Warrior Dash

Saturday, the fifteenth of October 

I had my first race in October. Some buddies and I participated in the Warrior Dash. It was a cool mud run and I had a really good time. unfortunately something got screwed up with the liquor license because they were unable to serve beer. We had a hotel room for two nights with the intention of drinking after the race but because there was nothing stopping us from driving home we did just that. Everyone that raced the Virginia Warrior Dash gets to register for free for another event since they fucked up the alcohol permits.

starting at 0900 roughly 400 people started every half hour for the 5k obstacle mud run. Two friends of mine had the same wave as I did and Flanders and I ran it together. I was able to take my waterproof camera with me so I could snap some shots while I ran. We had other friends in other waves so we stayed until the end. Tom got 2nd place overall and first for our age group and because the first place overall person did not stick around Tom got the prize!

There was also a beard competition and I, of course, was in it. Only three people including myself were called up to the stage and the crowd only consisted of -50 people. The winner was based on crowd response and I got 2nd. I told Ce that this will motivate me to continue growing my beard until the next event. She was not happy with that decision.

Netflix -> Qwikster FTL

Monday the Nineteenth of September

9.19.2011


An email was sent out this morning to Netflix users and this post was published on the Netflix Blog yesterday. The CEO apologized for not communicating the price change in separating the streaming from DVD rentals efficiently. When the news about the split first happened there was outrage from the Netflix community and they felt like they were getting pissed on. With the new change that just came out it feels like we are not only getting pissed on but getting slapped in the face by a red, envelope-shaped dick.

I started using Netflix getting one DVD out at a time with unlimited online instant streaming. I enjoyed having both of these options available to me and what I liked about the service Netflix provided is probably what everyone else liked too. With the streaming I could watch what I wanted, when I wanted, be in the middle of numerous movies and always be able to resume right where I left off when I decided I wanted to finish the movie. The only drawback to instant streaming was I needed to watch it through a supported internet device. This isn't a problem at my house, my TV has a blu-ray player that is connected and I can watch all the streaming videos Netflix has to offer. What Netflix does have to offer via Instant Streaming is limited though. There are many great movies on there but all of them and more are offered using the direct mail DVD option Netflix also offers.

The DVD option is great because the selection is large, they ship fast, and there is no hurry to send it back. If I want to watch a movie with someone the DVD option is great because I can take it with me to watch it with others. With the DVD option I can not stop in the middle of a movie, watch a different movie, and then finish the original DVD at a later date without sending and receiving the DVD's back and forth and continuously updating my DVD queue.

What was great about having these two options available to me was that if there was a movie I wanted to watch I could search for it on the Netflix website and add it to my instant queue to watch whenever I felt like sitting down in front of my TV or if it was not available on instant, I could add it to my DVD queue and have it available when it arrived at my house. This was great for specific movies that I wanted to see or just for browsing the extensive list of movies Netflix has to offer.

I was with Netflix through a few changes in price, usually going up a dollar every so often. I even stuck around after the decided that they would no longer offer a package that included both streaming and DVD rentals which nearly doubled what I was already paying. Now they are taking away the ability to search the streaming videos and the DVD rentals jointly. Netflix will now be strictly streaming and the DVD rental part will be a separate company called Qwikster. Both the websites for Qwikster and Netflix will look very similar to how Netflix.com looks now except that neither will be integrated with the other. There will be two different websites with two different queues with two different charges.

If I am browsing, looking for a movie I might like to eventually watch I guess I should start with Qwikster because they have the larger selection, once I found one I should hop on over to Netflix to see if it is available for instant viewing, because if it is, I am not going to waste the few days it would take to mail on something that I can watch when I want to instantly when I can get a non-streaming movie mailed to me instead. If the movie is not on Netflix I will have to go back over to Qwikster and add it to my queue. If that movie was on Netflix though I would then go back to Qwikster and start that process again!

That red envelope you are presenting me no longer appeals to me Netflix. The frustration to pick out a movie is not worth my time. Without the integration of streaming and DVD rentals I will have to say goodbye.

8.22.2011

Monday, August the twenty-second

I decided that I would go back to school and today was day #1. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I have classes in the evening. Ce was admitted into the hospital today after an ambulance came and took her to the ER. I did not want to leave her but knew she would be ok with her mom dad and sister there to continue to look after her.

