Well, Its been awhile since I wrote... I figure I should update all my loyal readers on whats going on...

First of all I am sick... yep, I got a cold slash something from my wife... it seems to be going around lately, I am all congested and coughing and its just not a pretty site... I slept from about 11p last night til about 5pm this evening..(well, I guess its yesterday evening now...)

On the work front I am working a 11:30p-7:30a shift and I love it... The people I work with are great and the manager I have is one of the few good managers left in our center, for some reason my boss of 4 years transferred out to qwest long distance and its been an evacuation since then... However, it does tend to keep me on a night schedule, as you can see by the time of my post this morning. I do like the fact that overall I am driving the opposite direction of traffic in the morning and I get to see Lysa for a few min before she goes to work and then am up before she gets home from work and I dont leave til after she goes to bed.

As far as the summer goes, it has gone quick. Time seems to just fly by, maybe its because I just hit the quarter century mark and there is some sort of cosmic time thing that causes time to hit warp speed... It feels just like a year or two ago that I was 19 and out in Cali... I did play some golf, maybe about 10-12 times, but mostly 9holes and par 3s, which is a change cuz I used to get in that many 18 hole rounds. We did get Air conditioning back in June and then it proceeded to drop to nice 80s and low 90s for the rest of the summer... yet my love for an icebox has kept our a/c on and the energy bill double what it was last year.

Football starts on Thursday and I am way siked about that. ((yes, I did just use siked, and no you arent back in the 80s) I have 3 fantasy football teams for an invested interest of 150 bucks... and I threw in a free yahoo one just to even the #s out and have a mock draft to warm me up... In general I like my teams but I will never do a 12 team league again, there just isnt an opportunity for much depth.
And speaking of football, Jerry rice just retired yesterday, Its amazing, I have been watching him play since I was 6 years old. He played for 15 years on my 49ers and then another couple across the bay in Oakland and I was really looking forward to seeing him here in Denver... Now the great debates start, Is he the greatest ever?? my opinion is no, but he was really, really close. There is no doubt though that he was the best receiver ever and is an instant lock for Canton.

Hockey has resolved its cba and will be back on Ice in October, That will be really nice. I have opted not to coach this year so after 4 straight seasons of coaching I will hang up the skates for at least this season if not a few. Last season just took alot out of me... check out my first couple of posts for a little on what happened back then. I am trying to get together a fantasy hockey league (free for this year) and am finding it hard to find people interested... Seems like the very same problem the NHL had before the cba expired...

But you know all of that seems really meaningless in light of Katrina and all the devastation it brought with it. tens of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and in other states. What shocks me most is the lawlessness, people shooting at police and rescue helicopters, starting riots, raping etc. After 9/11 there were stories of heroes, self-sacrifice and thousands of people giving blood... and here we have a natural disaster cause complete anarchy... thats just really sad to me.

anyways,
I'm out...

I am assuming that most people that read this have or will have a job that they dont like, coworkers who because of their laziness have upset us, or circumstances in general that have caused them to have a poor attitude towards others. If you are not one of those people, then you can skip this, and go examine your life one more time!!! ;0)
As I wrote about in april, I took on a second job. Although the little extra cash it provides is nice, the money is not the main reason I took this job. Really, though, that is not the point. The realization I have come to in the past few weeks is this.
I and people in general let circumstances dictate how we respond. Respond to people, respond internally, respond in general. I have realized that I have once again let circumstances dictate how I feel in any given day, especially when concerned with my second job. Seeing people not give 100% when I felt like I was giving everything I had made me upset. Seeing coworkers not take pride in what they did upset me. It seemed like I had a really poor attitude, and I made sure that those around me knew exactly how I felt.
Then an interesting thought popped into my mind... If I am doing work for myself, of course I am going to feel wronged by everybody. But if instead I choose to do whatever I do for the Lord, then those things dont matter anymore. If indeed you are giving everything you have in work and life to God, then there is nothing that you can take offense too!! Its not yours to be upset when others dont take pride in what they do or leave you with the short end of the stick.
Ultimately it changes your perception on things, this is what some like to call a "paradigm shift" It involves basing your reaction to the things that happen to you around what you value rather than let your circumstance dictate those values to you...
The second portion of the whole lesson I learned was humility... I found that I am not too good for taking out cardboard or trash, it doesnt matter if I at my normal job I am making 3 times as much money as most of my coworkers at my 2nd job. That doesnt put me above them... I also had to deal with the fact that not everyone knew that I was just working a second job. so those people that see me stocking books may think that is all I do for a living. Is that really so bad?? most people would consider themselves a failure if they had to take a job stocking books on shelves endlessly, every day, all day. Then ask yourself, whos eyes are you looking through... I thought about if this wasnt a second job and I had to depend on the money to support my family, would that be "failure"?? Nope, cuz whatever I do, I am gonna do it for Christ....

