Author Archives: Andy

2011 Blog Facelift

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Sorry, Lisa, I decided to give the site another facelift. I liked the old look pretty well except for a couple of things, particularly how it handled menus. Remember how they were shoved to the right and how some of the multi-level menus got lost off the right side of your monitor?

I found a way to fix the menu problem and to easily change the photo at the top instead of just cycling through random photos. The above pic, for example, I took on a Miami beach in October. I also reorganized the menus a bit so they are easier to use. What do you think?

Mickey’s House

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We’ve started thinking about our first major family vacation with the boys. In January 2013, Jenny and I plan to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Just like we did for our 5th anniversary, we want to go back to Disney World, only this time with Brenden and Jonathan. Brenden will be 4 1/2, and Jonathan will be a few days short of his 3rd birthday. We figure at that age, Disney World will still be completely magical, but they’ll be big enough to walk around some of the time and enjoy some of the rides, particularly in the Magic Kingdom. Brenden already loves Disney and is currently on a Cars kick. Disney World with two preschoolers will be a MUCH different experience from our last one! If any of you have tried Disney World with preschoolers, I’m all ears (sorry – had to do it).

January 2013 presents a couple of interesting opportunities for us:

  • Walt Disney World Marathon – Imagine running a half- or full marathon through the parks of Disney. OK, assuming you could and actually wanted to! The half goes through the Magic Kingdom and finishes at Epcot. Spectators can cheer you on. When you get tired or lose motivation, you can look at the giant golf ball in Epcot for inspiration. The half will probably be on January 12, and the full probably on the 13th. We’ll probably plan on being there during that time so we can either race or cheer.
  • Art of Animation Resort – Disney is hard at work on a new value-level resort near Hollywood Studios. Scheduled to open in summer 2012, its theming focuses on four of Disney’s most popular films of the last few decades: The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and Cars. Each movie has its own wing. I don’t know whether we’ll stay there, but I think it’s an awesome hotel idea.

We’re not ready to book yet, but it’s fun to think about where we’ll stay and what we’ll do. I figure we’ll need to take breaks during the afternoon for the boys to nap, although how can we expect them to nap at Disney World?!? The Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will probably interest them most at that age. They might enjoy parts of the other two parks as well. The weather should be pretty good. Nonrevving to Orlando with a family of four could be a challenge, but we’ll figure something out.

I can’t wait to tell them that we’re going to Mickey’s house. =)

First Ride

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Now that my bike is back in working order (thanks to Mad Duck Cyclery in Grapevine), I went for my first real ride Thursday night. It was the first time in my life that I had consciously gone riding for exercise rather than simply for fun or for transportation. So I approached it differently. My goal was not to get somewhere or just see the sights, but to burn up my quads.

Mission accomplished.

I put in about 5.5 miles at our local park, which has a really nice trail. In the process I became one of those cyclists that used to annoy me and make me nervous as a runner or walker on the same trail. Now I understand why some cyclists go so fast. Since I’m new to cycling and riding a 31-32 lb mountain bike, I only averaged 10mph or so. But I had a blast. You can see so much more of the world on a bike than you can while running.

Despite the heat (probably low 90s), the ride wasn’t too difficult, for two main reasons:

  1. Since I’m going faster, the extra wind helped keep me cool.
  2. My quads, not my cardiovascular system, were the limiting factor, the opposite of my running limitation. Before I could really push my heart and lungs, my quads screamed until I slowed down. That works out great, since my primary goal for cycling is to strengthen my legs.

So right now, my plan is to run three times a week (12 miles this week, 13 next week, and so on) and ride once, building up to maybe an hour. I have this crazy idea that my quads are the final piece of the puzzle – that once they are strong enough, I’ll be able to tackle a half-marathon. Or maybe even a triathlon, if I could ever learn how to swim more than a couple minutes at a time. I think Jenny will beat me to the tri, though. She’s planning her first indoor tri for September.

Random Facts About Me for June 2011

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Ten more…can I dig up ten more??

