The weather in London must be something like this

I’m late on this post. So much for trying to get these posted on Monday or Tuesday. I must say, though, that this weather is doing almost nothing positive for me. The walk in to work last Thursday was very pleasant, but since that time forth it has been naught but infuriating. A wonderful warm spell is ruined by cold rain, wind is whipping around us on days when it isn’t too cold or there isn’t some form of rain or snow, ruining those other wise pleasant enough days, and then everything is freezing. There is so much ice on the sidewalks, and I simply cannot run to work with it all underfoot. It is slippery enough for just walking around. I was afraid of tearing my knee apart today. I tell ya, it’s no good.I constantly think this is similar to the British Isles (or a box of chocolates); you never know what you're gonna get.

Good thing we had football practice indoors. It was a ton of fun, too. We had a series of position drills for 2 hours on Saturday night. I learned a bit about the offensive playbook, and got to run out at wide receiver, inside at the slot receiver, as well as playing halfback and full back. I got to do some runs up the gut, but most of what we ran was the passing game. On one play, our QB threw a little higher than he intended and it bounced off our tight ends hands, but I cut underneath my route and caught it on the deflection behind coverage. On another play, I was lined up out wide against press coverage and our veteran running back dropped into the QB position (WILDCAT!!!) and took the snap. I beat the press, got deep on a skinny post, and the pass went wide to the left sideline, and was underthrown, I cut back to get underneath it, out jumped the safety, and snagged the ball out of the air and took it all the way. Those were my really good plays. I did mess up a few times (one wrong route, and one false start), but overall I did better than I was expecting of myself.

Now to the topic that is consuming the most of my thought/time at the present; I am looking at buying a car. I had been looking before, but kinda gave up a little bit. Now I am back in the race. There is an old Subaru I’m looking at, but online prices range from 2700 to 900, and he’s asking 2500 for it, but willing to settle for 2000. If it was a dealer, I would go for the 2000, but seeing as he is simply selling it from his driveway, I am skeptical. And he hasn’t owned it long, so what are the problems with it? Bleah… so I started looking at dealers. I found a nice 2006 Impala with under 100k miles for 8500. That is pretty good, and depending on the financing I could get it for just over 100/mo in payments. But then there is insurance, and taxes, and gas, and maintenance, and this, and that, and blah, and bleah. So how much would it actually cost to own? If I wasn’t going back to school in the fall, I would get the Impala, but I think the Subaru handles what I need right now. Plus, the Subaru is a manual, which I absolutely love, and the Impala is an automatic transmission, which I find somewhat boring. There is also a Cadillac CTS for sale that would only cost about 150/mo, which is really nice. Or I could go for an old Saab for 100/mo… or there’s the Subaru…

I hate peeling eggs...

So here is the deal, chaps and chapettes; writing to strangers is kinda weird. I have done it only a handful of times. I had to write to another German student at a cross town high school my sophomore year; I sent an email to a person that I was ‘introduced’ to over the internet (no, not online dating); I sent a letter to a girl whose grandmother pressed me to write while I was on my mission; and then I just recently wrote a friends sister-in-law who is on her mission. In all of these cases it is difficult to try and figure out what to say or include about yourself to let them understand you a bit more personally without being overbearing or downright creepy. Plus, what sort of introduction works for never meeting someone? Well, one that I employed most recently was a parody of Carli Rae Jepsen. I wrote (in fun scented markers and a different color for each line) “I’ve never met you - I guess I’m crazy – but here’s a letter – so write back maybe” and then I signed it as a friend of her sister’s. I think that is about as god as it gets for a blind approach via script.

I am getting very excited for football practice this upcoming week, and I have actually been trying to recruit a handful of friends to put on the pads with me. Well, so many of them had played so rough for so long that they are all of them no longer in shape to knock heads with other people. Between unresolved neck injuries, torn ACLs and 5 too many concussions, torn rotator cuffs, mangled hands, and loss of vision, they are not prepared for a full season of impact, now or possibly ever again. It is a real shame since two of them are such pure athletes, and another has one of the best arms I have seen in person that does not play on Sundays. I shall, therefore, be flying solo as I attend try outs this weekend (unless there are any 18+ guys that would like to get involved. Email me!).

I would like to include a fun story from church. My dad was teaching the lesson, and he was asking about receiving promptings from the Holy Ghost and if there comes a time that the Spirit ceases to speak to us. Mark Palenske spoke up saying that his mother still tells him what to do, even though he is a 38 year old man with three growing boys of his own, and he knows that Heavenly Father loves him far more than his mother does, so he cannot see the Spirit stopping talking to him. My dad then turned to me and asked how old I was (23) and then asked Mark if I ever told him how often I am told the same things over and over by my parents, or if I ever tell him that they nag me. Mark replied that I am a great kid who never spoke ill of my parents, all speaking of them with respect. I began to lean back into my pew, stretching my arms out just cool as a cucumber. When Mark was done talking, I took out my wallet and handed him a 10 as the entire chapel broke out laughing. Good times.

