Trying New Things (the generic 30's white guy)

I want to make more money.  I want to figure out a way to write and make money at it is a more accurate statement.  I love the idea of having ideas.  I think that there are voices in this world that need to be heard.  I also believe that there are a lot of voices speaking that need to shut up.  Thus, the new direction of my blog.  I'm actually going to try to post more often per week.  I think the perspective of the white male in his 30's is lost.  Every depiction of white guys in their 30's on tv and in the media is horribly cliche.  They are either idiots that party too hard.  Or they're Dads that are either stupid or overbearing and no one wants anything to do with them.  The guy that keeps his head down and works hard at his job, loves his family, and loves life seems to be lost in our society.  The douchebag wearing shiny shirts and complicated pants is not someone I want speaking for me or my generation.  I have a voice.  I am going to start speaking up a little bit.  There will be talk of sports, music with instruments, God, friends, family, college football, and maybe some politics.  I'm tired of all the noise without any substance to it.

Thank You Coach Brown

On January 4th, 2006, I saw something that I hadn't seen before.  I saw Texas win a national championship against an "unbeatable" team.  Texas played in and won the best college football game in recent history.  I am biased, I admit.  I remember sitting upstairs in the loft with my Dad, and my heart racing.  When Vince ran for the 10 yard touchdown to win that game, I didn't know what to do.  It was the culmination of coming all the way back from the dark times in Texas football.  We won't mention his name, but the guy that Mack Brown succeeded doesn't register as a former coach on my list of former coaches.  I remember hugging my Dad and being so elated that our team won the big one.  We both got to watch it and cheer together.  It was a huge moment.  At that moment all was right with the world.

I have been a Texas fan my whole life.  I spent Saturdays watching their games for a long time.  When Mack Brown was hired as head coach, I remember thinking, that it was an interesting decision.  I never knew how many great memories that Mack and his teams would give me.  I had a few questions early on in his career.  I think a lot of Texas fans did.  His success is unquestioned though.  At least 10 wins a season for 9 years in a row is going to be tough to duplicate.  Nobody knew when he was hired that he would be the next great Texas coach.  Darrell Royal set the standard pretty high.  Mack met that standard.  Some of the best players in Texas football history were guys that played for Mack.  The list is too numerous to mention.  I was always impressed with the guys that weren't 5 star recruits that became great players under Mack.  When Colt McCoy was named the starting qb his freshmen year, I thought, uh oh.  Colt was a 2A high school player.  They typically don't become the winningest qb's in the history of college football.  I know this had a lot do with Coach putting his trust in Colt.

In 2009 I met a woman named Christa.  I didn't know that she was going to turn my world upside down.  In one of our first conversations in email, she said that she had met Mack Brown and Colt McCoy.  I couldn't believe it.  She said that were both nice and pleasant to deal with at the Fiesta Bowl, unlike some former coaches from Ohio State that wore sweater vests on game day.  Christa found out I was a huge Texas fan and couldn't believe that I had never been to a game in Austin.  That October, Christa and I went to Austin, had a great trip, and went to a game.  I don't want to overhype it, but I was on the verge of tears leading up to game time.  I couldn't believe that I was in Austin watching my favorite team being coached by my favorite coach.  It was a dream come true to be sitting in the stands with the woman I love, watching Colt throw deep passes to Jordan Shipley.  It was surreal.

In another surreal moment, a little later in that season Texas beat Nebraska on a last second Justin Tucker field goal in the Big 12 championship, to put them in the national championship game.  A friend of ours, Gina Chappin, now Gina Lehe, worked for the Rose Bowl.  Christa contacted Gina and she bought tickets to see Texas play Alabama in the Rose Bowl.  The outcome didn't matter to me because the experience was one of the best of my life.  Besides DKR, the best place to watch a game in the country is The Rose Bowl.  Go if you get the chance.  My heart broke for Colt and Coach that night.  I still believe if Colt is healthy for all four quarters of that game, Texas would have won by two touchdowns.  Sometimes, life isn't fair.

