Esther

I read a second book based on a woman in the Bible now. I actually enjoyed this book moreso than some of the other ones I read. It told a story and showed how people lived in those days. I keep thinking that those were hard times back then, but after reading about king xerxes lavish feast that lasted for such a long time, some of the people didn't have it so bad. It was a bit cool to see how the Jews are able to stand up for themselves when they know they have God on their side. Queen Esther must have been quite the beauty to have Xerxes that much at her will.

In other news, I will be reading the book of Job next. I might read it twice in a row from the excitement and good things I have heard about it. I don't want to miss any good parts either, so a double reading will be in order.

can't complain

I don't know what to say when people ask how my thanksgiving was. Are they expecting some grand description of who was there, what we ate and the topics of discussion? I generally say that I can't complain and that satisfies most people. I don't really like asking other people how their thanksgiving went, but feel that some of them just can't wait to talk about themselves. What is really the whole scene beyond gathering the family together for dinner? Are we supposed to accomplish something? I am content with seeing everyone and eating. My family may be a bit different though since I see my paternal side every day. We almost see too much of each other. I shouldn't complain though, some families and people would do almost anything to be like us.

This saturday was likely the most boring thanksgiving I have went to in a while. After I ate my meal, I sat on the couch and watched dirty jobs until college football and then Elf came on. After Elf was over, I went home. Two years ago, the best thanksgiving party occurred. I had a girlfriend, we played flip cup, drank two mini kegs of heineken, and played apples to apples until real late at night. This year I am sober, so I didn't bring any beer and the house was about as dull as can be.

Speaking of Elf, I watched that for the first time last night. The end of the movie made me a bit sad, I almost teared up.  Movies like that are great. I remember watching august rush and almost crying at the end also. I just need to think of some other movies that made me a bit sad at the end, albeit for sad or happy reasons.

I am also getting to be a bit discriminatory on pof. If I see a girl describe herself as non religious, I lose interest. It may also be wrong to do this, but I also don't much care for larger women. I am making the effort to get on the treadmill and lose weight and maintain some fitness. Why can't other people? This may be a bad thing to say though. I don't know a persons genetic background. I might be rejecting a person that has been that way since birth. Maybe they are happy that way and don't take issue with my lack of interest. This attitude might be costing me in terms of meeting the right person, but I don't think I am desperate enough to lower my standards yet. Some girls probably see my ugly mug and get turned off the same way.

times typed "oftern"-0

Nehemiah

Well I finished reading another book of the Bible. By the time I finished reading Nehemiah, I was kind of excited. I think it would have been pretty cool to be in Jerusalem at that time. The rebuilding and the enthusiasm that the builders and Israelites showed was pretty cool. I am kind of thrown off by the use of I in the Bible. It took me a bit of time to realize that the book was being written from that perspective. Most of what I had read up until that point was being wrote from the third person.

times typed "oftern"-0

Ezra

I have a couple of Biblical thoughts after reading Ezra in the Bible. I know that God decreed a temple be built in his honor, but the people seem a bit eager in my opinion. I can't decide why this seems to be the case. I think it may be that people were eager to please a God after during such a confusing and turbulent period. You had or wanted to be able to see that your God and His decisions were better than a neighbors beliefs. The temple might have been a type of status symbol. It was important to have so that you could begin to understand how great and glorious your God actually is. I am still not quite sold on it though. Such magnificence is not really necessary to be a believer. This issue is probably worked out later in the Bible, I have to keep the bigger picture in mind. I was going to write sentence or two out here about the whole marrying of other countries thing, but have now talked myself out of it.

I have another religious theme that I want to touch upon here. I have lightly considered the priesthood before. I remember once after I graduated high school and was still in limbo about what I was going to go to college for I listened to a sermon about serving God. I began to wonder if being a preacher was a good thing for me. I remember hearing similar sermons a time or two in the past since then. I am glad that I am in the place I am in now, but would consider being a catholic priest if I thought that was my calling. I had a priest once tell me he didn't start his path until he was in his mid twenties and working on his fathers farm also. I think I would enjoy such a vocation. I would get to sit and reflect on readings, share my thoughts with an audience and have a clear goal or ambition each day. The only downside would be the amount of training I would have to take to achieve that status. While that might not be all that much, I have already spent some time and effort on what I have achieved so far.

I also have the more fun of my families thanksgiving celebrations tonight. Should be more fun, but my aunts and uncles are really the ones that enjoy it. Hopefully I can sit and watch some good sports for most of the night. I am almost past this feast time and haven't put on much weight yet. With my workout routine as it is, I was up over 201 once again, but have done enough now to get myself back down to 198. Heres to eating reasonably and getting back to work once the fun is over.

times typed "oftern"-0

addtion by subtraction

Now that I have had some time to review what I need to do for the p90x program, I have come to some realizations. The first thing is that the diet is going to be the most difficult part of the program for me. I may eventually figure it out, but it seems a bit challenging at first glance. Its not that the food seems exotic or unusual, I am going to have to expand more energy and effort in preparing and planning my meals. I have also come to another realization. I am going to have to cut something out of my life for the next 90 days. Currently I can divide my activities into small segments of my day.
-blogging
-watching TV
-netflix movies
-jogging
-internet
-practicing banjo
-farming
-school/subbing
-grad school
-basketball games
-Bible reading
-other reading
-video games

After some thought, TV watching is going to have to be the first to go. I need at least 50 minutes each day to for p90x. I am not sure if I will still run on the treadmill or not once I get started. Reading is more of a leisure activity, as is blogging and internet. I can probably cut my internet time way down if I just try to spend less time on facebook. I am going to miss watching some of my favorite shows, but I can catch up pretty easy nowadays with the availability of season DVD's that are available everywhere DVD's are sold. So goodbye big bang theory, how I meet your mother, Glee, The office, Numbers, LOST, other shows I occasionaly watch.

