February 18th - 20th, 2011 - 71st, 72nd and 73rd Days

Finally starting to feel a little better.  Actually went to work on Friday.  Was even able to be nice to people all day.  Still looking for an SUV and can't find one I like.  I think I'm going to go down to the auction next week.  We left work a little early and Nicole and I went to the movie "Unknown".  It was entertaining, not fantastic.  Saturday was nice and relaxing.  Logan and I did the Costco run, and it's amazing how grumpy people are at Costco.  I was going down the isle and a lady was coming right at me, so we did the cart dance, where I started to go right, then she started to go left, then my left, then her right, and it was kind of funny, so I laughed.  She just growled at me and didn't even ask for my number. Ha.  Anyway, then we saw some ribs at a sampling station.  So, we stood in line patiently for the ribs, and this lady just walks right in front of all the people waiting and decides she wants the last rib.  Well, normally I'm a ladies first person, but that's not very nice, so, I quickly grabbed the last rib for my son.  You would have thought I chopped off her arm with a dull hacksaw!  Logan and I had a good laugh, and I was not mean to either lady, other than taking the last rib, but I feel I was completely justified. Nicole and I went shopping later in the day, and while I was waiting for Nicole to try on some clothes this teenager came out in this short skirt, and I was standing there with her dad and Grandpa.  It was funny, they both said at the same time, "That's not going to happen!"  I laughed, we dads are very protective of our daughters.  Luckily my girls never wanted to wear short skirts or too small of shirts, making it so I didn't ever have to tackle them while they were heading out the door to school.  That night we went over to Rhys's and Pam's and watched a bubble gum for the brain movie and ate popcorn.  All-in-all, it was a great day, but I didn't get home until almost 1:00 in the morning.  Getting home at 1:00 makes for a long day when you have to get up at 5:00 on Sunday morning, which is what I had to do.  We had great meetings though, then I came home and slept for two hours, had dinner, and hung out with the family for a few hours, reading and talking.  Another nice Sunday, and it's now been a while since I've been angry, upset, or mean to anyone.  In fact, if I don't run into another Qwest employee I may be ok for a year!  Things I learned today, 1st, Don't try to be nice at Costco, people are there to get food, not to make friends! 2nd, You must protect your children from evil ladies at Costco trying to take their ribs! Because believe me, they're out there.  3rd, All dads will protect their children, especially their little girls, even when the little girls aren't so little anymore.  4th, If you want to make your wife happy, buy her an outfit.  I've never met a woman who doesn't like a new outfit, and if there's one out there, her last name definitely is not Kimzey.   5th, Getting four hours of sleep then trying to spend 8 hours is meetings without falling asleep is kind of like having your tonsils removed with pliers without screaming--it's virtually impossible! 

February 16th and 17th, 2011 - 69th and 70th days

Wednesday sick, Thursday sick.  Slept a lot, ate a little, and didn't get mad at one single person!  Maybe this sick thing isn't so bad.  On Wednesday we were supposed to go to a ward relief society party, but I was too sick so Nicole took Amber.  They did bring me home a piece of cheesecake.  It's now going on 5 days and I'm ready to get back to life, back to reality (sounds like a song).  Nicole and Amber are making fun of me because I can't hear very well due to my head being stuffed up.  I say, "What?" a lot.  Yesterday, Nicole said, "I have to call Logan first", and I said, "Who's Rutherford?".    She said, "What are you talking about?"  I said, "You said you have to call Rutherford, who's Rutherford?"  Needless to say, my hearing isn't the best right now.  Things I learned today, 1st, Being sick gets old, and TV gets boring, and food tastes bland.  2nd, I don't need no stinking hearing aid.  3rd, When I get sick it feels like someone is trying to cram a giant marshmallow in my ear.  Maybe that's why everything I hear sounds muffled.   

