This week: Not so Flicktastic

Tuesday began like every other work day. I got up, showered, changed, fed and walked the dogs, had some breakfast, grabbed my work bag, and headed to my car. Upon reaching my car, I realized that my car had been broken into. The took a bunch of random things - CD's (naturally), some marriage prep stuff, my CSU football helmet magnets, my notebook with my mileages, sunglasses, loose change (maybe $2 worth), and who knows what else. They also tried to take my car. The ignition switch was missing and there was serious damage to my steering column. Apparently, this idiot was an amateur and they couldn't steal the car. So they just ripped the ignition out of the steering column and destroyed the steering column. The worst part of this whole scenario is this: the bastard who was trying to steal my car smoked in there as he/she/it was trying to take it. So it smelled like a used ashtray the next morning when I found it. My poor, poor X-Earth.
Obviously, I am quite upset about the whole situation. It pisses me off that people do those sorts of things to other people. I would never in a million years try to inconvenience someone like that. Think about it. I have spent a ton of time on the phone with the police, the insurance company, the towing company, the body shop. I have to pay my deductibles just to get my car fixed and my stuff repurchased. So because of some asshole who is too lazy to work a little bit harder to make things work, I have to spend money I can't afford to spend, waste time that I can't afford to waste, and increase my stress in my life that I can't afford to increase. Thank you, you heartless, waste-of-space, worthless subhuman. Thank you for ruining my day, my city, my state, my country. I hate you and everything you stand for. You are the reason that our society cannot trust anything. You are the reason people live in fear. You are what is wrong with this world. I hope that karma catches you quickly and viciously.

On the better side of things, because of this unfortunate circumstance, my house shopping has been ramped up. I am done with parking on a street and living in a ghetto apartment complex. I am done with it, completely. Hopefully, a house will appear that Sarah and I can get excited about. I'll keep you posted on the hunting. For now, just know this - house shopping is excruciating. Gizmo is doing well too. His in-house accidents have decreased as the days go on. He and Spanky are used to each other now and have a blast together. I think Spanky is excited to have someone to play with all the time. Gizmo is growing (how much, I'm not exactly sure) and only has one more week before he gets his last shots. That means he can play with other dogs! The dogs are fun and they sure cheered me up during my crappy day yesterday.

Nothing else as of right now. Kyle promised me those bachelor party pictures too. Have I seen them? No. Get on it Steve!

Gizmo

Yes, it is official. Sarah and I have a new dog. His name is Gizmo and he is another miniature schnauzer. This picture is his first night at my apartment. He is 14 weeks old there. He has been a blast. He has been awesome so far. He is quickly becoming housebroken, he sleeps through the night (in a kennel), and he and Spanky are getting along well. The two of them like to wrestle each other for hours at a time! He has been a blast.

On to other news, since it has been a while since I put anything on here. Wedding planning is going well. We have our church, reception hall, flowers, cake, DJ, photographer, tuxes, wedding dress, and bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses set up. Things are definitely falling into place. Planning a wedding is way too stressful for my tastes. Besides the obvious reason, I think I would avoid divorce just to avoid planning another one of these! Thankfully, Sarah and I have had an extended engagement, which give us more time to do everything. I have no idea how people do all this in a couple months! To top everything off, we are also house shopping. House shopping makes wedding planning look like a jog in the park! The good news is that we found a lender we are comfortable with and we are closing in on a house we like. Then the fun (haggling) begins! Thankfully, Harry's mom, Debbie King, has been helping us out a ton. We both went into this blind, having never bought a house before, and Debbie has been an incredible asset. I'm pretty excited to get into a place where I can live for more than a year. Plus, my house won't have roommates that get married and leave me stranded (thanks John and Robert!).

What else? I just finished a great book the other day. It is a book Kato got for me for Christmas that is called "Rat Pack Confidential" by Shawn Levy. It is an incredible, behind-the-scenes look at the Rat Pack (and more specifically, Frank Sinatra). Being a big fan of those guys, it was a page turner for me. Shawn Levy had a lot of information that people do not (or will not) put into biographical literature. He wasn't afraid to bring up the political connections, the mob connections, the fights, the infidelity, the drinking, the gambling, the partying. It showed the true colors of what was then the most powerful group in the United States. Very good book. I would recommend it.