I am also really getting into the band "rise against." I have had their thrash unreal song on my s50 for a long while now, and they have some other awesome singles out now. That song about what happens after two people who decide they aren't for each other and go different ways is really good.
times typed "oftern"-0

turkey trotter

This morning I ran another 5k. This was some type of thanksgiving day turkey trot in which the friends of the parks of wilmington benefited. I knocked about two minutes off of my time from my last 5k, finishing around 26:14. I only was passed by one person, right in the last part before the finish line. I think I finished 40th, I was given an index card with that number to fill out at the end of the race. I am not sure where I finished otherwise, I didn't think I did well enough to finish in the top two in my age group, and didn't really care to get any prize they wanted anyways. I'm sure the results will be posted online in a day or two, so I will double check then. The main thing was that I got another t-shirt, which is the best part about running local 5k's anyways. There was a pretty large crowd, the emcee said they had 159 pre register. I did get to see part of wilmington that I had never seen before. I never realized they had a park that close to the college. The worst part was when we ran by the duck pond. I had to be careful not to step in much duck shat.

times typed "oftern"-0

The blueprint

I have bought into the hype and read a book that I honest man would not admit to reading. Due to this and other books I have read, I have figured out how to write a story and sell it.
1. Make the protagonist and the setting as boring and dull as possible. This way you audience is teenagers who think their lives are dull and boring.
2. Put the protagonist in an unbelievable situation. The two books that I am drawing from have the protagonist buddying around with vampires or finding long lost clone/twins/sisters that had increasingly better mental powers.
3. The protagonist then should develop a close friendship or fall in love with at least one of the foils, by the end of the book.
4. Profit.

I am also annoyed now that I have read two books of the twilight series. For starters, why is it the twilight series if that only refers to the title of the first book? All of Herman Melville's books aren't called the Moby Dick series or saga. Also, the protagonist is a dipshit. She can't wait to dump her safe harbor, a good friend, that can protect her, and does want her, at a moments notice for someone who is willing to abandon her and his adopted family. What kind of message is this sending girls? Only be friends with boys when you have abandoned hope that someone who you thought is your soulmate jumps ship. I never see dating profiles where girls say they are looking for their soulmate. They always want to be friends first. Way to go Mrs. Meyers, guys everywhere are doomed. The book also sends the message that is okay to mope around and lie to your parents as much as possible. I will still read the other books, but find these faults to be funny.

times typed "oftern"-0

STATMAN

I am a statistician for my alma mata's high school girls basketball team. I agreed to do this when I was an employee there. My sister was playing and the guy that did it the year before got promoted to college track coach at kansas state or somewhere like that. My sister has since graduated, and I find myself still doing the job. I would like to complain, but I really do enjoy it. I get to leave the house at least twice a week to do it. I get to go to games and have something to do besides sit by myself and not talk to anyone. My dad helps me and most of the parents appreciate my effort. For some reason, the head coach has money to give for my work and I even get paid twenty dollars a game. I now have all the career stats of every varsity player he has coached on my laptop. I will probably keep doing this for some time now. I am almost good enough tot keep up with the whole game myself, but do need good 'ole dad there to be a second pair of eyes sometimes.

I also feel the need to talk about something else that I need to get on virtual paper. I feel very uncomfortable around the guy who replaced me at this school. I think it might be animosity, but that is wrong and I try to avoid such thinking. Its not his fault that I wasn't going to get renewed and have to find another job. I have never told anyone this or really realized this until some time after I wasn't working there. One day in class, the teachers aide came in for some of the slower learners for my lack of a better word. I only had such an aide one period of the day. At any rate, she sat down in her seat at the back and then quickly came up and asked me a question. I told her that "kid1" sat there and she said she needed to go to the office for something. Soon later "kid1" was called to the office and my aide was back in the classroom. I thought nothing of it at the time. I don't know if what happened next was the same day or not. I do remember my principal coming in during my 7th period planning and pointing out to me a burn spot on one of the tables. I also remember "kid1" not being in my class again. It is now obvious to me that "kid1" burnt the table, the spot was found by the aide next period, reported to the principal, investigated by the principal, and "kid1" might have been expelled. Now wonder I didn't get renewed, I was a bit of a liability if such a thing could happen in a chemistry lab room. So while I can't really fault them for not hiring me back, I just have to wonder what kind of things they told the new hire during his interview. I had an interview once there for the ag job, and some not nice things were said about the guy I might be replacing.

I also found some interesting stats on my wii fit channel today. I now have my BMI down to 26.21. At one point it was over 29. A BMI of 30 would have made me obese. I am making some progress. I have lost about 20 pounds in the last 11 months. I did get my wii fit age down to 25, but managed to be 38 after todays test. If I lose 12 more pounds, I will be in the normal catergory. I just wish I could thank a certain blogger for giving me a good reason to cut back my drinking so I thought I could have a chance with a decent woman. It was only about a month after I read those wants in a man that my mom and grandma noticed that I was starting to lose weight. I wasn't even exercising then, just not drinking at all. Of course, now I have increased my fitness level, but I am doing that more for myself. I was really a slob and not enjoying much of anything I found to do. I do like running and the challenge it gives me.

times typed "oftern"-0

camel

I am practically a camel. When I have lunch or dinner, I drink as much as I can. There have been several times at my parents when I have drank a whole gallon of kool-aid at lunch. I drink glass after glass of water and lemonade at my grandparents during dinner. When we go to a restaurant, I usually drink at least three glasses of pop, maybe more if the service is good. Unfortunately, this also applied to beer when I didn't want to stay sober.

I think my fear is that I don't know when I will get my next round of thirst quenched if I am not safely in my house. During the summer this is rational, as we may work from 1-9 in the evening with very few if any water breaks. I have to stock up with as much as I can when I can. During the winter this is not as logical, but I still drink as much fluid as I can.

I am also now doomed. I might as well channel my inner dennis leary and learn to play "lifes gonna suck" on my banjo.

