When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.  I’m not really sure what kind of factors influenced my longing for the career, but I was pretty dead-set on it for quite some time.  Then, I happened to watch part of the movie The Right Stuff when it was on t.v. one night and, after watching multiple crashes and failed missions, I decided that I was going to do something much more logical with my life instead…become a pro athlete!  I obviously had a vivid imagine imagination back in the day.  Maybe I was more delusional than imaginative, but that’s besides the point.

Anyway, apparently there is a McDonalds in Hartford, CT that looks like this:

Pretty weird, right?  It just looks like some space shuttle sitting on top of a McDonald’s play area.

If you look closer, though, you see this:

Not only has my childhood dream been realized, but they even gave me a Grey’s Anatomy-esque nickname, too.

(A big thanks to Erin for emailing me these pictures today.  Pretty awesome.)

While I was looking forward to participating in Waldo Crawldo last weekend, I was also pretty darn pumped to go out and celebrate the first night bars in Kansas City, MO were smoke-free. It was pretty awesome, I must say.  In fact, there were several moments throughout the night when my friends turned to each other and made a comment about how great it was.  It was pretty odd to be able to take a deep, clean breath in the normally smokey sports bars, breweries and dives.

I took time out this past Spring to vote for a smoking ban in area bars and restaurants.  Since it passed by a fairly narrow margin, the ban has been one of the more divisive issues in Kansas City.  Here are what seem to be the common arguments against the smoking ban and why I disagree with them:

Bar owners should be able to run their business the way they want.  It should be up to them to allow smoking or not.

I’m all for owners being given rights to do what they want, but this is a matter of public health and safety.  Bars and restaurants are inspected frequently to make sure they meet health codes.  If a building had high radon levels, kitchen was full of rusty utensils, or cleaning supplies were consistently dirty, the bar would be be fined or shut down for health code violations.  Believe it or not, you can get in trouble for simply leaving an ice scoop in with the ice behind the bar.  If something that simple in considered a health hazard, it only makes sense for secondhand smoke to be eliminated.

Casinos were exempt from the ban which is unfair.

This one is unfair.  Lobbyists shouldn’t have that much control over something like this.  I don’t hang out in casinos, though, so it doesn’t really impact me either way.  I have no problem with gambling or anything.  I just would rather spend my time elsewhere.  I’m surely not going to vote against a smoking ban because places I rarely ever visit can still smoke even though the places I do frequent will help my breathing.

A Smoking ban will hurt business for local restaurant and bar owners.

Places will adjust in due time.  Bars that will close down are those that were already going through some problems.  When I lived downtown, I went to The Quaff and Tanners more than just about any place in town, and I rarely ever saw Tanner’s full.  In fact, the place was pretty dead on weekends more often than not, and that was before the Power and Light District was built.  It’s sad to hear it’s closing down, but I’m not surprised by it.  Plus, if you want to point the finger at the P&L for dealing Tanner’s its death blow, it should be noted that the P&L was smoke-free from day one.  Obviously, having a smoking ban hasn’t negatively impacted one of the most popular bar areas in town.

If people can drink as much as they want in bars, smokers should be able to smoke as much as they want in bars, as well.

If there was no such thing as secondhand smoke I would agree with this argument.  That isn’t the case, though.  Me having a beer doesn’t negatively impact your health in any way.  If cigarettes worked that way, you could chain smoke all you wanted and I wouldn’t care.  Just don’t try to kiss me after doing it, though.  A dry-heaving Bradical is not a good sight.

Kansas City is is forcing bars and restaurants to create smoking areas even though many of them don’t have room for them outside. 

While I do feel for bar owners about this one, I find this argument incredibly naive.  Anyone who says this clearly hasn’t been outside of Kansas City in a long time.  Almost every single large city in the US has already banned smoking from bars.  Kansas City is WAY behind on this compared to other areas around the country.  And you know what?  It’s worked out fine.  When I visit friends in other parts of the US, they just go outside to smoke without even thinking about it.  It’s not a big deal at all to them.  If a congested area like Manhattan can find ways to accommodate smokers outside bars, I’m pretty sure Kansas City can do the same.

