The Ultimate P Experience

Super-Impossible Brain Busting Pearl Jam Quiz

2009-09-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

How well can you do?

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mystudiyo.com/act95118/mini/go/paste&amp;amp;#39;s_pearl_jam_quiz"&amp;gt;paste&amp;amp;#39;s_pearl_jam_quiz&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

I got 13. Should of had 14.

You Do Not Have Health Insurance

2009-09-16T16:58:00.001-07:00

I came across this excellent article today:

You Do Not Have Health Insurance

It basically says that unless you are over 65 or pay directly for your health insurance premiums yourself, you do not have health insurance. Chances are, your health insurance is a benefit provided by your employer or your spouse's employer. So as long as your health insurance depends on your job, your health is only insured insofar as your job is insured - and your job isn't insured.

If you lose your job or get divorced, you're in the individual insurance market. Good luck. It's extremely expensive because the insurance companies, in a free market, need to charge you what they expect your liability will be to them plus administrative costs plus a profit margin.

The problem with the huge argument for a public option or single payer system is that its not presented properly. It's presented as some kind of give-away to the poor and those who think they aren't poor don't want anything to change. But when you think about it, unless you're independently wealthy, you're poor too and such a system is in your best interest.

So you do not have health insurance. Have a nice day!

Movies I Want To See

2009-09-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few relatively new movies I want to see. I've you've seen any of them, I'd like to know what you thought...

9
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
The Hangover
Extract
(500) Days of Summer
Star Trek

Which should I see first?

I just saw a trailer for I Hope They Serve Been In Hell. How can this be made into a movie that's NOT NC-17???

Mother Should I Trust The Government?

2009-08-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

With the debate over health care reform raging, a question comes to mind:

Why is there so much distrust of the government? And particularly, this government?

And a follow-up:

Would you trust private enterprise (read corporations) more?

Or are people these days just distrustful in general?

I'm full of questions today...I need answers.

Wunder Boner

2009-07-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

You laugh now but watch...

Hottest Day In Seattle. Ever.

2009-07-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Local News | Record 102 degrees reached at Sea-Tac | Seattle Times Newspaper

Bison vs. Buffalo

2009-06-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

This is a bison:

This is a buffalo:

Any questions?

Honeymoon Road Trip

2009-06-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

B and I are back from out honeymoon. We planed our trip throughout the first part of the year although it was pretty much on the back burner until the wedding had come and gone. We knew that we needed to make an appearance in Bismarck for an open house for those who weren't able to make it to the wedding in Seattle in March. The rest of the trip fell into place as follows below...

May 16: Depart Seattle, arrive in Missoula, MT (498 miles)
Missoula is a good place to stop after a day on the road from Seattle. We had to settle for a hotel some distance from downtown because it was the University of Montana's commencement weekend. We got to town late in the afternoon and went downtown to do a little shopping. I found a Big Sky Brewery Trout Slayer glass to add to my collection. Missoula used to be a really fun place but I no longer know anyone that lives there so it is now just a pit stop on they way to our next destination.

May 17: Depart Missoula, arrive in Yellowstone NP (221 miles)
We set out from Missoula with a much closer destination than the previous day: Yellowstone National Park. With the shorter drive we decided to take a "scenic" detour through Phillipsburg. Phillipsburg is a tiny town with a couple bars, a coffee shop, a jewelery shop, and a candy store. We stopped for the candy store which was quite impressive. Homemade taffy and fudge, yummy convections, and oddities from around the world were found here of all places. Worth the stop.

We continued up a steep road to a very frozen reservoir west of Anaconda and stopped for a photo.
We continued on toward Bozeman and decided to check out Lewis & Clark Cavern State Park. It turned out to be a very good idea. The tour through the cave was very unique. There were stelagtites, stelagmites, bats, and a lot of darkness. B and I agreed that is was one of the best $10 tours we'd ever been on.We arrived in Yellowstone late in the afternoon. We checked into the Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge and checked out the area which is former military housing turned into a small village. There is a post office, a general store, a restaurant, a lounge, and a gas station. Bison and elk freely roam the village and lounge in the lawns.Adjacent to the village are the hot springs themselves which give off the strong aroma of sulphur. The park has built boardwalks over them so the public can get pretty close to some of the most interesting features without damaging them. Here is a picture of one of the hot spring pools just before sunset. That night about 2 dozen elk slept just outside our lodge window.

May 18: Yellowstone National Park
The next day, we packed the car and drove the grand loop road around the park. It's about 140 miles that gets you to most of the parks most popular attractions. Bison and elk are plentiful throughout the park. We were able to enjoy several impressive waterfalls, geyser basins, bubbling mud pools, grand lodges and, of course, Old Faithful.May 19: Depart Yellowstone NP, arrive in Rapid City, SD (520 miles)
Travel day. We left Yellowstone early that morning knowing full well that the drive ahead of us was going to be long and less than exciting. On the way out of the park we stopped to join a crowd of gawkers to see a black bear frolicking in a meadow. Then came the drive. There's not much to see but tumbleweeds and prairie dogs across most of Wyoming. Early that evening we stopped at Devil's Tower. Quite a sight.We arrived in Rapid City, checked into our hotel, and went downtown to check out South Dakota's first (and perhaps only) brew pub: Firehouse. Good food and good beer. I'll be back.

