The newest member of my family

Ok, that's a little extreme, but nevertheless, I'm excited. I don't have children now because I'm barely capable of feeding and dressing myself, let alone providing for a human being. Well remember how Guinevere drowned a few weeks ago? Well I found a new car that is suiting me perfectly. I understood that I had a clean slate with which to work. It took me 2 years to find out that I liked Guinevere and I only had 2 weeks to find a new vehicle. I hunted around for awhile and found her in Richmond. Corporate lease car. 8700 miles. $3000 under blue book value. A little more than I wanted to pay, but I have always been taught that it better to buy on value than price. I took her out on a photoshoot the other day and here she is.

I don't know her name yet, so just like we did for Guinevere, I would love to hear your suggestions for naming her. I'm only about a third of the way through the owner's manual, I'm constantly learning new things about her. Lots of buttons and functions, for sure. Next time you and I hang out, ask me for a ride and I will gladly oblige.

It feels nice to be out of the rental car (2010 Hyundai Sonata) and into the new G. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Sonata. It has satellite radio, easy-to-use controls, a nice display, decent handling, and a fairly comfy ride. On the downside, the acceleration was poor and I have a feeling that after a long roadtrip the seats would not be pleasant. But good gas mileage and great durability warrant a recommendation from me. You know I could talk about cars all day but I will spare you. If you have car questions, talk to me.

Thanksgiving part 2

I feel like I should include a little more Thanksgiving related items on here. I guess a Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a thorough discussion of what I'm thankful for. I could talk about lots of really obvious and really cheesy things I could talk about, but I'm not going to do that. Besides the family, friends, job, church, etc., I'm thankful for a God who loves me. He loves me despite my comprehensive doubt, fear, insecurity, jealousy, rebeliousness, judgementalism, hypocrisy, idolatry, selfishness, and tendency to treat others like crap. That completely amazes me.

Also over Thanksgiving, I ended my 11 year deer drought. I have finally cured buck fever. Dad and I went hunting Thanksgiving morning, had some great conversation, scared off a turkey, and shot a deer. The best part is I didn't have a heart attack hauling this thing up the hill. I will be taking a hiking trip a few days after Christmas, so jerky all around! One more Thanksgiving story. One of my roomates from college, Steve, got married. Here he is with his wonderful bride, Theresa. It was a great wedding, so many people were there who I don't get to see regularly. It has been a treat to watch 6 of my friends get married this year. I can say with complete confidence and joy that all of these relationships were ordained before time and I can see the Lord's hand in it all.

By the way, I just watched Transformers 2. Totally awesome. A word of advice: don't fall in love with fictional characters. Low chance of success.

Enter cheesey thanksgiving-related title here

Wow it has been quite a month. Settling into my new work environment, watching Guinevere flood and dealing with the aftermath of that, Thanksgiving with the family, I could go on. I've noticed that as I read blogs, I enjoy more frequent, shorter posts than the alternative. Therefore, since there is much to discuss, I will have short entries over the next week. I understand your time is valuable and I'm honored you're spending it learning about my life.

You probably know that I'm a sucker for a pretty sunset so I couldn't resist taking this beautiful picture outside of mom's house. Thanksgiving was pretty sweet. I got to see all my family except my sister, Bron, but I hope I'll get to see her over Christmas. I did the traditional overeating on both Thursday and Friday. I hadn't been home since September, it was great. I think that Thanksgiving, besides Easter, is my favorite holiday. The materialism related to Christmas is obnoxious and something I think detracts from understanding why Christ came to earth. I hung out with my nephew and niece which was totally awesome. The below picture serves three purposes: 1) highlight Connor and I spending time together reading Dr. Seuss 2) Connor and I sounding out words together and 3) We are both working on our reading skills.

Tuesday's Gone

Well, she's gone. I just watched Guinevere get hoisted onto a flatbed wrecker. It was tough to see her go. Issac the wrecker driver was really nice and identified with my pain. I felt the sting of guilt as salt water came out of the exhaust as it was lifted up. Overdramatic? Probably. I don't have kids. Therefore, I treat vehicles kind of like a child. Now before you look at me with those judgemental eyes, please know that I would love and treat a child much better than I would any vehicle.

We had a massive flood here in Norfolk and the tide came in, flooded my car and a few rooms in my house. My street was waist high. I've never been a part of a mass flood before, so this was certainly an adventure. The water level on Guinevere above is at about 2/3 tide, so I'm guessing that the water level was at least a foot higher. At right is my street last Thursday. To get an idea of how high the water was, the motorcycle in the middle of the picture had half of it's wheel covered in water. I hope you aren't worried about me because of 2 reasons: 1) I have insurance. I will find another car and although I do love Guinevere, 2) she's just a car. I could think of about 2301934 things that are more important than her. I'm thankful that I'm safe and that I have a family and a junkload of friends that love me.

Some of you know that during activities that may require me getting dirty (i.e. car work, landscaping, etc.) I wear jorts. See, I knew it. There you go with those judgement eyes again. I know I look ridiculous and I don't care. With that said, below is the proper attire for a mass flood.

a new office

I have successfully completed two days in my new place of learning. Newport News is a very different place from anything I have experienced. As soon as you leave the interstate, it's as if you have entered a new country. When they built the shipyard, I guess they forgot about parking because the surrounding area only contains 3 things: privately owned parking lots, 7-11s, and run-down buildings. I have been told not to attend the shipyard after dark as it is dangerous. I have shifted my schedule to account for the parking demand. I leave my house shortly before 6, join a carpool, and arrive around 630. I sit in a dungeon-esque room that has 4 empty desks, one window (which looks out to some hazmat building), and 4 file cabinets. That's it. No pictures on the walls, nothing. I longer have a computer which makes me more efficient. I sit and study for 8ish straight hours, then leave.

I included the above pictures because when I go outside for a break these are the two ships I see. They are, from left to right, the USS George HW Bush (41st President) and the USS Carl Vinson (Representitive from GA) . They're real big.

I haven't been home since September. I'm looking forward to Blacksburg. And turkey. I won't go into my love affair with Thanksgiving now.

Not every adventure is a good one

I must apologize to all you out there. Once a week is my goal for posting frequency, and it has been over 2 weeks. My bad. As expected, Jake's wedding was off the chain. I could talk about how good the food was at both the rehearsal (steak) and wedding (seafood pasta, etc.), but the people present were great. I saw lots of folks I hadn't seen in quite awhile and it was good to see Jake and Amanda tie the knot. I feel honored because I was a groomsman and the wedding party was fun.

I guess I haven't talked much about work lately so I should update you on how that is. I am finishing Phase 2 of my training which means on November 9 I start "school" in Newport News at Northrup Grumman shipyard. I basically keep learning the same information about how the reactor works over and over again, only this time it is taught by the experts. That is the technical side of how work is going. This past week was Drug Free work week, which I am so glad is over and I can go back to drugs at work. Also, there was a mass email about how medical marijuana is legal or not. For about 2 hours, many people hit "reply to all" and there was a great argument going on. Quite hilarious. I was also told at work this week by an older guy that since I'm 24 I should be "making babies." I guess I'll start working on that. What an awkward thing to be told by a person you don't really know at all.

After Jake's wedding, I realized I didn't have to look good for anybody for a little while, so I grew a mustache. I can see you judging me through this computer screen. So I'll calm your fears. Yes, I admit it does look terrible. Really terrible. It is not a permanant fixture upon my face. I can only look in the mirror so many times before I throw up.

I got the flu this week. The flu sucks. Hooray for green phlegm.

