Some Ramblings

Not a lot going on here to talk about but I wanted to post something so here are few random things:

- Go Beavs. Civil War game may actually be for the Rose Bowl….for both teams…and I will be there!!

- Salem is a shit hole. I can’t say this enough. I can’t believe I spend 20 years total there. No redeaming qualities whatsoever.

- Pandora Internet Radio is one of the best things ever.

- I don’t like being unemployed, it has lost the luster it once had. I still enjoy being marginally employed though!

- There is too much travelling in the NBA. As a referee this drives me crazy!

- It is pretty tough to be very close but not as close as I would like to be…this applies to a few situations in my life presently.

- I can’t watch TV for more than a few minutes at a time without losing interest. This is a good thing. When I can sit and watch TV for hours, it means I have nothing on my mind and I do not like that!

- Im excited for OSU basketball. I think I am obligated to say this though…. I am really not excited at all.

- I’m going to try and do something cool here pretty soon.

- Signed onto MySpace the other day. It sucks!

- She is really fucking cool!

- I miss the excitement of doing something new, meeting new people and experiencing a new place. It has been way too long!

- If I don’t get out there and experience some new shit soon I am going to regret it BIG Time someday….and I think I will regret it more than the average person.

- I have this wierd feeling lately that I am running out of time but I will probably be alive for another 60 years. Although I think this sense of urgency is a good thing.

- I may not live another 60 years, 60 months or even 60 days so this sense of urgency is a positive feeling….I do plan on living for at least the next 60 minutes,  and I am positive I will survive the next 60 seconds.

- I made it!

- My mother, for the first time, let me know she wants me to have kids soon. Sorry mom!

- Im going to ride my bike down to Velvet soon. Not a big fan, but some of my friends are.

- Bowling tonight I hope.

- Tomorrow? More unemployment. Gonna try and not check facebook all day. Gonna get some stuff done! “Get busy living, or get busy dying”. I haven’t been busy with much of either lately, but tomorrow it will be living!

- Have a good evening!

Smooth Transition

The last 24 hours marked a smooth transition for me from Summer to Winter. It was time I came to grips with the reality of summer being over. Yesterday I played golf at Widgi (summer) and earlier this morning I went snowboarding (winter). After my trip up to Bachelor this morning I can now say I am ready, bring on the snow!

I went up with Troy and Burl to hike the Cone this morning at it was pretty fun. The last time I hiked the cone preseason it was miserable. Hiking through powder is not an enjoyable experience, I don’t care how hard core you are. Our first trip up today we went for the path less travelled and it was a bad idea. We were blazing a new trail through the snow so every step was way more work that it should have been. Not a fun start, but of course once the board was strapped on and I was heading downhill it was great. It felt so good and there was plenty of nice untracked snow to ride. The second trip up we took the main trampled route up the mountain so the going was much easier. We went a little higher this time and the riding was just as good. I don’t think I can honestly say the effort climbing is worth the 5 minutes of riding you get as a payoff though. I like ski lifts!

I did have a few mechanical issues. The sole of my boots are coming off and the right one fell off as I was hiking up the first time. Nothing a little duct tape can’t fix though. I may just keep them duct taped up all season. Why buy new ones?

I am now pretty excited for the mountain to open, to get my pass and start riding! I know that each year I have this same feeling and two months into the season I am ready for summer again, but right now I am excited. Should be a good winter!

It’s Back by Semi-Popular Demand!

Well, it has been a long, long time since I have updated my blog. Every time I think about this, which is very rarely, I feel bad. It appears as though I have a few fans out there that want more. Well, I am going to give them more! The blog is back and even though I say this every time there are large gaps between posts, I am going to be updating this a lot more often now. It is a good mental exercise for me and I like giving the people what they want.

I had a very blog worthy weekend. I went down to the Bay Area to see the Beavers play the Cal Bears. I headed down Friday with my buddies Tim, Kali and Nichole. I think I am going to do this blog running diary format in honor of my favorite sports writer, Bill Simmons!

So here it goes, a blow by blow account of a very good weekend (time stamps are very approximate):

Friday 12:20 pm – We head out. Excitement is high! I brought raisins and two apples for the drive down. An attempt at being healthy. After a little ribbing this went over pretty well and the raisins were a hit.

