Ryan, Katie, Joshua, Carter, Landon & Cole: April 2008

Empirical Miscalculation

My parents and little bro were here a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to pinpoint a highlight of their trip, but this may just be it:

You gotta love the honesty of New Yorkers....

We had a great time having them visit, so I thought I would share one of our experiences. We went up the Empire State Building, and were able to take in the amazing view of Manhattan. It was definitely cool, but the thing that was most captivating to me was the brochure that they handed out to everyone.

The following are interesting facts I pulled straight from the pamphlet they hand out (word-for-word):

- Construction completed in 1 year and 45 days, working seven days per week including holidays, at a completion rate of 4.5 stories per week.
- The 1,250-foot (381 meters) Empire State Building has dominated the New York City skyline since its much-heralded completion in 1931.
- 7 million man-hours, employing as many as 4,000 men per day.

Being that I'm such a nerd, I began making some calculations in my head with the figures presented. I was curious as to how many stories were in the building, and I couldn't find it anywhere on the pamphlet. Here's how my calculations went:

It took 1 year and 45 days to complete. That equals 410 days (feel free to correct me). Keep in mind they worked every day, including holidays. 410 days divided by 7 equals 58.6 weeks (to build it). They completed 4.5 stories per week, times the 58.6 weeks they worked on it, means it is 263.7 stories tall. The building is 1,250 feet tall, divided by 263.7 stories, means that each floor is 4.7 feet high.

This news was a little startling to Scott and I, as we are much taller than my parents. We were afraid of bumping our heads on the low ceilings, so for the rest of the time we were there we walked around like this:

However, in the end there was no need. We found out that there are actually only like 102 stories, meaning each floor was closer to 12.3 feet tall. Man did we feel silly when we found that out! Seriously, talk about miscalculations. To this day I am still trying to figure out where my math skills led me astray. Anyone???

Another thing about it... Tickets are something like $18 a person. We asked how many people visit each year, and it is some absurd number like 3.5 million people. At a rate of $18 a person, they are taking in $63 million just in people checking out the view, not to mention the office spaces. Seems pretty lucrative! Scott and I decided to start a business like this, so if you want into this operation while the gettin' is good, let me know ASAP.

What A Riot!

We have been meaning to post this video for quite some time. When I say 'we', you know what I mean... The process of converting video from our camera onto our computer, and then onto iTunes, is an extremely complicated process. It involves clicking with both the left and right buttons on the mouse, dragging icons here and there, saving it as "Joshua Laughing", etc. I would explain all the details, but then you'd all probably ask me how to put attachments with emails as well. I just don't have time for that.

Just sit back and enjoy the show. If this doesn't put a smile on your face, you have a heart of stone.

Check back soon, I've got some good stuff coming...

Life goes on

It's been a long time since I've posted, and it seems that a lot has happened since that time. So I'll try to do a catch-up.

The race: It was such a blast. The atmosphere before, during, and after a race is one of my favorite things. There are so many supporters telling you how amazing you are (who wouldn't like that?), tons of people rearin' to go, and all those "race day" feelings to run along with you. Ryan, his mom Linda, and baby Josh decided to support me in bed, but I can't really blame them; the race started at 7:00am. However, on race day, I was feeling sorry for myself because I had to go on the subway by myself to start the race by myself....until I realized that was what all the other runners were doing. Hehe. I felt really strong during the whole race, and I have to admit I dominated (in my own terms) on the hills (I'm glad my hilly runs came in handy!). Around mile 8 though, I had a little problem--I had to go to the bathroom, but during a race, I need all the time I can get! So instead of waiting for a port-a-potty at mile 10, I ran through my misery so I could finish with a better time. I wish I would have pushed it at the end, but I didn't want to end up killing myself five feet in front of the finish line, so I just kept running at a nice pace. I sprinted at the last 50 feet, but hahahaha.....I don't think that did a lot for my time. But I beat my goal by two minutes, coming in at 2 hours 6 mins, so I'm happy for myself. :) Ryan, Linda, and Josh caught up with me about 20 min later...they missed the whole thing! That's one problem with public transportation, it's not too trusty when you're in a hurry. But thanks, Ry for taking me down to DC, it was great. Love you!

Family and hospital visits: Ryan's family came to visit us this past week. Linda, Ry's mom, came about a week earlier, which was great. We went to all the tourist sites, got a few fake handbags (funny stories) and enjoyed each other's company. Scott, Ry's younger brother, is going on his mission to Fort Worth, Texas in May, so it was our last time seeing him for a while. Josh loved having them there (Linda could make him laugh like crazy!), and I think having them around has opened him up a little, making it so he's not quite so shy...
All was great, except for last Tuesday. I was feeding Josh and he stuck his arms out and started shaking. He was zoned out and really pale, and his tongue was hanging a bit. We jumped in the car to take him to the hospital, and while driving, he stopped breathing for a couple of seconds and would pull his face into his neck. I think he was swallowing his tongue, I'm not sure. Luckily there was a fire truck behind us, so we pulled them over and got an ambulance really quickly. When we got to the ER, Josh's temperature was 104 degrees, and we spent a miserable six hours in a toasty ER which probably didn't help with Josh's fever....They had to try an IV four separate times because Josh pulled the first one out. After the x-rays, blood work, etc. came back normal and Josh's fever came back down after spiking upwards again, we were allowed to go home. Josh was so happy to be out of there, he kept talking and laughing the whole way home. It made us feel so much better to hear him giggle after that ordeal. The doctors say it was a febral seizure, one that comes because of a high fever. Now we have to watch him closely when he gets a fever and give him tylenol early, but we're grateful that's all it was. It was such a scare!

Lastly, my birthday: Yesterday I officially turned 23. Yay for me! Josh gave me his present by letting me sleep in until 8:00. A big thank you goes to my parents and my in-laws for your gifts, you're so nice! I love you guys. And thanks Ryan, for taking me out to dinner to a restaurant that's out of our comfort zone (both in price and elegance) and for driving 2 hours around the island trying to find Target for me. And thanks, Shannon and Casey, for buying my Coldstone creation. Yum!
I know we (or maybe just I) tend to make birthdays a big deal, hoping for lots of presents, surprises and the like, but when we (or again maybe I just need to) stop and think about it, there are so many times I don't recognize "gifts" because they don't have a bow on them. (I've been sappy lately, haven't I?) Ryan cuts me a lot of slack, which is a major present if you know me, he goes to school (commuting 1.5 hours to do so) to support us, he changes poopy diapers, he lets me sleep in on Sundays, he loves Josh, etc, etc. So.....in addition to the wonderful gifts I got for my birthday, I want to thank you all (especially Ry guy) for the other gifts you've given me. Man, I can't wait until next year!