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They lost.
November 30, 2007Well, the magical season is over.
Franklin Pierce advanced on penalty kicks and will play in the national championship and MSU will board a plane and head back home.
First off... I hate penalty kicks. Second of all... I still hate penalty kicks. Thirdly... it's tough seeing guys that I like lose and know that it's still my job to shoot them in their pain.
That's the way it goes I guess.
Well, I'll probably have a few more blogs before it's all said and done, but it sure was fun this weekend.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
At the half...
Wow... what an amazing first half of soccer. The score is 0-0, but MSU rattled a shot off the crossbar and another off the right post.
Officially the shots are 4-3 MSU, but they had at least 5 good scoring chances, balls bouncing around in the six-yard box and deflections off the goal keeper.
It is a bit chilly down at field level, and the grass is getting damp from the Gulf Coast air. The lights on the field are 100% better than our home field. There are probably 100-150 screaming MSU fans including the band and cheerleaders.
Best part so far.... an airplane with a message sign flew over the stadium proclaiming...
"MSU Mustangs... The Pride of Texas"
I freaking love it.
More after the game....
Posted by Jason Palmer at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
We're at the field
The first game is in overtime.... and we're setting up in the press box for the game.
Big surprise of the day... the MSU pep band and cheerleaders made it down and will be a great boost for the team on the field.
Texas will be represented well down here. The cheerleaders have shirts that read "Don't mess with Texas." I freaking love it.
It's less than an hour before the scheduled kickoff... and I'll have an update at the half.
This is going to be fun....
Posted by Jason Palmer at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Beach Sunset Pictures
I realized that I didn't upload the photos from last night's sunset on the beach.
So....here you go.
Really... it's rough down here. I mean... it's like staying at the Quality Inn in Amarillo.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Game Day
Well.... it is 11 a.m. and the soccer team is about to go on a walk/run/stretch for about 20 minutes or so.
I will not be taking in any part of that. I'm pretty sure that the college soccer team could out walk/run/stretch me by many miles/minutes/degrees of stretch.
No thanks... I'll be happy and comfortable on the beach doing nothing until we have to get ready for the game.
Speaking of which... tune into the radio broadcast on msumustangs.com to hear Trey Reed call the game tonight at 5 p.m.
I'll have periodic updates today and during the game if I can (which I should be able to).
I'm pretty sure the guys are going to go grab lunch about 12:30 and then depart for the stadium around 3 p.m.
You'll know whenever I know.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
No Cowboys
November 29, 2007And how is this for ironic....
My girlfriend is at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the Cowboys game.... and I'm "stuck" at the oceanside condo on the beach.
I guess I'll settle for Sportscenter updates and another walk along the ocean.
Booo.... basic cable. Booooo.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sundown on the Beach
Sorry I've been off-grid for most of the day. We've haven't been in one place for a long time today and that's not so good for blogging and whatnot.
But... here's a rundown for you
So, we got to the game field for the team walk-through at about 11 a.m. and had a good half an hour for getting acquainted with the field.
The grass was okay... I mean, I think that during the prime growing season, MSU's field is way better. I mean, it's not like we're playing on spray-painted turf or anything (inside joke) but for the end of November... this field is awesome.
The field is also the location of the SEC Women's Soccer tourney... so you know that it's got to be fairly high quality.
One of my fave. parts is a banner around the edge of the goal areas that doesn't have advertisements on it. Nope... just inspirational NCAA words like "teamwork", "passion" and "soccer".
I know... real original right. But hey... it could be worse. I'd rather not have an ad for Nike in the background of the photos.
After the walk-through... it was off to the practice field for an hour+ workout. Then off to lunch at an asian buffett.... yeah, it was kind of like Hunan's or something. But not my call.
I think that Trey and I are going to skip the team dinner tonight (not like they're paying for me anyways) and probably order pizza in or something.
We got back to the hotel about 3:30 or so... and i enjoyed a nice little walk along the beach while I was on the phone with my girlfriend for a while. It was really really nice.
Now I have to get to work on some photos to send back to the office... that's all for now.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Day Two begins...
Well... the second day of stuff has started down here in Alabama...
I'll have more once I actually get some photos and whatnot.
jp
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Photo Time from the Gulf Shores
November 28, 2007After goofing off for a while after dinner... including a night-time stroll on the beach to chat with my girlfriend on the phone... I have finally finished a selection of photos for your viewing pleasure.
