Word Of The Day

From time to time I am going to try and post words that I think everyone should know and use. Like manties (male panties) and jorts (jean shorts) the word of the day is

Manscaping - is a metrosexual term that refers to when a male performs maintenance on his body.

It is a synonym of grooming. Please spread the word.

Man Pole, I mean Man Poll

This is a survey for men. I appologize in advance to all my beautiful female readers, and want to let you know that you may still post your opinion on this controversial topic. Just know the question was intended for men.

I am curious as to how many people actually use the fly in their pants. When I am going number 1, i lower my clothing to go. I know the purpose of the zipper, and if I utilized the zipper more, I realize that I could go without undoing my belt/button/etc. In theory its a sweet concept. little trap door for going number 1. However, I dont think that very many men use only the zipper for exclusive access to that area. I hypothesize that a majority of males, like myself, open the button to their pants and stretch their clothing to go number 1 when standing. Maybe I am in the minority, I dont really know.

Updated: Is it just me

I have heard other people do this, and its appropriate that I was reminded of it in a post regarding grammar/pronounciation errors. The phrase is "might as well." I have seen others write minus well. I dont know for sure, but i think this is wrong. Has anyone else ever seen this? If so, are people using it as a shorter way of typing something? Like lol? Thats the only thing i can think of because I dont think that minus well means the same thing as "might as well." I understand that when dictated its nearly the same, but it's not a contraction. Thoughts?

The only thing I can find on the internet is this.

Is it just me...

I am wondering why some people pronounce the word across incorrectly. They add a "t" to the end of it and say acrost. I want to know why this happens. I sort of hate it. I have noticed similiar mistakes on other words, like idear instead of just idea. And I dont think its the result of an accent, its just a case of people saying the wrong thing. I also want to know if the people who say these words this way know they are doing it. And if so, is it because of how they think it is spelled? I am in the dark here, perhaps there is a good reason why people say these words differently than I do.

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I wrote a blog entry yesterday and it was real long. And by real long I mean boring and not funny. I was a little ticked off by something that happened to a guy I work with and so I wrote about it. But then I never posted it because I didnt think anyone would enjoy reading about it. The moral of the story is my friend got a parking ticket for a violation he didnt commit. After going to court, the judge ruled against him. It was pretty much his word vs. the meter monitor person who wrote the ticket. They said he was parked in the zone for longer than 2 hours. I liek justice, and I am sad to say that it was not served in this case. And to make things worse, instead of just paying the fine he also had to pay court costs and waste his vacation time at work. This might not sound like an original story (or exciting) but I get frustrated with our legal system when it fails. He is a hardworking American citizen, wrongly convicted of a crime and it makes me angry. I will stop there [you can see why i didnt post my 3 page write up of the circumstances.]

The one thing the post that never was did have was an awesome link, so I will include that here just for fun.

something that was on my mind

driving home from work yesterday there was more than an average amount of traffic. it was pretty much stop and go most of the way home along the interstate. the traffic report that i heard on the radio failed to mention any delays on this particular road so i was curious as to the cause of the delays. keep in mind that as a highway engineer i often find myself critical of roadways and their design, but more often i am frustrated by the level of driver performance that i observe.

so to get back to the traffic, it had been a few miles (i dont know, maybe 5 or so) and there was still no evidence of any incident that was causing the delay. i grew suspicious that the backup was caused by the sun. yes, you heard correctly. the big ball of fire far away in the sky was ruining my commute home.

the problem is that when it is setting it shines directly into drivers eyes headed west. i dont know what the best way to deal with this problem is. my top suggestions include sunglasses, eye black, hats or visors [which are most often built to cars]. but i find it a little bit funny how people react.

imagine, if you will, that you are driving. you enter intense sunlight and are temporarily blinded by the sun. fearful that you might hit something that you cant see, you slam on the brakes and come to an immediate stop. this is an interstate highway and the speed limit is 65 mph. now you expect the person behind you, who cant see anything, to see you and stop in time?

i am not proposing a better solution, just cracking up because everytime i see this phenomenon occur, i think to myself that those drivers think they are being safe by coming to an immediate stop with total disregard for the driver behind them who cant see a thing and is approaching them at full speed.

I love Pirates

For those of you who don't know, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day!

For more info about today:

Talk Like a Pirate Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Fun links to help you celebrate the day:

t' talk like a gentleman o' fortune click here
english t' shipmate translator

Before and After Answers

Here are the answers, which are shown in white text:

easy (carne):
center field goal
sand box lunch
bed time line
pig tail light

medium (lancha a motor):
throwing copper head
butter fly paper
snow board walk
guitar tab key

difficult (acera):
flying elbow macaroni
crash Matt stairs
lamp post age
hand Bag(h) dad

Before and After

I sort of love thinking of before and after phrases like the ones used on Wheel of Fortune. See if you can solve these (the difficulty levels are in italics, followed by the name if it were made by starbucks.) To not ruin it for everyone, please post how many you got but not the answers. Wait until the end of the day tomorrow to start posting your answers. I think an expert B&A'er should get all of these in 5 minutes or less without using the internet...

easy (carne):
center - goal
sand - lunch
bed - line
pig - light

medium (lancha a motor):
throwing - head
butter - paper
snow - walk
guitar - key

difficult (acera):
flying - macaroni
crash - stairs
lamp - age
hand - dad

What ever happened to hard work?

