Too much Kwik with that Trip....

Today was a much better day at work. Instead of all that time doing CBT stuff on the computer, which I finish next Thursday, I spent a good 5 out of 7 hours at the register. There was a lot of rushed periods because of the bikers going to Algona (plus the typical noon rush). Of course, I managed to screw up a few times (sshhh...don't tell KT), but it was all good. It's much better than staring at a computer screen for hours on end. It was nice to actually see people's faces and talk to people I knew instead of being cooped up in a 3x3 room. I also neither nearly froze my hands of in the cooler nor bled at all today. I did do garbage again, but that's easy enough.

Now I'm just sitting at home doing nothing. My mom and her boyfriend went up to Taste of MN to see George Thorogood, and I'm pretty sure everyone I hang out with around here is working tonight. So woot for that....

Still can't upload pictures....no woot for that....

To Uncle Tim: I dont' work until 3 tomorrow, so I'll be partying with poker....you should let me know if you're up for it!

And now, a special Cyanide and Happiness dedicated to the one and only Ben Hoogland....

Edit: For some reason the USB ports work on my computer again, so be expecting pictures from Monday's concert randomly throughout the weekend.

I give up....

I've officially given up on trying to get all of those pictures onto the computer. One of these days I'll upload them at Tommy's and send them to myself, but that's for later on.

Today was my first day at Kwik Trip. I stocked the cooler, did the garbage run, and spent a good 4 1/2 hrs. looking at training stuff on the computer. Very bogus. I have to work at 9 am, and I can be on the register as soon as I finish some more CBT crap. Still very bogus.

I'm tired, and I hate getting up early.

Come back to Texas!

I HATE MY COMPUTER'S USB PORTS RIGHT NOW! NEITHER ONE IS WORKING SO I CAN'T UPLOAD PICTURES FOR NEITHER WHITEWATER NOR THE CONCERT!....


So I just got home from a freaking amazing concert! Army of Freshman, Melee, and Bowling for Soup played at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis tonight. I'll post details and pictures tomorrow night (I have to resize them). I'll just edit this blog and repost it as if I had just come home from the show.

Whitewater: Day 2

This day will be much less detailed than the last, and the last two days of the trip will be bunched together in very little detail in my next post.


Tuesday, June 19

8:35 am
Kyle and I are being woken up by threats of disappearing camping donuts (which are amazing). It's all a lie. We slept in compared to everyone and there's still plenty of donuts left.

1:13 pm
We just got back from our first trip to Inspiration Point. We laid up there for a little over an hour in a circle using each other's stomachs as pillows. Great fun!

1:48 pm
It's quiet time, which we're having every day after lunch. I really like just sitting by the river and skipping rocks during this time, but I'll eventually go lay out on a picnic table until I hear Kyle blow his referee whistle.

5:52 pm
I've been tubing twice so far this year (last year I didn't go at all), and both times were doubles rides with Kyle on the big tube. We're pretty amazing seeing as we've beaten everyone down the river both times. The second time down ended at Rock Island, where we spent a good couple hours. Rock Island is a big mass of rocks that was previously covered by a part of the river. This is the first year the water has been this low, so we've officially made Rock Island our place to swim and relax (instead of the nasty beach).

Sometime in here
It's really hard to coax a deer in with slow movements and a handful of grass. I was almost able to touch it, but I got within 15 feet before it slowly meandered away; it didn't run though, which surprised me.

10:21 pm
Curfew to get back to camp is 10:00, but we just got back. A few of us veterans took Ashley, James, and my mom up to the top. My mom's very afraid of heights, so she made me go out on the rock and take pictures for her (I'll post random pictures after my last blog). I also checked my messages and found out I'm good to go for a drug test for Kwik Trip. That means I'll be working there fairly soon.

Whitewater: Day 1

Yes, I survived Whitewater yet again. It was a good time, and now you all get to relive it with me. The first two days are in detail and will each get a blog, but the last two will be lumped together in my third post about Whitewater. On that note, we shall pretend it's monday again.


Monday, June 18

7:25 am

Waking up, my first thought is, "Mariah's such a jerk!" She stayed over last night so she wouldn't have to drive here early in the morning, and now she's all perky and keeps telling me to wake up. Relentless. 'Nuf said.

