Through 3, hogs up 4-0, due to pitcher bullock’s error. Keuchel throwing hard.
Hogs add two more. Up 6-0 after 4. They changed pitchers. Ben lost a dance off with a pig.
4 more, 10-0 good guys. Almost chicken time.
I guess I could have types that the hogs won…11-4. Good times were had, especially considering it was a diehard game. So thanks cold.
So for a test of a short post, something simple…Happy Gameday!!
So I don’t post on here much, I recognize this fact. So I’m gonna take a different approach…using this similar to twitter. I don’t want to put every second of my life on facebook but here seems fine, ha.
Oh and driz, if you’ll comment on here, I’ll use it to update the ingame activity. You can give me good heckling advice, ha!
I may have a thing or two to add as well…
So I need to post again…partly to post again, and partly to keep Meagan from hounding me about posting, at least for another day 
I figured that I would do this 25 random things thing. Also she told me to. So here we go…
25 Random Things about ME!
1. I am not a morning person, but love getting up early when I want to be…games, lakes, etc.
2. I am a huge fan of going places, and love going somewhere I can go to for the weekend.
3. I’m a big fan of steak.
4. Regarding church, I don’t believe that I have EVER been as happy as I am at Grand.
5. Going along with 4, I absolutely love singing on the Praise Team.
6. I have nerve problems, and it causes me to be sore. The soreness causes me to sleep poorly, and the poor sleeping causes me to also be sore. It’s a vicious cycle.
7. Going with Meagan’s 7, I LOVE driving. In fact, I can’t stand sitting there.
8. Going along with 7, I drive because on long trips, I have the tendency to get really carsick.
9. Meagan makes me happier than I have ever been in my life. Everything is going well, and she makes it perfect.
10. I believe strongly that the Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers might be one of the greatest discoveries in the free world.
11. I know I get angry a lot, and sometimes on a daily basis, when it comes to work, but I really do love my job.
12. I long for the day that I get all of my local channels in High-Def.
13. I believe that the idea of BBQ Nachos is brilliant, and the original inventor should win a “one of the best people in the history of Earth” award.
14. I wish there was an award that existed for my above fact.
15. I thank the Lord all the time for having some of the greatest friends in the world.
16. I look forward each and every year to Drizzle’s new edition of “Baseball, baseball, time is near.”
17. I have a great desire to punch Chad (the Alltel guy) squarely in the throat.
18. Driving around town, on a daily basis I will look amazed at how glad I am that I’m living here. Amazing how your priorities and views change the older you get. I like Fort Smith? Well then…
19. I am a wet rib fan. Dry ribs are ok, as long as I have sauce to put on them.
20. I am a sports junkie. I am marrying someone who is not. I am glad that she tries for me, although she doesn’t have to. I would love her still.
21. I love to laugh. A lot.
22. I talk loudly. It is not necessary for anyone on this earth to tell me this. I know. You should change. Ha!
23. I hate backpacks with wheels on campus. Luckily I don’t have to deal with them anymore, but still…
24. I still want to punch Renee Keiffer for her horrendous “Why do you smoke?” commercials.
25. Ribs.
Even switching over to wordpress I can’t consistently post anything. Oh well, that’s how life goes, I suppose. Anyhoo, a few bullet points on what’s been going on…
-I’m less than a week from being a mere 4 months from getting married. It’s starting to feel like it’s actually getting close. Meagan’s down in Russellville for 3 weeks for her student teaching block thing, and will start teaching in Charleston the first of February. I think it’s starting to hit her a little harder on the wedding front as she feels like we’ve still got a lot to do. Technically, we do, but at the same time, it’s small stuff. I’m not worried.
-We also started attending the Couples/Young Married Sunday School class a couple of weeks ago. I think we will both enjoy the class and the people in it. On top of that, church at Grand just seems to be getting more and more amazing. I can honestly say I know that this is where God wants me and her, and I’m blessed to be a part of the family there.
-As most of you know (most of you being the 2 people that read this), I’ve started getting commission at work. As it works, the more I sell, the more I make. Simple enough. With this, I feel like within the next couple of months, I’m going to finally start coming out ahead when it comes to saving money. This in turn, makes me actually start feeling more and more like the responsible adult that I seem to be striving to be. With income tax season fast approaching, I should finally be able to get close to paying off my credit card balances (not that they’re all that bad, it’s just making the payments wears on you after a while), and then can save even more for me and Meagan, for the house, for wii products, . In all seriousness, though, it is really quite an accomplishing feeling to be staring this in the face, and I am certainily excited.