2 chronicles

Well I finally got around to reading another book of the Bible. For most of the chapter, I kept thinking that I had already read this part, but didn't really think that I had until I got to the end and saw a name that I was sure I knew. I did remember some things I wanted to say here. Were there really male prostitutes in those times? What do they mean by "high places?" Is that just a hill, or did they go up on a mountain? How were peoples so influenced by false idols? They seem very reactive to signs, but those other false gods seemed to gain ground very quickly at times. I had another question that I was going to put on here, but couldn't think of it in the time it took me to blog this post.

I am hoping to run in another 5k thanksgiving morning. I was considering one in cincinnati that starts and ends in paul brown stadium. But then I read this morning that about 6000 people might run that. I would like to go, but don't really want to put up with such a large crowd. I may go to a 5k in wilmington that is to benefit the parks or something or another. That might be a smaller crowd and I could get home sooner to gorge myself on thanksgiving items. The only hitch will be whether or not dad and grandpa will want to work. I like to get out and be active, but would feel bad about ditching them when they are working.

times typed "oftern"-0

hardcore gamer

I like to consider myself a bit of a video game enthusiast. One of the current arguments about video games is that nintendo is catering to a non hardcore audience and that they should be making more mature games for the consumer. I don't know about this. Most of the mature theme games are about war or a nuclear fallout shelter. Those games don't really appeal to me. I like to play games of things that I wouldn't necessarily be able to do in real life. Most mario theme games fall into this catergory. I have mario kart, super mario galaxy, super smash brothers, and other nintendo brand games. I don't have any sports games. Well, wii sports resort might count, but I don't really play any of the sports I could actually go out and do.

Sega has made an attempt to make some hardcore games for the wii audience. I have bought all three of them at this point. House of the dead may be the most fun, but it is has the worst language. Madworld was an okay game, but not really as much fun as advertised. The conduit was an excellent game, the language is very tame compared to the first two. The Conduit might be my favorite of the three, but I haven't played it enough yet to beat it. Sega did make some good games, but I don't know if they had the sales they were looking for.

Also my mexicans are a fueding. Elstaquio is much slower at stripping tobacco than what the fast guy is used to. We have it arranged so that they are paid by the pound. This works out well, since they get paid more for working more efficiently. This usually amounts to them splitting the days work in fourths. They have found out, or at least think that two of them can strip enough in a day to make more than what they make as a larger group. It is like would having a half a pie to yourself or a quarter pie to yourself. Anyways, the newest guy is what amounts to being old, slow and tired. I told them they need to work out some arrangement between themselves. I also told them that they both had the chance to get someone else over to work. Both of their leads didn't turn out and we got a very old, very short man instead. They are also severely aggravated because that my dad has now decreed that they are not working on sundays. This means that the one guy is now taking two days off every week, and the rest have to sit around and see a pile of tobacco they could be making money off of. I am a bit concerned this is going to cause some trouble for me. They have two months two finish all the rest of our tobacco, and I am not sure they will get it done. This means I will have to do it. I do feel bad about the forced day off thing. They make enough in a good days work here to last a week in mexico.

times typed "oftern"-0

skinny jeans

I have now lost enough weight that I fit my skinny jeans. My wii fit scale says I am down to 198, so the progress is happening. I had two pairs of jeans that I used to wear when I went to nyoh's and tried to boot scoot boogy. I got okay and line dancing, but really only learned how to imitate the moves that my lady friends were doing. I wasn't able to commit any routines to memory.

They were boot cut straight leg jeans. I was able to wear them even when I was up to 240, but the one pair was really tight around the waist. I now comfortably fit them. The one pair was a 34 waist, and I when I wore them the other night, I needed a belt to keep them up and right the whole night. I wore the other pair tonight and they had a 32 waist. They were a bit tighter, but not as much as they used to be. The only thing I really don't like about either of the jeans is that they are button fly. When I bought them I neglected to look at the fly area and realized when I got home that they were button fly. This really got to be an annoyance when I was drinking and had to piss every 30 minutes or so. They are my only hollister and ralph lauren jeans though. I bought the ralph lauren jeans because they were named after the founder of my ag fraternity, townshend. I bought the hollister jeans because I wanted a pair that wasn't button fly, then forgot to look and seen that I had been had when I got home.

The date went well tonight. We sat and ate and talked for about an hour and twenty minutes. She was a nice girl, but I don't know if I will attempt or pursue a romantic relationship. Didn't quite get that from tonight, but how much can I really learn from a single date?

Times typed "oftern"-0

a threshold

Tonight I am venturing into new territory. I have made acquaintance with someone due to an online dating site and am venturing out to meet her and have dinner. The girl seems very nice and normal enough. At this point, the only way to decide or see what more we have in common is to meet and talk. We have exchanged enough emails and had enough phone conversations that a person to person date was the next thing to do. We never can know if we have enough in common or not without setting down and talking to each other. Who am I to refuse someone that would like to meet me?

For whatever reason I am not very apprehensive about going to someplace strange and meeting someone new. These type of activities don't much worry me. I am not much of a worrywart anyways. I could see where the risk or caution would come from, but those concerns don't bother me. I kind of enjoy getting out there and seeing how things go.

I have now been tasked with a tough question twice. I am not real sure how to answer, because of the ambiguity behind what you consider meet. I have been asked if I have ever meet someone from a dating site. I am not sure if I should answer yes or no to this. I did meet or come to know someone that I didn't know had an online status of profile. I knew who they were once I saw the profile, but had never said much of a word to her before then. Thats what happens when you are dating someone and then are not dating someone I suppose. You start paying more attention to the other people around you. I am not sure if this means I have meet someone from a dating site or not. I would hate to say no, then get found out later as being less than truthful, say I have said that I have meet someone else from a dating site.

