Swing night in SLC

A couple of years ago I used to be quite into dancing. At one point I was going to country swing dancing, the big band swing club, and doing ballroom dance all at the same time. I've kind of slacked off for the past 3-4 years. I decided to change that a couple of weeks ago. I've gone to the country swing dancing several times.

Then yesterday afternoon one of my facebook "friends" posted that there would be a Big Band Swing event in SLC. Complete with a Charleston performance and a Jack and Jill dance competition. I decided to try the event out.  The performance wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was three girls with a choreographed but obviously not too rehearsed routine. It was also obvious that they were having a lot of fun with it so it was fine.

Lining up for Jack and Jill competition

Once I started dancing I realized a few things.  I've forgotten how much fun big bans swing is.. I forgot how much you can "play" with your partner. I realized how much I had actually forgotten. The first time I went out on the dance floor it was pretty sad. I repeated the basic several times between moves while I tried to remember things. Gradually I remembered how to lead through my desired moves.  I noted that there are quite a few people who are really good at Lindy. I spent half the night gawking at them just to try to pick up ideas.  I enjoyed the night enough that I'm going to relearn how to Lindy.

The things that end up in my in-box.

Since I serve as middle management at the nursing center I rate an in-box.  I never realized something before receiving my own in-box. It appears that in-boxes attract a lot more interesting things than just paperwork. Some of the things have ended up in my in-box are pretty random.  I've found toys, receipts, random papers, key-chains, and once even a DVD.  The item that I found in my in-box this morning has to be the most random item that I have ever found. This is what I found.

Ovulation Predictor.

I'm not really sure what I was supposed to do with this. It's kind of useless to me. Not only am I not trying to start a family; I have the wrong plumbing to use this item.

I am having a hard time trying to figure out why anyone would even have that in a nursing home? Most of our residents are way past the age of worrying about this.  Staff, is work the place that you would want to take a such a test?

I thought that it was just a some kind of perverse and over my head joke. No one ever came to claim the joke however. So I'm just left to laugh at the experience of  receiving an ovulation predictor. Anybody want it?

Joining the military?

"Did you join the military?"

This is the question that I have heard twenty or thirty times in the past couple of days.  After the first couple of people asked me; I decided to play around with any further inquiries.  I claimed that I had signed up for the marines and was going to start basic training in two weeks.  What was surprising was how differently people reacted to that statement, including the people who work with me every day and know me well.



Some; reacted like my CNA coordinator. Laughed out loud and stated loudly, "Yea....right!"
Some didn't know what to say. "Oh..." Awkward silence and a subject change.
Some questioned my sanity. "Are you crazy?"
Finally some questioned whether I was telling the truth; but couldn't decide. "Are you serious or are you joking?"

I never expected to get so much enjoyment out of a haircut.

Oh. About the haircut. I was considering trying out different haircuts under a recommendation of a friend.  I asked a bunch of people what they thought I should try. I received all kinds of recommendations which I gave very thoughtful consideration to.  Then I realized it. All of those hairstyles looked like they actually required more than about two seconds of work.  Yea. Not happening.  I still wanted to something that would fit my two criteria. Different and easy.  A buzz cut fits both those criteria pretty well! The friend in question also approved so double bonus.

Swollen ankles and narcotics

Several weeks ago I heard about a group of people who play soccer every Wednesday evening.  This past Wednesday I was finally able to go out and try to meet up with them to play.  I figured that if the group is like typical soccer groups most people will show up around 15 minutes after the scheduled time. I showed up at the park; and much to my surprise there were only two people on the field.  Both of whom were hispanic and practicing penalty shots. Not really the group I was expecting. I sat around twiddling my thumbs until finally 30 minutes later a mixed group of girls and boys show up. Much more like what I was expecting with a singles ward.  I go over to greet them; but don't recognize anyone at all.  Evidentally the group that played every Wednesday decided not to play that week.   I shrugged, and asked if I could just join in with this other group. They were nice and agreed.  We had just barely started playing when the 2 Hispanics and 7 other friends who had shown up came over. They offered to play against us. Despite some warranted trepidation about being outclassed; we agreed. We then proceeded to be absolutely destroyed over the next couple of hours by these guys.  Fortunately they were pretty cool about it; so it was still fun.  I managed to score a hat trick; that was about the only bright spot of the evening for me.  Early on in the game I did tweak my ankle; but it felt fine a couple minutes later so I continued playing.  We played late so as soon as we finished I went to bed.