On top of this newfound near financial happiness, I have to make mention of the struggling economy and all that hullabaloo. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly realize this country is in a financial mess. I guess I just sit here and question the reasons as to why all of these companies are shutting down. What is their business model? Is it just a situation of a CEO or anyone for that matter taking too much out of the company? I ask this because of a few particular companies. Shipley Baking Co., which had been a staple in Fort Smith forever just shut down. They blame the economy, but don’t people need their bread? Maybe that’s just me be to simple minded, but what’s the deal? What, from a standpoint of people still buying bread and cakes, etc., brought this particular branch of this company down? This goes back to the business model. Dad has mentioned to me that several years back he was in the plant there and their equipment was beyond old. Is this the reason? Did they just not have the equipment to stand up to the newer, more efficient plants? Another example is something that I know extremely well…the sign industry. One of our suppliers regional reps has come in on more than one occasion and asked how business has been. Of course, we tell him, business has been great. No, we’re certainly not as swamped with national installs (signs that come in from big manufacturers for the big chain businesses) as we were a few months back, but we are very much busy, and even backed up on service orders and building of our local business stuff. You could say we’re still actually swamped, just in a different area. At any rate, he on these same several occasions has mentioned that over in places like Tulsa, the bigger companies have been laying people off left and right. That they don’t have near the business that they used to.
Now I have to ask…what are we doing that is just so much better than them? Have they (like many bigger sign companies tend to do) forgotten the local “little man” and focused solely on the big national accounts? I know for a fact that a company in Oklahoma City shut their doors for this very reason. Is it this, or maybe the president of the company taking out too much? Or maybe, like Tri-Sign here in town (who shut their doors a couple of months back, after dad had started the place in 1973), they just have hired too many inept people that didn’t know what they were doing and for that people have stopped using them. (For those that don’t know, Tri-Sign’s men burned down an Arby’s in Sallisaw…because they didn’t know how to wire up anything correctly)
I just can’t figure out how we’re doing something so right, and yet everybody likes to say the economy and recession is killing everything. My personal opinion is that the recession is a cop-out and is really starting to get overused as an excuse. I love getting to talk to people who tell me that I should give them a break because “times are tight.” Aren’t I and my family in the same “times?” Aren’t we in this same recession. To be blunt, the biggest thing we’ve really dealt with was the gas issue. That’s just something you deal with when you have several trucks that get a whopping 4 miles to the gallon. Of course, we’d also be doing even better off if only people would actually pay their bills. Maybe that’s anothe reason people are closing their doors…They’re too stupid to pay their bills and then can’t get anything from anyone. I read online the other day that ImagePoint, one of the largest sign companies in the world and one that just closed their doors and layed off 450 people, owed one sub-contractor $600,000. How do you get in a situation like that. Of course, how as a sub do you let a bill get that high, but again I digress.
-Alright, now that I’ve fully ranted and gotten you to stop reading, I have to at least have a blurb about the Hogs. We’re young, they bought into the hype that they were much better than their experience allows them to be, but we’ll get better. The conference season is still young, hopefully they can get it together starting this weekend.
Also, baseball is starting soon, and I can already smell the brisket and pork steaks in the air. Nothing better than tailgating with friends and making fun of people all the while getting to watch America’s Pasttime.
I think I should probably get back to work, before my parents start yelling at me. Until next time, keep on truckin….
-kyle
You type a lot. Get back to work!
I love you
…to wordpress that is. I think I’ll post more with an app on my phone and blogger didn’t have one. WordPress did. So there you go. We’ll see how far I get.
I apologize to the football gods. I was merely making a lighthearted joke of sorts on the predictions of our season. How was I to know that our Offensive line would truly be offensive, that our defensive coordinator has apparently not taught our freshmen AND upperclassmen how to at least tackle a guy, even with the impending “learning of a new system,” that our kicking game would be so atrocious, and that our senior QB’s confidence could be shot so quickly?
Let’s face it, these last two games have almost been painful. I guess one could say that it at least seems that they are two extremely good team (Bama in particular). Of course, then you have to note that Florida is as well, and that they just had a bad game. This of course, could bode poorly for us if the Gators are mad from losing to the Wild Rebel. I will, of course, still be there because, well, it’s not like I have anything else to do. Besides that, it’s football. And a chance to make fun of Tebow…from my seat in the upper deck. Plus, dad’s birthday is Sunday, so it will be a chance to go to a nice restaurant afterwards and eat with him and mom. So a big woohoo to that.
