National Guard Weekend

As I write this post I am on a bus on the I17 northbound headed for flagstaff. My friend David and I are going to the national guard drill weekend as guests.

David told me earlier that this weekend is map reading and navigation, at the moment this is an in confirmed rumor. We have pt in the morning. We are sure it is going to be 2 min push ups, 2 min sit ups, and a 2 mile run. All before breakfast. So the faster I run the faster I get to eat. Way to get a fat man to haul ass.

For dinner tonight we had Little Ceasars and got called fat. Go figure!

Three hour drive in a really old school bus style bus with 33 other people and almost no AC and 100 degree temp outside.

WHAT I LEFT MY WATER IN MY BAG ON THE OTHER BUS!

Have a happy and healthy week

Remember to click follow to save a box of chihuahuas.

Thomas Gould

"Don't Let Anybody Poop on Your Ice cream!" ~Thomas Gould

~Thomas Gould

PRELUDE

At every junction of your life you have a choice.

• When your alarm goes off in the morning do you get up or hit the snooze. 
• If you hit the snooze then you are greeted with that same choice all over again. 

Each decision has benefits and consequences that you have to weigh when you make your decision.

• If you hit the snooze 
• get a few more minutes of sleep
• no time for the three "S's" Shower, Shave, and Poo

• If you do not hit the snooze 
• lose precious minutes of sleep 
• don't smell like booty at work (this is not the kinda booty you find in a pirates chest)

Every decision you make boils down at some point to a true or false statement
in our snooze button example it is complicated yet easy:

• Do I hit snooze? Yes/No - Easy but complicated by other questions
• Did I get enough sleep? Yes/No - Easy but again complicated but by a definition or another question
• Definition: How much sleep is enough sleep - answer may be as simple as a predefined constant 8 hours. Then - did I get that much sleep? Yes/No
• Question: Am I still tired? Yes/No - Again a yes or no question (starting to see the pattern.)

Not all decisions are as easy to break down into a intelligent yes or no answer. example:

• Do I love my girlfriend/boyfriend? Yes/No - You may be able to answer the question but not the why of the answer - this a place a lot of fights start.
• Does (s)he have the right color hair
• Is (s)he in the right age range
• Is (s)he mature enough
• does (s)he have/make enough money - this is a question a lot of people ask themselves

THE POINT

Everyday you meet hundreds of people.

You pass them in the street as you walk or stand behind them in line. No matter the case they all have an affect on your life

YOU have to decide how you will let those people affect you.

Do you risk a bad day on that turd in the grocery store, or do you pretend he does not exist and have a happy day?

Do you let the fight that your spouse started over breakfast this morning take over your day, or do you resolve the fight and put it out of your mind?

In every minute of your life you have to decide how to deal with what has come, is upon you, or will come. How you have dealt with what has come or how you deal with what is upon you may affect how you deal with what is to come.

Example:

Your boss is a jerk and you feel over worked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Your boss just spent the last two hours lecturing your team for missing a deadline and your team leader blames you. Now your boss wants to see you in private. He begins to yell at you for your portion of the project not being completed and then pauses for a response.

You have some choices at your disposal and each one has benefits and consequences that need to be included in the decision making process. I am not here to say which one of the choices is better or worse because in each situation that options may not have the same effect.

1. Apologize for your portion being late and if possible give an estimate of completion.
• Benefit: you MAY not get shouted at anymore
• Consequence: You are accepting responsibility for a project being late.
2. Point the blame somewhere else (the team leader is always a popular choice)
• Benefit: You are no longer solely responsible for the failure
• Consequence: Making excuses is frowned upon by most management and will probably not get you into the team leader position in the future.
3. Call your boss out saying that it was impossible to meet the deadline
• Benefit: You feel better (for now) because you got your frustrations out
• Consequence: if you are the only on the team that feels this way then you may not have a job in the near future.
4. Quit! I don't need this turd
• Benefit: You no longer have a project to complete, boss to deal with, co-workers to compete with.
• Consequences: YOU DO NOT HAVE A PAYCHECK (seems like I made that into a bad option, huh? - not so... rich people do not need to keep menial jobs)
5. Say Nothing <- DO NOT DO THIS
• Benefits: Hopefully you are having a stroke and you probably won't need this job in a few minutes anyway
• Consequences: You will look like an incompetent ass and assuming you're not having a stroke you should start looking for another job because (if you do not get fired) your boss is going to be on you like dirt on the ground
• Yes that is a horrible decision, you should never not say anything (Unless you are having a stroke)

The point of the point is that no matter what you do in life (even if it is to have a stroke in a meeting with your angry boss) you have to do what will make you happy yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Sometimes that decision is to just do what you have to while you look for something better.

THE SUMMARY

Live life in a way that will make you happy. Do not let other people do the things they do that creates a poop on your ice cream. Finally try not to have a stroke while discussing your failures with your boss... there are much better times to have a stroke... in an ambulance or hospital, in front of a paramedic or doctor, or on the toilet... to name a few.

Thanks for reading!
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Have a happy and healthy week!

"Don't let anybody poop on your ice cream!" ~ Thomas Gould
"Don't poop on other people's ice cream!" ~ Thomas Gould

Thomas Gould

A Healthy Snacker is a Happy Snacker!

Nature Box - Happy Snacker

For father's day my kids gave me a Happy Snacker Nature Box.

What is a happy snacker nature box?

it is 2 bags each of five healthy snacks.

What? You want to know what I got in my nature box?

Well here you go :)

• Whole Wheat Strawberry Figgy Bars
• Seaweed Rice Pops
• Citrus Chipotle Chickpeas
• Sourdough Cheddar Pretzels
• Country Ranch Sunflower Seeds

Not very helpful?

I don't think so either so I included pictures and some general information below.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Figgy Bars

These are my favorite part of this box, I tore through an entire bag in the first day.

 They are a little dry but that comes with being Whole Wheat.

Each bag contains 5 1.2 oz bars

Important things to consider:

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories per serving: 130
• They are made from the most amazing fruit ever grown STRAWBERRIES

Because of the small serving size and the number of calories that each bar is worth and how hard it is to stop eating them you can quickly consume all of them or to many for one day. Luckily there are only five in a bag.

Seaweed Rice Pops

Theses are my second favorite Item out of the box. They are cute little balls of crunchy rice with little seaweed patches on them. When you first put them in your mouth they are kind of sweet and by the end of chewing them you get the tart savory taste of the seaweed.

Each bag is 5 oz of Seaweed Rice Pops

Important things to consider:

• Nutritionist Approved
• Vegan
• Serving Size: 1/3 cup
• Servings per bag: ~4.5 (~ means approximately or about)
• Calories per serving: 130

It is possible that you end up eating the whole bag but I do not think they warrant more than a handful or so every couple of hours. A serving suggestion on the bag is to add them to a wrap which actually sounds pretty delicious.

Citrus Chipotle Chickpeas

My wife thought I would like these because I like to spice it up sometimes. I was actually quite disappointed, I was expecting a fiery pop in each bite but there was no really spice it was just the kind of bland taste of the chickpea with the kind of rustic taste of a pepper. 

each bag is 4.75 oz

Important things to consider:

• Nutritionist Approved
• Vegan
• Serving Size: 1/3 cup
• Servings per bag: ~4.5 (~ means approximately or about)
• Calories per serving: 130

There is no way I would this entire bag in one sitting. If I decide to eat anymore of them I will probably only eat a few at a time. I do like chickpeas but not in a roasted covered in peppers form.

Sourdough Cheddar Pretzels

I love sourdough and I love cheddar cheese but I hate pretzels so it was a toss up if I would like these.

Can the two goods outweigh the bad?

Not in this case! I do not like these and could not eat more than... luckily my kids like them :)

Each bag is 5 oz

Important things to consider:

• Nutritionist Approved
• Hint of Beer
• Serving Size: 9 pieces
• Servings Per Container: ~5
• calories per serving: 120

If you like these little sour cheese beer bombs then watch your calories as you scarf the whole bag down. I fortunately do not have this problem as this is one of very few foods that make me gag.

Country Ranch Sunflower Kernels

Sunflower seeds can be fun to eat especially if they are in the shell and you like to spit. These sunflower seeds are not in the shell but as long as you are eating them by themselves they are still fun to eat. 

The ranch flavor is very subtle and easily over powered by anything else. 

Each bag is 5 oz

Important things to consider:

• Nutritionist Approved
• Serving Size: 1/4 cup
• Servings per Container: ~4.5
• Calories per serving: 190
• Non-GMO Sunflower Kernels

1/4 cup of sunflower seeds is a lot of sunflower seeds but since you're not having to shell them orally as you go small handfuls or just dumping the bag into your mouth will add up. at 190 calories per serving it is the second highest costing food in the box this month.

I love my Nature Box there is only one problem with it... there is not enough food to last me the whole month and when we get next months there will definitely not be enough for all four of us.

I hope you all have a happy and healthy week.

Thomas Gould