I am also in new territory because of a goal that I set for myself. I had hoped to get a years worth of posts here on my blog before announcing to family and friends that I was keeping a blog. This is post 183, and I am now a touch past halfway there. I don't know if I will still publicize my blogging status or not. I did once read that you can order a book of your blog, and will consider that as a cool option for the future.

times typed "oftern"-0

mirror lake jumper inner

One of the greatest college traditions is happening tonight. The mirror lake jump is happening at ohio state. I have one pretty good story about the event. My freshman year of college I was at sscc, so I didn't jump. My sophomore year of college, I was living in the dorms, but didn't go. My roommates were not all that much fun, so we just kind of stayed in and heard other people talk about it. My junior year, I had an afro and went and dove in and had a great laugh. The northwood guys, by which I mean vegasbob, nasamatt, scatterbrain, hellboy, and CPAterry, stole a grocery cart from giant eagle or somewhere. So we got good and liquored up and carted in the lake jackass style. It was glorious. I did nearly lose my glasses, and got my afro wet. I literally was swinging my hands around in the water when they fell in them before sinking to the bottom. It was a very close call. The next day me and vegasbob went to cleveland to catch a cavs game then drove to ann arbor on saturday to tailgate at the michigan game. Then we went to canada and drank because the rest of the crew wasn't yet 21 at the time. My senior year I was done student teaching but had moved back home until the start of winter quarter and didn't go. My second senior year I had a girlfriend and was a bit sick so I just went and watched. All good times.

I have begun to ponder what the phrase "you meet decent people in decent places." I always took this to mean that a good quality person was not going to be somewhere after eleven at night. Decent places for me would mean church activities, festivals that only happen during the day, an outdoor concert. You know, things that don't require alcohol to attend. I am still debating if this applies to the internet dating scenario. Many people on there are good, faith based people. Some of them may be people that you wouldn't normally associate with. If I want to meet a good person outside of the internet medium, I would be going to church, or being seen in public at sporting events. I don't consider a bar a good option to meet people. My agenda when I go to a bar is to keep drinking as much as I can. This is why I avoid bars as much as possible now. I'm not gonna meet someone there and hold a conversation with them. I am going to drink and regret it the next day. I haven't been to a bar since the end of august and don't really miss it. If it wasn't for my brother and his 21st birthday, I wouldn't have been to a bar since last spring when scatterbrain told me they were going on a bar crawl in the german village in c-vegas. We only went to two bars.

working for the weekend

Well I managed to aggravate a friend last night. I had been making some comments in casual conversation that finally got to my friend and I got to hear about it. The worst part for me was that I made someone angry. I spent half the night with a queasy stomach wondering how I did that.

I had noticed that this friend was generally looking forward to being done with their job for the day, or looking forward to the weekend to be more exact. Said friend was interpreting my remarks as an indicator of their work satisfaction. I am sure that the friend does enjoy their job. From what I have gathered, said person simply enjoys what they have planned after the paid job as much as the paid job. Maybe they are putting up their weekend countdowns as a way to remind themselves of what they also enjoy. At any rate, I misspoke in such a way that finally got them riled up. I will have to be more cautious about what I say in the future. The boiling point was when I suggested that their life might mirror a sitcom characters. In this sitcom, the woman character suggested to her cohort that she was done dating for a while and was only going to be concerned about her job. Her male friends scoffed at this and gave examples of other people who said the same thing and were married six months later. My friend interpreted this and things I have said in the past as them not caring about their job. This was not my goal, but I will have to stick to more generic, safe, items in the future.

I enjoyed my job when I had it and there was some times that I was anxious about being in a classroom. I do miss getting to interact with the students. Being a sub is not the same thing. The students know that I can't be trusted to teach them what their regular teacher wants known. My best bet it to present what was left for me and act as dumb as possible for the rest of class. When I was a full time teacher, I had the students attention much more than I do as a sub. It was pretty cool to have a group of people depend on me for an interpretation of their textbook.

The weekend or end of day assumption was a fault of mine. When I grew up, the weekends were not all that different from the weekdays. I rarely looked forward to a day of rest on the weekend. Or getting to do something special because it was the weekend. Sundays were rarely cased or planned as a day of rest. Sure, during the school year we had our religion classes in the morning, but as soon as we got home it was back to business as usual. When I got my one and still only full time work away from my family, a weekend wasn't that special. I would still have just as much work to do on the weekend as any other day of the week. If and when I got all the farm work done, I would do my planning. There were several weeks that I did no planning at all until late sunday or early monday morning.

One time I was tasked with a tough question by my superintendent. For whatever reason or technique of his, he gave me an ultimatum. I was asked if I did want to teach science or ag. Because of my ag degree, he might have decided that I was slouching on my science teaching as an indicator of my work desire. Anyways he told me that if I wanted to be an ag teacher, I would be taken out of my current classroom and work the remaining duration of my contract as a tutor or something else. I told him that I wanted to be a science teacher. Currently I would take a job as an ag teacher, but would use that as a stepping stone to a science education position. Sometimes jobs are posted internally first and I may have to work as one to get the other. A science teaching position is much more stable. There is no future in teaching ag. Schools are looking for ways to cut money, and ag programs are going to be gone in my lifetime. That program is not necessary for a high school diploma and will be out of the picture if need be. The schools will lose many students to the career centers, but if they were concerned about student retention, they wouldn't allow the PSO program.

times typed "oftern"-0

profile profiler

I was thinking today about some of the dating profiles I come across. I find that many girls seem to love the city life and can't wait to run down where they are at and say someplace is boring or dull. I like where I live and list my town as. Sure, I get a chuckle out of listing a very discreet town, but like being in such a unpopulated place. I get to come and relax in the evenings without having to plan any more of my day. In college, sometimes as soon as I got back from class, I was out the door doing some non resting activity. Now that I am home, I get to rest and get to bed when I want to. To much activity was not a good thing for me. I just don't see the appeal of full time city living. Sure the dating pool may be larger and more convenient, but the hassle of constant opportunity and distractions are too much for me. I much prefer the settling in for the evening now. The weekends I usually would like to get out, but with my occupation I can't always plan that far ahead.

I also find it funny that almost every girl says they are willing to dress up to go out and also dress down and stay in for a home movie. Many girls also say they don't want cheaters or any number of bad qualities imaginable. While I am not claiming to not be those things in my profile, I don't think I am those things. Its such a paradox for the profiles I see on there, they want so much but are willing to be so unresponsive towards messages. Its as if they know that a person is going to treat them wrong before giving a person a chance.

