The states I despise...

Well allow me first off to say that Mandy and I did finally make it to Idaho after 4 very long days. The stories from along the way are probably enough to fill a short book but at this moment I'm not ready to take the time to write them. I will say this though, Colorado has risen to the top and overtaken West Virginia as my least favorite state in the history of the world. I despise West Virginia because of their roads, they have the nerve to charge money to drive on their crappy roads? I can't fathom, but I deal with it because the last time I tried to beat that system I took route 52 through WV and found myself on the scene of Deliverance...I said to myself then and there, never again, I will just pay the stupid toll. Anyway, I cross several more states, good roads, no tolls and then I come to Colorado and I think to myself, I'm only on this road for 24 miles, surely the toll won't be that much.....$18 dollars and 24 miles later I found myself barely resisting the urge to throw everything I had in the truck out the window so that some employee of that crappy system would have to spend time picking it up and thus putting my STOLEN hard earned money to use. I have been mad before folks, but never as mad as I was when I crossed through that last toll plaza. Fortunately Wyoming, Utah and Idaho were very pleasant drives and by the time I got to Twin Falls I was over it...now that I'm writing about it I am burning with anger all over again. Stay tuned for the tale of "Manchu throwing up on Mandy as we pass through St. Louis."

On the contrary...

The last time we met for my blog I was gushing with optimism, minus the bike ride and thing were looking very up. My fantasy baseball team went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs and no, it wasn't even close. While we are on fantasy sports lets talk about fantasy football. It has been 3 years since I have won a fantasy football championship and so I devised a foolproof plan this year to carry my team. Despite my better judgment I decide to take with my first pick of the draft, a seasoned QB, one that has proven himself over and over again and that is not prone to injuries...although I can't stand him, I picked Tom Brady. Those of you that follow sports know exactly how this turned out for me. Brady plays like 5 minutes and then tears his ACL. Folks, my logic was impeccable...it's not going to be my year. In that same spirit, a few minutes after hearing this news on ESPN, I go to check our flight itinerary for the Twin Falls trip and I notice something terribly wrong. Our departure date-9/11 is correct, however our return is listed as 10/15. This is a problem. Our stay in Twin Falls is intended for 4 days, not one month. I immediately call Travelocity and recieve some very bad options (both of which are going to cause us to eat anywhere from $600-800.) At least thats what I think...it was sort of hard to decipher the broken english from both people I talked to. For all I know they could have been saying, "yes Mr. Stamper, we will change those flights for you right away and since you are such an idiot for booking the wrong return flight, we will do it for free." But I'm pretty sure I caught the "you're going to eat at least $600." Mandy, being the smarter of the two of us decides to call the airline directly. They are easier to work with and offer to just change the return flight for us, for the low low fee of $100 per tick. But, thats a lot better than 300 a tick. On the brighter side, at least we caught the mistake before we got to Twin Falls and realized we wouldn't be leaving for a month. Then I'm sure they would have really stuck it to us.

A brush with death...

So lets take it back to yesterday morning at approximately 9:00 a.m. I was settled in at the computer, prepared to waste another day simply not doing anything. Mandy walked into the room and I, like an idiot, just sat there on the computer, sublimely ignorant of her intentions. "Let's take a bike ride," was the statement that brought me the first hint reservation. Actually, let me rephrase that, "Joel....JOEL, are you listening to me?" was the phrase that first nailed me, followed by the infamous bike ride comment. Like and idiot I enthusiastically stopped what I was doing, found my tennis shoes which conveniently no longer fit and "saddled up the horses," (put the stupid bikes on the bike rack. Off we were, charging along, myself putting forth the same unbridled enthusiastic spirit I had kept hidden deep inside since the last time I was sent in for a hemorrhoid surgery. The first 6 miles was a breeze, it was cool, shady and slightly downhill (a fact I wouldn't realize until later when I was coming back, slightly uphill). We stopped and had a very relaxing chat by a beautiful waterfall and then when hunger hit we decided it was time to head back. This was the first mistake, as I stated, the trek back was all a slight upgrade. The sun had risen to an overhead position, there was no more shade, no more cool in the air and the only comfort I had was that of my woman's camelback-which every time I took my hand of the handlebar to reach for the tube to put it in my mouth, I almost wrecked. We finally arrived back at the car after what seemed like hours of laboring that stupid bike. Then came the redeeming part of the trip. Japanese for lunch. Mmmmm!

On the mend...

August was a rush of emotion, change, uncertainty and then laziness. It was a good month but all in all I truly believe it will pale in comparison to September. We have finally started having success in calling rental places in Twin Falls and perhaps might even find a place to live in the event I get hired. Mandy has an interview this evening with an accounting firm. My fantasy baseball team made the playoffs as a 4 seed and is currently winning this week. I found a website that has old television shows on it and now Mandy and myself send ourselves to sleep watching old re-runs of ALF, which is not as kid friendly as I remembered it being. I do find it to be very hilarious every time ALF makes an attempt to eat the cat. Oh goodness. I have also started walking....yes, I did indeed say walking. Its an attempt to become healthier and perhaps work my way up to being somewhat athletic again. It's a long shot, but we will see.

New Beginnings

So here we are, September 1st 2008. A new month means a new attitude. I successfully went from Sunday August 17-Sunday August 31st without really doing anything at all. While it was quite enjoyable to have time to wind down from a busy camp season, it at times also became somewhat boring. Yesterday I filled in for dad at the pulpit while he and mom went off gallivanting at the beach - you can rest assured that I brought the hell-fire and brimstone...actually I spoke mainly on being merciful. This morning I started going through crap of mine that hasn't been touched in years - I always have been a pack rat and it has finally caught up with me. I probably have a truckload of junk that is destined for either the goodwill or the dump. Ten days until we fly to Idaho. Also on the bright side, Manchu has not defiled the house since Thursday.