The next morning I wake up and am mildly surprised to see that my ankle is rather large, swelling, and has some really nice bruises. It didn't feel all that bad when I went to bed.  It would have been nicer. Because it was so late in the morning already. I had to go to work. I spent the next 12 hours hobbling around on a gimp ankle; much to either the extreme sympathy or amusement of people around me. I managed to get someone to work most of the next day's shift for me.  I would still have to come in for 3 hours because no one would work that time.

I show up at 4 o'clock to work my three hours. The nurse on duty gives me a surprised look and asks, "What are you doing here? So and So is supposed to be coming on and you're supposed to be home because of your ankle!"  While surprised I wasn't exactly disappointed about the revelation. Until that is; the assistant director of nursing came up to me and said that she needed to talk to me in her office. Never a good sign; especially when you walk in and the human resource officer is also there. It appears that one of the liquid morphine bottles ran out of morphine while the narcotic sign out sheets still had it listed as having 5 mL left.  Because no one could account for those 5 mL of morphine...every nurse on the wing was going to get a surprise drug test.  They hadn't told me they had covered the shift so I would come and be drug tested. Always a great experience.  A certain part of me was glad that I was only taking Tylenol for my ankle pain at the time. If I had been prescribed Oxycontin things might have become a little bit sticky at work.

Mirror Lake Redux

S. and I thought it might be a good idea to go to the real Mirror Lake since we went to the wrong one in our last adventure.  Surprisingly; two weeks in a row our schedules actually coincided enough that we were able to do it this week.

The drive up to the Uintah mountains was beautiful.  The more I'm forced to drive through pretty places the more I realize that it's much better to be a passenger. I miss so much of everything around me because I actually have to pay attention to the road. They need to hurry up and make those cars that drive for you.  That way I could enjoy the scenery around me.

Dad had mentioned that Provo falls would be a good place to stop over before getting up to the lake areas. He was right. I was surprised how extensive the falls were.  Instead of being one big fall they are a giant series of terraces.  You have calm, mostly shallow water alternating with 5-10 foot drops.  There was only one problem. In order to fully experience the falls you need to have two different types of shoes. One set to climb up the hill alongside the river; another so you can wade through the calm spots.  Surprisingly I thought ahead and brought appropriate footwear for wading. Unsurprisingly; I attempted to go climbing in the flip-flops that I brought along for wading..  My feet reminded me today why that was not the greatest of ideas. I have a lot of dings and scratches that weren't there yesterday.

After climbing through the river and the falls we both were feeling a little big hungry. According to the map we got from the nice lady at the entrance Trial lake was just around the corner from Provo Falls.  So we got into the car and started driving for the lake. It only took 15 minutes for me to realize that the lake that was supposed to be just around the corner wasn't appearing. I had taken a wrong turn out of the Provo Falls parking lot and we had been driving the wrong direction. My excuse is that I was distracted by the scenery, the conversation, and the rather cute girl in the seat next to me.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I realized my mistake, we turned around and made it to Trial Lake.

S. proceeded to take us on a "mile" long hike to get away from everyone else near the lake parking lot. I didn't really mind; I like having an area for myself also. The funny thing is; that as soon as we sat down an elderly couple in a paddle boat kept doing circles right in front of us. So much for hiding out.

I did rather regret lugging the cooler the entire way. In hindsight I probably should have just thrown lunch into a backpack and ditched the cooler.  It was not the only think that I probably should have done. Once we started eating I, with some little help from S., discovered that I had forgotten to change into my swimsuit, forgot the bug repellent, and forget my towel.   I proceeded to hike back to the car, leaving S. to entertain herself.  Which she had to do for a lot longer than anticipated.  I managed to change fairly quickly. I grabbed the mosquito repellent that I had bought earlier. It's a new product by off. It doesn't require you to spray anything on you or your clothes. It's like an air freshener with a battery powered fan that propels the repellent into the air as it's clipped onto your clothes or on the ground next to you.  With one problem; it appears that the one I bought was defective. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out why it wasn't working, gave up and headed back to our staked out area. Only to realize half-way there that while fooling around with the repellent I had left my towel.  Let's just say that after my various adventures S. spent far more time alone at the lake than she did with my company.

I finally got back. Ready and excited to go swimming. Only to have one of the Uintah Mountains afternoon storms suddenly appear and drop the temperature by 10 degrees or so.  Freezing water and freezing air. A wise person would just give up swimming as a lost cause.  S. was wise. I on the other hand, rejecting my inner King Solomon, still went out and swam. It was cold. :)

After a while S. pulled me out of the water pleading that she was cold and getting eaten alive. They seemed valid excuses so I forced myself out of the water. My teeth didn't even chatter; I was proud of myself.  At that point we headed home. The road trip demons couldn't resist making it rain as we were leaving. I personally have decided to never ever go anywhere that has any relation to mirrors with S. again. The name is cursed.

