The Worst Blog Ever

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

Philippe the Original
2008-02-17 03:32:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Philippe the Original , originally uploaded by Rick O!. I decided to play with mass transit today and took the Metro Red Line all the way to Union Station. My goal? To have lunch at Philippe's and to enjoy a tasty French Dip. This is the place that invented the french dip so its got to be good right? Right! It may have been crowded, I may have had 15 teenagers in front of me who decided to join their chaperon in front of me. But I was in no hurry to eat and decided to be patient and friendly. When I finally got to the front of the line I ordered a Double Dip Beef sandwich, Kosher pickle, macaroni salad and a tasty ice tea. All that for under 9 bucks..OK, a little pricey but oh so worth it. If you decide to head over to Philippe's don't forget to add a little of their homemade HOT mustard...you only need...
More About: Southern California , City of Los Angeles , Downtown Los Angeles

D9 at the Dump...and a Bunch of Core Boxes
2008-02-16 01:17:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 0215081552.jpg, originally uploaded by Rick O!. We cleaned out our storage units today of all the core which has accumulated over the last nine years. Then we went to the dump and tossed all the boxes from our second load. The first load of boxes went into the dumpsters at the office. When this D9 passed by the first time and exposed a fresh layer of nastiness, I almost lost it... It took me about two minutes to overcome my urge to puke.
More About: Valencia , Core

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone
2008-02-15 03:41:00
I hope everyone spent lots of money today on cards, flowers and candy. Every little bit helps out the economy. Thanks for buying into the mainstream American version of L-O-V-E!My only Valentine's Day memory involves a classroom full of 2nd graders and a creepy music teacher at Deerfield Elementary School in Irvine, CA. "It's Valen-TINE's day, not Valen-TIMES day". Ooohhh...still creepy after all these years.
More About: Happy

Gas Farts...or How I Came to Love Flickr Stats
2008-02-13 09:03:00
It is really interesting to see how people get directed to your web page, blog, flickr page etc... I was going through the new Flickr Stats for my page and noticed that Yahoo Search has directed a number of people my way. So I kept clicking and saw that one of the search terms which directed people to my site was "gas farts" so I had to follow that lead and clicked that link. The results? Nothing more than Carson playing with a compressed air duster in my office. AMAZING! Right at the top...This really ranks up there with people getting directed to my blog by searching for Seth Dee and Urine Therapy. Totally Awesome. I love the internets and the strange things people search for on the internets. God Bless Gas Farts and Flickr Stats.
More About: Love , Yahoo search

National Geographic Loves UNM
2008-02-12 06:28:00
So I spent the evening mostly watching the National Geographic Channel and the show Naked Science. I was specifically watching the "Grand Canyon " and "The Rockies" episodes. Both of which were very good and interesting. It's funny because the two episodes made me very nostalgic for college. Why? Well, primarily because these two episodes were a virtual UNM love fest! That's right people, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UNM is full of experts on the southern Rocky Mountains and they shined quite well. First, there was Karl E. Karlstrom (as highlighted in the video below at about minute 2:40). Karl was my structural professor and I TA'd Advanced Field Camp for him. Then Laura Crossey appeared. Laurie was my undergraduate adviser, and guided me during my first attempts at research up in the Jemez Mountains. If you ever get the chance I suggest challenging her to a game of Horseshoes, she is a fierce competitor and professional trash talker. Finally, John Gei...
More About: New Mexico , National Geographic

It's February!
2008-02-11 02:41:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } It's February !, originally uploaded by Rick O!. February Christmas Tree? Someone must have really been in the holiday spirit o keep this ratty-ass piece of tender on display for so long. I know this was only recently left on the curb (illegal in LA by the way) because all the trees illegally dumped in january have all been picked up! I really don't like the lazy assholes who dump their couches, chairs, mattresses, and 3 month old christmas trees on the sidewalk. It really makes my nice little neighborhood look like shit! Thanks Jackass!

Ida-Whore the Movie
2008-02-11 01:03:00
A little Animoto video of our time in Ida-whore. I'm glad we all got out alive and without any diseases.
More About: Movie , Whore , The Movie

Single-Use Only
2008-02-08 19:26:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Single -Use Only, originally uploaded by Rick O!. If the CPR mask within this little bag is for one use only, why is the package reclosable? I guess probably for disposal of the used shield...I just thought it was kind of funny at first. On the health front, my blood pressure is back to normal. It's amazing what getting out of Idaho can do for your health!

