories you would ordinarily tell at dinner. Then I could read them on my own time and we could eat dinner in peace."
Shocked, the mother says, "If we're not going to talk, why bother even eating together?" to which the son responds, "There's another good idea!"
If you have a teenage son, try reading Zits for a while. It can be found here:
http://www.arcamax.com/zits
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Celebrity Reality TV Shows
I've never been one to be awed by celebrities. Apparently I'm in the minority with all the celebrity reality shows on TV now. The latest to hit the tube are Denise Richards and Lindsay Lohan. I couldn't care less.
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were divorced before I knew about their show, Newlyweds.
I've never watched Scott Baio nor do I care what age he's turning.
I never watched Anna Nicole Smith or any of her drug induced shenanigans.
I never watched Ozzy Osbourne or any of his drug induced sheningans.
Hulk Hogan's show was as fake as wrestling itself.
I didn't live the simple life with Paris and Nicole.
I didn't go to college with Tommy Lee.
Hey Paula, your show was off the air before I even knew it existed.
Never seen Gene Simmons family jewels (but I understand that lots of women have).
I just don't get it. What's the fascination with these has-been celebrities who are trying to revive their careers?
Maybe somebody can fill me in on why people watch these shows. Until then..........
Peace out,
Rev Run
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were divorced before I knew about their show, Newlyweds.
I've never watched Scott Baio nor do I care what age he's turning.
I never watched Anna Nicole Smith or any of her drug induced shenanigans.
I never watched Ozzy Osbourne or any of his drug induced sheningans.
Hulk Hogan's show was as fake as wrestling itself.
I didn't live the simple life with Paris and Nicole.
I didn't go to college with Tommy Lee.
Hey Paula, your show was off the air before I even knew it existed.
Never seen Gene Simmons family jewels (but I understand that lots of women have).
I just don't get it. What's the fascination with these has-been celebrities who are trying to revive their careers?
Maybe somebody can fill me in on why people watch these shows. Until then..........
Peace out,
Rev Run
Monday, May 26, 2008
Homemade Ice Cream
One of the traditions we've created with our family is making homemade ice cream during summer holidays. I guess what we really make is custard, though, since the recipe has eggs in it. We've had a great time over the past several years making the ice cream with our kids and then inviting the neighbors over to sit on the deck and share.
A few years ago, the kids decided that plain vanilla was boring and that we needed to spice it up with something mixed in. We've tried candy bars, cookies, M&M's and all other candies for our ice cream but to me the best we've ever had is Oreos. We simply crush them with a rolling pin in a plastic bag so it's pretty fine. After we've eaten several Oreo cookies, we make the ice cream mix. Here's the recipe that we've used for years and the best we have been able to find:
INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups whipping cream
1/4 teaspoons salt
Milk (about 5 cups or so)
1/2 bag Oreos
DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until their foamy. Gradually add in the sugar and beat it until it thickens. Add the whipping cream, vanilla and salt and mix it thoroughly.
Pour this mix into the freezer can. Add milk up to the fill line on the can and stir it so it's consistent.
I usually start the ice cream freezer and let it run for 10-15 minutes before I put in the crushed Oreos. If you put in the Oreos at the beginning, they tend to fall to the bottom.
Let me know if any of you try this recipe or if you've got a different one.
By the way, the most surprising look to the ice cream came when we used mini M&M's once. We had expected the ice cream to be very colorful. What we didn't know was that as the ice cream was mixing, the outer coating comes off the M&M's, leaving just the chocalate inside remaining. Of course, the mixture of the colored coating was about like dipping the easter egg in every color so it turned out a lovely shade of brown.
A few years ago, the kids decided that plain vanilla was boring and that we needed to spice it up with something mixed in. We've tried candy bars, cookies, M&M's and all other candies for our ice cream but to me the best we've ever had is Oreos. We simply crush them with a rolling pin in a plastic bag so it's pretty fine. After we've eaten several Oreo cookies, we make the ice cream mix. Here's the recipe that we've used for years and the best we have been able to find:
INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups whipping cream
1/4 teaspoons salt
Milk (about 5 cups or so)
1/2 bag Oreos
DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until their foamy. Gradually add in the sugar and beat it until it thickens. Add the whipping cream, vanilla and salt and mix it thoroughly.
Pour this mix into the freezer can. Add milk up to the fill line on the can and stir it so it's consistent.
I usually start the ice cream freezer and let it run for 10-15 minutes before I put in the crushed Oreos. If you put in the Oreos at the beginning, they tend to fall to the bottom.
Let me know if any of you try this recipe or if you've got a different one.
By the way, the most surprising look to the ice cream came when we used mini M&M's once. We had expected the ice cream to be very colorful. What we didn't know was that as the ice cream was mixing, the outer coating comes off the M&M's, leaving just the chocalate inside remaining. Of course, the mixture of the colored coating was about like dipping the easter egg in every color so it turned out a lovely shade of brown.