8:37 am

We're finally leaving Frost after picking up Sam and managing to pack all her stuff into the car. My mom's boyfriend was a jerk (as usual) and wouldn't let us take the truck, even though we have so little room in the car that Sam and Mariah are packed in the back with most of Sam's stuff.

8:45 am

We stopped already. We're checking the bikes at the Alden exit because they shifted hardcore (stupid wind).

8:48 am

Problem solved. My mom and I are geniuses when it comes to bike racks.

9:20 am

Look! Hormel plant!

9:21 am

Stupid Hormel plant! All I smell is Spam!

9:25 am

We just passed the exit for Brownsdale, and I'm reliving my brother's random ability to get lost between GEV and Ellendale. On Saturday he thought he could find a shorter way than I-90/I-35, and he ended up somewhere by Brownsdale.

10:03 am

We're pulling into Stewartville. I can't remember if it's to visit Schimek's or get lunch at Subway.

10:05 am

It was for Subway. Sorry, Schimek's.

10:29 am

I'm so bored that I decided to prank call Mariah, and I see it as part one of my payback for waking me up.

10:57 am

We're waiting in the grocery store parking lot in St. Charles for Kim, Steve, and James to show up with their vehicles. I find it ironic that we're listening to Journey but not moving at all. Silly Steve Perry, trips are for kids!

11:44 am

Finally! We can leave Mike's Food Center! Within the last 47 minutes, a lot has happened. Kyle and I "got Jak'd for less" by buying Red Jak energy drinks, he blew his whistle at random times and at random people, and we sang songs while we walked around the store. Also, Joy and Sarah told Kyle to eat 1/4 of an ice cream cake by shoving it into his face.

11:54 am

It's Whitewater!

3:30 pm

Were you at TEC 67? You were?! Good! Then you remember the song Support continuously danced to, which is also the one Kyle and I have danced to twice already on our newfound "Rock Island." We've also been skipping rocks on the river (I told Kyle how to skip even a round rock) and getting soaked. Oh, how I love a little bit of rain the first day of camping.

3:53 pm

Kim just gave me the things she found for me at garage sales. These things were a toaster and a tie with flying toasters and pieces of toast on it. I'm supposed to wear the tie every time I do the song, and it will also be making an appearance the Saturday of the next TEC.

4:58 pm

It's still raining a little bit. Kyle and I had asked for a little bit of rain to raise the river, but now we're pretty sick of it. I don't to be sleeping in Lake Tentbedrowned tonight.

5:26 pm

I just finished cutting up some lettuce for supper, and I wanted everyone to know I still have 10 fingers.

6:38 pm

I'm feeling sick and don't know why....

1:00 am (roughly)

I'm finally going to bed. I've been standing around with Ashley, Joy, and Mariah for a while because Ashley was very entertaining tonight. She did some "gangsta" dancing. I laughed.

That's all folks!

This will officially be my last blog before my camping trip. My plan is to relive my four days gone by posting about each one when I get home. That way, you're all stuck reliving my four days (sucks to be you).

On that note, I'm going to go get the dirt out of my duffel bag because I still haven't taken it out of my car since baseball. Have a great week everyone!

The Life and Times of A Baron

I don't have anything too exciting to blog about tonight, so I'm sticking you all with a boring post about how I've spent the first two weeks of my summer.

As most of my readers know, I've been job hunting. My interview was on the 8th, and I know at least one of my references was called yesterday morning. There are still a few slight ideas in mind if I don't get the job, but who knows what'll happen.

I've been swimming a few times so far this summer. Not at a public pool, but at the Oswald's house. Come to think of it, I've basically lived there for the last two weeks. I'll go out there after I wake up, stay until supper (or sometimes eat there), and then I'll come back home about 11 at night. We shoot a lot of blackbirds, play PS2, and swim. It's a good time. We've still got to start our random "Hey let's have a fire" nights where we call people up either the night of or the night before and see if they're bored enough to come to a fire.

I went to a total of 9 (I think) grad parties so far, and there's only one left to go to on Sunday.