October 16th 2010, Christa became my wife.  This was the greatest day of my life.  Christa put together a beautiful weekend for our family and friends.  We went through our ceremony and were going into the reception.  We walked in and were being congratulated by our friends and my Dad came and got me.  I was kind of annoyed, which i still feel bad about, he told me someone wanted to talk to me.  I knew we had ordered a Texas Longhorns themed groom's cake. What I didn't know was there was going to be a helmet sitting behind the cake.  I approached, and noticed writing on the Longhorns helmet.  I saw it, and immediately, tears came to my eyes.  It said, "Jarod and Christa, Hook Em, Mack Brown".  I turned around and asked Christa how she did this and she turned and pointed at Gina, who was crying because I was crying.  I went over and gave her a huge hug.  In that moment, that helmet became my most treasured possession, and it still is.  Both of my baby boys have had their newborn photos taken with that helmet.  I believe that Mack has seen both of those photos.

This year, another Longhorns dream came true.  In October, Christa and I took a trip to Dallas.  A bucket list item, that I never thought would come true, was checked off of my list.  We went to the Cotton Bowl to see the Texas/ou game (I never capitalize ou).  I didn't think I would ever have the chance in my life to go see this game in person.  The tickets are really hard to get.  Thankfully, we know Gina.  It was an incredible atmosphere, it was hot on that October day.  Texas won.  It was never in question.  I loved every minute of it.  I have that game on my dvr, and occasionally I turn it on just to remember.  I had a feeling that it would be Mack's last one.  I am proud that I got to see him win that one in person.  I'm glad that he got to win it with the style of football he loved playing.  Hard nosed defense, and a relentless running attack that wore out ou's defense by the time the fourth quarter came around.  There's nothing like hearing Texas Fight being played after a big win over them.  Thank you Coach for that memory.

Mack Brown has unknowingly played a huge role in my life.  The most impressive thing I've ever heard him say was after the Champ game in 2006, he told those guys to not let this football game be the only thing that defines you.  He told his guys he wanted them to go on and become great fathers, leaders, and citizens.  That is why I love Mack Brown.  He cares a lot about football, but he cares a lot more about life.  I hope I get the chance to meet him one day and thank him.  I would love to take to play a round of golf.  It would be on me.  I would never want that round to end.  Thank you Coach for everything.  Thank you for your class and dignity.  Thank you for doing it the right way.  Thank you for the years of great memories.  Thank you for taking a small moment out of your life and telling my wife and I to Hook Em.  We always will Coach.

Things that annoy me (through 2012)

1.  The news.
2.  The government.
3.  People that are stupid.
4.  People that won't move over to the right lane on the freeway when they are going slower than everyone else.  This one really gets my goat.  Just move over.  It's not an affront to you. You're going slower than me.  It's my choice to speed a little.  If I get a ticket, I will deal with the consequences. I don't need you to police me, I need you to move over or take a back road.
5.  The fact that our president thinks it's good idea to have john kerry be our secretary of state.
6.  Our president.
7.  Talking for the sake of talking.  If you don't have something to say, keep your mouth shut.  I don't care about the quantity of words you speak, I care about the quality.
8.  People who think the government has their best interest in mind, i.e. healthcare.  I really hope it all works out.  I just don't see a way that it will.
9.  Communism.  Not everybody is the same.  There are people that achieve more and work harder than other people.  I shouldn't be entitled to that guy's stuff because he's richer than me.  I don't respect people that don't want better for than themselves.  I understand that some people need help.  Not everyone that has their hand out right now, needs help.  Some of them just need to get off their asses and go look for work.  It may not be a great job, but at least you'll feel good about getting to do some work.
10. The irs.  All we need is a national sales tax.  Its that simple.  If it doesn't come in, then you don't have it to spend.  If we have a national sales tax on goods and services, then everyone is truly paying their fair share.  If I have more money in my paycheck, I will spend more money.  It's a simple solution.
11. Texas going 8-4 which inevitably leads to the conversation about firing Mack Brown.  2013 has got  to be a great year.  I think Coach retires either way.  I hope he goes out with another national championship under his belt.
12.  Jerry Jones
13.  Weird smells
14.  The fact that Breaking Bad only has 8 more episodes.  That's a great show and I don't want it to end.  Ever.
15.  Celebrities that think I need to hear about their thoughts on gun control.  Shut up and act or sing or whatever it is you do that you think is more important than it really is.
16.  That the company Apple isn't doing their best anymore.  The podcast app is really disappointing.
17.  My little garage needs to be organized and I don't want to do it.