Mowing grass
There's been a fair amount of talk on different blogs about moving up the mower blade and leaving your grass a little high. I've done this for a few years and can tell you that it works very well. My grass is very healthy and it certainly keeps the weeds from being able to germinate.
When we moved into this house last year, there were a fair number of dandelions in the yard. My wife enjoys going around and spraying dandelions with Weed-B-Gone so I let her have all the fun she wanted. The previous owners had kept the yard fairly short but I kept my mower blade up as high as it would go as I had done at the previous house. This year I probably only ever saw maybe a dozen dandelions!
Now this can be carried to extremes. I won't tell you who did this because they might be a bit embarrassed but they have the same initials as my mom and dad. As a matter of fact, they just happen to have the same names as my mom and dad!
Since they spend about half the year in Florida anymore, they didn't return until just after May 1 this year. Normally, they had had somebody mow their yard until they returned but for some reason decided not to do so this year. Of course, when they got home, the grass was about knee-high. Knowing that the riding lawn mower wouldn't be able to cut the grass, my dad jumped on his tractor, attached the bush hog and started cutting his yard. After he got it to a manageable height, he got out his riding lawn mower and cut the yard like normal.
I was down at their house this past weekend for my niece's high school graduation. Their grass is more lush and green than normal. And my dad says he hasn't seen a dandelion yet this year!
Maybe the quality of their yard comes from the fact that it's been very wet and cool this spring but I'm attributing it to their mowing height. By the way, this bush hogging of your front yard works well when you live in the country without neighbors within view. I certainly wouldn't recommend it for those who live in town.
When we moved into this house last year, there were a fair number of dandelions in the yard. My wife enjoys going around and spraying dandelions with Weed-B-Gone so I let her have all the fun she wanted. The previous owners had kept the yard fairly short but I kept my mower blade up as high as it would go as I had done at the previous house. This year I probably only ever saw maybe a dozen dandelions!
Now this can be carried to extremes. I won't tell you who did this because they might be a bit embarrassed but they have the same initials as my mom and dad. As a matter of fact, they just happen to have the same names as my mom and dad!
Since they spend about half the year in Florida anymore, they didn't return until just after May 1 this year. Normally, they had had somebody mow their yard until they returned but for some reason decided not to do so this year. Of course, when they got home, the grass was about knee-high. Knowing that the riding lawn mower wouldn't be able to cut the grass, my dad jumped on his tractor, attached the bush hog and started cutting his yard. After he got it to a manageable height, he got out his riding lawn mower and cut the yard like normal.
I was down at their house this past weekend for my niece's high school graduation. Their grass is more lush and green than normal. And my dad says he hasn't seen a dandelion yet this year!
Maybe the quality of their yard comes from the fact that it's been very wet and cool this spring but I'm attributing it to their mowing height. By the way, this bush hogging of your front yard works well when you live in the country without neighbors within view. I certainly wouldn't recommend it for those who live in town.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Radio Daze
Like many of you, I really enjoy listening to the radio on my way into work in the morning and back home again in the evening. It seems to keep me in a relaxed mood.
As a creature of habit, I normally turn on the station my kids call "the Oldies station" which I correctly point out that it's classic rock, not oldies. I mean, it's Journey, not Guy Lombardo.
Anyway, over the past month I've been trying something new. Each day when I get in my car, I hit the scan button and let it move to the next audible station. That's the one I listen to for the day. It doesn't matter whether it's talk radio, student radio, Christian music, rap, whatever - that's what I listen to for the day. If I have a meeting and need to drive somewhere, that's what I listen to that day.
I've found out that I've started to develop a little more of a balanced opinion of things when I listen to varying viewpoints on many of the same topics by doing this.
Yes, some days are better than others. Today, for example, was Radio Disney and I was in my car a little more than normal traveling to meetings. I'm pretty sure they only have about eight songs that they play because I know I heard some version of Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmatians at least four times today.
Anyway, try if yourself for a month and let me know what you think.
As a creature of habit, I normally turn on the station my kids call "the Oldies station" which I correctly point out that it's classic rock, not oldies. I mean, it's Journey, not Guy Lombardo.
Anyway, over the past month I've been trying something new. Each day when I get in my car, I hit the scan button and let it move to the next audible station. That's the one I listen to for the day. It doesn't matter whether it's talk radio, student radio, Christian music, rap, whatever - that's what I listen to for the day. If I have a meeting and need to drive somewhere, that's what I listen to that day.
I've found out that I've started to develop a little more of a balanced opinion of things when I listen to varying viewpoints on many of the same topics by doing this.
