Archive for November, 2006

Ice pellets of doom.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/30/2006
in Buddy and General
. 2 Comments

It is a cold one. No doubt about that. Not much to report here other than the dog and I passed out watching Law & Order tonight. I recorded the Office. Watching it after I complete this literary master piece.
GTG is hoping for a snow day tomorrow so she can come over to my house tomorrow and steal my internet. Would it be mean to lock her out?! (Evil laugh) Naa, she’d just steal the neighbor’s internet.

Note to self: Good idea of cleaning out the garage when it was warm out!

The only really real news I can think of is that the Steak N’ Shake off of Wabash is close to completion.

Everyone staying warm?

Mud on the tires.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/29/2006
in Blatant Recollections, General and Mrs. Shoo
. 5 Comments

GTG and I went to the auto parts store for “spray that removes the ice” (which I swear never existed) and new wipers because someone’s wipers barely brushed a drop off. Cough… Cough GTG. The auto parts guy was really excited when we asked for the correct size wipers for a 98′ Mazda Protege and a 98′ Dodge Dakota. He had a whole speech prepared for specially designed $20 wipers. That’s twenty dollars each. He pulled them out of the package and showed us how industrial strong they were.

We smiled and nodded. I replied, “I don’t think we want to go with these.”

So he took us back to the cheapies, and we got what we needed. After he rang us up he made a comment about the rain. We acknowledged and made friendly chat about how it was going to get nasty out. That’s where we crossed the line because he took us into a redneck tangent about his four wheel drive Bronco. Out of nowhere he tells us how he was stuck in mud for three hours last night waiting for a friend to pull him out. And yes, the mud was waist deep. Didn’t want to forget that part. Of course the owners of a 98′ Protege and a 98′ Dakota were just enthralled by his detailing of the things he was going to do when the snow came.

We barely made it out of the auto parts store. It was waist deep.
If it snows, beware of some kid hot rodding in a Bronco.

Okay wheres the humor?

Published
by
shoo
on 11/28/2006
in Blatant Recollections, Buddy and General
. 6 Comments

Yes, this is a photo of myself, GTG, and Buddy. Buddy graduated puppy school tonight so he gets top billing here on gotshoo.com, which I heard a relative over the holiday weekend refer to the site as the dog blog. Rightfully so I guess.

I’ve become a dog person. Not that it is a bad thing, but it is weird to refer to myself as one. The only animals I had growing up were guinea pigs which all died in some kind of horrendous accident or were picked up by loose dogs.

He’s a good dog though. He has now become second in command of guarding the house after the deadbolt. He growled and barked at me as I was wandering in the back door at the wee hours in the morning. He has also growled off some weird looking guys while GTG and he took a stroll through the park.

He also has farts that could clean out a room.

Sit, stay, be in my podcast, down, shred GTG’s $50 bra lying on the floor. Good boy!

Adopt from the APL. They have good dogs.

Shoo’s Cheese Balls: Podcast 9

Published
by
shoo
on 11/27/2006
in General and podcast
. 8 Comments

I made some fancy cheese balls for Thanksgiving… I’d thought I’d make a podcast out of it. Total. Nerd. Dot. Com.

MP4 - High Quality

Shoo at work.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/26/2006
in General
. 4 Comments

I am doing some editing to the comment system. So if you are online and see some weird things going on… that’s why.

If you are checking out Gotshoo.com for the first time since last week… I have obviously made some changes.

  • Comments do not require a secure image. The four letter scribble word you used to have to enter each time to post a comment is now gone. I am using a plugin that uses Akismet, a service that blocks the spam.
  • Comments should retain their author information. No need to refill fields. Click “Change” if you need to update any of this information.
  • Photos can now be viewed directly on GS. I still have all of my photos hosted through Flickr, but you can browse right on the site now. Don’t know if that was a big deal for anyone.
  • Wide load. I now have the site spread across three columns. Wider is better.
  • Still working with the blogroll to automatically hilight blogs with newly updated content. Dreamhost, my provider, blocks a commonly used php function to fetch data from other sites.
  • New header pictures. I’ve got about 7. Adding more in the future.

That’s about it. Enjoy. Let me know if you have any problems.

Measure Twice, Cut Once.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/25/2006
in General
. 4 Comments

Thanksgiving is out of here faster than two youngsters fighting over a wishbone. I successfully avoided the mall and west side Black Friday chaos. There were shoppers / campers lined up outside of Circuit City at 9 pm on Thursday for the early bird specials! It took me a while to convince GTG that saving $10 bucks on a present would not be worth the traffic, unpleasant shoppers, and long lines.

The warm 60 degree weather has allowed me to get in a few bike rides, but the question is where was this weather in October? Because of the warm weather I have been protesting doing any Christmas stuff yet. No trees, no shopping, no decorating. Ba-humbug.

Although I am holding out because of the warm weather, I still have to make a decision on a tree. Last year’s tree was a rejected mall store display tree. A nine foot behemoth stuck in my 8 foot apartment (see attached photo). I am thinking about getting a real tree, my childhood memories of Xmas were destroyed when my parents went fake, but I am worried about the dog and the upkeep of the tree. I wish I could go the Festivus route and buy an aluminum pole, but GTG, who listens to Christmas songs yearlong, will have nothing to do with the fact that Christmas requires a tree.

I’d be willing to go the Charlie Brown way and have a stick with some pine leaves and one or two ornaments?!

Any who, I will keep all updated on the tree crisis.

gtg takes over…again

Published
by
shoo
on 11/23/2006
in Holidays and Mrs. Shoo
. 8 Comments

Hi, GTG here.

I’ve taken over gotshoo for a moment.

I just wanted to tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving. I stuffed myself. I know Shoo did too. Two Thanksgiving meals will do that to you. But I think that just makes us that much more thankful…the more you eat, the more thankful you are??

Anyways, just wanted to share what I’m thankful for…

1. a sweetie, peetie boyfriend, who’ll make me chocolate chip cookies and go get Chinese food with me even after I’ve stuffed myself on two Thanksgiving meals…who puts up with my crying every night because I work a stressful job and who even tries to make it better…even though I yell at him every time he tries.

2. my family, who loves me all the time, and who, despite the fact that I’m 24 years old and live on my own, still try to take care of me like I’m five. (Especially my daddy who was doing Borat impressions over Thanksgiving dinner).

3. Shoo’s mother’s pecan pie. And the rest of the Shoo family because they’ve been nothing but nice to me since last Thanksgiving when the random waif showed up on their doorstep with their son/grandson/nephew/cousin/brother, begging for food.

4. The cutest puppy on the planet…who also happens to be the best cuddle-buddy.

5. The Fit-club…because I’ve gotta work off Thanksgiving somewhere warm.

6. My friends. I don’t see them as often as I’d like, but they’re the best.

7. My students because they give me hilarious stories.

8. My bed…because I really like to sleep…

Hmm…think my list may be getting a little silly now. So, this dangling participle is going to sign out.

Post courtesy of GTG Productions. Copyright GTG 2006.

Thanksgiving.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/21/2006
in Deep Thoughts, General and Holidays
. 10 Comments

Turkey day is just around the corner and I couldn’t be any happier. The first food I think of when I think of Thanksgiving is always mashed potatoes. Sometimes with gravy, sometimes with a ‘lake’ (you know what I am talking about) of melted butter. Yum.

This year will be the second time that GTG and I have had dinner with each other’s families. Last year I think we both were timid about meeting the opposites family. My family, which has a bead on this blog and anything mentioned here will be a choice topic for conversation, was civil but wary of the hotty English teacher. She’s now liked more than I am - go figure. GTG’s family was tame as well but of course as a new person in the group you get the questions:

  • Where did you go to school? (In my case I say ‘University of Illinois …. cough .. Springfield’ - under our graduation contract all alumni of UIS are allowed to get away with this)
  • How did you meet? (always lie on this one… say the park)
  • What do you do for a living? (avoid mentioning computers - you might be taking one home to fix)
  • Brothers - Sisters? (Be careful how you answer this. Aunt Suzy may be looking to hook up her not so kind to the eyes daughter - I am just sayin’)
  • Future plans. (This is like an interview question, think and prepare often. Here are some keywords: investing, new home, upgrade, healthy)

Then there is the topic of sports. I am not a huge sports person, but you have to have some picture of what is going on in the world of sports and mild to moderate knowledge of at least one. It is one of the biggest days for gnawing on a turkey bone and watching football and Uncle Bill is going to want to ask you football questions. If you can’t hang with the big dogs in football trivia hold up your red card and take yourself out of the game.

A. Switch sports. I prefer to bring up baseball. You may need to move to Nascar, polo, or basketball. Again watch it, Uncle Bill is an all seasoned couch potato.
B. Be the thoughtful listener. Respond with “Ohh really”, “I didn’t know that”, “How far did he go?”, “Kids these days”,”You’re sh!t’n me”.
C. Cranberries are the leading cause of diarrhea on Thanksgiving. Pull up a copy of Reader’s Digest and wait it out.

At the end of the day, take leftovers home. Grandmas do not like strangers who do not take leftovers home. She thinks it makes them shady and they are too good for her food.

Hopefully if you are the new person this year at Thanksgiving these pointers will help out.

Gobble, gobble.

