crappy bikes

i've decided that corporate america is trying extremely hard to compete with all of the hipsters and their single speed bikes.
there's an influx of road bike inspired bikes that have a slight mountain stance, riser bars, and bar ends like the ones seen on mountain bikes
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/rapid.0/3875/36259/ this is an example of this.
it's horrid.
they're made to look like newer, nicer, more comfortable versions of the bikes that "hipsters" ride, but with actual gears and a new paint scheme, etc.
stop trying to be like us, dumb country.
/end rant

rattle snakes and feeling helpless

today, me and Stephanie hiked Broads Fork in Big Cottonwood canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.

It's majority is spent trudging up steep inclines through pine and aspen trees, though there are some spots where walking with your arms up as if wading through deep water is best due to claustrophobic spaces where the trail is about a foot wide with greenery everywhere. The squirrels and chipmunks wouldn't stop chattering, and the noise of a fast flowing river was deafening, though the river was nowhere to be seen for about 90 percent of the climb.

here is the tech info:
Big Cottonwood Canyon- Trail Head- S turn-4.5 miles up the canyon
Distance to Meadow- 2 miles
Elevation Gain- 2200 feet to 8400 feet
Hiking time- 2 hrs

we were discussing turning back because my massive hulk legs were built for sudden bursts of strength rather than long strength endurance hikes when we came across a middle aged man with a "Life is Good" shirt on who told us there was only a quarter mile left.

a quarter mile is short, considering a right-off-the-lot Subaru WRX will do a quarter mile in about 14 seconds (Fast and the Furious made a HUGE deal about "10 second cars"). but considering we gained aver 2000 feet in 2 miles, that quarter mile was INSANE.

we got to the top and it was more than worth it. beautiful, windy, wide open, and quiet. the older guy on the trail mentioned a moose, but we couldn't find him/her. what i did find while Stephanie took pics of the scenery was a huge rattlesnake. i realized that this was the first live rattler i'd seen in the wild. needless to say, we were quite jumpy for the next 15 minutes.

on our hike down we encountered at least 5 grouse (wild midget turkeys) and our legs began shaking wildly due to exhaustion and dehydration.

it was more than worth it.


now on to feeling helpless.
at Target the other day, a lady asked me to open her bottle of sobe for her, but i was unable to due to a sprained wrist/elbow.
i feel dumb and i'm ready for my wrist to work again.

a facebook note i wrote

i heard some criticism the other day. someone asked why i'm negative about everything.

to clear things up. i am not negative about everything. i'm just very strongly biased towards tradition and fairness. along with that, my negativity shows strongly due to the fact that everyone and their dog decides that they're not gonna stand up for what they believe in. why? probably cause they think it's not worth the effort. but tell me: if you don't stand up for what you believe in, what's gonna stop the negative things in this world from ripping your life to pieces? nothing. you're just gonna let it happen.
stop letting the government tell you how things are gonna be. if you don't agree with a policy, vote. share your opinion.
stop letting schools dictate how you should learn. if your teacher does something that seems unfair, stand up and do something about it. if the administrators come up with a policy that just seems selfish, protest it.
if a company's employee violates a company policy and you are negatively affected by it, complain.

stop bending over backwards for the man, or whoever else is making life less than what it should be.

i guess i was born in the wrong time period. i belong in the 60's and 70's, protesting with the hippies.

some of you saw my rant about studio 600 and their conference dance and thought i was moaning about it for nothing. maybe it didn't make a difference on the outside, but now i feel like my opinion was heard, and now studio's owner has heard the opinion of someone he has forever lost as a customer.

i was treated unfairly at a company on 1700 south and 900 east a few years back. i took my car to get it registered but was unable to do so because of a missing document. i went to the emissions place at the intersection of 1700 south and 900 east where the car was inspected and asked for a new printout, as it had only been a month since it was inspected. i was greeted with unfair treatment and had to pay for a new document. i complained to the general manager and received a full discount for my troubles.

i enrolled in a class two semesters ago and went to class each day only to find that i wasn't on the roll. i looked on the online schedule and registration status and found that the school had no record of me enrolling. last semester i looked at my status and saw that they did have me in the system for that class and had given me an incomplete. i intend to appeal that class. why? because the school is, and should be, held responsible for their mistake. not me.

also, one of the more futile battles that i'm constantly sharing my opinion about is girls and dating.
for the record, i know that the conflict we face will never change. i understand that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. there will always be snobby girls and snobby guys. there will always be girls that ignore the good guy and guys that treat the good girl like dirt. i understand all this. all i'm trying to do is help people see that they can change the problems they see in the community. if you feel like there's too many doosh guys out there, go be the nice one that doesn't break a heart. if you see your guys friends getting hurt by too many snobby girls, go be the girl that changes that for another guy.

so, go ahead and tell me it's not worth it. i'll let you have your opinion, but let me tell you, you're giving up too easily. if your life is too hard, you're half to blame.

"be the change you want to see in the world"

go out and make your life yours again.

love, or not?

i know this chick that says she loves her abusive, hateful, immature boyfriend too much to break up with him. but she doesn't want to be with someone like him anymore....
i smell a contradiction.

In the Beginning....

So i've been writing for rememberdelawareblog.blogspot.com for the last couple of weeks, and it reminded me how much i miss blogging.

so, i'm back.... this one will be simple and to the point, but please expect some fun in the days to come.

thanks!

andy