October 2005

I'm Back!

October 30, 2005: I have returned. Actually, I got back yesterday from my marathon driving session. Hobie no-likey that. 771 miles from my home in Vegas to Aurora, Colorado. That's a long ways to drive in one stretch, by yourself. But dammit, I did it, and I'm glad I did, as I was able to sleep in my own bed finally. What a difference sleeping in your own bed makes. I seriously passed out almost instantaneously upon going to sleep. So to answer Squirrel's guestbook questions: Yes, I made it back to Sin City even while driving through SNOW in the Rockies. I actually got to drive through the storm so that was fun. NOT. In fact, at one point I tried to pull off the road at a rest stop because I was so tense from driving on snowy icy roads. Bad idea. The plows hadn't cleared that road so all of a sudden I'm offroading and my brake pedal is going crazy and I finally saw the 'No Traction' indicator on my car. Not fun. Fortunately I didn't spin out or anything, but it certainly woke me up again. The rest of the drive, until Nevada, that is, was full of rain and mixed sunshine, which was a nice thing to drive in. Just made for a DIRTY DIRTY car, which was remedied today, thankfully. My car, Catherine, is once again beautiful and shiny black. <sigh> To answer the other questions, my hangover really didn't make an appearance until I was in Utah and I got a headache, which fortunately went away after taking some ibuprofen and snacking on some pringles. But the drinking was certainly worth it the night before with Byron - I had quite a few beers, and I probably shouldn't have, but I was okay the next day for driving, so alls well that ends well. I did get to see Byron my last night in Colorado - I visited him up in Denver and just had a great time hanging out with him again. Back to the questions: I did NOT gamble when I got back. In fact, when I finally got home, I ate a little bit for dinner, and then realized I was just so damn tired. Going to bed sounded so nice, and that's what I did. Sleep is certainly a wonderful thing. I have decided to postpone my gambling until my birthday this Thursday. Then I'll feel like I have an 'occasion' for gambling. Like I really need one. Bathroom breaks on the drive back were very necessary for me, thankfully. But it's amazing to think how much beer had to be processed so that I could indeed go pee that much. Wow. Haven't looked for a book yet on home theater media rooms yet - today was quite a lazy day besides getting the car washed. Yay for lazy days watching all the TV I missed this week. Yay for HD DVR! And no, screen envy is not a bad thing at all. It's quite a motivator actually. Details to follow on my future plans....

I must admit that this little apartment of mine here in Vegas feels like home. It's not going to remain that way for much longer, but I was relieved to see it and be back home in it. What a nice sensation it is to feel like a place is home. I think that's how my new house will be, but that will take some time. I do look forward to moving though. But I just received my official loan application package, and there's a lot to do and sign. Oh the joy.

Anyways, I'm back, I have a lot of forms to fill out, nitnoid stuff to do at work, hopefully clean up any 'loose ends' at work but honestly, I don't think there's such a thing. Nothing ever is 'finished' at work, sorry Mr. Linus. And I'm officially done with the site for today. Here's some new Amazing Race and Survivor pages for you to chew on, if you're so inclined.

Yep, I own a home!

October 26, 2005: Pretty awesome to think I got my house. As the picture on the front shows, that's it!!! I had the home inspection today and there were some minor things that my agent is going to bring up to the seller which they will more than likely take care of. We'll see. That was my morning, after which I wandered around Lowe's for a while, looking at house books, lawn mowers, and appliances. Wow. Owning a home may be expensive. But it's fun to go in to a place like that now, and realize I could very easily go ahead and do a home improvement project, because it's MY HOUSE!!!! Sweet. Then this afternoon, I went down to Cheyenne Mountain and met up with my sponsor, Dale, who took me around the base-in-a-cave. I literally had my jaw drop when the bus takes you into the tunnel - this base is literally in a mountain. Crazy. Walked around a little, sat in on a staff meeting (aren't I on LEAVE????), met a LOT of people who I'm sure I'll have to re-meet, and got the impression that my flight has a lot of good, capable people. I also found out I'm going to be in charge of Ace Lieutenants. Oh, I mean, my slaves. Bwahahahahahahahahahaa! So it's been an interesting day. I plan on posting my pictures soon - I'm just getting ready to go out to Outback to see Yoda, a Capt who used to work at Nellis with me. Anyways, I own a home!!!!! Woo hoo!!!

