So, there is a guy here at work. Well, there are a lot of guys, and gals (also known as girls/women). But every time we see each other at work I say, "Hey. How's it going?" And then he says, "Hello. How are you?" And then I typical nod or just smile or something like that. Isn't that funny? We both ask questions, but neither of us answer. And then we just go on with our lives. Actually, I couldn't care less how it's "going" for him. I'm not trying to be rude. I just don't care. I don't have time for that. That's the unfortunate truth I have realized about my life. I discovered it a few years ago when I was in Wisconsin. I would see people I didn't know and my greeting was, "How you doing?" But I really didn't want their answer. I was just being nice. Kinda like a dog sniffing another dogs butt. I think they are just being nice. They don't really care what that thing smells like, and I'm gonna guess they already know! So next time someone asks you, "How's it going?", or "What's up?", or "Where's the library?", please don't answer the question. Just exchange your greeting for theirs and walk on by.
On a side note; I have started my vlog on youtube. When I get home I will throw a link here or you can just search on youtube for m00tmike. That's me.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Recharge
Thank you God for Sundays! Today has been a total recharge and exactly what I needed. We like to do as little as possible on Sundays. There are some dishes in the sink, some clothes need to be washed, and dinner is in the crock pot. That's how you do a Sunday in my house.
I'm also tinkering around on the computer. My recent youtube addiction has started spreading to my wife. We want to get a webcam and start uploading stuff but we just don't have the extra funds right now. So we are looking at some alternatives. We have a kinda crappy video camera we might try out, we also have our cellphones (I'm pretty sure they won't do the trick), and we have my wife's digital camera. My plan now is to take some videos of us just goofing off and upload them to the computer to see how they look. Of course we aren't expecting instant stardom but we are pretty sure we will be famous soon...
We just started our Netflix membership a few days ago. We've watched The Sting, which was great, and the original The Italian Job, which totally sucked. We started our Netflix adventure because we canceled our dish subscription. Hopefully this will save us some money. So far I'm not extremely impressed with the titles they have for streaming, but I'm hoping getting a few dvds in the mail will tide me over.
Ok, start looking for those awesome, hilarious, and wacky videos on youtube! I'm sure they will be instant hits!
I'm also tinkering around on the computer. My recent youtube addiction has started spreading to my wife. We want to get a webcam and start uploading stuff but we just don't have the extra funds right now. So we are looking at some alternatives. We have a kinda crappy video camera we might try out, we also have our cellphones (I'm pretty sure they won't do the trick), and we have my wife's digital camera. My plan now is to take some videos of us just goofing off and upload them to the computer to see how they look. Of course we aren't expecting instant stardom but we are pretty sure we will be famous soon...
We just started our Netflix membership a few days ago. We've watched The Sting, which was great, and the original The Italian Job, which totally sucked. We started our Netflix adventure because we canceled our dish subscription. Hopefully this will save us some money. So far I'm not extremely impressed with the titles they have for streaming, but I'm hoping getting a few dvds in the mail will tide me over.
Ok, start looking for those awesome, hilarious, and wacky videos on youtube! I'm sure they will be instant hits!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Get Busy Living, Or Get Busy Dying
Today started out great. A good workout, a bath with the Mrs and some fun wrestling the kiddos. But it took a turn for the worse when we did our budgeting for the week. Let's just say there is more outgoing than incoming. Bleh! That really ticked me off. I'm almost 30 and it just seems like the same old broken record with our money problems. When will I/we learn?
So I was pissed and I was taking it out on myself by eating way too much for lunch. 2 servings of leftovers from last night and then a quesadilla on top of it. But that's what I do. I eat my feelings. I plopped down in front of the computer with my quesadilla and pulled up youtube. I clicked on a channel from my friend Micah and watched a video I had just watched a couple of days ago. It's from his weight loss channel called Thinktopia. Here's the video:
If you want to skip to the part that hit me it starts at 5:15 in the video. Micah talks about maintaining our motivations when we decide to make changes. I don't know why, but at the beginning of this year I was able to look myself in the eye and say, "Hey fatty, it's time to make some changes." And it worked. I've lost 20 lbs in a little over 2 months. Plus, I feel great and I look sooo much better. But today I felt like I was on that slope, heading down quickly. But it's time to recommit. It's time to reevaluate and it's time to succeed.