I'm currently reading Bill O'Reilly's newest book, "Culture Warrior". Although I don't necessarily agree with Bill on all topics, his books are always good reads. He is unabashed at calling out people for doing wrongs either against an individual or against our country. He tells it like it is. I have a great amount of respect for the man, regardless of his opinions. I'm a little past half way through the book. I'll let you know how the rest of it goes when I finish it.

The month of February is awesome. The Super Bowl. The Daytona 500. The skiing. The ridiculously awesome depth of the snow on the ground in Denver. Spring training being only a month away. Ahhhhh.

NYC

New York City, here I come!

More Snow and Christmas

Looks like another round of snow is headed for Denver. The Raindancers here at work are saying that between Thursday night (12/28) and Friday night (12/29), the Denver area should be expecting 12-18 inches. AWESOME!! I was already planning on taking a vacation day on Friday to go skiing, so this works perfectly. I get to ski some big Colorado snow and the Denver area gets pounded too! I love snow, if you haven't imagined.

On to my rant of the day. . . education in America. This story may not reflect the state of education in America, but it shows that sometimes people fall through the cracks. Last night, Sarah and I wandered over to our friendly, neighborhood Old Navy. She had a gift certificate to spend and I didn't want to sit at the apartment watching Spanky lick himself. As Sarah meandered around the store and I followed obediently behind, two employees (one male, one female) were having an exchange in the section in which we were browsing. The two of them were making plans for dinner after the store closed. Apparently a group Old Navy employees wanted to grab a bite to eat after all the stacking and folding and talking into the walkie-talkies of the day. The girl (high school age) kept insisting that they go to Starbucks. The boy (also high school age) was adament that they do not go to Starbucks because Starbucks does not satisfy the hunger of a high school boy. After a little bit of a debate over the quantity of food at Starbucks, the boy called the girl a communist. The observer of this interchange (me) laughed at the humor in his statement. I, too, enjoy calling anyone who annoys me a communist. It was great. Well, the girl laughed too and wandered off. A minute later, she returned to start the debate again. Sometime during this part of the debate, she asked the boy what a communist was. SHE DID NOT KNOW WHAT COMMUNISM WAS!!! How unbelievable is that? Who were her social studies teachers through middle school and high school? They should be fired! Have her parents been waiting to have "the talk" explaining communism with their daughter until she reaches an appropriate age? She had to have been at least 16, because she was talking about driving to Starbucks (or wherever else they may go). How did she not know? It really bothered me that people can be that oblivious (or stupid, I don't know which one). Enough with ranting. Let's talk about something else because I'd rather be in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Can't wait for the flakes to fly. . .
See you in the blizzard,
Mike

Delicious Snow

After a day and a half of being home, I finally made it into work today. Hip-hip-hooray. Work sucks incredibly hard after a fun, snow-filled hiatus. So here I am.

Based on my guesses, it looks like my apartment got about 2+ feet of snow. It seems like more, but I know that the drifting made it look bigger. In most areas around my place, the snow comes up to at least my knees. Awesome. Absolutely awesome. I love snow, so this worked out perfectly. I really wish I would have gone skiing today, though. It would have been a better idea. However, I have done nothing the past few days, so I had to get some stuff done before the holiday.

Speaking of the holidays, I'm getting pretty pumped about them. We are having Christmas Eve dinner with Sarah's immediate amily, Christmas morning with her whole family, and Christmas afternoon/evening with my family. Should be a good time.

Once we get through the holidays, it is off to New York City for me! Mike Dunham is (surprisingly) getting married and his bachelor party is the first weekend in January. I leave early, early, early on the 5th of January. I think I land at JFK at 6:30 am. I have a little bit of time to kill before I can meet the next people coming in, so I was thinking about hitting up the Brooklyn Bridge (which I have yet to be on) and Ground Zero. Last time I was in New York, I did not have the chance to stop by Ground Zero and I really want to see it for myself. I don't think the pictures and the video do it justice. And as an engineer, it is sacreligious to be in New York for the third time and still not have checked out the Brooklyn Bridge. So I will go that morning before Rosie shows up around 1:00-3:00 (somewhere in there). It will be nice to see NYC again. I'm not sure if Rockefeller Center will still have the tree up at that point, but if it does, I'm hoping to make it over there too. Fortunately, the Rockefeller Center is only a few blocks from the hotel that we are staying at. However, with all the bachelor party activities that may be planned, I don't know when I will have time to check that out. We will see when I get there.

