Driving

I have found some solace in my PS2 once again, playing NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup. I've also recently picked up the PC version of NASCAR SimRacing. Now, the PS2 has just released Gran Turismo 4 -- damn, I'm in racing heaven. All I've gots to do is plug in my wheel (through the USB port) and go to town. That's basically the only thing that I like to do now. Race. Finishing 1st.

Ha ... this morning while I was driving to Chester, I passed a Hi-Po on the county road. I was probably doing 75-80 mph. The Hi-Po didn't even flinch -- he kept right on going. My heartbeat soared, then attempted to settle down after the rush of adrenaline ran through my body.

So, being the smart-ass that I am, I pull into Chester's parking lot. There are no lines to indicate where a vehicle should be parked, so lately I would park crooked (on purpose) just to be stupid. This has gotten a lot of attention from the freshman class, who think I'm the best thing since sliced bread.

Today, I parked WAY over on the edge of the parking lot by a row of trees. The freshmen thought they were pretty funny -- they basically parked their cars around mine to block me in. Ha.

As for tonight, I'm heading to Salem to watch some basketball. I took tonight off work just in case if I had heard anything regarding Jason's funeral. Josh finally left a message last night saying that it'll take a week for the body to make it back to Minnesota. Surprising, to say the least.

I might head to Minnesota some time next week with Josh to visit Jason's family and Teresa. Things will be calmed down by then and will not be quite as hectic, which will make for a some-what better atmosphere to be a little more comfortable.

My grief is waning, but the void is still there.

Moss to the Raiders

Bon Voyage.

I guess the Vikings are sick of tired of the whole Randy Moss thing. I thought the new owner (Fowler) was going to keep him around. I guess I really couldn't care -- Moss was hurt for half of the season and other receivers Kelly Campbell, Marcus Robinson, and Nate Burleson stepped up big time.

I'm glad that the Vikes are getting the Raiders' #1 draft pick plus LB Napoleon Harris. The Vikings need help BIG TIME on defense. Also, let's fill up that salary cap while we're at it! McCombs had $30 million left over to spend last year -- but the big baby was crying about the people of Minnesota not giving him his oh-so-precious stadium. Yeah, right -- taxpayers paying for a stadium and McCombs making all the profits?! Dumbass.

As for Moss, he has said that he won't be talking trash about Minnesota once he leaves to another team, since the organization was "good to him." Again -- yeah, right. He'll be ripping the Vikings organization apart once it's official. That's Moss!

We'll see.

Did Not Need This

As I was leaving Chester yesterday afternoon from school, I pulled onto the four-lane on Hwy. 34 and I was greeted my Old Man Winter. It just all of a sudden started snowing big ol' fat flakes.

After I got done with work, the snow was everywhere. I bet in Mad-Town, we probably got 2 to 3 inches of the stuff. It wasn't nothing light and fluffy, it was the heavy wet stuff that I hate. With temps in the high 20's, it was a tough drive (even with 4-wheel), because the thick snow was pulling my truck every which-way.

This morning, the snow must have melted just ever-so slightly, then froze. The highways were covered with a thin layer of ice. I even got up early to attend to the FFA pancake breakfast, but since everybody was driving so slow, I didn't get to Chester quick enough to eat. The usual 25-minute drive ended up being a 45-minute haul.

I don't know if it's the weather, or the whole losing Jason thing, but I'm just out of it today. Even my cooperating teacher said that he wasn't in the mood of being here. I'm actually sore today for some reason -- my knees are creaky and my back is sore. I slept all right last night. I guess all I can think of is that I'm getting old.

I still haven't heard any funeral details yet regarding Jason. I left Josh a message yesterday to give me a call. I'm hoping that it's this weekend -- I don't why it wouldn't -- with everybody's busy schedules. It sounds a little selfish on my part, like Jason's funeral should fit around my schedule. It's not like that. I just wish that I wasn't so busy, otherwise I would've headed back to Minnesota to visit and console Teresa.

I even had second thoughts on attending the funeral. So far in my lifetime, I've attended more funerals that relate to persons dying in accidents at a young age rather than having relatives dying of natural causes. Every funeral is tough to deal with, especially those that involve your friends that have been taken away at an early age. I'm not sure if that's normal to any other person -- but I feel that it's starting to take a toll. It's emotionally draining and everytime I hear of somebody close to my dying, it takes longer to recover from the shock.

I consider myself an emotionally healthy person. Nobody is to blame for an early death. I know when to move on and let things go. I'll be right as rain by next week.