I am one of those people that believe the mind is more powerful that anything. I feel like I was able to find success with my weight loss because I made the decision in my mind that I would be successful. Lately I have found a lot of motivation from Micah in a few ways. Hey has a great blog at www.micahstubblefield.com/ where he writes about his endeavors to become better. He is taking on things like learning photography, teaching himself the piano, and even creating iphone apps. I can't help but feel that there is more for me. Sometimes I look at my life and feel like I could have so much more if I just put my mind to it. And that is what I am doing.
I am taking on a few projects. Things that will teach me new skills and give me new experiences. Things that I have always wanted to do but I didn't do because I didn't think they held enough value. As Andy Dufresne says in The Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living, or get busy dying."
You can look forward to my "living" in these posts.
So I was pissed and I was taking it out on myself by eating way too much for lunch. 2 servings of leftovers from last night and then a quesadilla on top of it. But that's what I do. I eat my feelings. I plopped down in front of the computer with my quesadilla and pulled up youtube. I clicked on a channel from my friend Micah and watched a video I had just watched a couple of days ago. It's from his weight loss channel called Thinktopia. Here's the video:
If you want to skip to the part that hit me it starts at 5:15 in the video. Micah talks about maintaining our motivations when we decide to make changes. I don't know why, but at the beginning of this year I was able to look myself in the eye and say, "Hey fatty, it's time to make some changes." And it worked. I've lost 20 lbs in a little over 2 months. Plus, I feel great and I look sooo much better. But today I felt like I was on that slope, heading down quickly. But it's time to recommit. It's time to reevaluate and it's time to succeed.
I am one of those people that believe the mind is more powerful that anything. I feel like I was able to find success with my weight loss because I made the decision in my mind that I would be successful. Lately I have found a lot of motivation from Micah in a few ways. Hey has a great blog at www.micahstubblefield.com/ where he writes about his endeavors to become better. He is taking on things like learning photography, teaching himself the piano, and even creating iphone apps. I can't help but feel that there is more for me. Sometimes I look at my life and feel like I could have so much more if I just put my mind to it. And that is what I am doing.
I am taking on a few projects. Things that will teach me new skills and give me new experiences. Things that I have always wanted to do but I didn't do because I didn't think they held enough value. As Andy Dufresne says in The Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living, or get busy dying."
You can look forward to my "living" in these posts.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Daily Blog... GO!
A thought occurred to me today; "If I am planning on doing a daily vlog on youtube, why don't I get into the practice now by doing a daily blog." So, heeere we go!
At the moment I am at work. I'm getting paid to sit here and wait for someone to call in sick. In the other room a few guys are watching some morning show with Kathy Lee-Gifford. For some reason, the people booking that show thought people would like to hear her talk with some other old bag about their sex lives... That's good television, I don't care what you say!
I would think the challenge of a daily blog is content. Questions like. "What do I write about?" and "Is my life really that interesting?" keep popping up in my head. Not to mention the time requirements. But I feel like the people out there reading personal blogs (as opposed to a themed blog) don't really care that I'm not Kim Kardashian or The Jimmer. I think people like to snoop. People like to peek in to windows and see what life is like for that person. So here you go you sickos! Peep away!
On a side note, I am determined not to blog about work. It seems like that only gets people in trouble. You can do a google search on it and find countless stories of people (I like to call them morons) that thought that talking bad about their employer was a good decision. It's not, and I won't do it. If you want me to talk bad about my employer you can call me on the phone or come to my house.
So here we go. Please follow me and comment till your hearts content!
At the moment I am at work. I'm getting paid to sit here and wait for someone to call in sick. In the other room a few guys are watching some morning show with Kathy Lee-Gifford. For some reason, the people booking that show thought people would like to hear her talk with some other old bag about their sex lives... That's good television, I don't care what you say!
I would think the challenge of a daily blog is content. Questions like. "What do I write about?" and "Is my life really that interesting?" keep popping up in my head. Not to mention the time requirements. But I feel like the people out there reading personal blogs (as opposed to a themed blog) don't really care that I'm not Kim Kardashian or The Jimmer. I think people like to snoop. People like to peek in to windows and see what life is like for that person. So here you go you sickos! Peep away!
On a side note, I am determined not to blog about work. It seems like that only gets people in trouble. You can do a google search on it and find countless stories of people (I like to call them morons) that thought that talking bad about their employer was a good decision. It's not, and I won't do it. If you want me to talk bad about my employer you can call me on the phone or come to my house.
So here we go. Please follow me and comment till your hearts content!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Making Social Media Work For You!
Wow, I honestly hate seeing that it's been a week since I last blogged. It's not that I think there are people out there staring at their computers, waiting to see what I think about things. It's more that I really like writing and playing around with words and my thoughts. It's like when you realize you haven't been to the gym in a week. You aren't upset because the other gym-goers might be missing you. You are upset because you are getting a puny and scrawny!
