Why I have a movie podcast with beer

Ladies and gentlemen, let me start by thanking you in advance for listening to this week's episode of Critical Drinking. We're watching D2: The Mighty Ducks and talking Top 5 Movies From My Childhood. It's our 47th episode coming up, and every single one has been more fun than the last. I love doing it, and I hope you enjoy listening to it.

Now, the reason for this post is because I have recently been embarrassed by my younger brother. He doesn't know it, but he should be proud of it. A little history:

In college my freshman year, not having declared a major yet, I took a spin around a few departments seeing what clicked for me and what didn't. Ultimately business and marketing were the obvious choice, but before that I dabbled in English. Yes, English. You wouldn't know it by the content on this blog, right? Well it wasn't English English, it was film studies English. I took 2 film classes that were technically English classes, and I think the way they got away with that was by making us write 2 big papers each term. The first class I took I loved. I was fascinated by the content, but not so keen on the papers. I managed to walk away with a B, no harm done. The second class was the same content-wise, but clearly more grueling English-wise, because I walked out of there with a C, visibly worse for wear. I learned a lot about film, and also learned English would not be my major.

A few years later, my younger brother is in school, and I hear he's taking the same classes. I knew how I did, but he seemed to think they were no big deal. And they weren't for him. Now he's in a 400-level film studies English class, and I hear last night he just got a 98/100 on his most recent paper, AND the professor nominated it for a student journal. Well shit, clearly you win.

So, little bro, you are better than me at film analysis, that much has been proven by you're 98% / A+ in a 400-level class. That is just a little bit better than my C in a 200-level class. However, could you write that paper... while drinking!? Could you orate it while drinking!? Maybe you could, who knows. I may not have the knowledge or English mastery that you seem to have, but I can do both of those things while drinking.

And that, my friends, is why I have a movie podcast with beer.

Soda Fountain Taps Suck

You see these soda fountains everywhere. Fast food places, mini-marts, restaurants... anywhere you get soda in a cup or glass. Recently I was filling up a cup in a restaurant, just as I had a million times before, but this time I noticed the few droplets that came out after I had pulled my cup away. It was only a few drops, but it happened each time any amount of soda came out, whether it was a full cup's worth or a top off. So it got me thinking, and go with me on this one.

Let's use Subway as the example. There are some assumptions I'm going to make, but I think they're very conservative assumptions. Here they are.

Assume:

• 6 drops come out of the tap after it's stopped pouring, on average, per usage
• Those 6 drops equal 1/2 oz
• Everyone fills their cup to the top, leaves the cup to catch those drops, and then tops it off. So, 6 drops are lost per cup
• 100 cups are filled, on average, at each Subway restaurant
• All cups purchased are the 21oz cups, which cost $1.79 
• All Subways have these soda fountains and costs are consistent

So then we can extrapolate that they lose 50oz per day, which is about 2.4 cups, or about $4.30 worth of soda per day, per store. That's $1,569.50 per store, per year.

According to Subway's website that has a current store counter, they currently have 34,101 stores.

That would mean that Subway loses $53,521,519.50 per year in potential revenue based solely on inefficient soda fountain taps. $53.5M a year. And that's only Subway. Imagine all the other restaurants, like McDonalds, that probably serve up way more that 100 cups a day.

Imagine how much money could be made if they just had leak-proof taps. Patent pending...

Bringin' Back Memories

ItsOnTap Update

FYI, we're getting ItsOnTap.com up and running again on Monday. I've got a few posts lined up, and there are about 4-5 of us on to contribute. It'll be a good outlet for me, plus, and possibly more importantly, it's an excuse to drink beer.

Look for it on Monday, and let me know what you think.

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. For those in the Portland area, hope you all have safe travels and stay safe over the holiday. Go Blazers! And soon after, Go Ducks! See you all in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl!

My house feels more like a home now

I got a chance to get out of Houston this weekend and head home to Portland before going on my training trip to Albuquerque. It was really good to see Hayley, my mom and dad, and (of course) Bella. I flew in late Friday night, and stayed the whole weekend. So, like I've done every other time I have been home since going to Houston, what did I do this time? Spent a bunch of money. We kind of had a list of what we wanted to get for the house by the time I moved back home, so what did we do? We got it all this weekend.

So, I have a couple pictures of the new place:


This is the new bed. We got the bed frame and headboard on Saturday, and bought the bedspread and had the mattress delivered on Sunday. Boring for most, really exciting for me.


This is the living room. We have the new couch (didn't buy it this weekend), and then a new surround sound system and coffee table.

