U2, You too?

I must say this concert was very incredible. One of my favorite to date. Here are some of the highlights by picture.

Headline Fed

Every day my internet home page tells me why the stocks are either up or down. I am so glad they could simplify the complexities of the market with these short sentence synopses. "Stocks down because of auto maker's loss"; "Stocks up because the President said so" and my favorite, "Stocks are up despite unemployment rate".

 

I know it is important to summarize your opinion in your headline, but to say the market hinges on reports by a single industry participant is a little too simplistic. In fact it feeds the fears of investors and shakes the buyer's confidence that every negative report has a direct effect on the economy.

 

It was about this time last year that the experts predicted a recession, and sure enough the numbers backed them up. Did the headlines lead us to the recession? Not likely, but the influence of the media is growing upon the face of the waters. It won't be long before the media decides when to invest in the stock market. What music and television we should tune in to. Who we should choose as our next President American Idol.

 

Okay, so there is no real structure to this post, but read it anyway… oh wait, you just did.

Where have you been me?

I just finished a class from the Appraisal Institute. I am so glad it is over. Every night I worked on my homework assignment for the day until 2 am. Needless to say, I will be sleeping in tomorrow. Incidentally, I have a new affinity for my laptop. Sure it is starting to bog down on me, and sometimes applications never close no matter how much time I give them. I sure do love my Dell.

While taking this weeklong course, Jaime has been enjoying the Hawaiian surf. It's a good thing I haven't had time to be jealous. I have only been to Hawaii once myself, it was fantastic. I may even consider going back if someone bought my airfare… and hotel room… and rental car. Any volunteers? Looks like I am staying in the contiguous 48 for now.

PS if you read this please comment. I am curious to see how long it takes for someone to actually read this resurrected blog.

Cabo Cabo

We just enjoyed a nice long stay in Cabo, Mexico. Thanks Doug for the generous offer! Let me just say, I now know what a real vacation is. Imagine waking each morning to the sound of crashing surf on the sandy beach. Jaime is illustrating how to enjoy this below:

It was really quite relaxing. We also had Maria and Pascual there to ensure our comfort and keeping our bellies full. I have not eaten so well in so many consecutive days in all my life. Taquitos, Carnitas, fresh tortillas for every meal, carne asada, enchiladas, the list goes on.

Nachooooooooo!

The beautiful Jaime. We weren't supposed to bring kids, but they made an exception for us.

Very nice snorkeling in Cabo. The mask really accentuates my brown eyes.

Very beautiful, oh and the arch isn't too bad either.

Missing Hot Rod

Well, tonights Jazz game is not on free over-the-air tv, so I am listening to the play-by-play done by Mr. Hundley. I must say, I miss hearing that familiar voice. Jazz games just aren't the same. I am sure Craig will grow on me with time.

Anyway, it is 4th quarter 96 to 91 for the Lakers with about 5 minutes to go. I can't believe how much fun it is to huddle around the radio and listen to the game. I can almost picture what is going on, and it is coming in High Def. Let's get this going Jazz!

On another note, I must mention that I spent all Saturday putting together a nice little swingset for my boy. It literally took 9 hours with assistance from my lovely glowing wife Jaime. Ashton really enjoys the "hang glider swing" as he calls it. I kind of wish he would use the slide more... that requires no effort on my part. You see, he sits on the glider swing and insists I push him as hard as I can while he hangs on laughing for joy. It really made the hard labor on Saturday worthwhile to see him so happy on his very on swing set. Now if I can figure a way to keep the neighbor kids off...

Early Risin'

I've been waking up early on M,W and F to play basketball with my bro-in-law Bob. Okay, so I've technically never made it on a Friday, and I usually miss the Mondays, and Wednesdays are tough too get up for too. Let me revise my prior statement: I have occasionally gotten up to play ball at 6 AM at the old church house. It's been a lot of fun, and nice to know that I can still run up and down the court without completely passing out. That is reassuring, especially since I haven't been out running since November 2007. I did run 1 mile last month pushing the boy around in the jog stroller. If only we could have this global warming kick in a little sooner, I'd be happy to be out early in the morning running up and down the hills.

Anywho, this getting up early reminded me of a time in the house I grew up in on Oak Grove. I have 3 older siblings who would wake up extra early for Jr. High and High School, and I had to wait for them to shower so I could get ready. For some odd reason, I would pull my groggy head out of bead with a blanket in tow. I'd lay down in the hall outside the bathroom and curl up under the blanket drifting off to sleep while waiting for the shower to come available. This routine became just that, very ritual and routine. Finally number 1 (Tara), stopped going to school. At this point in life, besides my parents, I had never been this closely related to someone who actually proved that school would one day come to an end. This was promising for my future.

With one less person to wait in line for, I could wait less time under that blanket in the hall. Of course, now my school was earlier as I advanced to Jr. High.

As I look back, I think the real reason I got up so early was not so I could ensure a healthy breakfast, unrushed and thoroughly enjoyed... no the real reason was so I could watch Fox's early morning cartoon lineup. Sadly, not much has changed as I advance into adulthood. While I don't wait in the hall under a blanket for the shower, I still wake up, grab some cereal and watch Fox in the morning. Unfortunately, they no longer have cartoons on in the morning, so I am stuck watching Damon Yauney tell me I need to wear a jacket on my way out the door.

Here is a picture of my mom's Easter Bunny roll. It totally goes with the story I know.

Travelin' Man

Well well, I just got back from Vernal, Utah... again. This time I inspected a proposed town-home project, an existing mobile home park and took some pictures for another appraiser. Okay, so the mobile home park wasn't in Vernal, it was actually in Roosevelt, but that was on the way. Because it takes over 3 hours to get to Vernal, I had to stay in a hotel Friday night and wrap up inspections and comp searches on Saturday.
I stayed in the only hotel in Vernal that offers a nightly rate as opposed to an hourly rate, if you know what I'm saying. It was actually quite nice, and I probably had the best night of sleep I've been afforded for awhile. Vernal was cold and foggy and I couldn't help but wonder why anyone would want to stay there for more than one night. I guess my blog is officially, anti-Vernal in nature, but I digress.

I will be leaving my home again, this time for a whole week. I have a class I need to take in Arcadia California. I am sad to say, the hotel looks to be a few steps down from my Vernal stay. Hopefully there won't be a mixed oil/horse crap aroma in the air like the one in Vernal.
Everyone who posts comment while I am gone will get a fridge magnet or something when I get back (limit one per household, you may actually only get a picture of magnet or a telepathic projection of one; if you have a stainless steel fridge, magnet will not work)
Have a good week everyone, please send your hello's while I am gone... maybe I'll have some down-time to update my post and recent/current experiences installing our new vanity.