I usually try to read a profile and think of something clever that shows that I read their profile. I went on a forum and read a whole thread about the pros and cons of doing so. On the pro side, if girls might like that you took the time to read their profile and may have found my message interesting. On the con side, if they aren't interested, it doesn't matter what I say in a clever letter, they aren't responding.

I also ordered my copy of p90x tonight. I will soon have my hunky farmer physique. Now I just have to find my buxom teacher that fb said would be a good match for me.

times typed "oftern"-0

third time not the charm

I saw that a friend made it down on the field after the ohio state win on saturday. I had the option of rushing the field and taking in all the glory, but did not for a couple of reasons. First, my sister had to get going so that she could go to the bathroom. She made the mistake of not going to the bathroom before going to the game. She was really aggravated when the game went into overtime. I had also already made my way to on the field twice. The first time was when Ohio State finished their undefeated season back in 2002, and got to go to the Fiesta Bowl and put a hurting on miami of florida. I was on the field and heading towards the goal post when the cops had enough and let the pepper spray loose. There was a crowd up on the goal post in the south end zone, and I didn't want any more trouble so I headed back to the dorms. I ended up living with Zito, who was one of the identified rioters, the next year when we moved in the place on oakland. The second time I was on the field celebrating a OSU big ten championship was in 2006 when they beat michigan 42-39. The game was hyped up and deserved all the attention it received. I was on the field for a while. I eventually got off the field. I did find a cell phone on the field, but handed it over to an officer and went on my way. On the sportscenter footage we later seen the accountant rushing the field and waving around his goofy arms. Good times. This big ten win did not seem as triumphant as the other two opportunities that I was witness too.

Times typed "oftern"-0

say it aint so

I think God might be a michigan fan. I have put up two flag pole holders on my front porch, and both of them have blown down. My Ohio State theme flag has been broken twice by excessive wind. I see a pattern there.

I am also confused about something I seen yesterday. After one of my blog posts, I decided that I needed to put up a pro OSU facebook message every saturday. Between all of my friends, I was usually the only one that had such a message up. This was fun at times, it gave some of my friends a chance to show that they are for the buckeyes without committing to the larger audience of their social network. However, yesterday when I got back, I was surprised at all of the buckeye theme messages. Some of the people I hadn't seen say anything positive about the buckeyes since before the USC game, suddenly were on the bandwagon. Now that they knew the bucks were going to be a BCS contender, they were willing to publicly announce their fandom. Maybe I just need to spend less time Fbooking.

I also now have a cat on a probationary period. Since the field behind my house has been combined, the field mice have migrated in. This new type is apparently to clever for mouse traps, so I have moved in a cat for two weeks at the most. Right now the cat is hiding behind the couch, but will get out and move around some when he gets hungry enough.

The church service was good today. I am now bringing a crowd with me, me and three of our mexicans. I did get to sit by a decent looking girl today. She moved in next to an older lady after the mass was about half over. She wasn't wearing a ring and had her own set of car keys, so she probably was in my age range. I just wonder how old I look to people. I have had high schoolers tell me I look like I am just out of college. I was taking a spanish class at OSU my last undergrad quarter, and no one in the class believed that I was 23. In another sign of bad news, bobby hill was complimenting me saying that I am skinny now. I told him he was a homo and that I still weighed 200 pounds.

times typed "oftern"-0

seven nation army

Well today I made it to last home football game Ohio States 2009 season. The crowd was good, and the buckeyes got their win and a guaranteed share of the big ten title. I do have a complaint though. The white stripes song "seven nation army" is being used in a way I don't like. I do like the song, and think it is a good rocking out, head banging song. However, when the song is played at the shoe, the fans do this chant that doesn't match up with the beat of the song. The chant is actually better on its own, and the song is awesome on its own. However, together I don't think it is a good combination. Maybe the stadium or fan base can work on my complaint during the non football season.

I ended up taking my younger sister with me. That made some extra driving for me, but she did buy my meals today. She did manage to leave her only bank card at my brothers room. Scatterbrain told me he was gonna spend to day with his cousin, and I didn't bother any of the girls I know that still live in columbus. I am trying to think of a way to pique some of their attention.

I did see nasamatt after the game. He decided to stop and see my brother and talk some hunting. For some reason he liked to poke fun at my weight loss. I am pretty proud that I have lost 40 pounds in about  3 years. I was only about 219 more or less this time last year, but still more than I should have been. I kind of felt bad for the guy though. He has a good looking girlfriend, and manages to drink about a dozen beers during the game in her company. She stayed sober on purpose. I don't know what to think. A girlfriend that would watch a football game with me would be great. Not having anything better to do than drink several beers around her would not be very good. What kind of relationship do they have where they come to columbus and drink on the weekends? Can't a couple plan on doing any more than going to a bar? I may be a bit of a old timer in attitude now, but are they really gonna spend an entire evening in a bar waiting to be seen by someone? I couldn't wait to get back home so I could watch snl and read up on the days news. I think columbus is a fun place, but to much of anyones focus is drinking alcohol. If I went there with a girlfriend again, I would try to avoid bars. Nasamatt seemed kind of disappointed that I had to leave early, but I can't wake up and get going with a hangover like I used to. I kind of think he just wanted me around to have a drinking buddy, but I had to get my sister back home so she could work in the morning. We use to be good drinking buddies, but tonight was not the night for a return. I did break my sobriety by drinking three Busch lights before the game, but I feel pretty good about my restraint towards alcohol consumptions. Six beers in about 10 weeks is not bad at all.

times typed "oftern"-0

Reasons Lists

I recently read three different list over on my favorite spirtual website. This site doesn't really condemn or condone some behaviors that are done by christians and non christians. It does talk about topics that I wouldn't hear from a preacher or even a local church leader. If I ever come to have some position of influence in my church community, I am going to recommend this site to my audience.

