Special Olympics

This past weekend was the Special Olympics. This was the first year that I was the coordinator for the track events. It was a lot of fun even though there were a few hang ups. The Mile relay was a time bomb waiting to happen. Yes it did explode and if B'ann wasn't there to fix it, it would have been a disaster. We had a good team this year, we're known as Team Beann at the Special O's. Of course I cried when the athletes were singing the National Anthem and then I teared up again during the prayer. We were supposed to have really bad storms Friday and Saturday, but thank God for the clear blue skys we had all day Saturday.

Just to give you an idea of how well I think we ran these events, we didn't start running the races until after 9:30 in the morning...that's almost two hours behind schedule, we finished at 3 in the afternoon. In the past it would have taken them till 5 or 6 in the afternoon to finish the track events. We were going so fast there was a line of about 50 athletes lined up to get their medals. I'm happy with that. So Brian, Sam, Jayme, Emily, and Jennifer, thank you for making this past weekend a success. I think next year with the six of us and our other two Team Beann missing members, we will be set for an answer return to the special o in 2011.

I can't wait.

home sweet home

I have been away from home way to long...oh by the way I'm back online. I got a company laptop yesterday so I'm returning to the world of the living. I have pretty much been gone for...well it will be three weeks once I get back home. Except for college and first leaving home, I don't think I have been gone this long. I'm diff missing my home. More so my bed!! And my pillows. Oh and my shower. Lets save some time...oh and my dogs. Ok enough, I just miss home. Brian will send me text messages of the dogs and that doesn't help with home sickness. You can imagine me getting cabin fever after a good week of just saying indoors at home, I get cabin fever every night in the hotel room.

The new job is going to be kind of easy, there is just a lot of stuff that I will need to know. It should be fun and I hear my team is really cool to work with. Training hasn't been that bad. The only thing is the fact that I'm in dallas but so far away from all my friends that I can't drive and see them.

Ok I need to get off here and get started on some files that I need to go through. So I will try to pick up the blogging, I know everyone is dying to read what I write next.

Later

A good Friday laugh

I am Dallas bound for two weeks. My company is sending me to train with someone because we're closing the dallas office down and I need to learn this dude's job. Sure not a problem. Yeah I don't mind driving my own truck, you're paying for my gas and mileage. Plus I will need to be in Lufkin Friday afternoon for the Special Olympics anyways so no biggie. 15 dollars for breakfast, where the hell do you go that's 15 bucks for breakfast...seriously. Ok I guess I can do five bucks if I don't just get free coffee at the office. 10 dollars you say for lunch, well I guess that's fair, besides I shouldn't be hungry because I had a 15 dollar breakfast. Yeah 10 should be good. WTF!!! Ok I can do 35 dollars for dinner, after off that 15 dollar breakfast I had is no longer in my belly and I was only able to get crackers with my 10 dollar lunch. So yeah I'm pretty damn hungry right now. Oh yeah I got this and then I get to expense this all out...hell yeah. Wait hold up what did you just say? What about my hotel room? Oh I need to put the hotel on my credit card and expense that as well. Wait wait wait, you think you're going to tell me I have to go to dallas and train for two week and now you're telling me I need to pay up front for all my stuff. You have got to be out of your damn mind. If I knew that I was going to be paying for all this up front, my ass wouldn't be staying at the Marriott for 119 dollars a day. Are you effing kidding me? I would have taken my ass to budget motel for 29.99 a day. Yeah I get the fact that I'm getting that money back, but here is how this is going to work. You mister company is going to take your company credit it card...the one that the company pays for, and you're going to pay for all two weeks of my room and then you can expense that.

Yes that was the type of conversation I was having with my Sr Manager yesterday. I about fell the hell out when he thought I was going to pay for my 2 weeks our of my own personal money. I don't have it would have cost me over 1200 bucks for two weeks at the Marriott. I'm going to need a raise if you think I can afford that.

So even though my company is crazy in the head, I will be in dallas and I will get to see a lot of friends and some new babies. So all in all it should be a good trip. Plus I get to learn a new skill and since the dude that does it now is leaving, I will be the only one in the Mid-South region doing this job -- respect me bitches!