Watch this, it's funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZsBL4d1Eus&feature=player_embedded

Nuptuals

Oh hello there. This week has been the week of the wedding. 3 weddings in 7 days. Last Saturday, I drove to the beautiful Shenendoah Valley to watch a buddy of mine from college, Toby, get married. The setting was a vineyard on top of a hill which overlooks the transition in Virginia from Piedmont to mountains. You can see in the picture the rolling hills followed by the steep mountains in the background. I got to see some guys from school that I hadn't seen since graduation and some not in 3+ years. It was gorgeous.

I had to be back in Norfolk Sunday morning for church, which meant a 3 hour drive at 6 am. If you ever have the chance to do that, just pass on it. After church I went to Busch Gardens for the Howl-o-Scream festivities. There were several haunted/scary/spooky type of buildings where you walk through them and people try to scare you. It was quite fun getting scared and laughing when other people got scared. The 2 best things at Busch Gardens were the real-life Joe Dirt, complete with ridiculous mullet and goatee, and the only woman I've ever seen with the mullet.

Last night, I watched Jim and Pam from The Office get married. Watching a wedding from the comfort of my couch is the way to go.

This weekend, my friends Jake and Amanda get married. I'm super excited. I have the honor of being a groomsman which means I get first crack at the reception buffet table. Sweet. I honed my dancing skills this week by helping out at homework club both Monday and Tuesday. I taught the kids how to do the Sprinkler, the Lawnmower, and the Shopping Cart. In return, I learned the Jerk. It is essentially like skipping, except you skip backwards and don't actually go anywhere. It requires rhythm, of which I have little. Hopefully I can overcome my bland ways this weekend and tear up some dance floor.

Amazing

So here I sit, outside on a beautiful Saturday, draining the coolant out of my car and replacing it with fresh coolant. I'm listening to Pandora radio. Good times. Speaking of good times, I went to Blacksburg last weekend to celebrate mom's birth, my birth, and how awesome Hokie football is. Both of my sisters were there, along with my awesome nephew and niece. If you were one of the people there last weekend, know that you made my weekend great. Thanks so much. Whether it was talking with my family, enjoying mom or Bron's home cookin, playing catch with my nephew Connor, tailgating with friends, or watching VT squeak by Nebraska with Josh, I had a blast. It is such a blessing to have so many friends and family who love me so well.

After returning from Blacksburg to the working world, I didn't have any great expectations for the week. Work, gym, homework club, wing night, the usual. Or so I thought. I usually hang out with my friend Jake on Thursdays and one of us cooks dinner. When I got to his house, I was informed Jake hadn't cooked dinner and we were going to Plaza Azteca, a great Mexican restaurant. When we got there, about 20 of my friends from down here were all gathered at a big long table. Surprise! What an amazing meal. I was so humbled. It got me thinking about how unworthy I am of such community and friendship. When I read in the bible about God having a banquet for me in heaven, I think about Plaza Azteca. So basically heaven is going to be a big feast with nachos, sombreros on my head, a pint of Dos Equis and tons of joy.

Adventures in and out of the 757

I have forgotten something important. I had a great adventure a few weeks ago. I went to a bachelor party for my buddy, Jake. All the groomsmen went to Fayetteville, WV to do some whitewater rafting. Talk about a fun time. We were going to run the Gauley River, but it was too low so we ran the lower New River twice instead. I didn't get dumped out of the raft, felt like I knew what I was doing and had a blast. We stayed in a one-room cabin, told old college stories, ate meat, enjoyed a good beer and caught up on each other's lives. I continually forget how gorgeous the mountains are when I live down here in Tidewater. There were beautiful trees, views that extend for miles, and the smell of the forest. It even rained during our last run, right at the point where everybody gets out of the raft and floats down the river. The rain on my face was refreshing. I couldn't hear anything except for the rain coming down. So rarely in city life am I alone with my thoughts and can only hear one sound. Unfortunately we don't have pictures yet, but this one will have to do.

Another adventure, this time in the 757, happened yesterday. My church helps out one of the local neighborhoods by tutoring some kids during the week. This year I am fortunate enough to be in charge of the Tuesday homework club. We had about 10 kids yesterday, most in elementary school who I got to help with their homework. I developed a respect for elementary teachers who have to balance the needs of many kids simultaneously. I don't multitask well, so it was a good lesson for me. After I was finished, I was leaving when one of the workers at the rec center called out to me,

Mary: "Mr. Scott!"

Scott: "Yes ma'am?"

Mary: "You want to buy some oil?"

Scott (confused, thinking about motor oil): "What kind of oil?"

Mary: "Essence"

Scott (still confused): "Like to make me smell good?"
Mary: "Yeah, your girlfriend will like you more if you buy essence. I have two scents: Usher, and Obama. Let me give you a sample."
Scott (yet even more confused): "Ok" (Obama Essence applied to my left hand) "Does Obama wear this?"

Mary: "Yeah"

Scott: "Will this make me president?"

Mary: "Yeah"

Hindsight being 20/20, my hands still (after a shower and around 30 handwashings) smell like Obama and none of those things I was promised came true. Duped again. I can't wait until next Tuesday for something else ridiculous to happen.

VPP

You may be asking yourself, "What is VPP?" That stands for Voluntary Protection Program, a joint effort between the DoD and OSHA to improve workplace safety. The way that is played out at my work is through a packet. I have a packet where I have to get signitures in order to be VPP certified. Sounds good right? Not really. I rarely rant about stuff, but here I go.

Now you may be thinking I hate safety. False. I think that safety is paramount in the workplace and not only are injuries bad for the individual, but the cost of lost time and medical expenses hurt the company. Now, things that are dumb about VPP:

1) It is called Voluntary Protection Program, but it isn't voluntary. It is mandatory that everyone participate.

2) Those that give signitures get credit for having employees VPP certified. This prevents accountability of those higher-ups. Yay corruption!

3) Are there really office related safety hazards? Carpal Tunnel? Really? Tripping on a rug?

4) I get $200 for completing this program. That should be great right? In a time where the economy is slumping, is a bonus for a worthless program a good use of taxpayer money? I think not.

I think I'm done with my rant now. Have a sweet day.

man

I am currently vacuuming in steel toe boots, with my shirt off, to a Pandora compilation of Van Halen, Scorpions, and Motley Crue. If that isn't an adventure, I don't know what is. Time to go mow grass with the same mindset. And I get to change a buddy's brakes later. Sunday of manliness.

Metro fun

I had something really awesome to blog about today, but I forgot what it was. Here is a video of men being men on a DC subway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XAw9W6vpFM

I'm a country boy

Through my adventures in the 757, I have noticed a few things that don't make sense to me. Things that have shown me that I am a country boy at heart. To be fair, most of these items are characteristic of cities in general, not just Hampton Roads. Here we go:

1) The country music stations (yes, I like country music) here have traffic reports. That may sound normal to you. Let's think about that. Part of every hour of country music is filled with a traffic report. That baffles my mind.

2) This one is kind of like the first. I am lucky enough to go the opposite way of traffic for my commute, but occasionally I have to go somewhere and in doing so must sit in traffic. Sitting in traffic is the one thing I have observed that drives me insane. I am a pretty easy going guy, but traffic makes me bonkers.

3) Road quality is poor. There are ridiculously large bumps and potholes everywhere despite the lack of a freeze/thaw effect here. I have always wanted to watch the guys who pave the roads when they finish a job and see if they say, "I'm really proud of the work I did today. My project looks good." I'm not sure they can honestly say that.

4) Pollution. It smells bad. I'm pretty sure my alveoli don't like it either. I greatly miss good ol' mountain air. If you don't know what alveoli are, consult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveoli.

5) My garden is weak. I have 6 tomato plants, some basil and a pepper plant. I would grow a whole acre garden if I could.

6) There are so many people here I can't possibly meet them all. Everywhere I go there seems to be an inundative amount of people.

