CostcoWarrior

So my blog stats are down.  Can’t say I am allowed to be too depressed about it, because it’s my own dang fault.  I wonder if I’m holding back on the posting side so I don’t get as addicted to blogging as I was the first time around?  Maybe I just need to get over it.

This last week I’ve been sicker than sick.  Sicker than a dog, except we don’t have one.  So I guess that makes me sicker than our neighbor’s dog that incidentally barks at anything and everything and is so big I think it’s going to crash through the fence one day.  Meanwhile, back on my sickie-chickie ranch, if what I have the is precursor to this season’s cold/flu virus, may God bless you all with mercy.  It’s been horrible! Sore throat, cough, headache, muscle aches all over, ear aches, sinus pressure, no appetite, trouble sleeping, and the list could go on, but it would start to disgust you.  I sat through work on Tuesday completely dazed.  I missed work completely Wednesday and Thursday. I have spent the entire weekend in bed and still wonder if I’m going to make it out of here tomorrow for work.  Let’s just say, last night I sneezed, and it was so painful that I wasn’t sure it hadn’t turned my body completely inside out.

Yesterday TW worked with Jose’ to install some fancy schmanzy remote controlled light dimmer switches.  Jose’s roommate Chad took on the role of supervisor since he had “been known to have done some electrical work in his day”.  Never mind that he was still in his red fleece pajamas.  I was worried they were all going to kill themselves on current.  But the roommate “supervisor” assured me that getting shocked isn’t that bad–just a bit of a wake up call.  Hmmm…Like a wake up call on the other side of the veil.  But in the end the lights came back on and no one was dead.  Chad was super pleased, although I don’t think he touched any tools himself.

We had our first MBA class the other night.  We really like our teacher.  He’s well educated and very animated.  At one point in the lesson he was coming up with an example and he asked if anyone played an instrument.  I raised my hand and a guy behind me raised his hand.  We both played the piano.  Then the teacher wanted to know which of us played better. Neither one of us wanted to admit that, but TW saved me so graciously by piping up with: “I bet the other guy is better.  Let’s just put it this way: We OWN a piano and I’ve never heard my wife play.”  Um.  That’s not true.  But that didn’t stop the entire class from rolling on the ground laughing.  It’s a good thing I have a sense of humor.

Well…I’m taking my sick body back to bed now.  Until next time…if I live trough this.

This afternoon WarriorWife and I took a trip to the local thrift store for some cheap workout clothes. While in the checkout line I over heard a young teenage girl say to her sister, “Don’t touch me! I’m sterile.” After which the older sister burst out in laughter and their mother sank behind the shopping cart in embarrassment. After regaining composure the older sister said to the teenage sister, “Do you even know what that means?!” To which she replied, “Yes! It means I’m clean. Really clean.”

So now I ask you. Define sterile.

TW

Since WarriorWife and I have been living at our house we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the out-of-control flower beds. Back in June we started pulling, digging, and lifting. Then we leveled the dirt, made it pretty and let it sit… and grow a weed garden!

After a few months WarriorWife decided that weeds weren’t her flower of choice, so she put her work pants on and started re-pulling, re-digging and re-leveling. With her determination, and the help of me and “Jose”, we wrapped up the whole project in 1 week. We all love the finished result, and now we just wish we had gotten it done months before. But I guess it’s like they always say, “Best things come to those who wait.”

Here’s a little peek at the finished results:

an email The Warrior wrote to his family today:

Dear Family,

Since I can’t remember who we have and haven’t told I thought a mass email would be a perfect way to make this announcement.

WarriorWife and I are going back to school (for MBA degrees–one each).  We will be attending the DeVry University at the Jordan Commons, and NO class will NOT be in the movie theaters nearby.  We start school in 3 weeks and should graduate April 2010.  We planned a small school break during Summer 2009, so we can attend our family vacations.

WarriorWife is super excited about going back-to-school.  I’m not sure if it is because she loves reading, and this is the perfect excuse.  OR if she just wants to prove she is smarter than me (something all of us already know!).

