Bye Bye Old Phone

Back in November I started having a problem with my cell phone. Sometimes I'd get a call or make a call and I'd be able to hear the other person saying, "Hello... Hello? Jay? Helloooo". While it's fun to answer the phone every once in a while and just not say anything to make people sound like an idiot, this isn't what I was doing. I was actually trying to talk to them.

So I realized I needed a new phone but I was still a couple of months away from being able to get the "New Every Two" deal from Verizon. Since I wasn't about to fork over money for a phone when I was gonna get a free one so soon I did the only logical thing. I told everyone the story of how stupid my phone was. "So if you call me and you don't hear anything, please leave a message at the sound of the silence." Of course when that failed I would just call them right back with my work cell phone. Sshhhh don't tell.

My strategy has worked out and I should have my new phone in a couple of days. The best part is that my new one uses the same charger and data cable as my old one. Woohoo! Hurray new phone! (said in the style of the Red Stripe commercials)

New Video

I just added a new video to my Stupid Human Trick page. You should get a laugh out of it.

Edit> I just added an outtake video as well.

No Notification Blues

I hate it when I run out of "things to look up". You know, that lull you hit when you've been online for a few days straight and you've seen the latest on all of your favorite sites. I usually get over that by checking my numerous e-mail addresses or maybe some people's blogs and my mind snags on something I want to go searching for. Unfortunately I've set myself up to get notifications for everything. I have so many things that notify me that something's happened that it's almost depressing when none of them is going off. Maybe that means I should get out from behind the computer and watch a movie or something. That's bound to make me think of something I want to look up. 8-þ

News-Star Online'Stupid Human Trick' 01/23/05

News-Star Online'Stupid Human Trick' 01/23/05

For anyone that enjoyed my Stupid Human Trick I found out about another person that not only can stick cans to part of their head but is auditioning for "The Late Show".

This is what happens when you don't listen to everyone that keeps telling you, "Send the tape in. Send the tape in."

I actually hope Mr. Snodgrass makes it onto the show. Good luck Jeff.

Photography, Photographs and Photo Albums

Have I ever mentioned that I'm really lazy? I've spent yet another weekend not leaving the house. But somehow I can't find time to watch my netflix movies either. What have I been doing with all my time?

Well I've been drooling over Canon digital SLR cameras, reading a ton of photography info, posting in photography forums and entering a couple of photography contests. I think I might be interested in photography.

Unfortunately I didn't take many actual pictures this weekend. I suppose I could use the excuse that we got a ton of snow, but really that should have been more reason to go outside and take pictures of it.

While I was in Salt Lake last week I delivered the Gerbera Series to it's intended recipient. She really liked it, but she didn't really tell me that until Thursday. There's a whole story to tell about her, but that will have to be for another time. Maybe after I figure out what the whole story is.

I really appreciate everyone that has made comments on my photos. I've decided to try getting out to take pictures during my lunch break. The pictures I like from those I'll be putting into an album in my photo gallery called Lunch Special. If you like that concept let me know. It'll help motivate me to get out there every day.

Well this post has a really odd feel to it for me but I really wanted to post something. So I guess this is what I get.

I'm Back

I had a great time this weekend in Salt Lake City. The main office for my company is there and a few of the people from my department work out of that office. Another co-worker from my office and I decided to go out there and visit since we don't get to see everyone as often as we'd like. It ended up being one of the best vacations. There was no stress about what to do every day. We just hung out and enjoyed being with friends.

We did go Skiing on Monday and I was able to get some great pictures. They were worth all the spills I took coming down the mountain. This was only my second time skiing ever. We did two runs down green trails from one lift and then decided to go on a lift that went higher up the mountain. The view was absolutely breathtaking but we found out that there were no green trails to go down.

I'm a trooper so we start down a blue trail. We didn't get far before I went down... about ten feet in fact. That trend continued most of the way down the mountain and I was getting really tired of losing a ski and having to get it back on. I also realized it was much easier when I was sliding down on my back than when I was up on the skis. So I did the only logical thing the next time I fell. I got on my back, put my feet up to keep the skis from hitting the ground and popping off and put my hands in the air to reduce the friction so I would slide further, laughing the whole way.

My friends said I looked like a turtle that was stuck on his back, which was passed onto my boss and I got to work yesterday to find an e-mail from her that announced my name was being officially changed to "Turtle".