Now that that is off my chest, I went to a place I like to call "Satan's buttcrack" this past weekend. That's right. Washington DC. I went to hang out with a bunch of men from college. We went to 2 Nationals games, watched Forrest Gump, ate and caught up with each other. We even rode the metro together at 1 am. Side note about the metro: sometimes there are guys with machine guns guarding it. (Don't ask them questions. They look scary.) At any rate, a bunch of early 20s men riding a subway late at night means one thing: mischief. Mischief includes wrestling, knocking each other off of the hold-on-so-you-don't-fall bars, and swinging competitions. This was all to the delight of the other passengers. I'm glad I found something I like about DC.

Walking into work this morning, I noticed that Uncle Sugar gave me a few extra bones in my check. Instead of ignoring this and being content, my inquisitive mind had to ask questions. Apparently if the shipyard meets certain goals (I have no idea what these goals are) everybody gets a reward. So since I did nothing to deserve this, I will just say thank you and consider myself blessed.

I had an idea a few weeks ago. As I observe many of my college friends getting engaged, I consider the idea of engagement, particularly with regard to engagement rings. I do this in no way because of me getting engaged, but because I don't understand the basis for the practice and, again, my inquisitive mind must understand. Where did my research start? Wikipedia, of course. One ridiculous convention is that 2 months wages should be set aside for a ring's purchase. Who came up with that idea? Answer: De Beers, the ring people. They decided how much you should spend on their stuff. Lame. Other than this fact, Wiki doesn't provide many details about the history of rings other than it is "tradition."

Now a ring doesn't actually do anything. You wear it and I guess it looks pretty. Whatever. I propose that men instead propose through the purchase of a vehicle. Although more expensive, a vehicle actually has a purpose and looks alot sweeter. Nothing says "I'm taken" than a minivan/sportscar/suv. I could list a bunch of cool cars here but I would leave that choice up to the woman. Maybe she doesn't want a corvette or a GT-R or Ferrari. Food for thought.

I would laugh about the guy in the adjacent cube who uses his speakerphone non-stop, but he is not here today. I will have to find a way to entertain myself. I guess I'll read. By the way...18 days left until the start of VT football. I'm real excited.

A memorable trip

I know you were worried but I am safely back in the US of A. Everything came back well except my large intestine. I won't include details here. Peru is such a great place. I already have a list of things I want to go back to Peru to do. I want to hike the Andes, see the jungle, visit Machu Pichu, swim in Lake Titicaca, visit Lima, and spend more time with the people of Peru. Every day, no. Every minute was an adventure. I never knew what to expect next. If you know me at all, you know I am a terrible planner and make life up as I go along. I will go ahead and apologize for every time this has adversely effected your life.

One of my favorite parts of Peru was hanging out in the front seat of the bus we used to get around town. I hung out with the driver, Ilias, who didn't speak english. Here he is in action. I conversed with him in spanish all week. Since I learn well by asking questions, I pestered Ilias with questions about everything I could think of/saw outside. Thankfully Ilias was patient, understanding and always willing to teach. I learned alot of spanish and even more about Peru throughout our trips.

I was in Trujillo, Peru's third largest city. Trujillo has a population of a little under 1,000,000 and is located in the Andean rainshadow and is thus a desert. It was cloudy almost every day as the dry clouds from the mountains settle over the desert. So while a desert (0.5 inches of rain per year) the air is continuously damp. It was winter in Trujillo and since it is located at about 8 degrees south latitude, it never really gets below 50 F. At left is the cloudline above Trujillo with the Andes poking through. How crazy would it be to be on top of one of those mountains?

All the paper in the world couldn't contain all the stories I have from Peru. That is not true. They could. But this blog would be real long if I did that. I promise I will discuss the trip in as much depth as you desire the next time we converse. Until then, I hope you are having a great week!

All up in Peru

Oh, hello there. I am real excited because my hotel has internet. These adventures are not in the 757, they are in Peru. This has been an amazing 3 days. My buddy Josh and I are hanging out in Peru with some peeps this week and we successfully navigated Dulles, San Salvador, Lima and the Trujillo airports. My years of spanish in school are paying off. I can´t be on the internet long, so I´ll make an abbreviated list of ridiculous awesomeness:
1. Playing soccer (futbol) and getting laughed at because I´m a fat gringoç
2. Food-ceviche, Inka Kola, fried bananas, sketchy street vendor food, drinkable yogurt.
3. Taxi rides which are scary and awesome. A must do in Peru.
4. Speaking of taxis, some of them are pimped out...that means they have dvd players in the sunvisors. We call these party cars.
5. Playing basketball followed by sharing a 2 liter pepsi with a bunch of dudes
6. Shopping using my terrible spanish skills
7. Showers at 200 degrees.
8. Peruvian television.

Time for someone else to use the internet. I hope you have a great week!

Peru anybody?

Here it is Sunday and I am leaving to go to Peru on Friday. If you asked me right now if I was ready, it would be a resounding no. I have my passport and enough clean underwear and stuff like that, but am I prepared to sit and talk to Peruvians? While it shouldn't be any different than talking with people here in Norfolk (which can be a challenge, i.e. shipyard folk) I feel woefully inadequate. I guess this is where the Lord takes over. If you know me very well, you'll know I tend to forget things. Important things. I forgot that our group was being commissioned in church this morning. I forgot until today that TSA doesn't like you to bring large amounts of liquids, i.e. the bulk shampoo that I buy because it's cheap. I probably will forget something important this week. Hopefully I won't forget why I'm going on this trip. That's the most important thing.

Since it is Sunday afternoon, I am due for a nap. I hope you are doing well.

what a crazy weekend

I had big aspirations for this past weekend. A carpool to Blacksburg with my friends Jake and Amanda. I received a call on Thursday that a very close family member, Tuck Dickerson passed away. Therefore I went to Tuck's funeral instead. Let me give you some background. I was only born with 2 grandparents as the other two passed away before I was born. Both of those grandparents died when I was seven. When my dad was growing up on the farm, the folks living on the farm next door (Tuck and Mary Willie) helped dad out many times when my grandfather was in the hospital. Therefore, they naturally became a sort of grandparents to me. Please allow me to tell you a little about Tuck Dickerson.

For as long as I've known him, Tuck lived in Charlotte County, VA, near the bustling town of Phenix. Charlotte County is the only county in VA without a stoplight. That is where I spent alot of my childhood hunting, farming christmas trees, and enjoying a break from "fast-paced" life in Blacksburg. Now that I really live in the city, I realize how much I have taken the country for granted. I'm sorry, back to Tuck. There were many awesome things about Tuck. First, he married one of the most wonderful women I have ever met, Mary Willie. She is an amazing cook and a woman who is grateful for her relationship with God. They recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. That's sweet. Second, Tuck was as strong as an ox. He never lifted weights because he didn't need to. His time on the farm built him into a hoss. I only mention this because his physical strength was only matched by his willingness to show emotion. It takes a heck of a man to be able to do both of those things. Third, Tuck always welcomed me into his home and loved me unconditionally. Not many people can honestly do that.

Tuck taught me about hard work, striving after God, and how to be thankful for everything around me.

Happy Independence Day!

Nothin says summer like July 4th weekend. I am excited because I'm going back to Blacksburg with my friends, Jake and Amanda. We are going to the Floyd wine festival, an event that I have never been to despite my 22 years of residence in Blacksburg. It will certainly be a great time to reconnect with family and friends. If you will be in Blacksburg this weekend, let me know and I can see you.

My house is still working out well, except for the short ceilings in some parts. I bump my head often. My road trip to Rockbridge went really well, as I spent some time with some old friends and was blessed with the oppurtunity to hang out with some new friends. It is always encouraging when others share their lives, both the highs and the struggles, with me.

