The Baron let me down...

So I'm a BIG fan of Red Baron's Classic Crust Special Deluxe pizza (RBCCSD). I probably burn through about 2 a week. Only problem is, they are kinda expensive if you don't find them on sale. Well, I didn't find them on sale last time I was grocery shopping at Smiths. The Baron offers quite a range of "just heat and eat" (I JUST made that up) products, and I figured if the pizza is so satisfying, then their other products would be the same. So I stocked up on some Red Baron Singles Flatbread Melts (Meat Trio). Here is what I got...

As you can see from the box, they look freakin good, but what the Baron doesn't tell you is that there are actually two suprises that come with every flatbread melt:

1. Deliciousness.

2. THEY'RE FUN SIZED!

I feel the same way you do, the Baron uncharacteristically let me down. These little teasers...

Baron, what do you have to say?

La "The" Mona Rope Swing

So last weekend we got a group together to re-visit the Mona rope swing. SOOPER FUN. One thing I love about Provo are the summers, tons to do in the outdoors and the weather is about perfect. Only thing missing is a beach. Here is our latest escapade:

Cue the storytelling voice (it was late when I wrote this)...

Nestled in the quaint little town of Mona, UT lies a small pond, and at that pond met a great group of friends. And within that group of friends were some risk takers. "What's to risk at a peaceful little pond" some asked. That's when one of them pointed to something flying in the distance...was it a bird? A plane? "No, that's a Mona local doing a triple gainer off a 50 ft. rope swing".

And so it began, the annual trip to Mona rope swing. Here is some footage of last year's festivities...



Here are some pics from this last weekend:

This is when Zach flew into the tree:


I figured out how to do these cool color effects on my camera. Richard, Amy, Ricky, and JaNae waiting their turn.


Doubles. This dangerous trick was unheard of before Ricky and I.


Actually doing it is more of a mental game, as seen here by Rod's face:


And you thought Asians couldn't swing?


Air. Nike Air.

And that's all folks...stay tuned until next year.

13 ways to relax and look busy at work

By Clayton Shumway


So, you’ve plunged yourself into the white-collar, belt-loosening world. Whether you work at a small business or large corporate enterprise, we know who you are, and we know that you want to exploit every opportunity to be lazy and look busy. Enjoy these proven methods observed from yours truly (yes, observed).

1. Always sigh loudly. Works especially well when taking a seat at a meeting or every time you sit down at your desk.
2. Set up Outlook (or your main email program) to chime every time you get an email. Then loop the sound to play every 45 seconds or so. Another easy trick is to set up your email program to deliver your emails after hours (you’ll have to figure these out, I can’t give away everything).
3. Make sure your taskbar is cluttered with open programs. Also make sure that your browser has multiple tabs open. This will also make it more difficult for your managers to see your open Online Dating and Mail Order Bride pages.
4. Keep a hard and soft copy of an Excel spreadsheet, and make sure it has lots of numbers and graphs that no one but you can understand. Pull it up when someone walks by (which brings up another point, get a rearview mirror attached to your monitor) and take it with you whenever you go somewhere.
5. Set your IM status as “busy” or “in a meeting”.
6. I know what you’re thinking, but hold off on purchasing a privacy screen for your monitor. To the simple-minded co-worker, they will position you as the “yeah I’m working on important, top-secret stuff”-type, but to the savvy realist-type you’re just trying to trump your latest Desktop Tower Defense score undetected.
7. Get a Bluetooth earpiece and pretend to talk on it whenever you aren’t at your desk. Or if you have friends, you could talk to them too.
8. Be sure to stay 4 minutes later than everyone else. You can’t afford not to put in those extra hours.
9. Walk fast. And if you’re really gun-ho, run.
10. Frequently glance at your watch during meetings or when someone is talking to you. After all, you have places to be and people to see.
11. Outsource your projects. There is a kiss up in every office, use this to your advantage and make him/her do all the grunt work.
12. Keep a hidden stash of used lean cuisine boxes. When you get back from lunch, make sure no one is looking and put a couple on your desk. You just don’t have time to take a lunch.
13. If you are a guy, loosen the ol’ necktie and unbutton that top button. Women…forget about doing your hair in the morning, the brushed hair look will cause suspicion.

4th O' July

Had a great 4th of July! Drove down to Alpine, AZ where we have a cabin in the White Mountains. It's a beautiful place with lots of memories. In all we had 20 or so relatives staying over the weekend. It was a good time. Spent some time fishing, riding 4-wheelers, and playing horseshoes at the cabin. Who would have known horseshoes could be so fun?

On the 4th we went to a parade in Springerville (a small town about 20 min away). It seemed like they cut back on the candy throwing this year (dang economy), but I still had a good time rallying my bro, niece, and nephew to get as much candy as possible. Just a little encouragement and they went darting for it!

After the parade we drove up to St. Johns for the traditional BBQ, except this time we had to pay 5 bucks! It's usually free (again, blaming the economy). They hold races for different age groups at the park and as a kid I got 1st place every year...well, this year I got 2nd. Here is what happened. I entered the 18-29 yr. old race and just before the gun went off half of the guys took off. That took me by suprise so I jolted forward, only to completely lose my footing and fall flat on my face. Yep, I was the only one. I did my best to laugh it off as I walked off the field, defeated. I decided to enter the next race (30 year old and up). I knew I had a slight age advantage, but I HAD to compete. The gun went off and I ended up getting 2nd place. Of course, the family told me that the guy who got first jumped the gun. So, I like to think I got first. Haha. After that we saw the fireworks show in Alpine. The show was pretty weak sauce (have I mentioned the economy yet?) but it was still a good time.

My roommate brigham and i rode our dirtbikes by squaw peak near provo canyon. Beautiful.