The News Spreads

Conflicting emotions. How can I handle it?

When I'm at school, I can supress it and hide my grief.

It really hit hard yesterday after school, when my mother called and asked how I was. I really couldn't explain -- I'm just numb.

I let the College of Education office know yesterday, since Jason graduated in 2002 with a degree in math education, along with his Master's in 2004. The university has just sent out a mass e-mail to all faculty and students regarding Jason's death. The university is even going as far as establishing a scholarship in his name, along with a brick in the Walk of Honor on campus. Pretty cool, if I say so myself.

News stations all across South Dakota reported on Jason, since he did go to school in South Dakota and he did a lot of volunteer work in Sioux Falls and around Mad-Town. His picture was shown on all stations. Each picture was a blow to the mid-section. I kept it all together, but I don't think it's going to sink in until his funeral.

Josh called last night. His wife Lori and him were driving out to Minnesota to visit Teresa. Man, that's sad as all hell. Like I said in the other post, Teresa and Jason were the perfect couple. Now, she's all alone except for the support of Jason's family, her own family, and friends.

I've had friends pass away in accidents before, but Jason's misfortune is different. It was war. Should I be angry at the United States for sending in troops to Iraq? Hell, no! I still believe what the troops is doing over there is right. Jason was being Jason -- helping out as an American soldier should do.

It's tough feeling angry, sad, depressed; while I have to feel enthustiastic and focused at the same time. It's trying, but we'll all get through this and move on.

The World's Lousy

Last week, I fought off an endless week of school work and regular work, looking forward to the President's Day weekend in which I didn't have to go to school on Monday. I could sleep in, watch the Daytona 500, and simply relax.

It all came to an abrupt end Monday night when I received two voice mail messages on my phone.

The first one was from Rick, a good friend of mine from college. I basically spaced out when my old roommate Josh left the second message.

My other roommate from the house on Liberty Avenue in Mad-Town and a great friend (and fellow Vikings fan), 1st Lt. Jason Timmerman was killed in Iraq yesterday.

I was absolutely numb last night. I called Josh and talked to him for a while. It was just so damn surreal and it was too hard to comprehend. I slept like shit ... even got up to vomit because I was shaking so much.

Details are sketchy and I don't want to go into them. Fact is, he's no longer with us.

What really sucks ass is that he just celebrated his 1-year wedding anniversary last December when he was back on leave. Talk about the perfect couple: Jason and Theresa. She played college basketball and I nicknamed her "Empire" after the Empire State Building because she's so tall. We, along with Jason, took our College of Education classes together before they moved on and graduated. I, however, still had work to do.

Damn, the memories. I remember pimpin' out at Jason's house one weekend and "MattRand!" and I partied in Marshall at the old "Rock." Completely got bombed -- but Jason was always there to be the designated driver.

This was an excerpt from my old "blog," or "journal" if you will on my old site. Here are selections from October 16, 2001 -- recapping our Vikings trip to Minneapolis.

As you may have read, us four were on a mission.
I'm not really sure what time we took off, but I hopped in with Josh in his Ranger since he had to go winterize his jet-ski at Timmerman's. Jason got in with Hoff in his van and we trekked our way back in MN, keeping in touch with walkie-talkies.

We got to Jason's place, which is just north of Marshall, around supper time. Jason's parents made us some lasagna and garlic bread, so we all pigged out and sat around for a while before we made our way to The Gambler. We arrived in Marshall about 9:00 p.m. that Saturday night ... thus the fun begins.
.............................
I was so drunk that I seriously couldn't dance. I can't even remember what I talked about. I just kept going and going. I think I even remember Sean getting up to do a little fast-dancing. After the bar shut down, the only thing I remember is going back to Jason's place and going to sleep in the camper outside. Before we knew it, it was 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning, and we had to get up for the Vikings game.

I was still drunk. I managed to eat breakfast without throwing up. I stopped by my house in Hanley to pick up some cash and we drove off for the Twin Cities. But right before we hit Granite Falls, Hoff lost his breakfast on Hwy. 23 and left a huge pile. I damned near lost it, but I kept it intact.
..............................
The highlight was when Josh started to doze off during the 4th quarter. Hoff, Sisson, and I were about through with the whole weekend. Jason was off the wall. I can't believe all the energy that guy had. Especially when the Dome started to play, "I'm Proud To Be An American" and when the song got to the point when it said, "Stand Up!", Jason was the only guy standing up and we just sat there looking at him, laughing. It was great.

