I'm ready to admit it

Around November Annie suggested that we get some friends together and start training for the Salt Lake City Marathon. I'd been running for exercise (dogs notwithstanding), but a few laps of the park are a long way from the 26 miles of a marathon. I can't just run a marathon. I'm no Ryan Daniels, after all. So, naturally I thought Annie was crazy. She insisted that we could start training even if we couldn't yet run very far. After Jason showed me a training schedule and I realized that the first few runs were actually doable, I agreed that I would try training for it.

And so, for the past few months, the three of us have been training. Until recently I was a little bit embarrassed about it. It seemed like saying that I was training for a marathon would be like saying that I was going to run for president of United States. Seriously, if I saw me and if I told me that I was running a marathon, I'd be like, who does this guy think he is?

So, on Saturday of last week we ran 18 miles, our longest so far and second longest of our training. It was brutal, but I finished. I feel like now I've finally reached the point where I can say that I'm training for a marathon and not be embarrassed about it, like maybe I can actually do this thing.

As a side note, this training has made me a big fan of leash laws. If one of the presidential candidates would make that their platform then I'd definitely vote for them.

I'm it

So, Star tagged me, and I've decided to play along. Even though I think these questionnaire blogs are silly, I think always secretly hoped that someone would tag me. Now I feel included.

The rules:

1. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
2. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

The facts/habits:

1. I like food a lot. I know that's no surprise to anyone that reads my blog, but I really enjoy eating, and trying new foods, and comparing foods. I like food that has its own packaging.
   • Example: One of the things I love about burritos is that they come so neatly packaged up in a tortilla. (I also like that there's so many different insides. I don't think I'd ever get sick of burritos.)
   • Another example: Bananas. I like the taste of bananas OK, but the real reason that I like them is how them come grown in their own packaging, with an easy-to-pop top. I have a fantasy that Heaven will have trees that grow banana-looking fruit, but that when you peel them there will be corn dogs inside.
2. I daydream a lot. My family used to make fun of me for it, so I try to be discrete about it these days, but sometimes I like just sitting or walking around and imagining things.
3. I hate deleting things. I don't delete photos or school assignments, even if they're bad. I think I still have every file that I've made on a computer since I got home from my mission (and I wish I still had my files from before my mission). I don't delete my blog posts, even if later I realize that it was stupid and/or wrong. I just revise with comments. It drives me crazy when other people delete their blogs. Especially when they delete the whole things. I think the world is a worse place because Paul deleted his post about how email status evolved into blogging.
4. This is related to the last post, but I'm very afraid of things that are permanent, especially if it has to do with my body. Tattoos and operations scare me because you can't undo them. I always want to get my teeth fixed, or to get eye surgery so I don't have to wear glasses/contacts anymore, but I'm also scared of it because I can't go back to the way it was before if I don't like it. I think I've mostly given up the idea of ever changing the gap in my teeth, but hopefully someday I'll still get my eyes fixed.
5. I'm shy. People often don't believe me when I say this, because I've been known to do crazy things that would embarrass normal people. Somehow being shy and shameless aren't contradictory for me. When I'm in big groups of people or when I first meet people, I tend to be very quiet and have a hard time knowing how to talk to them. Weird, huh?
6. I think that everything that is alive has a soul. I think that nature is unpredictable because everything is alive and has free will. I like seeing the personalities in animals or even trees, and feeling like they have a spirit in them just like a human does. I don't think it in the reincarnation way, and I don't think that a buffalo has the spirit of a human, but I do think that it has an immortal soul of its own kind. I don't think that trees have the level of intelligence of an animal or a person, but that on its own level it has choices and feelings. I think that you can feel connections with other living things if you try. And I'm not even a hippie. I don't even recycle.
   

The tags
I wanted to tag some people that haven't blogged in a while, and that I'd like to see posts from again. Here's my six:

1. Jason Davies
2. Ronnie Steelman
   
3. Gabe Jones
   
4. Elizabeth Tanner
5. Karen Breffle
6. Richard Casteel

Unlike Star's tags, I really do expect you to do it, and I'm going to bug you about it until you do.

Eyeglasses

The irony in looking for your glasses when you've misplaced them is that the very need to look for them disqualifies you from the task.

Beto's Revolution

You've probably noticed recently that all of our beloved Beto's restaurants have been changing their names to Rancherito's. You may have also noticed the signs that say "Same food, same management/owners, new name!" You may have also noticed that the signs look exactly the same (as Beto's and every other Mexican food chain that uses that generic sign), just with a different name. If you're like me, you've of course tried the food and realized that it really is the same. So why the change?

Well, as far as this internet (and all of the others I've tried) will tell me, no one knows the answer. So, with my expert knowledge of Beto's, I've come to the conclusion myself.

Hint #1: All Beto's are not created equal
The Provo Beto's was my first exposure, but since I've moved to SLC, I've tried several other locations. They're not all the same. Not only is the Provo Beto's by far the dirtiest location, the menus look different and some of the menu items are tastier than they are at other locations (probably due to the excess dirt).

Example: The downtown SLC Beto's is not good. The Beto's by Jason's work is good. Don't ask me why. I don't get it.

My conclusion from this, however, is that Beto's is a franchise, and that the individual franchise owners have some freedom as far as how much awesome and how much dirt to put in their restaurants. I know that it's not that surprising of a conclusion since so many food chains are organized that way, but it is important.

Hint #2: Mexi-Burrito
The Beto's by my work in Holladay also changed its name recently. Like the others, it has a sign claiming that the owners and the food are the same, but unlike the others it changed its name to Mexi-Burrito. It's incredibly clever. I'm not sure how they came up with it. The real question, though, is why did this one change its name to something different than the other locations?

Surprise Twist Ending
Here's how I think things played out:

Rancherito's really did buy out Beto's. While the corporation did change owners, the individual franchise owners didn't change, so that's how they're justified in putting up a sign claiming that they have the "same owners". When the ownership of the corporation changed, some of the franchise owners (like the one in Holladay) opted not to renew their franchise fee with the new company, and they're now independent. They're also justified in their sign, because they are still the owners of their businesses. Since all Beto's were not the same in the first place, they don't have to change their food to match the new not-sameness, so all of the locations keep their same menu regardless of how the franchise identity has changed.

There it is. Mystery solved.

Collars and haircuts

You know what I'm going to say the next time someone asks me why missionaries need to wear white shirts and ties, or why BYU students can't have beards or mohawks? I'll tell you.

It's because in American culture (and the other cultures that accept its influence) Christianity has become aligned with the conservative right-wing. So, the LDS Church, whether consciously or not, has decided to fit the image of conservative, right-wing people so that it can be taken seriously as a Christian organization.

That's why.