So the house feels more like a home now that we've filled it with stuff! Plus, now that we have a big TV, giant couch, and a nice surround sound system, this place is ready for a party! Don't tell Hayley, but there's going to be a lot of video games played and sports watched here when I get home.

It kind of sucks though, because I still have to wait 2 more months before I can move back and enjoy it! Until then, I'm stuck in Houston. At least there are a lot of good concerts and a few good friends.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit (of coming home)

I haven't blogged in a while, and with a little push from Adam, I figured I'd get on here and try to spark my interest in writing again.

It's a little hard with my job now, because the office internet is ridiculously locked down, so I spend half my time looking for loopholes in order to post to twitter and read news and stuff. I still haven't found a way to update the blog, and when I come home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer. The previous 9 hours of the day have kind of ruined it for me. Kind of like college and textbooks did with reading. I'm actually reading The Watchmen right now, and while it's only a graphic novel, I consider it a big step up from not wanting to read ANYTHING during college. Plus, The Watchmen is really good. I recommend it for anyone who liked Sin City and/or is interested in seeing the movie.

Anyways, life here in Texas has been pretty good. It's been cool lately (mid-70's), I've met some cool people, and I'm getting to the point of training where I understand a lot of stuff, so it's a lot more fun than it was 2 months ago. I'm going to Albuquerque this next week for a training trip with another employee who's been at it a lot longer than me. I'm heading home to Portland the weekend before (this weekend) and am really looking forward to it. I haven't seen Hayley in a while (or Bella!), as well as Mom and Dad, so this will give me a chance to see all of them. If anyone else will be in town, I would love to see you all, so just let me know and we'll figure something out. I'm only in Texas until Christmas, and will be home twice before that, so I think these next couple months are going to fly by, which is more than welcomed.

However, until then, I'm finding a lot of ways to enjoy my time in Houston. It's a pretty ridiculous city, and you'd have to be here to know exactly what I mean, but it has its perks. There is a LOT of good music that comes touring through here. I went to a Ben Kweller concert last week, which was great. My brother actually saw him this weekend in Eugene, so that's pretty cool. I also went to see The Kooks, but they canceled because the lead singer was "ill" (hungover), so the opening band The Whigs played as the headliners for free, and were actually pretty darn good. Next, I'm going to see Kings of Leon later this month, as well as Keith Anderson, and (hopefully) TV On The Radio. I thought Portland was big on live music, and they are, but not on quite the scale that Houston is. You can go out EVERY weekend and see good live music anywhere, as well as check out tons of concerts, so I've been doing that a lot.

I've also been exercising a lot with Allen, a buddy I met down here who's going to Orange County. He's the one I've been going to concerts with, too. But we've been getting up every morning to run and then going to the gym most nights after work. It gives me something to do, and keeps my mind off of missing home, as well as get me into shape, so it all works out. We are starting to drive out to Memorial Park by 6:00am, get a solid 30-50 minutes of running in, then head back in time to get to work by 8:00am. Running in the morning really makes me feel good at work. I'd never done it before, but it's a really nice way to wake up. It's relaxing for me, but also gets my body going.

Last weekend I played 36 holes of golf. The first 18 were in a company tournament. I helped my team to a solid last place finish, but it wasn't my fault. It was a scramble, but we had to use a certain portion of everyone's shots. First off, our A (best) player didn't show up, so we were already off to a bad start. But then, the guys I was teamed with were awful. I mean, we struggled to take any of their shots. We used almost all of my drives, approaches, and inevitably (after they missed) my putts. Anyone who has golfed with me knows, from those statements, that the team was pretty bad. I mean, I was our best player? Come on guys. Plus, I was using a friend's clubs, which weren't anything like mine at home except in the fact that both sets suck. But anyways, Allen, Rob and I decided to go out for a second round right after we finished the first. Rounds at this place (Blackhorse GC) were typically $75, but we got the "replay" rate, which was $16! We couldn't pass that up. However, we did go get a bottle of Pendleton and some beer. That helped us through the second 18. But when I come home, you better believe I'm going to be wanting to go out on the course. Anyone in for a round this weekend?

I have been trying to keep up on the Ducks, but aside from a few games that they have at sports bars, I haven't been able to catch many. Last week's was just ugly, so I played Big Buck Safari instead of watching the end of it. Franklin has done a pretty good job of keeping me updated, which I really appreciate. Him and Rob Moseley have been my only links out here. Oh, and if I have to hear anymore bullshit about the Texas - Oklahoma game this weekend, I'm going to shoot myself. I hate both teams, but that's all I hear out here. Ugh. I can't wait to get back to Oregon where I can watch football without all the stupid shit. Well, not counting FSN...