The pictures I was able to get from the top were worth all of it though. In fact I came away with some sore muscles but no bruises... not even to my ego.

Late Night Packing Blues

I have a flight that leaves at 7:10am and I'm sitting here at 2:22am packing. What is wrong with me? Any sane person would have gotten laundry done as soon as they got home from work and packed everything up. Now I'm wondering if I'll even end up sleeping. I only have about 3 hours before I need to leave the house.

I just looked at parking rates at the airport. The weekly rate is less than what I paid to park for the one day I was in New York City.

Time to finish packing so I can consider getting some sleep.

lazy weekend

I never made it out of the house this weekend. I did manage to frame the Gerbera Sunset series today, which is good because I need to bring it with me when I go to Salt Lake City this weekend.

I really should go to bed now. But first, one last thought.

If you make a tree out of origami and then plant it, would that be considered recyclying?

Latest Photo Project

This week while I was driving back and forth from work I kept thinking about how I didn't have any daylight time to take photos. I decided the only thing to do was come up with shots I could take at home. Well here are the results:

Neither of those photos has been altered from the way it came out of the camera except for resizing. This next one I put together in Paint Shop Pro:

I guess I can understand why people are always telling me I look scary/mean now.

My family got me the photo printer(HP Photosmart 8450) that I asked for, for my birthday. I'm working on printing out my favorite photos and making an album. I've also framed my first photo and hung it on the wall.

Very exciting stuff. For me. That is all.

crazyredwizard.com is born

So I'm the proud new owner of my very own domain. Whether I'm the master of my domain is for me to know and for you to find out as we always used to say. 8-þ

I've got my stupid human trick page up there, which is pretty damn funny. I've also got the beginnings of a photo gallery up.

Army Jokes

Here's a few jokes I was thinking about today that I heard/used all the time when I was in the army, but never as a civilian. I really kinda miss them.

He's ate up like a soup sandwich.

He's ate up like a football bat.

I think you need to check the user headspace and timing.

Hey new guy. Go to the supply room and pick up a can of turn signal fluid and a box of grid squares.

Hopefully I'll think of more that I can share.

Yahoo! News - Iowa Deputies Capture Wandering Kangaroo

Yahoo! News - Iowa Deputies Capture Wandering Kangaroo

Phew!!! I'm safe.

Yahoo! News - Wis. Police Search for Wandering Kangaroo

Yahoo! News - Wis. Police Search for Wandering Kangaroo

I hope this isn't the kangaroo they saw. If it is I have a feeling he's trying to find me. Fortunately for me he's headed in the wrong direction, but shhhh, don't tell him that.

frame blah

I picked up a frame for my gerbera sunset series tonight that claims to hold three 5in x 7in images. As it turns out the openings are in fact 4-7/16in x 6-7/16in. I am damn glad I decided to check that out before I did my final prints. 9/16 of an inch. What the hell are they thinking? I don't have room to have 9/16 of an inch cropped off these. I need to resize to get them right. Frickin' marketing people.

Target already has valentines stuff

Target already has valentines stuff out. It seems so early for that.

a simple blue cord

Today I said good-bye to a friend of mine that is being deployed to Iraq. It's strange to realize that it was ten years ago today that I was faced with my deployment to Haiti. I had been thinking about this friend of mine and his impending deployment in the last few weeks. I decided I wanted to be able to give him something that I had received when I was in the army that he could take with him. I thought about the awards and the coins and I realized that none of those really had much meaning for me. Fortunately I was in my car when I was thinking about this and I saw my infantry cord hanging from my rearview mirror.

The infantry cord is a light blue cord that is worn on the right shoulder of dress uniforms. It is only given to soldiers after completing infantry training. So you'll never see a person walking around with a blue cord on their uniform just because they were assigned to a unit that wears the blue cord.

The day before my basic training graduation we had a day where parents were allowed to come visit which was ended with a cord ceremony. For this cord ceremony you were allowed to either have one of your parents or a drill sergeant put the cord on your uniform as you stood in formation. I chose to have my mom put my infantry cord on. This may have been the proudest moment of my life.

I drifted through high school doing as little as I needed to get by. Fortunately for me I was smart enough to not need to study or really do much work at all to pass. Basic Training was just the opposite for me. I had to work at it. My attitude was totally different. I actually spent more time studying for tests in basic than I did in all of high school.

