.: bistan.net :.

I usually don’t forward or post crap like that, but this is extremely creative writing.  Enjoy:

What’s up with all of this talk about a bad economy?  Seriously, I have no idea what these folks are talking about.  Maybe it was just all a ploy to put Democrats into office.  As for us, Kimberlie and I are at the top of our game.

In 2008, we contributed more towards retirement than ever before.  We were able to contribute more to non-profit organizations (church/charities) than ever before.  We dined out more than ever before.  We are even still saving more than ever.  We certainly aren’t hurting.

As for spending, we are spending more than ever.  In the last six months, I’ve bought a Nintendo Wii, and iPhone, annual passes to the happiest place on earth, and pretty much anything else we’ve wanted.  Usually, I NEVER splurge like that.  We are always doing some sort of entertainment.  We’re travelling more as well.  In 2007, we spent 14 nights in hotels.  In 2008, we spent 16 nights away.  This year, we may hit 20 nights. 

My salary and benefits are currently higher than they have ever been, but of course that’s usually the case.  (I’ve only stepped down into a lower paying job twice, but I proved myself both times and it payed off.)  The president of the University has also said that employee compensation is the top priority in next year’s budget.

Kimberlie was planning to negotiate a 5% raise for 2009, but she missed her regional manager because of our holiday trip.  That’s probably a good thing, because she ended up with a 20% raise!  She doesn’t really use any of her benefits because mine are so generous.

I guess we ARE employed in some pretty solid industries: health care and education.  Those are two areas that continue to boom, even when the economy tanks.  Information technology generally flourishes as folks tend to replace overpaid workers with computers and occupational therapy is growing fast thanks to the demise of the baby boomers.

Now sure, in the last 6 months my retirement savings has taken a nice hit, but at my age I expect volatility.  I don’t need those funds for at least 35 more years.  With that much time left, I’m supposed to be into those riskier investments.  And there are stores dropping like flies, but then again I HATED Linens and Things, Circuit City and KB Toys.  I am glad to see them go.  Car salesmen and the entire American automobile industry?  Good riddance!  They suck anyway. 

I’ll take UPS over DHL, Lowe’s over Home Depot, and John Deere over Caterpillar.  Last night, we were trying to predict what major chains would be next.  I say Quiznos.  They suck and they are overpriced and there are way too many sandwich chains.  Let’s see if I’m right. 

What about all of these job losses?  I doubt the people chosen to be laid off were the good, productive employees who pull their own wait.  If I was an employer and had to pick people to can, it would be the ones who take 800 smoke breaks a day and drive up my health insurance costs.  I know of several nice technology jobs at Mercer (one in my department) that need to be filled.  Don’t send those laid off folks our way though.  If Microsoft doesn’t want them, neither do we.

This stuff isn’t all bad though.  This the way a free market trims the fat.  Down with the oversized banks who have their computers answer the phones!  Down with companies that have bad service!  Down with sandwich shops that charge extra for cheese!  (I would love to put Down with Wal-Mart! here, but that’s not going to happen.)

Of course, if the economy has nowhere to go but up, I’m ready for the climb!

While things have looked quiet lately here on my blog, I’ve actually been writing several posts.  They are all “drafts” right now instead of posts for various reasons (timing, sensitivity, etc.)

Other than that I’ve been busy, busy with a number of things.  This is the first week of classes here at work, which makes for a nice headache.  It’s also my second week of class.  I just started on another master’s degree through Mercer’s School of Engineering.  This semester, the only class I’m taking is an object-oriented class using C#. 

I had the kids all day Monday because healthcare doesn’t observe holidays, last night was 3 amazing hours of LOST, and tonight I have the kids again while the wife updates her CPR certification.

I intentionally withheld my comments about this weeks “historical” event, although I think Obama did a great job attacking global warming — it is freaking cold here!  I’m also intentionally NOT discussing some work-related items.

I’m not the only one from our family who ran at Disney this past weekend.  The kids ran too.  Mackenzie ran a 100m race with kids ages 1 – 3 and Tristan ran a 200m race with kids ages 4 – 6.  It was $10.00 to enter each child and they got a t-shirt and a finisher’s medal.  Trust me, that is the BEST deal that you will find at Walt Disney World. 

They also had races for older kids and adults who didn’t want to do a marathon distance, including the Mickey Mile and the Circle of Life 5K through Animal Kingdom.  Here are some photos from the kid’s races:

The marathon was a lot slower for me with a lot of walking because of the ankle pain from the half-marathon injury (and visiting with more characters, taking lots of pictures, etc). I ended up with an embarassing time of 6:30 but still had tons of fun.  

During the race, I reached a point where I absolutely could not go on — but I realized that I had about 9 more miles to go!  So I went!  I have never walked or ran 26.2 miles before.  I have also never reached that point of exhaustion or physical pain.  

Below are some photos I snapped along the way.  Just like the half-marathon post, I’ll add my official race photos and pictures of the medals in a later post.

