The Answer is Choice

Decisions are made everyday...some are mundane like deciding what to make for lunch, others are much more complex and include careful weighing of the positives and negatives for a decision. I've made a few decisions in my life and both I choose to believe will be for the positive. I've ended a "friendship". More and more I think and look at things, the more I feel like I was led in the wrong direction and told a pack of lies. It got me thinking why can't people just speak the truth and be accountable for their actions, whether it hurts another person or not. I couldn't find or tell you a specific answer in that accounts...amazingly all I could do is chuckle. I don't know if something's wrong with me if I find that amusing, but I do.

The other decision I made is to get my ass back to the gym on a more frequent basis. I've sat on the sidelines for too long in that respect. I thought long and hard and realized I could make excuses or I could make a choice. I want to live longer and enjoy life for a longer period of time and I can't do that with my borderline type 2 diabetes body I tote around right now. Expect an update on my weight hopefully once a month.
September 1 weight in: 211. October 1 Goal: 205.

See you out there.

Beach Blanket Bozo

This post is admittedly late, as I've been slacking of late on this blog thing. By "as of late" I mean for approximately 8 months. Anyway, I was at the beach last week, just enjoying some good friends and some good sun, when a situation arose that just made me think "now that's a great moment in stupidity". Some yokel decided to back his truck up to the surf (I'd like to first point out that you aren't supposed to drive on the beach in Jacksonville) then proceeded to get his truck stuck on a sand bar. As the tide crept in and the value of the car crept out, I just couldn't help but sit there and watch...along with about 70+ other people on the beach. I think the car was in the water a good 20-30 minutes before the cops arrived, and the arrived with a digital camera and no way of getting the vehicle out. Finally when other citizens arrived with a 4x4 and some chain did the truck finally make it's way off the sandbar. What's the lesson here? if you see a white ford F150 from Duval county show up in your local Auto Trader, you might want to Car Fax that and not believe that whole "new car smell" quote on there.

A final recap: God almighty I wish I hadn't ruined my camera phone cause this a thing that truly needed to be shown to the world.

E A G L E S! EAGLES!

If you hit the above link you'll get a story about the first Bald Eagle's nest in Philly in 200 years. However, I don't think that they realize that this guy in the picture above shouldn't count as a step towards moving an animal off the endangered list...and no, Paul, neither does El Wingador.

Day Old Bagel

Like a rock hard bagel, my blog of late simply bites. Or is it the lack of the ability to bite into anything worthy of blogging. Stay tuned for an end of "summer" update and a Nags Head NC recap probably coming out Sunday. Until then, it's 1/2 price from the Silly Irish Man!

RIP Rocky

From 1993 till 2006, the little dog named Rocky was a part of the McCauley clan. As of June 14th, 2006 Rocky is no longer a part of the McCauley clan. Mom, Dad, and K made the humane decision to put Rock to sleep. It's a tough decision I'm glad I wasn't around to partake in, for as easy as it was for me to see the dog was in pain this past time I was up, its never easy to let go of a faithful friend, even if that friend is covered in fur. Looking ahead, if I have as much body hair as I do now, that could end up being in my eulogy. Poor little pooch had barely any use of his hind legs when I last saw him 2.5 weeks ago. I'll always remember when we got the little guy and he was barely able to run through the grass, and when I'd come home from school he'd jump all around and want to play with his chew toys and go nuts. Good memories...I'll miss you Rock.

You Can't Go Home Again

Recently I returned to NJ and while I had an incredible time, it was the first time since I first moved to NJ in 1992 that I felt like a visitor. An odd feeling, but an eventual one, since I currently reside nearly 1000 miles south of the armpit. Friends and family were great as always, but something was definitely amiss. I will always miss the people I met in NJ and especially the ones that have remained my friends, but I definitely don't miss much about actually being in NJ besides that.
I moved down here a year ago, yet I can finally turn the page on my time in NJ. I won't say I'll never move back to NJ, because one of life's lessons is "to never say never", but I wouldn't actively pursue moving back to NJ unless I owned my own business, or was needed in NJ for family emergencies. Goodbye NJ, you were my true home for nearly half my life and you served me well, but I walk a different path now...one that hasn't been walked down before.

Finkle and Einhorn

So I'm minding my own business at the gym today. Little Chest/Leg day...and we all know that chest day is the best day. When out of the corner of my eye what do I spy but what appears to be a guy wearing pink workout pants. Ok, I say to myself no biggie, this guy is gay and wants all his fellow gym members to notice. I go back to working out thinking all is right in the world. Then I notice something I didn't notice before. Despite this individual not being fat, he has man boobs....wait a minute those are not man boobs....that's a boob job! I found Captain Winky! So now I'm faced with a dillema whenever I happen to be at the gym the same time as the shim. What happens if I have to change my clothes? Do I forgo swimming? Damn shims, go back to soliciting Eddie Murphy for sex!