Let’s see, what else has been going on since I last posted? Oh, not that anyone cares, but I switched my car insurance. I know, big things happening for me, ha! But seriously, switched to Nationwide, which dropped my premium by about 150 bucks, plus dropping my homeowner’s insurance 20%. Now if the assessor’s office will ever “fully” process my homestead tax credit (they told me some months ago it was in the system, yet they couldn’t tell me why i hadn’t seen it yet), my montly mortgage should be less than $490 a month. Hmm….let’s see, maybe if more banks would have done like they did with me (only allowing me to take a loan that I can ACTUALLY afford), then maybe we wouldn’t have so many people with such high montly payments, so many danged foreclosures, and so many danged banks going belly up. But maybe that’s just me thinking…you know…logically.
Luckily, I did buy when I did, thus getting me already into the “system” building my equity and my credit. So when the time comes that banks will start loaning money for homes again, and they’re much stricter, Meagan and I shouldn’t have any problems.
Past that, I’m just rockin right along. New TV shows are on, which is good. Sarah Connor Chronicles has been excellent, Heroes has been phenomenal, How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory have been great, as has been Smallville and The Office. I still haven’t gotten time to sit down and watch the premiere of My Name is Earl, but I hear good things. Oh, and the new season of Pushing Daisies starts tomorrow night. So serious woohoo’s to that.
Alright, at some point I should get started on work. They’ll eventually notice that I’m just sitting here.
Keep on truckin,
-kyle
Man, I’m tired. I’m still tired. Both from the fact that this welcomed drop in temperature has my allergies reeling, and from the fact that sadly I’m still recovering from the 3am drive home from the Eagles concert on Tuesday night…
It’s been a weird week. Busy, but not super busy. I’m glad it’s Friday though. I get to see Meagan again and it’s Hogs-Bama weekend once again. It will certainly be an early start to the Saturday football-sphere, but at least it won’t be after midnight when we get home. So hooray for that.
On to the Eagles. Absolutely the most phenomenal concert I’ve ever been to. Heck, one of the most amazing evening’s I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve been a fan of their music for a long time now, and being able to see them live was a dream come true. Heck, as Meagan’s dad and I discussed, it was worth the price of admission alone just to see Hotel California live. Someone once said that you haven’t truly lived until you’ve seen it performed live (i don’t remember who though said it though. Maybe I just made it up in my head. I swear I read it once though…oh well). Either way, it’s true. One of the single coolest things I’ve ever seen.
At any rate, they played several of their new songs, and then a crapton of their old stuff, which is of course the main reason Alltel Arena was packed. Just absolutely awesome. Have I mentioned that it was awesome? If I haven’t, it was. They started playing about 8:10 and finished about 11:20, so it was certainly money well spent. The sad part of the evening was the part about not getting home until 3 in the am.
Alrighty, I’ve rambled. I should probably get to work. Mom’s come back and keeps giving me a look as if I’m not doing anything.
So until we meet again, hopefully the Hogs will make it an even better weekend (hey, we’re finally healthy, and while their D is good, they haven’t played anyone all that good. No, Clemson isn’t good. I put them just below WIU. Out of spite for them being Clemson and in the ACC).
Pig F’n Sooie…
-Kyle
Were the Eagles any good?
Aren’t you glad that you went, even though it probably made work harder?
So I got mad at my dog last night. She woke me up barking at midnight. And then again at 1 (at which point after trying to get a late night swig of Dr. Pepper, I dropped the bottle on the kitchen floor, and proceeded to curse). And again at 5. I then locked her in the garage, which is what I should have done at midnight. I love my dog, but that is sadly one of the negatives to having a dog that you must keep outside most of the time. She likes to bark at random things in the middle of the night. The biggest problem I have with this is that she can’t see anything with my fence. But she continues on, barking.
So it’s apparently become a trend for me to apologize for not posting in a while. This blogging stuff is much harder than it looks, and trying to find something more than just the regular run of the mill routine that is my day to day life can be difficult at times. Not to say that there hasn’t been plenty to talk about in the last 3 weeks. You then have to add in the fact that we have been almost excruciatingly busy at work and you get the idea. Still no excuse though, so I’m sorry. To Drizzle and Meagan. And the possible one or two other people that might be actually reading. No, it’s just those two I’m sure.
