Investing & the Euro

So lately the market seems to be recovering. Still no word on a job, but hopefully soon. But my worry is this: Several months ago I was talking with my Dad and he asked if I thought it was time to get back into the market. I told him no, and the reason why was that until governments both in the U.S. and Europe can spend their money in a sustainable fashion, i.e., have budgets where old people aren't stealing from those working and borrowing to do it, any short term increases or decreases in the market probably aren't sustainable.

Now, I'm not an economist, and this is just my theory. Well, it's my theory based in part on these links and videos:



link to the video posted above: Nigel Farage

Link describing Obama budget cuts, but pay close attention to the amount being spent on entitlements such as Social Security & Medicare: Wimp.com video

Also, keep in mind all the stories this week about how the Europeans actually borrowed money from the U.S. Federal Reserve... which borrows money from Asia. Nice.

So why am I writing all this? I dunno. I thought the video was funny. But I certainly hope the economy improves, and that I'm wrong about this stuff. In the meantime, I don't have money to invest anyway, but if I did, I'd be awfully cautious about where I put it.

Disturbing

So I came across this funny picture while working today:




















and I think it's disturbing. Who would do that? Also disturbing - I immediately began considering the product liability issues involved.

Turkey Fry

So my friend Tim invited me down for a Turkey Fry - where instead of baking a turkey, you fry it. It was pretty dang sweet. Tim's been living in Tokyo for the past 2 years or so, & I hadn't seen him since I wintered in Savannah my 1L year of law school. He also got married to Heather in Raleigh about 5 months ago, but I hadn't met her, so I was really looking forward to seeing both of them, as well as the Van Valkenburgs and Kim Mah.

I took off Friday after working for a bit, drove on down, and had a great weekend - just got back this afternoon (Sunday).

Frying a turkey was cool. I don't have that much experience frying things, but this was the biggest thing I've ever seen fried - and like all fried food, it was delicious.

Getting outside DC: Woodstock Tower

Yesterday I went with my buddy Jim down near the Shenandoah to this old fire observation tower. It was a good short trip, my truck found some dirt roads, and the fall colors were beautiful. The tower wasn't as tall as I was expecting, but it was still pretty cool. And there were a bunch of hang gliders prepping below us.

Most of all it just felt good to get out on the road, hit some dirt, and see some fresh air.

Counselor

So I realized that while I called my family & some friends, had some people over, and posted it on Facebook, there may be some people who keep up with me exclusively via my blog. And I never posted the most excellent news I received yesterday - I passed the Virginia Bar!!! I get sworn in on Nov. 3 (I think). I'll be a legit lawyer soon! Now to just find a firm that will hire me.

Rather than esquire, I think I prefer the title of Counselor.

I want to be a lawyer

For those of you who don't read 'Above the Law'...

One Down

So I received some exciting news on Thursday - my first patent application for my first client was approved!

Atlanta & Utah

So I never wrote that I recently went to Atlanta for the Intellectual Property Owner's conference. It was a neat trip, met some people, went to dinner at the Georgia aquarium, which was awesome, and got to see a tiny bit of Atlanta.

It was my first time in Atlanta - I really wasn't very impressed. I'm sure that suburbia is fine, but downtown I thought had some amazing buildings coupled with a lot of homeless.

Also, in Lubbock as well as in DC, I've met a lot of people who really have some harsh feelings about the state of Utah. I think it's unfortunate, because I love Utah. Here's why I think some people have hard/unenlightened feelings about Utah:

• They spent all their time in Provo & Salt Lake associating with other Mormons
• They had no money to do anything fun/their idea of fun is going to bars or museums

Because here's the thing, if you spend all your time in Utah hanging out in Provo, or perhaps the BYU bookstore, yes, its going to be lame. But! If you even venture out to Park City, that wild crazy place, you'll get out of the bubble.

Personally, I have a hard time finding anyone who has lived in Utah and been to any 2 of the following places and not enjoyed it. This also doubles as a basic list of places people who think Utah is a horrible place should go:

Snowboarding @ the Canyons/Brighton
Moab
Goblin Valley
Bryce Canyon
The Uintas
The Spiral Jetty
The Sun Tunnels
Nutty Putty Caves (closed)/The train tunnel I can't tell you about, but is in Spanish Fork Canyon
Chasing Wild Horses (may be a violation of the Wild Horse & Burro act, statute of limitations of 7 years)
Snow Canyon
Zions National Park
Capitol Reef
Shoot Guns
Hike Timp

So why did I write all this? Well, the fact is that I really didn't see that much of Atlanta, and shouldn't judge based off a limited experience. What I think a lot of people do is go to Utah, perhaps for years, but have a limited experience.