I almost forgot to mention my trip to Nags Head! I took a few days off to see my family down at the beach in NC. I have been blessed with such an awesome family and I am consistently humbled by their love.

In other great news, I leave for Peru in 2 weeks! I am excited to go to another country and share my life with the people there. I am also filled with uncertainty about how to mentally and spiritually prepare for the trip. I guess a little faith will go a long way. I am going with my good buddy Josh, who is in the June 16th pose picture below. We were originally bound for the medical team, working logistics to the doctors could be freed up to treat patients. We have been moved to the conversational english team, where we will be talking with Peruvians who know "book" english but have little experience speaking with people who primarilly speak english. I can't wait to spend a whole week away from the shipyard and invest in the lives of others.

My time at work has been a little slow as I prepare for my next phase of training. There is too little work for the large number of new hires. Hence my blogging right now. Hopefully around mid-July I will transition to new training. I learned today that there is a guy who works here named "Harry Carey". That's funny. What's also funny is the anti-terrorism training I had to take on the computer this morning. I now feel confident in my ability to ward off terrorists. Haha.

I hope you are doing well and that your July 4th will be filled with hamburgers, relaxing, friends, and rest.

Beatin the heat

Apparently I like to rhyme in my blog titles. I hope you like that. The weather started getting hot down here and June has had me super busy. Two weeks ago, I went to Lake Anna for the weekend for a reunion with my Leadership Training team from college. For those of you who don't know, I was a Young Life leader at Virginia Tech. I was responsible for helping to prepare college freshmen for their time in college, both in college ministry as well as in their personal lives. While the members of my team changed each year, the team from my last year decided it would be a great idea to have a reunion. We were right. My buddy Josh's (also a member of team LT) parents are in the process of building a lakehouse on Lake Anna. All they have so far is a garage with an unfinished loft above it, so essentially my weekend was glorified camping. We had a roof over our heads and electricity, but that was it. It turns out that was all we needed for a fantastic weekend. It was so good to catch up with, learn from, and encourage each other as we have all moved away from Blacksburg. I am truly blessed to have such a great group of friends. Here is a picture from our weekend:

This past weekend, Mom came down and helped me move. Move you ask? Yes. Two guys from church, Tyler and Jeremy, proposed moving in together somewhere in Norfolk. After realizing that I drive to Norfolk about 4 times a week already, I thought it would make more sense to just live where I'm already going. I must be honest: Saturday was hard because of rain. It was also hard because while driving down the highway, my mattress and box spring became airborne. That's right. I look in my rearview mirror, and my comfy mattress and box spring are flying away from my car. Since I'm a man, I take pride in my ability to properly load and secure goods. My pride was dashed and now I was soaking wet and trying not to get hit by highway traffic while reattaching my bedding goods to the truck. Fortunately I had bags over them so they weren't damged very much. The rain continued almost all day but mom and I pulled through. Sunday was sunny but not too hot so Mom and I loaded the last vanfull of stuff into the new house without difficulty. We went out to a nice seafood dinner followed by the standard trip to WalMart. I hope you will come by and visit this summer! Let me know and I will accomodate.

In other news, my hockey team is still not good at hockey. But after having not scored a goal in a little over a season of ice hockey, I finally scored my first goal! It didn't make much of a difference in the game, seeing as I scored with 1 minute left and we lost 8-1. It was still exciting to know that I am not a complete idiot on skates. My team is a great group of guys and I am priveledged to play with them.

I will be gone again this weekend as I take a trip to Rockbridge to visit some friends and a wedding in everyone's favorite place: northern VA. I hope you can taste the sarcasm there. I will do my best to enjoy NOVA. At least the people there will be awesome.

I hope you are well!

Shake n' Bake!

Memorial Day weekend calls for American activities. To that end, I filled my weekend with family, racing and overeating. While you may not agree that every American embraces these ideals, I decided to partake in these this past weekend.

Starting on Friday, I went to Dixieland Speedway, a dirt track in the sprawling metropolis of Elizabeth City, NC. Each Friday, the 300 residents of Elizabeth City gather to watch their friends race modified cars around a dirt track. Different heats involve different cars, each heat bringing something special to the table. The race was fun, but the activity in the stands was even better. Not only did I see mullets and a tuxedo T-Shirt, but there were even 2 fights to be observed. Let me set the stage. Fight #1: Some guy (Let's call him "Mr. Jorts") was mad about something and there was a large scrum. During the scrum, another guy (Let's call him "Mr. Wife Beater" due to his attire) decided he wanted to jump in and hit Mr. Jorts. After things settled down, I was enjoying the races when I felt some thumping on my bleacher seat. I noticed Mr. Jorts was running behind me with an angry look on his face. He ran down the bleachers and sucker punched Mr. Wife Beater. Mr. Wife Beater was none-too-pleased and the two engaged in another healthy scrum which attracted the attention of the local law enforcement. Keep in mind all of this happened about 8 feet in front of me, close enough I was able to take in all the dialogue. As Mr. Jorts was pulled off of Mr. Wife Beater, Mr. Police Officer pulled out his tazer and suddenly a red beam of light appeared on Mr. Jorts' chest. Mr. Police Officer said, "I'll taze your butt". (That quote was edited in order to keep this blog PG.) I had never heard those words uttered and since Mr. Jorts was inebriated and angry enough to require a good taze, I became excited to witness my first tazing. Unfortunately, Mr. Jorts finally came to his senses and realized that handcuffs were a better deal than handcuffs plus tazing. All in all a great week at the Dixieland Speedway.

After about 3 hours of sleep, a trip to Indianapolis was in order. So I hopped abord a plane and went there. I got my first taste of the swine flu experience as a woman at the airport donned a protective mask. I laughed to myself. Once in Indy, I soaked up some good family time as Dad, stepmom Marj, and new stepbrother/sister drove up from Blacksburg. I also got to hang out wiht my uncle, aunt and cousins which is always a blessing. My family is crazy fun and I love spending time with them. I also had the privelege of enjoying a 6 man golf game. As for the race, the first lap was as exciting as always. It is such a rush to see the cars come around turn one and hit full throttle. My dad was smart enough to capture my adrenaline rush on video and once I have that video, it will appear here. Unfortunately, during all the excitement my favorite driver, Marco Andretti (Mario's Grandson), crashed on the first lap. Boo. It was a fun race with many spectacular but safe crashes. Helio Castroneves won the race for the 3rd time and performed his traditional "climb the fence" routine. Many in Indy are skeptical of Helio due to his recent accquital on tax evasion charges. I confess I don't know the situation and Helio is always so happy and loves the fans so I'm ok with him winning. After the race, I hung out with my cousin and her friends. I got to bed around 1230, just in time to get 3.5 hours of sleep before my plane was destined to take off at 545. Now since I only got 3.5 hours of sleep, it was a shock to have a news camera shoved in my face at the airport by a local reporter looking to interview a tired traveler on his way home. I obliged and hopefully my dirty, confused face and bumbling speech made it onto the local news. I made it home at 10 am, early enough to spend the day relaxing at the beach.

Speaking of airports, I have a beef with moving walkways. They might be a huge waste of energy. I admit that I use them on occasion, but still. If normal walking speed is too slow for you, perhaps you should open up your schedule. I know you may be thinking a bunch of race cars going in circles may be a waste of energy too. Maybe you're right. If nothing else, the Indy 500 allows me to hang out with my midwestern kinfolk.

back after a break

Oh hello there. I haven't talked to you for a few weeks. My deepest apologies.

Bad news for blogging. My computer crashed last week so I am constrained to blogging while at work. Don't worry, Uncle Sugar said it was ok. (That's what gov't employees call Uncle Sam because he pays the bills.) Speaking of bad news, my hockey team still sucks at hockey. If we finish poorly enough, we get sent down to the "C" league. That's hockey talk for "back to the minors." A nice large slice of humble pie. At least hockey is fun to play and keeps me from getting fat.

Enough bad news. Let's move on to how I'm really doing. Last Friday, I had the priveledge of leading my first brief. Let me explain. Whenever a big procedure is done at work, the sailors must be briefed to ensure that they know what they are doing. This brief is performed by the engineer I'm in training to be, so as part of my training, I lead the brief. I used to be unintimidated by public speaking, but now I'm in the real world I do fear looking like a complete idiot in front of people. The brief went well and I supervised the work all day. It feels good to be productive.

Another bonus of life right now is I get to visit my cousins, uncle, and aunt in Indianapolis this weekend. And, since it is Memorial Day weekend, Indy 500!!! It is that time of year when I yell myself hoarse and get super pumped by a bunch of loud cars drivin in circles. Also, I just learned my roomate from VT, Justin, is coming to visit on Friday. That's reason enough to celebrate.

I tutored a bunch of kids again yesterday. It was crazy fun. I tutored 5 girls. Academically I felt confident tutoring them, but socially I felt like an idiot. Somehow, the girls got angry at each other halfway through and their drama turned into yelling. I didn't know what to say or do. Fortunately, one of the workers came in and handled the situation. The girls and I learned about zooanimals and their habitats, long division, reading, spelling, hammer pants, and tadpoles. It was epic. I was going to get a haircut afterward but got sidetracked by some of the children in daycare. They taught me how to do this dance called, "The Stanky Leg". Basically you stand on one foot and rotate your free leg. I also attempted to teach a young man how to play rock, paper, scissors. I also learned that if you are a large adult, don't sit in little kid's chairs. It don't fit right.

Enjoy your memorial day weekend!

A good Friday

I think today is going to be a good day. I think I have figured out what ZZ Top does when they aren't touring and rocking so hard as to change the physical properties of things. They work at the shipyard! I am pretty sure I saw a guy walking out from night shift who looked exactly like ZZ Top. Too bad we aren't allowed to bring cameras to work or I would totally have a ZZ Top picture. Also, I saw one of the rarest mullet breeds. The Femullet. That word is a hybrid of a female and a mullet. Good stuff. I also have a great lunch of leftover wings, a garden vegetable wrap with ham, spring mix, carmelized onions and spicy mustard, and some cajun spiced mixed vegetables. Tasty. In addition to all this, I think I'm going to a comedy club tonight and you know how much I love to laugh. I hope your Friday is awesome.

A lame end to an awesome weekend

Dad turned the big 63 last week. Happy Birthday Dad! To celebrate, I went down to South Cackalacky for the weekend to celebrate with my sister and Dad. Unfortunately, Bam and the kids I mentioned last week couldn't come because Connor had a soccer game. Who knew my family was full of jocks? I'll expound on the wide world of sports later.

My trip down to SC was eventful. Because I'm a fat kid and there isn't a Chik-fil-a near my house, I decided to hit one up on the way. So I went to www.chick-fil-a.com and found a few sites along I-95. After realizing I wanted to drive until it got dark, I passed all of my proposed chikin sites. I then started looking for bbq, also a favorite. After realizing I would have to sit down for a long time and wait for bbq, I stopped at Zaxby's. It was tasty and the girl behind the counter had an awesome southern accent. This paragraph was completely unnecessary and I apologize to you the reader for having to sit through it.

I then took 3 wrong turns in SC before ending up at my sister's at 11 pm. Fortunately, I had alot of great friends to talk to both on the way down and the way back. If you were one of those, thanks for keeping me sane and awake. The actual visit with my fam was great and it felt so good just to relax, talk and play with my sister's dog, Bella.

I had a hockey game last night, which I went straight to from SC. Nothing like a 5 hour road trip culminating in a hockey game. The tables were turning. We were up 2-1 late in the 3rd period and had dominated the whole game. With time expiring, the other team scored, tying the game. We went straight to a shootout and lost. Awesome. It felt like that Boston College game a few years ago at Lane Stadium when VT dominated the whole game and then lost. I guess I will always be a fan of teams who tend to choke at the end of games.

I thought I would get to lead a meeting today, but I was unable to discuss what I was doing with the important people, so I didn't lead it. Good thing because some stuff went wrong and I might have wet my pants if I tried to handle it. So here I sit, eating lunch.

If you have anything you want on this blog, please let me know and I will accomodate. I will be getting my camera fixed/new camera soon so pictures will start appearing. Text gets boring. I hope you are doing great and be sure to let me know how you are doing.

that didn't last long

As quickly as the playoff beard appeared, it was eliminated along with the Philadelphia Flyers. They lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 yesterday in a game which I didn't get to see because I thought it stated at 7 pm. Scheduling is not one of my gifts. I trust that next year I will be able to grow a full playoff beard long into the month of May as the Flyers make a push towards the Stanley Cup.

This week saw another loss for the Chesapeake Whalers, as we got obliterated 8-0 by some team that consisted mainly of teenagers. The game didn't start until 10:30 and I guess older guys don't perform well on ice after 9. The kids we played against were really fast and outskated us most of the game. I had fun and got a great workout so I guess that means I'm a winner.

It sounds like with both hockey teams that my emotions are invested in that I have had a terrible week. This couldn't be further from the truth. It was pretty outside all week, the pollen is starting to subside, and one of my best good friends, Josh Nicoletti, came down to visit me. We joined a bunch of people from church and went to a large yard sale where cheap goodies were purchased. Also, we hung out on the beach for like 4 hours, which reminds me of a funny story. Before my hockey game Thursday, I decided to take a long nap outside after work. It was warm and sunny, so I thought this was a good oppurtunity to catch some rays to help cure my pastiness. I used adequate sunscreen and then fell asleep. I thought I applied the sunscreen evenly, but later that night I noticed an oddly shaped sunburn on my back which had a handprint in it. One thing I have learned: make sure you reach around everywhere when applying sunscreen or you will look funny.

I also introduced 3 new people to the awesome movie that is Hot Rod. I have now seen this movie 12 times and it still makes me laugh real hard. Today Josh and I joined up with my buddies Jake and Amanda and played some beach bocce. Have you not heard of bocce? I feel sorry for you. I could struggle to explain the game here or provide a link which will save you time. Learn about bocce here.

I hope you are doing well. Enjoy this beautiful weather that is here and I hope to talk to you soon. I will have plenty to talk about here next time as I get to hang out with my Dad, my 2 sisters and my niece and nephew, Jenna and Connor. If you have never seen a picture of the two awesomest kids ever you need to.

Clockwise from left: Yours truly, Connor, my sister Bambi, Jenna, my other sister Bronwyn.

Jenna again, this time super excited.

What's in a name?

So here I sit at work, contemplating important things. I have realized that I haven't named my car yet. The name "guapo" was good for awhile (good looking man), but I realized I think I want to give the G a proper name. So I figured, why not let my faithful blog readers have some input? I ask you to go to babynames.com and find a name that starts with G. I haven't figured out which sex my car should be, but I think it's a girl. If you have input, let me know. I think the G deserves a name that is strong and powerful, possibly a warrior, rock, something like that. Here are some good names thus far, starting with girl names.

Girls:
Giada
Guinevere
Gertrude
Geraldine
Grazia

Men:
Gavin
Ghazi
Gideon
Gunter/Gunther
Gunner
Guillermo

These are suggestions. Feel free to add input.

Back to work.

Gentlemen, start your playoff beards!