I was reading this story on espn.com and was shocked at how dumb some people are. I am assuming his action was to try and win the starting job. I think he didn't realize that his victim would be watching it happen (and most likely doing what he could to stop the attack) and he would face criminal charges. People can be so stupid.

Monday Morning QB

1st-10 NYG34, 3:51 D. Rhodes rushed left for 6 yard loss
Timeout #1 by NYG at 03:45
2nd-16, NYG40 3:45 D. Rhodes rushed to the left for 3 yard gain
Timeout #2 by NYG at 03:38
3rd-13, NYG37 3:38 P. Manning passed to D. Clark down the middle for 14 yard gain
1st-10, NYG23 3:01 D. Rhodes rushed to the right for 6 yard gain
Timeout #3 by NYG at 02:43
2nd-4, NYG17 2:43 D. Rhodes rushed to the left for 2 yard gain
3rd-2, NYG15 2:00 J. Addai rushed to the right for no gain
4th-2, NYG15 1:16 A. Vinatieri kicked a 32-yard field goal
Indianapolis - 1:12 IND kicked off, C. Morton returned kickoff for 16 yards
1st-10, NYG23 1:12 E. Manning incomplete pass down the middle
2nd-10, NYG23 1:06 E. Manning passed to J. Shockey to the right for 12 yard gain
1st-10, NYG35 0:57 E. Manning passed to A. Toomer to the right for 16 yard gain
1st-10, IND49 0:30 NYG committed 5 yard penalty
1st-15, NYG46 0:17 E. Manning incomplete pass to the left

I do not know NFL rules, but when watching the game last night I was pretty sure the Giants botched it. After IND gets a first down at on the play at 3:38 they dont call their last timeout. I am ok with that. But then on first down the Colts run for 6 yards. The play starts at 3:01. I dont know how long a 6 yard run takes but i will assume it wasnt more than 6 seconds (since thats how long the first play listed above took). That means the first down play ended at 2:55 and they didnt take a timeout until 02:43. At which point the Colts run a second down play and then let the play clock take them to the 2 minute warning. If the Giants took their timeout immediately after the first down play, the Colts would have had to run a third down play before the 2 minute warning. Then they kick a FG on the first play after the 2:00 warning. Then the Giants get the ball back with something like 1:54 left, not 1:12.

I thought this was the case last night, but I wasnt sure. So i checked the play by play and I still think that I am correct. How are NFL coaches making these mistakes?

Weekend Recap

I went camping for the first time at Assateague Island with Morgan, Ashley and Kyle and had a great time. Then Morgan and I stopped in Salisbury and visited Kenny and Amanda. We got ice cream which was very good. From the picture, can you guess what my new favorite topping is?

Innocent until proven guilty?

I saw this in the Washington Post and I have not decided how I feel about it. Apparently a high school football stud named Pat Lazear is accused of robbing a smoothie store [doubt it was the one described here since there are so few but not for long] and was forced to finish his junior year of high school from home. Then the county had him transfer to another school where he is continuing to play football.

I understand why this is newsworthy, but I dont think that I have a problem with it. I assume that he is innocent of those charges until he has a trial and proven guilty. Until that happens, I dont see why he cant continue a normal life for his last year of high school. It says his trial begins Nov. 29, which I assume will be after the high school football season.

I do think its sort of cheap for his new school. The article indicates he is such an impact player that he immediately makes his new school a possible playoff contender. Obviously they welcome him with open arms and claim to have given him a new clean slate. But I wonder how this situation would be different if he didnt play football. I also dont know if it is standard to re-assign students to different high schools because of pending legal trials. The article quoted a coach from another county as saying that a player with this off the field trouble would never have this opportunity in his county.

I also think its strange that he is taking english through BYU and trying to graduate in December. It seems more and more like this half year of school is completely for the football and not the education. And the argument can be made that by playing football he can try and get a scholarship. And while that is true, I dont feel like his intention of going to college is to further his education as much as it is to play bigtime D-1 football. But then again, I cant blame the guy. I do respect those college programs that lost interest. I know if I were running a college program I would probably avoid student-athletes with off the field issues.

One other random note that I found especially entertaining is that he has to wear an ankle monitor at all times, even on the field.

