Jeff's Blahg

Today was my first attempt at snow boarding.  I have skied since my youth so I was a bit apprehensive to give it a whirl… not only was I concerned about hurting myself but also didn’t want to ‘waste’ a day learning something new.

Well, I am happy to report that I had an absolute blast.  I found snow boarding to be much more relaxing and easier on the legs than skiing… meaning I could go much longer without resting.  Plus, it felt pretty natural to me.  I did spend quite a bit of time the first time down the hill on my backside (and am very glad I had a helmet), but after that I had it figured out enough to move along pretty well.

All-
I have spoken with Larry’s family and funeral arrangements have been finalized.

When: 10 AM Pacific, Tuesday September 8th, 2009
Where: Franklin & Downs Funeral Home
704 12th St, Modesto, CA‎ – (209) 523-9135‎

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Following the funeral and visit to the cemetery there will be a reception at a family member’s home. Please plan to stay with the group for directions to the cemetery and the reception.

For those of your interested, I am still looking for more thoughts / reflections on your time with Larry. Please send them over to jhansen@hivalley.com as soon as you can.

*UPDATE*
Larry Berryhill’s Obituary – Provo Daily Herald
Larry Berryhill’s Obituary – The Modesto Bee

I lost a great friend this week. Larry was my pole vault coach at BYU, but he was also much more. He was friend that I knew would be there for me under *any* circumstances… and was. I traveled all over with him, ate at the best steak house in every town, and listened to countless stories on the way. I will miss him deeply.

I am going to use this post to provide details as they become available about the circumstances of Larry’s death and the subsequent funeral.

I just spoke with Larry’s mother and found out the following:

They were contacted by the Embassy in Argentina on Monday (Aug 24th) and told that Larry had passed away. Apparently of a heart attack. He had gone out to dinner with some friends on Saturday (from what I can gather that was day) and they called him the next day and got no answer… he also missed an appointment that day, so a friend went to check on him. He was found in his bed.

Larry’s brother, Michael is down in Argentina working on getting Larry back home. As of right now it appears that they will be coming back on the same plane next Wednesday. There are things outside of their control here, so they are waiting until they are actually back before they make any additional plans. If things go according to plan, Larry’s funeral will most likely be the first of the following week – about Sept 7th. They are going to contact me as soon as the plans are finalized and I will post that information here.

To those who knew Larry:
We need to be there in full force. I ask that you do all you can to adjust your schedules to be there for Larry, as he was for us on so many occasions. I also ask that you take the time to write down some thoughts about Larry that can can be compiled and given to his family. This compilation should be ready for the reception after his funeral. Please take some time and get this together and email it (or add as comment to this post) to me (jhansen@hivalley.com) as soon as you can, and I will do the rest.

Please share this link with anyone you think would like to be involved.

Welcome, this is the new home for Jeff’s Blahg.

I don’t read much… at least material that comes in the form of a book. And, whenever I do read I insist that it be in the form of some geeky computer book that doesn’t ‘waste my time.’ It’s sad, but I feel guilty if I just sit down and read The Lord of The Rings or something worthless like that. What is the point? I guess it is the entrepreneurial / workaholic spirit of mine.

Well, after several friends and family members gave rave reviews to Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 I decided it was something worth taking the time to read. Needless to say I was not in the least bit disappointed.

This description puts it much better than I ever could:
This gripping, inspiring take-no-prisoners combat memoir of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor from his unit during Operation Redwing, a post-9/11 military operation on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, grabs the listener from the opening lines and won’t let go. Unabashedly patriotic and unapologetic, it is a testament to the power of duty and honor, commitment to country, and enduring bonds forged by teammates. Kevin Collins’s galvanizing performance as Luttrell takes us from his youth on an East Texas horse ranch to Seal training in Coronado, to fighting the Taliban in remote, isolated villages. With a slight Texas accent, Collins exudes the confidence and strength of a young warrior going into battle, determined to protect and defend. With almost spitting anger, he conveys the dilemma of soldiers committed to honoring ³rules of engagement,² knowing the enemy does not follow those same rules. This masterful production transcends political persuasion. M.H.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Buy it and read it.

Kristie and I are both small-town Idaho kids. We grew up where the paved road ends. Having both grown up that way it has been a desire of ours to get out of the little subdivision and get back to our roots. We really want room to breathe, cats to water (inside joke), and calves to feed… and chores for our kids especially.

Well, we have taken step 1 toward that goal. Last week we bought some land that we plan to *eventually* build on and move to. It is located in Payson, UT on West Mountain. It is 5.50 acres and is currently part of a hay field. It will continue to be farmed until we start planting trees and doing other improvements that make it impossible to farm (at least in whole).

Here is a picture of the land:

A week ago I inched a little closer to my goal of 400 lbs in the bench press by getting a new max at 380 (from 375). Byaaahhh!

So, I have been ramping up on my lifting to prepare for a shot at a new bench max in the next month or so (currently 375). Actually, I have not been lifting any more regularly, just bumping up the weight and doing less bench reps and more weight. On Monday I did 5 sets of 5 at 300 lbs, which is a new best for me at that set/rep count. I also did 315 4 times which is the most reps I have ever done at that weight. So… here hoping for 380+ in June. The goal is 400 before the end of the year… ouch, that is going to hurt!

I have not purchased but 1 song from iTunes. My music library is about 40+ gig of mp3s… no DRM included. I wanted to make some ringtones for my iPhone, but wasn’t interested in paying Apple for songs I already own. Not to mention that the songs I wanted as ringtones weren’t even ‘ringtone capable’ in iTunes.

Anyway, after digging around for a while I have found the following to work:

(MAC OX X 10.5 based)

1. Select the song in iTunes that I want to use as a ringtone. Protected AAC files will not work.
2. Right-click on the song and select Get Info
3. Go to the Options page and select the start and end times for the ringtone (max of 40 seconds)
4. Right-click on the song again and select Convert Selection to AAC
5. Right-click on the converted song and select Show in Finder
6. Rename the .m4a file to .m4r (leave the rest of the filename the same)
7. Go back to iTunes and delete the converted song from iTunes. When I skipped this step, double clicking on the .m4r file to import the ringtone into iTunes did not work properly.
8. Double-click on the .m4r file. iTunes should change to the Ringtones folder under Library near the top and start playing the ringtone
9. Go spend your $2 /per song on something useful

I have made it to 78 words per minute… if I get faster I’ll update this . Click below to try it out yourself.

78 words

Touch Typing for free