I have been spending a lot of time lately on Youtube. My first impressions of youtube those many many years ago was that it was kind of a waste of time. It seemed like a place for people to post home videos, or place for people to find videos of the latest teen heartthrob (a la Justin Bieber). But over the last week or so I have found that youtube has a lot to offer. I have found tons of tutorials on different programs and operating systems for my computer. I have found a ton of people like freddiew that make some amazing, and hilarious, videos. And I have found one of the biggest youtube sensations: Shaycarl.
Shaycarl and his family, the Shaytards, are just normal people from Idaho. They are just like you and I. A mom, a dad, 4 kids (2 boys and 2girls. How's that for average?), they are Mormon (that makes them similar to me), and they make their living by recording and uploading videos to youtube. Yup, and as far as I can tell from their videos, it's a pretty dang good living.
It's hard to describe what is so appealing about Shay and the family. Maybe it's that they are just normal people goofing off. Maybe it's that Shay has a certain Chris Farley approach to life. Maybe it's that people are always looking at other people and wondering what their life is like. But regardless of the reasons for watching, people watch. And a lot of them watch too. Last I saw, the Shaytards (the nickname for the family), had 800,000 subscribers.
So, for the past week I have been laying awake at night and thinking. I've been wondering, "Could I do something like that? Could I get people to watch and follow videos I upload to youtube?"
I'm a big football fan. I'm a fan to the point where I will even watch the NFL draft. You can usually tell a lot about these young players by the way they respond to interview questions. If they come across as cocky and full of themselves then they will probably have a rough time getting things rolling in the league. The players that approach the NFL with the, "I'm just going to help my team win." approach are usually the most successful. So I think this will be my approach the increasing my social media footprint (That's a cool term. Did I make it up?). My plan right now is to get myself a webcam or maybe one of those Flip cameras, and start a daily vlog (vlog: video log for those of you outside of the loop) on my birthday or sooner. And I'm just going to do it for fun. Who knows, if I get famous I might toss a dime or two your way.
But in the meantime, watch this space for updates and my musings. And remember, as long as you are doing better than Charlie Sheen, you are doing pretty dang good.
I have been spending a lot of time lately on Youtube. My first impressions of youtube those many many years ago was that it was kind of a waste of time. It seemed like a place for people to post home videos, or place for people to find videos of the latest teen heartthrob (a la Justin Bieber). But over the last week or so I have found that youtube has a lot to offer. I have found tons of tutorials on different programs and operating systems for my computer. I have found a ton of people like freddiew that make some amazing, and hilarious, videos. And I have found one of the biggest youtube sensations: Shaycarl.
Shaycarl and his family, the Shaytards, are just normal people from Idaho. They are just like you and I. A mom, a dad, 4 kids (2 boys and 2girls. How's that for average?), they are Mormon (that makes them similar to me), and they make their living by recording and uploading videos to youtube. Yup, and as far as I can tell from their videos, it's a pretty dang good living.
It's hard to describe what is so appealing about Shay and the family. Maybe it's that they are just normal people goofing off. Maybe it's that Shay has a certain Chris Farley approach to life. Maybe it's that people are always looking at other people and wondering what their life is like. But regardless of the reasons for watching, people watch. And a lot of them watch too. Last I saw, the Shaytards (the nickname for the family), had 800,000 subscribers.
So, for the past week I have been laying awake at night and thinking. I've been wondering, "Could I do something like that? Could I get people to watch and follow videos I upload to youtube?"
I'm a big football fan. I'm a fan to the point where I will even watch the NFL draft. You can usually tell a lot about these young players by the way they respond to interview questions. If they come across as cocky and full of themselves then they will probably have a rough time getting things rolling in the league. The players that approach the NFL with the, "I'm just going to help my team win." approach are usually the most successful. So I think this will be my approach the increasing my social media footprint (That's a cool term. Did I make it up?). My plan right now is to get myself a webcam or maybe one of those Flip cameras, and start a daily vlog (vlog: video log for those of you outside of the loop) on my birthday or sooner. And I'm just going to do it for fun. Who knows, if I get famous I might toss a dime or two your way.
But in the meantime, watch this space for updates and my musings. And remember, as long as you are doing better than Charlie Sheen, you are doing pretty dang good.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
How To Blog
Try this: Go to Google and search "blog". Go ahead, do it, we will wait.... What did you get? I got this: "About 5,230,000,000 results (0.12 seconds)" under my search bar. That's more than 5 billion results from the word blog. Now, I realize that these probably aren't all blogs but even if half are blogs... WOW! And 2 of them are mine!
