Last night Beth and I, along with some people from work, went down to Canterbury Park to enjoy some horse racing.  It was Dollar Night which made it even better!  $1 admission, $1 nachos, hot dogs, and soda’s.  It was a pretty good time.  The horse races were fun to watch, even if they were short.  Everyone would be cheering on their horses.  In the spirit of it all we did place a few bets.  Overall we lost just under $6, so not to bad.  We did win one race, which was fun!  Some of the people with us were up $30 or so.  I guess we’re not that lucky.

I’m looking forward to the weekend!  Tonight we’re heading up to Twin Lakes Campground near Drummond, WI.  It should be a good time.  We were hoping to go to the North Shore, but it was all booked.  That’s what happens when you plan late.  We’re going up with Pat and Tina, so that’ll make it fun.  We’ll try to take lots of pictures and post them upon our return.

Being out in the wilderness means I’ll miss the release of the iPhone.  That’s okay.  I’m interested to know how people like them.  So if you get one write a review on it so I know what you think.  I’d like to know how fast the internet is using EDGE.  That’s the one thing that scares me a little bit about it.  I hear that can be pretty slow.  But I’ve heard unconfirmed rumor (maybe more like wild speculation on the internet) that the iPhone has the technology for the 3G networks (like Verizon uses) and just requires a software update to the phone.  But I would think that AT&T would need to switch their networks over first.  Either way I’m looking forward to owning an iPhone someday.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Because Beth worked this past weekend she had today off, so I decided to use some Comp Time and spend the day together!  So far it’s good.  We made crepe’s for breakfast, which were yummie.

This morning/afternoon we’ll be pretty busy touring homes.  We’re looking at some homes we might want to buy, and we’re also going to tour the Governor’s Mansion!  I’m excited about that.  The Gov’s mansion should be a good time.  Looking at houses should be fun too.  I don’t think we’ll find the house we want to buy today, but it’ll be fun to get an idea and look at some.  It’s a great market to buy a house in!  So hopefully by Christmas we’ll be in a house.  Lacey says that Christmas will be at our house then.  That could be kind of fun!

It’s okay Barry, don’t be too jealous.  I’ll let you visit!

I just watched this guided tour video of the iPhone, and it looks sweet!  It makes me want an iPhone even more.  But that will not happen anytime soon.  By the time I get one, there will be 2nd Gen ones I’m sure.

The week has been good.  Fairly busy.  Yesterday I gave blood!  I saved a life.  It wasn’t bad, except the nurse didn’t do a great job putting the needle in.  I think she missed the vein at first, or something, because it hurt a little bit more than it should have and she had to re-adjust the needle.  But one that was fixed it went fine, and fairly quick.

This weekend is Back to the 50’s.  I think I’ll probably go tomorrow with my brother and dad for a while.  It’s kind of fun to see all of the old cars there.  But tomorrow is supposed to be really warm, so that could decrease the fun factor a little bit.

In other big news I fixed my car this past weekend.  I took it to the shop and they did some stuff, and then they told me the spark plug wires were the problem.  Turns out one of them had broken, so I just bought replacements and did that myself.  It was pretty easy, and a lot cheaper than having them do it.  So now my car is running better than it has in months!  Yea for that!

It was overall a lot of fun. The wedding was beautiful, and it was a good time. The reception was fun and the dancing was a blast. We can be a crazy bunch!

We also got to do a fair amount of swimming on Saturday before the wedding. It was quite warm outside so swimming was a welcome event. The hotel was sweet, they had a huge breakfast buffet thing. It was yummie.

The car ride was long, with a lot of stops. I’m kind of like my dad in that regard. When I get in a car I like to reach the destination. Stops for gas, and you do everything else then too.

I uploaded some pictures this weekend from this summer. So here they are:

• Photos from the Wedding
• Photos from the Twins Game (back on May 11)
• A fun car that we saw.

We got home last night, approximately 48 hours after we left.  That means there there was about 14 hours in a car, and 34 hours there.  It was a long trip, but it was fun.

I’ll write more tonight and probably get a bunch of pictures online as well.

I’m about to embark on a trip to Kansas City, MO.  It’ll be a fun drive, and I’ll see ya on the flip side!

As noted on the right hand side in Articles I Found Interesting section, I would like to point out this article: If Democrats think economy is sick, where’s their cure?

It’s a good article for all to read.  I would like to point out a few good points:

In the 102 quarters since Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts went into effect more than 25 years ago, there have been 96 quarters of growth. Since the Bush tax cuts and the current expansion began, the economy’s growth has averaged 3 percent per quarter and more than 8 million jobs have been created. The deficit as a percentage of GDP is below the post-World War II average.

Twenty-three months after the next president is inaugurated, the Bush tax cuts expire. The winner of the 2008 election and her or his congressional allies will determine what is done about the fact that, unless action is taken, in 2011 the economy will be walloped:

The five income tax brackets (10, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent) will be increased 50, 12, 10.7, 9.1 and 13.1 percent, respectively, to 15, 28, 31, 36 and 39.6 percent. The child tax credit reverts to $500 from $1,000. The estate tax rate, which falls to zero in 2009, will snap back to a 60 percent maximum and exemptions that have increased will decrease. The capital gains rate will rise and the marriage penalty will be revived, as will the double taxation of dividends.

This article really hammers home the point that tax increases will not help the economy grow.  The economy being in good shape is the key to achieving the American Dream, not more undue burdens on the family’s financial position.

I’d encourage you all to read the full article.