Biology meets two times a week and this being the first meeting was basically a role call and syllabus read. The class has about 40-50 students for lecture and half go to lab one day and the other half another day, although the first week devoid of lab.

The Professor seems to be pretty young and hip. She likes to hike and her job used to be nothing but hiking and documenting plants. When I got into the classroom she had a Thievery Corporation song playing on youtube. Although she just got married she said we could still call her Ms. Getman instead of Mrs. Anderson, she then went on to say she was just in Vegas not to long ago and had a miserable time... Turns out she just got married... in Vegas.

There is a mexican girl in the class and teacher asked if she could call her Chiquita. There is also a girl that is still in high school that is taking the class and she said that she wants to move to Japan when she grows up.

The class was uneventful, each student had to say where they were from and something about themselves so I tried to keep myself distracted from what was happening outside of class by keeping track of the things I thought were amusing.

I am going back to the hospital tomorrow to see Ce and statistics starts tomorrow as well.

My beard is getting bigger.

Chesterfield 217

Saturday the 14th in the morning my work asked me if I could work at a location near Richmond, VA for a week and they would put me in a hotel and give me money for food. I was a little hesitant until I heard the magic wordss "Lots of overtime." Costco has relocated one of its stores and the new store has already opened but the old store still has a lot of unsold merchandise in it. It needs to be counted, recorded, packed up, and sent out to other stores. Myself and three other people from Harrisonburg Costco drove down Sunday night.

The drive went smoothly, we stopped at a scenic overlook.

We got to the hotel around 20:00 and each had separate rooms. Every room came with it's own coffee maker and the lobby had 4 coffee pots but that did not stop Rhonda from bringing her own Keurig.

Rhonda with her personal Coffee machine and
spring water

 Swag, Dave and I went out and got some grub before heading to bed but it was already 9pm on a Sunday night so many of the restaurants were closed, except for chains like Applebee's.

06:00 is when we had to report to work; the hotel pretty much shared a parking lot with Costco. At a quater til, down in the lobby, we were able to meet the other Costco travelers. Two other stores had sent employees making the total 13 people plus the handful of employees who were still working at the old store.

Swag excited to be done with day #1

11 hours later we were sweaty, tired, and hungry. 

After dinner at the outback we went for a swim at the hotel pool.

Dave lounging at the bottom of the pool

Underwater splash

Air bubbles

The next few days stayed relatively the same. Worked at 06:00, either went out to lunch or had lunch brought to us around 12:30 and were off around 17:00 each day. We never strayed to far for dinner, we were always so beat after work. We ate at mostly chains, Outback, Ruby Tuesdays, O'Charlies, Bonefish. Bonefish had some amazing food though. Our per diem rate for dinner was fifty dollars not including alcohol and Bonefish is where I got closest to hitting that limit. My entree was about 30 bucks and I also got a calamari appetizer.

One baby squid

Sea Bass

The last two nights we decided to do something relaxing so we went to the driving range and putt-putt.

The last day we had almost the entire store emptied of merchandise. 

All done except for HABA

Here are more pictures from this trip.

Richmond 217

Determined Drone

Sunday May the Fifteenth

5.15.2011........ 160 pounds











April 27th 2011
Ce and I took our first overnight trip together. Iron & Wine played in Richmond and I got two tickets after calling into WNRN. I asked Ce to take time off so we could go to the concert together I as well took the time off. We left as soon as I got off work at 10:00 and first stopped at the scenic overlook on 64, even though it was cloudy and wet.

Ce and I

Ce

We continued on our way, got some food, and went to Maymont Park which was beautiful.

We arrived at Maymont Park at about two PM

The sun came out and the flowers looked great throughout the park.

The park had a lot to offer but we spent the time we had at the Japanese Garden and the Italian Garden. 

All the pictures from Maymont park can be seen here.

We wanted to check into the hotel before the concert so we did not have to deal with the check in process so late. Traffic was horrible, I think it took us 45 minutes to move 4 miles on the Midlothian Turnpike.

Ce's friend Ken lives in Richmond so before the concert Ce, myself, Ken and his girlfriend met for lunch and cupcakes.