As for the rest of my summer, it's fairly open. I have a wedding tomorrow (technically today since it is officially Saturday), and one next Saturday. My youth group is going on a camping trip from Monday to Thursday of next week, and I'm always excited for it. I love Whitewater!

So let me set up this comic a little bit. I was on the phone with Mariah last night, and I told her I thought Rachel Ray was making a lot of money (I was looking at the Forbes Celebrity 100). Then, we both decided Rachel Ray was annoying. 'Nuf said.

Knock down the old brick wall, and be a part of it all....

My mom and I had a meeting with my high school counselor today to talk about my plans for after high school. It's kind of nice already knowing where I want to go to school; the only thing I don't know for sure yet is my major. Figuring that out is one of my top goals for my senior year.

My hopes of Tim "Don't Call Me Tina" Anderson actually posting a blog during Joel's absence are thwarted by the fact that there is not yet a post. We're all waiting, Tim, and the suspense is killing me!

I don't have a whole lot else going on in my head right now. It's kind of........blah.......

Cyanide and Happiness

I realized I haven't used a comic strip very recently at the end of my posts, so I'm dedicating this entire post to them. Enjoy!

And that's all she wrote for now. I'll try to keep these updated more often, but who knows what'll happen.

Frustrating....

That word alone describes my day.

First, Tommy and I couldn't beat the Division II championship game in Blitz: The League with our team, the Wichita Fascists. I run the offense, he runs the D. I was throwing a lot of interceptions, he was giving up TD's on the kickoffs. It was just a wreck.

The baseball team was supposed to meet up tonight to eat and give our uniforms back. I showed up at 6:00, which I'm pretty sure was the time we decided on, and nobody was there. I gave up after about a half hour and came home.

My grandparents are coming here tomorrow because they're bored at home. I was going to spend some time with Mariah before she goes to Girls' State (10-16) and I go to Whitewater (18-21) and she goes to the Cities (most of July), but I figured since my grandparents are coming it wouldn't be a good day for it. Hoping for Saturday....

Ambyr (aka my favorite Bamby) is amazing. That's all I have to say about that.

I'm following in Joel's footsteps. I have a job interview Friday for Kwik Trip. It's kind of a lame place to work, but I really need a job. One of my reasons is so I can go to Spain next summer, but I have mixed feelings about going. It'd be an amazing time, but I wish it was with people like the ones who read this blog most of the time (aka crazy TEC geeks). I get along with most of the people who are going on the trip, but I just don't know how much fun I'd have.

Pandora. Just do it.

Hyperstatic Boredom....

My weekend was short-lived. Yes, it was a 3-day weekend, but that's not the point.

I spent Friday at school, followed by a quick haircut before the first round of sub-section baseball. As I mentioned before, St. Peter screwed themselves over by voting us as the #2 seed, and we gave them what they deserved. It was a 11-0, 5-inning game. After it was over, I went to Sam's grad party for a little bit before heading to Tommy's for some randomness. We played Apples To Apples for a while, and then I went home and slept.

Saturday wasn't too eventful until I drove to Deml's grad party. It was a good time, and I spent some time afterwards at Brice's with my brother (his last night home before camp) and some other folks. We played more Apples To Apples and a few Wii Sports. I left later than I expected, but it was good fun.

I woke up somewhat early Sunday, but I fell back asleep before grad parties started. I woke up again in time to make it to Kimmy's, then Mariah and I hung out and watched "Walk the Line." After she left, I just sat around watching TV until I fell asleep.

Today was probably the most eventful day. I went to Blue Earth at 1:00 to start taping more of my Spanish video. We got a lot done including our ninja scene, "socking" Sra. Tietje's house, the low speed chase, and our twist ending. It was all hilarious, but I think our random ninja scenes were the best along with our random extras we taped on the way to Tietje's.

Now, I'm just listening to great music, and I give all the thanks to Greg. I had heard a little about Pandora recently, but I hadn't been told exactly how it worked. I love it. Setting up a station for each kind of music I'm in the mood for, rating songs so I can hear them more or less often, pausing songs at any time, switching stations and then returning to the same point in the song I left back a the last station, and experiencing new artists I haven't heard of. Always a good time.