And that makes all the difference.......

Shon, Out...

Formerly my favorite sport (up til I was 14) baseball has taken backseat to several different sports in the last 10 years... First it took backseat to Hockey, then to Snowboarding, then to Golf, then to Football, so now, its pretty much sitting on the tailgate... After the strike of 94 I didnt really get back into baseball until some nuts from minnesota started working with me and started talking stuff about my A's.. right as the As went on one of the longest winning streaks in baseball behind the pitching of 3 Aces (zito,mulder,hudson). Although the past few years have found me casually keeping track of the stats and standings, This year is a little different. After this weekend, there will be no more really good hockey!! Usually I have til almost June to watch the Stanley cup playoffs but this year, The Ncaa Frozen Four (in Columbus) is over as of Sat night.... due to that, I decided to start keeping better track of baseball this summer so I will start by posting the Standings for today...
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings
notice my A's are in last place with 1 loss, and my 2nd team the Rockies had a huge 9th inning win over the Padres are in first place...

Also take note that the Rockies are now currently above Toms fav team, the L.A. Dodgers, who with the help of a gimp named Kirk Gibson ruined my teams chance at a true dynasty in the late 80s!! I live for the day that the A's and Dodgers meet up again for the World Series... that would be almost as enjoyable to watch as the Avs winning the Stanley Cup or my Denver Pioneers taking their 2nd National Championship this weekend..

Live from Littleton.... Out!!!

After going through a bunch of my friend Sams links over at www.addingnoise.blogspot.com I had some thoughts. Most of his links are for gun toting "conservative" activists... including sam himself. Nevermind the fact that Sam never mentioned a thing about guns the whole time he was in Colorado. I found it interesting that the NRA and other gun advocates are labeled "conservative" Now, I know that gun advocacy is definitely "traditional" in the sense that it is written into the constitution and has had a long history in this nation, but it seems to me that the "Issue" of gun advocacy is actually a "Liberal" Idea. For instance, anyone that is a pacifist would probably be labeled conservative, (i.e. Amish, Mennonite, etc)... Or am I wrong?
another interesting thought... the state of Ohio (where Sam lives) and where he found this renewed passion for shooting guns, was actually a battle state for the recent election, With only a small percentage more voting for Bush than Kerry... However, the more conservative state based on the presidental vote would be colorado. Which hasnt voted for a Democrat in a long time...(At least the last 3 elections, if not more)
Based on that non-scientific observation, you would think that Colorado would be the more conservative state and also be a state with alot of gun support. I guess the fact that Colorado and littleton, where I live, also happens to be the site with the deadliest school shooting in history might change some of that but... anyways...