Here are the pictures from my house! (My other trip pictures will be up upon my return - I just was excited to show you my house pics now):

My New Colorado Springs Home - Oct 26, 2005
Looking to Living Room level	Looking back to kitchen	Living Room	Deck door from living room	Backyard from upper deck	Upper deck	Master Bathroom	Master Bedroom window seat
Looking towards other rooms from master bedroom	Other bedrooms by master bedroom	Garage and driveway	The finished basement (with bathroom reflected)	Stairs from living room to basement and kitchen	Kitchen view	The dining room area on the main level	Looking to the kitchen and stairs to the bedrooms
View to the kitchen from the dining room	Breakfast Nook	The house from the backyard	Right side of that view	The backyard	Me and my hosue	The view of the house from the backing road

Happy Birthday Mom + I Have Made a House Deal!!!

October 24, 2005: First and foremost, Mom, Happy Birthday!!!! I hope you like the flowers and the oh-so-nice foil birthday balloon! I'll see you next week, and then we can have some shared birthday cake (Note to readers: my birthday is coming up - your birthday gift planning days are in the single digits; get to shopping, people, get to shopping). Now that we have that out of the way....

....I went house shopping today! I went driving around with my realtor Stacy, who is an awesome realtor. Definitely somebody I'll recommend for anyone else moving out here. Anyways, we started off around 9:30 this morning (after me dragging myself out of bed, completely confused, again, as to where the hell I was). Admittedly, I was very nervous before starting - I just had no idea how this was all going to play out. But I remembered what you all have been saying: If you think 'Wow', you've found the place. I kept hoping I was going to have that sensation, but wasn't holding out much hope. Especially after we started with the first house. Decent neighborhood at first glance. Went in and liked the main level, saw a trashy backyard, and then saw the kicker, the unfinished basement, with ALL their crap thrown down there, especially all in the crawlspace. Yuck. I began to get worried at this point, wondering if all the houses were going to not live up to expectations. The next house I went to was pretty cool, with interesting painted walls, a great backyard, a nice neighborhood, and a really nice kitchen. But no basement, and I wasn't sure where I could put my TV and I began to realize the house may not fit. But it would be a decent second choice if my first choice, the Lisa Dr. house, fell through based on reality. But I didn't need to worry: the Lisa Dr house was next, and I got the 'Wow'. And it is awesome. But I'm lame and forgot to take pictures. But after just looking around at it, it was obvious that the house was all I was expecting it to be. It's a 4-level home (split level - not 4 stories) and just is very well taken care of. I knew then and there I'd be happy living there. But I wanted to look around at all the other homes, just to be sure. But when I spent the remaining time at the other houses comparing them to this one, I knew that I was already done looking. So I spent the rest of the afternoon with Stacy, having lunch, and then finally driving around town to get an idea of what was around my future home. And get this: there's an Outback within WALKING distance. Plus Best Buy is just a few blocks further away. I am so in love with the location. It's not super close to base, but not super far either. I can't wait. Anyways, fast forward a few hours after creating an offer, which was passed on to the seller, and an hour or so later, I got a counteroffer, which I decided to accept. So here we go! Tomorrow I call to set up a house inspection, and then it's basically time to get ready for closing in December. This is going to rock. I'll put up some pictures soon. Promise.

The Rockies are Amazing

October 23, 2005: So I got up this morning and got back on the road destined for Colorado Springs. But instead of taking the direct, quick route using I-70 to Denver and then south on I-25 to the Springs, I noticed on the map that I could take a side path through the Rockies via Aspen and the Independence Pass. And since I've never been through this area, and it WAS indicated as a scenic drive. Outstanding choice, Hobie. The drive was incredible and the weather was perfect. You end up going to the top of Independence Pass which straddles the Continental Divide. It's pretty high up, and you actually do breathe harder up there. Anyways, this side trip made the trip longer than it had to be if I had taken the highways, but I figured I might as well do this while the weather permits. And what else was I going to do? I'll tell you, I'd get lost in Colorado Springs, that's what. And that's what I proceeded to do after checking in at the hotel. I thought I'd just drive a little to find some food and get my bearings. I ended up driving far south of the city, near Fort Carson, and then headed back up some street through downtown Colorado Springs, then over on some other street, missing my turns quite a few times. I finally made it back to my hotel, but not without a headache. Ugh. So now I'm ready for househunting, as I'm here! And I'm also watching Final Destination 2. Good movie! (Oh yeah, there's lots of pics to post, but I'll have to do that in a little bit).