I can't wait to start watching Blazers games, too. Hopefully they will play the Rockets in Houston while I'm here. That would be awesome. Tonight they're beating Sacramento in their first pre-season game. Can't wait to see Oden in action!

This is an interesting time in America. The presidential elections are a month away, the economy is the worst it's ever been since the Great Depression, and yet here I am, displaced and feeling totally removed. It's a weird feeling. I am following the debates and everything, and will vote, that's a given. But I don't have any money invested in the stock market (if I have to hear Wall St. vs. Main St. one more time...), no house, no mortgage, not much money in general, so I really haven't felt the hit. And it's kind of scary. I know all this crap is going to affect me, especially when I go to get a mortgage, or eventually start contributing to my 401k, but I just can't make it seem real right now.

Alright, well, I've rambled on long enough. I want to keep up on the blogging thing, but a little nudge now and then won't hurt. I plan to come out with a Top 5 Albums of the Year list soon, as I've been listening to a LOT of music lately. Any other ideas? Just ramble about life or what?

You can always keep up on my life somehow. I'm always trying to find ways to communicate, and have a few methods:

• Twitter.com/KevinRegan
• KevsPix
• Facebook

Hopefully I can catch up with everyone somehow soon. I miss everyone and home, and am excited to come home soon. I'll do my best to keep you and this blog updated, but if not, yell at me (or just call...)

A Few Ike Projections For You

For those of you wondering how I am down here in the midst of hurricane season, I'd like to give you a little update. First of all, I'm fine. Even if a hurricane were to hit Houston, we're far enough inland that we would likely get flooding and a little wind, but nothing much more. Gustav came and went with little more than a few clouds, and the chances of a hurricane actually staying that far south in the gulf until it hits Houston is not very likely.

However, that sounds a lot like New Orleans before Katrina, so everyone here is still preparing just in case.

I've been tracking Ike for a few days now, and have learned a lot about hurricanes in general, but also a lot about Ike himself. Namely, that hurricanes tend to slow significantly when they hit land, such is the case with Ike and Cuba today. He's a 1 right now, which dropped from a 3 earlier today. However, they tend to pick right back up when they hit the gulf, and that's when we'll really know what we're dealing with. Until then, it's all speculation really. Odds are, it will pick up to a 3 again in the gulf, but turn to the north in the process, avoiding us. At least that's my opinion after doing some homework the last few days.

One thing to keep in mind though is there is a high pressure system moving south off of the Atlantic into the gulf right now that has the power to push Ike south. That's what most projections have in store for it right now, anyways. In that case, the odds are higher it will reach Texas.

But again, we won't know until we see what it does in the gulf, and that will come sometime later this week.

Like I said, I have been tracking it, and you can too if you'd like. There are two great, easy to understand resources I use to track the storm. Check them out below.





The first is the projected path from the National Hurricane Center. The second is a mash up of multiple projections from different organizations, including the NHC, the Navy, and others.

If you click either picture, it will take you to the updated projections. These are current as of 11:30pm central time on Monday.

So, a little interpretation, if you will. Houston is located (for these maps' purposes) right on the little inlet on the coast near the Louisiana border, if you can see that. As you can see, most projections say it's going to make landfall to the SW of us right now, which is bad for two reasons: 1) the hurricane can likely turn to the northwest anywhere in the gulf and either miss us or come right at us. 2) The east side of a hurricane is the worst side. That's the side where you get tornadoes, the fiercest winds, and most of the debris, which leads to the most damage.

Now, it's projected to hit land, wherever that may be, sometime Saturday, so there's nothing to worry about yet. Well, I wouldn't say that, but rather there are too many variables still lurking out there to assume it's going to hit Houston. Gustav was projected to hit Houston days before it made landfall, and in that time, it took a sharp turn northward and missed us completely, hitting the coast of Louisiana (Boy, do they deserve a break though, right?). That could very well happen again, but we just don't know yet.

So, keep checking those projections, and maybe head here too. That's a bunch of satellite imagery that's actually pretty cool to watch and play with.

Again, just wanted to give you a little heads up on things in case anyone had any questions. I'll keep you posted through twitter with more little tidbits I get, and hopefully talk to everyone soon.

Britney Spears Did What?!

