CAT | A year in USA
So we finally got to go to the Nascar races. Actually, we were very lucky. We managed to get the second race for free plus there wasn’t a lot of people that stayed behind so we got good seats as well. I got a cold after the race and I guess I should have stayed inside this weekend. Woke up Sunday morning with a nasty cold and inflammation on both eyes. So today I have only been staying in bed the whole day doing some work and resting. Feel much better and hope this goes away pretty soon. I get kind of nervous when I don’t get to go to the gym so I am really looking forward to go back there and then there is a big festival in Oklahoma that me and my friend are going to this weekend. Thursday-Sunday. Should be pretty fun. I have some pictures from the nascar races that I am going to upload as soon as I get the chance. I wish I would have more thing to take pictures of but I haven’t found any new exiting things. Guess I have to look around. My father is coming over soon in May so we might end up going to New Orleans for a couple of days. Not a lot of time left here now. Time flies by so fast when you are having fun. Still no decision made about this summers road trip but as i looks now I will be heading to California for a couple of weeks to chill out and also of course make a trip to Vegas and spend all my money (Just kidding).
So we decided to go to the nascar races this time as well since we had pretty fun last time. I was extremely tired from having been out the last 3 nights partying but I forced myself to wake early. Packed the car and headed over to wall mart to buy two cases of beer.
After that I headed to ponder to pick up my friend. We packed the ice chest fully loaded with beer and sandwiches and headed down to Texas motor speedway. It was supposed to rain at various time points through out the day, but it didn’t really bother us. We sat in the rain and talked with out rain clothes on. Outside the speedway they have tents that sell supporter stuff and some tents that hand out free stuff. I wanted a no 42 Juan Pablo Montoya cap so i bought that. I also had a friend working in one of the tents so we passed by her to she how she was doing. At least they didn’t become completely soaked like we did.
I got kind of pissed because they didn’t have any bathrooms like within half a mile from those tents so there was no where to go. I actually had to be kind of a bad boy and pee in the bushes.
We then headed over to one of our friends that has a motor home on one of the camping grounds. On the way over there we found out that the race had been postponed to 5 o clock so we figured that we would have plenty of time to just hang out at his place.
We watched a movie and ate some snacks, the rain never stopped……..
After a few hours we decided to head over to another friends place. On the way over there we heard that the race had been canceled and rescheduled to today. We walked all the way to the other side of the stadium. Took about 25 min. All the roads had become muddy and my jeans became dirty up to the knees. At this point i began to sober up and decided not to drink any more beer….
Over all we had a good time, but it sucked that we didn’t get to see the race. So now we probably have to go there tonight as well and watch the race.
Well you know, you come to a point where you don’t have a lot to write at the moment. Things are happening fast around you and suddenly you are back in the routines that you were trying to avoid by going to another country. The only conclusion i can draw from this little research is that it takes 5 months for me to get into the routines and start having boring days. I am not saying that I find Denton and Dallas to be a boring place its just that once you get settled down and you suddenly gain control and focus on your tasks, understand your routines and start knowing your way around you will eventually hit one or two days that are extremely boring. Denton is a nice city and I like it a lot but there is not a lot to write about it any more. I think I have described it pretty well. I am just hoping to hit the road soon and explore something new in this wonderful country. Denton is actually a wonderful place. I often compare it to lund. A smalll town with a university and pubs for the students.
Hey hey hey! The sun is up and we have beautiful weather. I think we are heading for summer soon!
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things that will irritate you at an America gym
1 Comment | Posted by admin in A year in USA
American gyms are not like the Swedish one. Some things are fairly similar but there are a couple of thigs that just pisses you of. Here is what you need to deal with.
First the people themselves. Most people will not leave their cell phone in the bag while they are working out. Fine, they might have an iphone and wants to listen to music while they are doing cardio but they are more focused on changing songs than to do the actual workout. They will pause the machine and change song for a while and then turn it of turn it on and keep going like that. This means that after 30 min they are still dry like a towel. Second they will answer a phone call at any time. They can be running in full speed on the mahine and still talk loudly on their phone with their friend about “What Maria did was just stupid I hate that B”tch!!”. Seriously focus on getting your workout done so the next person can use the machine. If you would have done the workout you were supposed to then you would be done 30 min ago.
