I'm awake.....

It's 10:53 am. I'm up. Why? Who knows? Sleeping has become something that I don't really seem to do anymore. I slept from 2 pm yesterday til around 7:30. That was the longest I'd slept in 3 days. I went to work last night at 10 pm and got off at 6 am this morning. I was tired, really tired. Fell right to sleep around 7:30 and then woke up about 3 hours later and I am wide awake. Hopefully writing this will get me ready to sleep again. When I woke up I quickly realized there were 2 potential reasons I woke up so abruptly. I had to hit the bathroom pretty quick. Guess I drank too much water at work. Unfortunately the second reason I probably woke up was my right arm was completely asleep, not tingling, absolutely dead, as in I had to put it at my side with my left arm. Weird. That is such a strange feeling, not to mention it was going to make my first reason for being up somewhat difficult. There is a very slight feeling of panic when you first realize that you can't move a limb. Then the feeling that you have about a million needles poking your arm kicks in and you get slight movement in your finger tips and it all starts to come back. I guess it doesn't take long for your arm (or whatever else) to fall asleep but it sure is a long, bizarre sensation getting it back. Now I'm going to attempt to go back to sleep because I have to work again tonight and staying up for close to 24 hours is not typically fun. Goodnight all, or good morning, or day or whatever it is. Apparently I am not as awake as I thought because I did a quick read through and caught several errors, which are now fixed.

Creature of the night

Once again I've gone way too long without adding to this blog. It takes some commitment to really do this on a regular basis...... it also helps to have something interesting happen on a regular basis too. Since I last wrote a couple of interesting things have happened. I wrestled in a tournament. First time I've wrestled in competition in 6 years. Tournament is a loosely used term because there were only 2 other guys in my age division and weight class. I had a bye the first "round" so I got to see both of my opponents wrestle. I wrestled the winner of that match first and won 12-1. I'd trained pretty hard to get in shape for this but I was completely gassed after wrestling a full 6 minutes. 20 minutes of intense interval training does not equal 6 min of wrestling. I gave up the one point with 5 seconds left because I was too tired to try to hold the guy down for 5 seconds after we went out of bounds so I just let him go and finished the match on our feet. The second guy I wrestled was much stronger than the first guy, but he wasn't as good, I pinned him in 45 seconds. It felt good to wrestle and completely dominate. I technically got first place but one guy lost both of his matches and got 3rd so I wasn't too excited about a gold medal. I talked with both of those guys after we were finished and they were friends that wrestled together in high school and had just finished their freshman year of college. These guys were one year out of wrestling, I didn't mention I hadn't wrestled in 6 years. Makes me think that I was maybe a little better than I thought when I was in high school. Lots of fun and I'll be doing it again for sure.

Wrestling doesn't make you a creature of the night..... I guess it could if you wanted to train at 3 am, but it doesn't inherently. Getting a job working 3rd shift however will make you a creature of the night. I started working for a company that prints and cuts (literally cuts, not writes) checks. My main job is to box these checks after they get cut. This consist of checking a mailing label to the runheader (has all the info about the order) then checking the checks to the run header. If this sounds exciting to you, you'd be wrong. At first it was a lot of learning, now it's becoming automatic after 3 weeks of doing it. By the time my shift is over (10pm-6am) the numbers start to get a little blurry and my focus is pretty much shot. This is a relatively important job though because as a "boxer" I'm the last person to see the checks and make sure the right thing gets sent to the right people. You can imagine the problem that a dishonest person recieving YOUR checks might pose since they have your account and routing number on them. Could get ugly. So we are expected to not be human and not make mistakes. This sorta sucks cause they also expect you to be fast. I'm getting faster but I still have a long way to go. The best part (sarcasm) is some of the people that you get to meet. I'm sure you can imagine the type of people that work this type of job during 3rd shift. Just an example, the other night one lady had a shirt on that said "Heaven doesn't want me and Hell's afraid I'll take over". Yep, that's 3rd shift. Most people are just fine, trying to make a living, but there are definitely a few nuts in there. The weekends have been interesting. I'm trying to stay on my 3rd shift schedule but that isn't as easy as I thought it might be. I try to stay up til 3 or 4 so I can at least be close to my schedule. Unfortunately there isn't much to do at 3 am. TV is mostly old reruns and someone trying to sell you something ridiculous. One night I saw something "interesting". On regular cable, not the HBO home shopping hour, I saw sex toys for sell. Man was that weird. Two women very casually selling all sorts of things "at a great value". My whole family was asleep of course so I had to fight laughing histerically at a particular phalic device that strapped to your CHIN! Who thought this was a good idea! Really! On your chin! I just can't feature anyone being in a romantic or even just an erotic mood and being turned on by a chin penis! Maybe I should refer back to some of those 3rd shift folks. I want to try to keep this blog wholesome and clean, but I just couldn't keep from writing about this.

