Living in the Scoot Utopia

I completely support the rights of people to peacefully protest.

Here is a picture of people in Brazil protesting a visit by Bush to discuss ethanol production.

When protesting perceived US imperialism, I have no problem with people in other countries burning our flag as a means of expressing their anger.

But can't they at least respect us enough to get the colors and patterns right? Or at least close?

Come on, I've seen third graders color far more accurate representations of our flag.

If I were going to burn your county's flag, I'd at least make sure I get the basic design right.

Show some respect. :)

Posted by ScooterJ at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The following lists are inspired by a combination of this post and one of my favorite TV shows, Monk.

The Top Five Things That Most People Like But That I Find Disgusting

5.  Fruit, especially the flavors banana, pear, peach, strawberry, and pineapple.
4.  Milk. Cottage cheese is especially revolting, and orange cheese is pretty bad too. (I don't particularly care for ice cream, either, but will eat chocolate if I have to.)
3.  Cola, any brand. Dr. Pepper/Mr. Pibb also revolts me, so does Mountain Dew.
2.  Condiments, especially...
1.  Pickles! (BLECH.)

My Top Five Fears

5.  Heights. Simply using a stepladder to change a light bulb has put me into a panic. (But I am perfectly at ease in tall buildings.)
4.  Elevators. I have had a nightmare about an elevator malfunction nearly every night for at least 15 years. When possible I try to avoid using them for any climb/descent of 6 stories or less.
3.  Lightning. I've gotten too close to this random and indiscriminate killer. Getting struck is my only major fear about any storm.
2.  Flying. Any time I fly anywhere I have no anticipation about what I will do after I get to where I'm going, as I generally assume I will not survive to reach my destination.
1.  Spiders! I respect them and admire their webs in their natural environment (which I have extended to include basements), but I would kill each and every one of them that enters my home if I only could stand to get close enough to squash/spray/vacuum them.

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I just wanted to throw out a quick plug for my friend Ken's Daily Top Ten List. The topics and entries are visitor-submitted and voted on by the visitors too. There's a new topic every day. The more people that participate, the better and funnier the lists. Check it out!.

Posted by ScooterJ at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Earlier this year I set myself a few goals for 2007. Today I received official notification that the first one of those goals has been met.

• To break the elusive 30-mile barrier with a long walk somewhere in the metro area.
  
• To weigh 20 pounds less on December 31 than I do on January 1.
  
• To have an HbA1c blood test result of 5.9, which would essentially be diabetes-free.
  
• To visit 50 new bars while still achieving the above two goals. ;)
  
• To throughly clean my place sometime this spring, and clean out my damn closet.
  

HbA1c is a blood test that measures the amount of glucose bound to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells. Since red blood cells live about 90 days, it gives an accurate overall picture of how well your body processes sugar.

A normal HbA1c reading, meaning non-diabetic, is 3.0 to 6.0. Mine have always been in the 6.1 to 6.4 range for the last two years. But today I received my lab results from my checkup this past Monday and my latest read is 5.8! This means that for the past 3 months my body has been processing sugar as well as a non-diabetic person.

It's taken a lot of work, resisting carb-rich foods and burning an average of 450 caolories a day on the treadmill, but I believe I've found a pace and balance that I can maintain to become even more healthy and stay that way.

Now if I can just find someonee to clean my home. :)

Posted by ScooterJ at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I try to make it a point to always carry my digital camera with me since I never know when I'm going to see something cool that I'll want to take a picture of.

This morning I left for work at 6:30 and I left my digital camera at home. Wouldn't you know it, about 300 feet later I saw something I wanted to take a picture of.

There's a power plant in the distance whose smokestack I can see. This morning it was so freaking cold outside that the steam from the smokestack was getting cold and heavy and sinking back to the ground, making a weird loop shape.

Since I didn't have my camera, here's my attempt to recreate the scene in Photoshop.