That is the story that we always tell when we get together. Damn, I miss that. Jay and I even made a "how-to-wrap-an-ankle video" for Athletic Injuries class, and on top of that, Jason was with me when I ran the college golf cart into the fence at the football field.

The world's lousy. Jason's gone. What's next?

For the Star Tribune article, click here.

Pro Bowl...Who Cares?

Yesterday evening, the NFL presented another boring AFC-NFC Pro Bowl from Honolulu, Hawaii.

I didn't even bother watching it -- I don't even bother playing it on Madden. To me, when the Super Bowl is over and done with, the Pro Bowl doesn't even matter. I'm content to sit out and wait until the NFL pre-season rolls around.

There's just something about All-Star games that's just not appealing to me. I like watching the MLB All-Star game, because the players on both sides have some incentive now -- the winning team gets home-field advantage in the World Series. The NBA and NHL All-Star games are a joke, and the NFL is quickly gaining its worthless reputation as being a bunch of players half-assin' it throughout the entire ball game.

I did watch SportsCenter this morning and caught the highlights of the 2005 Pro Bowl and it looked pretty good. But, I'm going to stick to my guns and say that it's not even worth playing a rough sport like football and having the risk of injuring a super-star during a pointless exhibition game (same goes with NFL pre-season -- shouldn't be 4 weeks!).

Cheese Cake

Cheesecake has probably got to be the best damn thing ever invented. I could eat that stuff all day long.

Katie and I were on our way back from Minnesota and we stopped at the Brooking Wal-Mart Supercenter just to pick up a few things. It ended up being more than a few things -- like what I wanted for dinner that night (shrimp ... spendy!). Then, I saw the cheesecake.

$10 for one New York-style cheesecake, without any cherry crap on it, which is completely fine with me. But holy shit, that stuff fills you up. After I ate a pound of shrimp last night, I had two slices of the cheesecake and I was about ready to puke.

Even now for lunch at school, I had a ham sandwich and one piece of cheesecake and I'm already thinking of taking a big duker 'cause I ain't feeling too well!

DAMN.

Jimmie Johnson picked up the win in the 2005 Bud Shootout, but NEWMAN! Ball-sy driving!

Newman took advantage of other's misfortunes and moved behind Johnson with 3 laps to go. Newman just didn't get the help he needed from Tony Stewart and Casey Mears, but what an effort.

Overall, I'm more optimistic of Newman's restrictor plate program and hopefully we'll see great things for the #12 team in '05.

Bud Shootout Update

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.

They made their pit stops a few laps ago and Newman decided on only changing 2 tires, while the rest of the field changed four tires.

Yes, Ryan did have a 3-second lead, but you have to understand at tracks like Daytona, leads are not going to last like that when the only way to go fast is through a technique called "drafting."

After Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, and Kurt Busch caught Newman, they blew right by him. But careful driving by Newman got him back in line with the lead draft and he got a push from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

8 laps to go -- Newman's in 5th. This is getting crazy now, cars are beating and banging on each other -- all at 190 mph.

Snuck Home

I'm in Minnesota this weekend along with Katie, as it was requested of me from my parents that I take care of Cody, our yellow Lab while the folks are in the Twin Cities.

Boy, I needed to get away from South Dakota -- just for a break. Although I am busy with my student teaching duties in preparing for a new chapter in the computer books.

It's nice to get away and relax and get some the bustle done while away from home. Katie and I actually ran into Mike and Lacey at the Montevideo Wal-Mart. It's also nice to see the old-school friends again, also.

As far as the pink-eye goes, I'm off the medication. My left eye is a lot better and I returned to work and high school last Thursday. I'm content in wearing my glasses for know (although they're a pain in the ass at work), but I should be getting my new disposable contacts this week.

The Budweiser Shootout

The Budweiser Shootout from Daytona

Right now for me, NASCAR has (un)officially started. Tonight, it is the running of the Budweiser Shootout underneath the lights at Daytona International Speedway.

The Shootout consists of all of the pole position winners from the 2004 NASCAR season, including all of the past Bud Shootout champions. There are two segments of this race -- the 1st segment consists of 20 laps, then the caution comes out for teams to look at their cars. After a 10-minute break, the cars will run another 50 laps (which will include a green-flag pit stop) to the checkered flag.

Being a Ryan Newman fan, Newman's looking damn good. His track record at restrictor-plate tracks like Daytona isn't very good, but Newman and his new Dodge Charger are flying. Currently, it is lap 43 out of 70 and Newman's in the lead draft, sitting in the 4th position.

More on this later.

Sidelined...

...by pink-eye.