Run Shoo Run: The Finish.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/19/2006
in Being Healthy and General
. 5 Comments
Running 3.1 miles outside in 40 degree air is a lot different than running it inside the gym. Obviously.

I teamed up with my friends Lori and Kirsten. We talked before the race and made a pack to stay together. Which was a good idea because I tend to get Top Gun-ish and kick it to a faster pace and then be worthless at the end. The three of us completed the race in 32 mins and some change. Two minutes better than our goal of 34 minutes.

I think my family and friends were a little astonished when I announced that I was doing the run. I am not a runner by any means. I guess I can blame the guy in the cubicle just to the side of me at work. He took up running last January, had never been a runner in his life, and is now close to running a full marathon. Now I do not fathom myself as a marathon runner, but heck’ that’s a little inspiration. I am using it more as an opportunity to get back into the gym. Lose a few pounds and get in shape for biking next year with the anticipation to do at least a few races and maybe some mountain biking out west.

Still a little sore but it was a great time. Especially the huge Cracker Barrel breakfast.

Thanks again to everyone who donated!

Pics.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/19/2006
in General
. 3 Comments



016_9A

Originally uploaded by gotshoo.

I uploaded a few pictures that GTG and I took earlier in the fall with Buddy in Washington Park. We used GTG’s good 35mm. Getting the prints back only made me want a digital SLR even more.

We got them developed at Target but didn’t spring for the “Kodak enhanced printing”. Some shots turned out great others were super grainy. I also added the option to put them on CD so I’ve been going through and correcting the levels as well as trying to de-grain them.

I rather cut out the middle man in the future. My printer printed out the photos just as well as Target. Even better after I took some photoshop to them.

Anyone got a fancy digital SLR? Or anything with a huge zoom? How do you like it and what brand are you using?

And the total is…

Published
by
shoo
on 11/17/2006
in Being Healthy and General
. 2 Comments

I raised $155 dollars for the Arthritis Foundation. Thanks to everyone that donated!

I bought new running shoes for tomorrow. Somehow GTG got new running shoes out of the deal as well?!?  It was my first time for buying actual running shoes.

Thanks again, tomorrow should be fun!

Run Shoo Run: Update.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/17/2006
in Being Healthy and General
. 1 Comment

I’ve passed my goal of a $100! I have a $100 dollars entered into the system, but I have checks totaling an additional $35 dollars that I will put in over lunch!

Thanks to everyone that donated!

If you still haven’t donated, I think you can donate till late this evening.

Run Shoo Run.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/15/2006
in Exercise, General and Healthy
. 5 Comments

Hi everyone, I just signed up to do the Jingle Bell Run for the Arthritis Foundation this Saturday. I joined the game a little late, but I am ready to run. I’d appreciate it if you made a contribution to the Arthritis Foundation. My goal is a $100 dollars, but I think with everyone’s help I could surpass that amount.

Make a donation here or email me (cscheufele at gmail dot com) and I will make arrangements to pick up your donations.

Thanks,

Shoo

Thanks to Catherine for her donation!

Thanks to Betsy for her donation!

Thanks to Amanda & Ed for their donation!

Give me a beat.

Published
by
shoo
on 11/13/2006
in General and Wacky Internet
. 2 Comments

So I signed up for a legit real life peer to peer music trading service. For real. Real life.

It’s like Kazaa, but the bandwidth sucks and you have to wait for the mail[wo]man. I joined LaLa.com. It is a CD trading service that you sign up for to request CD’s as well as post CDs you have that you are willing to trade. As soon as you sign up they send you a mailing kit that includes plastic clam cd holders and mailing labels.

The first CD I request was the Cranberries. Don’t know why or how I chose that band? I received an email later in the day saying that my CD was on the way. Sure enough, a week later I had the CD along with the artwork. You can request options such as requiring the artwork.

It was in perfect condition.I checked it out (may have ripped it to my MP3 collection) and put it back into my inventory of stuff ready to trade.

Once a CD you have in your inventory has been requested you can click ‘Ship It’ and they give you all the necessary information on who to mail it to. I just shipped my 30 Seconds to Mars CD out to some guy in Oakland, California.

So what’s the catch? It is a $1.75 per trade. A buck for LaLa and artist and 75 cents for postage. Not a bad deal.

Workbench

Published
by
shoo
on 11/12/2006
in General
. 6 Comments



Workbench

Originally uploaded by gotshoo.

Man Rule 128: A man must have a workbench that is considered his own and only his. Said workbench may lie dormant with projects but is always a workbench; not a rest-bench. Workbench may not be used for laundry folding, crocheting, or doll making.

Workbench may be customized to hold tools, beverage openers, license plates, bikini calendars, or any other object that falls under Man Rule 34: Objects of Manliness.

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