Pumpkin 2010

I can't really call it a jack-o-lantern - but it's still a pumpkin. Not my idea - I saw it on the net - but it's still pretty clever and it turned out well. I think Dad will appreciate the humor as well.

Halloween walk around 2010 - Count Orlok

This year I went for scary - all the way scary. The party last week didn't really capture what I was going for - and my fangs fell out - but for the big day, Count Orlok was ready to scare the crap out of people.

I got up early - and got my room-mate up early as well to help me out. Shaved head, whiteout contacts, fangs, white make over the whole thing. Black pants, black shoes, black umbrella - claws on my fingers.

I made my rounds in the computer center to start, then out on campus for the day. I covered a lot of ground and visited a lot of people. My friends took some amazing photos:

Count Orlok

I snuck up on a few people and got some good scares - and I may or may not have caused a traffic accident. I was walking down a street and several cars past me - and then one rear-ended another at a traffic light. No one was hurt - but I had a moment where I thought I might have distracted a driver. I considered approaching and trying to help, but thought that a vampire might not be welcome. I came back through later when the police were there and no one gave me a second glance. So, it wasn't me.

I was wiped out by the end of the day - when I got home, I took a long shower and almost napped. (I'm not very good at napping).

I bounced back pretty quickly and I'm already planning for next year. :) But no hints.

Trunk or treat

Last Thursday, I got invited to go to and help out at a local Trunk or Treat - a community/university based trick or treat at a school's parking lot. I found out about the event from a former supervisor who called me and told me the coordinator asked her if she knew who "that guy was that dressed up in the great costumes every year". Her response was "know him? I hired him!"

So, I went with a couple of her colleagues and dressed up as Zombie Hello Kitty from last year - I didn't want to scare the kids. We handed out a ton of candy and I did end up scared a few kids - but hey, so did Zippy. On one side were some folks from the rec center dressed as cheesy aerobics instructors - I joined them for a few jumping jacks. On the other side, the UAPD were giving out candy and stickers. I went over and helped them with some gang signs - with my giant 4 fingered cartoon gloves.

When the event was over, I headed back to my car and then went to get my hair cut. The hairstylist was amused by my huge shoes - but then made short work of my hair to get me ready for my annual walk around on campus.

party and hiccups

I went to a Halloween party over the weekend with some friends. I won a prize for my costume and had a nice time - though I ended up staying far later than I had anticipated. Didn't get to bed until almost 3:30 in the morning. I slept in the next day, but it was still rough to get back on track.

On Sunday, my room-mate got the hiccups and it lasted pretty much all day. One of his methods to try and get rid of them was to gulp air and then belch. Now, I'm a guy and - like babies - I appreciate the value of a good belch. But, I have to say, I actually started to get grossed out by the belching. It was impressive.

He tried peanut butter, drinking water, gasping, and several other methods before temporarily getting rid of them by holding his breath. They came back later and lasted into the night. I tried to get him to relax and eventually ignore them, but it didn't help. They finally went away yesterday - though he did throw up blood at one point.

I guess he's okay now, but it was pretty rough. And it didn't help that there was a story on the news about a girl that hiccups for 5 days, went crazy, and killed someone. Luckily, if it came down to that, I'm better armed.

Work has been very stressful these past couple days and again the biggest problem is people getting in the way of their own success. I had to take myself for a walk this afternoon to calm down a bit before I dove back into my email. Fortunately, the day is almost done and I'll be headed out of here soon. There are pumpkins to be carved at home and video games to be played.

Huffing paint and passing counterfeit bills

I was in Home Depot over the weekend- part of wild errands-running event - and I needed to buy a utility knife, some electrical tape, and a can of spray paint. I went to the self checkout since I only had three items and there was no line there. Utility knife, no problem. Electrical tape, also no problem. Spray paint - problem.

The self-checkout stopped and flashed a message that a cashier would need to over-ride. I turned and the cashier for the area said/asked - with a chuckle - "You're over 18, right?"

I'm guessing he was commenting on my gray hair and bald spot.

I told him I was and apparently I had enough venom in my voice that he quickly followed up with "As of last week, right?"