My Former Beat...
2008-02-03 20:50:00
During the tail end of grad school I took a full time job with the County of Bernalillo in Albuquerque working as an Environmental Health Scientist within the Office of Environmental Health. Besides the inspection of new septic systems and the abandonment of old systems, one of my duties was to "patrol" and investigate and monitor illegal dumping of solid waste on the west mesa of Albuquerque, also known as Pajarito Mesa. This is an areas which is rarely patrolled by the BernCo sheriff's department and is populated by 100's (maybe close to 1000) of squatters. I'm not talking about a tent here or a van there, I'm talking about permanent compounds set up with trailers, miscellaneous farm animals, and lots of weapons. The area is one of the more prominent areas for the production of meth, and truly has a wild west mentality about it. One of the most visible problems on the mesa are the illegal dumping activities which take place on a daily basis. KOB.com, the local NBC affili...
More About: Beat

Update to My Update
2008-01-29 23:40:00
In regards to the update I added to my last post: There will be no more planned "grout shift" for us out here and I will be heading home Thursday morning via Las Cruces, NM and then on to Orange County and Sherman Oaks. It appears that our client or our clients client felt they did not need to pay for geologists to over see the grout operations. And I kind of agree with them, especially since our client and our client's client don't give a fuck about this project anymore and are trying to cut their losses as best they can. Anyway, I should be getting out of here on Thursday morning, after one last night in Boise Wednesday night.This is great, I'll be heading to Las Cruces, NM first for the 4 day break and then flying home to CA from New Mexico (El Paso, really) on Monday. I am very excited about this. I get to see Angela and hang out for the weekend before having to return to the office and get back to work. Very nice!
More About: Update

Headed Home?
2008-01-27 16:42:00
The plug has been pulled on the Idaho job and I am heading home towards the end of the week. We still have a fair bit of work to do in order to close out everything and officially move away from Idaho, but for the most part everything is finished and buttoned up. We primarily just have to move out of the rental houses and abandon 20 or so holes. The holes will certainly take the longest to finish. I hope that gets taken care of by Thursday so I can head out of town as soon as possible!I am very happy to be heading home. Idaho kind of sucked, and getting the flu last week really killed all the excitement and desire I had for being out here. So I say good riddance to Idaho. I hope I don't have to come back any time soon. Here you go Fruitland, Idaho, a BIG FUCK YOU just for you!1/29/08 UPDATE: I may get forced into returning for a "grout shift" next week. Unfortunately, I am one of the better candidates since I already have a return ticket to Boise after I fly out for the week...
More About: Home

Ice Sculpture
2008-01-20 22:26:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Ice Sculpture , originally uploaded by Rick O!. This is the fountain outside the duplex we are renting in Fruitland, Idaho. I have no idea why they (the landlords? the HOA? the housing development?) keep the water running during the winter, but it certainly looks neat. I am certainly enjoying the progressively thicker and thicker accumulation of ice. In the two photos I've posted here you can see the accumulation which has occurred over the last week or so. I also shot a movie for no other reason than to post it here on this blog for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Mud Hens
2008-01-13 03:09:00
These guys are two little bitches. Last night Seth and Jamey managed to get a 4x4 truck stuck in the snow and mud with about 2000 lbs of weight in the back AND with chains on the tires. This is the thanks I get for fulfilling every request and desire of these guys. Specifically, that's the last time I make pizza for these fellas.Everyone knows who Seth is because he provides so much material for me to blog about that I have a bad habit of discussing his antics in this blog. But as for Jamey he is a whole other level of trouble. Seth is from the great white north of Wisconsin, where all they do is eat yellow cheese and cheer for a crap ass football team lead by a drugged up meathead who should have retired years ago. The problem with Jamey is he is from the southern part of the United States and as such is quite the hell raiser and likes to drink cheerwine while eating rodents with cheese grits, and drives around in a giant American pick-up truck outfitted with a huge gun rack o...