E-mail is a wonderful thing. However, you do inevitably have to deal with spam. There isn't a filter out there that can block all spam (and not catch some e-mails you actually want in the process), but they're working to make them as tight as possible. Most filters do a good job of getting rid of a lot of spam, but there are always those spammers who find ways to get through.

Enter: my spam folder



If I have to get spam, I think this might be the best kind. These are totally entertaining. My favorite is "Britney Spears' vagina attacks warder and escapes rehab". These are classic.

Forbes' Top 15 Hardest Drinking Cities

Forbes recently put out a list of the top 15 hardest drinking cities in America, and I'm proud to announce that Portland, OR made the list, coming in at #13! Even though I'm a displaced Portlander at the moment, I still feel proud of my city, and hope to come home and start pitching in! (Am I part of the problem or the solution in this case?)

So here it is, Forbes' list of America's hardest drinking cities:

1. Austin, TX
2. Milwaukee, WI
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Providence, R.I.
5. Chicago, IL
8. (tie) Seattle, WA, Cleveland, OH, St. Louis, MO
9. Boston, MA
10. Cincinnati, OH
11. Pittsburgh,PA
12. Virginia Beach, VA
13. Portland, OR
14. Jacksonville, FL
15. Detroit, MI

Here are Portland's stats, relative to the criteria:

• Residents who had at least one drink in the last 30 days: 62%
• Men who had more than two drinks per day, or women one drink: 6.3%
• Residents who had five or more drinks on one occasion: 15.7%

Way to go, Portland.

As a side note, I would like to say that I've been to Austin, TX, this year's #1, and while it was only for a short while, I think they might have won in a landslide. Yeah, they're drinkers.

[via Consumerist]

It's Official

I officially graduated from college, and here's the proof:



I know you're normally supposed to hang things like this in your office, but since my office will be my house... can this hang on the fridge?

Finally, a Blog Post

I know I'm a little late writing this, but I feel like I've been pretty busy with the new job, and our internet connection is slow as balls, so that doesn't encourage me. But, now that I've finally gotten around to it, I'll give you a taste of what my life has been like the last 7 days.

My first day was filled with new information of all kinds, from where the bathrooms are to how to fill out an expense report to what exactly I'll be doing for 6 months. The answer to that last one is simple: I'm going to class. It's basically another term of college in that almost every week I'll have class. Along with that will be training trip weeks where I will fly to different parts of the country and travel with reps in certain cities to kind of get a feel for the job. My first trip home is the beginning of August. I'll be in Portland on the bookend weekends of my week training in Seattle. Sounds like fun.

So, I have my cubicle, my tiny bit of real estate that I will ultimately grow to hate. I have a laptop that plugs into a dual monitor setup on my desk, and that's basically my gateway to learning almost everything I will need to know. It's pretty impressive how much information they have online at this place. You should see the server room. Anyways, without going into too much detail, daily life will be a combination of computer and in-class learning, with hands-on stuff thrown in every now and then. All while wearing a suit.

My apartment is pretty nice. I'll post the pictures at the bottom of this post of my room and one of the living room. Rent is free, it's got air conditioning, and someone comes and cleans it every other week, too. So, I'd have no right to complain even if I wanted to. I could throw a baseball from my apartment and (literally) hit the building, so it's a nice 1 minute drive to work. "Why drive?" you ask? Oh, only because at 7:30 in the morning it's already 85 degrees and humid as hell. So, the drive keeps me from sweating through my suit by the time I get there. It's pretty nasty weather here. Sometimes it's nice, like when there's a little breeze or I'm in the pool, but otherwise it's just awful. It's wet when you go outside, and by the time I walk to someone else's apartment, I'm a little sweaty.

Speaking of that, most of the other trainees live in the same complex, and I've found a lot of them to be really nice, so we hang out after work. A few of them I would consider friends by now, and it's only been a week. It's kind of weird how it happened so fast and easy like that. We just got Rock Band for 360, so we've been playing that nonstop for a while. If you follow me on Twitter you already know what I mean. It's a great game, and after 6 months I'll be the one taking it home, so all my Portland friends will be able to come over and play. It's really addicting. Especially the drums. I've found I'm better at the drums than I ever was at guitar, and only after 2 days, so that's my instrument of choice.

The cafeteria at work is awesome. The food is all really good. Well, except the chicken, but everything else so far has been really, really good, and the best part is it's deducted straight out of your paycheck pre-tax, and it's really cheap. So, it's a pretty good setup.