Not only that... but the newspaper has used nearly everything I sent for the day in the print edition. And you can still go check out the gallery online as well.
Now... here we go.
Like I said earlier... we are right on the beach in a big condo.
Our place is the one on the left. It's 15 floors high and about 300 yards from the edge of the ocean. The view from our balcony is awesome to say the least.
That is the wooden foot bridge over the dunes and natural habitat area between the hotel and the shoreline.
Just for good measure... I took a night shot as well. Not the best in the world, but you'll get the idea.
The entire area along the gulf coast is booming with construction of these huge high-rise condos. Just the kind of place I wouldn't want to be near during a Hurricane Katrina kind of thing. I counted no less than 20 buildings in the immeadiate vicinity of our place.
Are there really that many rich people that want to live on the Alabama gulf coast? Maybe so. It seems awesome enough aleady.
That is the view down the beachfront to the west.
____________________________________________
I told you that I got my feet wet in the ocean earlier... now here is the proof.
Yeah... the water was a bit cold. And that wave kinda suprised me a bit, I didn't think it'd be that high up my pants. They are still drying out in the bathtub as I write.
When I went back down there for a night walk... I changed into the shorts that were more apt to take the water in stride.
I do plan on swimming in the ocean at one point. At least... going out enough to get my head underwater, just to say that I did it.
_________________________________________________
AND..... a bit of the wildlife in the area.
Of course... one would expect the shorebirds to be hanging around like they own the place.
There's a couple of gulls hanging out on the sand with our condo building in the background.
And here's a brown pelican cruising over the water.
But THIS one made me smile. All of a sudden, out of the blue water come these two dolphins. They were jumping out of the water left and right. It was great.
Of course... I didn't have my big zoom lens (the mighty 400mm f2.8) out there with me at the time, or this would have been a lot closer of a photo.
But it doesn't matter.... it was really really cool to see it out in the wild.
I'm sure I'll have more stuff to show off after a few hours in the morning and afternoon... until then.
peeeeeeace.....
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
9 pm and heading back from Wal-Mart
Yes... that's right. In an attempt to curb the food spending that would occur... and since we're staying in condos, we made a run to Wal-Mart for groceries.
MSU Sports Information Director Trey Reed (long-time friend and roommate) and I are sharing a room, so we loaded up on some of the normal breakfast stuff like OJ, milk, bagels and breakfast sandwiches.
More to come in a bit... and the long awaited photos hopefully.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Playin in the Ocean
Well, I can confirm that the water in the Gulf of Mexico is salty and a bit colder than I expected.
After we got back from the practice... we've had a bit of free time to enjoy before the Banquet tonight. So I went down to the beach and had to get my feet in the water.
I have the photos to prove it... but getting them to all of the readers is a bit harder than I thought.
We just bought an ATT wireless card for the laptop I'm using, and it works great most of the time. The problem is... since our condo is literally right on the ocean the ATT signal isn't that great.
Like... it doesn't want to connect with any kind of speed at all. Which is bad.
The good news is... once I'm in and around the city, it works flawlessly as it's supposed to.
So rest assured... I will have photos later.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
On the ground in Orange Beach
Well... we made it.
Right now (12:00 p.m.) I am headed to practice with the soccer team. We checked into our condo right on the beach a bit ago...
But first, the plane ride.
Good lord, that was the smallest plane I've ever flown on. It was a 3-seater. Two seats on one side, and one on the other side of the isle.
My huge camera carry-on bag (the one that I had to unpack at the airport) didn't exactly fit in the overhead bin on this puddle-jumper. The other option was to put it under the seat.... that didn't quite work either.
I basically had to prop my feet on the top of the bag as it was 1/2 under the seat in front of me. I hit my head at least twice on the ceiling. But once we got airborne, I was pretty much asleep instantly.
Once on the ground, it was the usual wait for baggage claim and whatnot, then vanning it to the condos. We weren't exactly sure where on the beach our particular high-rise was. Eventually, we found it.
The view from the balcony of the Gulf of Mexico is impressive... I'll post a photo later when I get a chance. It's quite a bit different from the view on top of the Flyover.
Well, we're at the practice facility... so I'm going to get back to work.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
It's 6:45 and I'm at the airport
That is... 6:45 a.m.