What do I think of people who make judgments based on a lack of understanding/experience? I feel bad for them - because they're missing out.

Jeff's Wedding

So my little brother Jeff got married on Saturday in the Oakland Temple - it was a quick trip out & back, but a lot of fun to see everyone and participate a little in the wedding.

While I was out there I ran into my friend Shannon, who's brother was married in the session immediately following Jeff's wedding, and a friend from my mission to Argentina.

I also spent a lot of time playing with my nephews & niece, and got to spend a little time sight seeing. But considering I left just under 48 hours from arriving, it was a pretty quick trip.

I hadn't been to Oakland or San Fransisco since I was a little kid - both seem really nice, though I have a feeling my philosophies on life might clash with those of the northern CA lifestyle.

(squinting, not pissed)

Self-Employment

So I've decided to stop telling people I'm unemployed. It makes it sound as if I have lots of free time to watch the cooking channel, go to the park, tour DC, stay out late, and spend money I don't have.

Instead, I'm going to tell people that I'm currently self-employed, looking for work as an associate patent attorney.

In DC

So I've moved to DC. Getting here went well. My parents helped me pack up in Lubbock, then we drove to Dallas, where I had to swap out my truck battery. Of course the job turned out to be more than my Dad & I expected (it always does) so we finished completely covered in sweat about 9 PM Monday night.

Then my Mom drove with me to St. Louis, where we stayed with my Grandmother, and we saw cousins, as well as my brother Matt & his family, who are also on their way out to DC for a new job. The next day we hit the road, crossing through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and a chunk of Pennsylvania before calling it a night in a small town in PA.

We got to the place I had lined up here in DC, and well... the guy I sublet from for 1 month is a moron. The day turned out to be rough, but I got my stuff stored, I'm living in a cockroach infested building for a few more days, and then to top it off, the next day I woke up to find that my truck was gone. At first I thought it was stolen - nope. Just towed. The moron forgot to tell me I need a parking pass, so then I had to figure out how to get to my car without transportation (I eventually got a cab).

Since then, things are looking up. I have a place lined up through December, I've gotten most of the little things done I wanted, and I've received a paycheck from work. I'm really excited about where I'll be living for the next few months, and to start the full-time job hunt.

Adios Lubbock

It's been a good, tough, and frustrating 3 years. I'm thankful its done, and I'm thankful that my attitude towards Lubbock changed. Now off to DC.

Things I love about Lubbock #7: Attitude

Tonight's my last "Things I love about Lubbock" post. Attitude.

So this goes to Accent, Trucks, Showing up to Walmart in chaps (with jeans underneath), and who knows what else. There's an attitude in Lubbock, and West Texas in general, of people itchin' for a fight. I think its an attitude that used to prevail throughout the West, and has been decreasing slowly as civilization creeps in.

Of course, it could be easy to miss/dismiss this attitude. If you never go to sports in Lubbock, or rodeos, or auto shops, or just hang out at the university, or at Barnes & Noble, you could miss it. But when you get out to the dirt roads, or the places where people still sit on their porches instead of watching the latest 'American Idolatry', you can sense it.

It could also be dismissed as just hick, but I think its different. I think what distinguishes this attitude from hick is a knowledge of the odds or circumstances, and just utter disregard for it.

Anyway, I think the attitude is a very American one, and I've loved being around it and reminded of it.

Things I love about Lubbock #6: Traffic/Distance

So tonight, when I was running late getting to a goodbye/graduation dinner for my friends Megan and Stephanie, I pretty much made it all the way across Lubbock in less than 10 minutes. Yes, I was exceeding the speed limit, but not by more than 10 mph.

Hence the thing I love about Lubbock for tonight - that I can get anywhere in Lubbock in under 20 minutes. Even in "heavy" traffic times, there's rarely a backup, and if there is, you still get through the intersection on the next signal.

Here's a shot of 'downtown' Lubbock at 5PM Thursday.

Here's a picture of one of the busier intersections just a short time after.
Now, because its a college town, traffic will be increasing in the next few weeks, but really its nice to be able to get around fast and easily. Somehow I think DC's traffic might be a little more intense than Lubbock's been.