For the Techies out there: WWDC.  Now, if you would have asked me about that 4 years ago I would say “Huh?  What’s that?”  Now I find myself checking my Google Reader looking for the latest news about it, or browsing Mac Rumors which has live updates.  And some of the stuff seems sweet!

First: the iPhone.  I want one.  I think it looks sweet, and it would be a nice tool as well as a toy.  What’s not to love about that?  (Well besides the price tag).  And if you’re wondering I will not be buying one anytime soon, as the cell phone contracts are a hindrance.  Unless they have some super sweet deal and buy out contracts.  Anything is possible.  We’ll see.

Second: Safari on a PC? I’m not sure about that.  I can understand (with some help) why they would want to do that.  But I don’t imagine they would get a huge following.  I think people would use FireFox before Safari, but I could be wrong.  In fact a lot of Mac users I know use FireFox on their Mac, instead of safari.

Third: OS X Leopard.   That looks like it has some nice bells and whistles.  I probably will not upgrade right away.  I think I will likely wait until I get a new Mac which will be quite sometime off.  I will definitely love playing around on Leopard when I visit the Apple Store after it comes out.

Also the Apple website has a new design to it, which is kind of pretty.

Also of note: I applied to be a Mac Specialist today.  We’ll see if they give me a call back.  Here’s hoping as I think it would be a fun place to work, and it would be nice to pick up some extra hours to save up for a House!

It’s been warm outside all day.  But it’s good for the sun tan, and it’s good for running!  The wife and I went running together today, which was fun. We cooled off in the pool afterwards, and we’re working on cleaning up our place.  It’s kind of messy.

This weekend was good.  The wedding was sweet.  It was fairly simple, but it looked great.  And it was at St. Michaels Lutheran.  We have been there a few times before, and we really like Pastor Dodge.  He’s a great guy.  If only it were closer, we’d got to church.

Afterwards we went down to Aaron and Connie’s place and all my siblings were there!  That was fun.  It’s been a while since we all hung out.  We grilled some brats, and hung out outside all afternoon.

Aaron, Beth, and I went fishing last night as well.  That was a good time.  It’s been a while since I’ve been fishing, but I enjoy it.  So now that we both have a license we’ll probably go with some friends again.

Today was church, and hanging out at Heather’s place in Mankato.  It was really hot outside though.  So that wasn’t so great. I sat in some berries there were on the ground, and so my shorts had some fun colors.  But nothing that didn’t come out in the laundry.

I should finish cleaning up, and then a nice long nap sounds like a plan.  Back to work in the morning!

And I’m still around.  That’s always the plus side of things.

This weekend will be busy.  Tomorrow we have a wedding in Bloomington (I think), which should be good times.  It’s some Bethel people, so there will be some other college friends there.

Then we’re going down to my brothers house, because Lacey is coming to visit.  And since I haven’t seen her since our wedding I figured I should probably prove to my sister I still lover her (although I don’t think she really doubted it).  But that will be fun to hang out all of us together again.

Work this week was pretty good.  Nothing overly spectacular.  I set my summer hours, which was good I guess.  It needed to be done.  Although it is a bummer that it’s fewer hours.

But I am thinking about applying to the Apple Store to be a Mac Specialist as a part time gig.  That could be fun I think, but I don’t know if I want to deal with all the hassle of part time jobs: working weekends mainly would be the big thing.  I think working at the Apple Store would be fun, although I may come to want a bunch of things I couldn’t afford.

So I’m split on that.  Any advice on what I should do?

I just read this that Paris Hilton is out of jail after three days.

I. “Scooter” Libby is going to jail for 30 months because he didn’t remember some dates of conversations that happened a few years ago.

To me Mr. Libby is the scape goat for a political witch hunt.  A witch hunt where there is no witch at all.  The whole premise for that investigation was not there.  The premise was that Valerie Plame was a “covert” agent, but she wasn’t.  Therefore her name was not classified.  So they convene a grand jury on a false premise.  The grand jury is able to get some one (Libby) to not remember a date of a conversation, and they charge him with perjury.  He goes to jail for 30 months.  (To be fair, it’s not known how much time he will serve, but the basis for him going to jail is not nearly as strong as it was for Hilton.)

Hilton goes to jail for three days for real offenses.

I don’t see how this is fair.

It’s just a wise saying. They should really change the names of fortune cookies. Because when I open my cookie and see “You have foresight and imagination” on the paper staring back at me I’m a little disappointed.

Last night Beth and I went to Big Bowl for dinner. It was pretty good I must say. I enjoyed my food, and when they say it’s spicy they’re not really lying to you. It’s not overpowering, oh my goodness spicy, but it’s more of a “wow, that’s spicy and tastes great type” of thing. I’d maybe go back some time. Although I could really go for some sesame chicken, and will be making a run to Willow Gate sometime for some C-1. That might not happen til July sometime though.

I finally bought a few 2 cent stamps today. Not like I mail a whole lot of things, but I do need them from time to time and they’re handy to have.

It’s the weekend, and that’s nice.  Nothing overly huge planned.  Brad’s coming over tomorrow night to watch Pirates (the second one).  Other than that I can’t think of much going on.  That’ll be kinda nice.

Happy June to everyone!  The summer is here, and it’s great.  I’m looking forward to getting out camping this summer (I know I talked about that last time, but I’m excited).  If anyone would like to go camping let me know.  maybe we can get a weekend trip or something planned.

Because of the greatness of the recent posts I would like to encourage people to read Pete’s Blog and read the last two posts.

As for now I should get going and maybe make some dinner.