Back to work for now. Hope everyone in Colorado is enjoying the snow like I am!!

NFL Corrections

I was wrong. There are more Rams out there than I thought. In addition to the ones listed in my last post:

Mike Brisiel - Texans
Eric Hill - Panthers
Blaine Saipaia - Lions
Jason Craft - Saints

I apologize to those four because I am convinced that they all read this blog and were extremely disappointed that I left them off the list.

My new favorite NFL team

After a short hiatus, Bradlee Van Pelt is once again a professional football player. The Houston Texans picked him up after Sage Rosenhaus broke his hand making a tackle on a weird play. Rosenhaus is the holder and they attempted a 59 yard field goal. They were short and the opposing team returned it. Sage made the tackle and broke his hand in the process. Enter the BVP.



That makes three CSU Rams on the Texans. BVP, David Anderson - who was picked up by the Texans after the draft, and Dexter Wynn - who was cut by the Eagles and picked up by the Texans at the beginning of November.




Let's hope the Rams can represent themselves in Texas well. I believe that 3 is the highest number of CSU alums on a single NFL team. This is the list as I know it:

Broncos : 2 (Cecil Sapp, Erik Pears)
Steelers: 2 (Joey Porter, Clark Haggans)
Seahawks: 1 (John Howell)

I think that is all. Eight players currently. Hopefully Kory can make it too.




That is all from Flickville right now. One of these days I will sit down to give everyone a good update on my life. Stay classy, people.

Dirty Ol' Uncle Flick

This past weekend I turned 24. Wow. It's really hard to believe that I am almost 1/2 way through the 20's. One more year and I will finally get a break on my car insurance!! Boo-yah!

I think:
The Broncos better start playing better than they did against the Raiders. If not, they are in some big, big trouble against the Chargers.
As much as it pains me to say this, Jimmie Johnson has the Nextel Cup wrapped up. The only way it won't happen is if someone wrecks him early and he ends up 43rd.
"Cars" is a great movie. Clever, funny, and entertaining. I'm mad I hadn't seen it sooner.
The election in Colorado really got my blood boiling. It bothers me that people vote for some of the obviously flawed ideas. If only people would read about the issues before they stepped into the voting booth.
Thank God those stupid political campaign commercials are done. I don't know if I could take any more of that crap. Just tell us what you think, you sleazy, dirty, stupid politician.
Ayn Rand has become one of my favorite authors. I can't say enough about "Atlas Shrugged". Easily one of my favorite books of all time. It is only time before I finish off the rest of her collection.
It's funny how you put up a whiny post saying that nobody reads your blog and within hours you get responses from people saying they read it. It's good to know that this blog actually is used!! I don't like the thought of doing this completely for my benefit. There are definitely better things I could be doing. . .
Nothing in this world aggrevates me more than Rubik's Cube. I just can't solve that stupid thing. And thanks for all your help, Jorge. I still am stuck!!
I can't wait for Sarah and I to be able to travel. There are a ton of places I would love to go that I have never been before (Seattle, Alaska, Mexico, Europe, Hawaii, New England, Djibouti). When they are working, there are no items better than a computer. However, when they are not working. . .
Spanky is going to get his balls chopped off on Saturday. He is also going to get some shots and some teeth pulled. Poor little guy. I don't envy his position!
I want to get a new dog. It will have to be something fairly small until I have a house with a yard. I'd like to hear some sweet dog names for both boy and girl dogs. Any suggestions?

And although it is not even baseball season, I have some baseball news for Timmay. This week, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Matt Holliday were awarded the Silver Slugger award for their respected positions in their respected leagues. Those three absolutely killed the ball this year and they all deserved it. However, Jamey Carroll did not win the NL Golden Glove for second base. His fielding percentage was incredible. I think he was robbed.