As for me… It’s not quite as exciting as it was when I got to go back-to-school to show off my fancy new shoes, pants, shirts, and see old friends.  Although I’m glad WarriorWife will be there with me.  I think it will be something that we can look back on with fond memories.  And I know I will be glad I did it, no matter how daunting the task may seem.

Love,

TW and WW

Saturday morning we went on a motorcycle ride with 2 other couples from our neighborhood.  We took off in an excited rush, only to be stopped immediately on a left turn at a red light that refused to go green. 

We waited.  Nothing happened.

We leaned right.  Nothing happened.

We leaned left.  Nothing happened.

We contemplated some serious curse words.   Nothing happened.

And then I hopped off the motorcycle, ran across the adjacent lane, hit the pedestrian crosswalk button, then ran back to the bike and climbed back on. 

FINALLY!!  Something happened.  Green is a good color, isn’t it?

It was a fun ride -running from rain clouds, getting turned around in some detoured neighborhoods, and getting spectacular views of the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys.

This is just a bit of a rant I want to get off my chest and out there into cyberspace…

I’ve decided I don’t like being “sold” anything.  I don’t mind testimonials or rave reviews–those coming from individuals receiving no kick back or reward for their passionate opinions.  These sorts of comments seem to ring true to me–recommendations and advice that come with no pressure or manipulation–you can take it or leave it and it really doesn’t matter to them.

I NEVER FEEL GOOD AFTER I’VE BEEN SOLD SOMETHING.  I feel guilty that maybe I just agreed to quickly.  Or maybe I didn’t think things through on my own.   And of course everything the person is saying SEEMS like a good idea, SEEMS like it’s irrefutable, SEEMS like it would be stupid to say anything in disagreement.  But it all make me FEEL uncomfortable.  A big ball of wriggling mess in the pit of my stomach that threatens to grow and gorge itself on my innards.  A bad taste of bile in the back of my throat that won’t disappear even when I take a drink.  The tettering doubt in my decision to buy or invest in what I’ve been sold.  And the cloud of disappointing remorse that hangs over whatever object I’ve purchased.  I have to re-talk myself into the deal and keep assuring myself that it was a good thing. 

The problem is…I can be sold so easily.  At least that’s what my past proves.  Stupid stuff in split second decisions…some even costing more than $1000.  Why do I do it?  Why do I give in to their tactics?  Why are they so good at getting me to say yes and sign my money away?  Why does it take me forever to forgive myself for being a pushover idiot who is now significantly poorer??

A few months ago, we made an appointment with an AC/Heat company to price out possibly replacing our furnace and adding an AC unit to the house.  Not surprisingly, instead of a technician, they sent a salesman.  He looked in our utility closet for about 15 seconds, probably out of courtesy, and then proceded to sell us the “most applicable” system to our home (that he hadn’t even looked at, remember?).  “It’s $7500, but let me call my partner and see if he still has one of those last season manufacturer’s coupons that will give you $500 off…Oh–he has one left, but he’s going to offer it at an appointment tonight…oh good, he agreed not to mention it at his appointment if I pay for his lunch tomorrow–just looking out for you, it’s not a problem for me, you’re the most important…so you have to make a decision right now in order to get the deal…oh you want to wait and talk about it together?…hmmm…well I can’t promise anything past 6pm tonight, so you have to call me back as soon as you know…”  Why do I have to make a $7000 decision off of just one quote in just 3 hours?  How am I supposed to feel good about that?  Luckily, we said no to that one! 

And what about all the sales jobs that don’t involve money?  Like the movie preview we went to last night where the movie company rep pretty much “sold” us in a begging way on spreading the word on the movie’s moral standings and feel good stature–”If you want to see good movies that don’t tout sex and violence in the theaters, of course you tell everyone you know that they HAVE to see this movie on opening night!”  Gosh.  I haven’t even seen the movie yet!  Just tell me you had a great time making it and hope if we like it we’ll tell people and sit down and turn the movie on and don’t spend 15 minutes after the movie bugging me to agree that it was the best movie I’ve ever seen!

I am going on a DON’T AGREE TO ANYTHING SOMEONE IS SELLING ME KICK (whether it involves money or not).  So, seriously, if you want me to agree to something, leave the sell-tactics in your back pocket.  Just tell me honestly what you think and let me make my own choice and don’t make me feel stupid for the choice I make off your words.  Then all my physical ailments of “being sold” won’t flare up and we can continue to be friends because I still trust that our friendship isn’t based on whether or not I agree with you!