Another chuckle. I shared this one with him while I completed my transaction and planned his death. I also got $20 cash back which will be significant later on.

As I understand it, the check he did was to prevent some kid from buying spray paint and then huffing it. Questions:

1. Are 18 year olds suddenly smart enough to not huff paint?

2. Are they responsible enough to keep the paint away from kids who might huff it?
3. I may have watched too much CSINCISSUV, but isn't the electrical tape and utility knife more suspicious?

I headed on my way and at my next stop, I paid cash - using the $20 I had just gotten from Home Depot. The clerk behind the counter used a highlighter to test the bill and make sure it wasn't counterfeit. More questions.

1. Are the staff at Walmart trained by the Secret Service or the Treasury Department to detect fake bills with the magic highlighter?

2. What, exactly, would have happened if the bill had been fake?

3. Granted, this is the kind of place where someone would try to pass fake bills made on a black and white copy machine - but seriously, a $20? I could see if someone threw out a $100 to buy a pack of gum, but what's next? A set of scales to measure coins to make sure they aren't fake?

Makes me glad I wasn't trying to buy cold medicine or board a plane as the pilot.

Whatever happened to the "innocent until proven guilty"? Two cases - in less than an hour - where it was assumed that an everyday process was a criminal act.

(insert head shaking here)

Same reason the terror alert is always orange - fear and control.

Okay, down off my soap box before I get myself worked up into a lather. I gotta get back to work anyway.

A comment I found on Commenting

I was watching a video on Youtube and found comment as a parody of the Old Spice commercials:

"Hello People. Look at your comment. Now look back at mine. Now back to yours. Now back to mine. Sadly yours isn't mine but if you stopped posting without thinking and thought beforehand yours could look like mine. Look down. Back up. What is this? It's a comment with the look your reply could look like. Look at your Keyboard, back at the comment. I have it.The thoughts you wish you had. Look again. This comment is now epic. Anything is possible when you think before you post. I'm on the computer."

fast swim

I got a new watch recently. It's pretty fancy for me - $34! Timex Ironman (no, not that Ironman, though that would be pretty cool). It's got a split time setting and figured I'd try it out while swimming. I forgot my trunks last Friday, so I went to the pool on Saturday. I didn't really get the split time to work properly - I may need to read the instructions - but it forced me to think and pay attention to my time. If I got this right, I did a mile (36 laps) in 38 minutes and 42 seconds. Which is not too bad for me.

On Monday, I timed myself for the 1/4 mile and really hauled ass - 8 minutes, 30 seconds.

My second 1/4 mile was... not that fast. :)

Still, I'm pleased with the results - not bad for a 37-year-old.

Michigan trip: Monday & Tuesday

I got up early Monday morning and set off on foot to check out some shops we'd seen the night before. I got some books, a rubber duck, and meditation CD - sort of an eclectic mix of shops in that area.

When I got back, we headed out towards the Sleeping Bear Dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. The first part was a scenic drive that was mostly boring except for one lookout area. We went out on the observation deck and enjoyed the view of the lake. When we looked down, we saw people all the way down at the edge of the lake. They looked like river otters or cats at first - but then they started the long climb back up and we realized they were people. Stupid people who shouldn't have gone down there, but people none-the-less. The incline was maybe 45 degrees and they could do about 20 steps before they had to stop and rest for a few minutes. We left before they had made much progress.

We stopped a bar/grill and got some amazing pizza for lunch - then headed out for the Dunes. This area was a series of dunes you could climb - 3 miles of up and down in the sand until you reached the lake. And then back. We skipped the shoes again and made most of the trek there. It was slow going through the sand and hard work and we gave up before we reached the lake. The trip back was just as much work and we were pretty beat when we finally made it back to the car.

For dinner we went to Bubbas Restaurant and I got a very disappointing burrito. I should have know better than to try and challenge the might of Chipotle - they didn't listen to my order and got the burrito completely wrong. I worked around it - not willing to spend the time for them to do it again. The tater tots were good though.

Another early morning on Tuesday as we checked out of the hotel and headed south. We saw some pretty cool wind turbines and made a brief stop in Cadillac, MI so that my car crazy friend could get his picture taken in front of city hall. Then back to Ohio.