Cigar bars are almost certainly going to have to close their doors.

One of my favorite bars in Kansas City is the Cigar Box, and I’d hate to see something happen to that place even though I really do believe the place could do just fine without even having cigars.  It isn’t uncommon for bars in cities with smoking bans to create “private memberships” that allow smoking in their place.  It’s a loophole to get around the law (although I haven’t exactly read the exact wording with the ban, I can’t imagine KC is any different), and I can see it working just fine.

Non-smokers just need to deal with it.  Bars are smokey and they always have been.

Listen, I have asthma.  When I’m around smoke, I notice it.  It’s really annoying to watch someone ruin their perfectly fine lungs while I have to take an inhaler twice a day just to breathe normally.  Would I make someone with liver problems to periodically drink sips of my alcoholic beverage when I’m out socializing?  Absolutely not.  If there was anything I was doing that I knew was harming anyone else there was no way I would consider doing it around that person.  Smokers should have the same mentality…and be grateful smoking wasn’t banned completely like on airplanes.

So yeah, I’m glad bars are smoke-free. I think it’s something that will increase overall health with people my age.  I would love for someone to put together a convincing argument to try to understand their point of view, but I just can’t see how anyone would think allowing smoking in bars would make sense.

My favorite comedians are those who are able to not only laugh but make you think, as well.  George was one of the best at that.  There is a good friend of mine who was in the fraternity with me in college, and George Carlin happened to be his great half uncle.  According to him, Mr. Carlin was his grandfather’s half brother.  Once in college, he told me a story once about visiting George Carlin with his family before one of his shows.  My buddy was just a little kid at the time and asked him why he sweared so much. His response: “I don’t f%cking know!”

He was one of the greats.

I traveled to Cleveland for the first time since I was just a young kid last weekend for a family wedding. I’ve been traveling a lot of out of town on the weekends, and I’ll be honest, I would have taken the opportunity to stay home in a heartbeat. I ended up having a great time, though, and am glad I made it. The wedding was at 5:00 so I was able to walk down with my dad and check out the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Most people who know me know that I’m a big music geek so it should come as no surprised that I was beyond pumped to check the place out. The first thing I noticed was that the building is really nice and neat which is impressive, but it also seems a little out of place for a museum centered around rock n’ roll. The content inside was pretty amazing, though, and I wish I would have been allowed to take pictures of some of the stuff. Here are a few things I observed:

1) Lead singers are small. They have a display area of outfits/costumes that entertainers have worn over the years, and it seemed like a surprisingly high number of singers were little guys. I think my forearm might be longer than the width of Steven Tyler’s shoulders. They even had Michael Jackson’s jacket he wore in the “Thriller” video which was amazing. Again, though, MJ is just a wee lad. The same held true with Freddy Mercury, although I kind of had a feeling about that already.

2) Jimi Hendrix is almost a mythological figure to me. My dad and I discussed how he can’t relate to what I think about Hendrix because he was alive when Jimi was. The guy changed the guitar forever and died young, therefore there seems to be this aura around him, and his legend has grown to be massive. Standing there looking at the clothes he wore and looking at the very piece of paper upon which he wrote “Purple Haze” in his own handwriting pretty much blew my mind.

3) There wasn’t a lot of modern rock stuff there which, I guess, was to be expected. They did have a pretty cool homage to the 90s grunge scene where they played video and showed artifacts from that era. Grunge is what really got me into music so I have a soft spot for that time. The coolest part, to me, of that section was the original concert poster of Mookie Blaylock’s first show at the Off Ramp in Seattle. Mookie Blaylock then became Pearl Jam. Pretty awesome stuff.

