Pa pa pa poker face pa pa poker face

I had the opportunity to play poker with a group of guys a few weeks ago.  Before heading to the game I did a little homework and studied up on whether a flush beats a straight or vice versa (a flush DOES beat a straight as it turns out.).  Having studied up on the rules I felt pretty good about how the night of poker would turn out.  When I arrived at the poker party that evening I discovered just how unprepared I was. Continue reading »

Yikes, it has been a long while since my last post so here goes…A few weeks ago my wife, Kate and I got back from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC and I wanted to relay the experience to my loyal readers so without further ado I will commence with the telling… Continue reading »

So I was talking to a friend of mine Sunday morning after church.  I say he’s a friend of mine, but in actuality he’s more of an acquaintance seeing as how I only see him on Sundays…Actually, some Sundays I don’t see him at all.  I’m guessing maybe I see him once or twice a month.  He’s a nice guy, very friendly.  What I’m getting at is that I’ve seen and have known him for several months now, but I see him on such a limited basis that I don’t remember his name and I feel that our relationship has gone past that point where it would be “okay” for me to say to him, “I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name.  Could you tell me what your name is again please.”  Ouch, right?  Awkward. Continue reading »

Have you ever been in the grocery store parking lot and watched as a customer parks a grocery cart next to their car, places the grocery bags into their car, and then proceeds to leave the cart a few feet from their car, say in the parking space right next to their vehicle?  Seeing people do this perturbs me a bit.  After putting my bags in my car I always try and place the cart in the cart return, but I’ve noticed at the grocery store I frequent the cart returns seem to be placed for the grocery workers convenience and not the convenience of the customers.  Conspiracy?  I think so, and I’m crying foul. Continue reading »

My daughter has one of the most generous grandmothers.  She has really been a big help to my wife and me when we first made the move to Washington and she continues to help in any way she can.  Many times when we’re all traveling together on an outing or “eating out” she’ll offer to pay, and she will sincerely have the desire to pay when she makes the offer, but she has an uncanny ability to offer to pay and then “accidentally” find herself unable to pay.  She has been able to pull off this maneuver so frequently and in so many different ways that our response has become one of amusement and fascination.  I’m now of the mind that she is some sort of seasoned veteran of this very unique art form; a Jedi master of the “I’ll pay, oh I can’t pay!” slight of hand.  Listed below are a few of the techniques she has mastered. Continue reading »

Several people I know have seen the preview for the upcoming movie 2012 and have said things like “That movie’s gonna be terrible”, “That’s just over the top ridiculous.”, or “That looks so lame.”; but I’m of the opinion that impending disaster movies are exciting and fun to watch and I’m kind of looking forward to this addition to the genre.  After all it’s based on actual events that are likely to happen. Continue reading »

I was driving the other day and happened to witness a traffic enigma of sorts. I’ve only been a part of one of these puzzles once in all my years of driving and this particular instance was only my second time to actually witness the event; which is not to say that these phenomena happen infrequently. I may just not have been paying attention or I might not live in the right area of town. Whatever the reason is, I’ve only seen two. Continue reading »

Canyon Ridge Trailhead

My daughter recently received a brand new pair of hiking boots from her grandmother, so on September 25^th, 2009 I decided to take her on a hiking adventure. This wasn’t our first hiking expedition. In fact, over the past several months we’ve had numerous outdoor explorations, and this particular outing would be a trial of the new boots. I thumbed through my Whatcom County hiking guide (a Christmas gift from my wife) and, based on a small black and white pic placed amongst the text, I decided on a destination called Canyon Ridge. It looked like it was pretty and we hadn’t been there before. We set out at about 10am (an early start for the two of us).

The road we took initially was route 542.  At around mile marker 32 we took a turn onto a one lane road that wound up the side of a ridge.  We followed this path for about seven miles and enjoyed the sites.  About halfway up we came across a park ranger who was stopped next to a pickup truck.  I thought our journey was over.  I rolled my window down and asked the officer if the road was closed off, but he told me that it wasn’t and that they were just speaking to the hunters about how their day was going.  “Hmm, a hunter area”, I thought to myself.  We continued our drive. Continue reading »

The Mysterious Disney Vault

As a father of a young daughter I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the Disney Vault.  Every time we’re at the store I’m always curious as to see what new movie has made it out of the mysterious vault and on to the shelves, and with all the mystery surrounding the vault, one thing is relatively certain…Song of the South will never be released on DVD.

I was in the store just this past week and I saw what appeared to be a DVD copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I got a bit excited, because my daughter really enjoys this movie (we’ve checked out the library copy.  The library copy is a bit sketch and doesn’t play very well; skips and stops and what have you.). Upon closer inspection of the DVD box I finally figured out that the box was just something you could bring to the front of the store and buy to reserve your copy of a new “Diamond Edition” of the Disney classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The actual movie is set to come out on Blue Ray/DVD October 6th. Continue reading »

Often a Bad Decision: Driving and Eating

My wife and I recently took a weekend road trip to Seattle, WA. We were in a bit of a rush to get down there to see a play so we decided to go through a drive through and eat our meal on the road. Since I was driving and because it was raining that day I joked with my wife that I was going to order the “Neat and Tidy” burger and just see what they gave me. Pulling up to the drive-through speaker I tried to select the neatest, tidiest burger I could find…I chose the Guacamole Bacon Burger. My reasoning was that guacamole has a thicker viscosity than mustard, ketchup or Thousand Island dressing. As we left the Carl’s Jr. I was feeling pretty good about my decision. Continue reading »