On a more serious note, my plans for school have changed. My sister, mom's friend who is a principal's secretary, and friends that are teachers have all said that getting a master's in PE with no experience teaching is a horrible idea, meaning I will never get a job. Apparently gym teachers are "a dime a dozen" and no school corporation will hire a PE teacher with a masters especially with no experience. So scratch that idea. Now I'm going to look into transition to teaching. I don't know what I want to teach though if PE isn't an option. I want to teach high school though. I've learned that from Velocity. The little kids are fun sometimes but the annoying little kids seem to get under my skin a lot more than the annoying older kids. I'm thinking history or math will be my route. I know for sure that english will not be my route. Of course Sam is thinking I should work for customs like he is and that doens't sound like too bad of deal. He's making a very nice salary and has great benefits and his job doesn't sound like it's too hard. The only down side is it sounds like it could be a little boring. Who knows. Is having a job that pays well and has good benefits worth doing if you aren't really excited about doing it? I know it'd sure beat doing what I'm doing now.

Casting Crowns and an email that made my day

I got to see Casting Crowns this past weekend. My parents went along with Andrew and I think we all had a great time. I know my dad was a little uncomfortable in the seats since is 6'3" with not so great knees. He actually got up and sat somewhere else so he could stretch his legs out. I thought he actually left because it was too loud which wouldn't have surprised me. Dad is not a fan of anything that is loud enough to make the ground shake. I on the other hand thought it was awesome. Leeland played before Casting Crowns and they are very good too. I would recommend both bands to anyone interested in Christian rock. The whole "point" of the concert was to make know World Vision and what they do to bring clean water to places all over the world, particularly Africa. Seeing video of the trip that the band took to Africa brought back great memories and rekindled a desire to go back. It's been a full year since I went to Uganda and I'm starting to feel that is time to head back. Maybe something long term, but I'll get to that later. One of the most powerful and interesting parts of the concert was near the end when all the band members from each band came out on stage and took turns praying for everyone in the audience. It was just amazing. I have a hard time staying focused during long prayers especially when not said by me so I knew it was something special because it wasn't a problem at all. The whole thing was just energizing and a good call to focus. Great experience.

Earlier that day Andrew and I went to a church in Louisville. It's called Sojourn and it was great. Young and alive. I like the people at my parents church and the pastor is very good, but it just seems very old. I like seeing poeple excited about Christ. As a kid up until college I thought of church as this place that was supposed to be quiet and that a relationship with God is a very formal thing. Maybe how you would act if you visiting the President or something like that. No jokes, very proper that sort of thing. Now when I think about what it actually means to have that relationship why would you not "make a JOYOUS NOISE". It should be something to get excited about! I like having a loud band with people singing with passion. I guess I just like the young crowd because....... I'm part of that crowd. I plan to go back there every Sunday, minus this coming Sunday be cause of Mother's Day and family gatherings.

If you look to the right of the page you will see a picture of Francis and me at the equator. I had not heard from Francis since I'd returned from Uganda and earlier this week I got an email from him. It made my day. He is a great guy and I hope that some day some how I'll get to see him again. He is currently in Iraq apparently working with the US Army guarding people. Who those people are I have no idea. It was great to hear from him and hopefully I'll be able to stay in better contact with him. It's been a great couple of weeks.

Thunder and Fidelity

Last night was Thunder Over Louisville. A group of us went to Sarah and Aarons to hang out then walk to the top of a hill to watch the fireworks. Once upon a time before King Fish ($160/person indoor seating), Buckheads, Rocky's, Hooters, and crowds of 250,000 (1 side of the river) Thunder was amazing. Of course being 9 probably had something to do with the excitement. I remember half the fun I had was moving the rocks around and finding two good size flat rocks to make the seat and back to a chair for optimal viewing. Well those rocks are gone.... sorta. They're underneath King Fish now. You can pay $5-10 to bring a lawn chair and sit in their parking lot. Sweet deal! Of course you have to beat the other 10000 people willing to drop 40 bucks so their family can have a good view. In the Jr/Sr high school days the "flood wall" was the seating of choice. Nick typically lead this adventure of getting to the wall around 12 hours before the fireworks would start to insure a good location. Typically time was spent trying not to let stuff slide down the hill, throwing a football or frisbee (still a frisbee at this point because ultimate had not really been discovered so "disc" was not in use), and on occasion having your shoes taken while you were in a tent. It was usually a pretty good time. Couples reigned supreme when the sun started to set, huddled up in blankets (still trying not to slide down the hill). Coupled up, things were good, otherwise a little lonely. I'm not bitter..... haha.
Back to last night. Ben brought a couple of friends and those poor guys saw Thunder from quite a distance so it basically looked like small bursts of light on a huge horizon. You HAVE to watch it at the waterfront or the effect is just not there. The night was great and consisted of a lot of laughs and a few ridiculous games, but the fireworks were by no means the high point. Maybe next year. My mom had a State Police pass and watched it from the ramp onto the second street bridge, looked like it was her own personal show from what she said. Her luck is beyond good.