I am with the Midwestern State University soccer team on the way to Orange Beach Alabama for the NCAA Division II Mens Soccer Championships.
We left W.Falls around 3:15 a.m. on a bus to get down here to DFW Airport for an early flight into Pensacola (right across the Alabama/Florida border from Orange Beach.
First off... let me make sure that everybody knows how much I detest the security check-in at the airport.
After carefully packing my carry-on camera bag for about an hour this morning... the security guys decided that after one run-through, it needed another one.
Yea... it's time to go on the plane.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
By the way...
November 26, 2007Only a few days until I start up my "Best of 2007" blog section.
If you recall... last year, I put up some of my faves. from 2006 and talked a little bit about them throughout the month of December.
Well, I'm going to do the same again. So check back on Dec. 1 and see some of my fave. work from the year.
After all... I am just a photographer right?
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Few Degrees Colder...
November 25, 2007If only it were a few degrees further down the thermometer... we'd be in a winter wonderland. That's Texas for you though.
It was 80 middle of last week.... and it was snowing big quarter-sized flakes at home in Fort Worth on Thursday.
Honestly, I love the cold. I would rather be way cold than too hot... you can always put on more clothes in the winter.
In the summer... once you're naked in front of the A/C.... that's the best you can do.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Justin Northwest... here I come.
November 23, 2007So Andy and I will be leaving for Justin Northwest Stadium in about an hour to watch the most exciting 4A playoff game on paper this week.... and maybe the best game in the entire state.
Rider vs. Stephenville
First off... I hate it when the Yellow Jackets wear their "Win 5" jerseys during the playoffs. Hopefully they'll have dropped that tradition this year, but I doubt it.
Secondly... this battle of 10-1 teams should be everything it's being hyped as and more. Rider's only loss this year was Stephenville... and their only loss was to the 11-0 Everman Bulldogs (who play Old High tonight).
It's going to be freaking cold on the sidelines... but I'll have more layers than a Sevi's Burrito tonight.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Turkey On Fire
November 21, 2007First off, I just want everybody to know that I'm actually a pretty good cook all things considered... and secondly, no turkeys were harmed.
But yes... I caught one on fire yesterday.
More accurately, I caught one on fire for a photo illustration for the newspaper and a story about turkey cooking safety.
Even more accurately, it wasn't a real turkey. It was a whole chicken.... which looks close enough to a turkey for my sake.
If you missed the front page Wednesday, here is the important part.
There's my turkey/chicken. On fire. Big flames... like about a full foot from the chicken. Remeber when they used to say "don't try this at home".... well, I know why.
So why did I do it?
Honestly, it just sounded like good fun. The story was about people who get injured with flaming turkeys from their frying pots. The oil catches on fire, and next thing you know, you have 3rd degree burns.
Well, none of the fire departments were going to have a demonstration, or we missed them already, I'm not sure which. So Judy asked me if I had any ideas. Immediately, the light bulb went off in my head (more like a bug lamp).
"I could do a photo illustration of a turkey on fire."
After I said it... I thought, "Did I just say that....IS that a good idea?"
Sure, why the heck not. I've seen this trick done before with sporting equipment. Think about a baseball pitcher with a fastball portrait... it's been done.
But I've never seen a turkey on fire. So I still had my doubts.
I knew HOW to do it.... just needed to get something that looked like a turkey and some rubber cement.
Rubber Cement is highly...highly flammable, but relatively stable. Once you apply it to whatever, it doesn't run. It stays put and puts off a nice yellow flame. Perfect for photo work.
I decided on the cooked chickens from United as the main prop. They look like a turkey on a smaller scale... plus, I knew that the flames would be large enough to make an impression.
After I tested a few areas of rubber cement for the right exposure in the camera... and played around with an extra flash just to get a bit more light on the other side... I was ready to roll.
Mind you... you still shouldn't try this at home.
But, I had the camera on the tripod... plate on the table... fans blowing for ventilation and the patio door open for fresh air. Everything was out of flames reach. It was as controlled an environment could be for lighting a chicken on fire. My only regret was I wish somebody was there to watch me.... it would have been hilarious.
This was the best shot from the adventure...
The plan all along was to provide a black background so the copy desk could put text around the flaming bird for the story... I was hoping for more of a square shape to it... but this is how it appeared in the paper...
It wasn't quite what I wanted... but I don't layout the pages either. If I did... you'd see nothing but photos anyways.