Happy Friday

Country boy in First class

I have been thinking about this blog for a while. First class is unlike anything I have ever seen. I felt completely out of my element and had no clue how to act. I know people were talking about me. First off the flight attendants handed me a menu...I was like what am I supposed to do with this, Fan myself? It was kind of hot up there. Yeah no it wasn't a fan it was the menu to order from. Then I was handed a hot towel. The FA was handling it with tongs so I first thought, how am I supposed to get this hot towel on my ass without anyone else noticing. Yeah it wasn't for my ass, it was a hot towel for my hands. Well I pondered so long on what to do with said towel that I just cleaned my hands with a cold towel. I had to wait and watch someone else use the towel before I did. Then it came time for the appetizer, which was chilled lobster tail...on a plane, really? It had some kind of dip that was wonderful, except I don't think I was supposed to use my tongue and finger (clean thoughts) to scoop up the rest of the dipping sauce. What I do it at home, that's what I'm used to. Then after all the meals where over and done with, we had a fully stocked ice cream Sunday bar...I was in heaven. However the movies sucked! I had to watch Hannah Montana because that was the only other movie that looked half way good...it was.

So to my readers, First Class it the only way to go. But should we ever fly some where together and I get the option to upgrade and you don't...I will take plenty of pictures while in First class to show you when we get off the plane...loser!

Might want to make Peace with your maker

ANOTHER earthquake has struck. This time in China. Ok seriously we're having WAY to many of these things and they're pretty strong. I have come up with two conclusions.

1 God is pissed and he is letting us know by literally shaking things up. It was a short conclusion.

2 Mother earth is pissed and she is letting us know. She is tired of having to support the billions on this planet and she is doing some damage control. A lot of people call this population control. And if you think about it, our natural disasters are getting worse and a lot more people are losing their lives to these disaster.

3 (I just thought of this one) maybe 2012 is for real and this is just the beginning...I mean I'm just saying!!

So make peace with your maker because if not, you might want to pack some sunscreen or something cause it's hot!

Vacation grade - Hawaii

I haven't made it a secret as to where I was going. So I figured I would at least do everyone a favor and grade my trip, that way if you are thinking about going you can use this to make up your mind. You know because all of you give to rat's asses as to what I really think.

So my Grade will be based on a few things.

Quality of travel - B (See reasoning below)
Landscape - A
Activities available and taken - A
Price - F
Total Grade - C+

I think those four things will be a good launching point for this

QoT - We went to the big Island in Hawaii. We had a straight fly from Houston to Honolulu. It's 8.5 hour fly. We flew first class, and seriously that's the only way to go. Seriously if you can upgrade it's well worth the money. Just the Appitizer was lobster tails and a salad...SERIOUSLY. I had lobster tail and white wine! Then I had a beef dinner and a hot fudge sunday. Then in Honolulu we jumped on a puddle jumper to the big island, it's a 30-40 minute flight. The juice was ok but not cold, it was a let down because I was actually thristy. Now we're on the big Island and the local cabs will rip you off. It's cheaper to rent a car for 4 days than it is for two taxi rides...LET THIS BE A WARNING!!! Get a car. Just know that if you get a convertable and go to the Hilo side of the mountain, chances are it's going to rain on you...another warning. Going home was in coach and it was a bitch.

Landscape - well look it's Hawaii, it's a given it's going to be beautiful. There were places that looked straight out of the movie Avatar...NO LIE. The weather were we stayed was perfect just about everyday.

Activities - There is one huge downfall to the activities on in Hawaii. Unless you're going to puddle jump to other islands you're kind of limited to what you can do on the island. We went to the volcano and akaka falls. Two of the major attractions on the big island. I will blog more about that in a different blog.

Price - Ok the price of stuff really sucks. Hawaii isn't a cheap place. If you see Roy's bar and grill, be prepared to spend about 100-150+ if you have a four top (that's four people sitting at a table). We about fell out. Everything else is very very pricy there so you can only imagen what my grade is on this. I found the freshest diet Dr. Pepper there for 2.18...that was an expense I was proud to make.

So there you have folks. My total Grade was a C+. For the amount of money you have to spend on travel and hotel just isn't really worth it. We even had someone with us that had Mairriot points so we didn't have to pay for our hotel and I think the place was way to pricy. So save that money and go to the Carribean to an all inclusive hotel. Cheaper and you get the same palm trees, crystal clear waters, and pretty beaches. So you might not get to see a volcano, build your own and pretend.