Fidelity. I think this word has lost its meaning. Divorce rates are sitting around %50 which is just crazy. What sparked this thought was a Women's Health magazine. When I got home last night this magazine was sitting on the couch, there was nothing on so I started to skim through it. I came across an article that was "A Husband's Confession". I was intrigued so I read it. His confession..... he had been faithful to his wife for 23 years. What !?!?!? That is what you are SUPPOSED to do. It was basically a whole article about how men are constantly on the prowl and that you are looked at as less of a man (in other men's eyes) if you stay faithful to one woman. Is this crazy? I can see college students getting on a guy for not taking advantage of a drunk girl at a party (by no means approve of this), but married men discussing that you are not a man if you haven't given in to the temptation of being with another woman. Where are we going as a society? I was just blown away by this whole idea. I am a Christian and I believe in a lot of ideals that seem old fashioned or just plain dumb to a lot of the general public but I thought that maybe society as a whole still had some value to fidelity. I challenge that you are MORE of a man for remaining faithful. Is it not incredibly more difficult to resist temptation than to give in? If temptation were hard it wouldn't be a temptation. Is being a man of your word an honorable quality? I think so. Isn't protecting the honor of another and having complete respect and love for someone more challenging than using someone for personal pleasure. Typically manhood is measured by how difficult of a task you can complete, so why is the easy road honored in this situation. I'm convinced that anyone could have access to sex anytime they want assuming their expectations are low enough so how is this better than managing an intimate relationship that last. I don't think it is. I think I'll go against the grain.

Catch up

So it's been a while since I've written anything on here. Quick overview of the last month or so. I got mono. Not fun. The only thing I've ever really heard about mono is that it makes you tired. Apparently everyone forgets the part where you feel like you are going to die. I was sick, fever, chills, constant headache, so much pressure in my abdomen that small swallows of water made feel like I was going to throw up. It was brutal for about 5 days then it started to calm down. I still have the pressure in my abdomen (this could be because I might have a kidney infection, test results should be in on Monday) especially when I exert myself. That means no working out lately which is pretty hard for me. In the middle of being sick I got dumped which is always nice when you have plenty of time to sit and think because you aren't working because you have mono. A couple of weeks of feeling awful in multiple ways. I've recovered for the most part from sickness and heartache so that is good. Oh, small side note, I haven't been tired at all really, in fact I've woken up the last few mornings at 7:05 which is pretty early considering I go to bed around 2 AM and normally sleep til 10:30.

I managed to go hiking with a Andrew and Adam at Clifty Falls which was a good time. I don't think we could have picked a better day even if we were given a 10 year forecast. The falls were all flowing because of all the recent rain, it was about 70 and sunny so even I, the sweatiest person alive, didn't really sweat all that much which was great. We hiked for about 6 hours with an hour break in the middle. Made for a great Sunday. I'm hoping that when Adam returns from Africa that we can maybe do a 2 or 3 day hike at some point. I'll probably invest in some boots if that's the case because I don't think the running shoes would be too good for multiple day hikes.

I just signed up for the CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) exam which I will take the first part of June. I hoping that it will lead to some full time employment. Hope it leads to something because it was expensive. Thanks tax return! I'm also tossing around the idea of applying to the Indiana State Police. My dad was telling me that he thinks I would be good for the ERT (Emergency Response Team). It'd be pretty sweet to go around with an MP5 and body armor kicking down doors and making drug bust and what not. I'm a much better shot with a rifle than with anything else so maybe being a sniper would be a better bet. Who knows? On the flip side of potentially shooting people I'm looking into teaching. I don't know what I'd teach, health and PE would be the easiest transition for me, but I think I'd like being history teacher too. And then there is coaching. I would love to coach just about anything, wrestling specifically. And I figure I'm going to go ahead and fill out the application for the Peace Corps. and see what happens a year down the road. Maybe someone will pay off all my loans and I won't have that financial burden to worry about.....