Welcome to my mini rollercoaster....

Chapter 1 -- AP Euro
Today was a day in the media center well spent. We were given some time to type one of the four essays that was due today (I typed up the 4th one and my conclusion to the third). The essay most people typed was all about the German army's view on the use of aircraft before, during, and after WWI. There were really only two interesting aspects to my essay, the first being my title, "Planes, the German Army, and Anthony Fokker." In case you didn't read up on Fokker with my Wikipedia link, I'll just say he was an airplane designer and builder during the time this essay was all about. The German army, when WWI started, asked all airplane companies to quit designing new planes and focus on the mass production of what they had. This next line is from my essay, and my teacher loved it (note: I couldn't resist making the comment I did):

"One of those men was Anthony Fokker, who was so determined to advance the aircraft industry that he convinced one of the pioneers of airplane construction to make modifications. Fokker gave the German army a taste of his “Fokk you” attitude by continuing his innovations, and in 1916 he designed a new and improved pursuit plane"


Chapter 2 -- Baseball
Yes, we won the conference today, but it ended up a 3-way tie with Waseca and New Ulm. It's still a conference win, making us the first team from Blue Earth in 40 years and the first Blue Earth Area team to win the conference (we shut out Fairmont 8-0). Our coach is still mad about how we were seeded on Wednesday. It was a tie between us and Maple River after all of the coaches had voted for our sub-section seeding, and so our athletic director called each coach from the other five teams for a tie breaker vote. The final vote came down to St. Peter, who is in our conference and didn't play Maple River this season. The coach voted for Maple River, and dug his own metaphorical grave. We play St. Peter next Thursday in the first round of sub-sections, and we've beat them twice this season.

Now for my rant on what's frustrating me about baseball. Right now, it's not the lack of playing time, but it does involve that. I was invited to the athletic banquet tomorrow night, and it made no sense to me since I didn't play football and I haven't played enough in baseball to legitimately get a varsity letter. Turns out our coach lettered everyone on the team, which kind of irritates me. If he just lettered all of the seniors, even those who don't play much, it'd be a different story, but I don't really feel like taking a varsity letter that doesn't mean anything other than "Hey, congrats! You sat on the bench your junior year of baseball!"


That's all I've got....

00110001010111000111001000101110101010101

Oh, the title? Don't ask. I'm just as confused as you are.

- My name's Aaron.
- I have no brain cells because I'm finishing three AP European History essays simultaneously.
- I'm surprised I can still spell simultaneously.
- My baseball coach thinks I'm a trustworthy guy because I'm a blatant Christian. It kind of irritates me.
- Lemon Lime Powerade isn't very tasty.
- My back is killing me. I need to find me a chiropractor.
- Only 12 days of school left. School is so yesterday. I'm not into that fad anymore.
- My Spanish video this year should be amazing. [Cross your fingers, knock on wood]
- Essays are for people who care. I don't care.
- I need to work on my list. It's starting to fill up.
- Cody's cat is annoying right now. Anybody want it?
- Cody isn't here. No idea where he is.
- Why am I bulleting all this?
- I'm confused.
- No more brain cells for me.
- I talks like these now.
- Bye.

[Insert suspenseful music here]

Friday. 4:00. Blue Earth.

We'll be playing Fairmont for our shot at being the first BEA baseball team to win the conference. It's very exciting, but we're going to have to be at our best. We beat Fairmont earlier this season, but they're definitely competitors. They're a strong enough team that our coach is going to seed them #1 in the sub-section tomorrow.

On that note, we're hoping for a high seed tomorrow. First would be great, giving us a first round bye in the sub-sections. If we happen to be seeded second, we expect to play St. Peter, who hasn't been having the greatest season.

And on that note, I have a lot of work to do on some AP Euro essays.

Farewell....

Another quick one

Prom was on Saturday, and I have to admit I had a blast. It's still very much overrated, but it was a ton of fun. Mariah looked quite gorgeous, and I was sweating like crazy in my tux. The dance was good, and post-prom was just full of dozing off. I slept from about 6 til 10 before going to the TEC 67 Reunion.

