***WARNING*** this is a long read

Quite awhile ago I mentioned I would share some of my personal stupid stories with all of you. I think today I will do just that and share my 4-wheeler adventure from high school.

For those of you who don’t know me personally, I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Unfortunately getting the high of adrenaline for me is best achieved by fast moving vehicles. Just to be specific, it doesn’t have to have some form of propulsion. I have manage to get bicycles going much faster than what is safe using just my legs and the assistance of gravity (maybe using more gravity and the assistance of my legs?).

So, of course over time the speed attainable on a bicycle was less and less thrilling. Although I had a few accidents I was young and my body snapped back much too quickly for me to actually learn my lesson. I moved on to bigger and better things. Cars!

Now, the stories I have from the stupid (very stupid) things I’ve done in my car are for another time (I could probably write a whole book from them). But this is about the next step…. a 4-wheeled vehicle that exposes your body to the elements, goes fast, goes almost everywhere and is very dangerous (if you’re like me).

When my cousin got the 4-wheeler all I could think about was when I would get to ride it. As often as I could I would ride it. But, that wasn’t enough. I didn’t want to be limited to a back yard or a dirt road. I wanted to explore the jumps, fields & hills of our little town.

Riding is fun, but riding alone gets boring really quickly. So a really good friend of mine from high school borrowed a 4-wheeler from one of our friends and I borrowed my cousin’s. We headed out early in the morning so we could go 4-wheeling all day. Oh, if we only had known what was in store for us.

At one part of the day I took the 4-wheeler as fast as I could off a jump that launched it so high I thought I was going to fly off. Then it landed so hard the side of my jaw smashed into the handle bars. Wow, that was painful but I was young and dumb, it would take more than that to stop my adventure.

When we had enough fun we wanted to bring more people in on the fun. Our girlfriends! What could be better than showing off our utter stupidity?!

My friend’s girlfriend couldn’t come so instead he brought his sister. Once my girlfriend (well, we were getting back together after we had been caught goofing around… :wink:) arrived we headed out. We showed off our ridiculous acrobatics on the jumps, hills & dirt roads. We ended up at what we called “the beet dump”.

The beet dump is basically just a giant, flat, open field that sugar beets are dumped each season. Of course there weren’t any beets there so it was just open space to play. At one point when spinning cookies in the dirt I rolled the 4-wheeler when it caught enough traction. I jumped off just in time so it didn’t roll over me (awesomely stupid acrobatics again :roll:).

The day came to a grinding halt when my friend and I were racing from one end to the other on opposite sides. The two girls were standing in the middle so we wouldn’t get too close. When you’re going fast on a 4-wheeler in a dirt field after a long day, your eyes get watery, dusty, etc. and the last thing you would expect is for someone to be running into the path of the 4-wheeler.

Exactly what I didn’t expect is what happened. My girlfriend was running across the path of the 4-wheeler, but I thought for sure she would continue running out of the way. When she stopped I knew something bad was about to happen. I cranked the handle bars hard to the left with all my might and hit the brakes (the big mistake). The wheels locked up and instead of actually turning, I slid right into her..

To make a long story short, we both ended up in the hospital with injuries (hers were much worse than mine) and everyone scratching their heads wondering how in the world the accident had happened. They were that confused and they thought she was on the 4-wheeler with me.

Think about how confused they were when I told them that she wasn’t. How do you manage to hit someone in the middle of a field? Of course at the time my memories were fresh and I knew exactly what happened. Years later though my memories of the event has faded and I will forever wonder how I manage such a tragedy. Somehow my friend and his sister didn’t see it happen and my girlfriend forgot nearly the entire day because of her concussion.

Her injuries: fractured skull in 3 places, fractured eye socket in 2 places, broken nose, shattered wrist, broken fibula (non-weight bearing bone in the lower leg), 4″ laceration between the hairline and forehead, fractured hip and severe concussion.

My injuries: sprained ankle, my chin was split open from side to side and my left vocal cord was severed from its controlling muscles (my voice box was hit really hard).

After being checked out and stitched up at the local hospital (aka: death valley) I was life flighted to Utah to have a specialist fix my vocal cord (the life flight was because my throat could have swollen up suffocating me).

She was moved to the Boise hospital after she was stabilized and stayed there for almost 2 weeks.

That was the first time I realized just how expensive stupidity was and just how dangerous “toys” can be. You can imagine how this story ended with angry parents and big bills. I was 17 at that time and 4 years later we have gotten back together! We have no hard feelings and are very very happy together.

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Today was my first day at my new job. The walk to work was terrible! I had to get out of bed and walk less than 10 feet!

I am used to walking quite a few miles every week for work, the gym and whatever else I might need to travel to get accomplished. So today was quite a change of pace for me. It was a really strange feeling getting up and eating breakfast at work, then cranking away at the work for the day.

The first thing I realized is that I will be doing more things during the day than I usually did at an actual work office. Both good and bad.

