On Tuesday morning, it was adventure time again as I boarded a plane to Not So Sunny Seattle, Washington. This is a view of Mount Rainier from the airplane window. I was a bit disappointed when I saw this awe inspiring landmark because it looked like a bunch of naughty people must have been smoking around the base of it. It must have been some kind of party!
The reason I went to Seattle was to visit my old friends at Microsoft. Sadly Microsoft doesn’t allow photos to be taken inside their buildings, so I had to sneak this one right before I entered. It’s too bad I couldn’t take photos inside because it looks a lot like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and I just love Oompa Loompas!
I’m part of a group called the Microsoft Partner Action Committee. We’re a group of computer manufacturers who meet with Microsoft several times a year to help them work on their programs and products. Basically, we sit in a conference room for a couple of days while a wide variety of Microsoft executives come in to tell us what their plans are for the next six months. We then cry, stamp our feet, and belly ache about those plans and beg them to change them. It’s really quite a productive relationship!!
On Thursday night, I had a bit of a break before returning back to Minnesota so I treated myself to a movie at a nearby “Luxury Movie Theater”. As can be seen in the top photo of this week’s update, a luxury movie theater basically consists of sitting in a nice lounge chair that you can recline in while a waitress brings you food and drink during the movie. The privilege of this service costs $22 for a matinee plus extra for your food and drinks. Didn’t seem worth it to me! Although I did see Quantum of Solace which was a pretty good movie. It was a bit light on story, but filled with great action scenes so I’ll give it a big thumb up especially since I got to watch it while lying down!
I came home on Friday afternoon and joined the family at this year’s Winter Festival in down town Prior Lake. The wind chill had the temperature down below 20 degrees which was just perfect for a night dedicated to celebrating Minnesota’s Hellacious winter season!
Santa made an appearance and proved he was no wimp about the weather when he suddenly took his hat off, threw it on the ground, and screamed Bring It On to the crowd. He then proceeded to take his bell and smash it repeatedly into Frosty’s skull until the stuffed snowman slumped over and fell off his sleigh. I’m thinking Santa might have been dipping into the egg nog a bit early this year.
After the winter parade, they shoot beautiful fireworks into the air. Not that you can tell from this photo. God didn’t give me my shaky hands to take great photos of fireworks. Sadly, that’s just a fact.
As you can tell from my family’s Ooooohhh faces, the fireworks were a lot cooler than my pictures portrayed them to be.
To end the evening, Luke and Avery played a bunch of games to try to win some candy. The people running the games were pretty vicious in their goal defense, however. First they checked Avery into submission to the point where he didn’t want to take any more shots. Then when Luke stepped up to shoot a goal, they pulled out their old trusty Spotlight Jackets to blind him so he couldn’t see where to shoot. We ended up going home without any candy.
Nice Emails of the Week
Todd,
I have been following your site for a couple of years. I think it is a great site. I like the videos and thought you might like this one (you might already have it). This is about a boy, 11 years old, who is/was very courageous until his passing a bit ago.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/11/22/jaffe.wa.boy.dying.wish.obit.komo?iref=videosearch
Even if you don’t use it, it is has a very powerful message.
Kevin
Click on the Pictures to View!
The Happy Penguin
The Polar Bear Club
Extreme Jumping
Email Shortarmguy at Shortarmguy@aol.com
Happy Thanksgiving!
Best Shampoo Dispenser Ever!
Model Instructions
Not so Subliminal Messaging about this guy!
Here’s a fish story. Fish do crazy things also.
Found floating on Lake Shamineau southwest of Brainerd.
It appears a 7 pound Northern thought it could master a 40 inch Muskie. Turns out the Muskie got caught about 8 inches down the Northerns throat causing both fish to die.
I’ll hide. You count.
Quote of the Week
“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”
– Colin Powell, statesman
Joke of the Week
You might recall that John Hinckley was a seriously deranged young man who shot President Reagan in the early 1980s. Hinckley was absolutely obsessed with movie star Jodie Foster, extremely jealous, and in his twisted mind, loved Jodie Foster to the point that to make himself well known to her, he attempted to assassinate President Reagan. There is speculation Hinckley may soon be released as having been rehabilitated. Consequently, you may appreciate the following letter from John McCain that the staff at the mental 20 facility, treating Hinckley , reports to have intercepted this past weekend:
To: John Hinckley
From: John McCain
My wife and I wanted to drop you a short note to tell you how pleased we are with the great strides you are making in your recovery. In our fine country’s new spirit of understanding and forgiveness, we want you to know there is a bilateral consensus of compassion and forgiveness throughout.
My wife Cindy and I want you to know that no grudge is borne against you for shooting President Reagan. We, above all, are aware of how the mental stress and pain could have driven you to such an act of desperation. We are confident that you will soon make a complete recovery and return to your family to join the world again as a healthy and productive young man.
Best Wishes,
John and Cindy McCain
PS: Barack Obama has been fucking Jodie Foster. Thought you should know.
Shortarmguy’s Favorite Websites
November 23, 2008
The New AIRFORCE ONE
Inside WGN – What We’re Thankful For
So, I planned on using my BBQ this weekend… so I thought, “I’ll clean it up.”
I have known there were bees coming from under the cover so I thought I’d better kill them…
so, here’s the BBQ in question…
Now, I know these bombs aren’t for bees but I thought that it would suffocate/smoke them out. So here is the weapon of choice and the delivery system.
I thought it was a pretty smart design, one that could be easily maneuvered under the cover of darkness… so I then release the weapon of mass destruction!
OMFG!! The sound from under the cover was incredible!!! I swear you could hear it 3 miles away….and then I ran for cover!
I came back a few minutes later to check on the death toll.
It was a MASS grave!!
Well… I continued to remove the cover, give it a clean and go to light it… when I noticed some fatty looking substance on the top of the side shelf…
Thought that was a bit weird… I usually clean it before I put it away for the winter and no way could there be fat there… so I began to wonder…..
NO… no way… couldn’t be… could it??
I slowly removed the rest of the cover only to find the Headquarters!
And, on another note….
We think the queen flew away… either that or a small child with wings has been living in the hive cuz that thing was HUGE!