4) In order to qualify as an inductee, it has to have been at least 25 years since your first album was released.

5) Somehow Madonna is in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and was inducted this past year. I didn’t know that it’d been 25 years since her first album (that can’t be right, can it?), and I especially didn’t know she had ever been considered “Rock n’ Roll” at any single point in her career. Of all the people in the building, she’s the one person who I really don’t think deserves to be there. Pop Music Hall of Fame? Yes. Rock? No.

6) The music video has contributed more to the largest names in music from the 80s and 90s than I realized. There was a video segment about music videos, and it hit me that many people have MTV to thank for being famous. Where would Madonna be without the music video? What about Michael Jackson? Would the “moon walk” be common-knowledge? Would Madonna have been just another pop star instead of the international pop/sex icon she became? I couldn’t help but wonder who would be huge in today’s musical landscape if MTV still played videos.

7) If there was one thing feature-wise I would have changed, it would have been more emphasis on Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. They are arguably two of the best rock bands of all time yet there wasn’t a lot of artifacts or features on them.

By far, the thing I got out of the museum the most was how huge of an impact it’s had on our lives in such a short amount of time. I feel really fortunate to have been able to go through the museum with my dad because I really think that message would have been lost had I gone through it alone or with friends. At one point while viewing a movie about the history of rock, my turned to me and said, “Brad, this is incredible. This movie is carrying me through my life.” As a child, my dad didn’t even know what rock n’ roll was. Nobody did. The closest thing to it was big bands and the Lawrence Welk Show. I suppose there will be things that my kids will someday be blown away that I lived without at one point (if I had to put money on it, I’d say the internet would be that thing. Heck, I don’t even know how we lived without it). But nothing carries the same personal and emotional impact as music. I highly recommend checking the place out sometime.

I haven’t blogged on here much lately, as many friends/readers have pointed out. I wish I could blame it on being “too busy” which seems to be the typical excuse most bloggers use. While I have been busy and away from home more than I like, my lack of blogging is due to two main things: 1) computer/website issues and 2) other bloggers.

Before I dive into how other bloggers have more or less made blogging less appealing to me lately (and subsequently end up making them hate me), I should mention that computer issues have caused me not to write much in the past few weeks. You see, I received a popup on my bottom right of my screen notifying me, as it periodically does, that there are Windows Updates that need to be installed. I updated, restarted, and found my computer ended up looking like it did when I bought it new. Everything was gone. Thanks a lot Microsoft! I panicked and was told that my user profile wasn’t being recognized. To make a long (and boring) story short, I had to reinstall programs and do a bunch of annoying stuff before my computer was working again. The only thing that I can’t get to work right after several uninstallations and reinstallations is Windows Live Writer which is what I happen to use to write on here. I’m also hoping to get all of my past postings of the past 5 1/2 years on here soon, as well.

As for the blogger part, I read other people’s blogs to either be entertained or informed. If a site doesn’t do either, then I don’t feel the need to waste my time, and I guess I feel like a lot of sites I regularly read haven’t fallen into either category lately lately. Here are the following categories that are the cause for my frustration:

People Who Seem to Have a Site Solely to Make Friends

When I was in high school, I had friends who were involved in drama, but I never really hung out with the drama clique. The main reason for it was because, when I was around the group, all they talked about was inside jokes they created from past plays and musicals. They were proud of these inside jokes which is understandable because everyone likes to feel like they belong. The problem, though, is that many of the people in the group acted like their jokes made them cool even though no one outside of the group thought so. That is kind of how I feel a lot of the KC blogosphere is these days. It’s weird to me, and I feel like a lot of blog postings and inside jokes would be better suited on Myspace or Facebook.