That's a lot about me so I need to put something on here not entirely about me. John McCain, Republican candidate for the Presidency, was a POW during Vietnam. Probably everyone knows this, or at least anyone who's paying attention. He even managed some humor after being released, "They don't put chocolates on your pillow at Hanoi", in reference to the somewhat sick nickname of the POW camp in Hanoi, the "Hanoi Hilton". 32 months of torture and near starvation and to still have your mind is amazing. I think this man has a quality that no recent candidate has had, Republican or Democrat, that he has sacrificed as much as you possibly can for your country with the exception of you life. He suffered for his country and still loves it and now is running to be the leader of it. He's been criticized by the very conservative as too liberal but I think when compared to the alternative of a crazy withdrawal from Iraq that will lead to disaster and socialized medicine, he can't be beat. I don't get into politics very often but I feel pretty strong about this particular presidential election so that's my piece.

What now?

I recently applied for a job in Indy. After what I considered a medicore interview I got a letter confirming that feeling. No job with that company. I'm not terribly dissappointed, things are going pretty well right where I'm at. The trouble I face now is where to go from here. Velocity is picking up and things seem to be going well. We're training 8-10 college football players that are preparing for their pro day so they can hopefully make the NFL. This is by far the largest group that we've had and some are of pretty high calibur. Michael Bush, former U of L running back and currently with the Raiders, is training with us and so is Brock Bolin, also a U of L running back. We have a ton of kids coming in and one of the other coaches is getting our adult program on track to be much more than the dedicated 12 or regular joes that come in to get a workout. The problem is how long do I wait to see if Velocity can be a career or a job.

I've looked into transition to teaching, a year and 18 credits would make me ready to teach elementary school. Middle school and high school require 2 years at 6 credits a semester. I don't even know if I'd want to teach. Sometimes I think it might be fun, other times I think the idea of being able to coach a wrestling team makes me think it'd be worth the teaching regardless if that's what I really wanted to do. If anyone reads this let me know what you think.

To completely change topics, if you haven't notice there is a team of basically freshman and sophmores sitting at the top of the Big Ten from a little place called Purdue University! Techniqually tonight I guess, they play to stay in sole possesion of #1 against the cheating, ugly warm up wearing Indiana Hoosiers. This should be a great game and I'm looking forward to seeing the Baby Boilers walk out of Assembly Hall with a "W". The only thing that sucks about this season is the fact that it didn't happen about 3 years ago so I could have been there for it.

A dollar fifty

My wallet is never empty. Sure, there typically isn't much in there, 3 dollars right now I think, but it's never empty. I have $1.50 stored away just in case. Just in case of what? I don't know exactly what it will do, but I do know exactly why it ended up there. One day this summer I was at Best Buy getting Guitar Hero. My mom and a friend of hers were at Target (if you don't know the area they are right next to each other). It was nice out so my mom and her friend were sitting on a bench waiting for me. Just about the time I got to them a man stopped me and asked for some money. The common beggar. Not exactly. He asked for a quarter, not some random "can I have some change", a quarter. He also said it was for the bus and that he was just a quarter short. I looked at my mom and she gave me "the look" people typically get when someone on the street approaches them for money. I told him I didn't have a quarter. In reality I didn't have a quarter, but my mom surely did in her purse and my car was with in 30 feet from me and I knew there was all sorts of change in there. "Nope, I don't have one". I don't remember what the mans face really looked like but I will never forget the look he gave me. It wasn't angry, complacent, or any of the looks you typically get when you tell the guy on the street "no", it was despair,disappointment, and heartache all in one. My heart sank. He walked away from the guy standing there that didn't have a spare quarter but managed to gather up $80+ bucks for a video game. I left my mom and went to my car started to drive away. That guy's face was just tearing at me. I turned my car around, made a couple of laps around the lot and surrounding stores to see if I could find this guy anywhere, no such luck. I don't know if that guy really only wanted a quarter, if he was actually trying to catch a bus, or anything else, but I learned something...... that doesn't really matter. From that day since I keep a dollar and fifty cents in my wallet, always. If you listen to Christian radio there is a song called "21st time" and it really made me think. What if that was Jesus? What if I passed up that opportunity? Life lesson learned and God nailed that one home hard. In the whole scheme of things how much is giving out 25 cents from time to time going to hurt, I waste triple that on a regular basis for candy bars. Sometimes God is very subtle and if you aren't in tune you'll miss it, sometimes he hits you with a sledgehammer with no choice but to notice. I don't know what that dollar fifty is going to do some day, but I know exactly what it's for.