Atom FeedArchive of May 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Isn’t that always the case?
My wife and I bought a bird book —A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America a couple of years ago. My girls also liked to look at it and occasionally would wander off with it. Thus when it disappeared last Fall I presumed they had "put it somewhere" which had turned into "never to be found". One plausible explanation was that it wound up mixed with the recycling and went out with that months ago. We've talked of replacing it to which Mary Lou always replies "You know as soon as we buy one, we'll find the old one."Knowing she's missed having it, particularly in the Winter, I decided to buy her (OK, us) a new one for Mother's Day. Being slow to get around to ordering it, and being unwilling to spend $10 to have it shipped before last weekend —which she agrees with for the record, it came yesterday.
Being the creative guy I am, I not only bought the replacement book, but I also bought The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. So now we have two very good bird books.
I got a delivery notice from TrackThis so I called to see if she had gotten the mail. She had, but didn't see the box which was on the front porch. After retrieving and opening it she was very happy and added "You know, now we'll find the old one you know." Yeah, yeah, whatever.
My phone rings an hour later. It's my wife. She's laughing hysterically. She finally calms down enough to tell me —you guessed it, she found the original book! It was in a magazine bin not more than 2 feet from where the book was previously located. My response was simply "Good, now you've got two." She's OK with that as she said we can just put the old one in the car.
And just to rub some more salt into the wound for me, while looking for the book links above I find there is also a newer Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Sixth Edition available. I just can't win. May 13, 2010 @ 12:59 pm | Category: Brainwork
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Vending Machine Challenge!
Update below the vending machine…Are you a hearty soul? Are you capable of completing The Vending Machine Challenge!? Personally I can't imagine even trying it. But I've got $10 ($50 total) riding on a coworker that started an attempt at 9am this morning.
So what do you have to do to win the bet? Eat one of each item, left to right, top to bottom (less the gum and hard-candy row at the bottom). This amounts to 35-items in 8-hours, that’s more than 1-item every 15-minutes.
He's about 4 hours in and is currently eating a bag of Act II Butter Microwave Popcorn at the beginning of row 3. Basically he's got 4 more hours to eat 4 more rows. I've pegged him to give up at row 4, item 4 Jack Link's Beef Jerky.
I'll update this with the outcome and some statistics tomorrow. Until then, here's what he's up against. :)
So Eric started with a fury and did well with the first nine items. But then there was the Andy Capp Hot Fries. Those nearly proved to be his undoing shortly after 11am and only a mere two hours into the challenge. Eric managed to keep it all down, but took a long break to recover. Then is was to the popcorn that he was hoping to get through by 11am and then take a break:
Eric plowed on through the afternoon, but it was becoming increasingly clear there was very little chance he would make it to the end of the challenge by the 5pm deadline. And so it was that he made it through the Welch's Fruit Snacks just before 5pm, well short of the end of the machine.
Being Eric didn't make it to the end, there was no reimbursement for his vending costs ($4.50), nor would there be a $50 prize. But there was a consolation prize for him this morning…more Hot Fries and Fruit Snacks!
And a few statistics for you…
| Total Calories: | 4562 |
|---|---|
| Fat Calories: | 4562 |
| Total Fat: | 230g 353% RDA |
| Cholesterol: | 4mg 4% RDA |
| Salt (NaCl): | 6489mg 244.5% RDA |
| Carbohydrates: | 635g 200% RDA |
| Fiber: | 39g 130% RDA |
| Sugar: | 105g |
| Protein: | 68.5 |
And so it is, Vending Machine - 1, Man - 0
But for how long? We have another hearty soul who claims they will take up the challenge in a couple of weeks. May 11, 2010 @ 12:53 pm | Category: Brainwork