Then we have the TV issue. There are large monitors mounted in front of the cardio machines, thats fine. However you go to the gym to work out not to watch your favorite show. The people at the gym will actually wait until their cardio machine infront of the tv with their program is free, which I dont really care about however they will not leave the machine until their show is done.
Another really annoying thing is that even if you are not supposed to rest in the machine, most people will do that. Two girls sitting next to each other can sit and talk about flowers for 10 min even though they see that you are standing and waiting for it.
No one brings a towel to clean the machine while youre done, even though they usually use a piece of paper to dry it of, but commin there is a big sign saying that you should bring one, why the heck don’t you do it then??
Then the gym itself. The purpose of the gym is not to help you get in shape its just about making bucks. So you can forget about free training with a personal trainer because thats not going to happened. Last time I checked it was like $ 60 for half an hour. So if your name is not bill gates then you can just ditch it. Another thing I have heard is that most trainers are not even more educated then you and me so if you need a good workout program google is your answer!
Well just some thoughts I had :p
The gym itself is awesome! I love it, twice as big as at home and a lot of machines.
Hey back in business. I have been out a lot lately trying to make new friends. It all started Thursday, I usually take it easy during the weekdays since I have to work but I like going out anyway for a few hours. We went down to frystreet and hanged out at Public house, one of my favorite bars (I’ll let you know why further down in this post). We shot some pool and talked to a bunch of people. I went home around 11. Then Friday night We took a cab dowm to frystreet again to do a pub crawl. Basically the same as the Swedish “Pub runda”. I guess we had a little bit to fun and I was freaking out on public house talking to everyone and making a complete donkey of myself of course. We went around to almost every pub that night, great time. Saturday night we went to the bowling alley. I used to be very competitive but I am not anymore. I think it is mainly because of the fact that I never win because I am bad in almost every sport so there is not really any point of getting upset. We played two rounds and I lost them both. However then I started of the last round with 3 strikes in a row then the two strikes later on again and I ended with two strikes. It game me a total score of 205 which apparently is really good. I got a “high score” on the computer screen and I went down in the history books (Just kidding about that last part). I was the designated driver and after the bowling we headed to fry street again. I didn’t really want to go to public house since I had been freaking out there the day before but my friends said that no one would remember it. When we came to the door the guy check my friends id but when i was going to show him mine he said: Not you Jonas, we know you, just take it easy tonight :p. Kind of embarrassing…. but still hillarious.
However when I came into the bar all the bartenders knew me as well apparently and I we didn’t even have to wait in the bar more than 5 seconds before they came over and started talking, so I guess the story ended pretty well.The weekend was awesome, I’m so happy that I met some people here to hang out with. Today I just took it cool, stayed at home and watched the Canadians take down the states in one of the biggest hockey game in history. I also baked two lasagnas, first time I ever do that but it went really well, they taste delicious. Oh, my house host is leaving the continent in April so I will be completely alone for a month, what will I do then?.
Oh yeh, sorry for not writing anything here for a long time. I have been very busy trying to set up the new page for the road trip I am doing this summer. you can find it here. Not a lot happening since last time I wrote. Pretty much the same standard routines. Work Gym clubbing. The Olympic hockey has started now so I guess I have to support Sweden. Hoping that they are going to play against the United States in the finals and that we will take them down. However we have a long way ahead of us while USA has nothing but smooth sailing. I have been really bad about taking pictures as well. But obviously I have posted most pictures from this area and it feels that I am pretty much done with it. Next5 time I go out I will bring my camera though I promise! Check my road trip page out! There you will find information about the incredible route I am planning for this summer. Everyone is allowed to join so if you have always wanted to do a road trip across the USA to see over 24 states in 2 months, this is your chance. We will end with Las Vegas!
Yesterday we went out to frystreet. I decided that for once I would live the car at my friends house and take a few. Brought some wine and vodka. We played a drinking game called zombie if I remember right. Its basically a card game where you have to guess what card that is going to be dealed to you. If you guess right you can make someone drink, if you guess wrong you have to drink yourself. After that we went down to frystreet and I ordered a long island ice tea. I don’t know why, it always end up in a disaster when I do that. However it was not like the italian ones, these had more soda in them so I survived. Suddenly everyone started to rush to the car and wanted to go and see a live band. Apparently I was next in line to order a round of shots to the people. So I looked in the bar for something that would tickle our taste. There it was the absolute vodka vanilla swedish power. Wonderful, after playing some pool that went completely out of hand I decided to be polite again and of course “Show the Americans how the Sweeds do it!!”. I asked the bartender for the strongest stuff they had and bought 5 of those. Thats was a stupid mistake. My friends just fell asleep on their chairs. After half an hour they decided that they wanted to go home. Some people were going to stay so I was feeling up to stay as well however I had to make sure that I got a ride home. As soon as we got inside of the door everyone went to bed. The party ended at 11. Thats how the Americans do it 
. It was a nice club though, I didn’t know that they had dance clubs in Denton. Hopefully I will go there again sometime.
