Day 46

46, oh what to say about 46. I know. Vote on the poll. Click on the ads. Tell your awesome friends about the awesome blog. Comment on the blog. Add up your awesome points and let me know.

I am playing baseball as I think most of you know. I used to play baseball in high school and for 1/6th of my years in college (that's just one year). I used to play 10+ years ago. I currently play less than 3 days ago.

I thought it would be a ton of fun, which it is. I thought I would pitch well, which I have to an extent. Here is what I didn't think. That I would need to get in shape. What, just because I'm gonna throw 100 or so pitches every 10 days or so I should be in some kind of shape? (And I guess I am kind of in a shape, just not in shape.)

So, long story short, my team, not doing so hot this year. This is our team's (Million $ Men) page, and this is the league's (MSBL) page, if you're interested in seeing more about that. In fact, we have lost 16 straight. But hey, if we get hot in the playoffs, anything can happen, right, right? Ok, maybe not, but I gotta keep some hope alive.

Ok, back to topic (like there is a topic). I didn't get in shape and pitched a bunch. My arm hurts. Duh. Well, I had a doctor's visit recently and asked him about my elbow. He said I have Golfer's Elbow (I explained to him, that while I golf, I think pitching a baseball is what caused the issue. Apparently Golfer's Elbow is just the name, there are a lot of things that can cause it, check out what else causes it here.) The doc recommends I stop pitching (we all know that won't happen) or at least get some physical therapy (like I can afford it).

A physical therapist calls me to schedule an appointment. I explain that I am poor, she says, "Let's see what your insurance will cover." It covers up to a $25 co-pay. Like I said, I'm poor. She says, "How about a $5 co-pay?" I say, "When can I come in?"

There are many kinds of treatments available for those that have golfer's elbow and won't quit using it. Basically, I need to ice it several times a day, take I-B-Profen (I can't spell the real word) a few times a day, and stretch regularly. But it won't heal until I quit using it (6 more games). In addition to all this, the therapist says that I should get some medicine called Dexamethasone Phosphate. According to Web MD, it can treat all kinds of stuff.

Anyway, they give it to me using a treatment called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). They squirt some meds on a pad thing, then they hook it up via two sticky pads on my arm and shock me. Basically, they are making a negative current go through the pad, through my muscles (boy, that's a long way, what with all those big, hug muscles) and into the damaged tendon. It is pretty awesome. I show up and they do some ultrasound (can't tell if its a boy or girl yet) and then they shock me for a half hour or so.

Physical therapy is awesome. They can help heal all sorts of stuff. And, they totally cut me a deal. I was trying to remember what this therapy was called, but I knew it had to do with negative ions, so I googled negative ion physical therapy. Apparently there are some serious medical breakthroughs happening with this technology. Seriously, you should check out the Google results.

Enough already, physical therapy is awesome, especially when they shock you.

Here is a picture, you better enjoy the stache while it lasts, there's no telling how long it'll be around or what is next.


See you tomorrow!

Day 33

Ok, now this is where it starts to get difficult. Well, difficult to remember what day I'm on. You see, in July, I just added one to the date and I had my number. Now I'll just have to remember. Wish me luck.

Before I go any further, I want to thank each and every one of you for reading. I sincerely appreciate it. And now I appreciate it in my wallet. According to AdSense, enough people saw and clicked on ads to get me $2.48 yesterday! Hooray! They will only send me a check when it gets over $100, so I'll let you know when that happens.

Also, a quick not about yesterday awesomosity. I neglected to tell you about a few things regarding my bro. He is also awesome to 8th graders at Westminster and the wrestling team there where he is coach (they had their first state champ last year! And undefeated too!) He is also awesome to his wife, Adrianne and his three children. Our parents and both Big and Little Grandma like him too. That was just to accentuate his awesomeness (now, don't let it all go to your head Tim).

Ok, on to today's awesomosity. I almost made it the dentist I saw this morning, but really, even on the best dental visit ever, dentists will probably never make my awesomosity. But I did have a good checkup (no cavities!!)

Well then, if it's not the dentist, what could it ever be?!?!? HD Radio.

My new HD Radio tuner in my truck

As you can see, I have finally replaced the silence (ok, so my truck is pretty loud even without a stereo, just call me while I'm driving) with a new radio my parents bought me for my birthday that was last month. It's totally awesome. As you can see, it has an HD tuner built in, is satellite ready, will play my iPod (when I get the adapter in later today), and of course, plays CDs (mp3s and other such stuff too.)