The reunion was short-lived. I really wish I could've spent more time with the Wheaties. Oh wait....FRIDAY! I'm very excited for our Wheat Party this Friday. Both the Wheat slideshow and the weekend slideshow at the reunion had some interesting pictures.

School is lame....I don't like tests....

Speaking of which....
I feel pretty good about my AP Euro test on the industrial revolution and such. I don't feel so good about taking the AP test for college credit this Friday. My hopes for it aren't very high....

Finally....the week is over....

Last night, we beat the tar out of St. Peter 13-1 in 5 innings. It was great. I finally got my first varsity at-bat, and failed. I struck out, but at least I struck out swinging.

Today we had a mock crash to show us what could happen with drunk driving. It was pretty unnerving, but the freshman were all making jokes and being stupid. Kind of ruined it. If you talk to Sam (Wheat 67), ask her how it felt to die. She got put in the hearse and everything, which was pretty interesting.

Tomorrow is prom, and I'm not so much excited for that as I am to hang out with Mariah all night.

Sunday is the reunion, and I'm very excited for every aspect of it.

Next week is going to be interesting....

Real quick

I'm very tired right now, so I'll make this quick.

We played a double-header in Waseca tonight, and we lost both games. That puts us a game behind them in the conference. I got back from there about 11:15 or so, and it sucked just sitting on the bench (not even a chance at baserunning) for two games. I'm pretty glad to be home. Our next game is against St. Peter on Thursday.

When I got home, I decided paying the ACT Monopoly $8 to see my scores early would be worth it. Registration for the June test is due Friday, and I would've had to just guess whether or not my score was good enough for my taste. It was. A 32 is just fine with me.

Goodnight!

SCC!

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneer baseball team is officially ranked first in the SCC! We beat New Ulm tonight 6-4 (it was a huge win at Johnson Park) to take the lead in the conference. Very exciting!

I don't have much else to say, but I wanted to quote Bob's post about TEC because the last line made me very happy. It read, "What hope it gives me to know that the next generation has kids like these." When you think about it, there are so many incredible youth at TEC who will continue to serve and praise God throughout their lives. It's very hard to fathom how much the 3,000 who have gone through TEC so far have impacted the people around them. And so to Bob I say "Amen!"

On a quick side note, I saw a kid at the college fair today who looked just like Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High." It was priceless....

TEC 67

The TEC weekend is over, and I spent my first day sitting at home. I slept a lot. I can't believe how amazing the weekend was. I've never been on a team (and probably never will again) that bonded like our Wheat Team did. On that note, here are my highlights, first from the weekend, then from Wheat.

10. Wheat bag -- I found some of the most random things in there. Between Barney and a history book, I'm not sure what the strangest thing was. I know the Wheat from Mariah was probably the most happifying though. My favorite Wheat that I gave was to Bob. Hopefully she'll put that dried applesauce to good use.
9. Talks -- I have to say I loved each and every talk that was given. They all tied together really well, and I think that helped the candidates make connections.
8. Team commissioning -- This has always been one of my favorite parts of the weekend, but giving the commissioning instead of receiving it was even better than I thought it would be.
7. The atmosphere -- I have to thank God for the lack of stress during the weekend. It was so laid-back that it was more of a weekend hanging out with friends than working. The comfort made the weekend
6. Talent show -- It was priceless. 'Nuf said.
5. Prayers -- So many prayers were answered! A lot of the team was sick or injured, some Candidates were having trouble opening up, and things from the outside world were trying to make their way in. Thanks to prayers, the team was able to serve through any sickness, the Candidates felt more comfortable with their tables, and everyone was focused on the weekend.
4. Conference Room Leadership -- Adam and Amanda are amazing! They did an awesome job, and Adam finally got through the weekend verse at Closing.
3. Burning of the Sins -- I've really been struggling with the things I wrote down for my personal inventory. When we were outside to burn the sins, I asked God not to let me put mine in the fire until he felt I was ready to be forgiven and ready to fix things. It hurt so bad to realize I couldn't move. It takes a lot for me to get emotional, but I was definitely in tears.
2. The Candidates -- I knew it would be a good group when I saw them at lunch on Friday. From where I was sitting, I couldn't see any who weren't joining in on the song. Usually there's a couple you have to force to stand up. Plus, seeing more share at Closing than downstairs was incredible!
1. God -- What can I say? He's amazing! I can't even fathom (one of my favorite words of the weekend) how well this weekend went. Praise God for being so blatant through His love and grace during the weekend.


