A study in lack of communication...

Lately Blake's been drinking these protein shake things in an effort gain weight. He uses milk instead of water so he can get an extra 1,000 calories a day (which, it's amazing to me that it's so hard for him to do because I have no problem finding 1,000+ calories!). Last night, I bought milk and he bought milk so the answer is yes, yes we've "Got Milk". Anyone want to come over for a bowl of cereal?

Mailman Minnie

The Weather Outside is Frightful

This is what is known in Utah as an inversion.

It happens when a high-pressure system hovers over the Wasatch Mountains and compresses cold air down upon the valley, where pollutants from automobile fumes and fireplaces are produced. When combined with these pollutant, the area fog (which forms from ice crystals in the cold air) becomes smog and takes on a brownish hue. Often the amount of pollutants in the air exceeds the EPA's health standard.

On windless days, this mixture is denser than the warmer air layer above it and thus cannot escape. So what results is a cold layer of smog under a warmer layer of air. When this occurs, the smog crystals fall out of the air throughout the day, clinging to objects and producing hoarfrost. At times, it appears to be snowing. But unlike real snow, this stuff leaves a residue.

A good snowstorm or strong wind is what is needed to restore the balance.

Usually the higher you go into the mountains, the colder the air, but during the temperature inversion, this is not the case. Conditions can be such that the valley is around ten degrees (Fahrenehit) and blanketed with a cream soup fog, while the mountain temperature is thirty-five degrees (Fahrenehit) with sunny skies. So an easy way to get a little relief from the smog and cold air is to drive up one of the canyons. Looking down into the valley from up above, the inversion looks like a layer of fluffy clouds.

Air now unhealthy for general public

January 21st, 2009 @ 11:24am

(KSL News) The air along the Wasatch Front right now is hazardous to your health.

The heavy smog that has gathered over the past few days due to the inversion has led to air quality officials to warn that the air outside is unhealthy for the general public, and not just those with health problems.

Health advisories have been put in place in Cache, Salt Lake, Davis, Utah and Weber counties warning residents to avoid heavy exertion outside.

Gordon James Beck 1996-2009

Today, I am heartbroken that our little dog Gordon passed away yesterday. He was 14 years old and had some health problems so I know he's in a better place but it's still hard. My parents are pretty upset about it, they loved the little guy tons.

I remember when we adopted Gordon. I had wanted a dog to live inside so badly - all of our dogs had always been outside dogs. There was an ad in the paper for a Welsh Corgi and I was so excited about it but on our way to see him, the lady called to say someone else had adopted him. I was upset about it but then a few days later, it was Valentine's Day, I went to the mall with my cousins and when I came home, I walked in the door and there, on the recliner, was a little blonde dog. He was so furry and a little damp from the two baths my parents gave him after picking him up from the animal shelter. He looked exhausted and he was probably confused about what was going on. I think the first thing that came out of my mouth was "He's mine?"

Early on, my mom said 'okay but he's not allowed on the furniture' and then he would get up on the furniture and she said 'okay he can get on the furniture, but he's not allowed on the bed'. Once he started jumping on the bed, my mom said 'okay he can get on the bed, but not under the covers'. I'll let you guess how long that lasted.

We had only had Gordon for a year and a half and then I left for college to live on campus, my grandfather had just passed away and my dad had to start working the night shift. My mom was home alone at nights and I think it was weird for her. That was when we stopped calling Gordy our dog and he became my brother. My parents also gave him a middle name around that time, It made it more official that he was a member of the family.

I think we all had our moments with Gordy, the last few years when my parents went on vacation, they started taking Gordy with them. My dad most recently, was out of work for several months and was home all day with Gordon so they kept each other company. My parents got wood floors put in about a year ago and Gordon's nails on the floor would make this choo choo choo choo sound that sounded like a train and I started calling him the Gordon Express.

I'm sad that we've lost this caring little animal that loved us all unconditionally but I know he's in a better place. I like to think that Gordy was holding on to see me one more time when I came home for Christmas. When we were loading the car to take me back to the airport, I went back inside to say goodbye to Gordy because I thought it would probably be the last time I saw him. I told him I loved him and that I would always love hime and that he was a good boy.

Gordon was home with my parents and my grandmother and my mom said it was like he just laid down to go to sleep. My dad came up from the basement and could tell that he was gone. They wrapped him in a blanket and buried him next to Sandy and Nikita. He's gone but he'll always be in our hearts forever.

New Year's Eve 2009

We went to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square downtown. The lights came down January 1st.

Random Things About Christmas 08

Better late than never, right?



For cousins day Carrie, Lauren, me and Sarah went to Old Salem - a Moravian settlement in Winston-Salem. I really hadn't been to Winston in years but apparently they've put a lot of money into renovation and it was actually kind of nice in downtown Winston now.
www.oldsalem.org




Minnie got a new collar and leash and it's pretty darn adorable.



Blake got a sign that says "The more I get to know some people - the more I like dogs."
He's pretty darn adorable.


Minnie got to eat canned dog food for the first time ever. She loved it and this was all we saw of her for about 2 minutes till it was gone. I tried to get her to look up to take a picture but that was a no-go.