The coolest thing to me is the HD radio. I know you have all heard the ads for it and are probably wondering, what's that all about (even if you weren't, I'm gonna tell you anyway)? HD radio allows FM stations to have CD quality sound, and lets AM stations be in stereo and sound like normal FM stations. It's pretty cool. The even better part is that they can have more than one station (here's a list of St. Louis' HD stations and what they broadcast). So, say, The Point has their normal station, but they also have a sweet other station that plays mostly the same artists, but more of the stuff you don't hear, some of which is pretty freakin' cool. Then, say, a station like Y98 has another station called "Chillin 98" (at least that's what the text on my radio says) and they play these cool, chillin songs. It also allows stations to branch out a little from their normal format. So, KSHE has another station that plays "KSHE classics" that my dad will LOVE, but they also have a third station that plays "country variety". Yes. I just said the KSHE, the Rock of St. Louis, has an HD station that plays coutnry variety. It sucks, but it's pretty cool at the same time, no?

So, feel free to come hang out with me sometime, I'll drive (after undoing the passenger padlock) and you can check out all the cool HD stations and whatnot. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

So, HD radio is awesome today, what do you find awesome today?

By the way, there is a new poll up, so vote. Also, I have a search bar, so if something I write sparks some interest, use that (yes, I get paid for that too, at least, I think I do).

Here's the awesome picture of the day, taken just after they made my teeth sparkle:

Day 32

Over a month already! That sound you just heard was a combination of me patting myself on the back whilst tooting my own horn, quite an orchestral feat.

So, what is awesome today? Let me tell you. This all happened yesterday.

I told myself that the awesome thing of the day would always be a thing, never a person. But rules are made to be broken, no? Besides, with the events of yesterday, there is no other way I could have anything else be the awesomosity of the day.

Without any further ado, I give you, my brother, Tim Muehleisen.

Here's Tim with his 3 lovely chilren (from L-R): Lydia, Ann Denny, and Ahren

So, what did Tim do to make himself worthy of the awesomosity? It all started quite early yesterday. You see, my parents have a rental property. During a recent occupancy inspection, they were told to repair the fascia, soffit and guttering on a probably 30-foot section of the house. As most of you probably know, my dad can't get on ladders for a while, so it was up to their children, Tim and I.

Now, Tim was a roofer in a previous life (along with an off-shore oil rig worker, which is pretty awesome on its own), so he is familiar with how to do this stuff. I am not. And I don't like ladders. So, with a little help from me, and some direction from dad, Tim did most of the work to get my folks house into tip-top shape (ok, so just good enough to pass inspection shape, but that counts, right?).

Following this half-day adventure, I went to pick up my newly fixed truck (and not totally fixed, but fixed enough for now). Then I had to go to Walgreen's to pick up a script for my bum elbow, then it was to be off for my parents house to install my new car stereo and have a family dinner. I get my script, and am quite excited about the rest of the day. I get in my car and I hear a *click* when I turn the key. Hhmph, thats wierd. Again. Click. Again. Click. DANGIT! What is freakin' wrong now? I call my dad, who is still at the rental, he says call Tim. I call Tim.

Tim is with his family getting ready to come to the folks house for said family dinner. I explain the issue, he says it could be a starter or a battery, he's on the way to help me out. So, I sit and wait. He arrives, my truck is still just giving a single click. Ok, lets pop the clutch and head to AutoZone. I'm not so good with the popping of clutches, so I push. Tim pops it and its off to AutoZone. We park kind of far away at the top of the hill, just in case we need to pop it again. Just in case you forgot, or don't live in St. Louis, it was raining last evening.

So, we pop the hood and look for the starter. Can't find it (Tim can't, I don't even know where to look, I'm lucky I know how to fill the gas tank). We go inside to see if they can show us a picture and maybe a location of the starter. A very nice lady comes to help us and we are able to locate the starter. At the bottom of the engine. Underneath the car. Only accessible by lying on your back (if you don't have a lift). Before I know it, Tim is on his back (did I say it was raining and wet?) figuring out how to take off the starter to we can have them test it.

About 4 trips inside and an hour later, we (and by "we", I mean Tim) have the starter off. Tim then notices that there is a little cable that looks like it should be plugged in and wasn't. Pretty close the new oil filter Jiffy Lube just put on.

You guessed it, the starter was fine. So, my brother just spent an hour on his back in the wet AutoZone parking lot getting greasy while his family is eating dinner to find out none of it was necessary. Awesome.

Then we hook it all back up and.....click. Are you serious? Come on! Try it again and.....starts right up. Phew!

So, I think I am left with no choice than to make Tim the awesomosity of the day. Wouldn't you?

In case you were wondering, I did get the new stereo installed (a little loose, but it works) and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

Do you like the new layout of the site? I have added a few things, let me know what you think.

Have a nomination for awesomosity or an idea for a poll? Comment on a post and let me know!

Only 5 visitors yesterday? Come on folks, share the love with everyone you know! I'll never make money from AdSense with 5 visitors a day! (By the way, my worst day before yesterday was 9 visitors)

Ok, enough already, here's my picture, taken in front of my mother's laundry folding table that doubles as a pool table.

Day 26

I can't believe I've made it this far. I couldn't have done it without you, faithful reader. So far 437 people have read my blog total. That's awesome.

On to the awesomosity. There is so much to choose from today. My leading thought coming here this morning was to have it be firefighter's funeral. Ryan Hummert died Monday in the tragedy in Maplewood. You can read more about it here. They say the funeral procession could be five miles long, with firefighters and other emergency service people coming from all over the country. That is awesome.

However, that seems like a bit of a downer, and I don't like downers, especially on this blog, so I have chosen a different awesomosity for today. Rain.

Normally I do not like rain, but the rain yesterday and through the weekend is great for so many reasons. I'll start with yesterday. Did you realize how cool (obviously comparitively, it was still like 80 or so) it was yesterday? My AC didn't run all day and I was very comfortable in my home.

I was supposed to have a baseball game (playing) last night at 9pm in East St. Louis at Jackee-Joyner-Kersee (I have no idea where the dashes go in her name, so I put them everywhere). Needless to say, who wants to be in East St. Louis from 9-11:30 at night? Besides that, I had to get up early yesterday and today, and haven't had a night at home in a while. I've had "The Bank Job" (great Jason Statham movie, but I like most of his stuff) sitting at home for almost a week and haven't had the chance to watch it yet, until last night.

What else is good about rain? Well, this Monday my mother will help me do some weeding in my yard, and more importantly, in my rasberry garden. All this rain will help out with pulling weeds.

Do you want to learn more about rain? Check these out:

Wikipedia (the definitive source for everything)

A kid's page about where rain comes from (much more comfortable conversation for parents than the old, "Where do babies come from?")

So, today, rain is awesome. So is my mother, which is why she is featured in today's picture of the day (also because she was still home when I got here, but she really is awesome!)

See you tomorrow! Don't forget to vote in the poll and leave me a comment!

Day 25

25 Days! Thats a quarter of 100 days, which is just over a quarter of a year, so, if my math is right, I'm like a 16th or so through the year!

Vote in my poll and comment on my posts. Please.

All right. Yesterday I had a pretty good idea of what todays aweomosity would be, and I was totally right. You see, as some of you know, I had a movie I helped make premiere at the St. Louis Filmmaker's Showcase last night at the Tivoli. And it was awesome. My film specifically, but the whole contest was awesome too. I was able to get a few of my friends to come see it, Ben and Erin Shepard. And they can back me up on what I'm going to do next. See, there were 16 shorts in this viewing, all comedies (well, all labeled as comedies), so I'm gonna give a one sentence review of all 16 (in alphabetical order so as to not show preference). So, here goes:

101 Damnations - Good quality film, good acting, somewhat funny, deserved to make the showcase.

Coffee - Good film that portrays a conversation between a father and son that work together; funny and well-made.

Dog Park - Animated short about dogs that was cute. Not funny, but entertaining.

The Doubtful Martyr - Easily got the most laughs of the night, very funny and well-made; special kudos to the Director of Photography (Ok, so this was my film, but most of what I just wrote was true).

Flapjacked - Odd film, I think about the downfall of art and commercialism in America, odd.

Four Squares - Mockumentary that could have been the best film of the night were it not for the noticeably bad quality

Gus Over Easy - wierd movie about a guy with sunny-side up eggs for ears. Seriously.

Lunchbreak - One of my favorites, though it did have quite a bit of foul language, but a guy died a rather gruesome death.

The Nightly Potato, Episode 5 - This is apparently an ongoing short film. This was computer animated debate between Clinton and Obama, also starring Tom Brokaw and the late Tim Russert, the only film that may have gotten more laughs than TDM.

Scalpel - No. This should have never been made, much less put in this contest.

Sugar - Easily the most professionally produced and expensive film of the night (they had Nat King Cole music in it, plus a lot of choreography, and I think they shot on actual film) very good, probably the "winner". I think Matt Wertz (the Christian singer) was involved.

This Really Happened - True story of an interview where the interviewer whooped out her boobs and started breastfeeding during the interview. Uncomfortable.

Three Days, Spencer - Wierd story of a troubled middle-schooler failing a grade for not speaking, then rips everyone a new one. Not great.

Tuesday - Winner of oddest of the night, this guy is just going through the motions until one Tuesday, he is suddenly surrounded, followed and befriended by lots and lots of pink flamingo yard things. Really wierd and not that good.