People/Things I'm sick of

I'm Andy Rooney....
I figured I'd start there so I'd sound like a bitter, old man, which I'm not. I'm only 25

-People who only see things in black and white

-People who think they know things simply because they have an opinion. An opinion is an opinion, not facts so don't treat it as such.

-People who say I don't support troops because I didn't support the war in Iraq. That's two totally different things. If you can't see that, then in my opinion you're a buttmunch. Plain and simple, dickweed.

Mainly I am sick of the people above. I'm done being political except to a few people or if people attack whatever position I hold. I"m not going to bother anyone else. The way I look at it's not my business, unless you want to make it mine from now on. With that said, if you read this and you decide to disparage my opinion with your opinion, I'll pull a Kirkpatrick on you.

That's Jon's department.

Ryan's Chili

For those of you who have had my chili in the past, I am a slave to perfection or as in the case of college, something that is cost effective and plentiful. So for those who don't miss me and my gas, but miss the taste of my chili...I am doing something as a onetime promotion.

Ryan's Chili
The Essentials:
2lbs ground beef/turkey
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
2 can of beans...your choice, I prefer black or kidney.
About a tablespoon and a half of chili powder.
a Teaspoon or so of red pepper.
tablespoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoons* of masa flour. * note that this can fluctuate, so it's not completely uniform
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of paprika


Cook ground beef until brown, drain fat.
add tomato sauce and 2 cans full of water.
add all ingredients except for masa flour. Note you can add more or less red pepper, that's just an approximation of what I use.
simmer covered for 30 minutes.
Now after 30 minutes you mix a 1/4 cup of warm water and the mesa flour up till it's a gooey substance. add to chili.
Now here's where you can either just keep the chili plain ol' college style or you can mix it up.

I like to add the two cans of beans (i don't drain them)
-one half of an onion chopped
-2 small peppers chopped. either orange or yellow to give a little color.
-one jalapeno pepper
-more garlic powder to taste
-a little beer. No lite beers please. You're already eating a healthy helping of calories, no need to skimp now. Besides lite beers have no taste. I prefer Sam Adams or Yuengling.
- a few dashes of cinnamon. yeah it's odd but it's tasty and adds flavor.
- grilled steak chopped into small bites. adds some meat chunks.
-Sprinkle some cheese in and you're gold!

Simmer covered for a minimum of a half an hour or up to 2. The longer it cooks the better the flavor is.


Other options I've used in the past to varying degrees of effect:
Frank's Red Hot
Maple Syrup
Chocolate Syrup
Coffee
Bacon
Turkey Breast
Corn
Mushrooms

Don't be afraid to experiment, but I like to start with a basic chili before I start making all sorts of changes. Enjoy and post your success stories.

Super Blech

Pretty decent weekend to report, all things considered.

Friday was a waste simply because I had some fish and chips for lunch. Things seemed alright, but all of the sudden about 3 hours later the fish wasn't quite ready to be eaten and decided to come back out. This wouldn't have been an issue except for the fact that I was driving at the time. So needless to say, it was a highspeed hurl. Luckily I didn't get any on my shirt. I can't say much for the rest of the driver's side of the car and my clothes.
Saturday I hit up St. Augustine with 4 friends and it was pretty good times. I tried my luck with shrimp this day and it was some of the best shrimp I've ever had. O'Steen's was the name of the place and it was about a 30 minute wait for lunch, so I knew I was getting some good food, and was not disappointed in the least. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around St. Augustine and just enjoying the day. There ain't much better than being outside on a comfortable day. Night time brought about Harmonious Monks for a bit, then a walk home in the cool temps. After realizing sandals weren't a good idea for the night, I switched footwear and headed over to the Alehouse for some affordable drinks and eats. I've realized that when I can get a $5 pitcher of beer at one place and one beer at another place costs $4, then I think it's best to hit up the cheaper/larger quantity establishment.
Sunday or Super Bowel XL...no, I didn't mispell that, it's how I feel about the Super Bowl. What a disgrace by the NFL. The championship game should be the pinnacle of your product, not the dregs. All things considered I think Pitt would have won the game anyway, but I think the game would have been entertaining vs being "worst Super Bowl ever" (said in Comic Book Guy from Simpson voice. That's it and so starts another week of work. only 39 years till retirement age. Yowza!

Blog Not Worthy

This blog is simply being written to let eveyone know that all is well with me, just nothing new/exciting to report.
I did get an IPOD, so of course as with every piece of new technology that I get my hands on, I'm addicted. Steve Jobs will rule the universe soon enough and he'll rule with music supplied by ITunes, IPod and Wyld Stallions. Bogus!