Guess I really am a manager of toilet bowls

My toilet in my house was impossible to flush. It took almost all of my body weight resting on the handle before the toilet would flush. Within a week or so, I had already snapped one toilet handle and having trouble with a second. Well, on August 9, 2011, it all became too much to bear.

I pulled out the google dictionary and found out that all I needed to do was to replace the flush valve seal. Simple!! Except one thing, I have no idea how a toilet works and where a flush valve seal goes. After a little more searching and effort, I had a new flush valve seal installed, and the toilet flushes like a charm now. I am a little concerned about losing the strength I've accumulated over the past month, but I think it's worth it.

KC Final Part

What made this trip so attractive was that I was able to get decent airfare, but I was required to take flights with a layover in Minneapolis in order to get the best price. My flight home wouldn't leave until 3 in the afternoon, getting me back to Phoenix around 7 in the evening. I figured I'd rest/sleep in the airport and everything would be fine.

After our arrival at the airport, we tried to settle in and get some rest. None of the seats were very comfortable and we quickly realized we were in for a very long night. We discovered another problem; the terminal was freezing! The taxpayers of KC must pay a fortune to keep the airport at what seemed to be a chilly 45 degrees! Having packed lightly, we were without warm clothing, so we just shivered and tried to get some sleep. When we discovered this was to be futile, we found a little area between the outer doors of the terminal and the inner doors to the terminal that was a little warmer than inside, however this comfort came at a price. The carpet was very course, there was a bad smell and there was constantly jazz music playing over the speakers. We decided that the warmer temperature was most important and tried to get some sleep.

This was a waste of time. After a few hours, I was thinking to myself "I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I am trying to sleep in an area that is neither inside nor outside, with music playing that is supposed to be soothing but that really makes me insane with anger." It was so ridiculous, I had my friend take a picture of me in our little area (see below) for documentation and we went back inside where we used the warmth of our laptops in our laps to stay warm. By morning, I hadn't slept hardly at all and I was concerned about my late departure. My mentally fatigued state had me very worried that I wouldn't get any rest for a long, long time, and I immediately longed to be home as early as possible. I tried to make calls earlier about changing the flight, but didn't get very good customer service and just gave up on the idea, but now this idea was planted in my head again. Not thinking it was going to be economical, I put it aside.

Worst night's sleep ever

By about 6:30 AM, my friend had gone to take his flight and I was left to await my flight in over 8 hours in a different terminal. I was using my computer outside of security, when I got a distinct and sudden impression in my mind "Pack up and go." This was not simply a thought, but almost a gentle urging in my mind. This was uncommon. I shut my lid on my computer, caught the shuttle and went to my terminal. As I traveled, I talked myself into why it made sense to go to my terminal. I figured, what was the harm? Maybe I could talk to someone that could change my flight or help me figure out how much it would cost. Maybe there would be better seats, a blanket, etc.

As I got there, I went to check myself in. As I walked up, I saw another man at the kiosk next to mine and immediately recognized him. He was Sunil Gulati, economics professor at Columbia University, and the President of the US Soccer Federation. He is the man ultimately responsible for all operations of the US Men's national team, the team I love and travel to support. He is comparable to a General Manager of a professional team, and he's certainly not a nobody. I didn't say anything to him, but watched him as he walked off and thought "Wow, I'm glad I packed up and left when I felt I should." It's not every day you see someone like Gulati checking into Delta with us.


Gulati is on the left in the above picture that was taken just a couple days ago when US Soccer announced it had hired a new coach named Jurgen Klinsmann.

Then I finished checking in at the kiosk and saw I had an option to change my flight and get home about 7 hours earlier for 40 extra dollars. I decided it was worth it and tried to swipe my card. It didn't work, and it told me to seek out an agent. I spoke to one, and she started typing into the computer. She informed me that there was a flight I could transfer to for free that was leaving in about 10 minutes and would get home by 12:00 PM.

HALLELUJAH!! She printed the tickets and I SPRINTED to security, stopping only to let the TSA take a naked picture of me.....I mean, uh, scan me for weapons. I made it home and got some much needed rest both on the plane and when I got back. I'm glad I listened to my little prompting.


All in all, a successful trip. Wish I could do it more often.

