3rd Shift Ghost Stories...

So, as some people may know, I work mostly 3rd shift security at Hershey Park. I like the hours, it is less stressful, time goes quicker, and more pay!

Anyways, after working the shift for 2 years, meandering around Hershey Park at night for 3-4 hours, your mind tends to wander, because there is lots and lots of time to think. So I have thought up of some Hershey Park Ghost Stories, some I've told people already, some I just made up, and some were told to me:

1. Did you know, during the day, Milton S. Hershey's statue in the fountain in Founders Circle is looking right. At night though, he is looking strait ahead or at you when you look.

Told You! Day = Left, Night = Strait at You

2. In the middle of the park, in the food court, there is a white house that is now a Subway. It used to be Milton S. Hershey's house before he lived in the Mansion. When he lived there, the train that runs just outside the park would wake him up at night. So now when the train comes through and whistles 3 times, you can see his reflection in the dark upstairs window...

3. When you walk by the Ferris Wheel, the very top boat is always leaning, or swaying, or moving. When you flash your light up, you can see the top of a little girls head, pig tails with pink ribbons; but she never makes a sound, or stands up. Then a second later, she is gone. I found out later, through research, that a young girl accidentally fell off the Ferris wheel in July 1997 and died.

4. There is an old, rusty, 1940's-1950's dark green car parked outside the Ampitheater for aesthetics. Whenever you walk past it, without fail, the horn goes off and scares you to death... but there is no engine, no battery, no electricity, and no driver. I swung my light around quick just as the horn went off one night, but all I saw was the dice hanging from the mirror swaying.

5. Past Midnight, until the sun comes up, you can't see your shadow from the moonlight on the pavement or blacktop that runs through Hershey Park.

6. At the Highmeadow Campground, one night, I went into the wooded path by the creek and I heard a rock splash into the water. I looked around and didn't see anyone or any ripples in the water. I then heard another splash, closer, come from the water... but again, no people or ripples. Then I heard a young girls voice say "Do you want to play with me?" but no one was around. I ran back to the check in office and stayed there for 3 hours. (OK, this one was told to me, but I'm pretty sure it's true, because the person who told me is serious and credible)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas All...

So, like a big nerd, after opening presents and watching Christmas Vacation (which is a holiday tradition), I went out on a ride today in my new gear!!! It was G-R-E-A-T! Finally, finally, finally, NO frozen toes or feet! $20 Shoe covers from Performance Bike did the trick! And the new Adidas jacket... great as well. That, paired with the windproof (and stylish) SU cycling vest, was a perfect combo and I didn't feel "cold" the whole ride.

Felt real sluggish though, on the flats and rolling hills, but the short steep climbs didn't seem to be too bad today. Kept good form (that's what I'm trying to work on...) and did well on them, so I guess it makes up for the overall laziness. I even saw an older, but good friend/ex-girlfriend when I rode by her house. Decided to say Hi, and I'm glad I did.

Ha ha, also, couldn't help it. I laminated a "Merry Christmas" 8"x 11" and pinned it on my back to be festive. (sorry, no pictures). No car honks though... that was a little depressing, but then again, I barely saw any cars.

Going back, I would venture to say that Christmas Vacation just might beat out A Christmas Story as my absolute favorite Holiday movie. Some lines just seem to make me laugh, every time.

Youtube: my favorite quotes!

"Merry Christmas... Shitter Was Full"

Clark's Freak Out "Hallelujah, Where's the Tylenol?"

"Hey Griswold, where you gonna put a tree that big?"

Anyways, Merry Christmas. Have to start work again tomorrow night... :(

Movies, Movies, and more Movies...

So, our house just switched from Comcast to Verizon and now we get (basically) every channel they offer for 90 days, which includes all the HBO and STARZ movie channels. So far, that's really all I have been doing all break: Sleep, Work, Ride, and Watch Movies...