  1. I loved Beavis and Butt-head as a kid. For a while my hair looked like Butt-head’s, brown and brushed straight back (don’t ask). I can do the voice, too. Maybe I sound like him all the time, who knows? “Uhhhh…Southwest 182, this is like, Dispatch, so you have to, like, do what I say or something. Divert to uh, Dallas, like, now and stuff. Huh-huh.” “Yeah, yeah, that would be cool!” “No, it isn’t, buttmonkey. Diverting sucks. Don’t make me kick your ass! Uhhhh…wait a minute. Is this thing still on?”
  2. After riding a bike all the time as a kid, I took a break as a teenager until my last two years of college. Then I borrowed my dad’s bike and rode it to and from class so I didn’t have to hunt for a parking space every day. Playing Frogger with the cars was a bit nerveracking. Seeing a CareFlite-level wreck between a cyclist and a car in 2004 turned me off from riding for a while. Now I’m getting back into it for fitness purposes, riding Dad’s old mountain bike and trying to avoid traffic.
  3. I have trouble understanding how Christianity and patriotism got tied together in many people’s minds. Both are fine things, but I don’t think one should require the other.
  4. As probably a freshman in high school, I partied in the mosh pit at a Stone Temple Pilots concert wearing a black 99.1 Z-Rock tank top. It was awesome. Less awesome was my decision to wear sandals into said mosh pit.
  5. I predict an Obama victory in the next presidential election. The Republican party seems too fractured and is leaning too far to the right to win the independent voters like me. Overall, I think he’s done a decent job, although I wish he’d been more aggressive in pulling out of Afghanistan, supporting gay rights, and fighting the urge to borrow so much money trying to fix the recession.
  6. I struggle with the concept of war. When is war justified, and when is it not? Some wars, such as World War II, seem like no-brainers to me – some people are so evil that they must be stopped by any means necessary. Other wars, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, seem much less clear-cut. When does a war become too costly in terms of money, lives, effort, and resources to be worthwhile? And what does the Bible say about war? In the Gospels, Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies. But Revelation paints Jesus as a mighty warrior returning to earth on a warhorse and brandishing a sword, ready to judge the world. Which is the right path for a government in 2011?
  7. I am not a fan of fake boobs, butts, lips, noses, etc. unless they were made necessary because of injury or disease. Just shake what yo’ momma gave ya.
  8. When I’m working, I normally go to sleep around 7:30-8:00am and sleep until 3:00pm. I leave my phone on in case of emergencies, but please do not call me during those hours. It’s sometimes hard to go back to sleep if I talk to someone and make my brain work.
  9. At work I have maybe 5 bad days a year, and some of those are bad because of a single problem flight. That seems like a pretty good ratio to me.
  10. Lately I’ve been attempting to be less judgmental and more live-and-let-live. I’m happier for it.

Schedule Bid 2012

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We just got the results from our schedule bid for next year. Of 158 possible lines, I got my third choice, an 11:00pm line. I am very happy. I didn’t get my first or second choice because they had six-day breaks during Christmas. It will be a while before I can hold one of those lines. I actually could have gotten a three-day break over Christmas for next year. However, Christmas isn’t my highest priority right now since most of our family is local and the rest of the family celebrates on the Sunday before Christmas. The lines that had three days off at Christmas didn’t have much else that I wanted. Instead, the line I got had breaks on several important occasions, which saves me from having to burn vacation days for them:

  • Super Bowl Sunday (Cowboys watching party at our house – heh heh)
  • Valentine’s Day
  • Mother’s Day
  • Father’s Day
  • July 4th
  • My birthday
  • Halloween
  • Thanksgiving (three-day break)
  • New Year’s Eve / anniversary getaway

In addition, since I’ve hit my ten-year anniversary, I’m now up to 20 days of vacation. Now I need to study my line to decide where to allocate my days. I can’t have Christmas, but I could probably get any other days off I need. I’ll use some for birthdays for me, Jenny, and Brenden. Beyond that, I’m not sure yet – 20 days is a lot to allocate, but it’s a problem I’m happy to face.

Jack’s Throwback

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Saturday night Jenny and I left the boys with Jenny’s parents and soaked up some old-school rock and roll at Jack’s Throwback, a tribute band festival at Gexa Energy Pavilion in Fair Park. It had been a long time since I’d been to a big outdoor rock concert. How long, you ask? I think it was Aerosmith back in high school when Gexa Energy Pavilion was called Starplex. (I’ll bet you still call it Starplex, too, don’t you? Naming rights suck.)

Jack’s Throwback featured four different cover bands. In order of preference, they were:

1) Back in Black (AC/DC) – FANTASTIC! Spot-on performances across the board, highly polished with tons of energy and talent. Absolutely rocked the house. They closed with my favorite song of theirs, “Thunderstruck”. They also performed “You Shook Me All Night Long”, which I wanted to play at the end of our wedding as we walked down the aisle, but Mrs. Box objected. =)

2) Queen Nation (Queen) – Excellent job as well in the opening slot. The highest-profile member of Queen was the irreplaceable Freddie Mercury, and they found a guy who can play Freddie pretty well, including his keyboard skills. Queen has fun music that plays well in an outdoor setting. I never knew that “Fat Bottomed Girls” was a Queen song.

3) Fan Halen (Van Halen) – Good sound, KILLER lead guitarist taking Eddie Van Halen’s spot. Overall they were a bit less polished and comfortable in their roles, but still very entertaining. The lead singer wasn’t quite as flexible as David Lee Roth but attempted his signature high kicks and jumps off the speakers anyway, so he gets bonus points for effort.

4) Guns 4 Roses (Guns ‘n’ Roses) – Our least favorite, but still fun. The Axl Rose guy was OK but definitely not in the same vocal lead as Axl, who would be very difficult to copy well. He definitely had the look down, though and changed costumes several times during the show, including the kilt and the “Charlie Don’t Surf” shirt. The Slash guy was really good, but again – no one is Slash but Slash, and the differences stood out in places. Some audio problems popped up during some of his killer riffs. I grew up listening to GNR and was much more familiar with their music than that of the other bands. This show was the first and probably the only time I’ll ever hear some of my favorite GNR tunes performed in concert, so I really enjoyed the set despite the few problems.

Bravo to all four bands and to Jack FM for organizing a truly fun rock show.