Anyways, two of the lists were about cons of dating christians and pros of dating christians. I have read the eight reasons between the two lists and feel pretty good about what is said. I may be in practice of some of the reasons. One of the main points is that christians are eager to advance in their life as God outlined for them in the Bible and do push some of the issues at times. This may be a good thing between two eager and like minded individuals. The problem is finding the person that is willing and ready to commit in a way that satisfies both parties.

The other list was about some of the things that teachers have done to disenfranchise their students. Some of the horror stories that happened have occurred in my student era. I read the list and realized that there are some things that I would need to change if and when I am able to get a full time job. One item that struck me was incompetent teachers who don't prepare and have poor classroom management. Those were my main issues in my tenure. I made poor lesson plans. I was afraid to take a day off, because I would have to make excellent plans that a sub could achieve. That seemed like more work than having a day off was worth. I did get better at making and writing plans by the end of the year, but it had more to do with my principal and superintendent requiring them every monday. I also really lacked classroom management. I generally let things go until I decided they had to be sent away. I never gave one detention in my one year of full time employment. My principal noticed this and called me out on it. I have the philosophy that students in the age group I had are curious and should get some leeway in their questions and interest. Many students take chemistry because it seems like the thing to do. After a while, they realize what work they had to do and gave up on some of the harder concepts. This wasn't really any fault of mine or the students. I should have been more authoritative, but in retrospect the administration knew I was going to be there for one year and knew who they were gonna hire after I was gone before they hired me. There wasn't much I could have done in that year to improve my standing anyways.

In other news, I may move in a house cat here soon. The mice are not falling for my peanut butter/mousetrap combination. I keep seeing mice run along the floorboards and its starting to creep me out. Maybe I can borrow one of my parents house cats for a month or so and see how satisfied I am.

times typed "oftern"-0

The Gayness

In reflection of yesterdays post, I realized how much I dislike soccer. All of my brothers and sisters played soccer and thought they were glorious all stars. I look at soccer and see a game where about one or two people are actively moving or running. Everyone else is just standing around waiting for the action to come to them. How is that such a great time? Even when a person is on the field, they can spend most of it standing around and doing very little. They also have half times, which are a reason to laze around for however long half time is. Not in a race. You run as fast as you can until you finish. Its you against the clock.

Because of my dissatisfaction with soccer, I had to come up with a stance that allowed me to hate on soccer and be in support of my sport, cross country. I came up with a distinguishment between game and sport. In order for something to be a true sport, you can't play that activity. This meant that the only real sports were track &field, and cross country. All other so called activities were therefore things that were played, and not really a sport. I compared them to a board game at this point. I had to include basketball in this category. This was worth it though. I got to laugh at my brothers and sisters for thinking soccer was the greatest thing around.

This is part of the problem with our soccer as a whole. I want to see a competitive game where the action is really back and forth. Soccer games are very low scoring and can end in ties. What kind of game is there where a tie is a satisfactory end to a contest? That is hardly what anyone wants to see. How is that type of game enjoyable?

Running and cross country are so much better. Everyone is competing to do their best. You are racing against the guy ahead of you. You determine your level of success. Don't want to try as hard? You lose. Didn't do as well as you had hoped? You have yourself to blame. Try harder. Train more. Learn how to perform better. If a soccer team has a bad game, to much of the blame can be on any of the 11 players on the field at any time.

This post came across as a rambling mess. I very much dislike soccer and think the only true sport is something you don't play.

I tried watching observe and report tonight, but it was very unfocused and not as funny as I hoped it would be. Some of Seth Rogens movies I like, but some of them are not that great. This was one of the not so great ones that I didn't much care for.

College athletes

I have a sister that is a college athlete. She plays basketball for a non scholarship team that is around here. Last winter she was a freshman and started most all the games by the end of the season. Her team finished third in some national tournament and had a pretty successful season. They beat plenty of teams that had players on the roster that were on scholarship. She really had all kinds of fun playing, and is playing again this year. She might play all four years, but the nursing program gets a lot tougher after the second year and she might quit to focus more on her studies after this season.

My other sister was going to be a college athlete also. She considered herself a good soccer player in high school and got herself a tryout on the onu soccer team. However, they wanted her to arrive on campus two weeks early for conditioning. She wasn't going to have any of that, so she quit. One time that summer she borrowed my stopwatch so she could do a training mile run. I started it for her, and she brought it back after five minutes. It was still running. She thought she could play soccer at a higher level and couldn't run for more than 5 minutes straight. Needless to say, she didn't tryout and played on club teams for her fix. She even played on a club basketball team up there and was the tallest player on her team. She is only about 5'5".

My dad is really glad that my youngest sister is playing basketball. Besides the fact that he gets to go watch a bunch of basketball games, he thinks it helps the girl stay in school. My younger sister was ready to quit after her sophomore year for a couple of reasons. She lived alone that year and became really lonely. In high school she played all kinds of sports and always had a friend around. She came to miss that in college and was ready to move to UC and start school. Her now husband and my dad talked her into staying and things turned out well. She did find some good friends to live with for the other four years of her college career. My dad is of the opinion that girls need a support group to get them through school. My younger sister playing basketball gives her this group so she is happy.

My youngest brother claims that some schools talked to him about playing soccer, but he doesn't always tell the whole truth.

times typed "oftern"-0

I Chronicles

I finally finished the next book in my bible reading odyssey. I realize that chronicles means retelling or a list of things that happened in the past. This is pretty much what I got out of the book. I was a bit confused at times though. With my relative inexperience, I found it difficult to remember what had and hadn't happened. I would read about King David and Solomon and had to wonder if I was reading new material or not. I did get a bit of a chill reading this book. Satan was mentioned for the first time in the book and it kind of gave me a chill. I know that Satan is bad news and all, but nothing very extreme happened due to his mention.

And yes, I do know that I need to think about the big picture. And yes, I know that the book of Jobs is coming up soon enough. I will get to it eventually. I decided that I was going to read the Bible in order and will start picking and choosing after I get the entirety of the Old Testament read.