Anyhoo, let’s see all that’s happened. I turned 25 and commenced watching the Hogs scare the living crap out of me against WIU. They did win, however, and all I can say is that there were definite positives, and definite negatives. Casey looked good. The oline and receivers looked good…at times. The defense…well, they seem alright against the pass. Along with getting to spend the game with Meagan and the Drizzle, and then add a Sunday lunch with mom, dad, and Meagan for my birthday and then pulled pork with her family that night, and it made for a wonderful birthday weekend. That really made for a long run-on sentence didn’t it? Oh who am I kidding? I don’t get grades anymore. I can make a 10 page paper into 1 sentence if I want to…Take that education! Ha!
Last weekend I spent with Meagan down in Russellville. I must first make the point that I am the man. After being very open that she doesn’t really like much barbeque (doesn’t really eat anything her dad has smoked, I get the feeling she ate ribs I cooked just to be nice :- ) ), I took her a chopped pork sammich from Rivertowne in Ozark. A slather of mild sauce, and then some hot on top of that, and I swear her first words after that first bite were “I really hate to say this, but…that’s really good.” I WIN! I’M A WINNER! OK, maybe they’re winners down there with the single greatest barbeque sandwich on Earth, but still. They’re not here, so I’m claiming awesomeness.
Past that, we hung out with each other, went to see ‘Traitor’ (really good film by the way. Also creepy when we’re sitting there and in walks Amber Shaddock and her boyfriend, ha!) and went to church with my Grandma and Aunt. I sadly had to cut it short Sunday afternoon as I had to get back for church choir practice (we’re trying to make a valient effort to get an early start on the Christmas program). I also was able to watch at least a smidge of the Hogs online Sat. night…at least the very end, which by the sound of it was the best part. Hooray for being 2-0.
I obviously haven’t talked too much about work, but really there’s not much to say. We’re still extremely busy, but we’re doing alright. The week following Labor Day allowed me to really get caught up on a bunch of stuff, and yet now I find myself with still several work orders on my desk. Just the fact of life. I’m certainly not going to complain though. It just seems at times that we’re the only one’s in the area that are busy. Or at the very least steady with business. I thank the good Lord above for that. Nice to see how he does and will provide when you let him.
It’s also nice when it’s as cool outside as it was today. I know partly it was from the “aftermath” of Ike, but I also like to think it’s just getting that time for awesome jeans and t-shirt or light long-sleeved weather. Work seems to generally get done a lot quicker when you feel like going outside.
Welp, I guess that’s about all I have for tonight. I should probably start getting ready for bed soon (yes, I realize at the time of my writing this sentence it’s currently 10:02) as I’ve got a long night tomorrow. Work til about 3, and then it’s off to see THE EAGLES!!!!!!! Riding down with Meagan’s family, picking her up in Russvegas and it’s off to Alltel in North Little Rock. Should prove to be an amazing show and an amazingly fun time. It will, however, be incredibly late getting home…at least late for me. Luckily, I don’t have to go in at 8 Wednesday morning.
Happy Bama Gameweek. Until we meet again….
So it’s been a whole whopping week since I posted, and for a change, a descent amount of stuff happened…thus worth my time and yours with me posting again. Or something like that… Anyhoo…
Meagan came back Monday evening, which was nice. Her mom and I went to pick her and her dad up from the airport. Meagan and I then got to spend a few hours together before she had to go do some last minute packing and peruse everything making sure she was ready to leave for Tech the next morning. We also found out that apparently the airport staff had stolen one of Don’s bottles of hot sauce he had bought at Sylvia’s Soul Food in Harlem. The nerve of those stupid Yankees.
At any rate, Tuesday I got up, got ready, got a steak burrito from Phoenix Drive-In (this place really is awesome if you haven’t tried it. One of the better burgers in town as well), and then picked up Meagan and drove to Russellville. Surprisingly, we were able to get her stuff unloaded in roughly 45 minutes or so, and then proceeded to start unpacking and organizing. This also wasn’t too terribly tough, considering the fact that her room is spread out a whopping 8′ x 10′. Certainly doesn’t leave too much room to contemplate where to put this and that. The positives of the day included a trip to Taco Bueno, and getting to really “freak out” two of her suitemates. Pictures this if you will…Meagan and her mom are introducing themselves to the two freshman suitemates (this suite has two single rooms, meagan got one and a junior got the other, with the double belonging to the to younguns). All of a sudden they hear the toilet flush and out pops this random strange guy who they’ve never met, he looks, nods and walks by them. The look on their face was the priceless kind where they immediately thought some guy was living in there with them. Well, maybe it was one of those situations where you had to be there. I don’t know.
Back to the other roommate. Absolutely one of the rudest people I have ever seen. I can’t say “that I’ve ever met” as she didn’t speak a word to anyone. Furthermore, she didn’t even acknowledge that we were even in the common area of the suite…as we were making noise, talking, and moving stuff around. It got to the point that I stood at the end of the hallway and stared at her for a couple of minutes, out of spite of course, while she sat there in her room.