Posted by ScooterJ at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is a bad idea to eat a plateful of buffalo hot wings and an entire bowl of popcorn in the same sitting.

You'll pay for it about 48 hours later.

That is all.

Posted by ScooterJ at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A follow-up to an earlier post, here's a few more borderline OCD habits of mine that I have noticed.

On elevators:

• I push elevator buttons only with my knuckles. (With the exception of vending machine buttons, which I press only with the middle fingertip of my right hand, all other buttons I press normally.)
  
• If I am on the elevator with other people and they get off before it reaches my floor, I experience an uncontrollable cough as the door is closing when the last person steps off.
  

On stairs:

• I must begin any flight of stairs with my right foot. If I begin on my left foot, I subconsciously tap the next landing twice with my right foot.
  

On beverages:

• If I am drinking from a paper cup, I rotate the cup so that the seam is directly opposite from my mouth.
  
• If I am drinking from a glass made of actual glass, I have to use a straw. This is non-negotiable.
  
• I flick sweetener packets 4 times with the middle finger of my right hand before opening them.
  

On food:

• Pizza should be eaten in a consecutive, counter-clockwise sequence.
  
• Rice and fish should be eaten with a small fork, everything else with a large fork.
  
• I will not drink milk and will not eat ice cream. I love milkshakes.
  

Hopefully not too much more to come! :)

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As of about an hour ago....

Out with the old...

And In with the new...

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've never been a believer in setting New Year's resolutions. There are too many factors and influences that are either outside one's control or totally unexpected that come up and take life in whole new directions. After all if anyone told me a year ago that in 2006 I'd make a new good friend, walk nearly 30 miles across Kansas City, visit 175 new bars by the end of the year, or start singing karaoke reegularly, I'd have laughed and said they were nuts. Yet all of those things and more happened that I never imagined in any way likely. Because of that, I don't think of it as natural to create a list of required activities to do throughout the year. Things can quickly change that makes such resolutions either irrelevant or unattainable.

Still, that doesn't mean I can't set a few reasonable goals for myself for this year. Goals such as:

• To break the elusive 30-mile barrier with a long walk somewhere in the metro area.
  
• To weigh 20 pounds less on December 31 than I do on January 1.
  
• To have an HbA1c blood test result of 5.9, which would essentially be diabetes-free.
  
• To visit 50 new bars while still achieving the above two goals. ;)
  
• To throughly clean my place sometime this spring, and clean out my damn closet.
  

Of all of these, I expect the last goal will be the most difficult. :)

What are your goals for '07?

Posted by ScooterJ at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, one of my busiest Christmases ever has drawn to a close. Over the past few days I've attended five Christmas dinners and six gift exchanges and I now need a holiday from the holidays. :)

My thanks to all of you I have dined with the past week, and my thanks to all of you for all the great gifts! Including...

• Superman II on DVD, both the original cut and the new Richard Donner cut
  
• Barnes & Noble gift card
  
• Dial-an-Excuse
  
• Karaoke Party Revolution for the PS2
  
• Kansas City, Then And Now 2
  
• iMotion (portable desktop sound system for my iPod)
  
• A plaque for my office
  
• A decision-wheel desk toy
  
• An iFish
  
• An assortment of candies (while I'll take to work since they're bad for me :) )
  
• 2 shirts
  
• 3 pairs of jeans
  
• A shower cleaning system (I guess it makes me old that I'm excited about this)
  
• The latest book in the Bathroom Reader series
  
• A coffee grinder
  
• A tic-tac-toe drinking game
  
• A cigar encyclopedia
  
• A framed Three Stooges lithograph
  
• An original It Came from Outer Space movie poster
  
• Three vintage Kansas City postcards (postmarked 1912-1913)
  
• Two vintage sci-fi magazines, one from 1939 and one from 1935
  

I understand that Ken's kids have something for me too so I offer them pre-thanks as well. :)

Now to try to get some rest before New Year's Eve!

Posted by ScooterJ at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)