Friday 3:00 pm – We hit Klamath Falls. What can you say about Klamath Falls? Well, nothing really because it is a total shit hole!

Friday 3:45 PM – We hit the California border. Contrary to what Tim likes to tell people, the clouds did not immediately go away and the temperature did not immediately get 25 degrees higher. There was a mad scramble to hide the raisins and the apples as we went through the border checkpoint. We successfully got our contraband through to Cali.

Friday 5:30 PM – A seminal moment in my life took place at 5:30 November 6th in Redding California. I ate at the In N Out for the first time! This is how fast food should be. The burger was amazing and the fries, fresh cut potatoes, were great as well. The simplicity of the menu was perfect. Do you want a double or a single? Do you want fries or not? Do you want a shake or soda? That’s it! I was impressed with the In N Out, and it was one of the few things recently that have lived up to their hype.

Friday 530-1000 PM – Drive. Drive. Drive. Drive….you get the idea.

Friday 1030 PM – Arrive at Tim’s parents house in San Jose. They are one of the coolest, nicest and most accommodating families ever. Good people! Well, except for Tim’s dog Henry who hated me like I had killed his mother and six brothers and sisters, no matter how much a petted him. We then headed out to a few Bars near Tim’s house.

Friday 1100 PM – I am made aware that I may not be able to get into the bar because I am wearing shorts. Give me a break! Well, I get in. It is an “Irish Pub” but there is a DJ playing super loud club music. There is a little different vibe in the bars down there than in Bend, and by little I mean huge! Everyone is done up, guys and girls. It was interesting.

Sat 1200 AM – We go to a bar called Cartoum. The vibe here is a lot better and really liked this place.

Sat 100 AM – Bed

Sat 830 AM – Get up. Very good breakfast provided by Tim’s dad. Shower and hang out for a bit. Tim’s dad and I discuss the profitability of building an artificial ski slope in the Bay Area, like the ones they have in the UK. I really think it is a can’t miss idea.

Sat 1130 AM – head to Berkeley. I am pretty fucking excited at this point. This is all new to me and I enjoy experiencing new things. It is a beautiful day out!

Sat 1230 PM – drop the girls off at a bar in Berkeley and take a tour of the city while looking for parking. Parking is 30 bucks! I’m having too good a time to care.

Sat 1-330 PM – Drink many bears, eat a burger and fries and watch the Ducks get run over by Toby Gearhart and Stanford. The first item in my Perfect Day Trifecta is complete. 2 to go.

Sat 4-730 PM – Beavers Game!! This game was over just after it started. Dominating performance by the Beavers. Scary moment when Jahvid Best was laying motionless on the turf, but it sounds like he is going to be OK. Great news! We got to sneak into the Cal Donor Hall of Fame suite for free beer and food, which was awesome. Thanks Kali’s friend! We ended up winning 31-14 and it really wasn’t even that close. The feeling of walking out of the opposing teams stadium after a win is so great. The second item in the Perfect Day Trifecta is complete! 1 to go.

Sat 830 – 930 PM – Spent this hour looking for a parking spot in San Fran. So aggravating! Why we did not take public transportation is beyond me. I need a beer after this bullshit! We finally found a place and hooked up with Kali’s other friend who was nice enough to take us out and let us stay with her for the night. Thank you!!

Sat 1030 PM – The Perfect Day Trifecta is complete when I meet Haley at the bar. She was one of the most important pieces of the best winter I have ever had, my winter in Telluride. It was SO good to see her and catch up. Things in Bend the last few months have been ok, but certainly not great and it was awesome to see her and, in a way, be taken back to a time that I was at my happiest. I probably got more out of it than she did, but I really needed it. Thanks for coming out Haley!

Sat 1030 PM – 200 AM – Going out. Bars. Beers. Good times. Good conversation. Good friends. Good ending to a great day!

Sun 9 AM – Beautiful morning in San Fransisco. From what little I have seen, it strikes me as a very beautiful city. Alas, we had to walk to the car and head back to San Jose. I could have easily stayed much longer to check the city out, but I will definitely be back to do just that. My first impression was very positive!

Sun 10AM- 1 PM – Again, Tim’s family is great. We were cooked an awesome lunch, we showered and got ready to head back. Henry still hated me!