<sigh>

And now I’m done…The End.  Thanks.

It was going to be the dreaded “Actually get to doing something about the dirt humps in front of the house that are passing as flower beds despite the fact that they’re only growing weeds” day.

Fortunately, we’ll have to postpone that activity…again…

Instead, we are going to roof.  My father-in-law said he’d “save” shingles for anyone wanting to nail them in.  Of course, we want to nail some shingles in.  The project unexpectedly got bigger last night, when he realized the plywood in some areas needed to be replaced, so last night we tore the old stuff out and re-plywooded the roof.  Yes.  I just made that word up.  I like it.  It’s descriptive.  It’s re-plywooded.

Today we’re off in our “please get me even more permanently dirty than I already am” clothes with hammers in hand to nail in those shingles.  A bunch of the siblings and grandkids are coming too, so hopefully it will be fun to work our bodies to death in a togetherness sort of way.

The Warrior would also like to add that we’ve been married for only 544,000 minutes.  That’s not even a million yet.

There is a million things to do in Cancun, but NOTHING is free. Everyone tells you NOT to drink the water, but we’re not sure if they are trying to keep us safe OR just try to sell overpriced bottle water. ($5 for 1 liter) and it seems like anytime you get help from anybody they turn around and say, “if yoo tfhink I did a good job let me know by giving me a tip. Just put it in my “happy jar”. We live off our tips, if you don’t tip us our families will starve. (how do you think I pay for the millions of text messages I’ve been sending all day long?)”. I can’t help but wonder where all the money goes when you give them $300 for something that should cost half that. If that’s not enough, the urinal cover brand name is “Tipps”. I couldn’t tell if it was a way for the tour company and hospitality industry to promote tipping or just a coincidence.

Our newly discovered Cancun activity is riding the public transportation. This is perhaps the cheapest thrill we’ve found. for only $6.50 Pesos you can ride the bus anywhere it goes. Right after you get on the driver hits the gas and goes flying down the road. It almost feels like a roller coaster the way it zips around the roads. Don’t plan on it stopping at every stop either. You have to watch carefully and make sure you stand and hit the button before he gets to your stop. As soon as the bus driver notices you want to get off he opens the bus doors, while still going full speed. You may think he’s going to pass your stop, but that is NOTHING he can’t solve by stepping harder on the brakes. Every time we get on the bus we know we are in for an adventure. We love the bus!

It all adds to the adventure and builds fun memories.

We thought you may want to see a sample of some of the things we are enjoying here in Cancun.  Here ya go:

This morning our phone rang at 6:38am. It was our Orbitz Rep wondering if we were ready to meet him in the lobby for our Tulum/Xel-Ha tour today. HHHUUUUHHH??? Wasn’t that supposed to be tomorrow? Oh, well, we’ll be down in 15 minutes….

AHHHHHH

And the next 15 minutes were a blur of frenzied preparation–dressing, brushing, grabbing, packing, shoving, and trying to remember everything we needed to take.

We made it, with enough time to spare to grab a muffin from the hotel coffee shop. We also stopped by the ATM to get more cash and realized we didn’t have one of our cards. PROBLEMO!

The pick-up van was late, luckily, so we had time to pay $5.00/minute to call my mom and wake her up at 5:15am her time and beg her to help us get the card canceled.

Don’t worry about us; we’re having a great time.

Really we are having a blast. We’ve visted 2 ruins sites and today we were at an ecological water park called Xel-Ha where a fresh water river runs down into the ocean. We floated in innertubes down the river that was overgrown with mangroves. TW jumped off a cliff into the water. We snorkeled (well, I tried, but had a panic attack after 47.8 seconds, so I got out and took pictures of TW snorkeling)–there was one part where he got to swim around in a cave and I got a picture of him from above through a natural hole in the ceiling. We ate ice cream and tried to assess what the sun damage was. It is beautiful here, and a totally different culture, and the trips and the sites and all the “tourist” stuff is really fun. We’re really glad we came. The ocean is spectacular.