I dont mind that he is being allowed to play, even if it is only to play football. What I do mind is that I get a sense of a lack of responsibility being taken. Young adults (in this case an athlete) want to take no responsibility for their actions. He mentions having a curfew and not being able to do what he wants and how it "sucks". Well that curfew was put in place because of his actions. I do not love that the thought of him being allowed to do whatever he wants because he is a star football player is being reinforced already. It happens to celebrities and other star athletes and its annoying. But now high school athletes are getting special treatment and being made to think that is how it is supposed to go. I think there becomes a point where everyone needs to take responsibility for what they did. Having said all that, this guy might be different. I hope he takes advantage of this opportunity and never looks back.

dunkin donuts review

i want to take a second to provide an evaluation of a product that has a catchy jingle. lunch is over... dinner seems so very far away [i might have gotten it wrong, it doesnt matter.] anyways, based on that song, and my love for blended fruit beverages , i strolled into DD after lunch a few weeks ago. it is less than a block away right outside my building. and i have always been satisfied with all of the other food choices i have had at DD so i figured why not. big mistake.

my favorite part of smoothies is the fruit combined with the blended ice. it can be a healthy refreshing delicious treat. i must confess that while smoothies are my favorite, i also very much enjoy Icee's and have been know to sip on other forms of slurpies aswell. so anyways, at double D they have three flavor options. i dont recall them exactly, but i think it was something like strawberry banana, berry, and mango. i might have made those up, but it doesnt matter. i order the strawberry banana (aka the jamaican jammer) and because it was 100 degrees outside and i was especially thirsty, i went nuts and ordered a large.

i didnt actually ask for a large. the lady taking my order mumbled something after i indicated my choice of flavor to which she responded with a mumble. i couldnt really tell what she was asking but i confess i did say yes and my guess was that she probably asked if i wanted a large. so i get a large. you'd of thought i was at seven11 because i got a gigaGulp. i see the lady grab the keg looking container and haul it towards the back of the store. she does that and scoops some red looking syrup stuff into my barrel. it looked like the fruit toppings you can get at TCBY [which i love]. but it is far from real fruit. it is actual fruit pieces but drenched in a really sweet thick juice. its good in a parfait, but not as the basis for a smoothie. so after the lady has placed this stuff into the cup, she moves right and places my treat under the ice cream machine. turns out its actually yogurt, but you get the point. now the fun part. she blends it. what?

she brings me my smoothie and i taste it. just as i thought, it tastes like what i imagine a gogurt or other kids flavored yogurt would taste like. its sweet, but almost burns your throat when you eat it because of that tangy fake fruit flavor. and there very little evidence of actual fruit pieces. and the top half of it is all runny and the bottom half is like a melted milkshake made with frozen yogurt and sans milk. and i have 63.5 more ounces to go. oh, and it was like $5.00.

i cant say it was the worst thing i have ever had, but given my expectations it was quite disappointing. i was so motivated i actually wrote DD an email and they told me they would send me a refund in the form of gift certificates. i was happy with this solution. i enjoy DD and will go back, i will just be sure not to get another smoothie. i guess i was wrong to assume that all smoothies have ice.

i could not think of anything to write about, then while watching teh redsox game i saw a DD ad and i thought i would write about my smoothie experience. it didnt turn out nearly as well as i had hoped. i waited almost a week to post and then wrote this. [gulp]

--------------------UPDATE-------------------------

I read today in the Washington Post that DD plans to add 325 stores in Washington and Baltimore. I think this is a good idea, as I myself am a little tired of seeing Starbucks dominate. I have seen a few Caribbou' s pop up and have heard good things. I can't provide much of a product comparison because I have only tasted coffee once. I have had chai latte's on multiple occasions but i wouldnt notice a difference from one place to the other. As a non-coffee drinker, i am excited for more DD's because I really enjoy their breakfast choices.

I am sure you have heard others echo my complaint about Starbucks. And that is the stupid names for the sizes. Grande (which means big i am pretty sure) is their code word for small. then tall is medium. I forgot what large is but its super annoying. what is the point in changing the names. multiple times i have been in there and ordered something and said small, medium, or large and i was corrected. it went something like this:

Me: can i get a medium chai latte?
Them: you mean a tall?
Me: is that medium?
Them: no its tall
Me: what does tall mean? i dont want something super tall. I dont want the smallest option and I dont want the biggest. i want the medium size.
Them: we have grande, tall and [insert frustrating name that i cant recall here].
Me: is grande the biggest or smallest?
Them: its shorter than tall and less grande than [annoying name]
Me: so grande, which means big, is the smallest?
Them: well its grande.

Why is it cool to take three sizes of the same thing and give them independant names? i thought names for sizes should reflect their relative size towards each other. i feel like maybe when starbucks made those sizes they didnt know they would own the entire country a few years later. i feel like perhaps they made the sizes to have some character. then they got popular but had to stick with it. plus anyone who likes coffee doesnt seem to mind, its like they want to be part of the cool people. then you have haters like me think its totally pointless. additionally, they are losing potential customers. not only do i think its meaningless and frustrating, it makes me not want to order beverages from them for fear of embaressment and also of having the same conversation that i described above.

I need to check out DD's drink menu one of these days to make sure they didnt fall into the coffee size lingo trap. I will be pissed if they start calling their 3 sizes gigantic, voluminous, and astronomical. Although, having consumed the worlds largest [not that] smoothie I think those names might be appropriate.

new gaming challenge

since nobody can beat my sheep record i thought i would put another challenge out there since it is Friday before a 3-day weekend. this guy at work claimed he got 22.078 seconds on this game. i played it a few times and got 14 and change but perhaps this afternoon i will try it again and beat his record.