Busted!

Ok, had to post this real quick for those of you that don't check Letsrun. Wait til the end.

Update

Ok guys, I know it 's been FOREVER since I've posted anything new, so here you go. I've been working at SIRC for about a month now, and everything is starting to flow quite nicely. I do a bunch of different things around here, the most exciting being learning how to use the linear impactor. It's a big machine that hits stuff. And, it's loud.

FYI - there won't be any pictures on my blog until 1) I move away from home, 2) my boss buys me a new computer at work(this thing sucks big time), or 3) MO and Geri go out of town and I use their computer.

Anyway, there hasn't been much going on around here lately. I had to take some time to adjust to getting up early EVERYDAY. You all know how much I hate getting up early. I mean, I know I got up early when I was running, but that wasn't everyday, I got a day off to recover in between. We all know I wasn't getting out of bed to go cross train on Tuesdays and Thursdays! I think I'm starting to adjust because I've been able to stay up past 11 all week. Go me! We'll see if I can stay up past midnight tonight :)

This weekend should be fun; it is always one of my favorites. How can the combination of the start of the football season and Boomsday be beat? We'll see if I can snag some pictures of the festivities this weekend.

Ok, there ya go, I blogged. Enjoy!

New Month, New Job

It's August 1st!

First off, I would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Sharon. I hope your day was spectacular.

Secondly, I started my new job today! I showed up to SIRC, Starbucks in hand, at 8am, and everybody was at the door to greet me. I think they doubted that I could make it to work that early because when I was working for Dollamur, I would usually show up after lunch, that is if I went in at all.

I have decided my office is in desperate need of a makeover. If I had my camera, I would take a picture, but I don't, so you will have to use your imagination. The floor and shelves are littered with helmets of all kinds. There are also a bunch of folders on my desk that Laura left. I'm guessing they will be useful in the future, but I don't know what to do with them right now. The walls are bare except for a poster of the brain, which has already been quite useful. I think I'll leave that up.

So far I have been asked to read over a couple of legal cases, and I have figured out that I really don't know much about head injuries. I mean, I kinda have an idea what's going on, but I feel that I should be certain. I have the case file open and 3 medical books are taking up the rest of the space on my desk.

Alright, lunch time is over, so I gots to get back to work.

A New Take on Shoes

I was wasting time on the internet the other day, and look what I found! I can't decide if I hate it or if it is the coolest thing ever. Check it out for yourself.



This is a new concept from a company called Skins. It is a two part shoe system that consists of a removable inner piece called the "bone" and collapsable outer piece, aka, the "skin". The idea is to get buyers to buy one bone and multiple skins, so every pair of shoes has the same fit and feel. Each bone is molded to each individual's feet, so there is no "breaking in" period for a new pair of shoes.

The bones cost around $50 and the skins range from $120 to $300.

I have my doubts that Skins will be the next big thing and here's why:

1. They are pretty expensive
2. If I were still selling shoes, I would hate dealing with these things. What happens when you run out of a certain size in a bone? If you can't sell customer a bone, you can't sell them any skins, so keeping a steady supply on hand would be crucial for shops.
3. What happens if somebody changes their mind after buying the bone? Can it be remolded to another person's foot?
4. Crocs. I think they are the ugliest things ever, but people love them because they are cheap, comfortable, and hey, guess what, they mold to your feet. Huh, weird.
5. How long does the bone really last and does it start to smell after awhile?? Alot of the women's designs look like they would be worn without socks, so I'm thinkin' the bone is going to get pretty stanky somewhere down the road.

There could be hope for Skins, though. I think Skins could be popular with people that have foot problems, or people who are on their feet all day, or people who have some money to throw around. I could see these becoming popular with celebrities, for sure. When I was working at River Sports, I had a lady come in one day and hand me a prescription for Superfeet, so maybe if doctors get behind it, that might help.

The system is only scheduled to sell in select cities in select boutiques around the country. The website says that a store in Memphis is scheduled to have them. The initial product launch was set for January 2007. That was pushed back to summer 2007 and that has since been pushed back to fall/winter 2007. So, we'll see. Good new for Skins though, some sizes in a few models have already sold out during the pre-order phase.

Bad Dog!

yeah, so what's your point?

From the Knoxville News Sentinel "Local News" section:

UT image: Frat, jock school with financial aid issues

The Princeton Review ranks the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee almost everyway you can think of. How do the publication's ranking stack up? Leave you comments below.

Some of these are unlikely to be on a UT T-shirt.
Princeton Review Rankings of UTK

Rank List

#19 Professors Make Themselves Scarce

#7 Students Dissatisfied with Financial Aid

#5 Teaching Assistants Teach Too Many Upper-Level Courses

#20 Their Students (Almost) Never Study Academics - do these people actually graduate?