That's right. It's spring which means one thing. Flowers. False. It means it's hockey playoff time! With the onset of the hockey playoffs, I have begun my playoff beard. Fortunately, it is a far cry from 5 years ago when I first began playoff bearding. Back then I had the nickname "patches" for my inability to grow any sort of legit facial hair. I'd like to think my beard has some substance nowadays. I was reminded today that I am not married and therefore I celebrate that freedom by growing a sweet beard. The beard will remain until the Philadelphia Flyers lose or win the Stanley Cup, hopefully the latter. Since my camera is broken, I will rely on my friends with cameras to provide pictures of my beard for me to post here.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend at one of Young Life's awesome camps, Rockbridge. There is a large retreat held there by the PCA church once a year for senior high school kids. My buddy Marty asked me to go and since I regretfully struggle to say no to Marty, I went. (Usually Marty convinces me to do pseudo-embarrassing things, thus my regrets for saying yes.) It was a great weekend, not only did I get to hang out with some awesome high school guys, but I also got to see some friends I don't see often. Among these was my roomate from college, Justin. He's really cool.

Last week, I mentioned the ridiculous people I see at the gym. I thought it couldn't get weirder than fanny packs and mouthguards, but I was wrong. There is a room at the gym where you can stretch, do abdominal exercises, or jump rope. I was doing abs in there and an older woman walked in. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then she took off her sneakers and replaced them with a pair of tall, clear heels. Now I don't know much about women but I don't think they are supposed to work out in heels. That doesn't makes sense. By this point I am really confused. She continues the weirdness by walking around in a pair of spandex pants and top. Needless to say I am beginning to rush through my workout, trying hard not to laugh. I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was training in front of the multitude of mirrors in the room for a fitness competition and not a stripper routine, but I did not remain in the room long enough to ask any questions.

Now last week, I promised you a recipe. This recipe is courtesy of my favorite chef, Giada de Laurentis. This recipe is perfect if you have a bunch of extra potatoes around that are about to start sprouting. I hope you enjoy!

Gnocccgi with Thyme Butter Sauce
4-6 servings (54 Gnocchi)

2 baking potatoes, such as russets (about 12 oz each)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup shaved Pecorino Romano or Parmesean cheese, for garnish
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

To make the gnocchi, pierce the potatoes all over with a fork. Microwave the potatoes on high until tender, turning once, about 12 minutes. You can also bake the potatoes at 375 F for 50 minutes, or until tender. While the potatoes are still warm, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Discard the skin. (Or make potato skins.)Using a fork, mash the potato well. Stir in the egg, salt, and pepper. Sift the flour over the potato mixture and stir just until blended.

Scoop out a large spoonful of gnocchi dough. Roll each scoop on the work surface into about a 1/2 inch diameter rope. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough over a wooden paddle with ridges or over the tines of a fork to form grooves in the dough. Set the formed gnocchi on a baking sheet while you form the rest of the dough.

To make the thyme butter, melt the butter with the thyme leaves in a medium, heavy skillet over medium heat until the butter is melted, about 2 min.

Working in 2 batches, cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until they have all risen to the surface, about 3 minutes. Scoop the gnocchi into a colander eith a slotted spoon while you cook the second batch. Reheat the thyme butter sauce over low heat. Transfer the cooked gnocchi to the skillet with the hot thyme butter and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and fresh pepper and toss again. Serve with cheese sprinkled on top.
___________________________________________________________________
I hope you enjoy the above recipe. It is healthier without the butter so if you prefer, just make the gnocchi and use in any other gnocchi recipe. I hope you are doing well and I can't wait to speak to you. Have a great week!!!

It's been too long

I must apologize. It has been over 2 weeks since my last post. My bad. There is much to be blogged about. First, I am now officially not cool. I learned last week that my dad is the proud owner of a Wii. I haven't owned a video game system since the nintendo 64, back in like '97. Now my own dad, wearer of short jorts (jean shorts) that even I can't look at without making a face, is bowling/golfing/boxing like a pro. I guess I am out of the cool circle.

Another piece of exciting news is that the Peru trip is coming together nicely! I have put in for a full 6 days of leave from the shipyard in July which promises to be awesome. I can't wait to see how the Lord is working outside of my own little world. The trip is July 17-25. My original plans for summer vacation included a trip with my buddy Josh to the Colorado Rockies to hike and enjoy this gorgeous earth. It is amazing how city life and all that is included in that forces you to appreciate the God's creation. After learning about my church's plan to go on a trip to Peru, I decided maybe that would be a great way to spend vacation. Hopefully Josh's job will allow him to come.

Speaking of work, I have learned that the shipyard is a great place to people-watch. Mullets gallore, plenty of crazy beard/mustache/sideburn combinations, everybody with their different colored hardhats (mine's green), and not to mention people at the gym. Oh my. There are folks with fanny packs, headbands, and people who scream when they lift. I even saw a guy wearing a mouthguard the other day while lifting. Who needs to lift that hard that they need a mouthguard. Seriously? While I laugh at these men on the inside, most of them are twice my size and would break me in half instantaneously. I have added basketball to my workouts and there are crazy people there, too. Some guys take pickup basketball way too seriously. Accuse them of doing anything wrong and they yell and pout. It's really funny. I guess alot of those guys assume the NBA is the next logical step after playing Navy basketball.

In other sports news, my hockey team is now 1-4. I have yet to add anything productive to my team aside from effort. I have earned the nickname "Dino" after Dino Cicerelli who wasn't that good at hockey but tried real hard. Our next game is tomorrow, hopefully it will be a winning effort.

If you know me well, you know that my vocabulary stinks and I am a poor listener. To combat both of these inadequecies, I have started taking a dictionary to church. Jack (the pastor @ Trinity) is really smart and well read and uses alot of really big words I have never heard of before. John Herbst, I know you are a follower of this blog and appreciate a good dictionary. Bringing a dictionary to church was all well and good until Jack saw the dictionary one Sunday and asked me about it. I had to humiliate myself by telling him that I'm too stupid to follow him during church. A nice hearty slice of humble pie.

I also owe you a recipe this week, but it will have to wait. It's 4:30 and Giada's on the Food Network. That means I'm going to go watch that now. Bye!

Man Weekend

It has been too long since I have last blogged. My sincere apologies. This past weekend was Man Weekend. That means that a bunch of men from college and beyond gathered together to celebrate March Madness and how awesome it is to be men. We played croquet, golf, watched college basketball, told sweet stories old and new, ate too much junk food, and much more. It was so good to be encouraged by how dear friends are living.

Speaking of manly things, hockey season has started. I'm in the big leagues now, no more roller hockey. Playing on ice is so great and even though I am terrible in comparison to my teammates, I have great fun and it gets me off of my fat butt. The Whalers (that's my team) are 1-3 with one of those losses coming in overtime. We have played the best teams in the league and are looking forward to easier teams and more wins. The Whalers are generally comprised of older men who talk about their wives, families and jobs. My teammates ensure there is never a shortage of post-game beer in the locker room. Needless to say I don't have a ton to add to post-game conversations, but I do my best to relate and communicate with this demographic.

I have spent some quality time with my sweetheart lately. I have changed her forehead (windshield), replaced an eyelid (wiper), given her a blood transfusion (oil change), and I plan an alveoli transplant (air filter, look up alveoli for yourself) within the next few weeks. I decided to change oil at the shipyard's hobby shop which is a garage where you can use a hydraulic lift to put your vehicle real high so you can walk under it. I met a man there who had the sweetest mexi-mullet/mustache combo I have ever seen.