On my second day, they had the monthly office birthday party where they announce all the birthdays this month, hand out awards, eat and get drunk. Yeah, that's right, get drunk. At the office. It was awesome. Plus, I have learned that all company functions involve alcohol, which kind of makes me wonder what kind of people I'm working with. It was funny, today I had a little orientation class, and they touched on the company gun policy... Only in Texas.

So, work is pretty fun so far, but there's a big learning curve, and I just realized I put in for the wrong vacation days, so I need to handle that tomorrow. My supervisor, if you can even give this person that title, is not very helpful, so that might be a hassle. But I'm going to the gym regularly now, playing basketball with some of the guys now and then, playing Rock Band, and trying to stay out of the heat.

That's pretty much what's been going on in my life for the last week. I haven't quite settled in yet, but I think after I get my first paycheck I can get to settling. Until then, you should all make plans to come down and visit me.

Oh, and let me know if there's anything I left out that you want to know about, because this was kind of a stream of consciousness post. Keep checking Twitter and KevsPix, and even ItsOnTap which I'm going to be trying to resurrect because I like posting on it. Now it's off to bed so I can get some sleep before it starts all over again tomorrow.

My Trip to Houston: Day 4

My last travel day was very short, and also very boring. Unlike Utah, Colorado, or even New Mexico, Texas is the opposite of scenic. It's very flat, with a lot of farmland from what I could see. It's also very hot, but that much I was expecting. I wasn't expecting Texas to be that boring from the northwestern point all the way to the southeastern coast. It was kind of disappointing, but I only had to drive 3 hours, so I wasn't worried about the scenery as much as I was just getting there.

I left the hotel around 10am, which was later than I had the whole trip, but still 8am Portland time. I wasn't fully adjusted, and I could tell when 10 felt like 8. About 2 and a half hours of the trip were flat and boring, going through different levels of po'dunk towns. But when I got about a half hour away, it started becoming Houston.

Now, Houston is a huge city, so I was basically driving through it for about 15 or 20 minutes, without traffic. And I wasn't even going into Houston. I"m on the northwestern side! I think a few of the current trainees are going to show Nick (my roommate) and I around downtown this weekend, but I haven't even gotten into the heart of the city.

But I got to my place, which is in a gated apartment complex that a bunch of the trainees live in. It's nice, with a nice living room and dining room set, and fully furnished. It's 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with a living room/dining room, and a big kitchen for an apartment. We don't have to pay rent or utilities, and someone comes to clean it every other week. It's pretty cool.

I don't really have pictures from day 4, because it was so boring, and when I got around to trying to take pictures of the apartment, it was too dark to get any decent shots with my camera. So, that will have to wait (because I didn't take any today either). But, I did snap some pictures of 3 specific cities along the way: Franklin, Jerome, and Bryan. Yes, those are all city names, and also happen to be friends of mine. So, that was kind of cool.

In other news, I started work today! I have much to say about that, so stay tuned for my next update. Until then, keep checking Twitter, because while I didn't update much today, I will be in the days to come.

My Trip to Houston: Day 3

I got a lot of driving in today, more, or at least what felt like more, than the two previous days. For that reason, and simply the fact that it's day 3, I'm a bit more tired than I was the last 2 nights. However, today was relatively boring, so it works out that on the night I'm more tired I have the least to say. So, with that in mind, let's get to the boring story of my day 3.

I woke up to some female employee knocking on my door asking if I needed any services. Now, I simply said no thanks, but what I thought was much deeper in the gutter. If you're thinking works like mine, which I know some of yours does, you can imagine me giggling inside during that short pause in between when she asked and when I replied. A "that's what she said" moment, but this time, in real life, with a stranger... that actually said it. Anyway, that was a funny little way to wake up and start my day.

I had a little breakfast, packed up, fueled up, and headed out, just like every other day. I hit Albuquerque in under an hour, with MacBreak Weekly keeping me busy. I ran into a bit of rain, about 5 minutes worth, but I was going fast enough that the wind kept the bed of my truck dry. After that, it cleared up, and eventually all the clouds burned off.

It was pretty flat and straight until I hit Amarillo and had to do a bit of paying attention in order to get on the right connecting highway, but after that, it was more boring, straight highway all the way into Fort Worth and beyond.

While I was driving through Amarillo, I saw 2 Waffle House restaurants, which I fondly remember from my trip to Atlanta with my dad and brother when I was younger. After I got over the nostalgia, I got to thinking: Houston is the fattest city in the nation, or so I've heard/read. So, am I going to have to try harder to stay in shape? Is it the actual city and places in it that make you fatter? Or is it just the people there that are prone to national record-setting fatness? I guess I don't know yet, but I plan to stay in shape regardless, so it really doesn't matter. Just an interesting thought that kind of got my mind further wrapped around the idea of living there for half a year.