Things I love about Lubbock #5: Doin' stuff with Chief

So while I've been here in Lubbock, one of the things I've enjoyed most is getting to know Chief, aka Carl Mortenson. He was in the branch presidency when I moved here, and was released when we became a ward.

Whenever I'm around Chief, I go into sponge mode. Whether it's business, religion, ranching - I just absorb it. I asked him the first month or so I was here if I could just go work on his ranch when I had some time, just to learn - and I'm grateful I did. Rather than go into all the reasons I like and admire Chief, I decided that I would put a few of the nuggets of wisdom I've recorded & learned from Chief.

"You don't own land, land owns you."

"Make it look easy."
"We are rewarded in this life according to the service we render."

Don't subdivide property until you're sure it's going to sell, because the taxes will eliminate profits, and maybe bring a loss.
Always have a backup plan - and don't tell people, and especially the bank, about the backup plan.
Share what you have with others.
In business, beware hiring/working with other mormons. They may feel entitled to something.
Keep a nice car separate from your working truck.
If you're in charge of something, take care of the problems without making management question whether you're up to the task.

Things I love about Lubbock #4: The Rec Center

Today's item of note is the Texas Tech Recreation Center, which is a amazing and getting better all the time.

At BYU, the athletic facilities are amazing. But unless you are a collegiate athlete, you don't get to use those. Instead, you are directed to some basketball courts, a pool, an indoor track that sometimes is fully open and smells like it hasn't been deep cleaned in 50 years, and 2 teeny tiny weight lifting rooms. They also have about 20 racquetball courts.

At Texas Tech, the student rec facilities put BYU to shame. There's a 3 story rock wall, bouldering, probably about 50 treadmill/eliptical things, an indoor track, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool w/ a lazy river, 3 big weight rooms, boxing equipment, a mat room, an indoor soccer court, and about 8 full basketball courts.

Oh, and they have actual lockers that you can rent out, instead of whatever BYU calls those pathetic little cubes we paid money for.

Plus, its right next to the law school, which was a perfect break for me.

Things I love about Lubbock #3: The Stars

This is a simple one. I love being able to see the stars when I'm walking into my apartment at night. During law school I've had some late nights, and since I normally studied up at the school it would often be late when I'd get home. It was really nice to look up and see a dark sky filled with stars. Orion, the dippers, Polaris, and other constellations I can vaguely make out - right there, surrounded by stars.

Everywhere else I've lived - Dallas, Utah, Argentina, Iraq - were all so lit up that while you might see some stars, you couldn't really see the stars. Too much light pollution.

Not in Lubbock. They stand out, and its relaxing, and I'll miss it.

Things I love about Lubbock #2: Music

Prior to leaving Utah 3 years ago, I was getting tired of country music. Tim & Faith don't write their own music, and only sing a song with passion once every 5 years. Toby Keith - does he still just try and put some funny one liners together with a beat? And Kenny Chesney + Rascal Flats = a bunch of gay cowboys singing crappy music.

I get tired of music, and musicians, when they just rehash the same junk over and over again. I understand that after 10-20 years, you get in a rhythm and it's tough to find the same fire and intensity you used to have (U2). So anyway, I was getting tired of country music in particular. I had started listening to a little more Johnny Cash, and then I moved to Lubbock.

Shortly thereafter, a radio station converted to country, and my buddy Jess from church started playing a bunch of Texas country. And I love it. It's so good. Thankfully, I can stream the station over the interwebs, because when I was in DC last week I was already getting frustrated by the lack of decent music options.

Here's the radio station link: 105.3 The Red Dirt Rebel
Here's some artists I would have never heard of had I not moved to Lubbock:
Josh Abbott Band
Turnpike Troubadors
Bleu Edmonson
Brazos Stone

Things I love about Lubbock #1: Bar-B-Q

So when I was in Roanoke VA last week, I looked up restaurants to go to dinner after my first night of the test. I found a bar-b-q joint, and the review online made it sound really good. I went, got seated, and ordered up some soft brisket that had been smoked all day long.

Now, I've had lots of brisket. I like brisket. A friend a couple years ago smoked a brisket at home all day and brought it to a dinner - softest, juiciest brisket I've ever had. Delicious. This? Not so much. It wasn't bad, but I really had to work to cut it with a knife. Juicy - yes. Tender - no. Was I disappointed - absolutely.