So far, if I can remember them all, here is a depressing list of movies I've viewed since I've been home:

*Night at the Museum
*The Omen IV
The Thomas Crown Affair
*Snakes on a Plane
28 Days Later
Rambo
*Rocky Balboa
The Jerk
Mystery Science Theater 3,000 (the movie)
The Hills Have Eyes
The Breakfast Club
*South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ratatouille
The Persuit of Happiness
Borat

Christmas Vacation

Simpsons Movie
Gladiator
*The Assassination of Jesse James
*Twilight

* - means I haven't seen them before

I miss having a rec. center 200 yards from my place at ship. I feel so cooped up around here, but I'm not getting a gym membership for less than a month. Can't run or bike outside, just a bit too cold now (about 40 degrees is ok, but not 28...). Can't do any leg work outs other than holding my lab (Chelsea) and doing squats, but she gets tired of that after about 20 seconds... ha ha. So I'm stuck in a rut.... help!

BTW... I was actually pleasantly surprised when I went to go see Twilight. I'm usually not big on those types of movies, "Fad" movies I like to call them, (like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc...) but I thought this one was really good. They may have done better in picking a slightly prettier girl to play the lead, but she was cute... and good for the role. And don't tell anyone, but I am secretly obsessed with the Cullen's house and Edward's wardrobe in the movie... ha ha. That would be livin' the dream, switching places with him if that was all real... without the whole vampire thing of course.

Coffee and The Office

2 Posts in one day... wow!

So I was at Wal-mart yesterday and decided to get my own Coffee maker. $20, 4cup maker and I'm not gonna lie, I'm really excited to use it more often! The heck with wasting all my flex money at Starbucks, and it's just as good! Need to get some half/half milk though...

So with my coffee tonight, I watched The Office as well. I have been liking the show more and more. I would recommend it... I like clever, subtle real life comedy, not so much in your face slapstick comedy. (although Jeff Dunham and Lewis Black are hilarious). I think my 2 favorite office characters are Stanley and Jim... because they are so sarcastic and don't give in to all the awkward rediculousness of the rest of the characters. (I may have just made up a new word)...

Anyways, having a good night, just in the mood to share.

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

So I know we always could use the rain, but really? On probably the two warmest days in December!!! I really wanted to go out and get a few more miles in to break 1,000 for the Summer and Fall, but it's not going to happen this week. I think if I had a mountain or cyclocross bike, I would totally be out somewhere riding some trail in some mountain. Call me what you may, but I just can't bring myself to take the road bike out in the rain...

Sill contemplating building a cross bike or buying a mountain bike this summer... hmmmmmmm

My friend Elliot has a nice <$600 Raleigh mountain bike and I really enjoyed riding it around for a little while one day... but there are lots of options, especially when bike shops are trying to get rid of last years models... hmmmmmmmmm If I go the mountain route, definitely thinking hardtail, but not sure yet... because I could ride it more, but I could build a cross bike and race in the fall... but I couldn't go out and just ride that every day in the mountains.... hmmmmmmmmm

Christmas Goodies!!!

So I may, or may not know Santa is coming to give me these things... and although it may spoil the surprise, he has to know the right things to bring, right? :)

Finally, some feet protection. My last few rides my toes have literally been numb, not fun...

Also, this awesome jacket (in blue though) for cold rides... last time I rocked dad's green army jacket and an Arab scarf. (absolutely no style points)... or Euro-Trash as Dr. Goates would say! ha ha. I think I still may wear a scarf, kept my neck really warm... I'm gonna get a black/white one though....

And finally, for Racing Season... NEW TIRES!!! Hutchinson Fusion 2 Folding!!!! I've never had folding tires, always wire rim, but I've read they are a bit better. I got the black/grey/red... that will look great with the red accents on my bike and the new SU Cycling Kits! I'm so pumped for racing season... I may not be or look the best, but I'm gonna give it my all!

So all I really need is a new scarf and maybe some handlebar tape... I really like the natural cork tape Dr. Goates has on his Tarmac. Looks classy, yet hard.... don't know how to describe it, but I like it.

Specialized Commercials!

Just found these commercials on Youtube, and I like them....

Specialized TT (Tom Boonen)

Specialized Roubaix (Tom Boonen)

Specialized Tarmac SL2 (Paolo Bettini)

Lance Armstrong Nike 1

Lance Armstrong "What are you on?"

Lance Armstrong "Enjoy the Weather"

Lance Armstrong and Orange County Choppers

and my personal Favorite

Lance Armstrong "Circus Elephant"

and this is funny too, I love it!

Mario Cipollini Throws Bottles

Mosy Ship Students Don't Drink and Drive

So I don't know what to think about all the flyers that have been up around campus that say "Most Shippensburg Students Don't Drink and Drive". I think it is a really good idea creating awareness of drinking and driving and trying to prevent it, but at the bottom, they also put 75% of students say they don't drink and drive. This is quite different than "have you ever drank and driven a vehicle". It implies the 25% of our campus population has no problem with drinking and driving.

And where did they get these statistics and how many students were interviewed? I know I wasn't...

Lets do the math:

///Shippensburg Undergraduate Students = 6,621 (byw, I am excluding Graduate Students, although, they should be the focus of D.U.I. because pretty much all of them are over 21yrs of age opposed to Undergraduates who are probably (7/20 or 30%) over 21.... although anyone can drink and drive.

25% of 6,621 students = 1,656 who drink and drive (excluding Graduates and Townspeople)

For a town this small... I think this is a large number! and it's a little scary! Does anyone have an opinion or agree?

Ps. So I've noticed I've been really into states and figures lately. Probably because we've been going over them in my math and Research Methods classes, but it's weird. It's not that exciting, but I enjoy it.

For example...

I added a self updating graph of distances/average mph of all my outdoor bike rides to my cycling log. (the totals of the weeks rides are also included... no, I don't go out for a 70mile ride weekly) This is for a week of September and all of October so far...

New Wheels!!!

So, I just realized, I haven't posted any new pic.'s of my new wheels...

Neuvation R28 Aero4. (Neuvation)

They look pretty sweet. Sorry, I don't have a review for them yet. I was only out twice on them, for a total of less than 30 miles, so I haven't really been able to get a true feel for them though. For those few miles though, they felt GREAT! G-R-E-A-T! I am really excited to get out (when it heats up) and "break them in". They feel really strong, a lot stronger than my old Alex R500 wheelset. And I really want to see how well the Aero spokes work... more. to. come.

music and such...

So the other day I was browsing my music and I found I have over 12G of music on my hard drive. The strange thing is... I rarely rarely find an entire album I enjoy, so when I finally do, I feel I need to share it (with whoever may stumble across this blog).

Lately, I have been listening to Angels and Airwaves a LOT! Especially their album, I-Empire. Their sound is different, still rock though, but I really like their stuff... for lack of a better word. I'm usually not a fan of lyrics that don't make any sense, but the main lyrics of their song are really good and do make some sense (although overall, I don't understand their whole album). I also like them to because you can tell it is the lead singer from Blink 182, but they have a totally different sound.

Other new music that I found recently and have been listening to and would recommend are:

(Alternative Rock)
On Letting Go - by: Circa Survive
Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - by: Coldplay
"You Are The One" & "Le Disco" - by: Shiny Toy Guns
(Hip Hop)
Year Of The Gentleman - by: Ne-Yo
"Whatever You Like" & "Live Your Life" - by: T.I. (slowly becoming my new fav. rap songs)
"Right Now (Na Na Na)" - by: Akon

I want...

Although I'm not a big fan of Bianchi bikes (although they get great reviews) (I think it may be the colors) but anyways... I want this Cyclocross Bike!

Now this would be "livin' the dream!" but at $7474.99 Retail price... it is going to continue being a dream! But this summer, (fund permitting), I'm going to try to build a Cyclocoss bike for under $400. Should Be Fun!

I'm a "Blogger"???

So yea, I decided to write a blog. I think, the label "blogger" has an awkward/weird reputation... but I have read a few and found some cool things.

Also, as awesome as Facebook is, there is only so much you can do. I love looking at pictures and talking to old and new friends, but you can't really rant or write a lot. This is a good outlet.

So yea, I'm sitting in my room, 2:00am, listening to some Coldplay, after a crazy Marching Band Day! and tomorrow will be fun as well with Brass Ensemble and KKY! Now, holy crap. Of all times, our neighbors decide to come back and blast loud rap music and yell! Nicccce.