So, I kept driving through Fort Worth, and eventually just made it to Waco. It didn't seem too long of a day until it got dark, and then I started planning to stop. But I listened to a lot of podcasts, finished Blink, and the driving just kind of took care of itself. Mountain Dew helped, too.

I'm holed up in a Country Inn after going to a Motel 6 first. I was waiting for the desk clerk to do whatever it was she was doing, but it was taking forever, so I just left and went across the street. It's only about 3 hours to Houston tomorrow, which is WAY less than I expected. That means I've driven about 2,000 miles in 3 days. Not bad. They weren't too hard, but I'm very glad tomorrow is going to be short. The whole driving thing is getting old.

Anyways, not much happened today, but here are some pictures showing some of the trip. Enjoy.

My Trip to Houston: Day 2

After another long day of traveling, I'm here once again to tell the story of the day. I don't think I need to intro it anymore than that, since most people who read this already know the details. So here we go.

I woke up this morning around 8:45a Mountain time, which should have felt like 9:45a since I'm used to Pacific time, but it actually felt like 6:45a. I think part of the reason for that was that I got to bed at 2:00a Mountain time and thought that was only 1:00a Pacific time. So that lapse in thinking kinda got me. But, to be fair, Mallrats was on HBO, so I couldn't turn it off. You all should understand. Anyways, I went down and indulged in a pretty good continental breakfast, checked out, and headed on my way.

I was about 60 miles from Salt Lake City, so one episode of MacBreak Weekly got me there in no time. I was seeing a lot of new sights and a lot of things I thought were cool, so I was doing a lot of Twittering. It seemed like overkill at points, but then I thought, "you know, I don't care if people think I'm flooding Twitter today, I'm doing this more me at this point, because I think these things are cool!" On a tangent, when I got into the hotel both last night and tonight, I had about 3 new followers each day, so apparently flooding Twitter with my travel thoughts does have its audience.

So I got through Salt Lake, and from there to the Colorado border was a very scenic and temperate drive, but pretty straight and pretty flat. When I hit Colorado, though, it got hot. I would say it was in the mid-90s, but with the "wind chill" (if you can even call it that when it's that hot), it felt about 85 in my truck. A bit cooler than outside, but for those of you who know my temperature habits, I'm uncomfortably hot in anything above 72. So, needless to say, I was sweating.

Colorado provided both the most scenic and pretty part of the drive and the worst roads of the drive. I past Arches National Park and the Colorado River, so the canyon country through there was beautiful, but the condition a lot of the highway through there is in is awful. At least by Oregon standards. Actually, a lot of the drive today was on crappily maintained highways, but Colorado was the worst stretch. Yes, I was driving on one-lane, desert highways, but still, there was a lot of traffic for them to have let it deteriorate so much. But enough of that.

In the middle of Colorado, I hit a mountainous stretch, which meant shade and cooler weather, and that was a very welcomed relief. However, it only lasted for about 30 minutes, and then it was back to desert and heat right before I hit the New Mexico border. The northern portion of New Mexico was pretty uneventful, but all my podcasts, as well as Malcolm Gladwell's Blink audiobook, keep me pretty preoccupied.

I stopped in Shiprock, which was the place I was originally going to stay the night, but because I got there in such good time, I was able to have dinner there and keep going. But, before I left town, I gassed up and had dinner. Now, there was a dilemma. After my premature tweet saying it was between Taco Bell (which I knew) and Whataburger (which I had heard of once, but never tried), I saw a Sonic. So the dilemma was between Sonic and Whataburger. At that point, the advertising kicked in, and I chose Sonic. I have knocked Sonic for advertising in Eugene forever, because there isn't a Sonic within 100 miles of Eugene.

I will never hate on them again. It paid off.

So I tried Sonic for the first time, and was happy with it, though not blown away. I didn't try any of the drinks, though, so I think that was my mistake. After I ate, I headed on my way.

About an hour down the road, I saw a storm that I was heading straight for. With a few things loaded in the bed of my truck, rain wasn't what I was looking to drive through. So, I got within about a mile of it, and at that point you could see the rain and there was lightning to boot (which I will need to get used to seeing often). The highway veered just enough for me to miss it. Whew. See the pictures below to see just how close I was to needing to use the dryer tonight. (Honestly, I would have pulled over and put the tarp over it, but I hate stopping, so it was more of a relief than you might think).