Two Fine Gentlemen Find a Dollar - Why are all these so wierd? It had its funny moments, I suppose.

The Ugly Turkey - Animated story of the plight of an ugly turkey, started the night off with some good laughs.

So, now that I have bored you with reviews of movies you will never see (except for the Doubtful Martyr, I have DVDs and will be happy to show anyone this awesomeness), I guess I'll just show you my picture of the day. Actually, today you get two, one was from yesterday, on the roof of an inspection, then todays in my folks basement.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it, talk to you all soon!!

Day 24

I can't believe (I before E, except after C...) I've made it this far! Go me! Don't forget to vote in the poll!!

For today's awesomeness, I'm gonna pull one out that I've been saving for a little while. You see, my family is pretty tight. I mean, we all get along fairly well and hang out regularly. Our most regular get togethers are family dinners, which we try to do once a week. This is challenging a lot of the time since my mother works a lot of late hours, both grandmas try to make it, I'm busy as all get out, and my brother and his wife have three kids. Organizing a time that works for all of us is a bit difficult most of the time. So, when we do get us all together for a meal, time is of the essence and meal preparation is usually done in advance. Except for some small things, which can be done quickly. Which leads me to the awesomeness of the day; the way my mother cuts up a watermelon.

I know what you're thinking, "But Ben, you said something that is done quickly. Who ever heard of a quick way to cut up a watermelon?" I know. Watermelon cubing takes forever, unless you're my mother (who learned this trick from a co-worker, Laura Calys). My momma took a fair sized watermelon from oval to cubes in under 4 minutes. I'm serious. So, I thought I would share with you how it was done, because it's awesome!

First, you cut the watermelon in half, right down the middle. Then you cut the halves in half (or quarter the watemelon for those keeping track). Once you have four quarters, take one and slice the knive between the goodness and the rind from both sides. Then you make 3-4 slices horizontal on each side. Then you cut straight down from the top and: voila! cubed watermelon!

For those that have no clue what I just said, here are some pictures, taken from here:

I know! It's amazing! Awesome even! And it takes like no time at all!

So, you want some watermelon, but you don't want cubes, right? Well, here is a link to Wikihow that shows another way to cut a watermelon. At the bottom of the page, there are several more links on how to do more fun stuff with watermelon, like a watermelon basket, or cutting a watermelon to look like a swan and stuff like that.

If you are just interested in everything watermelon (who isn't, really?) visit www.watermelon.org. Yes, watermelons have a website. What a crazy world we live in!

I hoep you enjoyed the post, even if it is slightly recycled material. Let me know what you think with a comment. By the way, I'm gonna put some tags into this post to see if more people come to visit me. (I've been getting 15-40 visitors a day for a while now, in case you were interested.)

Here's my picture of the day, taken with my wonderful father in his basement; come back tomorrow and see what's awesome! (I already have an idea what it's going to be, and it really is awesome!)

Day 3

3 Days. Dare I call it a streak? I think so. But we'll see after the weekend. I am going to OK City for the 4th, which should be a good time, but I don't know how easy it will be to keep this updated. I might try blogging from my phone, but I guess you'll just have to check back and see.

So, on to what is Awesome today. It's a song I have now just put on repeat on my iPod because I kept listening to it, probably 15 times since last night. Great song. I can't figure out if I like it because its a great song for me to sing along to in the car, which it is, or if I really like the lyrics. I do like the lyrics, even if I am not quite sure what they mean. I think they might be very apporpriate for my life now, but I'm not sure. The video doesn't give really any insight into what its about, they just had fun with flares and motorcycles. Either way, here is the video and the lyrics are below.


Artist: Snow Patrol lyrics
Album: Final Straw
Year: 2004
Title: Run


I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

Slower slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

So, there is today's awesomosity. Lemme know what you think.


Here is today's picture. I have been and will continue to do yard work, so I'm a little grubby, but you don't care, do you? You all love me anyway, and I love you all for that.

Day 1

Today's awesomeness comes from my best friend in the world, Brian. You see, it was my birthday Saturday. Brian and I got to hang out for several days last week, including a Tigers/Cards game in Detroit and some time having a spitting contest in a lake with his dad (ask me about that one, I dare you). Anyway, to finish our birthweek (his birthday was last Monday), we saw Rush Saturday night. Which leads me to the best thing for today: Neil Peart. Crazy good drummer for Rush. Check it out:






I have no idea when or where this solo is, but just know that he is amazing.

So, here is today's picture, which will be my profile pic on this here blog.

Make sure to check back tomorrow and find out what is awesome!