Kansas City

Ok, so I know that I kind of left the New York travelogue hanging, and believe me, there's more. For example, I never explained the case of the Mystery Liquid, which happened to me while in the City. It's such a mystery, I've considered having Poirot himself investigate it. I also never explained how I got Ryan and myself into a Jay-Z music video. But anyone that cares enough can ask me and I will explain it fully and thoroughly.

Onward and Upward, however, is what I always say. I've taken trips since then. Here's a brief write-up of a recent one.

There are generally competitions involving the National Team during summers. Last summer, we had the World Cup. This summer, we have the Gold Cup. It is basically the championship for North America, Central America and the Caribbean Islands. The tournament consists of a round robin phase followed by a knockout phase, very similar to the World Cup.

Tim and I decided to travel to Kansas City to watch the final of the three group stage games against Guadaloupe. Where is Guadaloupe, you might ask? Excellent question! It's in a little cluster of islands north of Venezuela. It's a French colony. They are a tiny nation, but have caused problems for teams in the Gold Cup before. We both figured it would be a fun game, we got fairly cheap airfare, so we decided to have a go.

We arrived at the airport around the same time, on different flights. After meeting up perfectly at the rental car facility, we got our car and took off for the stadium. The stadium was brand new, and I mean BRAND NEW. It had been open for a few weeks and only one game had been played there. We showed up to the stadium a few hours early, parked (for free!!), and set off on our adventure.

A new trend in stadiums is to build them near little shopping centers, or better yet, to build new shopping centers along with the stadiums. Local politicians are always more likely to vote for something that is going to "generate economic activity" and these little malls are used to say "Hey, you taxpayers should fund this stadium because....look at all the money traffic will generate at these malls!!" This stadium was built near an existing mall and we went and had a 5 guys burger and headed into the stadium.

This stadium was VERY nice. State of the art. I've included some pictures below.



My favorite part, however, was the "supporters club." There is a section of the stadium for the loyal supporters, and there is access to an inside, air conditioned, sports bar, complete with tvs and cheap liquor (from what I gathered). More on this later, but here's a picture of me and Tim with some steward in the supporters club. She jumped in the picture right as someone else took it.


We made our way to our seats to catch the first half of our doubleheader, Canada vs. Panama. We beat almost everyone else there, and grabbed the seats we wanted in the general admission area. They were right behind a goal post, as you'll see later. The first game was pretty boring, until Panama scored right at the end to tie it. This meant that the USA needed a draw to move into the next round.

The US game started, and the supporters section got warmed up. Chants of "I Believe that we will Win!" and other such chants began. Very energetic, and good crowd. The USA dominated play, but only managed to get one goal for all their efforts. Jozy Altidore hit an absolute screamer in about the 10 minute and that was all the scoring we needed. 1-0, USA.

Here is a video taken from by me of Clint Dempsey taking a free kick. Not bad.



After the US won, we were in no hurry to go fight traffic, so we mulled around the stadium, when we heard noise coming from the supporters club. We walked in and saw a hundred or so people gathering and chanting. We wandered over, and decided to join in. Here's a noisy and shaky video I took while in the group.



It was a lot of fun in there, and we finally got hot enough and tired enough to head back to the car and drive to the airport. Here's where I'll cut off for now and finish up tomorrow.

My religion discussed on "Red Eye"

I love Red Eye. It's the only show about current events/news that I will watch because it is funny, and I feel better about myself after I've watched it. Contrast this with the horrible feelings I get whenever I watch network news and see the terrible things going on in the world.

The recent presidential bids of Romney and Huntsman have kind of pushed our faith into the spotlight a little bit. The guys on Red Eye discussed the LDS church a little bit and I thought it was funny enough to link to.

Of course, I highly recommend watching the whole thing because the show is just awesome, but the section I refer to begins at 2:20 and ends at about 6:00. It's some interesting discussion.

Isaac, check this out

Hilarious.

The Outlaw Experience

Sitting with the American Outlaws for the game means one very fundamental thing. You stand. The whole game. When we showed up before the game, the Outlaws were already standing. We assumed the position.

Standing with the Outlaws means another thing. You chant. You sing. You yell. You do everything within the rules to give your team an advantage. Throughout the game, we participated in many different chants. I was familiar with many of these chants and songs; some of them, I was not familiar with. Here is a list of a few of them that I remember. Salty language has, of course, been removed.

(to the tune of Yankee Doodle)

Come on Yanks go score a goal, it’s really _________ simple.