The graduation ceremony was a formality. The true award for my accomplishments was that blue cord. Being able to have my mom put it on me while my dad looked on was just awesome.

After 9/11 I decided to hang my cord from my rearview mirror to express my willingness to defend my country. So I saw it hanging there and I decided that this is the item I would give my friend. I told him I wanted him to take it with him and bring it back to me and that when I notice it missing from my car I'll think of him.

Birthdays past

Many people like to think about the previous year on New Year's day. There also alot of people that think about the preceding year on their birthday. Having your birthday on the second day of the year is a double whammy of annual contemplation. This morning I started thinking about what I had done on my birthdays over the last ten years. So on this day in:

1995 - I had arrived in Ft. Polk, LA a couple of weeks before. I was fresh out of basic training and this was my first duty station. I didn't know anyone there yet and we were getting ready for a deployment to Haiti. I felt very alone.

1996 - My best friend had come down to visit me at Ft. Polk. We had gone to get our first tattoos together a couple of days before. We decided to go to Houston and stopped in to visit his aunt that lived there. I get a surprise phone call from my parents while we're at his aunt's. Since I didn't have a phone in the barracks this was possibly the first time they had ever been able to call me since I went into the army.

1997 - I've been in Korea for about 8 months. The drinking age for soldiers there was 20, so turning 21 wasn't much of an event. I decided to stay up on the 1st until midnight to have a toast to myself anyway. I don't remember exactly what I did that day, but I'm sure I spent some time in the Lair (one guy's room that we always drank and watched movies in) with my buddies. When I arrived in my platoon in Korea, for the first time in my life I felt like I immediately fit in with a group of people. So to Ring, Rosales, Terry, Sgt. Hood, Chang, Ortiz and all the rest of the platoon we renamed the Reservoir Dogs thank you for that monumental year in my life.

1998 - I'm stationed in Ft. Drum, NY but I'm home on leave for the holidays. I had met my ex-fiance a week before. My best friend drove me back to Ft. Drum the next day (I believe). Being home is a wonderful thing.

1999 - I'm home. I'm working at Subway. I'm going to school. I'm dating the ex-fiance. I have no idea what I actually did on that day but I know I saw my family.

2000 - I'm still in school. I'm still dating the ex. I'm now working for a web-based computer hardware reseller. I have no idea what I actually did that day.

2001 - I'm no longer with the ex. I'm done with school and working with one of my best friends from school. Once again, I don't know what I did that day.

2002 - I have no job because I was laid off. Yet again I don't know what I did that day.

2003 - I'm working at the computer hardware place again because I desperately needed a job. I get a call from my current boss and she tells me that I'm getting the job.

2004 - I'm in San Antonio, TX for work. My boss is there along with a couple other co-workers. I didn't get to see my family for the first time since 98 but they are family enough. I believe we had sushi and chinese that night.

I don't like not being able to remember what I did on the birthdays of the years I was home. So today I want to do something that I'll be able to remember. I have no idea what that is though. Right now I'm supposed to be playing paintball, but apparently I decided to blow that off. I'll come up with something.

Happy New Year!

Everyone at my place went out last night so my brother came up and we played a little Mortal Kombat and watched Spider-man 2. To ring in the new year we popped open a nice bottle of Hennepin and watched the ball drop. Yes it's a beer, but it had a cork so it's perfectly good for such a celebration. After that he crashed and I headed to bed so I could make into work today.

I got up, took my shower and got ready to go and I still had fifteen minutes before I needed to leave to make it here for eight. So I made the mistake of jumping online for a few minutes. Next thing I know it's eight and I'm just getting in my car. Bad news since it takes forty minutes to get to the office.

When I pulled into the parking lot I knew something was wrong. There definitely should have been more cars. The door to the building is locked. There's no one here. I don't have a way to get any more information except to drive all the way back home.

I decide to wait until nine to see if people show up and sure enough they do. So I went from being very late to being pretty early just like that. I guess it works out well in the long run, but now I'm kind of aggravated because I could have slept an hour longer, not screwed around and been here on time. I like my sleep. Especially in the mornings. Maybe I'll let myself sleep in tomorrow since that's my birthday.

So my new year is off and running. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their new year.