Minnie also got lots of treats and a big, giant, gross bone - she got some good gifts this Christmas.




Grandpa Beck got her a chew toy that she loves.




Gordie's getting pretty old but he's hanging in there! He's still such an adorably loving dog.
Saying goodbye to him when I was leaving home this year was really hard because I couldn't help but think that maybe it would be his last. He's had a great long life though, he's part of the family.

Utahk about a team!

Some gifts people give are pointless: Styling mousse to Dick Vitale. An all-you-can-eat card to Kate Moss. The BCS Championship given to Oklahoma or Florida.

It means nothing because the BCS has no credibility. Florida? Oklahoma? Who cares? Utah is the national champion.

The End. Roll credits.

Argue with this, please. I beg you.

FIND ME ANYBODY ELSE THAT WENT UNDEFEATED. THIRTEEN-AND-ZERO. BEAT FOUR RANKED TEAMS. WENT TO THE DEEP SOUTH AND SEAL-CLUBBED ALABAMA IN THE SUGAR BOWL.

The same Alabama that was ranked No. 1 for five weeks. The same Alabama that went undefeated in the regular season. The same Alabama that Florida beat in order to get INTO the BCS Championship game in the first place.

Yeah, that's how it is now in the shameful, money-grubbing world of college football. If you're Florida and you beat Alabama, you get a seat in the title game. If you're Utah, you get a seat on your sofa.

Hey, remind me: What do they give out for one of those BCS things anyway? It's been so long since I cared. Something from Sears? This is the sixth year in the past 10 that the title has been in dispute under this cash-grab, fan-dis, monopoly that the BCS has created. Which is why the title game just doesn't matter anymore. It's like being named Miss Ogallala. Or Best Amish Electrician.

Just take a look at the teams that think they're worthy of being called national champs:

USC? Great year. Wonderful. Let's all go to SkyBar and celebrate. But it lost to Oregon State, a team Utah beat.

Texas? You think beating Ohio State by a nubby three points gets you the title? The Big Ten was 1-6 in bowl games! That's like pinning David Spade!

Florida and Oklahoma? They lost. Utah never did.

So that's it. Utah is the national champion. The Utes should probably have two now, actually. They went undefeated in 2004, too, and their coach still thinks they were the best team in the land. Smart fella named Urban Meyer. Coaches Florida now.

By the way, we're calling our title the "national" championship because it actually includes the whole nation­—all 119 Division I schools—unlike the BCS, which includes 66. Yeah, the BCS somehow eliminated the middleman—the NCAA. The conferences these schools play in take their dump trucks full of cash straight from the TV networks and fairness can go suck a lemon.

The Utes won't get the trophy they really deserve, so we gave them one of our own design.

Do me a favor. Call Ohio State president Gordon Gee and ask him why he won't support a playoff. He's one of the most powerful presidents in the NCAA. He could get it done. If he says anything other than, "We don't want to share the loot" then you know he's lying his bow tie off.

"This is not how we normally do things in America," says Utah president Michael Young. "In America, quality usually wins, not conspiracy. And there's a reason people usually enter into a conspiracy. It's money. You make money doing it. And those that are in on the conspiracy want to stay in and keep everybody else out."

Sure, BCS blowhards will hand you schlock about how the college football season is like a playoff, how it's an elimination tournament every week. Really? Well, how come Florida and Oklahoma weren't eliminated with their losses? Utah ran the table, beat everybody set in front of them, including Ala-damn-bama in no less than the Sugar Bowl, and gets the bagel.

Oh, by the way? It was Utah's eighth straight bowl win, the nation's longest streak. Among the losers during that run? Let's see USC, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, and now the legendary Houndstooth Hats.

"What else do we have to prove?" asks Utah's magical quarterback, Brian Johnson. Good question. He and the Utes essentially whipped Alabama at home. Handed Nick Saban a garlic necklace to wear the entire offseason. Stepped on his team's neck 21-0 in the first three possessions and never looked back. Let's see. Who was it that was losing to Alabama until nearly six minutes into the fourth quarter? Oh, yeah. Florida.

What, you want the Utes to win a spelling bee? Make a prize-winning souffle? Knock up Angelina Jolie? What?

It just slays me. It really does.

Call Myles Brand, president of the asleep-at-the-wheel NCAA, and ask him if he and his greedy presidents are going to stand in defiance of president-elect Barack Obama, who wants a playoff and wants it yesterday.

Ask Brand what he's going to do if Obama starts asking the Justice Department to look into anti-trust hearings against the BCS. The Utah attorney general has already launched an investigation into that very thing. Or ask him what he'll do if Obama asks the Department of Education to consider withholding federal funds from these schools that have entered into this secret club called the BCS. You don't think playing in the title game means millions in general-fund donations for a school? That's as unfair as anything Title IX fought against.

Until all these people do the right thing, I'll be celebrating with the true national champions — the undefeated, untied Utah Utes. (Our new slogan: Utahk about a team!)

Lemonades for everybody!

By Rick Reilly for ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656