Now, for the Wheat highlights.

10. The "Wheat Cave" -- Our crazy little room was renamed for the weekend. Anyone who came in with shoes or eating food was demoted to the Support Team. Everyone at Closing gave us funny looks when we yelled for the Wheaties to go to the Wheat Cave.
9. Being on Wheat and giving a talk -- It was just awesome to have these fellow prayer warriors, who I had been getting to know and bonding with so well, do the pray-up and pray-down for my talk. It's very different and much more powerful than being on a different team.
8. Music in the Wheat Cave -- We played so many random songs. There was Disney music during affirmations, "Devil Went Down to Georgia" (oops....bad word....), random sign language to some songs, and Nate's priceless lip-syncing to the o's in "Prince of Peace." Plus dancing to "Love Addict" was crazy awesome.
7. Stations of the Cross -- I've now been on all three sides of Stations, and I have to say this was one of the best. Being able to see all of the stations combined with seeing the words instead of hearing them made it easier to understand and experience.
6. The Champion -- It was nice to practice so many times before Saturday, and it all worked out wonderfully. I apologize for my random pointing in the video, but Ben was looking through the door and I was trying to get rid of him.
5. Final prayer -- When our team had our last prayer together on Sunday, there were lots of tears. For some reason, it still doesn't feel like our weekend was finalized. It's probably just because we came so close together and it's like I'm not with family anymore.
4. Saturday -- The whole team agreed Saturday morning that it was a good day, but Saturday night brought about a few tough things to handle. God prevailed over Satan's attempts to bring down our team, and we came even closer during our prayer.
3. Wheat Leadership -- Nate and Alyssia were so great to have as leadership. I can't find any words to describe how awesome they were. I do thank God for allowing Nate to lead the Wheat Team again; I might not have ever worked a team with him otherwise.
2. Wheat Adults -- I finally got to work with Janet, Angie and Gary! Individually, I love all three of them. Together, there are no words to describe how amazing they are.
1. God -- He was such a factor for our team, as He is with everything. He brought our team so close together, and I will definitely not forget them. Sadly, few of us will be able to work together again, but at least we had this amazing weekend to spend together.


Quotes of the weekend:
- "Hey, you stop!" -- Lecy to the 'gang members'
- "Wheaties to the Wheat Cave!" -- Wheat at Closing
- "What do I thonk..." -- Alyssia
- "It's syphonated." -- Emily
- Nate: "I'm naked."
Bob: "That hasn't stopped me before."
- "It's Schimek! Schimek! Not Shmishlinglebitle..." -- Nathan
- Nate: "You're getting fat man boobs on you."
Lecy: "I'm excited!"
- "And he sleeps naked." -- Kyle

There are probably more....but I forgot them....

Take me out to the ballgame

Monday

We played NRHEG (yes, it's one word) in New Richland, and Mariah, of course, started trash talking. Lo and behold, the 10-run rule took NRHEG (yes, it's one word) out of the picture. We beat them 17-6 in 5 innings. Our starting pitcher was an underclassman who throws unbelievably fast, they pitched 4 or 5 different pitchers, Dusty homered off of one of their pitchers, and I did baserunning for our catcher. Our record improved to 1-1.

Tuesday
We played St. Peter at home. Last year, the varsity went 0-2 against St. Peter during the season. This game, being our home opener, couldn't be lost. We scrounged up 2 hits (one of them could've been considered a reach on error) and won 2-1 with an RBI double by Trent in the bottom of the 7th. Our coach called us mediocre. It was funny. We're officially 2-1, but we play St. James on Thursday and then Maple River and Blooming Prarie on Saturday. I'll definitely be missing all of those games.

I'm bored. Goodnight.

And of course, here's your Cyanide and Happiness of the night: