This was taken at our company party last week. The children are Tian age 2-ish and Neko age 5. They belong to my boss, but I get to play with them sometimes.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A new pic
This was taken at our company party last week. The children are Tian age 2-ish and Neko age 5. They belong to my boss, but I get to play with them sometimes.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The good luck streak finally ran out...
As some of you know, I have been having some issues with my hip replacement.
Today I finally went and saw my doctor and got some fairly bad news. At this point we have to do one more test to determine our next step.
It seems that “particles” are accumulating between the side of my prosthesis and the inside of my femur. The x-rays don’t have the ability to determine if they are from an infection or from wear of the unit, but either option is bad.
If it is an infection, drugs may clear it up, but if it is bonded to the stem they will have to pull it out so I can heal. If it is wear on the ball and cap then they will have to replace those two components. So we are praying for an infection in my bone that can be healed with drugs.
Also I said "unit" and "pull it out so I can heal".
Today I finally went and saw my doctor and got some fairly bad news. At this point we have to do one more test to determine our next step.
It seems that “particles” are accumulating between the side of my prosthesis and the inside of my femur. The x-rays don’t have the ability to determine if they are from an infection or from wear of the unit, but either option is bad.
If it is an infection, drugs may clear it up, but if it is bonded to the stem they will have to pull it out so I can heal. If it is wear on the ball and cap then they will have to replace those two components. So we are praying for an infection in my bone that can be healed with drugs.
Also I said "unit" and "pull it out so I can heal".
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Rich Jandt Adventure #18
I apologize; this is going to be another long one.
Ryan Peters was the only one to bid for me during a Kingsmen auction. There were a few girls I was hoping to buy me, but that didn’t work out.
Ryan had this plan, and of course it was not very well thought out. He was going to go down and sleep on the streets with hobos, so he could have a better understanding of their situation. He wanted me to go with him because he is a little man who is scared of just about everything.
Ryan and I hop on the max one night with a buck fifty each to ride back on the next morning. That was the plan anyway.
I had only taken about 5 steps off the platform at the Saturday market when a very large black man with the reddest eyes in the world asked me if I needed some nugs. I had no idea what he was asking, so I said “What? I don’t thinks so. What are nugs?” He looked at me from one side of his face and said “You know, Bud!” I replied “I don’t know what that is.” And honestly didn’t. He then turned to look me full in the face and said “Weed man, you need any weed?” I was shocked he was asking me if I needed drugs. I said no thanks and we walked down to the water.
While this was fun for Ryan, I had to re-read the book of Romans that night for a test that week, so I had some school supplies with me. We were on the last set of benches right on the Burnside Bridge. After about an hour of reading a man came up to us and asked if we had some papers. Ryan handed him a newspaper, and I offered some notebook paper. He said no, he needed some rolling papers for drugs. I once again was shocked that someone I had never met was being so open about Illegal Drugs.
Not too long after that a third man came up to our bench and asked if we had a “rig”. I said that Keo had one, but he didn’t get it. I said I could get a truck if he needed something moved, but he was referring to a syringe. It seems that the druggies in the park have drugs, but not the necessary utensils to get high.
It was getting dark and we devised a plan that we would sleep in shifts to protect each other. As Ryan slept I noticed that the rats were very brave, and even though I was fully awake reading the Bible, they would run up and hit my foot. I looked over and they were on the bench that Ryan was sleeping on. I thought for a moment, and came to a realization that Ryan was not the kind of guy who would be able to stay awake on his shift, so I woke him up and we moved up town.
We were still on Burnside in front of that pizza place that serves from the window, and we saw a man standing in the middle of the road. He was shirtless and was in between lanes, cars were zipping past him very closely. I called out to him to come back to the side of the road. He eventually did and I mentioned that he should be careful because he almost got hit. He said that it was ok, because he had a snake and he produced a shoe string which he started to make noises for, wrapping it very tightly around his arm. Although that was weird, the oddest part was when he started telling us that he was sent from Al Gore to kill a man in the bar down the street. It seems that Al Gore uses shirtless assassins when he needs some killin done in Portland.
We moved up toward Powell’s and met a man asking us for money. We are very generous people so we gave him all of our money, $3. But we wanted him to give us a tour of the Downtown homeless scene, and he obliged. He showed us all the places we could get free meals, free clothes, or just wanted to talk to someone. He also gave me some very serious insights to what it meant to be homeless. I had an impression that if I ever became homeless, I would just pull myself up by the boot straps and get a new job/place to live and work harder to get out of it. And I still think that is true, but as this man was explaining to me, most homeless have something wrong with them. It might be an addiction, or a mental illness. I had seen both already that night.
At this point I knew that I would never be able to sleep downtown. Between the drugs, crazies, and now we had to walk back to Cascade because we gave away our Max money; we decided to do it sooner than later. We were right across from Powell’s, and started our long walk back to Cascade. A Google map says that the trip is 5.4 miles long, and that seems a little short to me, mayhaps because Ryan was complaining the whole time. As we passed the Portland Rescue Mission, we noticed a young man, around our age, curled up on the sidewalk under a single blanket. We stopped and looked at the guy for a while, and decided that we could do nothing for him at this point. We were broke; we had no phone, no car to drive him somewhere safer, and no home to provide him.
Ryan needed motivation almost the whole walk back. At first I did this by threatening violence and urination if he slept. We passed karaoke bars, and a 7-11 where we go water. About halfway back he said he was going to give up, and he didn’t care what happened to him. He actually lay down on a sidewalk around Burnside and 35th. I had to switch motivators so I kept him awake with his favorite thing ever, arguing. We argued all the way back to Cascade.
It was a very surreal thing; I had been fasting for a class, and trying to read Romans in a single sitting. I was also sleep deprived, and physically exhausted. But as we walked into the parking lot from Burnside, the sun came up. It was warming to both my aching body and my mental state. I had stayed the entire night outside and I was cold. I also saw a lot of people in a bad situation. But here I was, walking to my dorm room, sheltered from the cold, and surrounded by friends and family that would never let me fall to that place. I had learned a lot from that trip, a little about compassion, a little about homelessness, a little about making sure to carry enough money so you can give some away, and still ride the Max back.
Ryan Peters was the only one to bid for me during a Kingsmen auction. There were a few girls I was hoping to buy me, but that didn’t work out.
Ryan had this plan, and of course it was not very well thought out. He was going to go down and sleep on the streets with hobos, so he could have a better understanding of their situation. He wanted me to go with him because he is a little man who is scared of just about everything.
Ryan and I hop on the max one night with a buck fifty each to ride back on the next morning. That was the plan anyway.
I had only taken about 5 steps off the platform at the Saturday market when a very large black man with the reddest eyes in the world asked me if I needed some nugs. I had no idea what he was asking, so I said “What? I don’t thinks so. What are nugs?” He looked at me from one side of his face and said “You know, Bud!” I replied “I don’t know what that is.” And honestly didn’t. He then turned to look me full in the face and said “Weed man, you need any weed?” I was shocked he was asking me if I needed drugs. I said no thanks and we walked down to the water.
While this was fun for Ryan, I had to re-read the book of Romans that night for a test that week, so I had some school supplies with me. We were on the last set of benches right on the Burnside Bridge. After about an hour of reading a man came up to us and asked if we had some papers. Ryan handed him a newspaper, and I offered some notebook paper. He said no, he needed some rolling papers for drugs. I once again was shocked that someone I had never met was being so open about Illegal Drugs.
Not too long after that a third man came up to our bench and asked if we had a “rig”. I said that Keo had one, but he didn’t get it. I said I could get a truck if he needed something moved, but he was referring to a syringe. It seems that the druggies in the park have drugs, but not the necessary utensils to get high.
It was getting dark and we devised a plan that we would sleep in shifts to protect each other. As Ryan slept I noticed that the rats were very brave, and even though I was fully awake reading the Bible, they would run up and hit my foot. I looked over and they were on the bench that Ryan was sleeping on. I thought for a moment, and came to a realization that Ryan was not the kind of guy who would be able to stay awake on his shift, so I woke him up and we moved up town.
We were still on Burnside in front of that pizza place that serves from the window, and we saw a man standing in the middle of the road. He was shirtless and was in between lanes, cars were zipping past him very closely. I called out to him to come back to the side of the road. He eventually did and I mentioned that he should be careful because he almost got hit. He said that it was ok, because he had a snake and he produced a shoe string which he started to make noises for, wrapping it very tightly around his arm. Although that was weird, the oddest part was when he started telling us that he was sent from Al Gore to kill a man in the bar down the street. It seems that Al Gore uses shirtless assassins when he needs some killin done in Portland.