Made it to Grand Junction, CO

October 22, 2005: It took 7.5 hours, and a few wrong turns, but I made it to the city of Grand Junction, Colorado, which sits about 520 miles away from Las Vegas. The drive was actually pretty cool, and the scenery was incredible - I wasn't expecting Utah to be so interesting. In fact, Utah looks like a different planet. You have all these amazing gorges that you drive down the middle of, as if you were on a river. Then there are sections where it seems like you're driving in the Grand Canyon. All in all, Utah is a beautiful state. It made the drive go by much faster than a lot of desolate boring scenery would have (like the Mojave Desert stretch of road between Vegas and LA). Thanks for all the well wishes from you guys - I'm sure everything will go well. I'll give more reports as I go. I took some pictures on the way out, but I have an idea for how to present them so you'll have to wait for those a little while. But the home pics I'll put up as I take them.

Woah, I'm going to Colorado tomorrow

October 21, 2005: Today blew by at work. I didn't have time to collect my thoughts like I would have liked, because honestly, I'm now at the point where I'm super nervous about this whole moving and buying a house thing. Nothing else to say yet. I'll post pictures from my trip as I go! Wish me luck.
What's New? My Survivor Episode 6 page is up.

FIGMO, people, FIGMO

October 20, 2005: FIGMO = Fuck it, I've Got My Orders, or at least that's what it means to me. And today was one of those days where I just am getting to the point of not caring at all anymore about this job. You realize I only have a bit over a month of actual work here left. Next week I'm gone, so see you all later (you all being work people). Mind you, I'm not talking about my guys in SCZ, as they rock. It's just nearly everyone else out there - <sigh> they won't know what to do when I'm gone. I'm not just being self-important, okay maybe I am, but anyways, the boat will be seriously rocked in my immediate departure. Of course will get over it after a year or three, but until then, they'll all miss me SO MUCH!!!!! Okay, I'm over myself now. So C-Money responded to the Power of 3 Quiz. Here are her responses! Yay for C-Money!

Three screen names that you have had: C-Money, Spicey-Vanilla, Nylorac

Three things you like about yourself: Work well under pressure, open-minded, my eyes

Three things you don't like about yourself: Complain a lot, getting old WAY too early, can become a bitch real easy

Three parts of your heritage: Irish, German, English

Three things that scare you: Death, spiders, heights (Amen, Hobie!)

Three of your everyday essentials: Gatorade, sunscreen, shower

Three things you are wearing right now: under ware (don't do that often), capri sweats, Santa Claus Shuffle T-Shirt

Three of your favorite songs: F-f-f-foolin', You're so vain, You are the woman (yes, oldies, but I love 70's-80's music!!!)

Three things I want in a relationship: Friendship, understanding, passion

Two truths and a lie: (Not in any particular order) People suck, I can't wait to retire, I'm a real blond

Three things you can't do without: Food, shelter, cigarettes

Three places you want to go on vacation: Hawaii, Maine in September, Egypt

Three things you just can't do: Fix a car engine myself, get a tan, rewire an outlet

Three kids' names: Tom, Jamie, Theodore (my babies)

Three things you want to do before you die: Visit every state in the USA, go whale watching in Maine, make a difference in this world

Three Celeb crushes: Sean Connery, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt (when he was in Legends of the Fall)

Three of your favorite musicians: Def Leppard (duh!), Garth Brooks (lately I've been getting into his music), The Who

Three of your favorite hobbies: Reading, crafting, playing computer games

Three things you want to do really badly now: Go to sleep, move out of Biloxi, MS, see my kids

Three careers you're considering/you've considered: Lawyer, Veterinarian, oceanographer

Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy: Cus like a sailor, picking up rubble from non-existent houses, don't care what my hair looks like by the end of the day

Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl: HAVE to shave my legs, HAVE to have on mascara, LOVE having my feet and fingernails done

The Case of the NotSoHappy Face

October 19, 2005: That's my face, to clear things up. Apparently when I'm emotionless, and my face muscles are not doing anything special, my mouth and face go naturally into an expression that makes me look pissed off. I guess I then give off that vibe so people think I'm pissed off - I probably have that appearance, if you didn't know me, of someone you would say is an asshole just by looking at him. To some people, they'd be right to think that. But for those that know me, I'm usually not such an asshole. So I've decided to try to keep a smirk or more-open of eyes or something so that I don't look like I'm glaring at others or pondering just how to shit in your cornflakes. The problem is, I think I'll end up looking like a raving lunatic. And then I just return to the original problem. We'll see where it gets me. This realization came to me while driving home, and I tried to imagine what I looked like while smiling to myself while driving down Nellis Blvd. I'm sure some Las Vegans were nervous. Bwahahahahahahaha. Anyways, on to a little quiz that we haven't had around here for a while. Not one where I made up all the questions, although I will have to do that again, but one I stole from Miss Chancy who in turn stole it from someone else. And finally, it was a Q&A with interesting questions all around the number 3, which I consider my number, my lucky number, etc. So here goes - oh, and if you want to send me responses for posting (since my forum is dead dead dead), go ahead. I'll post them, while smiling.

Three screen names that you have had: hobiewan76, 4stripes, scorp76

Three things you like about yourself: My amazing sense of humor; Wicked sarcasm; Persistence

Three things you don't like about yourself: Just 3? To name a few: the size/shape of my head; social insecurity; balding before 30

Three parts of your heritage: Polish, Italian, Norwegian

Three things that scare you: Death, spiders, heights

Three of your everyday essentials: Diet Coke, Morning shower, Sunscreen

Three things you are wearing right now: Sandals, dark blue jeans, dotante ringer t-shirt

Three of your favorite songs: Can't Get You Out of My Head, Music, Wanna Be Startin' Something

Three things I want in a relationship: Respect, Sincerity, Attraction

Two truths and a lie: (Not in any particular order) I wish things were different, Everything will work out okay, I love my job

Three things you can't do without: Diet Coke, my car, someone to vent to

Three places you want to go on vacation: Greece, Hawaii, London

Three things you just can't do: Play sports, Be a social butterfly, Eat snails

Three kids' names: (????) Um... James, Amanda, Steven

Three things you want to do before you die: Buy a house; Be in a longterm committed relationship; Be completely honest to everyone about everything

Three Celeb crushes: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Nicole Kidman, Punky Brewster (way back in the day, mind you)

Three of your favorite musicians: Missy Elliott, Madonna, En Vogue

Three of your favorite hobbies: Gambling, Video games, Reading

Three things you want to do really badly now: Gamble, play video games, read

Three careers you're considering/you've considered: Networking, Journalism, Home Theatre Design/Installer

Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy: Immature, Cuss a lot, have a short hair cut

Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl: More vain than I'd like to admit, take care of my skin, use conditioner

That's the end of the ThreeQuiz. Remember, when you're doing this, smile! (ugh, enough of that shit. Frown if you want. I could give a crap)
What's New? Amazing Race Ep 4 page is up and C-money made some comments on Survivor Ep 5.

A quick October note from me. To you.

October 16, 2005: Not really a very interesting weekend, but I have managed to accomplish getting lunch, cleaning my apartment (quite well actually - I even threw out my vacuum), and buy some music and DVDs. Ah, buying stuff to help stimulate the economy. I feel so patriotic. First I have to mention that I completely am in tune with Miss Chancy concerning Fiona Apple's song, "Extraordinary Machine". What a great song. I hadn't heard it when reading Miss Chancy's ruminations on it, and couldn't imagine what it sounded like based on lyrics alone, but I definitely didn't expect how it does sound. The whole CD is pretty awesome to listen to. Worth the wait! Well, that's really all I've got to say today. One more week at work before heading on my househunting trip to Colorado! I think I'll even get to see Byron up there, as he'll be TDY there the same time I'm headed there. Cool, eh? I talked to him for a while on Friday, and it was good to hear how he's doing, now that he's pretty much settled back into 'normal' existence after returning from Iraq. Okay, now I'm done!