Snowing in the Night
2008-01-11 21:35:00
It was another cold night in the wildlands of western Idaho. It even snowed for a little while which was nice. In fact the snowflakes were huge as you might be able to see in these two videos. Enjoy!
More About: Night

A Little TLC
2008-01-11 04:50:00
A little TLC is good for everyone. Tim L. Crisco (TLC) is the Enercon Site Safety Officer at the Little Willow site. Which means he is the ultimate responsible party ensuring the safety of everyone on site (since Enercon is the main contractor). You would think the primary mode for ensuring a safe work place would be doing the occasional inspection of site conditions (a daily check is not too much to ask for). Unfortunately for us TLC is well meaning, but ultimately lazy safety officer, whose stated goal is to minimize the amount of paperwork he has to do. Therefore, he does not do any safety checks. In fact, once the weather started to get all wintery and cold (i.e. hazardous) TLC has basically refused to leave the relative comfort of the field office. Reports from the crew suggests TLC has not driven around the job site since mid November! We have offered to drive him up there to check on things since he doesn't have a company truck and the 4x4 Mules provided to him by hi...

Night has fallen...
2008-01-10 07:25:00
The night shift has officially begun so I shot a video for you all to enjoy. I'm really only posting the video because it stars one of the more interesting WLA employees...Seth. Seth love live almost as much as he loves my blog. Which is a lot.I have strangely written about Seth before and actually the page counter at the bottom of the page documents the number of page visits to this blog since I last discussed Seth in this blog. Scarry I know. Why do I continue with all this...I have no idea. All I know is that Seth loves Jebus and as a member of the Jebus Army he wishes he could have been a leader of the Jebus Army. Specifically, Seth wishes he could have been Pope of the Jebus Army. But not in our current day and age, oh no! Seth clearly stated this evening that he wishes he could have been Pope back in 500 B.C.! That is right folks, he wishes he could have lead the Jebus Army 500 years before Jebus even was a twinkle in Jebus's Daddy's Eye! Granted, he figured it wo...
More About: Night , Fallen

It's Cold in Idaho...but it's colder at night.
2008-01-09 07:15:00
Today was my first day back on the job in Idaho since earlier this year and things have certainly changed! First of all it's winter, I was last out here in the summer (I think?), second of all it snowing! Who would have thought that Idaho got snow! OK, I knew they got snow here, and I'm prepared for it. Therefore, it is not that bad.Today went well, it was cold, windy, and it snowed 6 inches through out the day, but overall it was a good day. Then the project management decided that night shifts were needed, so of course I volunteered, because I'm a team player like that. My official night shift will run from 4 pm to 2 am +/- 2 hours or so (almost always +, almost never -). Thankfully, the WLA guys working with me at night are two of the best in the bunch and it will work out alright. It still will be bitterly cold, and crappy. Tomorrow will primarily be the crappy day, because prior to the this night shift idea comming up, a number of temp workers were hired to move a co...
More About: Cold , Night

Off to Idaho.
2008-01-07 08:02:00
Well, I am heading off to Idaho for the next couple of months. I am looking forward to the good times associated with working outside day after day in freezing temperatures. I don't promise regular posts but I will certainly try to keep people updated on how things are going out there, and maybe I'll post the occasional picture of me or members of the crew freezing their asses off logging core in the cold. Don't forget about me while I'm busy working in the great white north.

More LA Blogosphere Love!
2008-01-02 23:00:00
Thanks to Curbed LA for including my photo "Valley Fog" in their "Curbed Awards '07: Neighborhoods, II: Best Photos" category! Pretty sweet to see a photo I took while just playing around with my camera in the fog. I know I've posted about this photo before (here and here) so I don't feel the need to repost the photo...oh what the hell, WHY NOT!Thanks again to Curbed LA for the love.
More About: Love , Blogosphere

Say It Ain't So!
2008-01-01 05:58:00
Take the Emo Quiz at QuizRocket.com!Make Your Own Quiz

