Mindless Drivel

i decided to call in sick today.  the memory of what happened the day after i went to work sick on friday was way too fresh, and i really dont care how strong my work ethic may be, but i will not tolerate a relapse to the comatose state i was in on saturday.

there was this phenomenon in dc that i labeled the "its gonna snow, so everyone buy bread, milk, eggs, and toilet paper" syndrome.  for some reason, as soon as the weather forecasters predicted snow, no matter how little, and it was almost always little, seeing how this was dc (more than 3 inches was considered a blizzard), everyone would go out and buy all the bread, milk, eggs, and tp.  i never could really rationalize this.  did they think that because of the snow they were going to be unable to make it to the store for days, maybe even weeks, and that they needed to stock up?  or did these people just consume far more of these items because it snowed?  was there some kind of crazy craving that i was unaware of seeing how i was actually just a lost california boy and was not really one of these breed of people?  the part that really got me was the tp.  did everyone spend more time on the toilet when it snowed?  i didnt seem to.  or maybe its just that the time that they spent on the throne was a little messier.  i never had a problem, but then again, i never really seemed to fully understand, or even feel comfortable with the east coast breed.  no matter their reasons, while i was living there, this was one of the few things i could absolutely depend on - if it was going to snow tomorrow, you wouldnt find any bread, milk, eggs, or tp on the shelves.

anyway, todays events reminded me of this wonderful phenomenon i experienced in dc.  two days ago when katrina was forecasted to hit new orleans the media had begun predicting a big spike in gasoline prices.  when will people learn that making these types of predictions just isnt a good idea.  now the oil industry has a special license to increase prices whether they are warranted or not (easy buck), and consumers now wont have any justification to complain.  anyway, today, gas stations here in denver are running out of gas as everyone rushes to fill up their tanks before the expected 40 to 60 cent spike.  its the "a hurricane is going to hit louisiana, so everyone buy gas" phenomenon.  if things do go down this route, we should be topping 3 bucks a gallon before the weekend.  its about fucking time.  maybe now people will start abandoning their denalis, durangos, and expeditions on the side of the road. 

man will that be a sight to see.

-b

5 things i frequently mocked dc-ites for

• odd purchasing tendencies prior to snowstorms
• piss-poor driving habits
• their fascination with politics - not to improve things through politics, just the results, almost like the academy awards
• first judgments were usually made from the answer to the question, "so what do you do?"
• their inability to make eye contact with a passing stranger (this could actually be an entire post in itself)

nearly had my ass handed to me by the flu this weekend.  48hrs plus a few of a nasty fever is not my idea of a good time.  all of today ive spent around the apt trying to recover, but at the same time feel somewhat productive since ive been horizontal for the past 24hrs.  still dont feel like i have the energy to go outside, much less to work tomorrow. 

id almost forgotten what it was like to be curled into the fetal position on the couch.  tv on, but unable to focus on it because your eyes hurt so much.  moaning, because thats about the only thing that you are capable of doing.

theres always tomorrow.

-b

5 horrible physical experiences of my life

• every asthma attack which led to the hospital (and a few others where i stuck it out despite the fact i should have gone)
• dislocated shoulder, sprained ankle, bleeding shins, off the trail and miles from anyone in sequoia np.
• almost drowning.  my advice to everyone - try really hard to avoid this
• 48 hrs of a nasty flu/fever/aches/chills/headache
• breaking my leg while running the bay to breakers

damn, i gotta say that i absolutely love rumah sakit.  why these guys approached this band as a side project is beyond me.  ive never heard a math rock band as tight as they were; just listening to their live recording blows me away.  wish i would have had a chance to see them again.

camping/kayaking this weekend was such a necessary thing.  its been so long since ive been able to get up into the mountains and feel a little more at home.  we were right back at the same campsite as last year when we went to gore, and the same mystery bird/bat/psychoattack animal that came out at night and freaked me out with its strange humming/purring warning signal even made an appearance.

wish i could say that this was me on the river - maybe next year.  

the 4 mile, or so, hike up to tunnel falls in gore canyon was well worth it just to watch the carnage.

and believe me there was a lot of carnage.  at one point we turned around just in time to catch a raft that had just come down the falls, was thrown completely vertical and then upside-down.  needless to say the entire team was dumped into the river.  the most exciting part was watching one person swim to the raft, pull out the spare paddle still strapped in and paddle the raft to an eddy all by himself.  wish i could say i would have done the same.  on another raft, one person was dumped while the rest of the team on the boat was swept into an eddy.  instead of swimming to shore and waiting for his teammates to come get him, he swam right out into the middle of the current and completely called out his team to hurry up and pick him up, "get down here!  paddle! paddle! paddle!"  i didnt know it was possible to have so much acceleration in a raft.  next thing we knew they were right on top of him, pulling him in, and then starting to paddle down to the next drop.  some of these guys took the race seriously.

this shot gives a pretty good idea of what the falls look like.  we were standing above them about 30 feet on a rock that looked straight down at the rapids so the perspective is a bit skewed, but youll get the idea.

the drop was about 10 vertical feet.  this kayaker is just entering the white water at the bottom.

it was really cool how many people were hanging out watching and cheering the kayakers and rafters come down.  the cheering was for one of two reasons, complete carnage (the raft dumping go the biggest cheer) or for an incredible save from or following the carnage (like the solo paddler who saved his raft and a kayaker who was pinned vertically on a rock just a couple feet from the falls, but somehow manage to pull away).

these are all people who were on the opposite side of the river, which was only accessible by boat, so probably 90 percent of these folks had already come down in rafts or kayaks.

all in all, it was a great weekend.

-b

5 lists i hope to get to in the future

1. 5 things in my apartment that dont belong to me
2. 5 most listened to albums
3. "when I win the lottery…"
4. 5 albums i am mocked for owning
5. 5 tools i own, but dont know what they are used for

wow, so much to post, so little time.  gonna resort to quick highlights right now, with details to follow later…

apologies to those who were fooled by an earlier post with the same title.  twas a little joke of mine.  i hope that you understand were the titles come from now.

however, this time they are both true…

trip to sf was great.  hanging out with friends, newly married and a new drinking buddy, not to mention another trip to the greatest record store in the world, coupled with some serious financial damage.  keep checkin out what im listening to, to check out my newest purchases.

looks like the nhl has a new tv deal, although its with oln.  wonder how many casual fans are gonna just stumble across a game and decide to watch?

angels have blown their huge lead in the al west, but somehow manage to hang on to a 2 game lead.  gonna be a miracle i say…

the ebaby is maturing quickly…took him out in my truck for his first driving lesson.  rob and erin werent too excited about the idea, but not surprisingly, he was a far better driver than most of the other ‘natives.’

no ’scope printed in the westword this week (bastards), but you can go read it for yourself.  its a bit scary, especially if you have any idea of what is going on right now.

gonna be ‘graduating’ from my training program at coors soon.  this means that i have to go out and buy a whole bunch of tools for when i start the job.  if the idea of me with a big tool box doesnt make you laugh, nothing will.

yesterday was my unbirthday.  celebrated it by going to the broncos’ training camp.  it was great, except for the part where we missed the broncos.  but we made up for it by going to fatburger.  yes, that fatburger.  there are a few out here in the suburbianhellsprawl of denver.  gotta love the fatburgerwithbaconeggandcheese…quite yummy (at least for me, that is). 

oh, and yes, the ‘we’ refers to the title.

-b

5 things that i wish i had the time to deal with

• my bills
• making my next two ‘The Day I Had’ cds
• working on my ‘Have a Day 2004′ cds
• cleaning up my apartment
• buying tools