A day without Hobie

October 13, 2005: Is a day you better hope never happens, as you all know you'll cry like little beyotches. ;-) Okay, I just really had nothing interesting to say as my headline. So can you (or I) believe that I'm almost done with Nellis? I CAN'T FREAKING BELIEVE IT!!! I would love to say these three years just flew by.... but then I'd get struck by lightning and frankly, I'm not interested in getting electrocuted, thank you very much. It's been a LONG three years, as this online journal can attest to. In fact, sometimes I start to read entries from this, and I shudder. Some very not-so-happy memories mixed in with some very good ones. It was a learning experience.

I think I learned that I can take a lot of bullshit. And still manage to come out of it feeling okay and actually better about myself. Because I know I'm better than a bunch of these assholes out here, and that some of them are such pieces of shit it's just...sad. I look forward to going and proving myself at Colorado Springs as a flight commander. I'm scared out of my mind as well, but it's because I am just wanting to do the best I can and make sure I take care of the people who are in my flight. Seriously, I can't believe I'm getting this opportunity. I really didn't expect to get put as flight commander. It's one of those makeya or breakya assignments, at least to me it is. It'll be a true test of whether I should stay in the military, because if I can't hack it as a leader in that job, I really don't think I should subject the Air Force to yet another incompetent middlemanager/leader, which it has an ABUNDANCE of. I look forward to the challenge. 1 and a half months!!!!

Anyways, I wanted to continue with my list of shows I'm watching. I forgot about Commander in Chief starring Geena Davis. I really like that show. Somewhat unrealistic, but also fun to watch. I can see where it's going, as I think her husband and former chief-of-staff will end up betraying her because he can't stand not being one in power and just being the First Gentleman. It's a fun show, and I recommend you watching.

So that's that. Survivor is finally picking up. Yay! I have done my page on it here, so go check it out. I found out my Mom and Harv are coming up for my birthday, and we're going to Benihanas at the Hilton. That rocks, as I love Benihana! The onion volcano is always one of my favorite things, but my absolute favorite is the fried rice they make. Best...fried...rice....ever. I want to make sure I do everything I can in Vegas one more time before moving. I plan on being back a lot (after all, I'm practicing to become a master of dice setting so that can become my second job/source of income), but still, living here is different than visiting. So anyways, I'm stoked that this week is near over, as it's been hella busy. I am that much closer to going to the Springs, and I even booked my hotel today. It's almost real, I just hope I find the right house! Even if I don't, I'll make it the right house. At least they're affordable now, unlike what Michancy is dealing with. Sounds like Vegas prices! Sorry chica! Oh, and C-Money, my pleasure in updating. At least I have one faithful reader!!! (Just kidding to those others - but honestly, the guestbook did get kinda ghost-townish for a while!)

Yeah, yeah, yeah....

October 12, 2005: It's been awhile since updating, but it has been quite a helluva week and a half. Last week I was on full stress mode as I was finalizing things before MSgt Schofield (ret.)'s Retirement ceremony on Friday. Hectic is not enough of a word. So basically every day leading up to Friday was me going home and either work on the ceremony, the shadow box (which is/was awesome), my SCZ gift for him (a very cool frame of pictures, if I may say so), the program, the script, etc. And when I was done with that at night, I had no desire to get my site up to date, as I was too blech. Also, I knew that if I waited till after Friday, I'd finally have my copy of Macromedia Studio MX back and I could install it on my new laptop, because SGT JENNY returned to Vegas for the retirement ceremony. We had cooked up a secret plan to surprise Schofield with it, and boy was he. At least he had better have been, or else I'm putting the hurt on someone.

