Excitement?

For years I've been working on keeping my face from showing emotion. I don't like it when people know how I feel unless I tell them how I feel. I don't like giving any information up without my consent.

So I was really disappointed when I was looking over our pictures from Disneyland and came across this series of 4 self-portraits as we were waiting in line to ride the teacups.

I start out with my normal face. Just the trace of a smile, and the squinty eyes that make people think I'm peering into their soul.
Then I start showing some teeth. Normally when I show teeth it's to scare aware predators and is usually accompanied by growling. Not this time. I think it was actually the beginnings of excitement.

Still trying to maintain composure, but my excitement is bursting through. Normally, I'd punch anyone making the face that I'm making in this picture. If I'd seen myself at the time, I probably would have slammed my head against a tree to prevent others from thinking I was having a good time.

This last picture, right before we get on the ride, scares me. Nobody should look that happy. It's sort of like when somebody has their zipper down; somebody should have told me my emotions were showing so I could conceal them.

It was certainly a fun ride, but I'm not sure that it was worth all that smiling.

Oh, I'd like to point out that Annie looks exactly the same in each photo.

Lemon

I've always wondered what his middle name was...

Found Jesus Again!

This time he was in Huntington Beach. He seems to hang out with a guy named Jim a lot.

I Found Jesus

I found Jesus in Barstow California. At least his calling card.

Modern Hobo Code

Devoted readers of my blog will remember one of my favorite websites: Cockeyed.com

It's run by a guy named Rob Cockerham and we share a warped sense of humor. The site is worth checking out.

One thing in particular that I thought was exceptionally funny is his Modern Hobo Code that he's developed. First of all, the word "Hobo" is hilarious even without anything attached to it. And I'm a huge fan of codes and symbols and stuff like that. Plus, it's just plain funny.

The symbols are purportedly how one hobo will warn other hobos of danger or clue them into good things that they might be looking for. Here is a sneak peak:

Well-Stocked Bathroom

Dumpster Treasure

That's all you get here. You'll have to check out the rest of the Modern Hobo Code here. If you like that, you'll probably also like his Halloween Candy Code.

P4 F82

Good news. We're now the proud planters of 4 letterboxes (that's what the P4 means). Can you believe it?

On Friday I loaded up some boxes and headed out on the road. I've wanted to plant a couple letterboxes on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake. It's a pretty area, and doesn't get appreciated enough, if you ask me.

So I went driving around looking for good hiding places. The first one is about 1/3 mile out on a raised pathway right out in the middle of the lake. Okay, so 1/3 mile from shore isn't quite the middle, but it seems like it. When you get out there, you're surrounded by water except for the narrow strip of land behind you. It's a pretty area. The letterbox is named: "Great Salt Lake Series: Islands" and can be found by clicking here. The box itself is concealed behind some cement slabs, marked particularly by that red one in the picture.


The second box is a bit farther west, near Black Rock (the big rock you see where UT-201 meets up with I-80). From the location of the box, there's a great view of Black Rock and of the sunset to the West (naturally) over the lake. The letterbox is named: "Great Salt Lake Series: Black Rock" (original, I know) and the clue can be found here.

My only fear is that the lake level will rise too high for people to get out to them. They should be alright. Maybe if the water gets up too high I could ask them to start those pumps up again.

Travorny

So I made a big mistake today at the gym while I was walking on the treadmill. No, I didn't watch the food network and get really hungry and go out for a big lunch afterward. I didn't want the news and freak out about the $940 Billion in pork projects that the democrats are pushing through.

I didn't do any of those things, but did something much, much worse. I watched Rick Steves. I've tried so hard for years to avoid watching travel shows, and I've been doing really well. But I slipped off the wagon today and enjoyed watching Rick travel around the Dordogne region of France.

I never knew that such a beautiful place existed, but now I desperately need to go see it. The only way I can describe this feeling is being "Travorny", or "Travel Horny". It's such a weird feeling. It's like feeling homesick even though I'm at home (not technically, but in theory). I used to call this condition "Romesickness", but that really only applies to Rome, or to Italy in a more general sense. So, while speaking of having the feeling for other areas, I have to say that I'm Travorny.

There's no real cure for this condition, short of traveling all over the world. Hopefully I'll be able to cure the condition in the next couple years, or I'll start suffering from Travue Tralls.

Shirtless Working

Strange title, I know, but it's going to be a strange post.

As I was riding the elevator up to my desk today, I unzipped my coat. And as I was unzipping my coat, I wondered, "Am I wearing a shirt today?"

If you're wondering, yes I was (I was even if you weren't wondering), but it made me think back to all the times I've dreamed that I showed up to work or school without clothes on. Or at least dreamed about showing up without clothes on.

It's strange, isn't it? I mean, I've been an adult for at least 5 years now, and I still dream sometimes about showing up somewhere (usually school) without pants or a shirt. Sometimes without shoes, but that's not as big a deal.

Fortunately, every time I've arrived at work and been missing an article of clothing, I've woken up a few minutes later. But sometimes things will happen while at work that can be just embarassing.

The worst (okay, so it's not really the worst, but it was the first to pop into my head) is when you have a fabric softener sheet stuck to the inside of your shirt, especially if it's near the sleeve. You feel funny all day long, and smell spring fresh (which gets old after awhile). You start daydreaming of that stupid white teddybear and constantly grab at your arm to try to straighten your sleeve. It's annoying, but perhaps not embarassing.

The worst (okay, still maybe not the worst, but pretty bad) is when you sprout a hole in your sock. Faithful readers of my blog may remember the hole that opened up on my foot a couple years ago. You know, the one big enough that navy destroyers could get lost in it. That's pretty annoying, too.

The absolute worst (getting there) is when you rip the buttons off your shirt. Just another reason to not wear shirts with buttons, if you ask me. Once at Costco, while getting off the forklift, my shirt got caught on the lever and it ripped all but the top two buttons off and they scattered all over the loading dock. I could only find two of them. It's pretty embarassing to walk around holding your shirt closed around your body.

Even worse is when your belt breaks. It usually happens around the buckle. In the past I've had to hold my pants up with rope or paper clips. Then I decided to spend a little money and buy a belt that won't break. Best $100 I ever spent.

Even worse than that is when your pants rip. Yep. It may be the absolute worst thing that can happen. The only question about it is this: Is it better to know that your pants are ripped and worry about it all day, or is it better to not know and just find out about it that night when you get home. On the one hand, you worry all day long (or, if you're smart, you go home and change). The other way, maybe you end up mooning hundreds of people, but you only have a few moments of shame as the whole day passes quickly in front of your eyes, and all those funny comments people made all day suddenly make sense.

It's sort of like when your zipper's down (though this isn't nearly as bad as a pant rip). Do you want the embarassment of someone (sometimes a stranger) telling you your zipper's down, or do you prefer to just find out about it the next time you go to the bathroom. If someone tells you, you know that at least one person saw, but if you find out about it yourself, you're not sure if anyone saw or not. Maybe they didn't... Maybe they took pictures that will be posted on the break room fridge.

I guess the bottom line is that I'm wearing a shirt today. Although, secretly, I wish I wasn't so that there would at least be a chance that I'm really still in bed, minutes from waking up...