That about sums it up for this year.  Check back in 2013 because I don't think a whole lot is going to change other than my little garage will get organized.  If you're one of my liberal friends this isn't a dialogue.  I don't care about whatever comment you have.  These are my opinions and will NOT be discussing any of them with you.

One Year?

My baby boy is turning one tomorrow.  It's such cliche to say the time has flown by, but that is exactly what it's done.  I remember being scared as Christa was having a hard time during labor, not knowing how best to console her.  She was such fighter.  She muscled her way through the last part of labor in order to not have to go into surgery to get Caleb out.  He never dropped, just stayed right where he was the whole time.  We had to have him in the NICU for 24 hours.  Just as a precaution.  If your baby is born with a fever, they insist on keeping him in the NICU to make sure infection doesn't set in.  The first day was rough for my wife.  She couldn't go see Caleb because she was not feeling well enough to go too far without getting dizzy and lightheaded.  It's tough when all your wife wants to do is see her new little baby, and she can't because of other circumstances.  She eventually got to see Caleb and she was already in love with him.  So was I.  We took him to our room and started trying to figure out how to be parents.  He is a lot of responsibility.  The first car ride home, the first feeding without help, the first night without much sleep, the first everything.  I didn't know if I was ever going to figure out how to be a Dad, honestly, I'm pretty sure I still haven't figured it out.  As he has grown, he is still a lot of responsibility, but he doesn't seem as fragile as he was when we first brought him home.  I was as scared as I have ever been of anything, those first few weeks.  Walking down the stairs with him took on a whole new meaning, as someone who has a little bit of a clumsy streak.  My first instinct is to always protect him from everyone and everything, but that's not what a good Dad does.  You have to slowly start the process of letting him do things on his own.  Good men never become good men because they have total protection for everyone and everything.  Good men become good men because they face the world head on and don't give in to temptation, or are afraid the world is out to get them.  Striking the balance between protecting and letting him start having independence is something I am sure that I am going to have a hard time doing every year from now on.  I have to trust that God is on our side, and I have gained enough practical experience from my parents and family/friends who have raised or are in the process of raising kids, to help Caleb become a godly, good man that shows respect.
Caleb is so sweet and funny.  He is growing at a rate that I am sure is faster than any other baby ever.  He makes me laugh a lot.  He is always happy to see me when I come home, or get him up from being asleep.  I forget about a lot of other things when I get home to him.  I love him more than any person on this planet besides his Mom.  It's been such fast year.  Happy Birthday Caleb.

Purposeless...Is that a word?

So on Monday of last week, I received a visitor to my place of business.  Since we are supervised by the USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service, we will have guys come out on what is called a "supervision" trip.  We don't need much supervision.  We have a small amount of business compared to other agencies.  My boss, Dan and I, are the only licensed inspectors in Az.  Some offices have 10 to 15 inspectors.  Our market is small, we don't inspect a huge variety of grain.  Basically Durum wheat, Barley, Corn, and Sorghum.  And there typically isn't much of the last three.  Our customers never complain about their grades when their grain gets to the ports.  The buyers that they are selling to know that our grades are correct.  The one time there was an issue, it was a machine's software glitch that was the problem, not our ability to grade grain.  I said all of that to say this,  I know what I'm doing.  I know that we have to be accountable.  If my customers don't complain about my grades, why does a government guy need to be out here trying to catch me doing something wrong?  Why do they think that we are trying to pull the wool over their eyes.  What benefit is it to us to try to get away with something, when in the end our customers are getting the correct grades?  We know that the travel budgets are tight.  We know that there are agencies with way bigger problems than our agency has.  Why do I have to sit in my office staring at a guy trying to catch me doing something wrong?  We talked about everything we needed to talk about on Monday in the first hour and half he was here.  So why did he stay until Thursday?  I'll tell you why.  The government doesn't trust us.  No part of our government trusts us to take care of ourselves.  We have given over our rights.  This is a small case of government overrunning us.  It's not a big deal.  This guy showed up unannounced. They don't have the courtesy to give us a call and let us know they'll be out here.  If I wanted to go visit their office, I would have to call.  They wouldn't just let me in.  But because they're with the government, we have to just do what they say.  It sucks.  There's nothing we can do about it.  I'll just complain on my blog.  I am hoping somehow they read it.  I think it sucks the way you guys do business.  Stop fighting me, help me give better customer service.  Without our customers, we don't make money, without our customers you don't get user's fees, without user's fees, you don't have jobs.