Logging from the beach

Ok this is from my iPhone so it won't be that long of a post. This place is amazing. Lava rocks and dried lava flow. I was able to get up very early and go workout while I watch the sun rise over the ocean. Now I'm sitting on the beach. Pictures to come. Oh I saw a turtle yesterday in the water and it was huge. Bye for now.

i'm leaving on a jet plane

Ok bloggers, it might be a while before I blog so I wanted to leave you a little somthing to get you through my vacation. My Hawaiian vacation, ok let me stop there. I'm going to be in the air for 8 or more hours and I need to make sure I'm packing all my good karma, lord knows brian has enough BAD karma. I will try my best to get on and blog about all the happenings we get into on the island. Ok I think we're about to walk out the door. Until next time Aloha!

Nothing special

I don't really have anything special to say today, oh wait...Hawaii here I come! Ok yeah that's about it. I just didn't want my readers to get bored with me being gone. I will try write while on the road...Maybe throw in a picture or two. It's been a dry couple of days. One of the Ghetto gurls have been out, so there hasn't really been much to say. Oh shit the crazy lady stopped to talk to me...brb. I know my desk is right next to the walkway, but that doesn't mean I want you to stop and tell me some crack pop story about someone I have no clue who you're talking about. half the time I just look at you, smile and nod and have NO clue what you're saying.

Oh I do have a story to tell. Sunday went to the movies and say Clash of the Titans. Eh it was good, Chris was the ONLY one that got some owl joke that was in the movie. It's a throw back to all nerds in the world. Seriously, he was the ONLY one that laughed out loud. Then was like YOU have never seen this movie or that movie, my answer was NO, I had shit to do on Friday night! Oh so anyways back to...WTF some lady just walked through with a jacket on -- not just any kind of jacket -- a jacket that you would wear when it was 20 degrees outside, and she had the hoodie pulled over her head. Dude it's 70 degrees outside. Then she staired at me like I was effin nuts for wearing a short sleeve shirt. Seriously two crazy chick in a short time.

Ok back to the movie. Anyways, I'm sitting there getting ready to watch the 3d movie in action seats (seats that move to the movie) and this guy sits down next to me. Then his smell sat down next to me. It smelled like a rancid fart, and it would attack my sense of smell every few seconds. I was in fart hell people. So to all those that have had to smell my gas bombs, I am truly sorry!!

Gay/Straight bible fights

You don't know how funny I think this is. It's amazing how both sides are so well armed with scripture that they miss a HUGE factor. Does no one else see that using the bible to judge is COMPLETELY the wrong way to use the bible? I'm just saying. I have blogged about this before. Why does it matter any more? What is the big difference? If you really stop and look at the people that really worry about gay people and and the people that DON'T really care, there is a HUGE difference. For the most part, it's all old people. Oh wait I just judged all old people. Plus I get tired of listening to both side try and push their agenda on each other. live and let live. Give everyone equal rights and everyone can start minding their own damn business. I don't care what happens in my neighbor's house, as long as you don't drive your car through my house, we're cool.

It's pretty clear that the picketing, yelling, fighting, and all the other crap both sides are doing isn't working. I love how everyone is trying to hard to get their point across that no one sees, it's not working. Stop yelling and trying to force the issue. Be civil and respectful towards one another and see where that guys you. You will catch more flies with honey then vinegar!

Oh and the "if we let gays marry, then we have to let people marry their pet" -- dude really. Did you just fall out of your single wide trailer door and think that one up? If you can't can't come up with a better argument, shut the hell up. That has to be one of the worst arguments to lead with. I mean there is only so much stupid an argument can handle and that statement alone pretty much does it.

So people stop worrying about what others are doing and get on with your life.

To all my followers

I have created a second blog, called my book blog. The actual address is http://matthew-mybookblog.blogspot.com It's mostly just a place for me to write stories. You should check it out, I have the first story already on there. Some post will be a progressive story line where others might be something short and sweet. So add it to your list to follow, tell your friends to follow and all that good stuff. Hope you like it.

Death of the shower babies

WHAT?!?! someone is killing shower babies! Oh no something has to be done. We need to start a relief fund or something...surely someone has/is bringing attention to this haynes crime. But sadly, millions of shower babies die with each shower. This isn't something that just start happening, it's been an epidemic that has been happening since showers were invited. Most shower baby murders say it's just less clean up, or it keeps you from getting messy. Either way, those babies desire a chance at a real life. I must confess, I too have taken part of the death of shower babies. I'm not proud, I will probably kill again even, it's the nature of the beast. I'm here today though to bring attention to the untimely demise of shower babies. We must be upright in cause to stop these deaths, or slightly crooked, there is no right or wrong way to murder shower babies. We must take up arms and vow to BEAT this crime. So to my brothers...look lets face it, you're all mostly at fault for killing shower babies, so only you can prevent this crime!