I’m trying to come up with another fun story, but my memories of this last week are mostly of throwing eggs and working, so we shall leave it there for the time being. Enjoy the icy roads, everyone! It’s like a thousand car slip’n’slide out there!

But it's magical, harry. The post is magical!

Another long delay between posts, but I do see anyone beating down my door in an attempt to get me to post again. So this past weekend was the Super Bowl, which I had honestly in part forgotten. I was trying to figure out what I had going on Sunday night, but it was hazy on the edge of my mind and took me quite some time to remember that Ray Lewis was playing his final game, a game that I had no idea what to expect of. It could have been a very boring and drawn out game were nothing exciting happened, or the firework show that the second half turned out to be. The Ravens defense behaved at their best and at their worst, allowing 24 points in less than five minutes but also held the 49ers without a touchdown on 3 drives into the 20, including their final possession. Kaepernick was arrogant, the 49ers safeties were spearing with their heads, Jacoby Jones was still too unprofessional for me to respect him as the athletic speed demon he is, and Boldin and Flacco can be a dangerous combination. Ray Rice still fumbled, Delani Walker was actually catching the ball, and the refs let everyone play. If it wasn’t blatant, they didn’t call it. It made it one of the more exciting games to watch simply because everyone could play their game without much consequence at all.

Saturday night was a lot of fun as well. I had my first meeting with the Manitowoc County Mariners, and the banquet was tasty, the company was fun, and the team seems excited moving forward. They went 5-5 this past season, and may be losing out on a number of important players, but they seemed eager for the upcoming challenges. I ate with two of the team captains, as well as two players I would consider semi-starters. I reminded me of eating in the caf at good ol’ SNC. Man I miss that place…

Also, last week was a very busy one for me. A bank in our area closed down and it seems as though everyone who went to that branch is now coming in to us. Our daily transaction total has about doubled from what it was. We are seeing tons of new faces, and even introducing new customers to Associated Bank. We also finally have a manager again. I ended up working 50 hours last week, and that was with calling it quits early some nights. It was an exhausting time. So on my day off I decided some rest and relaxation was called for, so I went back to high school! I got to play badminton for 4 ½ hours! It was so much fun, and got more challenging as the classes went on. The freshman class I played against originally I outscored 94-9 in 6 games, and the I went undefeated, but the score average dropped to 4-1 in the second class, and then it went back up to about 6-1 for the last class. Oh, and the cafeteria’s Salisbury steak was pretty tasty, too.

Another fun thing going on in my life is training time with my mother. My dad and I collaborated a little bit and he got her a membership at Planet Fitness and I go there with her every Saturday morning and a few times during the week to workout with her. It keeps us both regular… I mean, it helps us be regular with our attendance at PF.

Another fun development would be a new series of books. I only know of two books so far, but the first one was pretty amazing. It was titled the Warded Man. So good. It is about a people who fight demons, and when I say fight I mean they hide behind magical symbols called wards that hold them back when they come in the night. It mainly follows three characters; one a boy who wants to be a messenger, one of the few brave souls who would ride beyond the warded walls of the homes; a girl who trainers as an herb gatherer, the medical and scientific  professionals of the world; the third is a boy, who lost his family and was raised by a jester. It’s hard to tell much more about it aside from the suspense and intrigue of the book goes like this. “This is pretty good. Haven’t read this same story before. Oh, suspense. I like it. Oh, more back story. Well told, though. Oh, that’s cool. Woah, that was pretty awesome. No way… no friggin way. OH, SO DANG COOL!!! OMIGOSH THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!! MOM, WHERE’S BOOK TWO?!?!?!” So I am really looking forward to reading the Desert Spear.

To wrap up a couple other things, I really liked the naming of the winter storms this year. I noticed ones named Draco, Luna, and Gandalf. Not sure exactly who it is that is naming these storms, but I bet they are a bit of a fan of magic. At least that is the connection I am making in my head.

Also, for those of you who like bows, my dad was gifted a bow by a generous man in my congregation, and I plan on shooting it at my friends farm this weekend before heading inside to play Age of Empires for 6 hours. BOOM!!
And as any typical day off would have it, I am currently being snowed in by a surprise storm. I do not know this ones name, though. Probably Winter Storm Quirrell...