Music to my ears

So I was watching Say Anything the other night with my wife, I haven't actually seen that movie other than the part where Lloyd is holding up the boom box playing the Peter Gabriel song "in your eyes".  I like the words to the song.  My problem with the song is, it is oversynthesized.  I don't understand the fascination we had back in the 80's to play as many electrified instruments as we did.  A little synthesizer goes a long way.  I would never build an entire song out of synthesized sounds.  There is nothing better than a nice acoustic guitar being played with little to no effects.  Don't even get me started on fake drums. I want to become a music producer so that I can put music back into music.  A real piano sounds better than anything korg or roland can come up with.  I wonder how many great songs there would be out there if people actually played them with real musical instruments?  That is why, as I have gotten older, I have gained an appreciation for the singer/songwriter.  People who write their own songs and play their own songs. http://youtu.be/VOCXKfatA6w  this is an example of what I am talking about.  A great song written and performed by the same guys.  I also hate autotune.  People who can't sing shouldn't be allowed pass themeselves off as singers.

Exercising Freedom...Reluctantly

So I voted in the Republican primary today.  We have incredible rights in our country.  We are very fortunate to be able to vote for whoever we think will be a good leader.  I want to thank every person that fought a died for the freedom to choose.  I won't tell you who I voted for because I can't believe that these are the only choices we have.

I am tired of voting for old white men that used to be senators or governors.  I want to vote for a guy that is about 40, has a couple of kids that are between the ages of 13 and 16, someone who runs a successful small business, that understands that you can't spend money at such an alarming pace that it doesn't match what is coming in.  I want to vote for a guy that lives in the real world.  Someone that has bought a house that was short sold or foreclosed on and has to jump through hoops to buy it.  Someone who drives a car that I could buy.  Someone that has a pickup truck to help his friends move.  Someone that will stop on the highway if my wife has a flat tire, and will change it for her without worrying if his hands get dirty.
Someone that goes to a college football game because he loves college football and doesn't see it as a good place to get some face time on national tv.  Someone who knows what it's like to live on a budget.
Someone who has taken a road trip with a few of his buddies in the last 5 years.  Someone who plays a muni and not the nicest, most exclusive golf courses that I couldn't play without an amazing hook up.  Someone who knows what it's like to come home and have to take a shower because he worked so hard during the day that he sweated through his t shirt.  Someone who has stacked hay bales.  Someone who had to be the first one to work because he was the only one with a key besides the boss.  Someone that has prayed for his friends and family to know who Jesus is.  Someone that cried during episodes of Friday Night Lights.  I want someone who has country danced with his wife at a place like Greasewood Flats.
I want someone who sings along with George, or the Eagles, or Skynyrd, and CCR.  I want someone who knows that there are people who need to be taken care of, but also knows that people need to figure out how to work if their bodies allow them to.  I want someone that I would trust to take my son fishing.  I want someone that knows what it's like to have a pair of fishing shoes that you wear to stand in the river to fish.  I want someone that doesn't believe he should be president.

That's what I want.  I am hoping that someday I will have this guy to vote for.  I know I don't right now.