It was a good trip, if short, and I was surprised at how pretty Michigan is. Might be worth a trip back up there.

Michigan trip: Sunday

Sunday we got up early on the island and had breakfast again in the hotel. Then we carried the luggage back to the ferry, loaded up, and headed back to Mackinac City. Once in the car we drove to nearby Petrosky to looked for the fabled Petorsky stones on the beach - but really had no idea what we were looking for. We found a lot of smooth round and flat stones that were kinda cool and some stuff that might have been petrified wood - but mostly we just walked on the beach barefoot, though it was really too cold to spend much time there. We tried another beach, but there wasn't much there as well - so we ended up going on to our next destination: the Bayshore hotel at Traverse City. We hit the pool for a bit, then went to a "hip and trendy" restaurant that served food on "small plates". I got some sushi that was pretty good.

Michigan trip: Saturday

An early breakfast at the hotel and we were off. On foot. We decided not to rent bicycles or a carriage and instead began a self-guided walking tour of the island. The first stop was the Grand Hotel - which, living up to it's name, charged $15 just to enter the building and walk on the porch. We declined. Instead, we continued on past the hotel and found a couple of neat walking trails through the woods. The next stop was the historical reenactment at the fort. I was a little less than impressed, but the muskets and the cannons were cool.

20 minutes for lunch at a pizza place and we were off again - this time to check out the shops and the downtown area. I was looking for some souvenirs, but everything was either vastly over-priced or "cheap". I walked away empty handed, but my friend got a book on ghosts of the island. After a short break at the hotel, we set out again - this time, following the book to locate the haunted areas. We didn't see any ghosts (it was afternoon, after all), but we did see a lot of the island and got lost a few times.

After a few more hours of walking, we headed back to the hotel to soak in the hot sauna and swim in the pool. Feeling a little more human, we headed out again to get some dinner. Over all, I think we were walking about 8.5 hours that day through some pretty rough terrain at times. Maybe 20+ miles? It was a hard to tell - what with the "getting lost". Still, we saw a lot more of the island than most visitors do and had fun doing so.

Michigan trip: Friday

My friend and I took a few days off from work and took a trip up to Michigan. We got a pretty good start on Friday and - despite some arguments with the GPS - we drove on up to Cheboygan to get a picture and then on up to Mackinaw City.

Editor's note: Some parts of that area were called Mackinaw and others were Mackinac. I pretty much gave up trying to keep track. Both come from Michilimacinac anyway and I'm not going to very particular about which spelling I use.

We caught one of the last ferry's to the island for the evening. It was cold and raining a bit and we only went on deck for a little bit before retreating to the warmer cabin - not really a great start to the trip. The ferry docked and the bags we had checked in Mackinaw City were delivered right to the hotel room - by a cart pulled by a bicycle. The island doesn't have any cars or trucks on it - it's all bicycles, horse drawn carriages, and walking. So, after we got settled into the hotel room, we walked back towards "downtown" and found a place to eat called the Pink Pony - which, in Myrtle Beach, is the name of a gentleman's club. As in, strippers. On the island, though, it turned out to be a pretty passable restaurant. We walked back to the hotel in the dark and called it a day. Here are a few pictures from the hotel - the Island House.

Every time we went down any of the hallways in this place, either one or both of us would quote those creepy little girls from the Shining. "Come play with us,"

We referred to the hotel room itself as "quaint" - for values of "quaint" that include "small, weird, uncomfortable, and likely to result in a bruised head".

It does exist!

In conversation, I tend to exaggerate wildly when I don't know the specifics of something - as an amusing clue to the listener that I don't really have any idea what I'm talking about.

So, a large amount of something becomes "extra gigantic" or "several bazillion". In geographic terms, a vague but distant location becomes "south central Mongolia", "downtown Siberia", or "Cheboygan" - which I was convinced was a made up place.

Recently, one of my friends and I took a trip to Michigan and we made a stop along the way in Cheboygan, MI. It was raining and we stopped just long enough to get a picture of me next to the "city limit" sign before driving on. Proof positive that the town really does exist.

I'll have more details on the trip later, but I thought I'd share this little bit.