On a side note... because people have asked me.... No, I did not eat the rest of the chicken after burning part of it. I wanted no part of accidentally eating rubber cement.
I mean seriously.... that would be crazy.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tales from Amarillo
November 20, 2007So Zach Duncan and I made it to/from Amarillo without death... for the most part.
Sadly, the most scenic part of the drive was counting how many dead deer lay on the side of the road. Three was where we got to.
To make matters worse... it was a dreary looking day on the drive up, only adding to the sense of whatever you want to call it.
I call it boring.
We arrived at our hotel, the Quality Inn, around 4 p.m. It was anything but Quality, I promise you that much. Driving past all of the newer, nicer hotel chains, I had a bad feeling about this one.
The front desk folks were nice enough, even gave us a room on the back side of the hotel, where we were the only car parked there in the broad daylight. That was kinda creepy.
The hotel stay also started out possibly more awkwardly than I've ever seen. It was mid-afternoon, and the cleaning lady was in our room.
Zach and I weren't sure whether to go in or wait it out. I had already loaded up with all of my gear from the car and wanted to get it in the room as quickly as I could. So we just went on in...and she stood there and looked at us.
She went about cleaning and finishing up and Zach and I just kinda pretended she wasn't there. It was odd.
So we just kinda chilled out for a little bit, and Zach realized he needed an Ethernet cord for his laptop. Wal-Mart was just an exit or two away, so we headed there. I grabbed a bit of allergy meds (I could already feel everything starting to clog up badly).
Dinner was next on the list of things to do, and instead of going to the Big Texan (Home of the 72 oz. steak).... we went to Dyers BBQ.
I was a bit disappointed that we didn't make it to the Texan, but Dyers advertised their award-winning ribs, and I felt like that was a good choice. 'Course, Zach and I both thought the stand-by Texas Roadhouse would work too. Luckily, half of Amarillo was there and we didn't even bother to go inside to check out the wait.
To Dyers we went... and we were not left hungry. Zach went with the sausage sandwich and I had a pork rib basket. Let me tell you folks... those were some dang good ribs. Holy moses. Melt in your mouth kinda good.
After that, we went to the Burkburnett/Canyon playoff game and then back to the hotel to hang out and get to bed.
The next morning... I was miserably stopped up. Zach wasn't sure if I had survived the night. It was pretty bad.
But... we had plenty of time before we went back for the football doubleheader, so we made a side trip out to Cadillac Ranch.
If you've never been out there... it's a road-trip fan paradise.
Here I am in front of one of the buried Caddys... (photo by Zach)
And here's the self portrait (a la Myspace style) with the cars.
Was it a random trip.... well yeah, that is what a good roadtrip is supposed to be like. The rest of the day went fairly normal, with the exception of my never-ended supply of sinus problems (which have lasted to this very day)
Where will the football playoff travels take me this week?.... That would be little Justin Northwest Stadium to watch the Rider Raiders against the Stephenville Yellowjackets in a rematch from earlier this season.
I'm riding with Andy Newberry.... and hopefully we're not going to have car problems this time. In case you don't remember THAT story.... This is worth a read.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Amarillo By Morning...
November 16, 2007Actually... Amarillo by mid afternoon.
Zach Duncan and I are heading up to the great unknown of Amarillo. Personally, I want to go eat dinner at the Big Texan and at least get a look at the famed 72 oz. steak. Who knows, good food is the only thing that I really want before the playoff game tonight.
I'll be up there all weekend, and surely will have some sort of story to tell when I get back, until then... peeeeeace.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Wow... I'm an Idiot.
November 15, 2007Turns out... today IS Thursday.
I have had too much allergy medicine this week. And I want everybody to note that I'm not going to delete the previous entry showcasing my immense mental capacity thinking today wasn't Thursday.
It finally dawned on me once I got to work and Denise Nelson asked me if I was leaving for Amarillo tomorrow (meaning Friday)... to which I replied...
"No, I'm not leaving tomorrow, I'm leaving on Friday."
She didn't say anything then... but I do remember she had kind of a confused look on her face. Well, I just got back in the office from an assignment, and the entire time from when I left the office, to just now, I have felt like a complete fool.
Okay... so the feeling I had that yesterday was Wednesday was right... and it actually is Thursday around here.
Who's on first... I don't know... Third Base.
I need a nap.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Isn't it Thursday?