In other news, we should finish all the bean fields here in the next two or three days. We have just over a hundred acres left, so that is good news.

times typed "oftern"-0

Dorm days

I lived in the dorms at Ohio State for one school year. I lived in the dorms with my cousin, Fresh. He was concerned that he wouldn't know anyone up there, so we signed a paper and got the dorm rooming people to put us together. This kind of screwed our other two roommates. LeFever was likely matched up with me based on my rooming survey answers. Thom was likely matched up with Fresh based on his answers. I got along with all of them, but Thom was a city boy and didn't much care for any of LeFever personality. LeFever ended up going home and studying every weekend. He was a little more motivated than the rest of us and wanted to be a veterinarian. So I perceived any disgruntledness to really be mine and Fresh's fault. If we hadn't decided to become roommates, we would have been matched up with a roomful of people who fit our personalities a little better.

At any rate, I alluded to a problem a couple of posts ago and here is where I am going to talk about it. Fresh started college as a freshman with a girlfriend who was a college junior. By the end of the fall quarter, he had broken up with her for good. By the end of the winter quarter he was heavily drinking whiskey every night. He finally decided that the hangovers weren't worth the effort, but wanted some escape from reality. He tried weed and that was what he wanted. The hangover wasn't there, and he felt better about his lot in life at that point. By the time the next fall came around, Fresh, Thom, and me had moved into an off campus house with Zito, he was smoking everyday. Zito also became a smoking buddy. I went to brazil for a study abroad winter quarter. That spring Fresh decided that he was going to grow his own stock. So by the end of the spring quarter, the whole house smelled like that and I couldn't wait to get out. I was 21 by the start of that school year, so I didn't need another vice beside alcohol at any time.

By the time my senior year came around, I knew I didn't really want to live with that group of guys. Fresh failed out of OSU and moved to cincy to try and get a degree. I student taught that fall and didn't need a place in columbus. Winter quarter I lived with nasamatt, vegasbob, and scatterbrain. One of their roommates was interning in NYC somewhere. Spring quarter I lived in an apartment at lane and high with a friend. Then my 2nd senior year I lived with nasamatt and scatterbrain in a house on northwood.

times typed "oftern"-0

Hermano

My brother and grandpa managed to tag team me some aggravation today. Part of the deal of the h2a program is that we have to take out crew to the store of their choice once a week. This allows them to buy groceries and send money home, and other housekeeping things they decide to do. Since most of my family went to my great aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary last night, my middle brother took them to the store. He took them to martins and told them they have 20 minutes. My grandpa told him to take them to martins. This is a problem on several fronts.
-They don't like shopping at martins because it is more expensive, or caro than other stores.
-Mandame needed to go to a pharmacy to buy some type of medication that isn't at martins.
-those 4 guys do some very hard work for my brother and he tells them they have 20 minutes. They left their families and friends to do manual labor in a country with a language they don'ts speak. My brother says 20 minutes is enough for them. This is the one time we asked him to do a favor such as this since we have had amigos in los estados unidos
-I get to hear all the complaints because I am the only spanish speaker and I can understand what they are wanting to say
-it seems like they are only willing to go to church with me so they can ask a favor later. As soon as mandame got done telling me that my church was beautiful, he asked if I could do a favor and take him to a pharmacy. As soon as reyes and his dad are in the truck after church, they want to stop some special place. Tomas hasn't gone yet, but he is a seventh day adventist and doesn't work on saturdays.
- I had to run them around an extra half hour this morning because my grandpa and brother can't be bothered to be nice to them.
-they didn't buy any groceries because one group doesn't speak the other groups language and thought they were going to walmart after martins.
-I am going to have to commit to taking them every weekend now so that my grandpa and brother don't give them the finger and treat them that poorly.

I also saw today that redsfest is coming up here in the first part of december. That may be another event to what I just decided is going be part of my "Long, Lonely walk of Lonliness"tour. I also have a list of books I want to read that I am keeping on my computer. So far I have only put down two, but it is sure to grow.

time typed "oftern"-0

never have

I have never drank coffee. Not even a sip. My disposition in the mornings is not such that I need a pick me up. My mom and dad used to drink coffee all the time, but now they drink tea in the mornings.

I also have never worn boxer shorts. I almost always wear briefs. I have a pair of boxer briefs, but I don't like wearing them. I get some irritation down there after a day of wearing them and prefer briefs.

I have never done any drugs. I have been around weed, but that is another post for later. I was offered acid or something before, but turned it down. I have taken vicodin before, but it was in a prescribed manner and only took one out of the whole bottle.

I have also never been arrested or in the back of a squad car. Yeah me. I was told by cops once that I was too old to be sliding down a railing, but I was drunk and it was a long railing there at the gateway center.

I have never failed a college class. I have got D's before, but never did fail a class.

I have never paid to fish. I live right next to a pay lake and have no idea how a pay lake system works. I went fishing once this spring, and that was the first time I had been for about 12 years. I only went because the greenhouse was slow that day and didn't really need to get back anytime soon.

times typed "oftern"-0

The Dumbest Generation

I finally finished reading "The Dumbest Generation." I am guilty of everything the author mentions. I spend my time keeping up to date on my social circle. I keep a blog and look forward to audience participation. I rarely watch local or national news. I don't read enough for pleasure or to learn more knowledge about the past. I have mentors and audiences that I don't pay direct attention to. I would be on my phone constantly, if I sent text messages or was more interesting. I am on the phone constantly with my dad and grandpa though. I use the computer as a tool to learn, but learn to much of what would be worthless knowledge. After reading this book, I do think we are in trouble as a nation. I don't know if the under 30 crowd is motivated enough to get out of their social circle and be a civic minded person that our government needs.