Put the ball into the net and we’ll go ___________ mental.

Da-da-da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da-da-da

Da-da-da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da-da-da

(to the tune of Chim-Chiminy)

Tim-timiny, tim-timiny, tim-tim teroo

We’ve got Tim Howard and he says ______ ____!

(to the tune of Camptown Races)

Everyone South of the Rio Grande, you cheat, you cheat.

Everyone South of the Rio Grande, you cheat all the day.

(some random tune)

Same old Messi, always cheating!

Same old Messi, always cheating!

There were many others, most of them involving “USA”. I really think that we are lacking some outstanding chants here. Maybe most other countries are in the same boat. It’s not like club teams like Manchester United and Fulham where the fans spent 38 weeks a year more concerned about that team than about their national teams. They have the time to just come up with new chants all the time. Maybe we just need to be more creative. I really like that we have just grabbed onto the whole Revolutionary War theme. It’s really the best theme we could have going for us.

When the teams come out for the game, they come out together in two lines. Usually they are accompanies by a young kid who gets to line up next to one of their heroes. The FIFA anthem plays as they marched out and we all held up our USA scarves. It’s a great atmosphere and it’s very unique to soccer. I think some other sports could do with what they do. March out the starters and introduce them simply. None of this pyrotechnic, noisy, flashing atmosphere’s like in the NBA.

When the teams were lined up for the national anthems, Argentina’s anthem was sung first. They had a singer come in and the stadium got quiet. The Outlaws in front of us got us to quiet down and shushed anyone that tried to distract from their national anthem. I liked this a lot, I grow tired of people that whistle and boo through our national anthem, which has been known to happen in Mexico and other parts of Central America. I held my USA scarf up most of the time during their national anthem.

Then as our anthem was about to start, I saw some movement below me. The hardcores near the field level had brought a massive flag and were handing it back to the row behind them, who passed it on to the row behind them. Before we knew it, the flag was over us and we were all jumping and hitting it from underneath to make it move. The anthem was going by then and we all sang along under the flag while making it wave. It was really cool. Tim’s friend Brandon got some video of it, and I’d like to make sure I get it as well. After the anthem was over, we passed the flag back down and I thought that was the end of the flag.

I found some video of it and here it is. It was taken by someone else, but you can spot Ryan in this video towards the beginning. Pardon our singing. Our voices aren't that good to begin with, and they're made worse by our incessant yelling.

During the game, most of the hardcore chanters were about 15 rows in front of us and they were the ones that started the chants. Since they were chanting toward the field, we had a hard time hearing what they would. Fortunately there were a couple selfless guys that came back into other sections and listened carefully for the cheers and would turn around and got us going up to speed with the others. They were kind of like drum majors in a marching band that were peppered around the supporters section to get us all on the same page. The one that was near us was great; he’d turn around and really get us fired up and doing the right chant at the right time. Energetic. That’s the kind of person we need in our supporters sections all over the world to rally Uncle Sam’s Army and the American Outlaws.

Here is some video of the guy that was our leader of cheers, taken by someone else. I couldn't really see us, but we might be there somewhere.

After the goal was scored, it was just pandemonium in the supporters section. People jostling each other, screaming, laughing, jumping. Before I knew it, the flag was coming back up again and it ended up over us again. Here is some video of what it was like in there, taken by someone else. It's pretty much exactly what it looked like for me.

It got up there so quick, I really couldn’t figure out who the goal scorer was. But who cared?? We made the flag wave and cheered and yelled to the extent that we could. During this time under the flag, I felt some kind of muscle in my stomach do something weird. I was instantly concerned I had torn a muscle of given myself a hernia of some kind. I put my finger on it and it hurt quite a bit. But that was of secondary importance. We were level with Argentina!! We’ll deal with the medical ramifications later.

The game ended 1-1 and the players started to trudge off the field. The Americans made their way over to us and applauded our section. During most of the game, I had no idea if the players could hear us or not, but their applause seemed to indicate that they had heard us. We applauded back, and chanted the names of various players until most of them were gone. The Outlaws started to disperse. We stuck around for a while in the freezing cold, snapped a few more pictures, and headed out.

When I got home from the trip, I got online and saw that video of the game we attended was archived, so I turned it on and watched it. You could clearly here the fans singing the anthem. It was really cool. They showed the flag on TV and I could point out to my parents where I was. Once the game started, you could hear most of the chants we did as well. We aren’t as loud as the England fans or the Turkish fans, but it was neat to hear our contributions.

I loved my experience with the Outlaws, foul language aside. When I get married and have a family of my own, I probably won’t be able to sit with the Outlaws again until my kids are grown. And even then, I’ll probably be too old to really be with the kids in the supporters section. Therefore, I am going to sit with the Outlaws at every game I attend where my wife is not with me. I love cheering the Yanks on.

The Action

The action on the field was quite interesting. The USA’s glut of central midfield players pushed Bob Bradley to put the team in a 4-2-3-1 formation that looks as follows.

When I saw the lineup, I was encouraged that we would be able to strike a real balance of possession and combativeness in the midfield. Jones and Dempsey and Donovan would help maintain the possession and Bradley and Jones and Edu would hopefully make it difficult for Argentina to attack us up the middle and force them out wide.

(Back: Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Carlos Bocanegra, Tim Howard, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Jermaine Jones; Front: Jonathan Spector, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore)

This strategy proved to be half successful. Argentina did attack us out wide. Plenty.

Unfortunately, they also attacked us up the middle. At will. The first half was essentially one-way traffic, with Messi leading the charge. Our boys did a good job of swarming him, but it usually took at least two or three people to force him to pass it, and when he would, it was usually a brilliant pass, accompanied by a darting run into a dangerous portion of the field. What amazed me most was how Messi found and used space. He always created just enough space to squeeze a pass through and he always seemed to find little cracks of space to squeeze into in order to receive a pass. He was incredible.

Lionel Messi bedevils two Yanks

When they weren’t attacking up the middle, there were plenty of players like Esteban Cambiasso that would ping the ball wide to Argentina’s wingers. A typical possession of Argentina consisted of sucking the whole American defense into the middle and then sending the ball out wide. Poor Carlos Bocanegra must have sprinted from the box out to the wing 10 times in the first half. Suck us in, then stretch us out.

Fortunately, we had a few weapons at our disposal. Tim Howard was absolutely immense in the first half. When Argentina’s wingers would get to the endline and cross, Howard often found a way to claim it. If he didn’t claim it, he deflected it. If he didn’t deflect it, Jay Demerit interfered enough to prevent a goal. Amazingly, we were still level at 0-0 until the 43 minute. Messi got to the endline, nutmegged Bocanegra somehow, and another Argentina player shot. Tim Howard produced a brilliant save, but Esteban Cambiasso fired the rebounded into the roof of the net. The half ended 0-1 to Argentina.

Cambiasso gives ARG the lead

At halftime, Coach Bradley made several changes, two of which were notable. Timmy Chandler, a German born son of an American serviceman, and Juan Agudelo came on for us. Chandler took Spector’s spot and Agudelo came on for Jones, and we immediately looked better. Chandler, playing in his very first game for the Yanks, started to relentlessly attack up the right side. Better yet, he produced good crosses. Agudelo started linking up with Altidore and Dempsey.

All this culminated in a free kick from Landon Donovan from about 45 yards out. He sent the ball into the box and Carlos Bocanegra got his head on it and directed it goalward (doesn’t he seem to do this an awful lot?). The keeper made a great save, but was unable to hold it. Juan Agudelo played the role of Juanny-on-the-spot and poked it in. When it went it, my view was such that I only saw the net move. Upon replay, we saw that Agudelo had slowed his run, twisted his body, and squeezed the ball between the hands of the keeper and the post. It was a goal that was, in actuality, far more difficult than it appeared at first glance.

Have a look.

The stage was set for a frantic finish, with both teams chasing a winner. Unfortunately, neither team really got close to grabbing that winner. The game ended 1-1 and, had this been a World Cup game, it would have been a point gained for the US and two lost for Argentina.

In evaluating our team, there were several players that acquitted themselves as winners. Tim Howard, Jay DeMerit, Clint Dempsey, and Michael Bradley all played well. The real stars, however, were young Timmy Chandler and Juan Agudelo. Those that didn’t play well were Jonathan Spector, Jermaine Jones, Oguchi Onyewu, and Landon Donovan. Donovan, while he provided the freekick that led to the goal, was very quiet and did not impose himself on the game.

We left the game, thrilled to have witnessed the Yanks obtain a decent result and to have witnessed our defense match wits with perhaps the greatest player ever.