Sun 1PM – 1030 PM – Drive Drive Drive. In N Out again. Just as good as the first time! Drive Drive Drive Drive……Drive Drive Drive…..Home! Great Weekend!!!

Some Changes

There are going to be some changes in my life. I have a had a lot of time to think about things up here in Alaska, not bad place to do it, and I am going to take this shitty situation and turn it into a positive. It is really the only thing I can do really. I have the rest of the week to sort out n my mind what these changes will consist of. I have a decent outline of what I want to change, but one thing I have decided for sure….I need to surround myself with people that will have a positive effect on my life and get rid of the people hurt me or bring negativity into my little world. Life is too short for me to be wasting my time with these people and I want to have a good and full filling life, something you cannot do if you surround yourself with people that bring you down and add nothing. I am lucky that I already have a ton of people around me, friends and family, that are very positive influences and great people. There are also a few that don’t fit this bill. They will need to be cut out as hard as that might be, and from now on I will judge my new friends carefully before allowing them in my life. Being careful about new people will only help me down the road and not force me to have to make tough and painful decisions about who to keep around and who to cut out based the effect they are having on my life.

There will be other changes as well, but this is the big one.

Take care.

The “new” Rickey

P.S. I know this is chalk full of spelling and grammer errors, but I was in a major hurry to get this before my time at the library computer ran out!

Done with Bend?

Well, things in Bend recently have not been going as planned. I was all set up for a great summer and was so excited for the weather to get nicer. I had two groups of really good friends and was positive I would be insanely busy doing all kinds of awesome summer activities.

Now that we are just past the mid-point of the summer, I can decidely say that it has been a pretty rough summer. First of all my best buddy in Bend hurt her shoulder so she has been incapable of doing many of the fun things we liked to do. I have still been hanging out with her, but it has mainly been sitting around and drinking. Not too much fun. We did come across a new game, Cornhole, that she could do and it is a pretty sweet game. So things were looking up. Then she went and did something I find completely despicable to me and now I am questioning whether we will ever be good friends again. She is a good person, but tends to treat me with a complete lack of caring, especially lately, and I don’t think it is worth the effort anymore of being friends. That hurts to say because I care a lot about her, way more than she cares about me apparently.  Definitely not something I had planned on happening at the beginning of the summer.

Whats that you say?

“Well Rickey, you have your second group of friends to hang out with and take your mind off your lost friend.”

Actually not really. The guy who I hung out with the most in this second group, shared many of the same interests and was someone I respected, well, he was an equal part in the despicable act my last friend was a part of. It will be really hard to get back to where we were and I am again not sure he is someone I want to remain friends with. I wont speak of what happened other than to say it is not something you do to one of your close friends. Regardless of how “drunk” you are.

I have pretty close nit groups of friends who spend a ton of time with each other. This makes it really hard to escape some of the bad feelings you have toward these others and not turn into a compete loner. I dont want that to happen, but at the same time I am very upset with these two good friends and am bummed that they did something that hurt me quite a bit. I honesty dont have many people I can talk to about this stuff. They were both the two people I could talk to when things were not going to well.

I don’t know if just up and taking off, moving to a cool new place and finding another group of friends is not a bad idea. Right now it seems like the only thing I want to do. I am going to Alaska for a week soon (the trip could not have come at a better time) and when I get back we will see if my tune has changed. We will see, but right now I just want to get the fuck out of here!

Mt Bachelor Disc Golf and Some Other Thoughts and Happenings

So, I haven’t blogged in awhile which is not cool. There really hasn’t been that much excitement to blog about recently. Im not interested in boring anyone with my recently non exciting life so the posts have been seriously lacking.

Mt. Bachelor disc golf recently opened and being quite into the sport lately, this counts as an exciting blob worthy event. I have played two out of the last three days with hugely varying results. I was only three over par the very first time I played which I was VERY happy with! Then earlier today I gave it another try and was 17 over par. Wow. The wind was blowing fairly hard this time which made a lot of the holes almost impossible. The second the wind grabs your disc, it is gone! Benny had bought a new driver before we headed up today and proceeded to lose it on the first throw of the round. The wind took it halfway down the mountain.