I suppose I should have expected as much, and maybe I did. The restaurant's specialty was something I would've complained about here, though they did rescue it with a nice smattering of sauces. But the meat...

This gets to the thing I love about Lubbock - there's some great barbq here. Whether it's Tom & Bingo's Hickory Pit, 4BarK, or even just Dickies fast food barbq. I've been spoiled by delicious meat, made and served by people who actually have smoked their meat all day, or even 2 days, and know how to serve it right.

Tom & Bingo's Hickory Pit, 34th Street in Lubbock

The Bar is Done

The bar is done. I hope, I pray, I pass. I felt pretty good about the test - I felt really good about my prep. I don't know what more I could have done in preparation. I can still tell I'm exhausted from the prep, the test, and everything involved.

So when I arrived in Lubbock Saturday evening, it hit me a little harder than normal that my time here is really getting short. I've talked down on Lubbock during my three years here, but the fact is that I kinda like the town. If there were hills, forest, or rivers of worth mentioning anywhere nearby (less than 2 hours), I'd consider staying. This is true despite the fact that there isn't enough work for me here.

I like the weather, minus 40 mph constant wind & dust. I like the people. I like the attitude.
My dislikes... well, they exist, but I'm not dwelling on those anymore, certainly not this last week before I leave for DC.

So what I have decided to do is start making a list, or a compilation, of favorite things/memories about Lubbock. Since I'm doing these day by day, they probably won't be in order...

Crossfit Games

I've written before about how I love crossfit. Here are some videos from the crossfit.com website describing a little about what crossfit is. The 2nd one I think is way cool because the people work at the gym up in Park City - and the guy just got 3rd in the international competition last weekend. He weighs about 135 pds.

What is Crossfit?

Adidas Commercial

I feel broken

I feel broken. Physically, mentally. 2 1/2 weeks until the bar. So while I'm taking a break to eat some lunch, I decided to embed some motivational videos.

We might have been a free and great people together

This is a sweet article about the Declaration of Independence, and some words which the Continental Congress removed. I learned something new, and think it's worth sharing.

A Cold Man's Warm Words

Happy Independence Day - may we always be willing to fight for our Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Anosognosia

So there's this sweet NY Times article that I started reading... but it's 5 parts. And they're not linked right. So I decided to post the links right here, so when I get around to reading the other links I can find them.

Based on only the first part that I've read so far, I would highly recommend reading it. It discusses people who are too dumb to know they're dumb - and if there's every something I would want to read, it would be "How to find out if I'm a moron." So here the links.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Bankruptcy and Student Debt

So as I was eating my oatmeal this morning, I was reading online about student loans, which got me thinking about bankruptcy for people with outstanding student loans.

At present, when people can't pay back their student loans and begin to default, the creditor (bank) can eventually go to court, seek a claim, and try take that person's money and stuff - just like any other unsecured loan. The trick is that when that person also can't pay their credit card, home mortgage, car payments and student loans, they'll often file for bankruptcy.

While there's a couple different ways to do this, when they do, everything but the student loans can be discharged, wiped clean, and gone forever - though their credit rating will be in the tubes for several years. For student loans, there has to be an "undue hardship" preventing the repayment of the loan.

What is considered an undue hardship? Its up to the judge, however, earning $10/hr when you owe $140,000 in loans probably doesn't qualify. Probably.

So why all this backstory? Here's the thing: I feel for these people that get themselves into this situation. I think they had hopes and dreams that somehow got off track. But it's still their fault for taking out loans they couldn't pay back. Who know who else's fault it is? The schools, who took the money from these kids yet didn't prepare them adequately for a job.

There's been some talk lately of lowering the standard for forgiving student debt to something easier than "undue hardship." I have an idea (and this is the reason for this post) - How about we not allow any discharge of student debt for the first 15-20 years after the loan is made. That'll give the person who took the loan time to work and pay it off.

After that set time, let's assign some of the debt (1/2?) to the school that took the money. I think they're just as at fault. This would probably lead to further raising of tuition, and continue escalating until crappy schools go out of business - and I think that would be good for everyone.

I'm sure there are flaws to this idea - I haven't been thinking about this for very long. But, I do think that the schools are often as much at fault as the dumb students that can't balance their budgets, and should bear more of the responsibility.