Where is Mirror Lake?

First off. I'm going to say that I really regret not pulling out my camera the entire time that we were on this day trip. There was so much nice scenery. I guess my memories will just have to suffice.

This past Friday when we were discussing things  to do my California friend (subsequently referred to by the pseudonym S.) suggested going to Mirror Lake down by Beaver.  Which somewhat surprised my family because the only mirror lake that we were aware of is in the Uintah Mountains on the East side of the state.  One also happens to be a 3 hour drive; the other an hour and half hour drive.  Me, being the trusting person that I am determined that despite being a Californian she actually knew what she was talking about. Appears my assumption was wrong. After the several hour drive we found what Google maps listed as Mirror Lake the signs all called Fish Lake.

She was disappointed.  It was beautiful but very mossy. She didn't want to go swimming in mossy and gooey water.  Now. Even though it was mossy it was water. Anyone who knows me knows that I will find a way to play with, fall into, or otherwise enjoy any body of water larger than an H20 molecule. I started off fairly tame. There were rocks and driftwood lying around the lake. So I introduced S. to the Stuart time honored tradition of throwing rocks at floating logs and twigs. I made the mistake of mentioning that when I was a kid I would pretend that the wood were Russian and or German warships attacking our shores. S. made the observation that it was lucky that it was just pretend.  If we were dependent on my shooting accuracy we might very well be speaking German or Russian in the near future.

I also discovered to my horror that my companion had never learned how to skip a rock.  I suppose it is somewhat understandable. Being from California most of her water experience has been from the ocean. Waves coming in make it a bit harder to skip rocks.  I spent a few seconds showing her the technique; then got distracted by trying to make sure that I actually succeeded myself. I managed to get a couple of good skips in.

At that point I decided to channel my inner Tom Sawyer.  Someone in the near past had put together a log raft and I had to try it out.  I poled myself into the middle of the lake and let the wind blow me across the lake. It was very relaxing. I probably could have floated on it for quite a while if not for one small problem. Nope; not the problem that I was wet. It was actually the opposite problem. All that water around me and I was not wet. That was just blasphemy. So I ditched my perfectly good raft and got myself nice and wet...and very cold.  The lake hadn't gotten the memo that it's summer and summer is supposed to be warm. I splashed around as long as I could stand the cold and returned the raft to the bank. S. entertained herself by walking around the lake then laying out under the sun reading. I joined her for a while but alas all good things must end and we had to return to the land of civilization.

We did decide however that we really should make an effort to visit the real Mirror Lake

Trip to Idaho

A few months ago I had the grand idea to make a trip up to Idaho. The purpose of this visit was really twofold. The first was to visit my grandparents whom I haven't seen in a while. The second was to visit the cousins. I managed to convince my two sisters that it would be fun to go up as a group. It didn't really take too much convincing.

We left late one very rainy Thursday night. I hadn't traveled on a road trip with my youngest sister recently so was surprised at some of the bad habits that she has developed. Her camera instantly came out and her two older siblings were submitted to several minutes of picture taking.   I guess it's the reporter in her that demands that one must document everything one does. I will admit though; that I was somewhat startled to learn that this extended to taking pictures of me washing the car windows at a gas station.

Since I have to be at work fairly in the morning my body has adjusted to waking up early. One of the unfortunate side effects of this adaption is that even on the days that I'm able to sleep in...I can't make it past 0830.  My two partners on this trip have a much later personal clock.  So I decided that instead of waiting around and twiddling my thumbs I would have a try at riding my new bike. The new road bike that I had rather impulsively bought the day before. Since it was recently purchased I hadn't installed the bike computer yet. I managed to get the wires in the right spot and was attempting to put the battery into the computer. I managed to lose the battery in the grass. While I was searching in the tall grass (Note to self; dealing with small batteries is not the best thing to do in grass) Grandma, Grandpa, and one of the Elder's who lived nearby came out to see what I was doing then proceeded to help. This would have been the perfect time for one of sisters documentary pictures. 4 people on their knees searching for a tiny battery in the grass. Finally, my grandfather being the innovated man he is went and got a bar magnet. Within a couple seconds he found my battery. I installed in and went on my way to discover the dangers and thrills of a road bike.

By the time I returned, alive fortunately, my sisters had arisen from their repose. I managed to convince the two sisters and my grandmother to participate in a card game. Of course I also convinced them to play my favorite card game Canasta.  It's a part of my insidious goal to convert people to the game, mainly so I have some competition when I play. Really miss the games I had with my friend a few years ago. One of these days I'll convert someone to it. I think that the four of has a decent amount of fun though. Me and grandma whooped on the two sisters.

