Johnaberdeen's Blog

What is with people dropping cell phones in the toilet?  I remember hearing a while back from a younger college aged kid that used to work with me that he got drunk at a party and dropped his phone in the toilet.  I laughed at him because it seemed like lightning striking...there's no way that could be a regular occurrence.  Apparently, I was wrong.

I guess water damage from an unfortunate drop in the toilet is pretty common, which blows my mind.  I can honestly say that I have never dropped anything in the toilet that I wasn't supposed to in my entire life.  Now, I can see a guy throwing up and having their phone in a chest pocket on a shirt and the phone sliding out.  That is pretty much the only circumstance that I can fathom.  From what the younger guy told me, this happens to girls much more than guys.  I'm at an absolute loss for words on how toilet related cell phone water damage could occur to a female.  Their cell is either in their hand or in their purse.

I guess I'm too old or something, but I just don't get it.  If anyone has any clarification on this matter let me know.

This past weekend, we finished working with my friend. We did several projects and put numerous hours in. In was a terrific time, and nothing makes me feel better than stepping back and looking at the finished product. We all worked very well together, and under the direction of Joe we had a plan for everything that worked out beautifully. Everything is done on the house but a few random odds and ends that I'm sure my buddy could take care of.

The most important thing is that all of the big stuff is done. It is a relief for all of us that this huge undertaking went so smoothly. I probably learned the most out of the bunch from this experience. I did some things that I have never done before. I've never cut ceiling tile, I've never hung sheet rock. I went into this project with an open mind, and maybe one day I could help build a house that looks like one of those Schumacher Homes I see everywhere!

My last blog, I told you how I am getting together with a few friends to help our buddy with some random construction jobs.  Well we all met about it last night, and I have to be honest with you.  I have so much respect for carpenters, masons, roofers, plumbers etc. that I can't even put it in words.  The work, planning and meticulous detail that goes into doing these jobs blows my mind, and these gentlemen and ladies who are in this profession should be extremely proud of themselves and their work.

This was brought to my attention just listening to my friend Joe (Texas custom homes guy) go over the plans in detail.  I am more of the creative guy who's enjoyed playing instruments, painting, writing and things of that nature.  I was never much of the science, math, drafting guy.  I think that building something is like an extremely difficult "paint by numbers".  That's not meant to be insulting in any way, it just means that you have a goal you have to reach and many, many rigid guidelines to follow along the way.  When building something, you can't "wing it" like you would with a paintbrush on an empty canvas or a pencil on a page in a sketchbook.  It is a feat in itself to be able to build something that follows electrical, plumbing and building code and still be creative.

I've always wanted to improve myself in areas that I was week in.  I think I'm going to absorb everything that Texas custom homes guy says and try to become better at building.  Wish me and all of us luck!

This upcoming weekend, I plan on helping a friend of mine with his new house.  He bought a fix up house, and he needs all the help he can get.  I know a few of us, including my one friend who builds Texas custom homes, are going to help him out as much as we can.  Many people dread doing something like this, even for a friend, but honestly I don't mind very much.  He is a good friend and I know he would help me if I needed it.

I have a very unique outlook on manual labor like this, or so I am told.  I like getting outside on a weekend and putting in some hard work.  Growing up, my dad and I would fix things and work on the car and house all the time.  I've kind of grown accustomed to this kind of work as "male bonding time".  I have very fond memories of working to put a transmission in a car or putting a fence up where I put in a good amount of hours, sweat, sometimes even blood to get a job done.  Afterwards, all the guys sit down with beers and relax and shoot the breeze.

Its not like I love exerting myself, but I love getting things done.  I really enjoy being able to step back and look at something that I help build, fix or clean.  Strangely enough, I end up remembering times like these more often than I can recall a wild night out at a bar or something like that.

I can't remember if I touched on this before, but I'm not a huge fan of digital cameras or camera phones in the hands of young girls.  It seems like every other day I read in the news paper that a 14 year old girl sent her boyfriend revealing pictures of her over the internet or on her phone and the boyfriend publishes them online.  In the day and age of MySpace and Facebook, camera phones, cell phone accessories, digital cameras and digital camera accessories can be very dangerous things.

Don't get me wrong, I think that this kind of technology is very useful and has a place in our society.  I know whenever I go on vacation or somewhere interesting, I take my digital camera with me.  I just don't want to see young, easily persuaded girls get taken advantage of and making mistakes that will have long lasting ramifications.  I believe I saw a commercial on this topic once, where a bunch of creepy guys were asking a young girl what color underwear she was wearing because her pictures got posted online.

I know this problem cannot be prevented, but I just hope that these girls (and possibly guys) think before they do something like this.  Chances are, more people will see the pictures than intended.

My favorite restaurant franchise besides Olive Garden is definitely Ruby Tuesdays.  Ruby Tuesdays catches a lot of slack because they changed their image as of late.  They replaced all of their old plates and bowls with modern looking, square and angled pieces.  Most of them have also redecorated.  I can respect the fact that they want to distance themselves from restaurant franchises like TGI Fridays, Applebees, Red Robin etc.  They were all starting to look the same after a while.  The main thing they changed was the menu.

The wide variety of burgers they had is now gone.  That is a major gripe for most people, not me though.  They've substituted all of their burgers with more health conscious dishes like salads and seafood.  I'll be honest with you though, I don't even look at the menu anymore.  There is no reason to when they have that fantastic salad bar!

