Remodeling

I think that it is funny how much work it is to remodel, or even do small projects in, a house. Right now I am helping my friend and his wife with some projects around their house that they just bought. I am reminded that even though tasks seem simple and quick, they never are.

The current project is remodeling the downstairs bathroom. Once the demo was completed, I realized that everything that was existing needs to be moved or changed. None of the work is that difficult or challenging but it will take some creative thinking to accomplish it all with high quality. Last night my friend and I went to cut the slab to install the DWV pipe and found that our saw could not get the job done the way we wanted to and now he is going to rent a saw and cut the slab today.

It sucks that I can't be there to help him but the fact remains that he has the time off and I do not. I am confident that the work will be completed and will be of high quality. So far the work that my friends have put into their house looks great and I am very excited to have the rest of the work finished.

I guess the moral of this post is that no matter how easy something seems it might be, always be prepared to put a lot more time in.


"The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money."

A Look at Cognitive Dissonance

I recently had a big scare and while working my second concrete night pour in a row I started to have some pretty crazy symptoms. Here is what happened:

At 2 am last Wednesday I started getting some intense pain in the area of my pelvic joints. Not knowing what it was I thought I tweaked something so I took some Tylenol and tried to relax for the rest of the night. I then I got a killer headache. Unfortunatly the pain got worse through the night and close to 6 am I started to feel very cold and I started to shiver. I then decided I needed to get home and get to bed, assuming that these problems were stemming from lack of proper sleep and poor diet (come from working nights). On my drive home I bought 2 V8 Fusions and chugged them for the good nutrition and cranked up the heater to get rid of my shakes/shivers. Thank god I hit traffic because once the shakes stopped I started to get some blurry vision and it was good I wasn't driving fast.

Once I got home the walk to my door cooled me off and my shivers started again so I cranked up my heater and headed for bed. After undressing and climbing into bed I had the following symptoms: headache, joint and muscle pain, the shakes, blurred vision, shortness of breath and the tips of my fingers went numb. Once I warmed up the shakes went away but not I was burning up and not sweating. At this point I decided that I had to stop being a tough guy and I needed to go to the hospital.

Heres the thing about hopsital emergency rooms... They are very quick to get you in to make sure you are not dying but then they take a very long time for everything else. This sucks on 2 levels: You are in pain in a room on your own AND it gives you a long time to think of everything that could be wrong with you.

So here I was lying on the doctors table, in a pretty stylish gown I might add, wondering what was wrong with me. Let me share a few of the items running through my head. Appendicitis. Blood Clot. Heart issue. Cancer. Lyme Disease. Death. Lets just say I was freaking out as to what was wrong with me. Well just in case you are wondering, I was diagnosed with Cellulitis after some blood tests and such. Cellulitis is an infection of the deep subcutaneous tissue of the skin that is often associated with a fever. So all of these symptoms boil down to a simple fever... the worst fever of my life.

Then I was at home on antibiotics thinking of what had got me into this situation and all I can think of is that I must have been bitten by something. Next came the realization that there are times in one's life that serve as a warning of the path you are heading down. Here is mine...

I am leading an unhealthy life with a bleak future.

There it is. Harsh but true. I am a young man who does not take care of himself as he should. I have always said that I am a "young guy whose family has been healthy through their lives despite being on the hefty side." Classic cognitive dissonance and its just not acceptable anymore.

I have decided to listen to this event/warning in my life and it is time to change many things about how I live. Goodbye indifference and hello to proper living.

"Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about."

Reflections of the Night

OK, so it is just before 5 in the morning and I have been up all night. You might ask yourself why I would be up all night and think of things like "maybe he is stressed, maybe he drank too much caffeine, or maybe he can't get that certain someone out of his mind." But no, it is far less complicated and I am awake for work... you know those pesky nighttime concrete pours.

So as I am awake and can't talk to anyone but myself (interesting conversations by the way) I started to think about how cool it is to work at night. Everything is much more relaxed, not to mention cooler. When I get off work in the morning I have free time where others do not. I could run my errands and still be home in time to sleep the day away, something we would all like to do but don't because it is unproductive. You can also catch up on a lot of other things because you are not bothered by frequent phone calls...

That brings up a problem... You can also not reach anyone if you need to because everyone else is sleeping. Oh the dilemma...

I suppose I will just stick to working most days and the occasional night. So for all of you "people of the future" that read this later today: Hello from the past and hope your day goes well.

"People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them."

Superheroes and Me!

Ok so I just got back from seeing The Incredible Hulk and what can I say...  its was awesome.  I went with my partner in crime for all things comic-booky (cool word right? I made it up :) and we had another of our deep but pointless (to some) conversations about super heroes.  Here is what I realized:

Of all the superheroes the ones I like the most are the self made heroes, granted it took a large event to push them in that direction.  

My favorite superhero is Ironman: a businessman, inventor genius who made himself a badass metal suit to kick major ass in. Next comes Batman, I mean who doesn't know about him?  You gotta love a dark vigilante that balances on the edge of the knife of morality. These heroes hit home because they are self made and they are realistic (as much as a comic book character can be).

So what is it about these characters that make me think about myself?  I think is the fact that they had a calling but did not know what it was until a major event took place and forced them to put up or shut up.  I guess I am just waiting for my event...  And then there is always every boy's fantasy to be a superhero. Now, how do I make a metal suit?

"I should be dead already... It must be for a reason... I just finally know... what I have to do..."

NASCAR, Vegas, Napa and engagements!!

Ok so you are probably looking at my blog title and thinking "WTF, how does all that go together?"

Well, this title sums up my last 3 weeks... which pretty much means I have a kick-ass life. I am what you would call a "cultured redneck." I go weekend to weekend traveling to one place after another hanging out with my amazing friends. After great weekends at NASCAR and then Vegas, I went to Napa and got private tours of 3 wineries, tasted some amazing wine and then bought a bunch of quality wine (some varieties not even released yet) for a houge discount. I mean this weekend I am going to SLO to see my buddy who has been in Iraq for the last 6 months.

My good friend just got what she has wanted for a long time and her boy proposed to her at Disneyland. I now may have 4 weddings in as many months and that is only about a quarter of the weddings for my engaged friends. So congrats to her and all my friends....

So life should be great right now... so why does it seem like there is so much missing? That conversation will have to be for another post.

I think I will end every post with a quote so enjoy...

"You don't get anything clean without getting something else dirty."

Only the Beginning...

Ok...  so I have decided to start a blog in order to let those who care see into the abyss of my mind.  Well that seems a bit much, but for those that decide to read this will understand over time.

I will try to update this as often as possible and will probably end up rambling a lot.  So enjoy...