The line at The National was not long, and picking up our tickets was not a problem. We made our way inside and found a nice spot to stand by a railing near the back. Once the opening band started to play the venue was packed with skinny jeans, v-necks and flannel. The Low Anthem started out quietly and slow, with one of the four band members playing the saw with a violin bow. After each song the musicians changed instruments, guitars, banjos, bass guitars, dulcimers, clarinets, accordions, flutes and 

occasionally all crowd around one mic with just a guitar or banjo and sing.

Iron and Wine

I had been up since 4 that morning and was getting pretty sleepy but Sam Beam finally came out and started playing.  I didn't know a lot about Iron and Wine except for the album Our Endless Numbered Days and this Tiny Desk Concert . 

  I was used to him and his acoustic guitar but was not disappointed when 12 other musicians and back up singers came out and started playing.

 It all sounded really good but it was hard to enjoy because of how tired I was. Ce and I dipped out after four or five songs and made our way back to the hotel to get some sleep.

The next morning we grabbed some breakfast and drove home.

Success.

Everything is going great

Saturday, April the Twenty-Third

4.23.2011               158 pounds




Spring! The weather is getting nicer, the flowers are beautiful and everything outside just makes me want to take a deep breath in and then sneeze sneeze sneeze while rubbing my scratchy eyes. Spring is the time for new beginnings and this new relationship is flourishing beautifully, CE is a sweet, beautiful, hilariously funny young lady and I love her dearly.




While keeping things new and fresh for the spring
 of 2011 I bought a new (to me) car! I am now the
proud owner and driver of a 2005 Honda Element.

Front and back seats all fold
down mesh with each other!

I have only been involved with my khaki crate for two weeks but am already very fond of her. Of course, I have only been involved with my Sweet CE for about a month... Everything is new and wonderful. I hope the winds of time never blow my cloud 9 away.

About a week plus point five of a week ago I told CE that I was going to take her on an adventure but would not tell her what it was. She worked that morning and I was to pick her up and off we would go. She was obvs excited about it because when I picked her up she was telling me about telling our co-workers that I was taking her on an adventure. "Ben is taking you on an adventure?" Said one co-worker, "Well you might end up on top of a mountain." and that we did.

We went for a beautiful drive in my beige box out 33 listening to Ugly Duckling's Taste the Secret. Drove through Briery Branch and turned onto a gravel road by some farm lands. "So I officially do not know where we are going," CE announced to me. I did not tell her that we were going to Reddish Knob but was surprised that she had never been since she grew up in the area and admitted to having many friends that lived in Briery Branch, that made the trip all the more special though. 

After winding your way to the tip top of the drive you are greeted with a 360 degree view of the beautiful mountains along the Virginia West Virginia. This is all from a small rectangular parking lot scribbled with spray-painted graffiti tags which mostly consist of the two names of a couple + 4eva, the occasional wiener or the ever so popular Heart Around Initials.

We got up to the top around 4 and I parked my car and told CE the reason I parked my car here was because in about 3 and a half hours the sun would be setting right there (imagine me pointing straight out in front of us.)

We walked around a while up top, there are some trails that lead to small camp grounds and fire pits and then I pulled out the spray paint. It seams obligatory to spray paint something when you bring a date up there.  I had also packed us a delicious lunch so we sat on the windy mountain top overlooking the beauty of the West Virginia/Virginia skyline while we ate turkey and kit-kats and drank our Dr. Pepper. My light brown barrel allows me to fold my front and back seats down to make an adequate double bed. I hooked my computer up the the cars outlet and sound system and put in the movie Across the Universe. A blanket was laid down we enjoyed the surround sound movie. It ended at the perfect time to watch the sunset.

A perfect end to such a wonderful day.

Michigan J. Frog

Thursday March the Thirty-First

3.31.11              153 pounds


I gave up on March of the Consumer, I do not have the dedication for a project like that. I did make a painting though.

The last post, Hanging out or going on a date, was started after the dinner and concert at the Little Grill. Between the time of the concert and the time of post my relationship CE has progressed wonderfully and we are now officially dating.

I painted her this picture.

Michigan J. Frog.

Tonight I am taking CE on a date.