It was incredible seeing Jenny again. She hasn't really changed all that much, meaning she is just as immature....I mean as fun as she was before! But that was just right because God knows we've only gotten more immature since she left in January. Geesh, it really is weird to think she's been gone for so long. Because with her being gone so long, that means it's that much closer to me leaving!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But anyways, back to the story, I picked Jenny up from the Luxor (her hotel, not where she was working.... ;-p) and then took her with me to work, so she could see the old digs, see how we had gotten a whole new office since she'd left, and surprise the hell out of Linus. She got to see and talk to her nemesis, which wasn't nearly the drama I was hoping for(!), and then I put her to work helping me out with getting the ceremony all ready to go by 2pm. We did take a quick breakfast break at Blueberry Hill for old times sake though, but amazingly, by 1pm, the ceremony was ready to go, with all the gifts in place, the food ready, people in their places (I even wore my service dress after a year of not wearing it as the last time was SOS), etc. I was the narrator, and I think the ceremony went well - it was even memorable because of the quite different Invocation we were all treated to by Porsche's substitute. Wow. Your steps are ordered, people. Anyways, I won't go into it here as it might be just a tad rude to sound off, but amazingly, I kept a straight face and waited for it to end. All in all, the ceremony was good, Linus had better have liked it, and now he's Mr. Lorena Schofield, thank you very much. We stayed afterwards for the squadron's First Friday (where pilots act like pilots but drunklike) so his family could see a little bit of military pilot culture and to have been farewelled (guess that didn't happen...oops) officially, but in the meantime, Jenny made up with Marian, who then proceeded to film all the pilots and their packages (no sts) on Jenny's video camera so she had a going away gift from ALL the squadron. Jenny's a perv. After that, I drove Jenny back to her hotel so we could all get ready for a night at the Hofbrauhaus with the whole gang!!!!!!! ....which didn't happen, as apparently this weekend was the 'Official' Oktoberfest weekend and we were so totally not getting in to that place. Some quick thinking had us relocate to Margaritaville at the Flamingo, and we all (most, at least) got to get some drinks, some food, and some fun in. We then walked around the strip a little bit, but the whole day finally took its toll by about 1am, and it was time to call it a night. We'd have to conquer the Hofbrauhaus another weekend. Some pictures from that evening are below. Unfortunately, since I was in the Retirement ceremony, I was unable to take pictures of it, so I'll have to see if I can score some from others. <end long paragraph>

October 7, 2005 - Schofield Retirement AfterParty on the Strip
View from the Bally's walkway to the Strip	Loren and his... Jet?	Amber and Loren	Amber and Loren, a tad more focused now	Doing what he does...	Margaritaville's volcano
Surreal craziness	Loren about to eat..?	Drunk me and Jenny	BEST PIC OF SGT JENNY EVER	A tad more normal	The Paris 'Orgy' Pic

Did you really think I was done? Puhlease. I haven't updated in 10 days. Of course there's more to go. So the next day, we had anticipated doing some more, but everyone was a tad spent from the whole week, methinks. At least I was. I didn't wake up till like noon. It was freakin awesome, especially considering that it's cooling down quite a bit at night now here in Vegas. Days are still in the 80s-90s, but at night, I can sleep under the covers again! Yay. BTW, have you heard that it's fucking snowing in Denver??????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not yet, people. Let me at least get settled and have a good supply of firewood or something first. But I digress.

Basically Saturday was a bust. I did play LOTS of Sims 2, and that game, now that I knew how to progress successfully, is a lot of fun. It also helps to know the cheat to get more money. What fun is it to play a life sim and be poor? I was thinking about going out that evening to play craps, but decided, nah, let's stay in. So I did, and just rolled on my practice station, ate some food, and passed out again.

The next day though, I wanted to get out. I called Schofield to see if I had missed anything the day before, which apparently I hadn't. That also meant I didn't get to say goodbye to Jenny, which was a bummer. But apparently she may came out again before I leave. That would be cool. Anyways, he told me he and his family were going to Red Rock, which I hadn't been to. It's like the Valley of Fire, but much much closer to Vegas. So I invited myself along naturally. The pictures are below, but I'm glad I finally got to go, and I'm glad that we went there on Sunday, because if Monday's events were traded with this one, Red Rock would be kind of a letdown.