February 15, 2011 - 68th Day

Today it only feels like Chinese people are playing ping pong with my head, so at least that's a step in the right direction.  When I woke up this morning, I went into the kitchen and it looked like someone had been in a fight with the raspberry jam container.  I mean, there was jam everywhere.  Nicole and I usually make the boys sandwiches, but since I was sick, Hunter decided to make his own.  You would have thought he was 5!  There was jam on the counter, jam on the floor, jam on the door handle, jam on the other counter, jam on the refrigerator shelf.  I think he was trying to make sure I never had him make his own sandwich again.  I couldn't even get mad, I just started laughing.  It was too comical to get mad.  I wish I would have taken pictures, because I know some of you think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not.  One good thing about being sick, it's very easy to stay nice to people when everyone is bending over backwards to make you feel better.   My wife brought me some of her dinner from Panda Express, then she brought me a treat from the "Trek Kickoff" meeting.  Then she went to the store and bought me some Nyquil, which allowed me to sleep like a baby.  By the way, why do they have that expression, "Sleep like a baby".  Babies constantly wake up crying during the night.  I think they should change it to "Sleep like a hibernating bear", or "Sleep like a possum".  Things I learned today, 1st, Hunter is to jam what babies are to chocolate cake with frosting, 2nd, Panda Express when sick is awesome.  3rd, Nyquil allows me to sleep like a hibernating bear.   4th, When you're sick, it feels like time is in slow motion.  I've now been sick for 3 years!   

February 14th, 2011 - 67th Day

Valentines Day is supposed to be the most romantic day of the year, right?  Well, Nicole got to bed at 4:30, then got up at 7:00.  I slept in until 7:30, then tried to go to work, but only made it half way through the day.  My head felt like it was being used as a Rugby ball by a bunch of Tongans.  Apparently, they were stepping on my chest as well, because it felt like I had a 300lb Tongan sitting on me.  I came home at 12:30 and slept until 5:30.  I was able to be nice to everyone, even the Tongans.  Of course, it's easy to be nice when you're sleeping, which I've done a lot of lately.  Maybe I just need to sleep for the next 300 days and I'll reach my goal easily.  My wife got home from Singing Valentines at about 7:00.  We watched a TV show then fell asleep by 9:30.  Talk about a romantic Valentine's day!  One of the top 5 of all time I'm sure.  Amber is missing Mitch pretty bad at the moment.  I can't wait until they get married, because then Amber will be happy, and so will Mitch.  Things I learned today, 1st, Don't let Tongans play Rugby with your head.  2nd, Don't let a 300lb Tongan sit on your chest.   3rd, If numbers 1 and 2 happen to occur despite your best efforts, get lots of rest and take Nyquil, Robitussen, Musinex, and anything else that you can get your hands on.  4th, Sorry I was sick on Valentines Day honey.  Next year be sure to not let the Tongans in the house in February.

 I think this was the guy using my head as a Rugby ball

These must have been the guys sitting on my chest!

February 12th and 13th, 2011, 65th and 66th Days

It's no fun being sick.  I had to get up at 5:00 on Saturday morning to go to a leadership meeting and I wasn't feeling well (Did I mention it was at 5:00).  After the two hour meeting, I came home and wanted to go on a bike ride but I wasn't feeling well enough, so I just hung out with my wife and kids.  Hunter and I helped Nicole get all the roses ready for "Singing Valentines" for Pine View High school.  The kids go around the community and sing to people and give them three roses.  It's nice, but Nicole spends a lot of time on it, so I feel a little bad for her.  Saturday afternoon Nicole and I and the boys went to the movie "Megamind", it was pretty dumb, but we laughed.   Saturday night we went out the the Wades and Anderson's to Texas Roadhouse, then met the Weavers at Crave yogurt.  It was quite the evening, even though I wasn't feeling too chipper.  It's always fun to hang out with friends.  Sunday was not much better, as I was starting to get really sick.  I did my duties at church, but came home and slept the rest of the day, into the night, and all night long.  Nicole didn't get to bed until 4:30 because she was working on the singing valentines.  She had to get up at 7:00, so I felt bad for her.  It didn't help that I couldn't help much because I felt like someone had run over my head with a lawn mower.  So, all-in-all it was a pretty boring Saturday and Sunday.  Things I learned, 1st, It is no fun being sick!  This is short, but when your head feels like someone is pumping it up with a bike pump, you don't feel much like writing words of wisdom!

February 8th through 11th, 2011 - 61st through 64th Days

I didn't forget to write, there was just not much happening this week.  I had one of my customers call in and she had seen my blog link from Facebook.  I told her not to call in and try and make me mad.  She has a boss that is quite the character, and if he called in and tried to get me mad, I may go all Qwest on him.   I was excited at the prospect of getting my new phone this week--it was supposed to ship on February 4th.  However, when we called AT & T and got connected to an Indian speaking customer support rep we couldn't understand very well, he said my phone wasn't even shipping until the end of March!  Of course, with his accent it sounded more like  "Ve R chipping n de nd ef Much", which could mean we are going to get a pile of chips sometime in March.  Anyway, we're hoping for the best.  Speaking of which, why is it that all of the phone companies outsource their customer support to India?.  Isn't that the one industry that should have clear speaking individuals to pick up the phone?  Maybe it's just me, but I find that a little odd.

