Tony Snow's funeral was today, which is very sad. Most of you reading probably don't follow politics as much as I do, so in case you don't know, Tony Snow was a conservative journalist who was a frequent guest host on Rush Limbaugh's radio show, and served for awhile as Bush's press secretary. Since conservatism has basically died in the Republican party, it's very sad to lose a real conservative, especially one so optimistic as Tony Snow. This guy was always smiling, and the press hated him because he didn't let them get away with anything. President Bush said "He had the sometimes challenging distinction of working for two presidents named Bush. As a speechwriter in my dad's administration, Tony tried to translate the president's policies into English. As a spokesman in my administration, Tony tried to translate my English into English.” Too true.
It seems a lot of my heroes have died this year. William F. Buckley, another great conservative (he founded the conservative magazine "National Review"), Charlton Heston, George Carlin and Gordon B. Hinckley all died this year. It's a good thing Rush Limbaugh just extended his radio contract through 2016, we need more strong voices like his.
Sorry, I don't mean to be depressing, I'll talk about something else now.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Summer Semester, which means I have one more year until Field Camp, and probably one more semester after that before I graduate with my geology B.S. degree (hehe, I can't say B.S. degree without laughing). What I've done on my research project so far this summer has made me realize just how out of shape I am, which is bad news if I'm looking forward to six weeks of hiking next year. So, I'm cutting back a bit on Pepsi (not quitting, never that!), and since it's way too hot to walk (I know it'll be hot next summer, too) Kate and I have decided it's time to take advantage of the gym in the apartment complex.
I've made two observations: First, they don't make a treadmill long enough for my stride, and no matter how far forward I am I end up knocking my feet on the back of the thing (but at least there's air conditioning in there). Second, the trick to the weight-lifting machines is to use them with just a little bit of weight, but before you leave set all the pins so that the next person to use the machine thinks "wow, whoever used this last is, like, super strong!"
If you get a beer belly from drinking too much beer, how do you get a pot belly? However it happens, hopefully mine will go away.
