happy holidays, from Pepper

1. While it definitely sucked to be in this shithole on Christmas without getting to see our families, I have to admit I had a pretty kickass day just hanging with the kids.

2. Trimmed the beard the other day and the counter looked like somebody poured salt and pepper all over it. By the time I get back to Texas I'll be bald and gray. I even saw a gray pube the other day.

3. Totally unrelated to the above, I'm sure, but my dedication to getting in better shape is going strong after a 2-3 week hiatus for a bitching respiratory virus. Fitness goals for the next six months:
- running twice a week with at least one of those being a 10k or better distance
- 20 wide grip pullups (I'm done at 9 currently)
- 100 pushups (I'm at 30 now)

4. I haven't really been running much because of the weather and fear of the right knee pain returning. I have been walking like I'm the Pepper of Ann Arbor. I walk the three miles from the hospital to my apartment pretty regularly. If this fabled winter ever truly picks up I might have to give that up.

5. I sometimes forget that my 3 year old son is not, yet, a Pepper-level urban walker. The other day we walked to the laundromat together. It's a mile and a half. Each way. And it was 34 degrees. Little dude only made me carry him the last half-mile or so. He's a trooper.

6. A trooper who still pisses the bed at night. Come on!

7. My daughter won Christmas from Santa and us, but the boy really got some cool shit from everybody else. My favorite was the stomp-rocket, his was the twin-engine airplane that drops a life raft out of the bomb bay doors. He sleeps with it.

8. I cashed in as well. New Balance Road Minimus 10 shoes, badass graphic novels, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, badass music, and some resistance bands I've already put to use.

9. Because the Minimus shoes are so different from anything I've worn before I'm not sure if they're the right size. Might be a little small. I need to try and hit up a shoe store in town to try on the next size higher just to see. I haven't worn the new shoes outside yet, so I should still be able to return them if need be.

10. Fuck New Year's Eve.

thoughts

1. The only thing receding worse than the Michigan economy is my hairline. Fuck it's going fast.

2. I've recently been playing guitar a lot more. Here are songs I've either learned or re-learned in the last few weeks:
-- Top Gun theme song
-- Tomorrow (from Annie, as played by Rivers Cuomo)
-- opening lick to China Grove
-- opening riff to Wish You Were Here
-- Dueling Banjos
-- Scooby Doo theme song (apparently the Matthew Sweet version?)
-- sort of kind of Someone Like You by Adele (I screw up the picking when it changes from one part to another)

3. That's really it.

Time Flies When Shit Sucks

Long time no post. Let's get to it.

1. Here's a picture of me at work:


2. Here's a movie someone made about me at work:


3. They even made TV show about me.


4. I've probably made my point.

5. Moving on.

6. UT football season went as well as could be expected given the injuries on offense. They beat K-State and Mizzou with healthy RBs and Shipley. Or if they didn't start a QB with Angelman syndrome. Defense was great against bad teams and bad against good teams. They matched up well against an Aggie team that was without two NFL RBs, so that performance looks better than it was. They never really put together a complete game against a decent team.

7. I do think the future is bright, though. If the RBs stay healthy next year, David Ash learns which color his teammates are wearing, and Case McCoy dies in a fire, the offense should get good enough. Think Bama 2009. The defense upgrades through Gideon's graduation and probably gives up 2-3 explosive plays less because of it. If Vaccaro stays the secondary will be as good as any since 2006. Linebackers should suffer little drop-off with Cobbs (better athlete than Acho), Edmond (better MLB than Keenan this year),and Hicks (played dumb this year and needs to get that fixed). D-line replaces Kheeston Randall with a juco who's probably better than he was and rocks out.

8. Seriously, I hate my workplace.

9. Missing Christmas in Texas is going to blow.

10. My boss mentioned that I seemed unhappy lately and wanted to know if there was anything she could do. How about you not fucking LIE about the details of this program? How about you not lure me here with your lies so I traumatize the shit out of my son by taking him away from all the people that love him? How about I not see how sad he is every day and then go to work at a job that is NOTHING like it was promised to be? How about I not be fucking trapped with literally no option for leaving this program early that would allow me to provide for my family? Fucking slag.