On Friday Kerry and I changed our minds and decided we wanted to look at Range Rovers as well as Navigators.  I found a really nice Range Rover in Arizona, so I called my parents and told them to go to the dealer and take it for a test drive for me.  A few hours later I got a call from my dad saying the dealership didn't exist!  He stopped and asked someone if they'd heard of Scottsdale Motor Cars, and they said it was a scam.  Apparently, they've been out of business for quite some time, and owe a lot of people their titles to cars.  Their address is just an abandoned lot.  Luckily I didn't send my money over the internet, and end up without my money, or a Ranger Rover--that may have tried my patience a bit.   As it was, we foiled the scam, and all that was lost was my parents time, which I felt bad about.  Are my parents the coolest or what?  How many parents would drive 30 minutes to test drive a car for their son?  Anyway, sorry mom and dad. 

I was able to go for a great bike ride on Friday, then come home and watch a movie and have a date night with my wife.  It was a great week.  5 Days, no getting mad, or even upset, even at my dog (who peed on the floor twice and I had to clean it up).  Things I learned this week, 1st, There are more Indian people in Customer service then there are sands of the sea, seriously, I think that's an accurate statistic.  2nd, I love accents, and when I talk to someone from another country, I find myself adopting their accent by the end of the phone conversation.  So, my end of the phone call usually ends like this, "Dank u Hamid, av a nice stay".   I hope I'm not offending them, isn't copying the sincerest form of flattery?  3rd, There are a lot of scams on the internet, beware, especially if the person on the other end of the line says he's in Texas, but he sounds like he's in India; of course, that could just mean the dealership outsources their customer service to India, but I'd still be careful! 4th, my parents are the coolest.  5th, I miss Kaylee!

This was not my AT&T service rep, I guarantee you. 

February 6th and 7th, 2011 - 59th and 60th Days

I still love Sundays.  Woke up early, went to meetings, got to see everyone at church, life is good.  It was fast Sunday (where we abstain from eating and drinking for 24 hours), so by the time dinner rolled around I was pretty hungry.  The problem with fast Sunday is you eat three times as much for dinner as you normally would, so you don't fight the fluff very well.  Whereas you should lose weight on fast Sunday, I think I gained a pound.  Sunday night was fun, we just hung out with the kids.  I didn't watch the Super Bowl, but I think I was one of the only people in the Universe that did not.  We liked the commercials though, especially a Dorito one where the guy fed the dead fish doritos, and he came back to life, then he knocked over the urn of his roommates dead grandpa and the grandpa came to life, it was quite funny (see link below).   Instead of the Superbowl, I got to interview the kids to see how their live was going.  Amber is obviously in heaven, and Logan and Hunter are typical boys and only answer direct questions, and don't give any more information than is absolutely necessary.  Example of conversation with Logan and Hunter.  "So, how is school?"  Response, "Good".  "Do you like any girls?"  Response, "Yes".  "Really, why didn't you tell me?"  Response, "You didn't ask."  "So, what is she like?"  Response, "She's nice".  Wait a minute!  I got a two word response, now we're making progress!

On Monday work was a little stressful, but there was definitely a time where I wanted to get mad at a customer and I didn't, but it was difficult.  I had a customer that has promised to pay me for three months, and he keeps using excuses, and I finally sent him an email and told him I was concerned.  It is probably not a good idea to send emails when you're frustrated, because I'm sure I came across a little harsh.  However, he did agree to send the payment, so that was good.  Monday night we had Family Home Evening and the lesson was on marriage, so Amber was happy.   Then we all made smoothies and watched "Chuck".  It was pretty stupid, but it was fun being with everyone.  Things I learned Sunday and today, 1st, Doritos can bring things back to life, so I'm keeping a bag on hand in case my dog dies.  2nd, Boys do not communicate like girls.  In fact, I wonder sometimes how boys and girls come from the same place (boys must come from Storks in Mongolia, girls obviously come from Storks in France or Morocco).  3rd, Don't ever push the send on an email until you've read it throughly, sometimes you come across more harsh then you'd like.  4th, After the Dorito commercial, I went and ate a half bag of Doritos, so the commercial must have been effective.

This ad was funny.