Michael Jordan Quote

I'm not a huge basketball fan. However, in the February edition of Forbe's magazine they had a quote by Michael Jordan, which I really love:

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Thanks, Mike!

My Girlfriend has Balls

This past Friday evening my g/f picked up a brand new Subaru Impreza WRX. She got the limited version that has most of the bells and whistles. It’s a very sweet ride!!! We kept telling her that we were jealous. It was funny because after she picked it up we were having dinner and she asked me “you aren’t really jealous, are you?” “Um. Yes. Yes I am.”

BTW – the picture is not actually her car, but it’s very close. Same color, but she has window tint, etc. Also, she got the car from Sewell Subaru in Dallas, TX from Brad Jolly. So far, she’s had a great experience and would recommend them to anyone.

So why does she have balls? Well, she didn’t know how to drive a stick (manual transmission). The WRX only comes in a stick. You can’t order it as an automatic. Not letting this deter her, she ordered one anyway after we (dealer and I) drove her around in one. The dealer even took her out into the parking lot and we gave her the 15-minute lesson on how to drive a stick on a brand new WRX STI. I think that sold her on the car.

While we were waiting for her car to come in we took out a friend’s car and she got to drive it for a couple of hours, but other than that she was still very new to driving a stick. When her new WRX came in I drove it off the lot and down to a parking lot so she could get the feel of the car. Other than driving home from dinner a couple of times she has pretty much been driving it ever since.

Now, being that she is still a beginner she has stalled it a few times and is more comfortable overreving the engine for first gear starts – especially in precarious situations like trying to make a yielded left-turn in oncoming traffic.
But she also hasn’t taken the easy road when getting used to her car and learning to drive it. The first places we drive? Downtown Dallas and Uptown (also in Dallas). These are not nice country roads with calm drivers. These are in-your-face driving situations with heavy traffic, lots of stop-and-go, and lots of people with itchy car horns. I even told her, it’s probably not how I would have wanted to learn how to drive a stick.

So, for not only buying a car that she knowing couldn’t drive very well right off the bat, and then further torturing herself by driving in a busy city my compliments – even if it means she has balls.

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

I’m not a hoarder, but I do tend to hang onto things that I like or think that I might need in the future. I’ve had a 1991 Ibanez RG560 that I purchased brand new. Over the years I played the heck out of this guitar and it was with me for many gigs and jams. But, tonight I sold it.

In some ways, I was a little sad to see it go. It was a part of my life for a long time, but ultimately it’s “just a guitar” and the guitar serves as a reminder to the sentiment, it’s not the sentiment itself.

Since I bought my JP6 last year I had pretty not touched my Ibanez since. Even before that I tended to play my Les Paul more often for a bunch of different reasons. When I bought my JP6 I intentionally bought it as a bit of a replacement to the Ibanez. I also realized that I was up to seven guitars – two of which never get played. It was time to consolidate and get rid of one or two.

I put an ad up and got a hit on it right away. I put some new strings on it, adjusted the tremolo one last time since the springs were old, gave it a good polish and played it one last time for good measure. I met the guy in a parking lot and he was a bit older like me. He said he one just like it. It had been his first guitar, but that it was stolen out of his truck years ago. He’d been looking for another one for thirteen years!! He was very happy that it was in such good shape and that it had the case.

In the end, I felt really good that it was going to a good home and someone that would appreciate it.

To Sag or Not To Sag

Ever since sagging became a fashion trend I pretty much thought it was stupid. I’ve heard that the origins come from prison. One theory is that inmates that are initially put into prison are automatically on suicide watch and therefore cannot have a belt because they might hang themselves. Since they have no belt, their pants would sag as the prisons have fairly universally sized clothing. Another theory is that the gay men in prison would sag their pants to show the other inmates that they are willing and able. Regardless of which one is true, or even if neither of them are true, I’ve always thought it to be a retarded way to wear your clothes. Why anyone would intentionally wear clothes that were so big on them that the clothes would get in the way of simple things, such as walking, is beyond me. I was once told that I was a fashion victim. I disagree – if you are slave to your clothes YOU are the fashion victim.

But now, I have become the sagger. Or a sagger. I’m not quite sure how you say that. I’ve lost so much weight that my jeans often won’t stay on my body even with my belt taken in four or five notches. Since I conceal carry this is a good thing and often it takes my belt and a loaded gun to keep my pants somewhat in place. No gun and you can rest assured that my pants will pretty much fall off of me and I have trouble keeping them on.

I don’t mean to sag, and I am constantly pulling my pants up. It’s driving me crazy, but I’m also a cheap bastard and hate buying new clothes when my jeans are still (somewhat) wearable. Also, what happens if I become a fat bastard again?

Atheist War on Religion?

I’ve always considered myself a bit more of an agnostic rather than an atheist. I’d even go so far as to say I’m spiritual, but I don’t follow any organized religion. I’m also a fan of Reddit (click for link). Since I started checking the Reddit pages fairly regularly I’ve noticed that there is a rather large contingent of atheists on the site. I don’t have a problem with that, but I also notice that they (the atheists) really seem to have it out for Christians and their beliefs. I don’t particularly see them attacking other religions, just Christianity.

With some exception, I really don’t care what someone else believes so I’m a bit unclear as to why the atheists feel a need to constantly attack Christians….. They might argue that Christians constantly attack non-Christians, and while there is some validity to this it doesn’t necessarily mean retaliation is necessary.

Then again, it does make for some rather humorous content…..

I Hear Voices

I was driving into work the other morning. I was in WY on the highway into the plant. It was still dark out and about 19 degrees (F). I had a decent rental car and like most newer rental cars it had XM radio. I have to admit, I love it. I won’t buy it for myself because I absolutely refuse to pay another $20 / month to some other subscription service. Besides, I’m hardly ever home, which means I wouldn’t get to use it much, and I don’t want to have to drag another electronic doohickey around with me.

But I was jamming away and right before I changed stations to something else a new song came on that made me stay with the current station. No, it wasn’t a *great* song, but I really dig the vocalist for the group.

It was Tom Keifer from Cinderella. ok ok ok …I know. Hair Band or “chicks with dicks.” Whatever. Something in that immature part of my brain that has refused to grow up still likes them. More importantly, I like Tom Keifer’s voice.

No. He’s not a great vocalist. He doesn’t have a huge range, isn’t spectacular, and doesn’t do anything really that exciting. It’s just his raw gravelly voice that I like. There are a handful of guys that I’d put in the same category. Something about the voice that sounds like they’ve been drinking Jack Daniels and smoking Camel unfiltered cigarettes since they were three. It’s a category that Rod Stewart could probably be put in if he actually grew a pair and sang some good old fashioned rock and roll!

Tom Keifer – Cinderella
Brian Johnson – AC/DC
Blackie Lawless – WASP