My wife has been encouraging me to blog more. And frankly, I have had problems with motivation. And when I do think of good things, I often forget them before I get a chance to blog. So, at the risk of getting to know my couch better, I'm going to blog about Anna. :)
I don't think I've gone one whole day with Anna where she hasn't made me laugh. Her humor is not like mine at all. She's funniest when she doesn't want to be. It's not that I'm laughing at her, but that she is just a funny person.
Since English is her second language, she sees the language in a new light. One of my favorite moments was when she wanted to say that something sucked, but she was confused on the syntax. "Man, those guys are suck."
When she wants to find a way to describe someone who is grumpy and easily agitated she will say they are being all "grumbly."
When we are going to eat a chimichanga its actually a "chimmi-chunkie." My sister, Lacey, has a thing in her house where they call mashed potatoes "mashidodos," which Anna and I have adopted.
Fortunately I am the one known living person to speak Annaiese, a rare Anna-based dialect. Had I not shared this insight with you, you would most certainly be lost in our home. Nowhere else would you hear a sentence like, "Honey, don't be all grumbly, but these chimmi-chunkies and mashidodos are suck." And no where else would you find someone that completely understands.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Please, Wait A Minute Mr. Postman...
The Postman has halted all my mail! And it is pending a federal investigation. Fun times...
The apartment I live in does not have mailboxes. The post offices on Guam are always full of long lines, open till close, and there isn't any that are all that convenient for me to go to. For this reason, I started using a mailbox store that is in the building I work in, PostNet.
Yesterday, a co-worker of mine who also uses this place asked me what I thought of the federal investigation. I had no idea what he was talking about. It turns out that the store is now under federal investigation and any mail sent there will be automatically returned to sender, no questions asked. Bummer.
I'm frankly not surprised. I've had a hunch something unscrupulous was going down for a while. For instance, one time I tried to buy a single $0.42 stamp. He rang me up at $0.64. I was a bit confused. Also, I only had $0.53 on me. I argued with the guy for a few minutes about the legality of selling postal stamps at such an inflated rate as well as the ethical and karmic aspects of it. He wouldn't relent. I told him what he could do with his $0.64 postal stamp and checked my mail as I left. Once he realized I was a paying mailbox customer he caught me leaving and said that since I was a customer he'd go ahead and "discount" my stamp. And he didn't just charge the regular rate, he charged me the $0.53 I had left. I kept the box, but never mailed a packed out from there again.
Now that this federal investigation is under way, you think they'd at least let us know about is as we are checking our mailboxes in futility. Nope. Not a word. I sat there for a while watching customers go in and out empty handed just thinking that there was no mail that day. The ONLY way to find out is to ask them directly, which will incur a short, almost scripted answer or to read a very nonchalant letter posted on the side of the door through the glass.
If I wasn't loosing my mailbox as a result of this, I'd be happy to see this happen to them. But, as I'm now stuck declaring P.O. Bankruptcy, it's less amusing than it ought to be. At least I still have email...
The apartment I live in does not have mailboxes. The post offices on Guam are always full of long lines, open till close, and there isn't any that are all that convenient for me to go to. For this reason, I started using a mailbox store that is in the building I work in, PostNet.
Yesterday, a co-worker of mine who also uses this place asked me what I thought of the federal investigation. I had no idea what he was talking about. It turns out that the store is now under federal investigation and any mail sent there will be automatically returned to sender, no questions asked. Bummer.
I'm frankly not surprised. I've had a hunch something unscrupulous was going down for a while. For instance, one time I tried to buy a single $0.42 stamp. He rang me up at $0.64. I was a bit confused. Also, I only had $0.53 on me. I argued with the guy for a few minutes about the legality of selling postal stamps at such an inflated rate as well as the ethical and karmic aspects of it. He wouldn't relent. I told him what he could do with his $0.64 postal stamp and checked my mail as I left. Once he realized I was a paying mailbox customer he caught me leaving and said that since I was a customer he'd go ahead and "discount" my stamp. And he didn't just charge the regular rate, he charged me the $0.53 I had left. I kept the box, but never mailed a packed out from there again.
Now that this federal investigation is under way, you think they'd at least let us know about is as we are checking our mailboxes in futility. Nope. Not a word. I sat there for a while watching customers go in and out empty handed just thinking that there was no mail that day. The ONLY way to find out is to ask them directly, which will incur a short, almost scripted answer or to read a very nonchalant letter posted on the side of the door through the glass.
If I wasn't loosing my mailbox as a result of this, I'd be happy to see this happen to them. But, as I'm now stuck declaring P.O. Bankruptcy, it's less amusing than it ought to be. At least I still have email...
Monday, December 29, 2008
Passed...