Yes, this totally sucks. I woke up Tuesday morning with a bunch of shit in my left eye. Right away I thought, "Wonderful, I've got pink-eye again."

I haven't had pink since my days in the dorms on-campus at college. I was just upset because I had just received my first class to teach until May last Monday -- then I come down with this. So yesterday and today, I'm not even allowed back into the high school AND at work.

What have I been doing? I've basically been sitting on my ass watching DVD's. I picked up some new ones, including Chariots of Fire, Psycho, and the NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience.

I also picked up a new game on the PS2: Rocky Legends, which is a boxing game based on the Rocky franchise. It's pretty cool, especially that is only costs $20.

"Star Wars" Opening Sequences

The Star Wars opening sequences -- "crawl"

The official site of "Star Wars" posted its update on the opening crawl of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, along with the other opening crawls from the other episodes.

I like how the Episode III crawl comes out and hits the audience -- it's obvious from the end of Episode II: Attack of the Clones and knowing what's going to happen to Anakin Skywalker -- that George Lucas really wants us to know that things are not going so well now. Phrases like "War!" and "Evil is everywhere" really stands out above the other opening crawls, foreshadowing that Episode III isn't going to be all warm and fuzzy.

In my own little Star Wars world, I've begun to buy some new books, like the Clone Wars novels that ties in the events between Episodes II and III, including the prequel novel to Episode III called "Labyrinth of Evil."

I'm starting to get my kick in again with Star Wars ever since Episode II made its run through the theaters. I'm just building myself up to the last-ever Star Wars flick that's going to premiere on May 19.

Super Bowl XXYZ

A boring game? I think not.

I knew a few people who were yawning through the first quarter of Super Bowl XXXIX, but remember, that's basically how last year's Super Bowl between the Patriots and the Carolina Panthers started out.

It was a classic defensive struggle -- both teams trying to find the chinks in the armor of the opponent -- the way a Super Bowl should be played.

Although Philly struck first, my heart was with New England. I cannot stand Philly. They cried for 3 straight years when they lost the NFC Championship game -- they better be bawlin' some more after this loss.

I'm partial to New England. I had a bunch of those guys on my fantasy team, like Tom Brady, David Givens (until I traded him), Daniel Graham, and Rodney Harrison. Plus the fact that Brady is a Michigan boy -- cannot doubt that!

And again, Adam Vinateri (SD Boy) made the clutch field goal which basically was the game-winner for the Pats.

Shinedown

Whenever I get the opportunity to listen to the KRRO, which is rare, I simply love it.

The KRRO is a radio station out of Sioux Falls that plays new hard rock and some classic stuff ("Mandatory Metallica" at 9:00 p.m.). There are a few groups that I really enjoy listening to, like Seether, Incubus, Audioslave, and others -- but there is this one group that really kicks ass, and that is Shinedown.

Besides their big hit, "45", it was their re-make of the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd tune, "Simple Man" that absolutely floored me. It's completely acoustic -- and if anybody had to do a great re-make of that particular song, it was Shinedown and they nailed it.

Simply great.

A Piece of Cake

Well, I'm finally settling in at student teaching, as I took over an introductory computer class and presented my first lesson. Basically, I kicked ass.

It's not too hard, just as long as you know what you're talking about. The kids were great, they did what I told them to do and they didn't give me any backtalk.

Next week, I will be taking over the advanced computer class and start them on advanced features on PowerPoint. I just have to keep on remembering to "dumb" myself down a bit because since I'm usually flying through material at college, high schoolers usually take a little bit longer.

Other than that, this should be a successful semester this spring.

Groundhog Day

Please, oh tell me please, when are they over there in PA going to give this up?

They've been doing this for over 100 years, and "Phil" hasn't seen his shadow only 14 times. Apparently, we all have to be depressed over the fact that we're getting 6 more weeks of winter (what does that mean anyway -- isn't March 22 the first day of spring?!) and we're having a groundhog, or woodchuck, telling us that we should be sad.

Ah, that great movie with Bill Murray. His character had the right attitude about the 2nd of February.

South Dakota Press

I guess this has become national news.

Crazy!

Busy and Boring

I'll have to fill in more on my student teaching experience later. Right now, I'm in the middle of my prep period, just surfin' the Internet.

For the first week, I'm not doing a whole lot, although I'm hoping next week I can dive right into the thick of things. I'm just getting used to the whole class management thing, getting to know the students a little bit and all that.

But nothing else has really happened much, except for getting up early and sitting at school all day, then working for 5 hours when I get back to town.

Bye!