Yes, some days are better than others. Today, for example, was Radio Disney and I was in my car a little more than normal traveling to meetings. I'm pretty sure they only have about eight songs that they play because I know I heard some version of Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmatians at least four times today.
Anyway, try if yourself for a month and let me know what you think.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Mini Marathon Training
Indianapolis holds the largest half-marathon in the U.S. on the first Saturday in May to kick off the weeks leading up to the Indy 500. I've had the pleasure of doing the mini-marathon a few times and always enjoyed doing it. It's a great atmosphere with bands, cheerleaders, students, etc. lining the entire 13.1 mile route encouraging the 35,000 participants to finish. A big highlight is running around the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and crossing the yard of bricks at the start/finish line there.
For me, it's not about racing, it's more about running (or maybe more appropriately, jogging). I really couldn't care less about trying to keep up with the Kenyans. And, of course, it's about being able to say that you accomplished it. While I can't say that I've had any earth-shattering times in the mini, I can say that I've completed it every time.
I believe I had mentioned before that I've signed up for the mini-marathon again this year. I had planned to complete it with Ed Sweetland, another surveyor and the past-president of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors. Our goal was to complete it in 2 hours, 30 minutes.
I was fairly confident that I could make that goal as I've been a pretty regular runner at the YMCA here in my hometown since we joined in January of 2003. As a matter of fact, I was running about 26 miles a week back in November and December and, using one of those running calculators you can find on the internet, it projected my half-marathon time at around 2:15.
A few weeks ago I had started getting some soreness in my achilles and down through my right heel. It was so tight that I couldn't walk down steps without pain because it just wouldn't stretch out. I was running 4 to 5 miles on a consistent basis and had my long run on the weekend up to 7 miles so I decided that it would be foolish at my age to try to train through the injury. I took a week off and it was still a little sore. I didn't want to re-injure it so I took another week off.
Still, it was a little tight and sore, although it felt much better. So I went back to the Y last Friday night and did five miles. My legs felt fresh and I didn't get winded much at all but the pain was there still. It was better, just not what I had hoped for.
I took another two days off to let it rest again and returned to the Y again tonight. I wish I hadn't. At just over 2.5 miles into the run, I felt a pain that went from the back of my heel to the inside of my ankle. Not just a tweak but a full blown pain, one that almost dropped me to my knees. I've had a broken ankle before and remember that when it happened, I immediately felt light headed and nauseous at the same time. It's the same feeling I had tonight.
Right now, I'm sitting in my kitchen, fingers on the keyboard and foot propped up on a bag of ice.
I believe my mini marathon training may be over for this year. Maybe that's what happens as your body gets older. I just wasn't expecting it to be this soon. As stated by my doctor and repeated in an earlier post - welcome to the mid 40's!
For me, it's not about racing, it's more about running (or maybe more appropriately, jogging). I really couldn't care less about trying to keep up with the Kenyans. And, of course, it's about being able to say that you accomplished it. While I can't say that I've had any earth-shattering times in the mini, I can say that I've completed it every time.
I believe I had mentioned before that I've signed up for the mini-marathon again this year. I had planned to complete it with Ed Sweetland, another surveyor and the past-president of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors. Our goal was to complete it in 2 hours, 30 minutes.
I was fairly confident that I could make that goal as I've been a pretty regular runner at the YMCA here in my hometown since we joined in January of 2003. As a matter of fact, I was running about 26 miles a week back in November and December and, using one of those running calculators you can find on the internet, it projected my half-marathon time at around 2:15.
A few weeks ago I had started getting some soreness in my achilles and down through my right heel. It was so tight that I couldn't walk down steps without pain because it just wouldn't stretch out. I was running 4 to 5 miles on a consistent basis and had my long run on the weekend up to 7 miles so I decided that it would be foolish at my age to try to train through the injury. I took a week off and it was still a little sore. I didn't want to re-injure it so I took another week off.
Still, it was a little tight and sore, although it felt much better. So I went back to the Y last Friday night and did five miles. My legs felt fresh and I didn't get winded much at all but the pain was there still. It was better, just not what I had hoped for.
I took another two days off to let it rest again and returned to the Y again tonight. I wish I hadn't. At just over 2.5 miles into the run, I felt a pain that went from the back of my heel to the inside of my ankle. Not just a tweak but a full blown pain, one that almost dropped me to my knees. I've had a broken ankle before and remember that when it happened, I immediately felt light headed and nauseous at the same time. It's the same feeling I had tonight.
Right now, I'm sitting in my kitchen, fingers on the keyboard and foot propped up on a bag of ice.
I believe my mini marathon training may be over for this year. Maybe that's what happens as your body gets older. I just wasn't expecting it to be this soon. As stated by my doctor and repeated in an earlier post - welcome to the mid 40's!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Shopping is so much fun!
