I’ve lived in Utah for around six years now. I’ve heard some things enough to make me concerned about grammar taught in schools here. I didn’t really think people said use-ta-could or might-could until I went to Cedar City. Then I heard a professor in college use those terms.
Those weren’t the most concerning. What blows my mind is that I’ve talked with at least five people who don’t understand how to use the words win and won. Far too often I’ve heard somebody say something like “The Panthers won the Flyers last night.” At first when I heard people make remarks like this, I’d poke fun at them for slipping up. Sadly, my humor wasn’t seen as humor, but rather a confusing new piece of information. None of those five or more people I mentioned before had ever heard the word beat used in such a sentence. So instead of “We won the opponent in the game,” it would be “We beat the opponent in the game.”
I thought everybody knew that one. Good work Utah schools.
Published at February 24, 2007
in General.
Kind of a funny thing here. I’ve put a lot of time into getting licensed to be a loan officer, and have yet to close a loan. Another business adventure I’ve thought about trying is a little search engine optimization. I mentioned that to Keb, a web designer friend of mine, a month ago and as of today, I’ve already got my first client.
Keb and I talked about how he gets a few calls each week from both clients and cold callers who are looking for somebody to help them get traffic to their website. He has had nobody to refer them to, and gets a bit frustrated by that. I have one year experience in SEO as part of my time at SouthernUtah.com, and like to tinker with it on other sites like this. It interests me, and it’s fun to teach people, so I figured I’d try it out.
Continue reading ‘SEO Action’
As an NBA fan, I watched most of the past weekend’s All-Star activities. I always look forward to that break in the season. It’s a fun time. I know plenty of people who feel the need to criticize the events that take place. I don’t really understand that. Perhaps it’s because it’s the only major league sport that has an All-Star event even worth watching, and people expect to see Jordan-esque performances each year. Maybe they just like to whine about something, who knows.
Some highlights of the weekend I noticed are:
- Chris Paul’s 9 steals and 17 assists in the rookie challenge, with at least 8 of his assists playing part in alley oops. I think 5 or 6 of those alley oops were to Monte Ellis, that dude can jump. I look forward to Chris Paul in the All-Star game for the rest of his career. His game reminds me a lot of the way Isiah Thomas played.
- A trip down memory lane watching Bill Laimbeer complain to the refs once again. Gotta love the guy’s spirit.
- Charles Barkley’s victory over 67 year old Dick Bavetta in a foot race. Great dive by Bavetta in the end. His knee was bleeding after the effort.
- A good dunk contest. Dwight Howard showed just how high up he can get, even though he’s 7 feet tall. I know some kids who are 6′4″ and move much more awkwardly than him. He can maneuver like a small guard, ridiculous. That sticker dunk was pretty incredible.
- Gerald Green’s dunks may not have appeared too spectacular, but that’s because the kid jumps incredibly high. That final dunk was off of two feet, and his plant foot was within a foot of the free throw line. He dunked it with ease, he may be the only person on earth who can do that.
- A dominant performance by the West in the All-Star game. Even though it was a blowout through most of the game, I enjoyed it. The West put on a shooting clinic that totally killed any chances of a comeback by the East. They really played well as a team; maybe because a handful of them are All-Star veterans.
I’m glad the NBA keeps the All-Star weekend the way it is. They make enough subtle changes each year to keep it fun, while sticking to the basic format that is proven. It is by far the most entertaining All-Star even of any sport. Good work Mr. Stern.
Published at February 15, 2007
in General.
Those of you who are long-time Billystyle readers (a huge crowd, and a very long time) may remember my rant about poor Netflix service. That was March of 2006, almost a year ago. Well, I’m happy to report that things have finally improved. Lately I’ve been returning movies Monday morning and seeing my new movies as soon as Thursday or Friday of the same week. That is about half the time it was taking before. My return envelopes are now mostly addressed to Las Vegas or Salt Lake City, as opposed to California and one time even Pennsylvania.
In an attempt to be a fair customer, I just sent their support crew a thank you email expressing my appreciation of the improved service. I don’t know what their response will be, but I figured I owed them that due to their efforts. After working in a customer service job, I know it’s nice to open an email you think is a complaint, only to find it is a letter of praise.
If you care to read my email, it is below.
Continue reading ‘Improved Netflix Experience’
Woohoo, NBA All-Star weekend is almost here! I enjoy the action on this weekend in the NBA. There are criticisms about different things out there, like if the dunk contest should exist, but I think people are taking things too seriously. The dunk contest is just a fun little thing that is pretty entertaining if you ask me. How else are we gonna see somebody only a couple inches taller than Spud Webb jump over him and throw down?
To show the spirit of the All-Star weekend, TNT has included an awesome event. Charles Barkley will take on Dick Bavetta in a footrace up and down the court 1 3/4 times. Dick is a 67 year old referee in the league. I think it’s awesome that he is willing to do this, as well as Charles, and that TNT even thought of doing it in the first place. It’s a great way to show the seriousness of All-Star weekend. I’ll be watching.
Update: Bavetta vs. Barkley: Tale of the Tape