For no reason whatsoever... I have thought it was Thursday all morning long.
I'm not quite sure how/why my mental calendar has been so screwed up this week. I thought yesterday was Wednesday for a while. I must be getting old or something.
'Course, I am really looking forward to Friday. That's when I get to head up Hwy. 287 to the big beautiful city of Amarillo for a trio of playoff football games. Burkburnett, Graham AND Vernon all play their first-round games at the same football stadium this weekend. (Not at one time, that would be ridiculous).
I do love a road trip....
Posted by Jason Palmer at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Mountain Cedar
November 14, 2007In case my absolute loathing of Mountain Cedar wasn't abundantly clear enough in my last blog... let me please reiterate.
I have started every morning this week with a sinus clogging from hell. I know it eventually goes away during the day, but I'm already NOT a morning person. Once the runny nose starts... I'm usually despondent in conversation.
That being said... I found a website that made me laugh a little this morning.
Ah yes... the People Against Cedars.
Basically... the mountain cedar is the scourge of the earth. Just as bad as salt cedar for your land... except with one of the most potent allergens in the United States.
Down with the Ashe Juniper.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Copper Breaks Campout
November 13, 2007With an entire weekend off for the first time in a few months (or so it seemed), my girlfriend and I decided to take the weekend to go camping and fishing at Copper Breaks State Park between Quanah and Crowell.
Took the tent, camp stove and the like... thinking it was a great idea.
Until we both got sick.
Well, sick is a bit strong of a word.
More like, I had a ridiculous major allergy attack, something that I have never really experienced like that before. I've always battled allergies, but this was a different animal. In a period of about 3 hours I went from enjoying a day fishing... to a teary-eyed, runny-nosed, sneezing stopped up down and out shell of my former self.
And the day started so well....
So Amy and I loaded up the car and hit the road Saturday morning,
We pulled into our campsite about noon... unloaded our tent and gear and set up camp. By about 2 p.m. we were done and ready to go down to the lake and fish for a bit. Texas Parks and Wildlife has a cool deal this year where you don't need a license to fish in virtually every state park. So we took advantage of it for a while.
It didn't take to long to realize that perhaps fishing wasn't going to as easy as we thought. There is a little fishing pier on the lake at Copper Breaks... and the wind was blowing about 25-30 mph right in our faces towards the shoreline. It's kinda hard to cast your lure into the wind. So we were restricted to shallow water.
I pretty much knew that meant we'd be fishing for bluegill or maybe the occasional bass. I'm a fan of the bluegill fishing... those little guys are tough and will put up a good fight for a few seconds. It's enough to get the heart pumping.
So I set up with a small bumblebee looking jig and a bobber set about 1-ft. deep and tried to keep it near the reeds that were growing alongside the lake. It didn't take long before I had a hit.
Now... I realize this isn't some kind of lunker, or even good enough to get me on the outdoors page in the paper. But this was pretty important for me. I haven't been fishing since I came to Wichita Falls back in 2002. It really is one of those kind of things that I should do more often. I love fishing, and it brought back a lot of fun memories I have with my dad.
Amy decided (on her own, I never prompted this) that she wanted a picture of herself kissing the fish. I was a bit bewildered, but said that'd be fine.
I'm not sure if she wanted me to share that with everyone, but here it goes anyways.
Note... I wasn't sure if she wanted to actually kiss the fish, and may have accidentally pushed the fish a bit close to her lips. Whether or not it was my fault or hers, she actually did kiss the fish. It was pretty funny.
After a bit longer on the lake, and moving a few different locations, we decided to take a break and go for a hike.
If you recall... hiking and Jason/Amy camping trips haven't started off so well (ref. Lost in the Wichitas). But we went anyways.... I had a blast. Amy... not so much. Not but about 10 minutes into the 1.1 mile walk, I stopped in my tracks and grabbed Amy's hand. She didn't see the 4-ft. snake on the path in front of us.
The Rangers at the park entrance warned us about the rattlesnakes, but I knew instantly it wasn't a rattler. Amy...she didn't care and nearly fainted then and there. The rest of the walk, any little rustling sound in the grass along the trail sent her blood pressure through the roof. I was trying to not laugh out loud at her, but it was pretty funny.
Nature would take it's full vengeance out on me a bit later during the walk. That was when I first started noticing the effects of something in the air. I had been sneezing since we went fishing, and my eyes were alternating between dry and scratchy, and watering like a sprinkler.