• Frequent visits to the kitchen for oatmeal
• Frequent visits to the bathroom from drinking so much water and not feeling like I should hold it for another 15 minutes
• Leaving to run a quick errand
• Managing interruptions during the day so I can actually get work done
• Multitasking much more than usual

On first impression I was worried that I would have a hard time actually getting my work done. I have a pretty strong work ethic though and working on the computer is what I enjoy doing anyway. What I was surprised to find out was happening was more frequent visits to food central.

I was more surprised to find out how many more things I was working on than at an office. I thought that was very strange.

As expected though, there were many things I very much enjoyed about working from home

• I can listen to my music without headphones
• I don’t have to fix my hair in the morning or even shave
• I don’t have to put pants on before I head out for work
• I can eat at my desk without feeling uncomfortable and awkward
• I can work how I want to work without anyone telling me how it should be
• I don’t have to wear a shirt
• I don’t have to worry about the tech guys cracking down on me because I visited a potentially bad website either on accident or on purpose
• If I want to act like a retard I can do so without being judged

Now, for the bad things I wasn’t so fond of

• No human interaction during the whole day can lead to some form of psychosis
• When someone sees you acting like a retard because you had the window wide open it’s more embarrassing than your coworkers seeing you act like one
• You have a higher potential of turning into that creepy guy who never leaves his apartment
• You being a solo neighborhood watch and listen for kids so you can yell at them

Anyway, day 1 of my new job has thus far gone well. We’ll see how things are going by this friday.

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About a week ago I ordered a small set of business cards from Overnightprints.com to replace the ones printed by PrintsMadeEasy.com. Well, they came in today (would have been friday if I was there).

Wow. I mean, WOW. It was a night & day difference between the two print jobs. I already mentioned how disappointed I was with the quality from PrintsMadeEasy.com but being able to compare the exact same card, side by side really shows the difference.

Overnightprints.com print job was a nice, thick & sturdy card stock, so it feels like it’s quality just holding it. Then the gloss was very smooth and glossy, quite well done. The edges were cut very smoothly, no rough edges, just clean and accurate.

Most importantly, the print quality was incredible in comparison to PrintsMadeEasy.com. I mean, the colors are vibrant & smooth. You can tell it was printed at well above 200dpi where as PrintsMadeEasy looked like it was printed out of an inkjet printer….wait I take that back.

I have seen better print jobs from standard desktop inkjet printers than from PrintsMadeEasy.

Lastly, the back has the same high quality gloss as the front, just as I requested! I am very happy with Overnightprints.com to say the least. Not to mention that they cost 1/3 what PrintsMadeEasy cost. If you’re planning on getting business cards (post cards, stationary, brochures, etc.), go with OverNightPrints.com

This is not a paid review for them, this is simply a very happy customer. Happy enough, in fact, that I may be ordering more print jobs than just my business cards from them.

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Recently I took a flight down to Boise, ID from Spokane, WA and although it was a very short, empty and uneventful flight I noticed some things that bugged me.

1. Keep your shoes on unless you are specifically asked to do otherwise by a TSA employee (the security guys). The last thing I want to smell on a cramped plane is your stinky feet!

2. Tone down your strong smelling scents like perfumes, lotions, etc.. You’re going to be in close proximity to other people and you although you want to smell attractive for “Mr. Right”, you also don’t want the rest of the plain looking at you like you just came from Bath & Body. I know it only takes a few minutes for me to be overwhelmed by that place.

3. Don’t bring your giant duffel bag or suit case as a carry on. Again, cramped spaces, limited storage and thats not what the overhead bin was designed for to begin with. Just check in the baggage, it’s very unlikely anything will happen to it.

4. Don’t fall asleep on the person next to you. Not only is it very uncomfortable for them but you’ll be just as uncomfortable when you wake up, especially if you drool while sleeping.

5. If your kids aren’t taught to behave themselves then either tie them up or give them tranquilizer. Believe me, on a long flight the last thing I will put up with is some little runt who refuses to stop kicking the back of my chair.

6. Don’t ask if it’s ok to use my space. If you want to rent my drop down tray then we can negotiate that but otherwise, don’t ask if it is ok for you to use my tray to put your food, papers or other crap. The space in front of my feet was for me, not your extra baggage. If it doesn’t fit, thats not my problem.

Other than that stuff, I love flying! I always try to get close to the jet engine or prop. since that stuff is very interesting to me. I have my flight procedure down pretty well so it’s usually a pretty painless and quick process through security and a comfortable trip.

Just be aware and considerate of others.

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About six months ago I designed my first business cards and was pretty happy with them. Sent the designs off to the printer and a few days later had my first set of real business cards. Printed on a sturdy 15pt stock, full color and glossy on both sides with a pretty accurate trim.

That was with OverNightPrints.com - I was happy with the service, the quality and the price. I paid about $20 with two discount codes. One for free shipping and one for $10 off the order. $20 for 250 nicely done business cards seemed good to me.