#9 Alternative Lifestyles Not an Alternative

#9 Everyone Plays Intramural Sports - I watched an intramural game once. I think it was soccer.

#10 Students Pack the Stadiums - gotta support those hard working athletes.

#6 Major Frat and Sorority Scene - duh, we're in the south.

#16 Party Schools - back when I was a frosh, we acheived the #1 ranking in this category. Sad to see the decline in recent years. :P

#11 Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both - hey, we're working on it! UT is covering everything that is unsightly with nice, new concrete.

#6 Jock Schools - Go big orange!

House Sitting for the Mewetts

I'm pretty sure Callie is irritated with her current living situation while MO and Geri are in Greece. Usually, when MO and Geri go out of town, Callie gets to go on a little doggie vacation and spend quality time with her other human friends. This time, things are a little different. Since I live at home with two very high strung and pretty much insane golden retrievers and Tom has a "little" bulldog puppy that is just a little too young for Callie's taste, MO asked me if I would just come over and stay at the house while they are away. Of course, I said I would because I like to get out of Hardin Valley when I can, I'm closer to downtown, and it cuts my work commute in half, which is awesome.

I think Callie is disappointed that she wasn't consulted before any arrangements were made. Normally, when I dog sit for Callie, she whines and makes little noises here and there while she trots around the house and checks things out. But, she then makes herself at home and has a good time playing with toys that she steals from Boo(my cat). Callie is making sure that I notice how annoyed she is. She follows me from room to room so I can hear her grunt and groan while she lies on the ground, and when I am watching tv, she lies on her doggie bed and gives me sideways glances when I say something to her. I try to entertain her as best I can, but she tires of me quickly and goes back to her bed to glare at me.

Today I needed to stop by my house to get a few provisions for the rest of my stay, so I decided I would take Callie with me to get her out of the house. She was REALLY excited to get in the car. Usually, I would take her to Cherokee to play in the water, but she had a minor surgery on her head recently, so I figured the dirty waters of the Tennessee River wouldn't be the best treament for a healing wound. So, anyway, I took her to my house and let her run around the yard before I took her inside and introduced her to Truman and Austin, the crazy goldens I mentioned earlier. After a little sniffing, all of the dogs decided everything was OK, and Callie trotted around the house to check things out. She quickly found the toy basket and chose a squeaky football to carry around for the rest of her visit. I think Callie got tired of the other dogs and was ready to leave when the time came.

So, now we are back in South Knoxville, and Callie is tired enough that she went right to sleep on the cool floor with no complaints. Good thing we are going to go visit Leah and Feedy tomorrow at their new house. That should keep Callie entertained for awhile. :)

Drumroll, please!

Ok, ok, so I had to make my big decision today, and I have chosen to...

Oh come on, you know what I picked!

Seriously? You don't know?

Ok, I'll tell you.
I have decided to pack up my stuff and



Oh, screw it...I'm staying in Knoxville! :)

Decisions, Decisions

Ok, so, big news on the job front. I have been offered an engineering position at Southern Impact Research Center(SIRC).

I know I have a really confusing work situation, so I am going to explain it before I go any further.

I currently work for Dollamur. Dollamur is a small company that makes sports surfaces out of foam. The biggest part of their business is wrestling mats, but they also make gymnastics, cheerleading, and martial arts flooring.

I met the guys from Dollamur when I was volunteering at SIRC late last summer after they had done some product testing at the lab and was officially hired in November. Dave Halstead, the owner of SIRC and a college professor of mine, told Dollamur that I could rent an office at SIRC and use the lab until Dollamur built a lab of their own, at which time I would move to Texas and continue my work there. The original plan was for me to move to Texas between 90 and 120 days after signing on, but as you know, I am still here.

Back to the job offer. SIRC employs six people and one of the engineers, Laura, resigned about a month ago. I really didn't think anything of it; she obviously didn't fit in with everyone else at the lab and I wasn't surprised when she told me she was leaving. A couple of weeks went by, and on one of the rare occasions that I showed up to do some actual work, Dave and Scott(Dave's bro and co-owner) took me to lunch and offered me Laura's postion. I was really surprised by the offer as Laura is basically a genius and it seems to me that she should be replaced by some other really smart person that knows a whole lot more about everything than I do.