We moved up toward Powell’s and met a man asking us for money. We are very generous people so we gave him all of our money, $3. But we wanted him to give us a tour of the Downtown homeless scene, and he obliged. He showed us all the places we could get free meals, free clothes, or just wanted to talk to someone. He also gave me some very serious insights to what it meant to be homeless. I had an impression that if I ever became homeless, I would just pull myself up by the boot straps and get a new job/place to live and work harder to get out of it. And I still think that is true, but as this man was explaining to me, most homeless have something wrong with them. It might be an addiction, or a mental illness. I had seen both already that night.
At this point I knew that I would never be able to sleep downtown. Between the drugs, crazies, and now we had to walk back to Cascade because we gave away our Max money; we decided to do it sooner than later. We were right across from Powell’s, and started our long walk back to Cascade. A Google map says that the trip is 5.4 miles long, and that seems a little short to me, mayhaps because Ryan was complaining the whole time. As we passed the Portland Rescue Mission, we noticed a young man, around our age, curled up on the sidewalk under a single blanket. We stopped and looked at the guy for a while, and decided that we could do nothing for him at this point. We were broke; we had no phone, no car to drive him somewhere safer, and no home to provide him.
Ryan needed motivation almost the whole walk back. At first I did this by threatening violence and urination if he slept. We passed karaoke bars, and a 7-11 where we go water. About halfway back he said he was going to give up, and he didn’t care what happened to him. He actually lay down on a sidewalk around Burnside and 35th. I had to switch motivators so I kept him awake with his favorite thing ever, arguing. We argued all the way back to Cascade.
It was a very surreal thing; I had been fasting for a class, and trying to read Romans in a single sitting. I was also sleep deprived, and physically exhausted. But as we walked into the parking lot from Burnside, the sun came up. It was warming to both my aching body and my mental state. I had stayed the entire night outside and I was cold. I also saw a lot of people in a bad situation. But here I was, walking to my dorm room, sheltered from the cold, and surrounded by friends and family that would never let me fall to that place. I had learned a lot from that trip, a little about compassion, a little about homelessness, a little about making sure to carry enough money so you can give some away, and still ride the Max back.
Friday, April 10, 2009
J Box!
I recently sent an e-mail to the Jack in the Box headquarters, addressing the fact that we did not have a J Box in Bend, and they sent an e-mail back inviting me to keep checking their website for further openings.
Well this morning I opened the newspaper and found they are replacing the Denny's with a J Box! Best trade ever.
Well this morning I opened the newspaper and found they are replacing the Denny's with a J Box! Best trade ever.
Monday, March 9, 2009
A new car!
Let me tell you how I ended up with this car.
On the 30th of January I bought a 1992 Toyota Camry for $1300. It was a great deal that someone made because of their financial situation. I was stoked because my truck had been running poorly, and this was a great deal.
Two days later I woke up to find that someone had hit the car and taken off. Luckily my across the street neighbor is a good person and called the woman who had hit my car, telling her to come back and deal with it or he would call the police. She came back and left a note, and he called the police anyway.
She wouldn't answer her phone so I called my insurance company to make a claim. To make a long story shorter she was a flaky person. Her dad started to try and bully me over the phone and their shop was run by a bastard who made me deal with her insurance company instead of them.
Their insurance company totalled my Camry, and sent me a check for $1600, and I sold the car to a friend for $400. Having made $700 on the deal I bought the above pictured 97 Mercury Tracer for $1500.
I then drove pictured car to Reno where I won 3 large jackpots. One for $1000, one for $150, and a third for $100. It has been a great month for team Rich.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Reno
So a lot has happened in the last two weeks, and I mostly kept it off of my blog to surprise my brother for his birthday.
I am still in Reno, but I wanted to post a picture for you mos before I get back.
It is kinda bad resolution, but the total down in the lower right says $1009. I had just hit a $1000 jackpot playing Keno.
I am still in Reno, but I wanted to post a picture for you mos before I get back.
It is kinda bad resolution, but the total down in the lower right says $1009. I had just hit a $1000 jackpot playing Keno.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tp is bad?
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