Boring, Uninteresting Information Treated Like It’s Amazing

A perfect example of this can be summed up by this article from The Onion. Home projects aren’t entertaining unless you’re getting into some serious Extreme Home Makeover action. Multiple updates about how you’re feeling under the weather falls into that category, as well. The same holds true for that amazing taste-by-taste update about that delicious dish of meatloaf you prepared the night before. When it comes to these types of posts, you should ask yourself two questions: 1) Will anyone care about this? and 2) Will I, the writer of this post, care to read about this a year from now? If none of those can be answered with a “yes”, please refrain from posting about that topic It’s just a lose/lose situation.

Pointless Quiz Results That Pass as Posts

I wish I could say that only 99% of these posts are a waste of time, but I can’t say that in good faith. The statistic is 100%. Who cares that, if you were a fruit, you’d be a grape or that, if you were a member of Pee Wee’s Playhouse, you’d be Chairy? Let’s face it, if someone posts those quiz results, they’re only doing it to take up space on the blog in hopes that someone will read it and their hit count will be increased.

Looooong Posts That Could Really Be Summed Up in a Sentence

Have you ever been to a gathering involving a lot of old people? Old people love to tell stories (and good for them because I love hearing them). You can always tell who is a great storyteller or who is just rambling and may possibly have Alzheimers. When they fall in the latter category, it’s kind of a sad thing. I think the same holds true with blogging. If it’s going to be long, make it entertaining or informative, that’s all I ask. It is really frustrating to spend five minutes reading a lengthy post about someone’s trip to the grocery store only to find that the climax of the story revolves around how they couldn’t find any skim milk and had to buy 1% instead.

Okay, I was expecting the list to be longer, but I really think that sums it up. I know I’m going to come off sounding like a jerk, but I really do mean well. To be fair, I have yet to meet a blogger I didn’t like, and I think that’s why I have a hard time considering dumping someone from my blog list on Google Reader. But let’s be honest, just because someone is a good person and has a blog doesn’t mean that that person’s blog is worth reading. The reason this all relates to my lack of blogging is because it makes me second-guess why I write on here. It makes me question if I’m like that, and I end up just passing on writing about things that I later wish I had. I know that there are quite a few people who probably aren’t interested in my concert posts and whatnot, but I love looking back and remembering the experience all over again. And to be honest, I’ve spent time the past couple of days reading old posts (although not the OLD posts because they aren’t on here yet), and I found that I think most of what I’ve written about over the years is pretty darn entertaining…to me. And that’s really all that should matter. So for now, I think it’s safe to say that I have a new passion for writing on here.

Unlike many of my friends here, I have never been to a Kansas City T-Bones game before.  They always talk of how much fun (and cheap) the games are, but I’ve always felt that it would be more worth my money to spend a few extra bucks to see major league games that actually count instead.  One of my favorite sites out there, Deadspin, wrote this past week about how the T-Bones were going to throw a “Michael Vick Welcome to the Neighborhood” night in May.  Vick is in prison nearby in Leavenworth and features for the event, according to the write-up, were possibly going to include:

- The T-Bones  wearing black and white striped jerseys, and the visiting Gary South Shore Rail Cats wearing bright orange jumpsuit replica jerseys.

- Dog-themed music like “Who Let the Dogs Out” during the game.

- Players and/or coaches being introduced while wearing shackles.

- Relief pitchers to be shuttled from the bullpen via paddy wagon.

- On-field dog parade.

- Prison siren to celebrate runs scored by home team.

- Free tickets for fans who bring a picture of themselves with their dog.

I immediately sent the information out to friends asking who wanted to go and marked off my calendar a full month and a half in advance for the event.  This was one spectacle I was not going to miss.

