In 60 years...

we'll look like this.

But until then, we look like this.

This is Hocking Hills. We went on a very pretty little hike on probably

one of the last weekends there was this year.

Dear Matt: Come home and beat up my fever.

Swiney has hit our home. It is not fun. I'm sorry to say I was one of those people who downplayed the whole virus. Oh it's just like any other flu, just more people get it, oh stop worrying about it, if you get you get it.

Well, I have been humbled. I laid on my couch Sunday after church not to rise again (only somewhat figuratively speaking) until... hopefully tonight, and it's Friday. I missed an entire week of work. I went through multiple medicines. I am just now getting my appetite back. And I now wish you all the best of luck in staying healthy and say, if you feel the desire to get the swine flu vaccination, by all means, Fight the Flu!

Best of luck,

Veteran

Conan would have gotten the helicopter too

Besides just a website, I thought I'd post an interesting story.

I'm taking a few classes this year at The Ohio State University (just so everyone knows, it is called 'The' Ohio State University). I'm trying to finish off my masters that I started last year. Lucky for me Nicole is working full-time and therefore I qualify for resident tuition rates.

Of course, as the astute will point out, qualifying for resident tuition is not the same thing as being charged resident tuition--which being not-so-astute is what I found out last week. I got a bit of a sticker shock when my tuition bill was a tidy $2,000 more than what I was planning. This was because I was still considered a non-resident and was being assessed a non-resident fee.

When I called the registrar I was told that checking the boxes was not enough and that I actually had to submit paper work to prove that Nicole was employed full-time and could be considered my sugar-mama. Without taking a breath, she went on to tell me that the deadline to submit the paperwork was the Friday before.

This was all quite a surprise. I registered for my classes after the residency deadline, and I didn't know I wasn't actually considered a resident until after I registered. So I decided that I was going to have to go down to campus and speak to someone in person.

So I spent the next two hours finding the necessary paper work and psyching myself up for battle with the registrars office. My plan was to go down the registrar, kick down the door, state my case, take a few hostages, and not leave until I had been given instate tuition and a helicopter.

On my way down to campus, I said a prayer asking that everything would work out. When I got to campus I told the secretary that I needed to submit my paperwork for residency and she proceeded to laugh at me and then say 'good luck'. It turned out that the residency specialist was on lunch and so another lady came out and said that she would take my paper work and give it to the specialist. I was hesitant because I had to find out that day if I could get residency because my tuition was due the day after. I explained my circumstances and she said that they were not taking any more applications, but that she would pass on the information and it was possible, but not likely, that the specialist would call me.

So I handed over my paperwork without much else to do. As I walked back to my car, I was disappointed in myself. That is definitely not how any of the character's Arnold Schwarzenager played would have handled the situation. Rambo would have shot them with an exploding arrow. Conan would have used his crazy sword. The Terminator would have blown the place up with a bazooka but all three would have gotten instate rates. I just walked out with a 'please call me'. Halfway to my car I decided that I should go back (this part was inspiration).

When I got back, the residency specialist was there. I was now in line behind 5 people. With each person I could see that my chances of a happy ending were rapidly disappearing. The specialist was quite ornery and was quite happy telling people the deadline was a week ago. I decided to wait it out though because I had faith something would happen and it would work out. The last people to go before me was a couple. He was a grad student and had filled out all of his paper work on time but there was an issue or two, so the specialist helped them. He was a full-time student and so their tuition bill include about $8000 in out of state fees. However, with the specialist, things got worked out. The wife at that point was so happy at having the money back that she asked if she could give the specialist a hug. The specialist's face lit up and the two hugged.

Then it was my turn. Now smiling, the specialist invited me back to her office. I explained my case. And she told me that she normally would tell me 'no' but since she was having a good day and I brought all of my paper work with me she would put it through. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be. I'm sure that there was some divine intervention when that girl hugged the specialist. Anyway, I'm glad for when prayers are answered in such simple ways; even if it means I didn't get a helicopter.

Website

For those of you wondering why I haven't posted recently, it's because I've been very involved making a new website.

The site is:

www.ridelocale.com

It's a mountain bike trail finder. If you mountain bike, you should take a look. If you don't mountain bike, you should consider getting one, but still got take a look anyway.

Giant Sized

This weekend we drove to Barnesville, Ohio for the amazing Pumpkin Festival to see...

King Pumpkin!!

But mostly to see my aunt and uncle that were visiting from Wyoming.
We've always been closest to the Athey's in our family because they lived a few streets away from us growing up, and Pam babysat me when I was little every day. They have 5 boys, we have 5 girls (and 1 boy:). And I've missed my family a lot lately so it was so nice to see close family.

And they bought me a King sandwich. How nice of them.

Ohioans

I thought I would give a little update. We are still in Ohio and I love my job!! I cannot believe the difference it makes in your life whether you like your job or not. I work with students with autism and it is the best job in the world. Matt also loves what he does and sometimes can't get enough of it so we feel extremely blessed.

Other things.
I played with these for a few days this summer while my sister and brother-in-law got tan.

Matt and I also hit 1 year of marital bliss... First year is paper.


We went mountain biking a few times this summer, and now I have a giant bruise on my leg to prove it.

We spent an awesome vacation with Matt's family in the Duluth-ish area in Minnesota by Lake Superior.This is Eric and Catherine.
My little sister finally went off to college. She's getting so big.

We became OSU fans. Purely for two reasons. We don't like being egged or called names or having our tires slashed. And, now I can wear jeans on Friday while wearing a sports shirt... Go Buckeyes!

My wonderful sister Monica and her husband James and family came to visit this weekend! I love being closer to someone in my family, even if the rest of them are so far away.
We spent Saturday at the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair.


This is something the hillbillies call bus racing. Long buses from the dregs of dump yards drive around in figure 8's until they hit into each other.

This is what I call a fat baby.

... It's funny

I think that's a good enough ending right there.

The Value of Money

Now that we're back, we've been required to get back to the hustle and bustle of normal life. Unfortunately, that usually means spending money. In todays current economic climate and as the US economy recovers, many are worried about hyper-inflation because of the recent increases in government deficit spending. Some of my faithful blog readers are Economists and know exactly what is going on with the US economy and how a Public Option for health care will fix our budget problems (sorry to get politcal, it just slipped). For the rest of my reading audience I have put together this post in hopes of helping you, the reader, understand what your money will really buy. Because I like cars, and we've made several recent automotive related purchases, I'm going to use cars.

1. A mid-grade Michelin windshield wiper will cost you $7.

2. A recent oil and filter change will run you $18 (with coupon).

3. Replacing a cracked engine mount will cost $72. You'll pay an additional $23 for overnight shipping because some autoparts store workers don't read numbers so well and already went ahead and pulled the engine our of your car and put the new mount in only to discover that it doesn't fit and no one in town can get the real one in for at least 4 business days...I've heard of it happening.

4. It will cost you $180 to drive to Lake Superior in MN from our house in Ohio.

5. It will cost you $550 to replace your old sketchy set of low profile tires that hydroplanes as soon as it looks like it's going to rain with some sweet Yoko's. (They were only $40 more than the cheapest set and have a much better warranty.)

6. And finally, for the cost of only two sets of tires, you can get this beauty:

It's a 1987 Nissan Frontier with 114K miles. It's ugly, but it's a truck, so it doens't need to be pretty. It runs like a champ. All of the other cars we looked at in this price range were in serious need of repair, this one didn't need anything. So, anyway, for the cost of 1,666 Snickers bars or two sets of tires, you can get a truck--not your dream truck, but one that will still move a couch or some dirt.