Where have our manners gone?

I've been noticing lately that the manners of people here in America have seriously gone to hell. People are rude, they're pushy, and everything is someone else's fault. Now, I'm sure we can all think back to times, perhaps even in the recent past, where we've been guilty of this. Being rude, too much in a hurry, too lazy to hold that door open for the person behind you. Maybe you weren't willing to let someone in front of you at that stop sign, or something that was just an innocent mistake really pissed you off and you over reacted? I know I have. But this goes even beyond these things, though they are at the root of our problems. Here are some things that I've noticed lately, that really annoy me. (in no particular order).

Passenger guy on my last southwest airlines flight. I am aware that you are 150 lbs heavier than me and you could kick my ass, but that gives you no right to cut in front of me in line. B11 is not the same as B07, and yes, they do have the number system for a reason. It's not "close enough" or "approximate." 11 is bigger than 7. I know you know this, so just get in line and stop feeling like you deserve to get in line before me.

Speaking of airlines. Here's two more. 1 - you are allowed one regulation size carry on and one bag to go under your seat. You know the rules so why don't you follow them? Do you think they don't apply to you, Mr. six ton duffel bag that you try to cram into that tiny space in the overhead so my bag doesn't fit? And you, Mrs. I have 3 bags and I don't want to keep any of them at my feet. And 2 - If you're in row 12 and I'm in row 11, I get to get off the plane before you. You cannot just push your way in front of me. Wait your turn.

And this one occurred while I was in the Holocaust Museum this weekend in Washington DC. There were 4 or 5 distinct adults, not children, but adults who were talking. And quite loudly for that matter. It's the Holocaust Museum people, have some respect. When I went there 10 years ago, you could hear a pin drop. Now I could barely concentrate on what I was reading with all the noise around me. Where have our manners gone?

And this one is just a general grievance. Servers at a restaurant. I'm perfectly fine with tipping you 20% for doing your job and making my experience pleasant. But if you are pissy, if you are rude, if you royally screw up my order, do not feel that you are simply 'entitled' to this 20%. It's a tip. It's called a tip, because we are tipping you for doing a good job. If I don't do my job, I don't get paid. It's that simple. Your job is to be pleasant and bring me my warm food. No, I do not think that you are below me in some way, but I do think part of your job is to be pleasant.

And those are just four things that I've noticed in the last few days. Perhaps this acceptability for rudeness comes from a sense of entitlement somehow? We all believe that we are entitled to this wonderful life and others should go out of their way to give it to us. The federal government should bail us out for our mistakes. We should sue someone just because they cough on us or look at us the wrong way. I think we all need to take a good look and remind ourselves every day that we are not 'entitled' to something unless we've done the work to earn it. And maybe if we'd pay a little more attention to those around us and just smile once in a while, the world would be a lot friendlier. So I encourage you, in the next day or two or three, to do something nice for someone you don't know. Open the door for them, say excuse me before you push your way through. Help make this world a better place.

2 Fun Filled Weekends

Well, I'm finally home... in Austin.. and it's been a crazy two weeks. Two weekends ago I took Jeremy out to The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO. We had a great time. So many beers to try. I discovered that the pumpkin spiced ones were my favorite followed by the wheat beers, though not too wheaty. We also spent Saturday up at Rocky Mountain National Park. It was awesome, and we got to play in the snow, which is always fun! The weather was beautiful and it makes me want to live in Denver even more. We also met up with some of Jeremy's friends Saturday night, Chris and Lisa, for this crazy Italian dinner. Buffalo, covered in bread crumbs, fried, covered in alfredo sauce, topped with prosciutto, covered in mozzarella. Insane!

After the fun of Denver, it was home for a few days (2) and then off to Washington DC. Of course DC was also fun. We stayed with Jeremy's cousins just outside the city, and took the metro in most days to go see the sights. I learned that Jeremy's cousins are just as loud as he is when they've been drinking. It was very interesting trying to sleep in the next room while they were up "talking" until 4 am. We spent most of the time sight seeing: the Capital, Washington Monument, Natural History Museum, Old Smithsonian, Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, etc... Then on Sunday was the Army 10 Miler. There were 8 of us at Jeremy's cousins house, and 5 people ran it. I think next year I'll give it a try. It was hard to just go watch, and not be active. Jeremy finished in 75 minutes, which was great, and his brother did about 85 minutes. The only disappointment was that I missed Jeremy crossing the finish line. There were 22,000 people that ran the race and they all started coming in so quickly, it was hard to scan the crowd that quick. Overall there must have been around 40,000 people in the area after the race, WAY too many. So we left shortly after everyone had finished. I think my goal will be to finish the race next year at about an 10-11 minute pace. That should be a good goal to reach within a year. Oh, I almost forgot about Granville Moores. Granville Moores is this place I saw on the food channel near Washington DC. They are famous for their mussels and fries. So I convinced everyone to head on over there Friday night. The place was AWESOME. They had such good mussels and the fries were great. Plus it's this tiny little place off the beaten track, which makes it all the better. I would recommend the Mussels with curry, and I'm not a curry fan, but these were awesome!

Check out my flickr page for pictures of DC and Denver. (most of the DC pics are up, and the rest should be up by wed or thurs this week)

So much to write about...

Wow, what a weekend. I am just exhausted. Saturday some friends and I went for a mt. bike ride out at Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, TX. We only got about 12.5 miles in, but it was a lot of work. I encountered one pine tree, which was more funny than anything else. It just jumped out at me, I swear! :) After the ride, Jeremy and I did a little shopping and then met up with Christina to watch the UT vs. Tech game at Waterloo. It was quite the game, and really proved that neither team had a great defense. The score was 34-24 at the end with UT pulling off the win, but there were way too many points in this game. I don't understand why UT is ranked #2, if they were a true #2 team, then they should have blown away Tech.