(I can't think of any clever titles)

Here it is November already. Damn, time flies by so quickly. So here is the update of the world that is Mike Flick. . .
Sarah got herself a job. Thank God. I don't have to support her any more!! She is excited. It is with two surgeons that work out of St. Anthony's Central and Lutheran Hospitals. Very very awesome. She was getting sick of not working, so it will be nice for her to be working for a while. Because she got this job, it looks like we won't be moving to Phoenix. Like I've said before, I'm torn on that issue. While I'm happy to be closer to both of our families, the mountains, the cold weather, and the Rockies, I'm a little disappointed that I'm not doing something new and exciting like moving to a new state with just Sarah and my truck. Either way, Sarah and I will do great. Plus, I love my job and the people I work with, so it would have been tough to leave them.

Random thoughts for this Monday evening -

• I hate the Raiders with every ounce of my being.
  
• I wish more people would read this thing. It feels somewhat like a waste of time, but I do get to update the few peeps that read it (Dunham, Fitz, JB, Timmay, Mandy)
• Catholic weddings are ridiculous in their cost and preparation.
• Michael Dunham has officially raged me in the race to the alter.
  
• I'm glad the Broncos finally got their offense going. If only both sides of the ball would play during the same game. . .
• I miss having a garage. This apartment thing is completely overrated. I can't even change the oil in my Xterra here. I have to go over to my parents' house to do that. So lame. Give me a garage anytime!
• Robby Gordon is switching to Fords next year. Not sure how I feel about it. He'll get better equipment, but it is from the enemy. I think I have to stick with the driver and not the manufactorer.
  
• Let's hope Jimmie Johnson blows two engines in the next two races.
• Ditto for Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch.
• The civil engineering market in Denver is exploding. Hopefully, HDR will keep me moving up with it.
• I have a constant urge to go buy a puppy. Spanky is just not enough any more (he is still a badass dog, I just want more).
• Thankfully, ski season has begun. I can't wait to get my first turns. Don't know when that will be, but hopefully soon. Get back here Rosie!!
• There are Christmas commercials on the TV already. It is the first week of November. I love Christmas, but not quite yet. Let's get through Thanksgiving first.
• Voting tomorrow. Make sure you get out and get your voice heard.
  
• For all of you Coloradoans, vote yes on I. It's not marriage, it's just basic human rights.
  

Talk to you all soon (I hope).

I'm Back in the Saddle Again

Apparently I suck at life. And by life I mean updating my blog. But I am updating now, so that is better than 95% of my friends who have blogs. I don't feel so bad now. Right now I am sitting in my apartment amazed at how fast this weekend went. Just a little bit ago it was Friday afternoon and I was leaving work. Now I'm on the brink of another work week. This week should be a pretty good week, though. Tomorrow I will be in the office until about 11:30 or so. Then it is off to the airport, where I have a 2:00 flight to Phoenix. I will be driving up to Flagstaff for the night. Then it is off to the Grand Canyon again. Tuesday morning, I have meetings with the people from the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) and the National Park Service (NPS). Then the rest of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning I will be walking our project with the same people. Thursday afternoon I head back to Phoenix for my flight. Then Friday is Sarah's birthday, Saturday is my mom's birthday and the CSU game. This week should fly right on by.

Since the last blog, the Twins have been swept out of the ALDS by the A's who were, in turn, swept by the Tigers in the ALCS. Wow. What a way to go out. But whatever. Next year, it will be the Twins beating the Rockies in 6 games in the World Series. Remember, you heard it here first.

Wedding update - Sarah and I are finally on our way making plans for our wedding. We have a date, a church, and a reception hall. Now all we have to worry about is the rest of the stuff. Which happens to be a ton of stuff!! Damn. On we go. . .

Sarah's still looking for a job. The Denver market is so, so, so, so, so bad. But she has two interviews tomorrow, so let's hope for the best. In the meantime, I have found myself surprisingly ok with moving to Phoenix if a job in Denver doesn't work out. I have never really had such a big life-changing event and I think it would be a good time/place/situation to have one. We shall see. HDR has already told me that they would allow me to transfer down to Phoenix. They are desperate for help, so they are more than willing to work with me. We would both like to stay in Denver, but if nothing works out, we are both excited for the prospect of a new state, new jobs, new everything. I'll keep you posted as things progress.

That's all I have for you guys right now. If there is anyone still reading this thing. At least it keeps my ADHD brain concentrating on one thing for a little while!! Hope everyone is doing well with whatever they are doing.