I absolutely love this course. The views are amazing and many of the holes are very well thought out. There are a couple long downhill holes I really like. If you get a decent straight throw off your disc goes forever and by the time it lands you can barely see it. It becomes a tiny spec against the backdrop of the mountains. So Cool!If you have the time and the agility to make your way down a treacherous mountain side give it a shot. It is worth the effort.

Some other thoughts:

- I am seriously saving money for my big adventure this winter. I really have no desire to much this summer because I have something awesome to look forward too if I am disciplined enough not to blow all my savings. I still haven’t decided for sure where I am going but I have narrowed it down quite a bit.

- My job? Nothing exciting to mention here. Everything is going well, but it is a boring job and not challenging at all. I’m pretty excited about it being over. I need to find something real when I return this winter.

- Played home run derby with the boys the other day. That was really fun and it felt awesome to hit some baseballs. We will be doing it again soon and hopefully many more times this summer.

- Well, thats about it. I plan on updating this more often so keep checking back to see whats going with me ….if you are interested

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Some Random Thoughts

This is a collection of some random thoughts. I dont have anything I feel compelled to write about at this tim but I still want to write a blog because I have been slacking on updating this. Here we go….

- I like beer. I really really really like it. I like good beer though. Bud light? Budweiser? No thanks. I will pass. Central Oregon micro brews are the best. I really think (and I have very limited experience) that I live in the beer capitol of the world, per capita. We have seven breweries in this very small town of Bend. Granted, two of them are absolutely horrible so in effect we have five breweries in this very small town, but there are so manychioces, local, when it comes to beer. Deschutes is king of course because thier whole line up is amazing (minus thier Inversion IPA). There four other breweries that have at least a couple beers that are comparable to anything Deschutes puts out. Silver moon, Bend Brewery, Three Creeks and even Mcmenamins! Cascade lakes and 10 Barrel each suck so much ass it is unbelevaible that they have lasted as long as they have. Cascade Lakes popularityblows my mind. ALL of thier beers are shit! The only thing they would be good for is educating people on what beer shouldnt taste like.

- I got my passport yesterday and since I have had the urge to leave the country and go somewhere amazing for awhile. November I am making this happen!

- I am having a hard time getting into the NBA palyoffs now that the Blazers are no longer participating. I am excited for a possible Kobe-Lebron showdown though. I will definitely watch that.

- I cant wait for the Benk Elks season to start. Even though it is pretty shitty baseball, there is nothing better than watching a game on a beautiful summer night with a beer and some seeds in hand.

- If I could have season tickets to any professional sport it would absolutely be baseball. A baseball team that played thier home games outside and on real grass. Cubs would be ideal, because they are national league and they play a lot of their games in the afternoon.

-  The DH is bullshit. Baseball players play defense and offense. If you cant field a position than you have no business being a professional baseball player…..in my opinion.

- Charles Barkley is very entertaining! Whether he is commenting on basketball or trying to fix his horrendous golf swing, I cant stop watching him.

- I work in the golf industry, but I don’t like golfers. Well, I don’t like old golfers. They whine and expect everything to be perfect all the time. They actively look for things to bitch about! People that have nothing better to do than bitch about everything can go fuck themselves. These people are retired, with a lot of money, and golf everyday. What do you have to be bitter about?  You should be the happiest people alive! It should not bother you so much if your golf clubs are turned the right way on your golf cart. Just turn them the other way and get on with your day. Don’t let it ruin your day and definitely don’t try and ruin everyone else’s day because of it. Some of you old bastards just need to die already! I know that seems mean, but it really seems like that is all they are waiting for. If everything in life bothers you so much, just die already and save us all the trouble of dealing with you.

- There are also a ton of older people out there that are absolutely awesome. My grandparents included. There are a ton of older people out there that appreciate the time they have had on this earth and are excited that they get to live another day. They are courteous, respectful and fun to talk to. They are full of good advice and knowledge. My grandpa Moore knows how to do everything, except computers, and I have learned a lot from him. If you are reading this, I have always been impressed with all the knowledge that you have and cant imagine ever knowing half of what you know.

- Ok, I’m done now…..going to bed!

I Suck at Golf

Yup, yesterday I sucked at golf, big time! I hope this is just a one time occurance and I dont officially suck at golf for good now. I have never played worse. I was feeling good before the round, the sun was shinning, perfect temperature and good company. Hit a pull off the first tee and saved par, no big deal. It was the first hole and was expexting to continue making pars. Well, it was allll down hill after that. I even topped a shot, something I hadn’t dont in years! So after bailing halfway through the round I went out and had a great day on the disc golf course. 36 holes of fun!