We went back to the campsite and chilled out for a few. It was still to early for dinner. I noticed I forgot to bring a lighter for the camp stove. So, with my eyes burning red and watering, we went to Crowell for a lighter.
I stood in their meager medicine isle and passed over the allergy meds and grabbed a small bottle of eye drops. They worked instantly. So we went back to the camp.
Amy noticed what looked like smoke billowing out of a grove of evergreen-type trees when we got back. I took one look and knew instantly what was happening.
Mountain Cedar.
More accurately, juniper trees. Ash Juniper to be totally accurate. They start pollinating in November and run through winter. Just talking about them right now is making me itch. It wasn't smoke blowing from the trees... it was pollen. And I was screwed.
Mountain Cedar is one of those allergens that hits my family harder than anything else. Cottonwood and ragweed are close at second and third... but Mt. Cedar, it's a sorry piece of you know what. I have witnessed my dad annually reduced to laying on the couch near the throes of death from this stuff.
Stupid me went camping right at the start of their pollen season.... that's like walking into a cage with a grizzly bear wearing a steak vest and then kicking him in the groin.
Instead of immediately packing up and leaving (which would have been the best idea) I thought maybe I could stick it out. She asked what I wanted to do... and blindly I replied, I want to go fishing again.
Amy warned that if I started sneezing while I was down there, we were going to leave. We should have.
Pulling into the parking lot near the fishing pier, I noticed the name of the hiking trail nearby.... it was Juniper Ridge....perfect.
So we fished until sunset. I landed another fish...
The smile was almost forced for the photo... but I was excited to get another fish. Walking back to the car... Juniper Ridge struck again. I reeled off four sneezes in a row, and instantly knew that I was in trouble.
We were hungry and went back to the camp for dinner. Shrimp fajitas... very good. Afterward, I said we needed to go get some medicine. Amy had developed a bit of a cough herself, and started getting a typical sinus headache. I couldn't even see straight, the pressure on my sinuses was tremendous already.
Looking back, we should have left...again. We should have packed up everything back in the car and gotten the hell out of there. Staying would only bring misery. I'm not sure why she didn't put her foot down and make me leave... but I can't think of a rational reason why I stayed other than I just wanted to get away from home for a few days.
We drove into Quanah to the United, and found the pharmacy isle and both stood there for a few minutes while we tried to decide what was best. I went with the strong bennadryl to knock down the allergens. But it didn't work well enough.
Neither of us got any kind of meaningful sleep that night in the tent. The winds died down a bit, but the damage was done. Mountain Cedar had attacked and was going to make my life miserable for a while.
Waking up the next morning at about 7 a.m.... both of us were completely stopped up and in a zombie-like state. We somehow managed to cook breakfast without burning ourselves, packed the car and left.
From about noon until 10 p.m. we didn't move from my couch but once. Around 6 p.m. we went to Market Street to get dinner and load up on meds. Give me the Alavert, Tylenol Severe Sinus, menthol kleenexes and nose spray. Amy went with Theraflu, cough drops and something else I can't remember.
I could feel myself starting to feel a tiny bit better after that... although some of that may have been psychological... but waking up Monday morning was a different story. It took me about 1 hour to get going, then the head kinda cleared up, the watery eyes went away and for the most part, my runny nose stopped dripping like a leaky faucet.
I've felt fine for most of the day... a bit of a minor sinus headache, but nothing I can't handle with a little advil..... amazing the difference being away from the pollen source can be. I won't be making that same mistake again anytime soon.
Other than the near death allergy attack... it was really fun. I can't wait to go fishing again sometime soon...just not near Juniper Ridge.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
October Blog Stats
November 12, 2007Here are the stats from last month. Once again, I somehow came out on top.
Jason P - 2,103
Nicky G - 1,750
Lara Richards - 1,526
Zach Duncan - 1,243
A few others below us...
Now, with Nicky G. calling it quits on the blog, I suppose I will remain atop the food chain for a while. I hope. Lara looks like she could catch up quick.
peace...
Posted by Jason Palmer at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Guitar Hero III
November 8, 2007In her infinite wisdom... my girlfriend bought me a random gift last weekend.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
I'm not sure if she knows exactly what she's done.
First of all... let me tell you that if you have no experience with the Guitar Hero line of games, you're missing out. Big time.