Shotgun Blast
2007-12-24 02:38:00
Shotgun Blast , originally uploaded by Rick O!. Yes, it's true...I love Albuquerque. I love ABQ for many reasons. Too many reasons to go into here. But here is one of them...vehicles with bullet wounds. I'm sure there are plenty of places to see cars with bullet holes in LA, but I never come across them. But in ABQ (or NM in general) it is not an uncommon sight. I saw this car in the parking lot for Que Huong Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of Louisiana and Central. This location is significant because it marks the beginning of the Southeast Heights...or as most everyone in Albuquerque calls it..."The War Zone". Which is one of the seedier parts of town. Anyway, why is this one of the reasons why I love ABQ? I guess because people in Albuquerque just don't give a fuck about what other people think. It is essentially "you can do, act, or behave anyway you want for as long as you want as long as it doesn't affect me, but once it affects me watch out because I'm ...
More About: Shotgun

Does Van Etten Drink This?
2007-12-22 18:12:00
Mother nature will be like "slooow doooown", but you'll be like "FUCK YOU" and kick her in the face with your Energy Legs!This could be the best energy drink ever, if GVE is not drinking this he should start and then he would really be Van Awesome!
More About: Drink

1221071500.jpg
2007-12-21 23:05:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 1221071500.jpg, originally uploaded by Rick O!. Our first snow storm at the NM house!

1219070914a.jpg
2007-12-19 17:35:00
1219070914a.jpg, originally uploaded by Rick O!. After almost four years in the making the New Mexico Hacienda is now complete! We started moving in things yesterday and it should be put together by Christmas. It looks a bit funny because we are using 30+ year old furniture that my parents have kept in storage for some time. Fortunatly, the new furniture will arrive in a couple of weeks.

LA Times Covers the Ridazz
2007-12-07 05:11:00
A Nice little story about the Midnight Ridazz was published by the Los Angeles Times today. Although I haven't been out with the Ridazz in a while (months) I do stand in solidarity with them. If you get a chance check them out. There is a group ride almost everyday it seems, and certainly there is a ride every Friday and Saturday night.
More About: Covers

Judge Giss and His Wife Judge Lopez-Giss
2007-11-30 08:26:00
Here is a picture of Judge Harvey Giss. He was the presiding Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge for the trial I participated in as Juror #7 (State of CA vs. Ronald Ernesto Mejia). Judge Giss was an impressive judge and made the 4 weeks and a day of jury duty worthwhile. He certainly knew his stuff and was able to control two completely out of control lawyers. I decided to Google Judge Giss and learned that prior to becoming a judge he was a well respected, successful attorney in the LA County DA's office. Allegedly, he was the original "tough guy" attorney in LA. Which may explain why the DA on the trial was acting like such a tough bitch. Too bad it just annoyed everyone...including Judge Giss.In an interesting side note, while in the DA's office Judge Giss became a kind of mentor to former Deputy DA Marcia Clark (of OJ Simpson murder trial fame). "Harvey Giss saw Marcia Clark rise through the ranks as a district attorney and considers her something of a protage". It...
More About: Wife , Lopez

Aliso Canyon Animoto Video
2007-11-29 21:36:00
I created this during the most recent Enercon QA trainign conference call.
More About: Video

NM Movie Shoot
2007-11-29 01:23:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } NM Movie Shoot , originally uploaded by rmortiz. Charlize Theron is filming a movie called The Burning Plain in Las Cruces, NM and is currently shooting on Angela's block. It is the talk of the town. Angela took this picture with her camera phone, so blame the old phone and not the photographer for the picture quality. I'm told filming was actually taking place right in front of Angela's home, so we'll have to wait and see if anything makes it to the big screen.

IT'S OVER!!!!
2007-11-27 02:33:00
After 4 weeks and a day (only 16 working jury days though) I have completed my civic duty of serving on a Jury Duty. The judge declared a mistrial once we realized we were a hung jury (9: Guilty; 3: Not Guilty). Oh well. I'm just glad to be done with it. The DA's case was weak and the witnesses (all gang members) were terrible. Their testimony was all over the place. Oh well. I'm just glad it is over. Overall, it was a good experience, frustrating at times, but good. I look forward to the next time. I would probably want to write more if I wasn't so burned out about it. I don't even want to think about it anymore. I'm just glad it is over.

Jury Duty - Week 5
2007-11-26 18:13:00
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Jury Duty - Week 5, originally uploaded by rmortiz. After looking at this floor for five weeks, I'm tired of it.