This was me, pretty much, on the golf course:

Other than that, things are going really well. The weather is amazing right now! A great time to start a new outdoor activity, Ultimate Frisbee! I played a bit tonight for the first time and really liked it. It is a TON of running and sprinting and jumping, something I haven’t done a lot of lately. I cant wait to get back into really good shape. Working out at the gym really doesn’t cut it for me. I cant make myself work hard enough. I need to have some sort of competition to drive me. I think Ultimate Frisbee is going to work! My favorite part of Ultimate Frisbee is when you throw off to begin the point, you yell “ULTIMATE!!”.

When is Summer Getting Here??

It is supposed to be spring! Which means summer is right around the corner. Not in Central Oregon. It snowed here all day today. There was very little accumulation today but we may get 1-3 inches tonight. This is not good because I have never been more ready for summer. I cant wait! I want to golf, I want to wear shorts, I want to wear flip flops, I want to hang out on the porch all night, I want to go to the lake, I want to hang out at the brewery and listen to concerts, I want to go hiking, I want to everything summer entails and now. I think it might start this upcoming weekend….I hope….I hope….

On a very exciting note, the NBA playoffs are almost here and my beloved Blazers will be participating for the first time in five years. It has been way too long since I have seen a Blazer playoff game. I had become too accustomed to them being there every year which made the last five years pretty tough. I am so excited no matter who we play in the first round. Do we win a series or two? Maybe. Will we be back next year and many years to come with a very good chance to win it all?v Yes! The future of Blazer basketball is so bright. My expectations for this year are not super high so any kind of long run in the playoffs would be icing on the cake that was this season. It is just going to be so fun to watch Blazer games that mean something again. Whoever we play, bring em on. We will give them a very tough fight!

GO BLAZERS!!!!

HEEEEIIIIIIKE!!

Thats what I sound like when I am calling a strike while umpiring. Tonight was my first game of the season and it was fun. I have missed it. Umpiring baseball is definitely my favorite of the sport officiating activities that I do. There is so much involved in a baseball game that the casual fan does not notice. There really is an art to keeping it all in order and managing it. To umpire you have to be aware of everything that is going on for the entire game. This is very difficult given the slow pace of the game. You must manage players, balls, the two dugouts, coaches, the rules, the unwritten rules, judgement calls and anything else that may come up. As an umpire there is no margin for error. You have to be correct at all times or all hell can break lose. One lapse of concentration at the right time can lead to a situation that will go from bad to worse to horrible. So getting through any game with no issues is an accomplishment. Tonight, I made it.

In other news, the job is going pretty well. I am liking the new gig. I am really looking forward to a lot of golf this year. I am thinking of taking it pretty seriously this summer to see just how well I can play. There is a Player Ability Test for the PGA in Portland in August and I plan on playing it. And passing it! Whether that leads to me working in the industry for awhile we will see.

I am a bit torn right now with my love of golf. It is my favorite sport by far and I love being around it. Golf, though, is a completely unsustainable situation as it is right now and a complete waste of resources. Being somewhat interested and concerned with the future sustainability of our society I cant help but have a problem with golf. For example the Bend golf community is a huge drain on the water situation here in Central Oregon. We get our water from giant aquifer that is emptying faster than it is being recharged. We will eventually run out of clean usable water if we keep living as we are right now over here. We live in a desert and we use water like we live in a rain forest.

Golf is a HUGE drain on the aquifer. It takes an enormous amount of water to keep grass green and lush in our desert climate. Living within our means water wise here in Central Oregon would mean having no golf courses. It is not a sustainable practice whatsoever. But I love it. Eventually people are going to have to take action in changing how we do things here if we are going to be able to continue living here in the Bend area. Could I help by not supporting the local golf industry like we all probably should? Sure. Can I bring myself to do that? Not right now. Which bums me out sometimes. The whole world needs to begin making huge changes if we are going to live sustainable lifestyles on this planet. It is just really hard to make those changes. hmmmm….

Ok, that’s enough for today! Two completely random blog topics for sure…..till next time,

Eric