Live from Littleton.... Out!!!
~shon

Well, here it is, just shy of 10:30p on Monday night and I am at work... "Work??" you ask, "yes" work! And every night hereafter from 4p-12am til the end of September... Now why would I do something like that?
The answer is easy, "Money"... How else am I supposed to pay 5$ a gallon for gas?? (ok, its not quite that yet but getting close) I remember when gas dropped from about a buck fifteen to 78-79 cents a gallon my senior year in H.S. (for those of you reaching to your memories that was 1997-98)
But then again, this shift gives me the flexibility to subject myself to more self punishment... I am taking a day job in a warehouse. Why? Well, I have grown really accustomed to a lifestyle that I can afford to pay for, but only when ignoring those bills from creditors that financed my "Wild" years at the bars trying to have fun. oh, and the fun of all my friends that they also financed on my "credit cards"
So, as my Dad has always told me "Make more, spend less or both" So, I have decided to use this opportunity to do both. I figure its hard to spend money when you are working 16 hr days... At least for the next two weeks or so I have my days free til my 2nd job kicks in. That gives me the freedom to go workout. Something I would enjoy the benefits of (i.e chiseled abs), but not the work involved in getting there. (all that "End justifies the means" psychology comes in here) I guess its only fair that while I partied and spent money for years and years that I would actually have to buckle down and pay for it years later... As it is written "as a man sows, so also shall he reap!!" (exclamation points added by author)

The lesson today? Dont run up your credit cards!!!! let this be a lesson to you youg uns' (

Live from Work!! ..... Out!........

Well, I dont even know if this has much of a point. I was listening to my ipod on the way to work and one of the songs that came on was "Elevation" by U2... which lead me to think about this article I read http://www.ccmmagazine.com/reviews/3254.aspx ... Then on came Dc Talk with a song from their "Jesus Freak" album and it got me to thinking about the defining bands of my life... and my generation... and how they affected the music of their time and genre... For example, Dc Talk was the #1 Christian artist, let alone band for most of my Middle School and High School years. In the Same way U2 has influenced many of the Rock bands that I started listening too in H.S. or now listen too. And U2 has influenced those bands not just on stage but also in the areas that they spend their time and money supporting.
Everyone is going to have different music that has influenced them, but maybe now we can look back and really realize the effects that those artists really had on us then and still have on us now...
--Just a thought...
and as Ryan Seacrest says "Out!!"

7-2... Just bad enough to make you really frustrated and hurt your ego, not too bad that you just laugh it off and move on... for those of you wondering what 7-2 is, that was the score of my hockey teams 1st and (now) only playoff game. After the team that I coach (15-17 year olds) went 5-14 this season it made me really think about my skills as a coach; To motivate, to lead, to demand respect and to encourage, and teach. What hurt most was the fact that 1/2 the team had tuned me out by tonight. Its hard to get a bunch of high schoolers to really care about something that they find trivial. yeah, they were just as embarrassed. yeah, they yelled at their goalie and wanted me to pull him after several soft goals. But even harder to take is them tuning out the life lessons that can be learned from losses like this.
First is playing a clean game when your pride is hurt. Its really easy to take a hit when you are winning, its really hard to take a hit and not go head hunting when you are getting manhandled.
Second is to keep playing hard until the final buzzer. Rather than suck up your pride and say you got beat, its so much easier to give up and let them blow you out. That way you can say that you didnt really play your hardest.
third, you may not like everyone on the team but fact is you are stuck with them and you have to deal....
There are alot more, but I am not going to go into them all in this space tonight.

One thing I realized about myself was that after winning a come from behind championship game in my first year of coaching, i thought I could handle any team in any situation. I realized that its time to step back, assistant coach and learn some more.

It is true that character is only truly tested under fire. And it is true that the real man is one who can admit he is not ready for the job, and rather than give up, step into a different role and learn more til his chance comes again... And it will come again.

I have never considered myself a "techie", I am not even sure that I know what that really means or can really define it. However, in the past two weeks I have gotten an ibook, an ipod and ipod mini and tend to be spending more time on peoples blogs than looking at espn (in fact, I havent even checked espn today) I also have pulled some late nighters for the last week (6-7 hour sessions) in which I have put 4.8 gig of music on my laptop. I started bragging about how my computer was downloading multiple chapters of audiobook at 30meg a shot, burning music onto the hard drive at about 4.5x and still able to cruise the internet at high speed. Now for a software engineer or someone that i would have categorized a "techie" before might respond with something like "so??!!" but for me this is an interesting change of pace...