The two jobs pay almost the same. The benefits are pretty much the same. Pros for Dollamur include an extra week of vacation between Christmas and New Years (which I really liked) and it's in Texas, not Knoxville. Pros for SIRC include contacts with every major sporting goods manufacturer and really smart engineers I can learn from. Really, the only thing keeping me from not jumping at the SIRC position is that it is in Knoxville. I have to make my decision by Wednesday, so I'll keep you posted.

This dude is for real!

Nick Symmonds...wow!

Geez, I haven't updated this thing since May 1st. I guess that means I've been busy. Or, it might mean that I haven't been going to the lab because I have nothing to do there.

Last week made up for any free time I have had lately. On Monday, I drove up with Dave, Mel, and Laura, who are three of my "coworkers" from Southern Impact to the ASTM conference in Norfolk, Virginia. It was nice to get away from the lab and get to know everybody in a more social environment. We stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast called The Page House Inn which is located in historic Norfolk. The Page House is a mansion that was built in the late 1800's, and all the rooms are named after members of the Page family. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time at the house, but I will say that the homemade granola was top notch.

The conference was a great learning experience and I met a ton of people in the sporting goods industry. I attended meetings and taskgroups for three whole days and listened to people argue over testing methods and current standards. I tell ya, it was a good time. I have to give a big shout out to Dave for letting me follow him around all week and introducing me to a bunch of people whose names I have already forgotten. Luckily, we all wear name tags at these things, so I won't look like an ass when I see them again in November.

whooooop...whooooop!

Yeah DMR! Sarah had a nice kick at the end for the win. But where's Bill Cosby??!!

Splits:
Rose Anne - 3:26
LaTonya - 52.9
Leslie - 2:08.8
Sarah - 4:41.4

A side note - Brie Felnagle from UNC ran a 4:33 mile leg. Holy crap, that's fast.

The entire race can be seen on Flocast
http://69.89.31.63/~flocasts/flotrack/coverage.php?c=33&id=2121

Monorail!

No lab equipment = no move

This is a monorail drop system. It can be used to measure impact forces on all kinds of things. This type of system is used to test helmets, wall padding, wrestling mats, shin guards, and most recently, LED screens that display advertisements on the outfield wall during baseball games.

This is the piece of equipment I use most often here at Southern Impact, and if the guys at Dollamur want answers on how well our mats perform, I need one in Texas. As of Thursday, the budget for the lab still needed board approval, and once that is OK'd, we can talk to the Serge, the French Canadian about manufacturing one for us. Until then, I will reside in Knoxville.

Just a Little Outside...

I bet the mayor was embarrassed; I'm embarrassed for him. I hope this is no indication of what is in store this year for the Cincinnati Reds. Sadly, the Reds have struggled since their 1990 World Series win against the steriod laden Oakland Athletics, which was back when I actually cared about and watched baseball. Back before the strike in 1994. But, I still check the paper to see how the Reds are playing. I always hope before I look at the results that they will have a record over .500. They rarely do.

I tell ya though, that 1990 team was pretty awesome. Remember Chris Sabo and those "RecSpecs" glasses he wore? Those were pretty sweet. I loved him. Then there was Eric Davis; wasn't he on drugs or something? And then there was Barry Larkin, who must have been paid pretty well, because I can't believe he stayed in Cinci for so long.

With that being said, if the Reds make it to the playoffs, I'll watch.

Drugs are Bad, OK?

Apparently, there is no limit to the things Rolling Stones guitarist, Keith Richards, will snort up his nose.

When asked about the strangest thing he's tried to snort by British music magazine, MNE, Richards replied, "My father, I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow."

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/03/ap3579350.html

Monster Toad!

Remember when you were a little kid and when you caught a toad, it peed on you? I bet that thing could hold a lot of pee. Eww.

Here's a video - check it out

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=F87D9992-952C-4432-8203-27C059B9D08B&f=00&fg=copy

Texas Update

So, I talked to the boss man down in Texas and here's the skinny on the move: I'll be in Knoxville for another 4 to 6 weeks. That will put me in Texas in late April/early May. I just did a little research and here is what I will be expecting, weather wise, when I am moving in. The average high temperature for May is 83 degrees, so that's not bad considering it is about that temperature right now in K-town. I swear, where did spring go? It was nice for like 3 days, then BAM! 80 degrees. I hope it cools off a little before summer starts. Anyway, for your reading pleasure, here are some more facts about Fort Worth:

• Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the 19th-largest in the United States.


• Currently Fort Worth stands as the 9th safest U.S. city among those with a population over 500,000.


• The bus service is know as "The T"...haha


• Texas is a strong center for recreational cycling as well as racing. The largest ride in the U.S. is the "Hotter'n Hell Hundred" (August in Wichita Falls, TX) drawing 11,000 riders annually, half of which are from the Fort Worth / Dallas Metroplex. My boss told me his sons did this ride on single speeds.