Speaking of the shipyard, it has been a good few weeks, save for today. If you have been reading about recent adventures, you will recall a man I named "Sweats". Sweats decided it would be a good idea to fart in the face of my friend Kevin and I today. I usually laugh at farts, but that was really gross. We have been doing some really good work on the boat and all of that culminated Monday when we completed the most important part of the ship's time in the shipyard. I learned last week there is a man at work named Bruce Wayner. Take that "r" away and you have Batman. I hope he wears a batman costume on halloween. I also met a guy on the boat who is from Lee County, VA. It was refreshing to meet someone representing southwest VA.

Finally, we all know that white people love to make black friends. I am no exception. I play basketball before my workouts at the gym and I met a guy named Fingley who reminds me of LeBron James. He can dunk, shoot the J, drain 3s like it's his job, and block everything. I played 21 with Fingley and 6 others before we played 4 on 4. Fingley dominated 21 and therefore got first pick for 4 on 4. Now keep in mind that all the players were exponentially better at basketball than me. Most were taller, all could jump higher, and everybody was faster. Guess who Fingley chose first? ME. The white kid who only knows how to play defence. Defence must win championchips because we rolled through 4 straight teams and Fingley's favorite passing option was yours truly. It was like Stockton and Malone/Jordan and Pippen. The chemistry was flawless.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are well. I look forward to catching up with you soon. Have a great week!

A great week in sports

This past week has been fun. It is always good to see the beginning of March Madness come together with great games to watch. This week was also the first Bristol nascar race of the season and although I didn't watch it, I get excited for it.

My trip to Blacksburg was fantastic last weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my family, especially my sister Bam, her husband Clint, and their great kids Connor and Jenna. I got to play with them and I didn't have to change a diaper! That's win-win. I also got to see many great friends, both current hokies and hokie alumni. If I was fortunate enough to see your smiling face last weekend, thanks so much for making my weekend awesome!

I realized this week that I forgot to mention a fun item about Sweats. If you recall previous blog entries, Sweats is the guy I work with who sweats perfusely, no matter the ambient temperature or effort exherted on his part. Sweats has a habit of playing games during work. This is not abnormal for government employees, but this is a middle aged man who is playing the game known to most as Taipei, where the object is to match tiles which are in a stack. The game has very childlike colors such as bright greens, pinks, yellows and oranges. When asked why he chose this game, he told me about how his daughter plays an online child version of the Sims, and by playing this game he earns points for her so she can purchase new virtual clothes, houses, cars, etc. Picture now a man at a shipyard playing a game designed for an 11 year old girl. Now laugh appropriately.

I also learned this week that government employees do not recognize the name Uncle Sam. Apparently he is known as Uncle Sugar, because of his habit of giving me money every two weeks. So if I ever mention a man named Uncle Sugar, I am not referring to some creepy uncle who you have never met.

I have now decided to make what is known as a blog flashback. This feature will appear about once a month. It is with regards to things that have happened in the distant past in my life which are extremely funny. This week's blog flashback is Leonard, the fellow who I spent a summer working with on air conditioners. For those of you who haven't heard of Leonard, he is about 55 with long hair and a head-turning gotee. He smoked all the time and since we were a two man team, I got to hang out with him while he smoked. Moral of the story, if you don't smoke, smoke breaks are super lame.

Correction

Apparently, the "I forgot" post below has a faulty link. Please try this one instead. Andy Samburg is in this, he is one of the funniest guys I've ever seen.

http://www.jiggystudio.com/play.php?vid=1519

You might laugh more if you go here first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVEGfH4s5g

End of an Era

It's over. The mullet is gone. I figured that after 22 days, I needed to look like a normal human being, not a fervant supporter of the '80s. It was totally sweet for a time, much better than last year's. It flared out in the back and drew alot of attention.

Work has been good, it is nice working 6-2 as I am able to go the gym afterwards and still have time in the evening with friends. As I mentioned before, I am on the USS Boise. We are essentially changing out a scrubber, which is a fairly fascinating process. I am excited about the VT/UNC game, as I'm watching play by play stats on ESPN right now. Too bad we don't have TVs while at work. Bummer. I'm hoping VT can pull out a win and maybe make it to the big dance.

I am headed to Blacksburg after I get off work, which promises to be a great weekend. I've decided to continue this blog at home which has been difficult due to my computer having an aneurysm. Anyway, I've decided to include a recipe every other week that I have made and can personally recommend. This week is Emeril Lagasse's Jambalaya:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe/index.html

I hope you enjoy it. Very cajun. I'm off to Blacksburg! I hope you have a great weekend!

i forgot

And now for your entertainment, http://www.yagoo.ro/play.php?vid=1453. Justin Timberlake and Andy Samburg being dancers in "All the Single Ladies." Great.

graveyard

So it's 3:30 am and I'm bored at work. Time for blogging. I'm working one more week of nightshift in order to secure a long stint of normal hours (6 am to 2 pm). Most people like the beach because it's warm, but we received over an inch of snow earlier this week and it hasn't been above freezing. I'm on a new boat this week, the USS Boise. I'm on shift with my friends Dan and Kevin. Dan is a fellow hokie so we always have great stuff to talk about while at work.

I will be making a trip to Blacksburg next weekend and I am looking forward to some rich time with great friends and family. Another trip I will be making this summer will be to Peru with my church where I will be either helping out in an orphanage, teaching english, or helping in medical stuff. I am very excited about this trip and as I learn more, I will be sure to include that info here.

This week I had the priveledge of tutoring again in Norfolk. I helped a young man named Sincere. We did homework and then made paper airplanes. Awesome. Back to work. I hope you are well.

back to normal

Welcome again to another installment of Scott's adventures in the 757. I will start with the best part of the week. One of the folks in my community group has a daughter who plays bball for Winston-Salem St. and they played at Norfolk State on Monday. The girls' game was fun, but the men's game afterward was amazing. I thought about leaving before the guys game started, but then I noticed something. Both of these schools are historically black, which changes the entertainment value of the game. Cheerleaders don't cheer like at games I am used to, they do awesome dances instead. To start a dance, one girl starts dancing by herself and then the whole crew joins in. Unfortunately words can't describe the dancing style, but let's just say there was alot of hip movement. I wish I could dance half as good as they did. When I see you, I'll demonstrate the dancing. You'll laugh.

Then come the timeouts. The captain of the squad from the home school dances/skips/shakes towards halfcourt, challenging the other cheer squad. Then the captains whole crew joins in behind her, in perfect choreography. They do a dance, then the other team does a dance. I wasn't sure who wins, so I decided that everybody was a winner. So essentially during timeouts, there is a huge danceoff. Out of the 9 white people in attendence, I was definately the most excited. Heck, I was probably more excited then most people there. I was more excited for timeouts than I was for the actual game. Simply amazing. Now I will have to go to the band battles that schools like NSU host.

In other news, since I haven't had a haircut since September, I decided a mullet was in order. I figured since I have nobody to impress, why not? Don't worry it's only for a short time. My good looks and I will soon be reaquainted.

On the work front, I worked it out so I can work normal hours (6am-2pm) this week. What a blessing that has been. One purpose the mullet has served is one of rebellion at work. Let me explain. When you work night shift, you are supposed to receive 10% more pay. I never saw a cent and when I asked about it, I was told I would not be receiving that pay. Mess with me, and you'll get the mullet. See below.

It is definately better than last year's due to the fact that it was done in a properly lit area by someone with skills and clippers. I apologize for this post being late. I hope you are well. I'm waking up at 5 am. Time for sleep.

President's day is sweet

I hope your President's Day weekend is going well, I'm real glad uncle sam decided to let me not work tomorrow night. I only have 4 more days (hopefully) of night shift this week. Work has been more tolerable this past week as my roomate has joined my shift as well as there is more going on for me to watch. If you haven't figured it out, I do alot of standing around watching how things work so after training I don't screw up. I guess it's working because I got to witness my first "spill" this week. That means that possibly contaminated water leaked from somewhere. Good job guys.