Anyway, back to cycling. Sunday Brent and I went for a ride down to Kyle and back. Was about 46.5 miles from my house, though we were trying to stretch it to 50, and just couldn't get there. We were both so tired when we got back, that we didn't feel like riding around in circles for 4 more miles just to get to 50. I realized that I didn't eat enough food in the morning, and about 1/2 way back I started to bonk really hard. I'm just glad I made it back. Always remember, eating more than a banana is very necessary when cycling 40+ miles.

Well it's Wednesday now, and I had originally started this post on Monday, however I was overcome by allergies and just couldn't find the will to finish it. I now realize now, not only was I starving for food on Sundays bike ride, but I was also in the beginning stages of an allergy attack. Fortunately lots of Claritin, Sudafed and Advil have made things better. Oh and the 14 hours of sleep that I got Monday night.

So two more awesome things that I wanted to tell ya'll about. First, I have finally told Jeremy about his surprise trip and we are going to THE GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL this weekend! Yes, just two days from now i'll be drinking all that I can in 5 hours from over 2,000 beer choices all sampled out of a 1 oz cup. Okay, maybe not all that I can, but enough that I'm happy to have a shuttle to take us back to the hotel at night. Then on Saturday we are going to Rocky Mt. National Park. I'm so excited to see mountains again!

And lastly, I just want to tell ya'll again about this awesome bike shop that I frequent, Austin Bikes. Those guys are just wonderful. It's a small(ish) shop on 5th street just west of Lamar and they really treat their customers great. Okay, I'll admit that I've been friends of theirs for a while, but they are great to all their customers. They're always helping me out with little tweeks on my bike. Plus, a few weeks ago I had my brake pads replaced, but since then they've been causing me issues and squeaking. When I took it in today, they said that they haven't been having great luck with those pads, so they replaced them out for me with the new Avid ones, free of charge. Awesome guys, they really stand behind their work and their products. So go check them out! (plus you won't have to wait like 5 days to get your bike back!)

Amy's Ice Cream Toss

Yesterday, Brandon, Alan, Kateylin, Steve, Dan, Jeremy and I went to Amy's Ice Cream after dinner at Hula Hut. The old ice cream guy, the one that used to work at the Amy's on 6th, was back and did some really cool ice cream tricks for us. Here's a video of him trying to toss the ice cream across the street to Brandon. Brandon caught it, sort of. The ice cream landed in the cup but then everything fell out of his hands. It was awesome. Then they just kept trying but it got messier and messier. Good times.

Inglourious Basterds and Rasin Cookies

This past weekend, Jeremy and I went to see Inglourious Basterds. I'd give it 4/5 stars, simply because I didn't think the flow of the plot was that great. I suppose the overall story line was good (and a refreshing twist on Nazi stories), but there seemed to be something missing. While the movie did grab my attention for the full 2.5 hours, and it was fairly bloody, I felt that some of the little subplots weren't fully developed and/or missing and the scenes could have flowed together a little better. I will say, though, that the acting was great. You really wanted to hate the main villain and Brad Pitt did a good job at his roll. There were also parts that were true Quentin Tarantino fashion. Overall I'd recommend that you go see this movie as well as Hangover. Two different films (completely!) but two of the best that I've seen in a while.

Also, I thought I'd share with you a raisin cookie recipe that I made this weekend. Enjoy!

Jumbo Raisin Cookies

2 cups raisins
1 cup water
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 TSP. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. Nutmeg
1 cup shortening (Butter)
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs slightly beaten (optional, really it's true. i forgot them once, and they were still great)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Place raisins and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil and boil about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool; do not drain.

Mix flour with baking powder, soda, salt, and spices, set aside

Cream shortening.

Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition. Beat in eggs, if adding

Stir in raisins with liquid and vanilla

Gradually add the flour mixture, blending thoroughly after each addition. Stir in nuts.

Drop from tablespoons, about 2” apart, on greased baking sheets.

Bake 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes

When I get irritable...

I learned a valuable lesson this weekend. If I don't exercise, I get irritable. And not only am I irritable, I just don't feel good. You know, that not sick, but not quite right feeling. All day Saturday I had that feeling. I didn't feel great, I was half tired, half awake, mostly irritable, and I just didn't know why. Well then Sunday came around and first thing in the morning I went mountain biking. After that I felt GREAT! For the rest of the day I was in a good mood. Jeremy noticed it too, and now we've made a pact. Every Saturday morning we have to get up and exercise before we start the weekend. I know it will lead to more pleasant Saturdays.

Also, another happy 1st birthday note. Happy 1st Birthday to Chase. We weren't able to attend his party this weekend because we were in Austin, but I hope he had fun!

Happy 1st Birthday Reese!

You're sure to see many more of these in the coming weeks. A few weeks ago was James's birthday, and last weekend was Reese's 1st Birthday... and there are 3 more 1st birthdays in the next month or so! So Happy Birthday to Reese. This past weekend Ami through a beach themed 1st birthday party for him. There was a big kid pool, a few kiddo pools, and of course, a sand box. Reese seemed to have a good time munching down on his cake, as he was covered in icing by the end of the ordeal. Check out some of the pictures on my flickr page HERE.

In addition to fun parties Saturday morning, Jeremy and I had an awesome Saturday night in midtown. (Houston, TX). We went downtown to our friends condo and stayed there that night, grilling out on the middle deck of the condo, and then swimming in the roof top pools until midnight. Of course we also snuck down to Front Porch for a few drinks before closing time, and had the obligatory 2am pizza run. We had such a great time! Thanks Adam and Liza for having us over!

Movie review: We went to see The Hangover this weekend. I know, I'm behind the times. But if you haven't seen it yet, go see it! It was awesome!