if you can read this, you're literate

holy cow that was a crazy day of homework.

i'm glad today is over.

i had to write a paper this weekend... but didn't even start it until around 4.

it didn't help that i totally redid the outline i had ready for it last weekend.

it also didn't help that i had to unexpectedly work on saturday morning, either.

i skipped lunch, church, and just general hang out time this weekend and i know there's still work to be done on that stupid paper b/c it was just a rough draft. (and my reference page is totally out of wack).

this week, our assignments are due on wed. that might be a little tough to handle... but at least i should have next weekend open.

sorry again to anyone i didn't call back...

Posted by erichapman at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

i deal with a lot of truckers. a lot of personalities come through this door.

i'm sitting here at work on a saturday morning, and this trucker has been up to the shipping window twice now.

this second time around, he's just been standing there staring in, but not opening the window, or saying "hello" or even remotely trying to get our attention.

(this is a BIG pet peeve around here for anyone who sits behind a service window).

this guy's nick name (b/c they all get nicknames sooner or later) is "boop."

and all of a sudden, i remembered why we call him that.

b/c that's what he does.

if you talk to this guy, and then turn away to answer the phone, look up something for him on the computer, or just generally don't give him all your attention, he boops.

he literally makes this faint sound, boop.

it's enough to make you lose it. i've had to get up and walk away so i don't laugh in this guy's face.

no one has been able to figure out if he's just making that noise with his mouth, or if he's got some condition, or we've even speculated that he's got some kind of pacemaker that makes an audible booping noise.

nobody knows...

but i do know this... the lady helping him gave him his paperwork and said, "have a good trip." (he's driving to chicago) and he replied with, "you do the same."

kind of like when a waiter tells you to enjoy your meal and you say, "you, too!"

Posted by erichapman at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments

i would have sworn that slug was the nastiest thing i've seen in a long time.

until tonight.

you know what's grosser than a slug following you around in the kitchen?

two slugs doing it on a door you almost touched!

seriously... WHY do they have to congregate on the tool shed i use??? there's one right next to it that is hardly ever touched!

oh well... great photo opportunities i suppose!

Posted by erichapman at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments

i've neglected my friends lately.

i haven't called back, i haven't called in the first place, and i even turned my phone off a few nights this week so far.

and for that i'm sorry.

although i hate excuses, here's why i didn't call back:

i'm basically a full-time student until the end of this week. i'm in two classes (which equals full-time when your classes are only 10 weeks long), and at this very moment, i have two giant quizzes and a rough draft for a paper due by friday.

i'm a little behind, and i'm sorry if i don't get back to you right away.

hopefully after this week, when my lab ends, i'll have a little more time.

in the meantime, please don't take it personally if i seem antisocial (more than usual, that is).

ok, now having said that... back to schoolwork.

Posted by erichapman at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments

i held off on this post for a while just so people wouldn't hear it over a blog. but, if you haven't heard by now, then we just don't keep in touch, or you don't really care if you read it over my blog.

last weekend, sarah and i got engaged.

we're planning on a wedding next september.

but who knows... we might just fly out to vegas some weekend and surprise everyone like we did with the engagement.

i proposed to her on the bike trail (i got her a bike) on her birthday (that's why i got her a bike) and she said yes.

the really great thing is that i will have an easy time remembering when we got engaged!

...unless i forget her birthday, too.

Posted by erichapman at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

i just got to hug my cousin, terry after 3 years.

i was never close to terry, but i always liked him. he was a character to be around, and always so hyper (to be nice, people always called him 'full of energy').

a few years ago he was drugged up and a fugitive from the law.

he was finally apprehended after several run ins with the law. (they tend to notice when someone goes into a grocery store and buys a few cases of cold medicine.)

he served his time and finally got out on work release last week, and i got to see him just a minute ago.

he's doing some work for my uncle, his dad. (my uncle owns rental properties so he can hire my cousin and count that as work).

he looks totally different now (long hair, big gut, etc.) but he's still my same old cousin that would help me work on my car.

at first, i was a little leary of seeing him... i had no idea what to expect.

but now, i'm so glad i did.

i can tell everyone this week i hugged an ex con!!!

Posted by erichapman at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

wii!!

i love macs, and i think i now love nintendo.

...again.

this is a combonation of both.

plus it's hilarious!

Posted by erichapman at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments

this is the second time i've put this truck on the market... with no luck.

i parked it on my cousin's lot this winter and no one even looked at it.

i've put it in the tradin' post and no one has called about it.

i've already paid to advertise for it, so now i'm just gonna try my luck at the free blog advertising...

Posted by erichapman at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

remember the slug pictures?

i was experimenting with macro mode on my camera.

well, check out these tomatoes that grew in my g'ma's back yard. (taken in macro mode again)

i've never had a green thumb, but jeff and i are partially to blame for these growing.

last fall we blew up some tomatoes with fireworks and now they're actually growing by the gate.

see... illinois should lift their ban on class c fireworks. they create delicious and fun things to photograph.