The time between Christmas and New Years in our house was almost more jolly than the holidays themselves. Anna has been hard at work (some days harder than others) at getting her CPA certification. Her first exam did not go well, and she didn't pass. Her second exam went better and she passed. Over a month ago she re-took the first failed test. For some odd reason the scoring process takes forever and she must wait for her results to come via snail mail to find out if she passed. She was anticipating her results much more than any Christmas gift I could ever give her.
As this fiscal year came to an end, I realized I had unused educational budget. I decided it was time to increase my marketability and get another certification. Since I first got the A+ hardware certification years ago, the course has changed significantly. I figured might as well fully complete it with the new objective. Due to the shortness of the remaining year I had to take the test with a couple weeks notice. I crammed like there was no tomorrow and today I took and passed the test, with a 840 out of 900!
This same day Anna finally found out her results and she passed her test as well! Needless to say, there was much rejoicing in the Bodine household. We ate at a Korean restaurant of Anna's choice and enjoyed a nice night together at home.
This morning we awoke with the grim realization that she passed but two of the four CPA tests, and I only one of my two. D'oh! Well, here's to milestones anyway!
As this fiscal year came to an end, I realized I had unused educational budget. I decided it was time to increase my marketability and get another certification. Since I first got the A+ hardware certification years ago, the course has changed significantly. I figured might as well fully complete it with the new objective. Due to the shortness of the remaining year I had to take the test with a couple weeks notice. I crammed like there was no tomorrow and today I took and passed the test, with a 840 out of 900!
This same day Anna finally found out her results and she passed her test as well! Needless to say, there was much rejoicing in the Bodine household. We ate at a Korean restaurant of Anna's choice and enjoyed a nice night together at home.
This morning we awoke with the grim realization that she passed but two of the four CPA tests, and I only one of my two. D'oh! Well, here's to milestones anyway!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Near the Equator...
Being from Arizona, I'm not missing the lack of a white Christmas. But I do miss cold ones. Christmas without cold air is just not the same. But, I figured that I might as well make the most of this unique warm December climate.
About a week before Christmas I officially kicked off the season by scuba diving with Santa.
On Christmas day, Anna and I hit the water again with some friends. Our office just had a personnel change and a soon-to-be-retired man and his wife moved to Guam. It's just the two of them and Anna and I don't have family here, so we teamed up to go diving together. Well, Anna does not dive, so we had a half dive/half snorkel group. I had all my scuba gear on, so I went back and forth between the two. At the end I took Anna to a shallow 4 foot part and let Anna see what it was like to scuba. I'm thinking that it will be some time before Anna finds any compelling reason to actually dive. Oh well.
Having the day after Christmas off, I thought I'd continue my celebration of things you can't do in the mainland US on Christmas. I went GeoCaching. With a small group, we went to Sella Bay in the South of Guam. It was a full day as the hike was a few miles round trip.
We even went to a unique cache that you must wade waist deep to get to. The water was barely tepid.
Our Christmas tree is still up for now. And I have turned the air conditioner way down to simulate winter as much as possible. But I feel that I have made the most of this warm and green Christmas as possible.
Next year I'll be here in Guam still, and very possibly many more to come. With all the fun I've had and activities I've done there was one thing that made this Christmas as enjoyable as it was. I've made friends here, but without actual family, Christmas is just missing something. The nice thing about being married is that you have a family that you have made yourself. This Christmas was special because I got to spend time with Anna.
About a week before Christmas I officially kicked off the season by scuba diving with Santa.
Scuba Santa
On Christmas day, Anna and I hit the water again with some friends. Our office just had a personnel change and a soon-to-be-retired man and his wife moved to Guam. It's just the two of them and Anna and I don't have family here, so we teamed up to go diving together. Well, Anna does not dive, so we had a half dive/half snorkel group. I had all my scuba gear on, so I went back and forth between the two. At the end I took Anna to a shallow 4 foot part and let Anna see what it was like to scuba. I'm thinking that it will be some time before Anna finds any compelling reason to actually dive. Oh well.
Having the day after Christmas off, I thought I'd continue my celebration of things you can't do in the mainland US on Christmas. I went GeoCaching. With a small group, we went to Sella Bay in the South of Guam. It was a full day as the hike was a few miles round trip.
The old Spanish Bridge
Beautiful Sella Bay
This picture was taken with a timer hung upside down from a tree limb. Hence the pine needles in the shot.
"I am so tired..."
We even went to a unique cache that you must wade waist deep to get to. The water was barely tepid.
Our Christmas tree is still up for now. And I have turned the air conditioner way down to simulate winter as much as possible. But I feel that I have made the most of this warm and green Christmas as possible.
