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.

Follow Up

So a couple months ago I posted a link to an op-ed the founder of Whole Foods and placed in the Wall Street Journal. It had his ideas on how to fix the U.S. health care system.

Well, I found a video (through crossfit.com) that has him talking about his political philosophies & business goals, and I found myself agreeing a whole lot. There's a 5 minute abridged version, but the unabridged is awesome if you have an hour. I like his idea of conscious capitalism.

Turtleman

So my friend Laura showed this to me the other day. It's amazing

Still Alive

Hi. I'm still alive - just caught in the middle of cramming for finals & having nothing inspiring me to write about. But 2 things that have been on my mind lately:

• Someone died in Nutty Putty Caves, and not only are they sealing the cave shut, they're leaving his body.
• Global Warming/Climate Change is hack science. But I've decided that I'm probably taking the wrong approach to this: instead of denouncing it, I should just roll with it and figure out how to make lots of money off public fear & ignorance.
  

Busy Week

So this week has been kinda crazy. Yesterday I actually woke up at 5:30 without an alarm - it was stress. In law school I've been stressed to the point where I couldn't fall asleep, or where I wake up a bunch during the night, but this was the first time I've woken up & stayed up because of it. Despite a lack of sleep, I do have some good news:

I submitted my first patent this week, for my first client. It was pretty exciting to do it, and I'm pumped to have started doing this stuff.

Observing People

So lately I've become even more intent on observing people - unfortunately it's partially due to necessity. You see, while crappy drivers exist in every locale, here in Lubbock they specialize in 2 very special driving maneuvers:
(1) The "I'm from the farm and don't drive faster than 35 mph, ever." Really not that bad, so long as you can get around them.
(2) The more dangerous "Turn off the road from the middle lane". It's become so commonplace I pretty much expect it now. Last week I personally witnessed this at least 5 times. It's scary because if they do it when you're too close you have a T-bone.

Anyway, I just think its sad when you come to expect people to do something dumb that could really injure people.

Another observation: Why can't 'express lanes' at the grocery store prohibit check writing? Cash or plastic only I say. I'd also be in favor of a test prior to people being allowed to use the express lanes.

Oh, here's another observation: I'm not the most sympathetic person, but I do feel bad for handicap people. I have ZERO sympathy for people that are so overweight they require a motorized cart to get around, but can still walk when they have to use the bathroom. Or when they need to reach something up high. I mean, can't we just outlaw carts unless you're really handicapped? Can we tax these people extra, for being a burden on normal people?

Hitch Covers

So I've been a fan the past couple years of hitch covers for ... hitches. They look cool - you have sport shapes, brand shapes, team insignias - I personally have a BYU cover, made from a nice steel. Here's the link to where I pulled this picture, at the BYU bookstore.
Anyway, today this became important, because I was rear-ended by a camero at a stop light. The guy just let his foot off the brake and rolled into me - just gave me a little tap.

So I get out of the car, and so does he, and I say "Did that just happen? Whad'ya do, let your foot off the brake" "No, I was just talking with my girlfriend..." "Yeah, you were just talking with your girlfriend and you let your foot off the brake." "Is there any damage?"

I look at it - not a scratch on my truck. Totally perfect. I look at his camero (which sits below my bumper) and the license plate is totally caved in. The hood looks like it may be caved in.

"There's no damage to my truck. I can't say the same for your car. We're good."

And we left it at that. So I guess the moral of the story is that not only do hitch covers protect from dust, rust, and junk. They also protect against idiots.

Marathon Pics

So the company that took/sells the pictures of me running the marathon wants some crazy amounts of money for the photos. The cheapest I can get the digital copies is on a CD for $55. If I were to download them, it would cost ~ $320. I called and spoke with a sales dude about how messed up their business scheme was - he didn't seem to care.

So what I decided to do was just save my own personal copies of the sample pictures (which I like just fine - people used to be happy with smaller pictures!), while I still debate on ordering a 5x7 or something that doesn't cost $40. Here they are:

Super Freakonomics

Despite some things in my life being far from perfect, on the whole I'm happy with my decisions to become an Electrical Engineer and come to Law School. Sure, I don't have a job yet, and we're in a horrible job market for lawyers, but things will work out, and I enjoy the material, even if I haven't exactly aced law school.

I enjoy the confidence both have given me. Other than advanced thermodynamics, I feel like I can understand and solve pretty much any engineering problem given some time to study it. Likewise, I feel like I can understand and communicate to legal clients what the options available to them are, and counsel them as to what would be best.