May 20: Black Hills
One would think that growing up in North Dakota would lead to at least one trip to Mount Rushmore. Wrong. This was the first time for both of us. It was impressive but the visitor center had a lot of great information on the sculptor of the mountain and the workers that made it possible. We also visited Crazy Horse, toured an old gold mine in Keystone, found a great little winery, and investigated Deadwood.May 21: Depart Rapid City, arrive in Bismarck (387 miles)
Just outside of Rapid City lies Ellsworth Air Force Base which is home to a B-1B bomber squadron and missile wing. We took a tour of the base which included the inside of a retired training Minuteman missile silo. Creepy but interesting. They also have an impressive collection of static aircraft including a B-52 and this B-29:The next stop along the way to Bismarck was in the tiny town of Wall, SD which is best known for Wall Drug. We counted 60 signs along I-90 in the 40 miles from Rapid City to Wall. The drugstore made itself famous by offering travelers free ice water and has grown into an oasis of novelties and western wear. And this (whatever it is):We arrived in Bismarck that evening which was our turn-around point. Our honeymoon was already half over.

May 22-25: Bismarck
We spent several days in Bismarck relaxing after being on the road. It was nice. And being B's first time to North Dakota's capital city, I got to show her around a bit. Not much has changed since I left almost 5 years ago. The highlight of our time here was definitely the open house my parents hosted for friends and family who were unable to make it to our wedding in Seattle.

Among the guests of honor were my grandparents and B's dad and step-mother who drove from Seattle over the previous two days. Amazing food and unbeatable company.

May 26: Depart Bismarck, arrive in Great Falls, MT (544 miles)
We left Bismarck early with the long drive ahead of us as motivation. Stopping only for the scenic loop through Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western ND. More bison, prairie dogs, and awesome vistas that never get old.
May 27: Depart Great Falls, arrive at Glacier NP (222 miles)
Some of the most spectacular scenery greeted us as we approached the park. We had a reservation at the Lake McDonald Lodge. An awesome place perched on the shore of the park's biggest lake at the base of staggering peaks.
We took a boat tour of the lake and then kicked back for a while.

May 28: Glacier National Park, Whitefish
One of the activities we were hoping to experience on this trip was a horseback ride. We found a ranch that provided guided tours of the area just outside of the park entrance. Despite the mosquitoes and sore bums, we enjoyed it.
Later that afternoon we got on one of the famous Red Bus tours of the park. Unfortunately the Going To The Sun Road was still snowed over so we took a tour of the parks lowlands and saw up close the aftermath of the fires in 2003.
That evening we took a drive into Whitefish to visit Josh. I hadn't seen him in years so it was great to introduce him to B and hang out for a few hours. At the end of the night, he showed us the fire spinning he had been practicing. Very cool.
May 29: Depart Glacier NP, arrive at Seattle (583 miles)
The final leg of our journey; a long day's drive. We got home early in the evening with some amazing memories. What a great way to begin foREver...

3630 miles traveled
6 states
3 national parks
2 national monuments
1 state park
0 speeding tickets
and (only) 3 dumbass drivers

I'm not scared of the swine flu

2009-04-29T22:14:00.001-07:00

Should I be? Why?

Cute Little Guy

2009-04-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

So B and I decided to pick up one of these neat little netbooks to use as an ultra-portible computer. We've had it for almost a week and so far it's great! It has all of the computing power needed to surf the internet and do some word processing and it's only 3 pounds. It has bluetooth, a 160GB hard drive, and over 9 hour battery life. It'll be awesome for our upcoming honeymoon road-trip. It's cute too!

Byron Saw It Coming

2009-04-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Poor kitty

2009-03-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

So I took my cat Tesla to the vet today. I made an appointment when I noticed that one of his teeth was falling out and his gums didn't look very healthy. He also hasn't had a check-up since he was less than a year old. So it was about time.

First of all, they couldn't even do an examination without first sedating him. This clinic treats ferel cats and even they aren't as menacing as Tesla (good boy!). Once he was more manageable, the vet was able to check him out and found that he has severe gum disease and that he's probably in quite a bit of pain. She recommended that I have most of his remaining teeth extracted so that the infections in the gums can be treated. So tonight he is spending his first night away from home and will be having surgery in the morning.

Other than the gum disease, the vet said he is very healthy and strong. She also said that by eliminating the pain in his mouth, he will probably be much friendlier. Let's hope! Poor kitty...

It's about damn time

2009-03-04T21:45:00.001-08:00

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

2009-03-03T17:26:00.001-08:00

This has been circulating the internets lately but it's worth posting again:

Sometimes the obvious just needs to be said.

Canadian supergroup???

2009-02-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

I got this from a friend...