Man sometimes I get so pissed at UPS delivery. Here is the story: I ordered some ties from an American company called RaffaelloNetwork. Really good site and I have been happy with that company so far. However I didn’t notice from the beginning that they ordered the ties directly from the supplier (Italy) and that they ship it from there. So it took longer time than I expected (My fault indeed). However UPS had a requirement that I have to sign for the package when it arrives since it was international (Doesn’t say anywhere!). Usually you can just sign on the back of the paper they leave on the door after their first delivery attempt and they will leave the package outside the door but since it was an International package I had to sign for it in front of them. So after 4 days including the weekend and 4 delivery attempts I contacted the office here in denton and told them that I would pick it up the same night at their pick up place instead. The person told me that the driver would call me when he was returning to the pickup place. He never called (This was yesterday). Today I called them and asked them if I could pick it up today instead. They apologized and said I could pick it up this afternoon. The driver calls a few hours later and wants to inform me that if I want it today I have to go all the way to the Dallas Airport because thats where it is being stored (Doesn’t say anywhere!). I got kind of pissed and asked him if he could bring the package to Denton tomorrow instead so I don’t have to drive all the way to Dallas, and he said it was ok. But seriously they could have made the information a little bit more clarified. Now I have been waiting for ever.
Back to business. Haven’t written now in ages except for some personal life stories. I have been out partying a lot with my friends that have finally come back after the Christmas vacation. Frystreet and frystreet again. Cant seam to get enough of it. I was down there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Played pool and “minglade” with people. We are back at the gym now again. I’m doing a workout called the 12 week program which seam to be really good. Basically you change routines every forth week so your body never has time to compensate. This lets you keep growing in muscle mass, you should check it out I can totally recommend it. There is a lot of people now at the gym as well unfortunately. Its when everybody has made their new year promises that they are going to get into shape. Hopefully most of them will disappear soon.
I have started to make the first sketches on my trip that I am going to do this summer. You can look at it here if you are interested. I will set up a homepage soon as well with more detailed information regarding the destinations. If you are interested to join just let me know. There is still not many people who has confirmed their interest so you are more than welcome to join. More about this soon.
Right now I just came home from the gym, ate 4 tacos with cheese and salad and am about to go into the shower. Then finally I will sit down with a laphroaig and watch Don’t mess with the Zohan. By the ay I watched a movie yesterday called RocknRolla, real gangster movie. Pretty cool. If you like gangster movies you should totally check it out.
Im sitting here in the cold living room with a cup of laphroaig wiskey to warm me up. I must say that Irish wiskey tastes just as good after having been shipped to the other side of the atlantic. I was kind of worried that the waves would have added some salty flavour to it. But then on the other hand, who knows that might have been really tasteful. Now I am alone here again in paradise. My family is gone and for the first time I am sitting in the sofa just relaxing. Went to Wingstop earlier and ate fried wings and fries. If you ever go there you should defenitely take the BBQ flavour, its the best. I like it but fried food doesnt go very well with my stomach.
After picking up a shake on the way home I watched Iron man again. It is a good movie but to bad that not everyone can watch it at the same time so we can move on. I heard there is a follower comming son on the theater.
I just missed the coolest thing on sparkfun.com apperently they were handing out stuff for one million dollars from 9 o clock in the morning a couple of days ago. Each customer could get stuff for 100 dollars with no catch. That means free electronic components for a 100 dollars. Well, I will catch it the next time its up.
Tomorrow its back to the gym to pump some iron. I have to get in shape for beach 2011 .
On the evening I will go to Fort Worth to drink some Margeritas which are supposed to be “the best”. We will see about that.
Later I will head over to Dallas to watch the Cowboys game in some bar.
Wow that was a lot of info in the same post I will write more tomorrow I promise!