Enter the lame, overly-dramatic animal crazies and race mongers…

The T-Bones have now canceled plans for a Michael Vick night because of pressure from local animal activists and… wait for it… wait for it… the NAACP!  That’s right, we all know that the reason that Vick was prosecuted was because of his race and not because he was responsible for the torture, rape, and murder of innocent dogs.  Keep up that credibility, NAACP.  As for the animal activists, please lighten up.  If done right, this event could not only allow for public ridicule towards a man who treated animals cruelly, but it could also be done to raise awareness at the same time.  Instead, the animal rights folks decided to whine about it and demand it not happen.  Just to clarify: an event ridiculing a horrible man who abused animals is wrong, but PETA naming Jenna Jamison as their spokesperson is totally fine.  That makes total sense.  I’m sure going from Pamela Anderson to the biggest whore on Whore Island is only going to help your credibility.  But I digress…

If there is a silver lining to the T-Bone changes, it’s that Deadspin posted a link to one Kristy Winfrey, author of a blog called The Animal Advocate, a site that talks about animal cruelty despite the fact that the banner to the page features several of her cat victims she’s dressed up in costume.  She was quoted in USA Today that she thinks it’s people making a joke of it all.  Winfrey, who likely finished dead last in the voting of “Best Sense of Humor” in her high school superlatives, has not been a fan of the comments people have been making on her site as a result of her outrage.  She’s disabled comments, but the comments from Deadspin are hilarious.  My favorite comments include:

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Oooh, she’s going to HATE Crazy Cat Lady Night on August 20.

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Have you ever tried cat-fighting?
Michael Vick | 04.18.08 - 4:24 pm |

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Folks, remember to spay and neuter your crazy cat lady bloggers.
Bob Barker | 04.18.08 - 4:40 pm | #

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Gravatar HOW DO YOU MAKE A CAT FLOAT? A GLASS OF ROOT BEER AND TWO SCOOPS OF CAT.
ZOOKEEPER STEVE | 04.18.08 - 4:44 pm | #

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And that’s not even counting the comments that are posted on her blog under the “Recent Comments” section.  Hilarious.

As for me, I won’t be attending the newfangled “Animal Awareness Night”.  Seriously, talk about a drastic change from awesomeness to extreme mediocrity.  I can’t help but wonder how many other people are out there that are like me and will now pass up the opportunity to take part in a fun event.  Way to shoot yourself in the foot, animal activists.  I guess I’ll have to wait until June 20th for Mullet Night to go to my first T-Bones game.

I was a huge fan of American Gladiators a kid.  I feel like I practically grew up with names like Laser, Ice, and Nitro.  In fact, I distinctly remember clearing out living room furniture at a friend’s house, placing an emtpy laundry hamper in the middle, and a bunch of us playing Powerball until we were too exhausted to move.  That being said (and as much as I’m embarassed to admit it), I was really kind of pumped for a new and improved American Gladiators to start back up again.  The previews made it look pretty awesome, and Hulk Hogan is one of the hosts.  I mean, seriously, how could you go wrong with pairing one of my favorite shows as a child with one of my biggest heroes as a child?  Well, unfortunately they did.  Big time.

The show debuted on Sunday night.  Like with literally every single show in television, I didn’t know it was starting.  No joke, if you asked me to name the time, night of the week, or station that any single show on television is on I wouldn’t be able to name a single show (and, no, I don’t own a Tivo or DVR because the cost of upgrading to digital cable and adding it just doesn’t make it worth it to me).  Anyway, I was at dinner Sunday night when I saw that a friend from high school texted me.  Soon after, I saw another friend from high school called me.  Soon after that, yet another called.  I knew something must have been up so I excused myself and listed to the messages.  They each told me the same thing: that a girl from my high school class was the first contestant on the new American Gladiators. 

I’ll admit, I kind of freaked out there for a minute.  I’m not sure if it was out of surprise, hilarity, or jealousy.  It was probably a combination of all three.  I called one of by buddies on the way home, and they filled me in.  Apparently, Jessie, the girl I used to have class with, was on the show for maybe two minutes before getting injured and replaced.  Apparently they chose her to be on the show because she’s a single mom of three.  She also apparently was a toilet paper salesperson before quitting her job to be on the show.  Jessie marks the fourth highschool classmate of mine to make it to a somewhat popular television show that requires no acting.  The first was our valedictorian, Matt, who made it to several rounds of College Jeopary a couple of years after we all graduated high school.  Since then, Scott, a buddy of mine, somehow made it on MTV’s Taildaters, and another girl, Erika, made it onto Judge Judy a couple weeks ago for suing her boyfriend for assult and loans.  We Iowans really dream big.