The Ruby Tuesday's salad bar is a Sunday afternoon staple for me.  It is easily the best salad I've ever had in my life.  It is inexpensive at around $8 for all you can eat, plus there are a ton of veggies and food to choose from.  They have all of the staple veggies like romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, peas, carrots...plus they have wonderful extras like ham cubes, bacon, sunflower seeds, pasta salad, egg salad, and quite possibly the best crutons I've ever tasted.  I highly recommend this salad bar, you will leaved stuffed and happy!

I was watching a special on TV the other night about rabies in cats, dogs and other animals and it was very interesting.  I'm not going to lie to you, it was pretty terrifying.  It was tough watching innocent people get bitten by different animals and get rabies, and perishing because not enough was known about rabies.  There has been a history of misdiagnosis in patients with rabies because of their odd behavior.  I read on Wikipedia that one English woman went into a coma and died because she wasn't treated properly.  Thankfully, this ignorance of rabies is disappearing.

Like anything else, I think the more that we know about rabies, the smaller of a problem this will be.  Anyone who is around animals or that has pets should be pretty knowledgable about rabies facts.  Knowing is half the battle, right?  I will tell you one thing though.  I don't know if anything could be scarier than a dog or cat infected with rabies.  Maybe a human infected with rabies!

If I had to start a business right now, I'd probably open a martial arts store.  Lately, I can't go anywhere without seeing kids in popular MMA brands like Tapout, Sprawl or Affliction.  It seems like it will be a solid fashion trend for the foreseeable future...as long as MMA keeps booming.  It's just like any other sport and clothing brands:  Michael Jordan sells Jumpman and Nike, the Yankees and Fighting Irish sell Adidas, the NFL sells Reebok.  I think MMA will open the door for a ton of new brands.

Chances are there isn't a martial arts store in your town.  Most MMA shopping is done online these days, or bought at fight venues or trade shows.  Putting a brick and mortar store up in a complex or shopping mall seems like it would be a gem.  A lot of retail stores who are selling some MMA products are making a killing...the t-shirts and shorts are some of their top selling items. 

Maybe in the near future, I'll do some research on how much I can get wholesale martial arts supplies for.  Maybe re-light my entreprenurial flame!

I've tried many different workouts in my life depending on what I wanted to achieve.  I have been going to gyms ever since I've been 15 years old.  I've been in every type of gym imaginable:  big gym franchises, smaller gyms, high school gyms, college gyms, home gyms, dojos, martial arts gyms...you name it.  Still, there is always a lingering question in my mind.  Is it better in general to go to a gym or to workout on your own?  I've developed a pros and cons list of both to get more insight into the situation.

Gym Franchises

pros:

-lots of free weights, plates, benches, machines, bars, cardio machines...equipment in general

-additional perks like racquetball courts, pools, basketball courts, saunas, steam rooms

-everything is in one area from weight training and cardio to showers and water/protein shakes

-there are always people to help (spotters, trainers etc.)

cons:

-you have to pay a sometimes expensive membership every month, not to mention a start up fee

-it could be inconvenient....you have to drive there and back and could be costly on gas

-you can lose focus and get caught up in socializing

-you have to wait for machines

-you have to deal with other people and their rules

Working Out At Home

pros:

-very convenient

-go by your own rules

-comfortable and familiar

-you can be more creative with your workout

-less distractions

-should be fairly inexpensive

-no waiting for machines

cons:

-limited equipment

-less people to help you

-less perks like saunas and steam rooms

We had a pretty sizable storm over the weekend and my house took on a lot of water.  My last house was very old, but whoever built it must have been a genius.  It had an old style cellar, no basement.  Whenever we got a bad thunderstorm, all of my neighbors' cellars and basements would have inches of water in it.  My cellar always stayed as dry as a desert because it drained really well for some reason.  The floor wasn't slanted or anything, there must have been some blessing in disguise with that bottom floor. 

Unfortunately, that isn't the case with my new house.  I have a finished basement with carpeting and furniture...the whole 9 yards.  This was my first taste of water damage.  Let me tell you, I don't like it.  Since this was my first time dealing with water damage and water damage restoration, I had to do some work.  I immediately called a few friends of mine from the old neighborhood to see how they dealt with it.

This week, I am going to make some phone calls to see if I can do anything to prevent this from happening again.  I hope it isn't an expensive adventure, but I don't want anything else ruined down there.  Wish me luck!

I think Steve "The Robot" Cantwell winning the WEC Light Heavyweight belt this past Sunday pretty much cements the fact that the WEC 205 lb. division's days are numbered. They definitely had some magic with Brian Stann as champion, with him being one of the top 3 most marketable guys on the WEC roster right now. Even Doug Marshall, the fighter Stann beat to get the belt, is a marketable fighter for the WEC. I just don't really think Steve Cantwell is going to be a guy who sells martial arts gear or tickets to a live event.

The problem is that even though Steve Cantwell has been dominant in his last three fights, many fans are going to remember him as the kid who got knocked out by Brian Stann in 2 minutes.  The division looks weak with a weak champion, and even though Stann is inexperienced he didn't give off the impression of being weak.  In addition, the WEC has 3 more bigtime fights left in the division:  Cantwell vs. Stann III, Cantwell vs. Marshall, or Stann vs. Marshall II.

There seems to be two ways to make this situation better.  One, take the WEC's top Light Heavyweights and top 205 prospects, send them to UFC and shut down the 205 lb. division for good.  This means Cantwell, Stann, Marshall, Munoz, Texiera all go to UFC.  The flip side of this coin is that Zuffa tries to jumpstart the WEC's 205 division by giving them some up and comers of their own.  Houson Alexander, Eric Shaefer, Tim Boetsch, Jon Jones, etc.  Get these guys to wear the WEC sparring gear and maybe the 205 lb. division could get a little more interesting.