Nate da' Great

Beth really wanted me to write on the "blog". I'm not really sure how I feel about blogging... but whatever. And first off, what a weird word... blog...
It's nice to done with this semester of school, I had some pretty demanding classes. I took Anatomy and Chemistry, as well as working full-time, so it's great to have a break for the summer. It's starting to get nice out here in Utah, all the leaves are coming out, there's not three feet of snow I have to trudge through to get to my car... and best part of all, biking season is kicking up!
I have my first race coming up on June first, so I have a little over a month left to train and get ready. Anybody that knows me will know that I'm completely addicted to mountain biking. I don't know how Beth puts up with me and all the bikes and bike stuff I have crammed into our little apartment. But, she's patient and she really wants me to do what I love. And she also knows that after a long day at work/school, biking is the best way for me to relieve stress!
I currently have two bikes, a Banshee Chaparral and a Transition Blindside. I had another one, but about two weeks ago I broke it in half. Oops. The company should be sending me out a new frame within the next weeks. I currently have a few sponsors, one of which is my friends bike shop that he opened in Orem in December, Urban Downfall Cycles (check them out!).
I don't do much besides riding my bike and hanging out with my loverly wife, Beth. And that's pretty much me, I'm kind of boring! But, I'll post some videos (of my 25footer at moab) and other pics of my riding just for fun.

Listerine Man

My grocery store is a most exciting place to work.

A few weeks back, I was nonchalantly chillin' in my little checkstand, waiting for a customer to purchase something, when I noticed my two supervisors looking very interested in something out of my view. About two seconds later, a large, shirtless, minty-scented man with a beer belly hanging over his belt came to my line. My supervisors were there instantly, to make sure he didn't do anything weird, but they were too late. To my surprise, the man was holding an open bottle of Listerine, and before I could realize what was happening, he nearly re-baptized me when he began pouring it all over his face and body. This was accompanied by a shrill, "OW, my eyes! This better not ruin them!"

Supervisor: Sir, you're going to have to pay for that... [reaches for the bottle to scan it]

Listerine Man: [jumps back] DON'T touch me!!

Supervisor: I just need the bottle to ring it up..

At this point I quickly moved out of my checkstand and invited my supervisor to take the purchase. I was somewhat frightened by the crazy man who I assumed was already drunk and trying to get another quick alcohol fix. The man handed over the Listerine, followed by a soaking wet $20. As he left, my supervisor told him he needed to be wearing a shirt the next time he came in. As if that was the biggest issue.

We called the police to have them look for the man, to make sure he didn't harm himself or others in his drunken state- in the meantime many other customers asked me what was going on with the man outside pouring Listerine on himself. It took a few minutes for the shock to wear off.

Apparently the man had started his little cleansing process over on the Listerine aisle before coming to my checkstand, and my supervisors had been carefully watching him to see what would happen next. Then the police got back to us after finding the man wandering the streets and had some information to make the situation that much more interesting.

First, they followed him in their car as he walked up the street. When the man realized he was being followed, he began to speed up. The police caught up to him and asked what he was trying to do. His response? Looking for a good place to pull over. Naturally. Then they asked him about his Listerine shower. Well, someone had spat on the man (supposedly) and the Listerine was to protect him from getting Herpes. Naturally.

The police told us that this man was neither drunk nor high- he is merely crazy, and they have dealt with him in other random situations like this. I have not seen him since, but hopefully he's ok.

It only took three hours for the minty-freshness to fade from the store.

Then, about two weeks ago, I was in my checkstand helping a customer when a huge CRASH!! made me jump out of my skin. I turned to see a large section of the front wall of our store moved forward and separated from the rest of the wall. A shelf of keys, watch batteries, and hearing aids had jumped forward about 4 feet, and I could see the parking lot outside. A 16 year old girl with her Learner's Permit had just rammed through the store in her huge truck.

My grocery store is a most exciting place to work.

Welcome!

Well, blogs seem to be the thing to do now to keep your friends and family updated on your life, so I figured why not give it a shot.

Things were pretty stressful these last few days, as Nate had to take a hard Anatomy final and started a new job on the same day. We also got in a little bit of a fender bender that morning leaving for school, so it was a rough start. Luckily everything with that has worked out without much difficulty, and Nate is really excited for his new job. 

He works at a place called Lizard Skins, which is a supplier of mountain bike stuff for other distributors and bike shops. Nate contacts the other places and asks them to buy the Lizard Skins stuff. Thankfully its a fairly well-known brand with lots of stuff bikers need. Nate gets paid about the same amount he got at his last job (where he'll keep working part-time), but he gets commission on top of it! And he's already made over $40 commission after just 2 days of work. yay! He'll also get to help with product design once he gets used to how things work there, and I think he's going to love that part.

As for me, I'm just trying to not go crazy from school. I have 3 papers all due within a day of each other, and am not looking forward to doing them. But such is life. I'm still loving my Italian class, and find it comes rather easily for me- hopefully I'll be fluent someday! I'm also still majoring in Art History, with a Spanish minor, and enjoy learning about all the different types of art and the history behind it. I did have a momentary lapse a few weeks ago and again wondered if that's really what I should be studying (instead of something that would let me take care of baby chimp orphans...) but realized it is something I love, and to change my major in my 3rd year would be kinda annoying, and I'd probably regret it. Finals are coming up (Nate's was earlier than usual), so I've got to study for everything too. I'm glad another semester is coming to a close.

I'm still loving my little grocery store job! I have an Italian friend who speaks almost no English that always comes through my line now, and its so much fun. He helps me practice what I'm learning and is nice about it when I make mistakes. :) I also have the opportunity to practice my Spanish everyday, and the native speakers LOVE it. They always ask me where I served my mission, and are surprised when I say I haven't, since that's where most Provo-dwellers learn.

I'm hoping to apply for a Supervising position at my job; one is opening up soon. I talked to some of the current supervisors and they encouraged me to go for it, cause they think I'm a good candidate. I'd be working a few more hours, but not too many with Summer coming up- and better yet, I'd be getting more money! That's always good. We'll see how it goes.

So, that's our life in a nutshell, at least for the moment.