Next year I'll be here in Guam still, and very possibly many more to come. With all the fun I've had and activities I've done there was one thing that made this Christmas as enjoyable as it was. I've made friends here, but without actual family, Christmas is just missing something. The nice thing about being married is that you have a family that you have made yourself. This Christmas was special because I got to spend time with Anna.
Anna kissing Santa Claus (and when I find him, I'll kill him)
Monday, December 01, 2008
JaredFit...
This year I got my Christmas gift early. I asked Anna to get me WiiFit, which is just as much for her as me (ascetically).
If you are unfamiliar with this product, it's more than just another Nintendo game. It's a home workout program. It comes with a balance board that is also a scale. Each day you take a fitness test and measure your body mass index, weight and "WiiFit age." I also spend some time working out with WiiFit. It has yoga, strength training exercises, aerobic activities, and games. With all there is to do, I don't find myself getting bored too quickly.
Well, free plug for Nintendo aside, I really do like it. Anna let me use it early because Nintendo stuff flies off the shelves so I had to get it when it was there. And if I waited until Christmas the one she bought wouldn't be covered under store's 30 day warranty any more. If we had a bad one, we'd wait forever to get a manufacturer replacement. Since Anna wants a skinnier husband, I think it was easy for her to relent.
I have had the WiiFit for one week now. In that time, I have already lost more than 8 pounds! And this includes Thanksgiving Weekend! How's that for results?
I also like that the Wii seems to be on my side. The very first day we tried it out, Anna and I each set up our personal accounts and did our initial testing. The system said I had the physical prowess of a 22 year old (7 years younger). After it tested Anna it said she had a WiiFit age of 38 (13 years older)! Ha. Just further proof to all you skinny people out there that being heavier does not mean you are less healthy. Sometimes after Anna does a particularly bad job at something WiiFit will ask her if she has trouble walking and often trips.
Last night, when I passed the mark of losing 8 pounds it asked Anna if she noticed that I was getting more fit. It didn't just mention it, it actually asked her. And it asked her to reply on how my looks have changed. The options were 1)He looks skinnier 2)He looks more trim 3)He looks healthier and 4)He looks the same. Naturally, Anna selected that I look the same.
After she answered WiiFit was disappointed and suggested to Anna that she is just not paying enough attention to me. Truer words were never spoken. It's as if they custom made this game just for me.
I'm no 150 pound wonder yet, but at least I'm now moving in the right direction. I was hesitant to blog about this, because that would mean that you would expect to see this lean mean trimmer Jared soon. I don't like that pressure. But I have to say, I think it's nice to be loosing some pounds finally. And at the rate I'm going, I'll make my 100 pound wife, Anna, look fat any time now...that should be easy...
If you are unfamiliar with this product, it's more than just another Nintendo game. It's a home workout program. It comes with a balance board that is also a scale. Each day you take a fitness test and measure your body mass index, weight and "WiiFit age." I also spend some time working out with WiiFit. It has yoga, strength training exercises, aerobic activities, and games. With all there is to do, I don't find myself getting bored too quickly.
Well, free plug for Nintendo aside, I really do like it. Anna let me use it early because Nintendo stuff flies off the shelves so I had to get it when it was there. And if I waited until Christmas the one she bought wouldn't be covered under store's 30 day warranty any more. If we had a bad one, we'd wait forever to get a manufacturer replacement. Since Anna wants a skinnier husband, I think it was easy for her to relent.
I have had the WiiFit for one week now. In that time, I have already lost more than 8 pounds! And this includes Thanksgiving Weekend! How's that for results?
I also like that the Wii seems to be on my side. The very first day we tried it out, Anna and I each set up our personal accounts and did our initial testing. The system said I had the physical prowess of a 22 year old (7 years younger). After it tested Anna it said she had a WiiFit age of 38 (13 years older)! Ha. Just further proof to all you skinny people out there that being heavier does not mean you are less healthy. Sometimes after Anna does a particularly bad job at something WiiFit will ask her if she has trouble walking and often trips.
Last night, when I passed the mark of losing 8 pounds it asked Anna if she noticed that I was getting more fit. It didn't just mention it, it actually asked her. And it asked her to reply on how my looks have changed. The options were 1)He looks skinnier 2)He looks more trim 3)He looks healthier and 4)He looks the same. Naturally, Anna selected that I look the same.
After she answered WiiFit was disappointed and suggested to Anna that she is just not paying enough attention to me. Truer words were never spoken. It's as if they custom made this game just for me.
I'm no 150 pound wonder yet, but at least I'm now moving in the right direction. I was hesitant to blog about this, because that would mean that you would expect to see this lean mean trimmer Jared soon. I don't like that pressure. But I have to say, I think it's nice to be loosing some pounds finally. And at the rate I'm going, I'll make my 100 pound wife, Anna, look fat any time now...that should be easy...
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