The evening was spent hobnobbing with the cousins. The original plan was to have a dinner at my Aunt's house and to have all of the cousins come over. As is usual with many of my plans; things started falling apart. The Aunt got sick and didn't want to pass it on so the meal was moved to a cousins house.  Two of the cousins were out of town and the wife pled prior commitments.  It ended up being 2 cousins only. Despite my initial misgivings about this it actually turned out to be a pretty nice visit. The meal was a bit random however. I'm not sure how taco salad and bbq hot dogs really relate. We had a good visist. It was shocking to see how big all of their kids had gotten. The kids I remembered as being 2-3 year olds were now going on missions and graduating from high school. I'm getting old. :( 

Up next on the docket was a visit on the following day with my brothers family. My brother has a real job at his ward so he spent a fair amount of time in the morning doing church work. (One convenient side effect of never being at your actual ward is that you never get these inconvenient callings.) We took advantage of the time and played soccer. I rejoice that my brother has actually allowed my nephew to play a real game. After several seasons of baseball I was starting to get worried.  I taught my newphew some dribbling moves. Some of them he caught onto pretty quickly, such as dribbling between the defender's legs, others he didn't quite understand (The stepover).  During one of his efforts to take the ball away from me I popped the ball into the air and then headed it over him. His immediate yell of, "WHAT DID  YOU DO??!!!!" brought my brother out of the house wondering what was going on. I was amused by both my nephew's and my brother's reactions. I haven't asked my brother but I've been curious if the nephew used any of what I taught him in his next soccer game. When my nephew was taking a rare break Debbie decided to give a try at making it past me. I schooled her.

Once my brother was able to  finish his church work we were finally able to get on with the real plans of the day. A bike ride! My brother had noticed that I had a bike and had arranged to get two bikes for my two sisters. We went to a nearby river walk and had a nice little bike ride.  My sisters, me, and my nephew on our own bikes. My brother on a bike pulling a trailer with my niece.  We thought the it would be best for my nephew to lead: I think my brother regretted that decision. We set a decent pace of around 10 miles per hour for the duration of the ride. The trail was absolutely gorgeous. It meandered through forests, baseball diamonds, and along both a river and several lakes.  Next time we're up there I think I'll actually try to bike the whole trail of around 17 miles just to see it all.  We were only able to do a some of the trail that day. It's been a long time since I've been on a social bike ride and it was fun.

That was the end of the planned events. The only occurrence of note that took place the rest of the trip is that I played Mario cart on the Wii with my niece and nephews.  The oldest absolutely destroyed me. I think there was one game in which he actually lapped me. It's always a pleasure to be soundly beaten by a 7 year old. My niece I beat; but she really didn't care. All she cared about was that she got to play the pink character.  My youngest nephew; I think all he cared about was being able to hold the wheel up.

Masquerade Ball

I still remember going to the Capitol Theater to watch Phantom of the Opera with the family.  One of the scenes that I remember the most was the scene in which the actors are all in a masquerade ball.  Since that time I’ve always thought that attending a masquerade ball would be a fair amount of fun.

Debbie several weeks ago sent an invitation to go to a masquerade ball that was to be held at This is the Place State Park this past weekend. My immediate thought was, “Hey, that could be a lot of fun!” Shortly followed by the realization that it was a formal so I would have to attend in a suit. Despite this drawback I determined that it would still be fun.

I managed to invite a young lady to go the formal masquerade ball with me as a date. We had grand plans to manufacture exotic masks that would amaze all other attendees.  Unfortunately the young lady canceled on me and I was left dateless…and more importantly maskless.  It appeared that my masquerade experience would have to wait until the next opportunity.  Then Debbie went and ruined my martyrdom by letting me know that it was not a date dance…aka I could still go dateless. So I hurried up and got ready for the dance. 15 minutes later, my suit on, I checked on how Debbie’s preparations were coming. I was immediately reminded why I was glad I’m a guy instead of a gal. Between the hairdressing, the make-up, and the gowning Debbie lost 2 hours of her day. Of course; the efforts turned out really well.

Attending the dance shattered some of my delusions.  I  envisioned at least a token bow towards the traditional dances performed at masquerade balls.  The waltzes, the huge fancy line dances, ect. Much to my disappointment I found that the music would follow the typical pattern of high school dances;  long stretches of hip hop music followed by an occasional slow song or country song.  I just don’t understand why the dominant music played at school and church dances is music that you can’t even dance effectively to. Seems counterproductive to me. We did manage to have fun despite this however.