As for the show itself, my friend also told me another bit of information about the show when I called.  “Brad,” he said, “This show is horrible.”  My heart immediately sunk, and I hurried home to check it out for myself.  He was completely right.  This new version of American Gladiators makes WWE Wrestling seem like Shakespeare in the Park.  It’s like they took the regular show, got the writers from any MTV reality dating show to write it, and asked Jerry Bruckheimer to produce it.  The hosts are awful, too.  Muhammed Ali’s daughter acts like she can’t read a cue card, and Hulk Hogan proved he is completely incapable of saying a sentence without throwing in the word “brother”.  The characters on the show are completely ridiculous, too.  For example, there’s a guy on the show who goes by the name Wolf.  Whenever they announce his name, he…wait for it…wait for it…howls like a wolf!  It’s so bad.  The contestants are clearly given prearranged responses when being interviewed after each event, and it’s horribly cheesy.  No normal human being would ever say the things they say after having just competed in something.  As for the Bruckheimeresque production, the camera shots change so rapidly that you can’t even tell what’s going on half the time.  Thank goodness I’m not epileptic or I’d have started flopping on the floor within the first minute. 

The whole thing is sad to me because the show was highly anticipated and received really strong ratings.  I can’t wait to see how drastically those numbers drop off next week.  I give the series 5 weeks tops before it’s cancelled.  I don’t know how you could screw up something so awesome, but they certainly found a way.  Jessie, if you happen to find this, please throw a recommendation my way.  I’ll use my huge muscles and unbemazing athletic ability to give the crowd something to cheer about.  I’ll also use my intellect to point out each thing you have done wrong with the show.  There are a lot, but I’m a patient man. 

When I was a senior in high school, a friend of mine pointed out that, in the movie Armageddon, there isn’t a single shot that lasts longer than 3 seconds.  Upon finding out that information, we watched the movie and ended up counting out loud to 3 for each shot.  He was right, and it subsequently made the movie completely unwatchable for me ever since.

The same can now be said for watching college football games on Fox.  I read yesterday via Awful Announcing that Fox showed the band a whopping 58 times during the Fiesta Bowl a couple nights ago.  I was out with friends celebrateing a buddy’s birthday and told them about that crazy fact.  While watching the KU game, we proceeded to yell out “Band!” whenever the band was shown, and it pretty much blew our minds how many times we had to yell it.  In fact, had we decided to turn it into a drinking game, I’m pretty sure we would have all had to spend the night in the hospital.  Actually, now that I think about it, I guess that explains what Britany Spears was up to last night.  Anyway, Fox ended up DOUBLING the previous night’s feat, showing the band 110 times!  Unbelievable. 

Since we were at a bar, we couldn’t actually hear the game.  Apparently the audio was just as awful, as evidenced by this video…where, in addition to looking like a complete mess, they even mention the band.  I was originally looking forward to watching how the rest of the football season shaped up.  Now, I may have to do it while simultaneously gauging my eyes out with grapefruit spoons.

I’m leaving tomorrow with my sis to head up to my mom’s for Christmas.  Like Thanksgiving last year, it will just be the three of us celebrating, although this year will be quite a bit different than those in the past.  I’ve contemplated not mentioning anything on this site about it, but I figure this is supposed to chronicle my life so I shouldn’t leave it out.  Before my sister and I make it to my mom’s house, we are staying the night in Iowa City because my mom is having surgery to get a feeding tube put in.  She hasn’t been able to keep food down for a long time now, and the surgery is more or less the only option anyone could come up with to try to allow her to gain back some of the weight she’s lost.