So, I was probably driving on the edge of that storm for an hour and a half, and had a total of 2 combined minutes of sprinkling on my windshield. It was awesome. I got a false sense of invincibility during that, and was cheering to myself a little in the car throughout. Hey, it's only me out there, so if I feel a need to burst out with something, I'm gonna do it. I am my own audience.

So, after I hit I-40, which goes due-East through New Mexico, it was smooth sailing until I hit Grants, which is where I'm holed up tonight. Grants is about 70 miles from Albuquerque, and I think if I sleep in a little and get on the road around 9 or 10, I'll miss all potential traffic along the way. Hopefully I won't run into any rain tomorrow, but just in case I think I'll put the tarp on in the morning so I don't have to worry about it.

One thing that sucked today is that my phone's touch screen broke. Well, actually, it's kind of hard to explain without knowing the terms, but the touch functionality is still perfect, so I can still tap and it will be responsive, but the display screen underneath it got some kind of crack in it, so half the screen is black. Like, the pixels are out. So, the touch functionality is essentially useless. I didn't drop it or hit it or poke it with a pen, it just happened somehow. It's only 6 months old, so I assume it's still under warranty, but has anyone had this problem before? If so, if it was with Verizon, how did they handle it?

Anyways, keep checking Twitter and KevsPix, I update the on the drive, then back here tomorrow night for a post-game wrap-up. Without further ado, here are my fave pics of the day, in chronological order, of course.

My Trip to Houston: Day 1

So, today was my first day of traveling on my epic journey to Houston. It was a long day today, about 12 hours on the road, which is more than I originally planned, but I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to keep on trucking. I made it to Tremonton, a city in Northern Utah, and I'm holed up at the Hampton Inn. The room was a little more than I wanted to spend, but after getting up here, I'm not upset. King bed, free internet, 32" HDTV; hell, it's a really nice room even without those things. If you've been following me on Twitter you'll already know these details I'm about to go into, but here's the story of day 1.

I left today at 9am on the dot. It was the first time I think I've left on time for anything in a long time. I stopped at a gas station in Eugene after getting some breakfast, and I was wearing a shirt I got at the Olympic Trials last night, so the attendant strikes up a surprisingly knowledgeable conversation about the meet last night. He wasn't even there but he knew all about it. I guess that's why it truly is Track Town, USA when your gas station attendant is a regular track aficionado.

After I gassed up, I headed out for Bend. The drive was pretty nice. It was cloudy, which meant it was cool, but there were a few early sprinkles, and with stuff in the bed of my truck, I didn't want to see that. They went away pretty quick, and in 2 and a half short hours, I made it to Bend.

A few dozen miles outside of Bend, it was flat, boring, and real sunny, but still temperate. About half a mile ahead of me, I saw a big dust cloud go up. Immediately, I thought it was an accident, but then I just figured it was some truck going down a dirt road kicking it all up. Then I saw break lights ahead of me, so I started to slow down. As I pulled up, I see a bunch of crap all over the road, and what looks like a Uhaul truck. So, then I figure the Uhaul somehow lost a bunch of stuff out the back.

But as I slowed to a stop, I saw it was much worse than that.



As you can see, it looks like the white van either collided with or swerved to avoid that semi truck that's towing a Uhaul truck, and rolled, coming to rest in the ditch on the side of the road. All their stuff had come out of the van and littered the highway. Now, it looked really bad, but from what I could see, the passenger's head was bleeding, but she was up, walking and checking on the driver, so I think that might have just been a bad cut. The driver, however, was laying on the ground in front of the van, where I think the people who came to help had laid him. He didn't look as good. His arm was up in the air, but I really couldn't see his hand. When I got a look, I didn't see his hand, so either it was mangled pretty bad, or it wasn't there anymore. There were about 10 people already assisting with the situation, so I didn't stay, but nothing looked life threatening, so I hope everyone involved is alright. It really got my heart going, and I drove cautiously the rest of the day.

After that, it was flat and pretty into Burns, where I stopped to gas up and get lunch. I finished up, grabbed a Mountain Dew, and I was on my way. next stop: Idaho.

The speed limit in Idaho is 75 mph, so it went a little bit quicker. I stopped once at a rest stop, but that was it. I was on autopilot at this point, listening to podcasts and just driving. When I hit Twin Falls, I felt good, so I decided to head on to the next town.

