Danger

Have you ever daydreamed about living life a completely different way than you are right now? That question is ridiculously rhetorical as I suspect everyone does from time to time. The sad sinful wordly part of me occasionally wishes I could just be bad. I don’t want to always be bad, just spend a night or a weekend throwing caution to the wind and acting on every impulse.

There is one characteristic that a portion of me wishes I could possess. It isn’t always a bad thing, but can be, that characteristic is of course: dangerous. If I could live life over again, I think I would be a little more dangerous. I know I could probably change now, but most likely will not. In fact, I am tremendously far from dangerous. I am G rated, I am cautious, I am responsible… I am the battle equivalent of a Nerf gun.

Think about most of the famous men through history or even in movies. They are passionate, charismatic, confident, but I also think they are dangerous. Sure dangerous could be a bad thing when you consider someone to be reckless or unstable, but most often, having an appropriate amount of danger in a man’s personality is desirable. It is the danger that makes them exciting, that shows their strength, that makes them protective. It is the danger that makes a guy a man.

Part of me thinks a man that is dangerous is a man I wouldn’t want to mess with because he is willing take whatever action necessary to protect himself and those around him, but that isn’t always the case. I man can be passive and dangerous. I would say Gandhi was dangerous. He was strong willed and a threat to those in power. Civil disobedience certainly requires a significant amount of risk. I also think a man of integrity is a dangerous man. He is willing to stand for what he knows to be right and honorable regardless of consequence.

I think my life is a little too fluffy. The risks are managed too much. That is why I like to do some crazy things from time to time such as building a cannon. Danger is certainly something I hope to instill in Wes as he grows up. If he is the right amount of dangerous when he grows up, then I would have done my job as a father. In fact, adventure is by far the most exciting thing I look forward to in having a son. I can’t wait to take him out into the woods, down a river, or up a mountain. I want him to step into the batter’s box and not be afraid of getting hit by the ball. I want him to skate as hard as he can into the corner for a puck without worrying about the size of his opponent skating against him. I want his team mates to think he is crazy and put him out there for that very reason. I want the other team to be afraid when he is out there, to move back toward the fence, or have to double cover him. I want poker players to be afraid to sit to his right. Ok, so these are things I want for myself, but don’t know if I will achieve them. I do want to be dangerous. Now I just need to figure out how to implement that plan.

Thank you for reading.

Covering the C’s

I’ve been thinking all week about what to post for C post. A number of things have popped in my head, but nothing specifically worth a full post. This will therefore be a Combination of Cuneiform Collectively Covering C’s.

C is for Challenge

Work around our office can at times be hard and stressful, but many other times are just exciting and fun. It is fun in examples such as yesterday when my boss made a minor joke about an Excel model being a little weird because the newly hired employee who sent it out was Canadian. My immediate response was “wait… he’s Canadian!? And we hired him!?” She just about fell out of her chair laughing, and then called him to make fun of his Canadian descent. It gets exciting when the CFO is around asking for odd analyses out of the blue with very quick deadlines. 2 days ago, I went into my boss’s office for a video conference with the CFO to discuss a topic. I brought my computer as a resource, and before we got into that topic, the CFO asked if I knew the other reason I was on the conference. He wanted an analysis done comparing the results of 2 different Excel models and my boss had previously assured him that I could rattle that out in under 10 mins. He looked at me and said “it is 9:21, you have until 9:30. Go.” I looked at my boss and asked if I should go back to my office or stick around. She thought I should just stay there and rattle through it and be there for the beginning of the discussion of the primary topic. I started working like a mad man, and though the task was not overly challenging, it is tough to do it in that time frame and check for accuracy before sending it off. At 9:30, the CFO stopped the conversation and said “time’s up.” I replied “it is in your inbox.” Good challenge, good fun.

C is for Chicken

Have you ever purchased food from the hot meal counter near the deli at a Wal-Mart? If you haven’t, you should make a special trip, right now. They have some roasted chicken, miscellaneous potato choices, popcorn chicken, and wings. All of these items are pretty good, but fail miserably in comparison to the boneless BBQ chicken kickers. These little guys are an absolute delight. I discovered them in college with my roommates when they could be purchased for 4.50 a pound, though the price is now up to 7.00 per pound, it is still completely worth it. You only need just over a half pound and they are complimented well by a quarter pound of potato wedges. You seriously must give these a try, and more than once because they taste better each time you get them as long as they haven’t been sitting out for too long. Despite the fact that it is a 20 min drive to the closest Wal-Mart, I still blow a full lunch break almost once a week to drive out there and get these delectable treats. I even pass a chick-fil-a on the way. Yes they are that good, and are a pretty quality piece of chicken I might add. The potato wedges aren’t nearly as good as chick-fil-a waffle fries, but are none the less very decent. Go get some right now.

C is for Cannibalism is the Cure

I’ve had this song stuck in my head all day by Get Set Go. If you have never heard of Get Set Go, I don’t necessarily recommend them. At times they can be rather vulgar and even blasphemous, but their music is very catchy and fun. They have some wonderful melodies and song arrangements, almost all of which are very bouncy and fun, but set to dismal lyrics. That is basically their trademark. One of their more popular songs you may have heard of is I Hate Everyone which of course fun and catchy, but singing about bad or annoying situations leading the singer to the conclusion that he hates every person in the world. Cannibalism is the Cure of course suggests that the way to cure the problems in our society would be to “eat them all.” If you are bold enough to go out and listen to some of their songs, I also recommend Gotta Getta Job.

Thank you for reading.

B is for Brown

I have decided after my last post to make my way through the alphabet with titles. I know I am stealing that idea from Sue Grafton books (no I do not read Sue Grafton books), but I think that may inspire me to write about some odd topics.

I went with B is for Brown because that is the only color surface my ball hit when playing golf this past week. The fairways were narrow, and woods were mighty; at least they were mighty before I nearly cracked them in half with my crazed shots. I have also been paying some more Tiger Woods golf which just gets to be more and more awesome. Here is the gist of it: I am almost ready to take on Tiger Woods, but don’t stand a chance against Liz’s family. I played 18 holes on the Wii 8 under par, but Liz’s Uncle Gary and I shot a sad 24 over. The family tournament at Running Deer Lodge went well. I played a decent game, but never really found my swing. We finished 2 over par in the wet conditions which landed us 5th out of 17 teams. I thought my game might come back together, so I went out with Liz’s family. I thought for a moment that they would never invite me back to play, but I was later assured they would gladly have me out again to play for money. It was ugly, but the weather was absolutely beautiful and the fun was outstanding. I will save you details since well over 50% of my readership is Liz’s family, but I will say I nearly fell out of the cart on many occasions from laughter, crazy driving, and pranking the other team.

I am sadly back to work now after 5 days off. I only had to work a half day yesterday, but it went by so slowly. I was only in for like 40 minutes and started checking the clock to see how close I was to going home. Today has been a bit better, but it is tough to sit in an office on such a beautiful day knowing most of Liz’s family is still enjoying their vacation. I am actually starting to think about going back to Beaverdale for the weekend, but I’m going to hold out and hope to be enticed to come back by promises of tennis and sausage and peppers.

I suppose I should get back to work.

Thanks for reading.