I also have got a couple of long days ahead of me. The weather has finally turned enough that our fields are dry enough and we can get in several hours of combining a day. The problem we are going to run into is that the local elevator is going to run out of room and we might want to do more work. Then we are going to have to put as much as we can in our own storage for a while. I can expect some more late nights here for another week or so.

crawl

I have been stewing around most of the evening here by myself. Nasamatt called and said him and his dad were coming down tomorrow so they could spend the day hunting friday. He also had some bad news for me. Nasamatt and pumpkin, as I am going to call her from here on out, wanted to introduce me to a friend of hers and see if we would get along. However, she meet the buzzsaw of a can't keep it in his pants drweber first, and now she might as well be considered spoiled. At first I was a bit angry at drweber for throwing all caution to the wind and going after a girl that pumpkin wanted me to meet. The more I thought about it though, the less mad I became. I am the one that stays home and doesn't put myself out there to see what happens. I am the one who doesn't know what to do with myself as a sober sally. I am the one who should have got myself to the pumpkin festival and meet the friend. I am the one who is lazy enough to think that I am going to find someone online just because I consider that a reasonable option. I am the one who thinks I am too busy to get out and meet women. I am the one who drank myself into liquid lonlieness in college. I am the one who considers a crawl a good enough pace to meet and win over women. But I stalled and got outdone by drwebers ambition once again.

The more I think about it, the more I want to run a marathon. I am going to complete a marathon by the time I am 30. That gives me a clear goal to work for for the next two and a half years or so. I will be able to say that I did something that not many people around here do when I achieve that. I might not accomplish much else as a farmer or person, but I can at least brag about that when I am old and alone.

The more I hear lady gaga's music, the more I like it. I had heard of her before, but ever since I seen her perform on snl, I have started to like her music.

time typed "oftern"-0

aha, caught him

Well today something novel happened that I have never been witness to before. My dad made a mistake driving the combine. He ran the front wheel into a ditch and got the wheel stuck. We had to pull out the combine with the grain cart tractor. The funny thing is he is always telling me to be careful when crossing that ditch and culvert. I tried to take some pictures with my camera phone, but I don't think that they came out very well. It was too dark by that time to get a good shot. I would love to be there when grandpa puts all the evidence together and starts to get mad. It seems that I will be subbing tomorrow though.

I also want to get on my soapbox about casinos. I don't think they are a good idea for ohio or any other place. I am not a gambler or risk taker with my money. Some people like that scene, but it is not for me. I think a casino will attract a bad crowd. I never really plan to visit a casino, no matter how close or convenient it can be made to me. If I went to vegas, I think I would spend more time lounging and going to clubs then letting places have my money for nothing in return. Thats another thing. Just because ohio has a casino, doesn't mean people are going to want to visit. Casinos and gambling work in nevada because it is an escape from reality. Here in ohio, your life will suck just as much as anywhere else. Why would someone want to go to a casino when there is a foot of snow on the ground and the weather is in the single digits. Sounds like a bad idea. Let the other states have the degenerate folks money. If ohio want to increase its revenue, ohio should do something else. Put people to work like they did in the depression, building roads and other construction projects.

I am also glad to see that it looks like issue 2 will pass. As a farmer, it is good to have any pro agriculture legislature pass. I am glad to see this because I didn't vote this year. I have moved or changed townships since last years election and didn't get registered in time. Maybe next year I will have that done.

times typed "oftern"-0

Progress

This morning something happened that surprised me. This summer I bought a belt in tennessee when I was shopping around in the stores. I bought the belt too big to start off with and it was shortly too large to wear. I bought another belt about a month ago and am now moving in on the belt holes. The belt I bought is one of those that hose belt holes all around, so it is going to fit me for as long as it last. The good news is that I had to go a size smaller on it this morning. I have jumped up the speed and time on my workout so that I get about 2.25 miles and burn up about 570 calories. I think the real effort that is making the change is the sit ups now though. I am doing 200 right after I finish my run. The first 100 go real easy, but the second 100 are a little bit tougher. I am also floating around the 201-202 range according to my wii fit board/scale. I still think I have a bit of a gut on me, but can't really expect it to go away after about three months. I am losing some material on the sides and can feel a bit of cleavage on my gut. I should have done one of those progression photo series like I see on the tv ads, but my soybean progression series is still in progress. 

I also am surprised that I have a girl asking when I am going to ask her out. The new dating site I am on seems to be a bit more receptive to me. Her message was a bit forward, but as a guy I don't want to make that type of move real soon either. I also found a girl on the site that seems to think I am funny. She is a bit older, but the last girl I dated was 32 when I broke up with her, so the funny thinking girl still comes in under that. I just don't know what we would talk about if I gave them my phone number. I am hopeful that the conversation would be easy, but I may have already said to much in my message banter. The question that almost every girl has on their profile is a bit odd to me. I really don't know what I would want in a girl, but almost every girl does know what they want. Do they spend much time thinking about the qualities they want a man to have, or are they just hopeful? I would be happy with a girl that likes me, but that is probably a very generalized thing to say. That leaves too much room open for other qualities that I might not like. Maybe the statement should be changed to what I like in a woman rather than what I am looking for or want in a woman. 

I am also trying to order some tickets to watch some OSU basketball games this winter. I don't want to sit around and do very little for another season. I have to work around the hs girls basketball team schedule and try to find someone to go with me. I also don't know if I can get two seats together, but will go by myself if it comes to that. Just like how I ordered the kings of leon tickets, I am going to get a pair and hope that someone comes around by the time the event comes up. 

times typed "oftern"-0

DST

I love daylight savings time. Some days during the summer, I have to be out of the house early and work until almost ten. When the sun goes down this early, I get to head in the house and rest. Setting tobacco and baling hay until 9 at night a couple days a week is no fun at all. Thankfully those days are gone now, and I can start to make consistent plans for after 6. Unfortunatley, most of those plans are going to be attending high school basketball games and my sisters clermont cougars games.

I also watched some type of sequel to donnie darko tonight. Donnie Darko was the better movie. The best way to sum up the theme of that movie is with one question. Is living some extra days worth it if you get to experience love and other feelings you hadn't developed if you had been crushed by a rouge plane engine?

times typed "oftern"-0