October 9, 2005 - Red Rock Canyon
Red Rock Canyon from the visitors center	Yep, there it is again (catch on that most of these pictures are of red rock)	Me on a fence!	Loren and Amber send their greetings from Red Rock. Y'all come back now, you here?	Looking back towards Vegas	There's Linus in the midst of lots of red rock	It's me and my infamous Hi wave
A little closer to see Vegas	The burned out remains after a forest fire	Shadow fun. Who is who?	Crazy rock striations	I am seriously holding that rock up	Seriously, y'all come back now, you here?	The long dusty road from Vegas thru Red Rock
Ah, Catherine in a pic again. She's been so neglected photo-wise!	An awesome view of Red Rock Ridge	Flash flooding begs to occur here	Petroglyphs for any of you Injun types	Making sure you realize there's lots to see here!	Viewing the ridge from its foothills	Aw, don't come back, you hear!

Alas, I'm still not done. Because after Red Rock I went home to relax a little but not to turn in for the weekend, as us military had MONDAY off! Booyah! So I went out that night to Sunset Station, played some craps, and WON! Yep, I even passed my opportunity to roll the dice, but the guy I passed them to was a dice setter and boy could he roll. He rolled for nearly 30 minutes and managed to help me win about $300 (others significantly more based on their betting strategies, which were for the most part more aggressive than mine). Sweet! I then went home and crashed, getting ready for my Monday adventure, which was another one I invited myself along for: Schofield and his sister and her boyfriend were going to the Grand Canyon!!! Again, a place I hadn't been to, and it is pretty damn close to Vegas. So I decided to take the opportunity, especially considering I'm nearing leaving and I still haven't gone. I could have gone a few months ago when my folks went there and took the train, but I passed then. Better late than never though!

So we embarked upon the 300 mile drive and got to the South Rim about 4 hours later. All I can say is, Unfreakingbelievable. You really can't appreciate the enormity of the Grand Canyon unless you see it for yourself. You can tell yourself after seeing pictures that you can imagine it, but pictures, even Mine (I know, crazy), just can't envelop you like standing on the South Rim and seeing this massive canyon spread out all around you. WOW. We couldn't spend too much time looking around, but we did get to a few different vantage points to survey the majesty. I highly recommend, if you go, to get away from the railed-off sections because that is where EVERYONE walks too, and it's damn crowded. Head a little left and the canyon is unrailed and you can risk your life looking over the edge (see pics below for evidence). I totally want to go back and do one of the few dayhikes that the visitors center have marked out, as on some you can get all the way down to the Colorado river. Problem is you still have to come back up. But they say that those trails take about 6-9 hours round trip, so that's a whole day right there. One day, I'll go back for that purpose! Anyways, here are my attempts at capturing the Grand Canyon!

October 10, 2005 - The Freakin' GRAND CANYON, Arizona
Hoover Dam, on our trip to the Grand Canyon	There it is!	There's me in mid gesture. Thanks Linus.	Me and the Canyon. You could seriously stare at it for ever	The Canyon	Canyon goodness	Loren, George and Jessica on a scenic outcropping
Me at the outcropping too	And then we saw this guy, and against my better judgment...	We started getting closer	And by some crazy chance, there I ended up	Absolutely crazy, but exhilirating!	Crazy, meet Hobie.	Hobie, meet Crazy.
Another view of the canyon	Wow	Me at the touristy section	A relief map of the Canyon in the Visitors Center	Hoover Dam at dusk on the way back

And finally, I am caught up. Got back to work, stressed a little trying to catch up on stuff I had put off till this week, managed to catch up though (using the old adage: one thing at a time), and now am exhausted because for some reason, I just can't get myself to sleep on time. And then I get all this grief from YOU guys! Just kidding. I've been slacking, but hopefully I'll be much better about things now.

Oh yeah, I'm going to Colorado Springs the week of the 24-28 of October! Why? Because I'm going to go buy a house! I'm excited, but very nervous. My realtor has been sending me lots of listings to look at though, so we'll have a healthy amount of houses to look at when we get there. There's one I've got my eye on, but like the book I'm reading says, don't get all hung up on one house. But I really really really want it. I'm driving out there, so I can take my laptop easily enough and update my site remotely with pics I take of the houses I'm interested in. If all goes well, I'll start the buying process that week, and close (hopefully) by the first week of December. Just in time for me to move in to my snowy paradise!!!!!