Well, about 2 hours later, it was starting to get dark, and I had hit Utah, so I pulled into the next town with a hotel, which happened to be Tremonton. Overall it was a pretty easy day. I like driving, and have plenty to listen to if I ever get bored. I think this is going to go by faster than expected, but I'll be hot, be eating bad, and probably sleeping little. I just want to get there and check out my new place! See you tomorrow for day 2.

I update Twitter all day from my cell, so check that for intra-day updates, and I post to KevsPix too, so check those for more frequent updates. Below are a few of the many pictures I took along the way today. These are my personal faves. They're in order. Post some comments about anything and everything, and I'll get back to you.

All Sorts of Things

As you may have noticed, I haven't been quite as prolific with the posts lately. I've had so much going on in the last few weeks, I just haven't had any time. But I figured I'd get on here and give you all an update on my life, tell you what my plans are as far as the Blogarrhea and all my other online social existences, and where I go from here.

First thing's first: I graduated last Saturday. Pretty cool, had a lot of fun with family and friends, and am relieved that it's over. But, the relief didn't last long because...

Second thing: I accepted the job with Reynolds and Reynolds. I'm pretty excited about it, and have gotten more so the more and more I find out about it. That means I'm headed to Houston for six months. I start July 9, so I'll be hitting the road around the 5th. I may or may not be living with a roommate, but either way, I'll probably have a while there where I have a lot of free time because I don't know anyone and am not familiar with the area, so I plan to be back on the blog with plenty of posts, so don't worry. I'm also a pretty prolific Twitterer, so you should all join Twitter and follow me at twitter.com/kevinregan. Also, don't forget about KevsPix at kevinregan.tumblr.com. I plan on keeping all that up throughout my time in Houston.

Speaking of my blogs, I'm going to be driving myself down to Houston, and that's going to be pretty boring. It's about 36 hours of driving, so I'm going to need something other than Mountain Dew to keep me going. So I'm thinking about doing some kind of pix journal or something where I just take pictures of the drive and post them on one of my blogs. I'm not exactly sure what the best way to do this would be, so maybe you guys have some suggestions? What would you want to see, assuming you will tune into the blog as I go? Should I take pictures with my phone and upload them to my pix blog? Post them to the Blogarrhea? Take pictures with my digital camera and post each night when I get to the hotel? What format should it be? I'm in the brainstorming stage of this "project" right now, and figured I'd ask for some suggestions. After all, you guys are the people who are going to be seeing it.

Any help you could offer would be great, just tell me what you think in the comments.

NBC's Tim Russert Dead at 58

One of the last respectable news journalists, Tim Russert, died today at the age of 58. The cause of death is unknown as of yet, but this is a great loss to the media community, as well as the integrity of the institution.

Watch live coverage below.

Job Update

So, I've been in contact with Reynolds and Reynolds for a while now, most recently a phone interview today, with a drug test being scheduled sometime in the next couple days. Hope all the meth-laced acid I've been dropping the past 72 hours straight is out of my system by then... Anyways, the drug test is kind of symbolic in that it sort of implies a job offer. I talked to the guy who would be my boss yesterday, and he seems pretty cool. Today's phone interview brought the grand total to 5 interviews, with a face-to-face interview in the works. Yikes. But I'm not here entirely to bitch and moan, I'm more here to update you on what I've learned.

First I'll start with the job description. R&R is the leading supplier of software and technology to car dealers. I would be the guy based in Portland that goes to these dealerships a few times a week and work with them to make processes more efficient, profitable, user-friendly, etc. I would work from home, set my own schedule, and my own hours. As long as I get my work done, I'm all good.

I get a company car, which I also can use for personal use, and all gas is paid for. I also get a Blackberry, a laptop, and a printer/scanner/copier. So they basically set me up.

As you know already, there is a 6 month training in Houston, but they put me up in an apartment with rent and utilities paid for, so all I have to do is feed myself. Each year they fly everyone to Houston for a meeting/company get together, which sounds like fun, and every 6 months we are eligible for a raise/promotion. Sounds great to me.

So, that's what I've learned thus far. I'll let you know more when I know more.

Pics of Last Night's Kanye Concert

I just posted 8 pictures of the Kanye West concert in Portland last night on KevsPix. I was in the 18th row on the floor, so I felt obligated to snap a few. I had to check the battery in my camera at the customer service booth before the show because of the no camera policy, so these are from my phone. I'm not sure how they turned out, because I can only see them on my phone, but hopefully you can see something. The concert was incredible! I'll post about it later today. I have some video too, and have no idea how that will look, but I'm going to upload them to YouTube later and post them with my big post, so watch for that.

Until then, check out the pics at http://kevinregan.tumblr.com