Also this week, I received the nickname "pimpin" from one of the 3 normal members of the boat. Maybe I'm alone, but that might be the highlight of my career. If you read last week's post (below) I mentioned a few interesting people I work with. The supervisor who sweats alot has now been given the nickname "Sweats". I hope he quits smoking soon or he is in for some trouble. Fortunately, I haven't seen knife guy so maybe he got the help he needed. I still get to contend with "boat smell", which consists of BO and food that has been left out too long. This boat experience is far from the SNL digital short from last week.

I'm excited about this coming weekend, as I will be attending Trinity's (my church) Inquirer's weekend. This is a required step for membership at Trinity, which is definately something I'm pursuing. When looking for a church when I moved down here, I was looking for a church that not only clearly conveys who Jesus is and what he has done for a broken man like me, but also had a focus for local as well as international missions. After participating in service to Norfolk's homeless as well as tutoring a 5th grader who doesn't have the same oppurtunities I did, Trinity is definately focused on helping the people of Norfolk escape poverty. As for internationaly missions, I am considering a Peru trip for medical/educational missions.

I can't resist, I must tell one story from tutoring. I hung out with this guy named Shaun while he did his social studies homework. Specifically, he was studying notable black men and women for Black History Month. Needless to say I am no expert on black history, which I learned quickly when I didn't know who some of the people Shaun was studying were. Humble pie slice #1. As part of his homework, he had to fill out index cards with information on different people. He wrote "Deshaunte" at the top of one of his cards. I asked him who Deshaunte was and he looked at me like I was insane and said that was his name. Apparently Shaun is a nickname. Outsmarted by a 5th grader. Humber pie slice #2.

It has been an eventful week. If you would like to learn more about my church, click here. I hope you are doing well and I look forward to talking with you soon.

This was quite an exciting week. Let's start with the super bowl. Although my Eagles didn't make it, the game itself was awesome. That catch was certainly one for the ages. I enjoyed the game at my friend Kevin's condo, where his roomate has a 60" HD tv. Wow. I like to call that TV "Therapy for men." Lots of friends from church were there and much food to be shared.

As for the commercials, they were funny like usual, but a few got me really excited. First, the Audi commercial with everyone's favorite action star, Jason Statham. Second, the fact that there is a new GI Joe, Transformers, and Fast and the Furious IV coming out this year was enough to shoot me out of my seat in pure excitement. You must forgive me for my excessive use of the word "excited", but if you know me at all, I am not proficient at communicating myself using the English language.

Many media items have also made this week particularly fun. There was Bruce Springsteen's slide across the stage during halftime where his crotch ran into the camera. As if that wasn't enough to make me laugh, there was Christian Bale's freakout. To top it all off, Katie Couric made the brave decision to interview Lil' Wayne. Much laughter was shared by me. Also, you should watch the trailer for the movie Chocolate, where an autistic child sees her parents murdered and realizes her ability to be really sweet at martial arts. If all of this hasn't gotten you laughing yet, there is the video of a child who is loopy after a dentist appt.

If you are still reading this, you probably want to know how my life is going. I have told you about work, and that I live in Portsmouth, so let me fill in some more details. I was playing in an ice hockey league, but we didn't make the playoffs so I will have to wait until March to begin the next season. I play with a bunch of fogies whose favorite pastimes include playing hockey and then talking about their wives in the locker room after the game over a case of beer. A classy group of gentlemen indeed. I'm not very good, but I have a blast playing and it is good to meet people I normally would never see.

Earlier, I mentioned church friends. I am currently attending Trinity Presbyterian Church in Norfolk. I church shopped for a few months before settling at Trinity back in the fall. I think choosing a church is very important for a recent graduate who is looking to pursue the Lord. Trinity does a great job of not only presenting the gospel each week in a clear manner, but also has solid community groups and helps people in Norfolk who are either struggling financially or don't have the same oppurtunities so many of us take for granted daily. Trinity also supports missionaries in the US and abroad, reflecting Acts 1:8.

There are several things I have learned this week while on my new boat. First is boat smell. This should have dawned on me 2 months ago, but the combined BO of 50 men contained in a small volume is aweful. I have now placed clothes aside just for work and wash them weekly. Second, there are some crazy,freaky people on subs. One guy who my coworker Mitch and I have nicknamed, "Knife" likes to play with his knife. This includes while walking on stairs. That's not safe. He also threatens people with his knife. A very creepy man. Then there is "PMF", or Portly Mustache Face, a large man with a larger stache. He is always telling me I'm in the way and I need to move. There is also "excited about strippers guy", my supervisor who sweats and curses alot, and chuckles. Chuckles laughs all the time. If you need to feel better about your coworkers, call me and I'll tell you a story or two.

I'm sorry this was long. I hope you are content in life but not complacent.

Rockin the night shift

As promised, I am updating here once a week. As mentioned previously, I was placed on a new boat, the USS Norfolk, for the next few weeks. If you have never seen a submarine before, a good link can be found here: http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn714.htm OR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv40R_l3yew. I have been working at night this past week, so I'm adjusting to sleeping during the day. By the way, I would suggest avoiding nightshift work whenever possible.

On the plus side, mom came and visited me this weekend. I took her around to the great restaurants in Norfolk. I think women like to shop, so we went shopping together. We went to many home furnishing stores, which confuse me. I think the only stores where I belong are grocery and sports stores. Although confusing, I had a blast with mom at said stores and it was great to have her in the 757 for the weekend.

I hope you have seen the movie "Hot Rod". If you haven't, rent it. It's hilarious. If you like the 80s, Andy Samburg, Mopeds and laughing, you will like it. I am listening to "Never" by Dean Pritchford and Michael Gore, it's a song in that movie.

I hope this blog entry finds you doing well and enjoying the beautiful day outside. It is time for me to go run outside, which I'm sure will be another adventure here in the 757. I apologize for the cheesiness there. Enjoy the super bowl. Football rules.

Attempt at blogging #1

Hi friends, welcome to my attempt to communicate effectively what's going on in my life. I decided that since all my friends in ministry send out update emails, that it would be totally appropriate for me to also tell of what I'm doing here in Portsmouth, VA. I have had friends tell me in the past that my life would make a hilarious sitcom, so I hope that you will find this blog entertaining.

Now a disclaimer: I will not use this blog as an excuse to not communicate with friends/family/etc. on a regular basis. I value my relationship with you and I hope this site will add joy to that relationship.

I will attempt to update here about once a week. If you know me at all you know how much I hate to read and write, so this blog is purely for your enjoyment. That being said, I would welcome any suggestions or comments about this blog.

I guess it would be best to begin by attempting to summarize where I am today. I graduated VT this past spring and I moved in July to Norfolk, VA where I took a job working at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in nearby Portsmouth, VA as a Nuclear Engineer. I spent the first 4 months of work in a classroom learning about how the shipyard works. That means that I was taught how to slow down to government speed. That means not doing much work. During that time, I had to choose which engineering department I wanted to work in. All of the departments were essentially desk jobs which sounded really lame. So I decided to work in the Test Engineering Division. Joining this division means a 2 year training program where I observe all nuclear related tests and maintenance that are performed while a submarine is in the shipyard. The end of this training culminates with a big test that says I know how to supervise reactor work and keep stuff from breaking.

At the beginning of November, I was placed on the USS Alaska. This past week I was transferred to the USS Norfolk where I am working the night shift for the next 2 weeks. That is the reason I am blogging at noon on a Monday.

It is good to get work information out of the way, now I can tell you about life outside of work. But I will save that for the next blog entry. That's right, I'm leaving you with a cliffhanger.