Well, one of the business ideas I had which was what the cards were for had been set aside. So I had to get new business cards that are more personal and not quite focused on a project but more on the services I can provide.

I decided I would give a different company a shot and hopefully get a little higher quality (not that there was anything wrong with the first company). This time around I went with PrintsMadeEasy.com

Their website was a little off putting but from what I had read from around the internet, they did a good job with their prints. OverNightPrints.com had some negative feedback around the internet, thus the reason for trying someone else.

So I designed a new card and sent it off. This card would be more widely used so I figured I would need a few more. I ordered 300 and forgot about a big no-no rule. Unless they have been proven, test the waters first, then order the bulk.

300 really isn’t all that much but 100 would have been cheaper. With shipping I spent right around $55. So almost 3x more than the previous company for 50 more cards. A few days later the cards show up and I was so disappointed!

The print quality was poor and the stock used was flimsy and cheap. To make it worse, I assumed they did front & back glossy but was wrong so the back had no gloss coating. The cut job was done well but other than that I was not happy. Even the gloss coating was poor compared to the previous printer.

So back to OverNightPrints.com I go! I sent in the new designs today and only ordered 100 cards since I have 300 cards to waste…

Sorry PrintsMadeEasy.com but your stock used was cheap and flimsy, print quality was lower & gloss wasn’t as glossy. OverNightPrints.com congrats! Looks like you have a returning customer! Thick, strong stock that gives the cards a solid quality feel, print quality was sharp and gloss was fantastic on both sides.

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It’s not all about the hard work ya know. As many people say, “Work smarter, not harder”. I always took that as don’t physically work harder when you can get it done better, faster and easier if you used your noggin more.

Luckily I managed to figure myself out pretty quick in life and know what I need to do to maximize most of my capabilities. Now I see all these college students pulling all nighters, sucking down more caffeine than should be legally allowed, spending hours upon hours studying and ultimately landing that less than acceptable grade.

So Wired magazine showed up today and as I began reading the feature story I realized that I had been doing the majority of the things the article mentioned, almost my whole life. No wonder why people think I’m “smart”.

So the feature story is “12 Hacks That Will Amp Up Your Brainpower“, which is definitely worth a read, especially for all you college students out there! Here are the things I’ve been doing but if you want the whole read, visit Wired.

1. Distract yourself. Say wha?! - Yeah, keep yourself entertained! Duh! Nobody likes being bored and reading that boring arse text book is going to make your brain as boring as a nun. So crank up some tunes or study for 15 minutes and bust out with some Xbox for a few minutes.

I don’t recommend tv as it doesn’t really engauge your brain. You’re trying to distract your brain with something engaging which is going to help you with the boring crap that you want in that brain too!

2. Slow on the Starbucks you caffeine addict! - Ok, I don’t even drink caffeine any more, nor do I soda pop (I save caffeine for the gym). If you need some extra go power though, don’t suck down that $10 Starbucks so fast, sip n’ go. Why?

Well, caffeine blocks your noggin’s adenosine receptors (the stuff that makes your brain tired), so if you keep a steady drip of caffeine to your brain you’ll keep things level and sharp. Lets take it to the next level shall we? Eat something with carbs (complex if possible) and that will help really fuel your thinker.

3. Learning is life long, believe it - As sick as I was of high school or college, I always knew I would be learning things my whole life. I just wanted to learn what I wanted to right then. If you think you only learn so much in life, you’re done for. If you give up easy on the problems in life that you run into, well, you are either lazy or you just don’t believe in yourself.

The world is your playground, go make somethin of it!

4. Stop, breath, relax and think - Tests suck (at least I think so), especially when you panic or get slammed with anxiety. Your brain freaks out and makes you as smart as a chimp….which isn’t going to help you pass Calc. 2. How to get pass that monkey business isn’t always easy but with some practice, it can be done.

Stop your brain from getting carried away with itself and force a mindset of confidence. You CAN do it and even if you do fail, so what. The brightest minds in history failed many times over in their lifetime. It’s part of life, relax and do your thing.

Control your breathing and control your brain. This one has taken me awhile to learn.

5. Make it memorable - If you have a reason to remember it, then you will. Make a joke of something boring or be clever with it and it’ll be easier to get in your thinker. Like when you had to memorize the 50 states in elementary. It was easier when you associated the shapes of the states with something.

In that case you used your visual senses to make it memorable. You can do the same with your other senses though as well as your humor. We can’t help but remember the funny stuff.

6. Move your lazy hind end! - It helps your brain A LOT to go for a jog or a walk. Get your body moving and your brain is going to follow suit. Don’t over-do it though. Getting your heart racing or your muscles pumped won’t really help you. You’ve got to keep things under control and thats when your brain will be at it’s best.

I usually buy domain names after a workout because I am most creative and clever on the walk home from my workout.

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Seriously give some of these tips a shot but since you probably won’t remember all of them grab a sheet of paper and jot some notes down or email the notes to yourself. Give ‘em a shot! They have helped me for a long time already.

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