Ausborne Blog » Personal

Visiting California and Bend

jmaus — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:27:43 +0000

We are in the last night of our week long vacation. We started by driving out to San Jose, where we visited mom, the beach, and Great America. We then drove up to Bend, Oregon, where we drove up to Dutchman Flat, hiked part of the way around Todd Lake, rafted on the Deschutes River, and visited a bunch of friends. We went to Lava Butte and Crater Lake today, then had a barbecue and roasted s’mores. We have to go home tomorrow, and I’m just not looking forward to it. I’ve had such a good time on our trip.

Melanie and Josh

jmaus — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 01:49:22 +0000

Here is a photo that I took of Melanie and I today, for those of you wondering if we’re still alive.

Melanie looks fantastic!

Opening Kickoff

jmaus — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:02:18 +0000

Opening kickoff at Lavell Edwards Stadium is moments away, and David, Ryan, Betsy, and I are excited!

UPDATE: Cougs win 23-17!

Vacation

jmaus — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:15:23 +0000

Melanie and I are finally going to go on a vacation all by ourselves. We have purchased tickets to fly to San Diego at the end of September for a four day trip. We are going to be staying at the Marriott Gaslamp Quarter, and are pretty excited.

Pavers

jmaus — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:26:12 +0000

I am about 95% complete with another project. This time the project involved a lot of paver stones, the moving of a lot o dirt, removal of grass, and the movement of a sprinkler head.

We have a large dirt and rock area behind our fence to the side of our garage. It has always been a place where things go to get forgotten about, or otherwise be put out of the way because there isn’t another place for them. It is also the place where the garbage and recycling cans reside.

This brings me to the reason for the project I just undertook. I was tired of having to figure out a way to get a heavy fully loaded garbage can through the mud and dirt, over the rocks, through the gate, then over some lawn and out to the street each week. The lawn just outside the gate was getting pretty matted from walking on it, too, and I got tired of the ugly.

I decided, on a whim, to see what it would take to smooth out the dirt a little bit, so I got a pick and hoe. After I found that process to be not too horrible, I went and bought about 30 bricks, some paver base, and some paver sand. After I got them in place, I realized that I had the time and strength to do a little more, so I got 60 more bricks.

After those were in, I found that my project still wasn’t done, so I went and got 100 more. Surely, that would be enough to get the majority of the rest completed!

Uh, no. Not so much.

All told, I purchased about 600 (maybe more) bricks, and the equivalent amount of base and sand, and really spent a ton of time getting this project done.

I still have a few stones to cut and set, and about 10 bricks that need to be set on the border. I also need to figure out how I want to cut some corner pieces for the area outside the gate.

Other than that, the project is done, just in time for me to start another semester of school.

6 Minutes

jmaus — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:28:34 +0000

I bought an iPhone 4 last night and it works great. This meant that I had an iPhone 3G that was unused, though. I reverted the OS from version 4.0 to version 3.1.3, then listed the phone on KSL Classifieds tonight. In less than five minutes I had received my first text message about the phone. Less than a minute later, I had another. Before six minutes had passed, somebody had agreed to buy the phone for only $10 less than what I had paid for my new one.

Nice.

Within 30 minutes, I had cash in my pocket, and was more than happy.

Nicer.

Domestic

jmaus — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:08:44 +0000

I had the pleasure of calling the cops tonight. Evidently, some people in the cul-de-sac south of me were embroiled in a really heated domestic disturbance. Here is my summary of the event:

1) Yelling between a man and a woman, about 70 percent her
2) Lots of breaking glass
3) More yelling, about 80 percent her
4) They took the argument out to the front yard and driveway
5) She accused him of giving her a bloody nose
6) He said she did it to herself to make him look bad
7) She said that she would tell the cops he did it, and the cops would believe her because he’s on parole

What I have learned:
1) The police response time to my neighborhood is 20 minutes

Fabulous.

Fireworks Night

jmaus — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:54:20 +0000

It’s Pioneer Day here in Utah, and it is evidently celebrated with fireworks. I’m working at the Salt Lake Bees baseball game tonight, after which there will be fireworks. As of the time of this writing, it is 12-1 (Bees leading) in the top of the sixth inning. The Colorado Springs Sky Sox pitchers, well, suck. If they could occasionally get a few batters out, I might be able to get home sometime tonight.

UPDATE: I eventually got home after the Bees pulled out a squeaker, 17-1.

Notice

jmaus — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:46:08 +0000

I gave my two week notice at work yesterday. It was a long time coming, and I’m hoping for a better environment in my next place of employment.

5k

jmaus — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:39:37 +0000

I participated in my first 5k today. I finished in 1042nd place, at the 44 minutes, 14 second mark. That’s not bad for having not prepared for it. I think I’m going to have to do this again …