And that catches me up for now. I'm hoping to get my Amazing Race pages up to date, as well as Survivor. I totally slacked on those. I hope you're all doing well, C-Money especially! I trust life is getting back to normal slowly but surely.

Death of a Forum

October 2, 2005: Yes, my illustrious Shooting Gallery is dead, and I don't know why. I don't really care if I ever fix it, as honestly, it just didn't serve much of a purpose lately. I'm guessing it got corrupted or something, but who cares? But because that happened, my hand was forced, and I now am doing the Survivor and Amazing Race webpages again. It is actually fun to have them back, but damn, it takes a while to get them all spun up. So there went my Sunday afternoon.

So this weekend was minimal. I watched some movies (Sideways - good but honestly depressing; The Upside of Anger - I think it was a chick flick, but I really did like it; Team America: World Police - hilarious marionette action movie by the South Park guys, awesome), threw some dice, and worked on the website. Blah. And it's fucking hot here in Vegas. It's October, and I'm sweating like a damn pig. I hate it here so much.

So on the TV front, I actually paid attention to what was coming out and have found some good shows to watch:
Veronica Mars (Wednesday nights on UPN): AMAZING SHOW. The new Buffy. She's not a vampire slayer, but she's got everything else that Buffy had. Funny, dramatic, mystery.... Ahhh.
Invasion (Tuesday after Amazing Race): I'm liking this show because I'm not sure what the hell is happening. It's like a Body Snatchers plot, but it's definitely letting you have info on a very measured, slow pace. I'm still watching, so that's gotta be something.
Prison Break (Tuesday evenings on Fox): I tried to watch this show, but stopped for a couple reasons. First, it asks for far too much suspension of reality. Yes, 24 does too, but this one really really asks for it. Second, I know (or used to know) the lead actor on the show, and it's beyond weird to watch him. His name is Wentworth Miller, and he's a good actor, but it's just so damn odd to see him being on TV, successful like. I worked with him at Bookstar, and I still to this day remember making fun of him for being in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I hadn't yet watched Buffy, so I was an ignoramus. He was a cool guy though - just weird to see where people end up.
Kitchen Confidential (Tuesday evenings on Fox): I really like this show. It's funny, and it's got Will from Alias and Xander from Buffy. Plus it's great writing and acting so far. Highly recommended!
Arrested Development (Tuesday evenings on Fox): This show is so damn funny it's a crime that nobody really watches it. There is so much dry sarcasm, it makes me cry with pleasure. Okay, I don't know what that last line means. There's just so much wrong with the Bluth family that you can't help but laugh at their dysfunction.
Alias (Thursday evenings on ABC): Why did they put this show on Thursdays at 8? I mean, there's a TON of things to watch that night. Apparently ABC is trying to kill Alias off. One character at a time. They killed off Vaughn the first episode! WTF? But I'm still watching to see how they integrate a pregnant Sydney into everything.
Lost (Wednesday evenings on ABC): Lost rules. Finding out about Desmond in the Hatch and seeing Michael and Sawyer survive the boat explosion was awesome, and this was all in two episodes that cover no more than about a few hours in their lives. And then we see Jin running from 'the Others'. Ack, this show was made to watch in marathon sessions as it's just too frustrating to have to wait a week between fixes. Amazing show!

Well, that's enough TV ramble for me. In other topics, I've got my realtor and she's been sending me quite a few listings to peruse for the Colorado Springs area. I can afford to buy quite a bit of house right now, which is awesome. I can't wait to go out there this month and actually buy one. There's quite a few to look at, and the realtor has put up a website for me so I can look at all the listings through that portal. It's pretty slick. I'd put it up here so you call could look at it too, but I'm afraid of any lurkers out there who would like to fuck with it and erase my listings, so you'll just have to wait and see what transpires after my trip. But I'm stoked that I've been preapproved now for my home loan, so I can buy with a bit of confidence.

I'm tired and hot now. Time to go exercise (a bit of DDRExtreme2 warmup, then some Bowflex fun), then relax, and then go back to work.... BLECH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hobie hate work.
What's New? Survivor and Amazing Race pages up. Shooting Gallery dead for now.

Shoot me an email if you want to. I may respond. (okay, you know I will - what else have I got to do?)