Heartless

Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Chart

So the other day I was looking for a chart of end-of-day Dow Jones Industrial Average figures. Why? Why do I do lots of things in my life - because I'm weird. Anyway, so I'm looking for an excel spread sheet of this data, which I never found, but I came across this chart comparing recent Dow numbers against the Nikkei from Japan. Japan, for those unaware, has been in a stock funk for about 20 years now.

Here's the link: Dow Jones Industrial Average Model
And here's the particular graph I found interesting:

Anyway, hopefully things get turned around soon. I, like most working Americans, have complete faith in both Congress and the President to turn this around.

Steel Horse

Sold my ride today. Am I happy about it? No. Did I need the cash? Yes.
Why can't I be like most Americans and willfully go into extreme debt?
Hopefully soon I'll be making lawyer money and can buy myself a new ride.

Big Bend

After 3 years of law school, I finally took a weekend and went to Big Bend. I decided that while I may be short on time/money, this was the one and only opportunity I would have for a long time in the foreseeable future to go.

It took about 6 hours to get there...
Shortly after setting up my tent, a micro-storm came in. Rain, hail, lightening, all blowing my little camp away. After the storm it dried out pretty quick, but the rain remained. After trying to tie down my tent, I decided to just sleep in the bed of my truck. There was a thunderstorm just over the ridge all night, so the thunder/wind/full moon kept me kinda awake, but I figured it was still better than trying to keep a tent from caving in all night.


The next day I went and hiked Cattail Falls, a hike not quite 'on the map.'























Then I drove the 'River Road' - a dirt road that borders the Rio Grande. It took about 4 hours, and wasn't nearly as exciting as I was hoping. In part because there were only a few views of the river, in part because I was driving, slow, by myself, for about 4 hours.

But I saw the river, had a good time, and could see old Mexico. It was pretty cool. Of course, the air temp on the road when I was driving? About 110.

Then I ate some dinner at the lodge restaurant, and watched the sunset near my camp in the mountain basin.
Slept again in the back of my truck. When I woke up in the middle of the night, the moon had set and the stars were out in fine fashion. Slept until dawn, then took a different route home through Alpine and Ft. Davis. I've decided that these towns, in particular Alpine, have to be some of the prettiest towns I've ever seen in TX. As in, I would actually want to live in them.

I also passed through this town, whose name I couldn't figure out how to pronounce.
I finally decided it rhymes with 'diarrhea.' Notice this didn't make my list of places I'd want to live.

All in all, it was really a great trip. I enjoyed getting down there, and it was worth the wait. Considering the task before me (the bar) I'm glad I took 3 days off. Big Bend was beautiful, and considering how far away it is from anything it's quite possible I'll never return.

Ghostbusters

This needs to be seen...

Law School Graduation

So I've graduated from Law School! Bar Prep starts tomorrow... but at least the weekend was good!

Red Lights of Doom

Anyone who has owned a XBox 360 for more than a year and a half knows these lights. The red lights of doom. For those interested in why Xboxes have failed so consistently, costing Microsoft millions/billions? of dollars, here's the short version: They did no thermal analysis prior to selling them. None! If you buy one in the stores now, it works properly because they've put the necessary heatsinks in to absorb the heat and disperse it.

The thing is, I really enjoy having an xbox, and yet I start studying for the bar in 1 1/2 weeks. Now's probably not the time to buy a new one...

Post #400

I haven't blogged in 2 1/2 months. Part of it was feeling that nothing in my life was exciting enough to write about. Part of it was that I was too busy to really think about it. Part of it was that this is my 400th post and I wanted it to be somewhat memorable. But I've decided that there are a number of exciting things going on right now that I should share.

1) I graduate from law school in less than 2 weeks.
2) I'm still looking for a post-law school job, but I have some leads, and I'm hoping for the best.
3) I helped brand cows yesterday. I was really excited to be doing it - it was fun!
4) I continue to do Crossfit, although my exercise routine has been somewhat more erratic lately. Despite this, and despite gaining more weight lately than I like, I'm actually stronger than I can ever remember. If only my cardio were still worth speaking of...
5) My youngest brother Jeff is engaged!!!

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have plenty to complain about - I've been super frustrated in my job search, I'm stressed with school, and I'm ready to bid adieu to Lubbock. But the fact is that I'm very blessed, and hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have even more good news to post.

You can't chase the night

So I haven't written in a long time, but I've had a lot on my mind lately that I've been thinking about, so here's a new post!