Since I had no prior proof time for either distance, they put me in the last corral with the walkers.  I’ve worked hard this year so I had no intention of staying at the back of the pack.  While zig-zagging and jumping on and off curbs attempting to pass the crowd (13,000 people ran the half-marathon), I managed to twist my right ankle during the half marathon but I kept going anyway. My half marathon time was around 2:39 because I stopped to visit with numerous characters.

Below are some photos I snapped along the way.  I’ll add my official race photos and pictures of the medals in a later post.

1 — Out of the last 25 calendar days, I’ve actually been at work for a whopping three (3) of them.  I need to refocus on that for now.  Backups need to be made, emails need to be acknowledged, voice mails need to be ignored, and servers need to be updated.  This blog will have to wait another day or so until I catch up on things at home.

2 — I didn’t just run the Walt Disney World Marathon this weekend, I ran “Goofy’s Race & a Half Challenge”, which includes the Sunday marathon AND the Saturday half-marathon.  Even though I registered for it in February, nobody knew I was running both until this week — not even Kimberlie.  Yes — I finished 39.3 miles and have some nice hardware to show for it.  I also have sore muscles, torn ligaments, blisters and sunburn.  The half-marathon was the most fun race of my life.  The marathon was the most painful and probably the stupidest thing that I’ve ever done . . . but I’ve registered for next year’s already!  Anyone wanna join me?  Anyway, more marathon weekend details and photos are certainly forthcoming.  Stay tuned.

3 — Please don’t send me any more emails about the last post.  I was not knocking the disabled or handicapped.  I was only knocking people who pretend to be in order to get things, hence the title.  Actually, the emails showed me that I do have more than 2 readers, but the rest of you should use the comment feature sometime.  Thanks.

The only negative thing about our Christmas week trip to Walt Disney World were the supposedly handicapped people.

At Disney, you can rent a power chair for $69.00 for the day.  That seems pricey, but that chair acts as a dream fastpass, allowing you to advance to the front of the line with an unlimited number of your friends/family.  Apparently the word is out on that because there were countless people who had no noticeable disability riding in wheelchairs.  Then you have your usual overweight lazy people who are perfectly capable of walking but would rather sit on their fat @$$ and be pushed around.

If you had a disability, would you pick Disney’s busiest week of the year to visit?  I wouldn’t.  I would come a few weeks earlier or later when there are few tourists and plenty of room to move around.  That way, I wouldn’t inconvenience myself or others.

If you were confined to a wheelchair, would you really be interested in riding the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster or Expedition Everest?  Those rides certainly would not improve you ailment.

Now I have no problem with people who are truly disabled.  They have just as much right to enjoy the Jungle Cruise as I do.  But when normal people have to wait two hours for the ride, the disabled people should as well. Make them wait, THEN accommodate them.  If I can wait in line with a two year old and a tired five year old, then you can wait in line with a broken leg.  At the very least, Disney should require them to show a little blue sticker (like you need for parking) before advancing them to the front of the line.

On May 13, 1999, I went shopping in Atlanta.  I don’t remember who, if anyone, went with me.   I was in college and I would frequently take trips to Atlanta to visit stores that were not in our local area.   In those days, stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, American Eagle, and other stores that don’t start with the Letter A wouldn’t even think about coming to a city like Macon, Georgia.

Me, with Lifehouse (the band) in 1999.

Back then, I was living at home and making tons of cash at Publix with virtually no expenses other than AOL and a cell phone bill.  I didn’t think twice about dropping several hundred dollars on very expensive clothes.  At the time, I thought it was fashion sense, but now I realize that it was probably a lack of common sense.

Meeting Mickey in 2000, while wearing my favorite shirt.

Anyway, back to the story, on May 13, 1999 I paid $25.73 to Aeropostale for a gray t-shirt with a stripe across the chest.  I wouldn’t dream of paying that much money for a t-shirt now, but something about that shirt just said “Take me home!”  Later that week, I was watching Total Request Live (TRL) on MTV and the host, Carson Daly had on my shirt!  I had chosed the same shirt as a celebrity wardrobe department.

Baby Care Basics class in 2003, while expecting Tristan

For some reason, the shirt has lasted.  I never seemed to outgrow it (or maybe it stretched along with me).  Somehow it avoided the Goodwill donation box.  Maybe there is a quality aspect to a $25.00 t-shirt.  Since it has stood the test of time, this ordinary striped gray t-shirt has become my favorite.  I wear it as often as possible.  Over the last ten years, I’ve probably worn this particular shirt more than anything else in my entire life.

Walt Disney World in 2005

In its early days the shirt sat through many classes and rocked out at numerous concerts.  In recent years, it has been spit up on and has been on many trips, but it still looks just as good as the day it came home. 

Walking with Zac Hanson (yes, that Hanson) in Atlanta last year.

Naturally, I want to be buried in this t-shirt and a pair of jeans.  If anyone attempts to put me into a casket wearing a suit, I will be a bad little ghost and haunt them forever.