If someone would have told me to do this exercise before I began my blogs I don't think I would have them right now. It's kind of discouraging. But why? Why would this cause someone to be reluctant to start a blog? As far as I know the internet isn't running out of room yet. I think it's because we see blogging as a way to get our little piece of the famous pie. We think, "Hey if I get enough readers I can be like that chick from 'Julia and Juliet'" (or whatever it was). And I really think that's the problem with blogging. We have expectations. If we don't have X amount of readers subscribed by blank date then it's not going well. And no one has had bigger expectations than me. Shoot, Blogger still tells me I have 5 blogs. And I was sure that each one was going to be HUGE!
But, if it's not to become famous, why should you blog?
I'm sure there are tons of reasons why you should blog. For me, it's because I enjoy it. I like writing. I like researching things that interest me. I also like reading other peoples blogs to get an insight into their minds. And at least blogging actually produces something, unlike gaming for 4 hours at a time....
Here are the only rules I have placed upon myself for blogging:
1. Make it fun. If you don't enjoy it then you can't expect anyone else to.
2. Blog about things that interest you, not things that interest others.
3. Don't worry about your readership. It will come with time.
4. A blog is not for complaining about work, family, or anything that is too personal.
So, start a blog. Write what you want, and have a blast. I know I do.
If someone would have told me to do this exercise before I began my blogs I don't think I would have them right now. It's kind of discouraging. But why? Why would this cause someone to be reluctant to start a blog? As far as I know the internet isn't running out of room yet. I think it's because we see blogging as a way to get our little piece of the famous pie. We think, "Hey if I get enough readers I can be like that chick from 'Julia and Juliet'" (or whatever it was). And I really think that's the problem with blogging. We have expectations. If we don't have X amount of readers subscribed by blank date then it's not going well. And no one has had bigger expectations than me. Shoot, Blogger still tells me I have 5 blogs. And I was sure that each one was going to be HUGE!
But, if it's not to become famous, why should you blog?
I'm sure there are tons of reasons why you should blog. For me, it's because I enjoy it. I like writing. I like researching things that interest me. I also like reading other peoples blogs to get an insight into their minds. And at least blogging actually produces something, unlike gaming for 4 hours at a time....
Here are the only rules I have placed upon myself for blogging:
1. Make it fun. If you don't enjoy it then you can't expect anyone else to.
2. Blog about things that interest you, not things that interest others.
3. Don't worry about your readership. It will come with time.
4. A blog is not for complaining about work, family, or anything that is too personal.
So, start a blog. Write what you want, and have a blast. I know I do.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Gas Strike!
Today I RSVP'd to an event on Facebook. It was "No Gas Day". The idea behind it is that for a day, March 31, no one purchases gas or visits a gas station. The problem with these kinds of strikes is that everyone would just fill up their tank the day before. Which doesn't really get anything accomplished. Plus it would be pretty difficult to get enough people to get on board to where it would make anybody that's anybody stand up and take notice. Not to mention that the reasons for high gas prices aren't just because those running the evil oil companies want more and more money. It's because of inflation, limited supply, and troubles in the middle east. But let's stay with this "Gas Strike" idea.
How do you get this to work?
You would need enough people and a strike that lasted long enough that people could actually feel it.
So I came up with an idea: "What if we could do a strike like this for a week?" Hmm.... How could this be done? Well, it just so happens that I came up with this idea while I was driving my bus. And there, my friends, is the solution.
What about a "Public Transportation Week"? We could plan it months in advance to give people enough warning to plan their days around the bus or trains in their areas. Also, waiting for a summer month might make things easier because the little kiddies are home from school and wouldn't need as much running around as normal. Now, as a bus driver, I admit that this would add a lot of travel time and headaches to a lot of peoples schedules. But is it worth it? What if a week long gas strike got those in power to take notice? What if it woke our government up just enough so that we started getting our own supply of oil instead of mooching off of other countries and depending on their economies and social struggles? What if....
How do you get this to work?
You would need enough people and a strike that lasted long enough that people could actually feel it.
So I came up with an idea: "What if we could do a strike like this for a week?" Hmm.... How could this be done? Well, it just so happens that I came up with this idea while I was driving my bus. And there, my friends, is the solution.