Never even blinked. As it turns out, she one of these people who’s in the honors college, and one that very much believes that she’s better and smarter than you or anyone else could ever dream of being. She also apparently will at some point go out of her way to let you know that. I sincerely hope I am around for that one because let’s face it, I’m a jackass. And while I may not be the smartest guy on the planet, I think I’m doing alright for myself. That could be a fun interaction.
In other news, on Tuesday we also apparently got a forklift at work. So that’s fun. It might not really sound like that big of a deal, but we’ve needed one and the guy next door with the forklifts has started being a jerk with ‘em. So dad just up and bought one.
Wednesday I worked and had choir, while Meagan started the first day of the last semester of her college career at Arkansas Tech. I’ll tell you, church choir is such an awesome ministry, and I’m glad to be a part of it. Not only are we helping the church reach out to the congregation and such, it also helps us through the week as well. Whether you’ve had a rough couple of days or not, I always feel uplifted when I walk in there on Wednesday nights, and I would be lying if I said it didn’t help me get through the rest of the work week sometimes.
Thursday and Friday at work, I am happy to say we got a LOT accomplished. Finally got somewhat caught up on a lot of these smaller jobs that have been getting in the way of the much higher paying gigs Still have several things I’m gonna try and finish up in the next couple of days, but it’s nice to have a least a smidget of breathing room.
Saturday I went down to Russellville. Partly because I’m whipped and missed her tremendously (yes, even after a mere 4 days…but that was following the 5 day New York trip. don’t judge me…), and because she didn’t have the greatest of days on Friday, and I felt she needed me to be there, also adding the fact that for some reason, EVERYONE it seemed had went home for the weekend down there…despite it being just the first weekend after classes had started. Either way, it was a nice relaxing day. We hung out, went to Whattaburger (which is still, and will always be phenomenal by the way), made a Walmart run for her, and went to visit my Grandma and Aunt who live in nearby Pottsville.
Sunday was my resting day. Church in the morning, which was awesome as usual, Bible Study, and then lunch with the folks at El Chico’s. I got home, let the dog inside for a while, and sprawled out on the couch and didn’t move for nearly 4 hours. Granted, I didn’t sleep that whole time, but still, nearly 4 hours. A trip to Walmart for myself, and then back home to watch the Colts and Bills play on NFL Network.
So it leads into today. It’s game week. It’s the start of the 5th season in my opinion…Sports Season. The season that starts with football, molds into basketball, and crosses into baseball, lasting from Labor Day Weekend until hopefully the end of June. It’s glorious, not to mention it gives us all something to do. It also marks the return of new shows on TV, giving us even more things to do. So a big woohoo to that. At any rate, Saturday is the Season/Home opener for the Hogs. Let’s face it, it will be a slaughter. WIU is a creampuff, and despite us losing the big horses, and our defense being green, I look for it to be a laugher, but it’s still football! And on my birthday no less! What a glorious day it will be. Meagan will be going up to Fayetteville with me, as will the Drizzle, making his valiant return to God’s Country. It will be great to see you Driz, and the rest of the gang, hanging out, eating and watching some foosball together again.
I might as well go on ahead and post a prediction for the season here. I am no betting man, and am guaranteeing this probably won’t come to pass…as most every one of you know, I usually am eternally optimistic and vote with my heart instead of my head. But any rate, we beat WIU and Monroe, win on a last second field goal against Texas, which gives us the momentum to beat Bama and Florida. Petrino then shows Tubberville why Aubie wanted to hire him (not to mention he wants to win so we’ll be celebrating at the 2nd Annual Deckapalooza). Sadly injuries take their toll and Kentucky upsets us as we get screwed on a bogus pass interference call, beat Ole Miss in a hardcore all out grudge match, roll all over Tulsa, continue our dominance over South Carolina and Miss State. We then lose to LSU. I hate to say that, but that is one game I have a hard time seeing us win. They will be out for blood after last year, and in general, I just can’t stand Little Rock. The city or the games down there. So 10-2. Will I be right? Who knows. Most people will probably say I’m crazy, but then I question who says I wasn’t crazy to begin with.
That’s all I got. Happy Game Week.
I once knew a guy who wished Little Rock would flood, just cover everything with water. He later backtracked and said he only meant War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, but we knew what he meant.
You and he seem to have strong feelings about the place in common.
I’m always good for heckling advice!