I read this article by Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy that had one particular point that resonated with me. He was in Dallas for the NBA all-star game, and was out late with a bunch of guys when the bars were closing. Apparently a young player wanted to keep looking for open bars, etc., when a guy named Wes said,

"Nothing good can happen at this point," Wes explains simply. "You can't chase the night. When the night is over, the night is over. That's just the way it is. You just gotta wake up tomorrow and hope for a better day."

Lately I've been debating a whole lot more of what I want out of my life. I'll be real, this last semester of law school is kicking my trash. The job market still sucks - no significant leads on a job, I've spent 3 years going after this and now I have to wonder if I'm going to go back and beg for an engineering job in a year. I miss the mountains - snow boarding, camping, mountain biking. But then again, you can't chase the night. That time of my life was awesome, but it's over now and won't be coming back. I would like to move back to the mountains, but I worry that it wouldn't live up to the memories I have.

I did submit my Virginia Bar Application this week. I'm going to try and make it work out there. Of course, promptly after submitting my application I contacted an attorney out there I've been staying in touch with, hoping for a job. He told me that given Virginia's bar passage rate I might want to have a backup plan. Thanks bud.

I'm considering opening my own practice, but I'd really prefer to have more mentoring. Also, the idea of building my own practice intimidates me, but I think it would ultimately be very rewarding. Stressful, but rewarding.

All at once

I might as well keep posting while I'm in the mood. I put this collage together awhile back - some of my favorite memories of 2009, but then I forgot to post it. Of course there were plenty of other great memories, but I often didn't take a picture or get one...

Busted Computer

So my computer was busted for a few days, and while I've spoken with many on the phone about it, I thought I'd post some pictures and tell about it here.

First of all, my computer is 5 1/2 years old, and I use it about 12 hours a day 6 days a week. It gets opened and closed a lot, and its held up remarkably well. I try to take good care of it, and it still does everything I need. Would it be nice to have a new quad processor or something? Of course, but I'm pretty happy with my machine.

So on the 2nd day of the semester, I come home, open up my computer, and the monitor falls all the way back - busted. Being an Engineer, and the fact that I need it, I take the thing apart - it turns out the socket the hinges plugs into had worn out. So I tried cramping it and super-gluing it. No dice. Then I tried epoxy overnight - again nothing.
The next day I worked from home, with my laptop leaning against the wall, and my buddy Jim suggested I order something off E-bay. I found someone selling my exact monitor for a decent price, ordered it, got it 3 days later, installed it, and now I'm back in business.

During this whole experience, my apartment looked like a lab - here's a pic:
Frankly, it's a little scary how comfortable I've gotten opening and working on my laptop...

A word that always makes me laugh

Eyeball.
I dare you to say eyeball in a normal conversation without having the desire to smile. I contend it cannot be done.

Cholesterol

So way back when I had a real job I went to this health fair, where they drew a little of my blood, did some tests, and sent me back some data. At the time (Feb 2007) my cholesterol was 174.

Well, about a year ago I started giving blood semi-regularly to United Blood services here in Lubbock. Yesterday when they called to bug me about a new appointment they told me that I could look up my cholesterol from previous donations online, so I checked it out. My most recent score? 136.

Maybe it's an anomaly, but wow. The things I've been doing that might be helping are
A) taking fish oil (omega-3) supplements
2) eating less red meat
iii) Crossfit and a little more running

I'm giving blood again this week, so I'll be sure to report if it stays low.

Looking for a calendar

So I don't have a calendar yet for 2010 - I'm still on the hunt. But while wandering the Barnes & Noble and looking through the picked over calendars, I came upon a book I thought could be perfect for future lawyer Ryan's office: History's Worst Inventions. So I start perusing it - the first invention I look at was exactly what I hoped - the flying car. Like, they attach wings and a tail to a car, so you can park it. Apparently, cars that take flight, yet lack a propeller. wasn't a great idea. And people died trying to make it.

Then I get looking a little more at this book (which was on sale by the way). Apparently, gunpowder, pesticides, and atomic weapons are also among the worst inventions ever. For the curious, I disagree, but that's not my point.

My point is that it's always frustrating/sad when you have something that seems great, and it turns out to be crap. Maybe it's a book, maybe a cookie or pie - maybe it's a relationship. Yesterday I had a quesadilla that sounded great, looked great. Turned out to be crap.

On the flip side is when something seems awful and it turns out to be a pretty dang good thing.
Moving to Lubbock has been a dang good thing.