Posted by erichapman at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

i haven't posted much lately...

and it's largely due to this...

http://fallingsandgame.com/sand/sand.html

Posted by erichapman at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

if you know me at all, you probably know i'd like to be considered an outdoorsman. i love being in God's creation. biking, canoing, motorcycling, fourwheeling, hiking, camping... the list goes on and on.

i really like 4WD trucks/suvs, too. so at any magazine rack, i always check out their selection of off-road rags.

i happened to buy one at wal-mart this week called 4 wheel drive & sport utility magazine.

http://www.4wdandsportutility.com/

(sorry... no hyperlinking on safari for blogger... stupid pc world.)

this magazine is pretty cool... they mostly have jeeps and toyotas. and i'm gaining some respect for the toyota crowd lately... especially their old-school wheelers.

anyway... this magazine has a section called "geostash" where they hide a laser cut steel plate with their logo on it (see photo).

then, they sneak in the latitude/longitude location of one of these steel plates in each

i just happened to find the western one in the middle of contact information (i think it was a phone number...) and thought that it was weird, but that it was just a misprint.

then i read about this contest.

so i spent an hour pouring over the first 25 pages of this magazine and found the northern location of one of the final steel plates.

it was hidden in a screen capture of one of their on-line forums.

the location...

115 degrees 59.231 west
36 degrees 24.958 north

the problem...

it's in nevada a few miles south of las vegas. (see second photo.)

google maps said it was a 1 day and 4 hour trip. one thousand, seven hundred one miles away.

oh well... they only give away four-wheel drive prizes anyway... my truck only spins the back tires!

...but still, if anyone wants to take a seat of the pants road trip, let me know. seriously... this would be awesome. i'd have to take my bicycle to the remote location of this thing...

i just remembered something...

PHIL CROW: IF YOU ARE READING THIS, AND CAN STILL FLY FOR FREE, CALL ME. WE NEED TO WIN SOME FREE STUFF. or, just fly there yourself and get the laser cut piece...

at any rate, i think this is such a good idea, i hope more magazines do stuff like this.

and hopefully there are some prizes in illinois this time!

Posted by erichapman at 1:54 AM | Permalink | Comments

i'm getting worried.

a while back i came home from work to find two tiny slugs had crawled all over my refridgerator door handle and made everything sticky.

i went biking a few weeks ago-four ticks.

the past two weeks i come home/wake up to 3 dead crickets in my bathroom. daily.

earlier this week i had an infestation of maggots in the garbage can. (that one was particularly gross/embarrassing.)

and tonight... tonight THIS is what i came home to... (on the left)



so i did this to it afterwards... (on the right)



yeah, animal cruelty, i could be a psycho... bla bla bla.

this thing invaded my home, man!

and besides... it looks really cool/disgusting to pour salt on a slug!

neat!

(by the way... spell checker isn't working right now... please disregard any misspellings.)

Posted by erichapman at 2:29 AM | Permalink | Comments

this weekend i heard a sermon about truth.

and one of the lies we've been told is "i can't understand the bible."

i'm sure we've all been there before. (especially if you were ever raised on the king james version... i visited a bible camp with the kids across the street one summer and that's all they used.)

unless you've read strictly just the message version, even the niv can be a little daunting at times. this guy begat that guy who ruled here and begat this guy who went on to overtake this city and begat... bla bla bla.

so the pastor did something cool to prove that we can understand the bible. he just had people shout out numbers, and he would go to that chapter in proverbs and read a verse.

simple.

he reads it, restates it in his own words to show us how to "translate" from bible to english, and then asks us if we understand it.

so then he issued a challenge.

read proverbs in 31 days, journal aobut what you read (so it's in your own words), and pray over what you've journaled.

today, i'm gonna journal proverbs 3, and i wanna try it on blog. (oh yeah, i know today is the 2nd of august, i started a day early. i was pretty excited to do this... and i'm pretty sure i'll fall at least a day behind by the time the month is up)

so far i've read two chapters about wisdom... (which is a whole other blog probably in the near future...), so let's see what today's is...

(by the way... i feel a little bit like mr. rogers doing this... i should change shoes and sweaters.)

DAY 3

keep my commands in your heart.
never let love and faithfulness leave you. bind them around our neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
trust the lord w/ all your heart. don't lean on your own understanding. acknowlege (in the hebrew, acknowlege means "to know") him and he makes your paths straight.
KNOW God, and he makes your paths straight...
shun evil, and you will be strong/healthy. the bible actually says if you don't listen to evil, your body will be well.
don't despise his discipline. he disciplines those he loves. (big struggle for me)
understanding referred to as a character. a female who has long life in her right hand, and riches in her left. she is who we need to listen to.
this last part struck me as something rob bell would be interested in.
God created (as in, "in the beginning..." type of creation) using wisdom, understanding, and knowlege.
those are the ingredients God needed to create the universe(s).

Posted by erichapman at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

last weekend i got to drive something a lot like this picture.

it's my cousin's jeep wrangler. he just put a lift kit and tig 'ol bires on it, and it's a pretty sweet ride, let me tell you. i almost had a hard time climbing up into this thing, and my brother had to climb the right rear tire just to get into the back seat.

which, by the way, he could just climb right in b/c we had the top down. ahhh... wind in your hair exhilaration.

we drove it from my house in pekin to the rave movie theater, and it was one of the funnest rides i've ever driven. just being so high up was an experience.

...and then we got on the interstate.

and i had to keep it floored just to get up hills.

see, when you change the size of your tires to something that big, your engine has to work harder to get that larger circumference to rotate around as many times as a smaller tire. also when you change tire size, you change how your speedometer works. your car is calculating your speed based on the circumference of your tire.

we figured out it was reading 5 MPG too slow. so when i'm doing 75, it reads 80. minor inconvenience... better than being the other way around!

the coolest part about all of this... my cousin is thinking about trading his jeep to me for my truck!

the only problem is where he lives now, he needs 4 wheel drive just to get out of his driveway in the winter. so the only stipulation to me getting his jeep is that he has to buy a house first.

here's where any blog readers come in... do you have a house for sale in chilicothe with a flat that my cousin could buy?

Posted by erichapman at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments