soep trip #3

You know, looking back on my blog posts, I didn't ever really write about Yellowstone, which was the inaugural Summer Of Epic Proportions trips, but I'm sure when I get some time, I'll write about it. But for now, trip 3: buoyancy.

We (2.0 et al) took a trip to the Great Salt Lake. For those of you who do NOT know about the GSL, you will be pleased to learn that it is one of the most salty bodies of water in the world. That being said, only one organism can live there. Brine Shrimp.

These little buggers are a delicious treat for most fish, but since the water is so salty in the GSL, they seem to thrive without the natural predator. They are tiny and if you are not looking for them, you won't see them, but in the lake, THEY ARE EVERYWHERE AND NUMBER IN THE MILLIONS! It's kinda gross to swim with them (including the stink of the lake), but that is in fact what we did.

We had stemware with bottles of sparkling apple cider and other good beverages. We got out in the water, and watched the sun set as we drank cider and played. One would think that as soon as you got out far enough, it would be hard to keep afloat with all the stemware, bottles, etc. Not the case in the GSL. Because we are more buoyant, it was in fact hard to be completely immersed in the lake. I tried. Floating is so easy, that it's hard to sink, if not impossible. It's quite the experience. If you can stand smelling horrible for the next 48 hours (with showers... showerS) it's amazing to try.

After some frisbee and such, we got out and headed back to Sarah's house for some treats. One of the group members has a hot tub in the apartment complex so we headed over there. We all rinsed off as best we could and got in the hot tub. Even with the best rinsing, when we got out, we still found little brine shrimp not-so-enjoying themselves in the hot tub. ...Sorry to those that have to clean it...

Quickly heading to the Pi Pizzeria for a bite, the night came to a conclusion. Good times. Although smelling myself even after a shower, hot tub and a shower... this is going to be an interesting thing to explain to those around me. Although with the salt deposits after swimming, you come out feeling like you are COVERED in sand (which is purely salt), your skin does look amazing!

an ode to breakfast

There's something to be said

For having white bread

with mustard and some smoked ham.

You want to add cheese?

You can do as you please.

Nothing's better than a sandwich in hand.

Readers (I put a plural on that because I think I have two now), I thought you just might want to join in the praise of a delicious breakfast. I hear it's the most important meal of the day.

burgers and donuts

Okay, tonight pretty much rocked. Laursen called me and we decided that it was high time that we got some food. We were pretty hungry. Well, one thing led to another and we were off to Alby's to grab some fixins for burgers and dogs. $10 later, and we had enough food to feed enough for the impromptu BBQ.

One or two invites seemed to escalate into a few more which seemed to take another step, and before we knew it, it wasn't just three or four people, but rather we had a good ten or eleven.

2.0 came and brought a salad that she had made. It was freakin awesome. She had composed her own raspberry vinaigrette dressing on spinach and mixed lettuce. (No iceberg junk for this masterpiece)

A mutual friend Heather was there and shortly after leaving, I got a call from someone she drove with named Angela. Angela explained that Heather had gotten a flat tire just after leaving my house and needed some help. I was on my way to the rescue.

Now, I'm no MASTER at changing tires, but I know what I'm doing. But this tire was a MONSTER to get off. A very kind officer of the law stopped and helped us with the light. We chatted with him while we got the tire off and he told us about how we was working the night shift on this particular street for just a little while. He had come from being undercover ("a long haired dirtbag with earrings, not to say long hair or earrings make you a dirtbag...") where he had been working for the last 5 years or so. Before that, he was a homicide detective. Wow.

Well, with the donut in place, Officer Long-Hair was off and we all parted our ways. I drove Sarah home while she got the update of her nephew who was in the hospital for having a nut lodged in his esophagus. Fun. Now I'm off to bed to sleep until eight AM work... yippy...

ben rocks

Kudos to Ben for the awesome pic at the top of my blog. He wants the credit, so I'm giving it to him. It's from the Yellowstone Summer of Epic Proportions trip. There was a strorm coming in over the water. It was pretty amazing.

white trash day

For those of you who know our family, we do have a few white trash things lying around. Since before I can remember, we have had a soda machine in the back yard. When I was a wee lad, I remember a dry season where the Coke machine died and left us high and dry for nearly a whole millennium (although real time was much shorter, a matter of day seems closer) and to a kid, that is pure hell.

On top of that, we do have an old church pew right next to the giver-of-cold-beverages-with-the-quarters-on-top. Oft I would sit on the pew, drinking a cool refreshing beverage, probably a root beer or Mountain Dew, and think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

Well not too long ago, there was a new addition to the RFC. We have had him (as well as his brothers who have been replacements for when the previous one seems to have flaws or breaks) in the family for years, and it was a good day to see him rise from the ashes of winter like the phoenix of summer. Welcome back old friend and thank you for bringing summer back into our lives.



This is where he has killed the grass in previous years and left us with putting a "putting green" in his stead.

It's good to have you back.

fast food nation

Today was an all-day-work-fest. I spent the whole day in my little workspace, talking to people, getting frustrated by that intolerable "ding" noise that comes from the drivethru, and best of all, talking about restaurants and food that we wanted to eat.

We really did expect the day to be hilariously insane busy (I'm trying that "hilariously" thing out. Is it working?) and were not so thrilled to find how painfully slow it was. I mean, come on! The day before a holiday, although be it a Utah state holiday, when we have to close is usually so busy you want to vomit with rage. But not today. I was working drivethru (...Yay...) so I had

about twice as much work as those who were around me, so I felt busy, but we were slow. Well, to make a long story not quite as long but still substantial, when it gets slow, we like to start talking about random topics. The goal today? Get the other people to change their mind about what food they want for lunch.

Now that might get a little confusing. I can tell. I'm confused. But really, we all wanted something different, and the goal of the before-lunch hours was to convince someone else that they wanted the same food as you so that someone else could go pick up your food. Here is a little hint of our discussion/debate:

Wendy's: JBC, Frosty

McDonnald's: Fries, McDouble

Little Ceasars: Peperoni Pizza

Costa Vida: Burritos

Cafe Rio: "Better" Burritos

Chipotle: Free Drink with Burrito (Employee name tag required)

Costa Vida revisited: Also free drink with Burrito (University of Utah ID required)

Apple Pie from wherever

McDonnald's revisited: Apple pie

Top Stop: Hostess Apple Pie

Apple Pie from wherever (Probably Dan's Food) revisited

Barbacoa: Burrito (More a discussion about the restaurant. No one really wanted food from there)

Costa Vida revisited: Salad

Salad won. Although the battle had been won, the war was a terrible loss. It seemed that I was the only person that wanted to eat from there. After so much talk, everyone else just seemed to want to eat "the lunch they brought from home." Lame. So I went by myself. Got a steak salad with a cherry coke, and was on my way to lunchtime bliss and euphoria.

3 extreme's extreme glee water fight

That's a first... I went over to 3 extreme's house (For those who get confused with the numbered nicknames, let's just say I know a lot of Sarahs). I had called her to hang out and I was with the fellas. We headed over to B&D Burger (It literally is Ben's back yard) and got shakes and fries... I went with the Oreo Cheesecake. Yeah. I know. It was as good as it sounds. Well, after grabbing some grub, we headed off to Sarah's house ("3 extreme" has been established)

I have only been on the outside of her house, so it was a little adventure to just walk in without knocking and having it be dark (Imagine some old lady having some kids walk into her house... screaming ensues... "This isn't Sarah's house?

Sorry." Luckily that didn't happen). We went into the kitchen and I could hear laughing and screaming. Instantly when we came into view of the back yard, laughing went to zero and there were some whispers of "hurry." Conspicuous?

No, of course not.

After closer inspection, we found 4 soppi~g-wet people hiding (fully clothed) in and around the hot tub.

Step One: Lock door

Step Two: Take all electronics out of pockets

Step Three: Wait patiently for 3 extreme to turn her back

Step Four: Grab pitcher

Step Five: Apply liberally (to others)

Step Six: Get attacked

Step Seven: (Still fully clothed... jeans and t-shirt) Admit defeat. Get in hot tub

After the water fight which none of the other fellas seemed to want to join in (Oh well. More fun for me.) it was inside playing time.

The rest of the evening was spent with me in a towel and a borrowed shirt while my clothes were in the drier.

As Sarah explained it, we were in France. They had French fries, and we were going to watch Ratatouille. Billiards wasn't really French, but we played anyway.

I've got cool friends who are pretty spontaneous.