That said, if I had to choose another career, I think I would enjoy being an Economist. In particular, the types of studies the authors of Freakonomics do, and trying to come up with "some simple solutions." The sequel comes out soon - check out this video preview:

Publication

So I wrote a little something about an upcoming Supreme Court case that was published by the organization I worked for out in DC. You can find it here: In Re Bilski

My incredible weekend

First my complaints: American Airlines sucks. They were so awful this weekend that they alone could have spoiled the entire trip - delays combined with a dearth of gate agents, poor planning, and old nasty planes.... I will cheer when they finally go out of business the next time gas prices spike.

The rest of my weekend was awesome. I flew to Salt Lake and my friend Shannon was kind enough to pick me up (at like 1 AM when my flight got in) and I stayed at her place that night. The next day I got to meet my nephew Paxton Alan Ward and hang out with my brother Matt and his wife Raquel. We toured the Utah Capitol building and had a great time. Paxton's a quiet baby - at least when Uncle Ry is holding him!
I had an interview that went well, and hopefully something comes of it at some point. For now, no promises.

Then Shannon picked me up and we drove down to St. George, where we stayed with her cousin Joy, who I had met several years ago hiking the Narrows in Zion National Park. The next morning, it was marathon time.

It was a fun race - I finished a few minutes slower than I hoped. It was actually my slowest marathon yet - but I also felt really good. I don't feel so hot right now - muscles are still really sore, but I had a great time running the race. My leg muscles didn't even feel warmed up at mile 22, which is weird to say, but it's true. So I cranked out the last few miles as fast as I could. This is the only picture I have right now - there'll be more coming.
After the race I got cleaned up, then we headed back & I went to Priesthood mtg with T-Rav, ate some carnitas at Diegos, and just chatted with Trav & Kel. The next day they took me to the airport and away I went.

To Grand Junction. There was a medical emergency, so we landed, spent about 4 1/2 hours on the ground (because AA is awful) and I eventually got to Dallas about 8:40 at night. Called my parents and they offered to come pick me up, so I got to sleep at home for a few hours before going back to the airport for an early flight. Now I'm back at school, with a ton to do this week.

Also - it felt so good to be back in Utah. I don't know when or if I'll ever get to live there again, but I know that I feel at home in the mountains and mesas of Utah, and I love feeling the cool dry air.

Funny Training

So next Saturday I run the St. George Marathon. The time's come fast, but this time (unlike previous marathons) I've made a serious and concentrated effort to train for it.

Unfortunately, I've also suffered some tough injuries. I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot, my right knee has been hurting when I get over 10 miles, and I have a deep blister on my right foot that doesn't want to heal. Whereas originally my goal was to run a 3 1/2 hour marathon, now my goal is to finish.

Because of these injuries I've had to trade out my normal running for other things. Today I ran in the shallow lap pool for 3 hours 15 minutes. Boring beyond belief. I got out and could barely walk - my legs were total rubber. I'm sure I looked like a dork, but at least it was a nice day, got some sun, they had music playing.

Anyway, one more week.

Funny Patent

I know, it sounds weird. But it's almost midnight, I've been researching for many hours today, and yet this one stood out among the hundreds of weird things I've seen. It literally made me laugh out loud - enjoy!
*The image seems a little blurry until you click on it...

Out to lunch

So after watching Obama a little last night, and reading some more stuff, I have a few thoughts. I thought Obama (as always) made it sound like a very good thing. Frankly, if everything he said happens I think I, along with most of America, would be very pleased. A better healthcare system without fraud and waste, available to everyone without raising deficits? Count me in!

The trick, as always, is how to do it within budgetary constraints, especially if we're serious about not raising spending levels. If it can be done, and if he holds to his word about refusing to sign anything that spends more than we already are, I think it would be a good thing for America.

Just as big a news story is the heckling he received with regards to illegal immigrants not receiving the public option. He (Obama) said that these benefits would not be available to illegal immigrants, and some Republican yelled out 'You lie!' Then, on the Today Show this morning, McCain said he didn't see anything in the bill that would give illegal immigrants the right to participate.

Well, I think the yeller dude was right. Incredibly disrespectful, but right. How do we plan on restricting this to only U.S. Citizens? When someone shows up at the hospital without insurance, are we going to start asking them if they're a U.S. Citizen? It's illegal for hospitals to do that now - are we going to start? I realize we can probably restrict their ability to sign up for the public option, but healthcare reform is in a large part about taking care of those uninsured that just show up at the hospital - exactly the demographic that most illegal immigrants find themselves in.

I think the President is out to lunch thinking that we won't be paying for healthcare for illegal immigrants, McCain is right there with him not looking at the practical aspects of this, and the yeller dude is out to lunch on his place in American politics.

BYU v. OU

I went home to Dallas for the BYU v. Oklahoma game this past weekend - and as everyone knows, it turned out amazing! Here are some pics I took from the game.

A really big 'Y' following a BYU promotion

This is the BYU crowd about 5 minutes after the game ended
Victory Helmets