My First Kettlebell
After months of training with Ken’s kettlebells, I finally broke down and bought one of my own. These things are great workout tools. If you’re looking to get back into shape, I highly recommend them. Make sure you find a certified instructor in your area and take a few lessons so that you don’t hurt yourself. Unless you’re familiar with Olympic-style lifting, you’re bound to get injured by using improper form. Done properly, though, the health benefits are amazing.
F*ck
Fort Collins, CO named top place in the U.S. to live.
grrrrrr
(Back story: I’ve been lobbying to move to Fort Collins for several years, but so far I have been unsuccessful.)
New Job
I just gave my notice at Intel today. On August 1st, I will start a full-time position at Esurance.com. Contracting has its perks, but it’s nice to have a regular gig again.
Feather Falls hike
On Sunday, we hiked the 4.5 miles (9 total) to the overlook at Feather Falls. It was quite a view:
Homer did a great job on his first long hike, though it was a little sketchy with him charging full steam ahead going downhill on the narrow trail . I had a couple of close calls early on, but he settled down after he found his first creek:
One Red Paperclip
Holy crap, he did it!
This dude started out with one red paperclip and traded his way all the way up to a house. No money ever changed hands; it was strictly barter. Amazing. Check out his blog for the whole story.
Happy 4th!
And what better way to celebrate than to eat 53 and 3/4 hot dogs! Congrats, Kobayashi, and honorable mention goes to the nerd from San Jose who put down 52 dogs.
A 160-pound wonder from Japan set a new record by devouring a sickening 53 3/4 frankfurters in 12 minutes to win the annual Independence Day hot dog eating competition on Coney Island.
The feat earned Takeru Kobayashi, 27, his sixth straight title in the event, held at the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand on Brooklyn’s seashore.
It's not all bad
Life in the ‘Lope isn’t all bad.
On Saturday, The Bee ran this story about a boy trying to raise funds for his recently-deceased father’s funeral:
Eddie Mendez Jr. died a week ago with his 15-year-old son giving him CPR as his wife held the phone and called out the instructions from a 911 operator.
The 38-year-old Rio Linda tree trimmer was a poor man, which became all too clear by the order of things in the days after he inexplicably stopped breathing. […]
Wakeboarding
Heather was nice enough to take us out on her boat today. She, Kelly, Rajiv (see pic), and me had an awesome time out on the Sacramento River. The weatherman said it was supposed to be 114 today. I don’t know what the actual temp was, but it was bloody oppressive. Out on the water, though, it was perfect.
Guess what happens next?
Futurama is back!
Comedy Central will air 13 new episodes in 2008.
This is great. I never actually watched Futurama until it started airing on Adult Swim, but it is a quirky, ridiculous, and very entertaining show.
Anyway, welcome back, Futurama!
Somewhat Surreal Moment of the Day
A couple of years ago, I donated my old truck to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I’d like to sit here and tell you I did it out of the goodness of my heart, but, really, it was because 2004 was the last year you could write off vehicle donations at a reasonable blue book value.
I got that truck for my 17th birthday. As a reward for staying off of drugs and alcohol until then, my parents told my sister and me that we could have the cars of our choice, within reason. My dream vehicle was a 4x4 truck.