Like most men, I've not stepped foot in a mall for a long, long time except for the food court. Shopping, obviously, is not at the top of my list of fun things to do.
Lately, however, I've had a great time shopping with my 16 year old son, Kyle. We've been college shopping!
Since he's finishing his junior year, Kyle has been fully engulfed in trying to decide exactly what he wants to do for a career. Since he's been very young, my wife and I were pretty sure he'd do something in the area of mathematics. At one time, he thought his dream job would be as a statistician for a professional sports team.
And then he met my friend, Andy.
Andy graduated from Purdue with a degree in mathematics and was a fraternity brother with my business partner, Greg. Being young and living at home, he was able to "find himself" for a few years. During that time, he worked with Greg and I as a surveyor and, with the math background, was very good at it. After a couple of years, however, he realized that it was time to put on some big boy pants and try to find a career. I think he knew all along what he wanted to do - be an actuary.
Once Kyle found out what an actuary does, he decided that's what he wanted to go to college to study.
So back to the college shopping.
Our first trip was to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It's probably best known as the college that David Letterman attended. Anyway, we listened to the people from the admissions office and then took the tour of the campus. After the tour, we were able to meet with a professor in the area of actuarial sciences. Ball State has about 18,000 students or so and has outstanding architectural and education programs.
Last Wednesday, we went over to the University of Dayton. It was a beautiful day and the students were all out in the courtyard areas between classes, throwing frisbees and footballs and generally enjoying the great weather. We met with the chair of the math department there and enjoyed the ride over and back. It's only about a two hour drive from Indy. The campus is fairly small and it has somewhere around 10,000 students.
I can't wait for our next trip as we're headed to Notre Dame. Following those, we'll be at Butler and Purdue. I'll let you know how those trips go.
Off the record, the best part of making these college visits is that it gives Kyle and I a chance to do some geocaching, which has quickly become a favorite hobby of ours. For those of you who don't know what geocaching involves, it's basically a huge scavenger hunt. There are containers hidden throughout the country. Some are as large as a thermos, others are small like a film canister. Normally, there's a sheet of paper in each one so a log can be kept of anyone who finds the cache. All caches are documented on www.geocaching.com with a short explanation of what you're looking for and maybe a hint. The most important part of the location of the cache is its latitude and longitude. With handheld GPS units fairly commonplace anymore, anyone can load the lat and long into their unit and go off hunting. It's a great activity for kids and lets you roam around to places you might not normally see. Try it and let me know what you think.
Lately, however, I've had a great time shopping with my 16 year old son, Kyle. We've been college shopping!
Since he's finishing his junior year, Kyle has been fully engulfed in trying to decide exactly what he wants to do for a career. Since he's been very young, my wife and I were pretty sure he'd do something in the area of mathematics. At one time, he thought his dream job would be as a statistician for a professional sports team.
And then he met my friend, Andy.
Andy graduated from Purdue with a degree in mathematics and was a fraternity brother with my business partner, Greg. Being young and living at home, he was able to "find himself" for a few years. During that time, he worked with Greg and I as a surveyor and, with the math background, was very good at it. After a couple of years, however, he realized that it was time to put on some big boy pants and try to find a career. I think he knew all along what he wanted to do - be an actuary.
Once Kyle found out what an actuary does, he decided that's what he wanted to go to college to study.
So back to the college shopping.
Our first trip was to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It's probably best known as the college that David Letterman attended. Anyway, we listened to the people from the admissions office and then took the tour of the campus. After the tour, we were able to meet with a professor in the area of actuarial sciences. Ball State has about 18,000 students or so and has outstanding architectural and education programs.
Last Wednesday, we went over to the University of Dayton. It was a beautiful day and the students were all out in the courtyard areas between classes, throwing frisbees and footballs and generally enjoying the great weather. We met with the chair of the math department there and enjoyed the ride over and back. It's only about a two hour drive from Indy. The campus is fairly small and it has somewhere around 10,000 students.
I can't wait for our next trip as we're headed to Notre Dame. Following those, we'll be at Butler and Purdue. I'll let you know how those trips go.
Off the record, the best part of making these college visits is that it gives Kyle and I a chance to do some geocaching, which has quickly become a favorite hobby of ours. For those of you who don't know what geocaching involves, it's basically a huge scavenger hunt. There are containers hidden throughout the country. Some are as large as a thermos, others are small like a film canister. Normally, there's a sheet of paper in each one so a log can be kept of anyone who finds the cache. All caches are documented on www.geocaching.com with a short explanation of what you're looking for and maybe a hint. The most important part of the location of the cache is its latitude and longitude. With handheld GPS units fairly commonplace anymore, anyone can load the lat and long into their unit and go off hunting. It's a great activity for kids and lets you roam around to places you might not normally see. Try it and let me know what you think.
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