My personal medical knowledge is pretty sparse, but I’ve always had the impression that having a feeding tube is normally for people who are in pretty bad shape.  Hopefully I’m wrong about that.  Either way, if things don’t turn around and get siginificantly better, it basically means that my mom may end up never tasting food again.  That’s just something I can’t quite wrap my mind around.

So yeah, I don’t really know what to expect from this Christmas break.  I don’t know if it’ll hurt when she laughs, if she’ll have energy from actually having food in her system, or if she’ll be fatigued from everything that is going on and sleep the whole time.  It’ll at least be good to relax at home and try to help in any way I can. 

As evidenced by the lack of posting, I’ve been in this odd funk when it comes to updating my blog.  I think a lot of it is due to me just being too busy with things associated with this time of year.  Some of it, though, can be attributed to just not feeling up to blogging at the end of the day.  I’m finding that I have yet to get on much of a routine since being a permanent Kansas Citian, and I’m still working on finding the best way to balance everything out.  The blogging will become more frequent, though.  It always does.  It just may not happen as much during the holidays until the dust settles.  And I’ll admit, I’m kind of looking forward to it.

I’m definitely noticing that, now that I’m not traveling, I’ve been soaking in finally getting to have “home time”.  The newfound ability to relax in my own surroundings coupled with some of time constraints associated with my new job has more or less kept me away from updating things on this site as of late.  I had to take an exam in order to start making money at my new job, and I’m happy to say that I passed this past week.  The test was pretty difficult, I must say, and I was pretty unfamiliar with half of the material prior to studying for it.  It’s great to have that out of the way.

During one of the trainings for my work, we had to do a personality test.  I’m normally not a fan of them at all because I’ve always felt they end up pigeonholing you into a very specific category.  This one wasn’t like that, though.  Instead, it broke you down into three sections based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  It would first show you your basic level of your personality.  The basic one basically described what you were like deep down and is also what you revert to in times of stress.  The second one showed your socialized behavior, and the third explained how you were when you were at your most comfortable.  I found it really interesting that my basic traits and my third, self-actualized traits were pretty much complete opposites of each other.  When I’m at my highest point on the hierarchy of needs, it showed that I love information-rich roles that allow me to build relationships with others.  At my basic level, though, it explained that I get somewhat short and distant with others when I’m stressed and am constantly looking for ways to resolve the situation.  I had never really thought about it before, but I think it’s pretty true.  Even in relationships, when there is a disagreement, I want to work past it before I do anything else.  When I was studying for this exam, I would keep any phone calls short or just not answer my phone because I didn’t want to be distracted.  I also made a point to shift my priorities to minimize activities that weren’t all that necessary (i.e. writing on this site).  It’s pretty interesting to think about.

It’s weird to think that, with the exception of traveling for the holidays, my nights are pretty much free to do anything I want at home.  I haven’t had that feeling for several years, and it’s a liberating feeling.  I’m also noticing that, with the location of my new job coupled with earlier working hours, I’m feeling a bit more sleep deprived than I normally do on a regular basis.  As a result, I’ve decided to change up my night and morning routines.  My morning routine has typically consisted of getting up in the morning and heading to the computer right away to read news, check fantasy sports, read email, read blogs, check out the latest daily batch of music reviews/news, etc.  Some people wake up with a cup of coffee to get their eyes open, but I’ve relied on the bright glow of a computer screen.  So I’ve decided to cut some of that morning time in half so I can do that at the end of the day or possibly even when I get to work.  I am also now going to make sure I am in bed by ten at night if at all possible.  This includes even turning off my phone so I’m not tempted to answer and stay up late.  Just last night I saw I had two phone calls after eleven.  That just can’t happen if I want to keep myself from being tired the next day. 

So yeah, this whole new phase of live has taken some getting used to.  I’m really looking forward to it, though.