• Billy Bob's Texas - World's largest honky-tonk with a 4,800-sq.-ft. rodeo area, 600 feet of bar rails, a 1,650-sq.-ft. stage for country/Western entertainment with top stars, shops, games, and restaurants


• ~35 miles of paved bike trails pass through Fort Worth, allowing riders to traverse the city without ever crossing a road at grade level.

Bring on the honky tonk.

Nevada Lottery Bill Advances

What!!?? Nevada doesn't have a lottery? For real?

'Tis true. For the 25th time since 1975, a proposal that would allow the creation of a state lottery has been introduced to the state legislature. If the proposal is approved by the legislature this year, and again in 2009, voters would have the final say on whether to allow the lottery in 2010.

So, I just wanna get this straight, Nevada, right? The same Nevada that legalized prostitution? The same Nevada that makes almost 1 billion dollars a year from taxing casinos? WTF?

O' Canada (part1)

Here you are Mo, lots and lots of pictures from the trip. Click on the picture at the bottom of the page.

For those of you that don't know (and I can't imagine there are many 'cause I told anyone and everyone that would listen) Christie Elwin and I took a little trip up to British Columbia and had ourselves a damn good time.

Traveling was the most interesting part of the trip thanks to rain, complete lack of road signage, one badly placed flag, and the lady who works the night shift for the condo company.

On our way to Whistler, we got to see a large section of downtown Vancouver while aimlessly driving up and down the streets trying to find a sign for Highway 99N. We found signs for 99S a couple of times but no 99N. We crossed the bridge that connects the airport and downtown 4 times - one time following a cab driver that claimed he knew where we needed to go...doubtful. On the fourth time across, we figured out why we couldn't find a sign for 99N - it had been covered up a flag. You know those flags that cities put on light poles for decoration? Yeah, one of those. That's how small the sign was on a major bridge going away from the airport. Oh well, we got on 99N, good for us. The time was now ~2AM eastern time.

After driving a couple of hours on some pretty sketchy roads, we get to Whistler Village. The village is cute, there are some shops, a Starbucks, a grocery store, and some restaurants in a little shopping area connected to our condo. I printed out the instructions for getting into the main lobby of our building before we left Knoxville. Now, normally, you go to the lobby, check in the with person there, get your keys and go to your room. This place was different. If you arrive after hours, which we did, there is a number you call to get the main lobby code. So, I call the number and get the code, and I ask the lady "Where do we get our keys and how do we get into the parking area?" The lady says "Well, I'm not sure. The code for your room is either *** or ***. The garage should open once you pull your car up to the gate." We pull up to the gate, it doesn't open. I call the lady back and tell her we can't get into the garage and she says, "Well, I don't know. Do you want me to wake up the owner of the condo and ask him?" I tell her no and I get off the phone because it's super later, and I'm about to lose my temper. Christie and I decide to park the car and go to our room to see what the deal is. We get to the door and find out that there is a lock box outside our door. We punch in the code and look inside. One key. We think that maybe the key works for the door and the garage so we go downstairs to the car, drive up to the garage, put the key in the keyhole and nothing happens. Crap. I figure maybe we can open the door from the inside, so I get out of the car, go into the building, get into the garage and search for a way to get the door open. I try to open it manually, I look for a button, I even hopped on the rubber hose on the ground that opens the door for that cars that are leaving (yeah right, like I weigh enough for that). Nothing. So Christie comes into the garage and we try the same things over again. Nothing. We get out of the garage, go back to our room, and Christie calls the lady and asks for the owner's phone number. It was almost 5am our time, so she was going to wake his ass up. We find out that a garage key was supposed to be in the room next to the phone, but the owner forgot to leave it for us. He tells Christie that if we both dig our heels into the rubber hose sensor at the same time, the door should open. I have my doubts that it will work, but we go downstairs and try it anyway. What do you know, the damn thing opens. So we pull the car in, unload our stuff, and get some much needed sleep.

Next up...snowboarding 101

Whistler

Hey! I blogged!

Hey! Look at me! I started a blog! Now I can tell everybody my opinions about anything I want.....yes!

Seriously though, the blog came about after almost an entire week of playing on the internet/sleeping/watching tv at work. Yeah, you read that right, I took a nice little nap in my big comfy office chair today, AND I watch tv on the internet on almost a daily basis. I should really just stop watching shows at home all together so I have something to do when I go to work. Anywoo, since I don't have much to do most days, I figured if I find something on the internet worth sharing, I'll blog it...dammit. So, here goes nothing...enjoy.