The basic premise is this.... with a guitar shaped controller, you have to work on your hand-eye coordination with a variety of songs. The "music notes" scroll down the screen during the song and you have to strum the guitar controller while pressing the correctly colored fret button.
It's ridiculously addictive and a whole lot of fun too.
Anywho, GH3 is the newest game (and the last) in the series. The graphics are amazing, even on my old Playstation 2, but it's still a lot of fun to kick back and play a few songs. The versions for the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 are obviously far superior in terms of graphics, but I haven't committed to buying a $600 game system.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The story of my sister's wedding
November 6, 2007It has been kind of a whirlwind week or two. But it's about time that I told everybody about my sister's wedding on Oct. 27th.
April (the middle of us three kids) married Greg Gardner two Saturdays ago on a gorgeous day at the A and M Gardens in Azle... no Aggie jokes.
That day was nearly perfect.... the couple of weeks leading up to it were not.
April and Greg have been together for the last 2 years or so. Even they weren't really sure when they started dating, but they've gone to the same church as my parents for a while before then. Pretty much ever since April moved back to Fort Worth after graduating from MSU in 2005.
I pretty much liked Greg instantly. Not like I got to hang out with him a whole lot, but from the few times I saw him before he really became a fixture at home, he seemed pretty cool.
He plays golf.... so that instantly puts him into the middle of the Palmer family fray. Actually... one of the funniest stories was from a golf trip with Greg. I told the crowd at the reception that story and then told them how it was then and there that I knew that Greg was going to be around for a while. He just rolled with the punches and was able to laugh at himself, just like the rest of us Palmers.
The story goes like this.... Greg is a lefty (like my dad and I) and as we were warming up to play golf one day, Greg broke his 9-iron on a swing, sending the head flying off into the driving range. Whoops.
We had a chuckle about it, and he grabbed another club while I was still hitting. The very next swing he took, he broke that club too.
Two clubs broken in consecutive swings.... I was shocked. So was he.... the look on our faces was priceless and I knew that he's gonna be around for a while.
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Fast forward to Oct 11... just a few weeks before the wedding.
April gets a phone call that morning giving her a bit of bad news. The 5,600 sq-ft. banquet facility on the garden grounds burned to the ground overnight. The reception hall was reduced to ashes.
Not only the reception hall... but the backup plan in case the weather was nasty and we couldn't have the wedding outside.
This seriously had all the makings of a bad television show.
I mean... what else could have gone wrong in this case? Wedding dress dyed blue?
It took about a two weeks of having no plan whatsoever and staying in limbo to finally figure out a plan.
Turns out... the wife of the garden owner was really good friends with the wife of another banquet facility owner not that far from the gardens. They worked out a deal and the entire reception plan was relocated with just a few days to spare.
Mom was stressed. Dad was stressed. April was near homicidal......I was just trying to stay out of everyones way when I went home on vacation for the week. People would ask me what was going on, or what the plan was for this and that... and my general response was.
"I'm just doing like I'm told."
So I wanted to get out of the house for a while and went to play golf by myself during that week. It was good to get away from everything and spend a few hours alone. It was one of the first times I've spent more than 2 hours with nobody around me in a long time.
By the end of the week... about 85% of my extended family was in town and spending a lot of time at our not-to-big house. My girlfriend Amy made it down Thursday evening and spent the weekend as well.
The rehearsal went okay, except the weather (which honestly, I had feared since they told me when the date was). Having an outdoor wedding on the last weekend in October is risky. Could be anything from ice and snow to near 90 degrees.
That day though... the wind was a factor. It was blowing steady about 25-30 mph during the rehearsal.... and that's not a good thing at all. Even though the weather guys were saying it was going to be nice on Saturday, how much faith can you put in a weather guy these days....
On Saturday, the tension was high all around, except for me it seemed. I was cutting up and trying to lighten the mood of everything. My spot as a groomsman was perched precariously close to a small well/pond/bottomless pit. I was a bit nervous, I mean, if I fell into that thing and ruined my sisters wedding, I might not have made it out of my tux alive.
But everything ended up perfect, just about as textbook as you could imagine. I ended up gaining a brother-in-law, which is a weird feeling... but I know that it was meant to be.
April and Greg are somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean right now flying back from their honeymoon in Italy.... I hope they took a lot of pictures.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