So back in December of 1984, in response to the terrible drought in Ethiopia, a supergroup of British musicians were brought together to record a fund raising song for Africa. The end result is "Do They Know It's Christmas", a touching song jam packed with top stars:

Not to be outdone, US musicians were mobilized the very next month to sing a similar song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The end result is "We Are the World", a touching song jam packed with top stars:

And just one month later, Canada decides they want to pretend they are a real country as well, and they get their top "stars" together to record a similar relief song. The end result is "Tears are Not Enough", a touching song jam packed with, well, um, actually, aside from Bryan Adams (who co-wrote the song), I can't actually recognize a single Canadian "star". In fact, most of these performers look so ridiculous that I have trouble believing they are pop royalty, and am in fact still trying to convince myself that this isn't some elaborate Canadian parody of the previous two songs. If you look closely, you can see actors John Candy and Eugene Levy among the "stars", further fueling my suspicions. I mean, the US and Britain send Africa our greatest musical talents, while the best Canada can muster seems to be Bryan Adams gargling gravel and Wayne Gretzky leading a singing all-star Hockey team.

Human Behaviour

2009-01-28T21:16:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if Bjork is Iclandic for "wierdo".

So do you prefer bottled water?

2009-01-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

I'm Canadian!

2009-01-21T21:53:00.001-08:00

How selfish!

2009-01-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

Child Bankrupts Make-A-Wish Foundation With Wish For Unlimited Wishes

WANTED: New workout music

2009-01-11T20:15:00.001-08:00

Okay, it's time to change up my workout playlist on my iPod and I need help. What music gets you motivated to burn calories and pump iron? Here are a few that will stay on my playlist to give you an idea what works for me:

She and Mrs. Jones - Lords of Acid
Freedom Fighters - The Music
100 Miles and Runnin' - NWA (don't laugh)
Breathe - Prodigy
Tire Me - Rage Against the Machine
Vicarious - TOOL
Rock is Dead - Marilyn Manson
Mommy's Little Monster - Social Distortion

Any and all suggestions will be considered. Thanks!

Questioning my heritage

2008-12-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

The other day I was out taking care of some random errands and I came across someone familiar with my last name. I used my debit card to pay for something and the cashier swiping it said that her grandpa's last name is the same as mine. This struck me as a bit odd for a couple reasons. First, it's not a common last name. Second, it is even more rare in the part of the country which is over a thousand miles from where my family settled when they came to the US from Norway. Third, she obviously did not have any Norwegian heritage. I asked where her grandpa came from and she said Cambodia. Hmmm. I wonder if I'm not of Scandanavian decent at all. Maybe our family really came from southeast Asia. What do you think?

Seattle has an MLS team!

2008-12-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

And the Sounders FC will be kicking off the 2009 MLS season on March 19 at Qwest Field against the New York Red Bulls! This is 2 days before me and Rebecca's wedding. I doubt I'll be able to go with all of my family in town and last minute preparations to take care of but maybe some of my friends who are into that kind of thing will consider going. It should be awesome!

Awesome/Not Awesome

2008-11-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

Awesome: Holiday weekends. Sleeping in. Spending time with good friends and family.

Not Awesome: Waking in the middle of the night to the sound of your cat heaving and puking right next to your head.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fluids Lab

2008-11-13T22:26:00.000-08:00

Every now and then a few of us at work like to meet at a local watering hole for drinks and maybe dinner. We call it "Fluids Lab". Yeah, it's a dorky name for having a few beers but, not at all ironically, we're all engineers. Anyway, tonight we decided to call a lab session and it was worth blogging about. Picture 4 guys, me being the youngest by at least 15 years, all crowded around a Foosball table, while the IPAs are sliding. I must say, even though I haven't played serious Foosball since college days, these guys were pretty good. One of the guys on Team Washington was bragging that he beat the best WSU has to offer last weekend while he was visiting his son. Whatever. Team Dakota (my partner was also an NDSU grad) defeated team Washington three straight games. It wasn't really even close. But the best part of the evening was that we didn't even drink the beer from the bar we were in. One of the guys (the fellow NoDaker) brews his own beer and he brought a backpack full of it. We kept going from the Foosball table back to our normal table and discretely poured his brews into the bar's glasses under the table and drank that instead. It was actually really good stuff. Apparently he's been brewing his own for decades. But it was so bazaar. I almost felt like I was underage and sneaking beer from someone. I think I'll be looking forward to the next Fluids Lab.

Part of something

2008-11-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

Today is election day 2008 and Barack Obama has just become the President-elect. I feel like I am part of something big, kind of like a kid looking into the heavens on a crystal-clear night sky. Examining the headlines around the world, I sense the world is about to undertake a sea change the likes have not been witnessed since the founding of our nation over 200 years ago. It will be more than can possibly be achieved by any one man but one man will be the catalyst that drives the people of the world to reassess where we are and where we are going. Combining self-responsibility with fresh opportunity I anticipate the beginning of a level of prosperity not witnessed in generations if ever.

This must be how the people of the Republic felt after the Emperor was deposed in The Return of the Jedi.

Actually this was filmed by a friend in downtown Seattle and it looks exactly like a couple of those scenes. Wow.

Of course, I could be drinking the proverbial kool-ade or just be completely wrong. Time will tell...