What about a "Public Transportation Week"? We could plan it months in advance to give people enough warning to plan their days around the bus or trains in their areas. Also, waiting for a summer month might make things easier because the little kiddies are home from school and wouldn't need as much running around as normal. Now, as a bus driver, I admit that this would add a lot of travel time and headaches to a lot of peoples schedules. But is it worth it? What if a week long gas strike got those in power to take notice? What if it woke our government up just enough so that we started getting our own supply of oil instead of mooching off of other countries and depending on their economies and social struggles? What if....
Monday, March 7, 2011
To the grind
Monday...
I'm actually not one of those "I hate mondays!" kinda people. Typically my mondays are great days for me. I usually feel pretty refreshed and ready to go. And, so far, today is fitting right in line with that trend. I didn't have to work until 1pm, and I was supposed to be off at 8pm. Plus my first shift of work is what we call a "Report Shift". Basically doing report means you sit around and wait for someone to call in sick and then go drive their bus. (I'm actually doing this right now on my report shift) But as happens sometimes with this type of work my day has changed. I'm still starting at 1pm but I won't be off until 9:30pm now. Oh well.
Enjoy your week peoples. I know I will.
I'm actually not one of those "I hate mondays!" kinda people. Typically my mondays are great days for me. I usually feel pretty refreshed and ready to go. And, so far, today is fitting right in line with that trend. I didn't have to work until 1pm, and I was supposed to be off at 8pm. Plus my first shift of work is what we call a "Report Shift". Basically doing report means you sit around and wait for someone to call in sick and then go drive their bus. (I'm actually doing this right now on my report shift) But as happens sometimes with this type of work my day has changed. I'm still starting at 1pm but I won't be off until 9:30pm now. Oh well.
Enjoy your week peoples. I know I will.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Simply Smashing
Once upon a time I saw the Smashing Pumpkins playing an awards show on television. I was probably 14, and I was terrified. The lead singer, Billy Corgan, looked like some kind of creature from a horror movie. Shaved head, skinny, and just plain evil looking. Plus the music... Loud and angry. And then one day I listened to them. Love.
"Coil my tongue 'round a bumble bee mouth"
I would say the Smashing Pumpkins were one of my favorite bands for a long time. Mainly because they could take the listener from the edge of aggression and angst to a meadow all fluffy with thick flowing grass. I loved the emotion. And, apparently I still do.
A few years ago all of my music was stolen from me, twice. So the music I have had was pirated from the interweb. (Shut up, everyone does it) Which worked great until my crap-tastic laptop died. So with this new pc I have started downloading some of my old favorites. The Pumpkins, Cake, Blues Traveler.
Music doesn't mean what it used to mean to me. But I still enjoy it immensely.
Good Might!
Good Might= Good night+good morning
What I Want by PGratton
What happens to your body when you don't sleep for a night? Let's find out.... Well, according to Wikipedia... Damn, so many big words on Wikipedia... Here, you read it for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation Basically, depriving yourself of sleep can make you more retarded than you normally are. And for some of us this is a VERY bad thing.
So, the reason I'm thinking about this is that my sleep this past week has been super rough. I don't know if it's our new bed or just something on my mind, but I have struggled to get 6hrs a night. In an attempt to remedy this I am staying up all night tonight and all day tomorrow (which is actually today by now) so that I am so stinking tired Sunday night that I pass out and basically reset my sleep schedule. I don't know how safe or recommended this practice is but a councilor told me to do this once and it has worked for me before.
The song posted at the top is a song by my brother. It has absolutely nothing to do with sleep or being tired but I liked it at the time I started it and I'm keeping it. At this time I have no intentions of maintaining this blog or even posting with any regularity. Enjoy the randomocity! (Ok, that really needs to be a word.)
What I Want by PGratton
What happens to your body when you don't sleep for a night? Let's find out.... Well, according to Wikipedia... Damn, so many big words on Wikipedia... Here, you read it for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation Basically, depriving yourself of sleep can make you more retarded than you normally are. And for some of us this is a VERY bad thing.
So, the reason I'm thinking about this is that my sleep this past week has been super rough. I don't know if it's our new bed or just something on my mind, but I have struggled to get 6hrs a night. In an attempt to remedy this I am staying up all night tonight and all day tomorrow (which is actually today by now) so that I am so stinking tired Sunday night that I pass out and basically reset my sleep schedule. I don't know how safe or recommended this practice is but a councilor told me to do this once and it has worked for me before.
The song posted at the top is a song by my brother. It has absolutely nothing to do with sleep or being tired but I liked it at the time I started it and I'm keeping it. At this time I have no intentions of maintaining this blog or even posting with any regularity. Enjoy the randomocity! (Ok, that really needs to be a word.)
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