What is an OmaHeck...

It is likely you have never heard of an OmaHeck. We kind of made it up. Here's a little history:

When I moved to Utah in 1990, I was introduced to a brand new phrase: "Oh my heck!" I guess it means "wow", "no way", or "that's surprising." It serves as a multi-purpose expression and possibly a swear :-0 (as in "Oh my heck, you are a jerk!)

When the family left Utah and settled in Omaha, NE (2004), we became "OmaHecks."

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Zero Hour! Hawaiian Vacation

On the way home from Rock Climbing club tonight, I was treated to the following:

And you're Zero whistling Aloha Oe while you discover that it's hard to do the Hula with no arms or legs, so you just put fresh fruit on your head and continue dancing.

Because apparently while the Hula requires limbs, they are optional for putting fresh fruit on your head.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Too Many Daves

In the fall of 1990, I was a freshman in college. I lived on the 3100 floor of Hinckley Hall on the north end of the BYU campus. Freshman year in college is a unique experience for lots of reasons.

Freshman year in a dorm at a Mormon university named for the Prophet who lead said Mormons from the banks of the Missouri River to the Salt Lake Valley in the Rocky Mountains takes that to a whole different level.

You have a bunch of guys from all over who are preparing to go serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not exclusively (some had already returned from service, and some opted not to go), but we're talking about 90% or more, so you're dealing with a super majority by any definition.

If I sat down to count, I could probably still name 80% of the guys on that floor. I think the nicknames were the best. There were a bunch of Daves. You know, like Dr. Seuss's Too Many Daves! But instead of renaming them Hoos-Foos, and Zanzibar, and Oliver Boliver Butt, we just gave each a qualifier. And we were 18, so there's some context for you.

Four-Letter Dave swore. All the time. He also look remarkably like Robin Williams.

Dave Who Plays the Guitar was a budding musician. He also roomed with Four-Letter Dave.

The Other Dave was a friend of Four Letter and Guitar. His sister or cousin (can't recall) was in our sister dorm, Merrill Hall. Not sure where he lived, but he was in our dorm all the time.

Dave From Kaysville really wanted us to name him Dave From Hawaii because he'd worked there picking pineapples the summer before college. But you don't get to pick your own nickname. Ask George Costanza.

There was another Dave. I can't remember either his last name or his nickname. It may have been something as lame as "Gorshe's Roommate". He camped all the time and had a ton of gear. He and his Scott Gorshe were from Enid, OK.

Perhaps the most unfortunate qualifier was given to Mousey Dave. He didn't look like a mouse, but he was really timid and quiet as the proverbial church mouse.

Finally, there was Second Floor Dave who, as you might have suspected, did reside one floor below us in dear old Hinckley Hall. SFD's room mate, Bill, was feeling mighty left out until he went shopping and came back with a bunch of flannel shirts and work boots. He immediately became Lumberjack Bill. But I digress.

I think about those dorm days every so often. I run into a guy here or there. I'm Facebook friends with some. I've even tried to hire a couple of their brothers. There were lots of lessons learned. Lots of growth. And by the end of the year, lots of missionaries. Across the world and in our backyard. Some of the 2000 Stripling Warriors.

If you are bored, here's a shot at remembering who lived on that floor:

  • Charles "Chuck" was the RA. He got married and left at the semester break and Rand Kerr moved in. We gave both of them a run for their $$. Kepi Heimuli was the RA on the second floor. He kept the peace.

  • Matt Busselburg - played guitar too & Tom Nay - skied. Both from MD.

  • Sean and his roommate who were swimmers and got up way to early for practice.

  • Don van Tassle - wrestled

  • Dan Nabrotzky & Jeremie McKee - ballers to the max. from Corona, CA

  • Tom Cannon - an artist & ?? Campbell who served his mission with my BIL in Germany.

  • Jared Jenkins - studied architecture and served with me in Argentina.

  • Jason Christensen - to this day, probably the smartest guy I know. Successful entrepreneur today.

  • Justin McHood - my roommate. Cool guy that was a natural at sports.

  • Chad Garring & Steve Jones - from SoCal. Great athletes. Chad played HS hoops with the NBA's Tracy Murray

  • Jared Cowley(?) played baseball & Paul ? played the Tuba

  • The Bretts: Rawlins and Dew. Dew played football; Rawlins, the ladies. Dew moved out at semester and guess who moved in, yep, a Dave. He was either the New Dew or Snake owing to a tatoo.

  • The aforementioned Scott Gorshe

  • Keith Haraguchi & Kenji Toda - quiet guys. Kenji was from Japan.

  • "Big" Brian Marshall - a "Guardian of Morality" from Shelly ID. When I saw Napoleon Dynamite, it all made sense. Incredibly smart. & Chris Powell - a math and computer wiz before the rest of us knew how important that would be.

  • Wyatt ? & Sean Foster (?) - perhaps the oddest pairing, They were just so different

  • Jeremy ? & Eric Davis - from Dallas (PESH) and LOVED bass from big speakers.

  • Derek Todd - mountain man, driest sense of humor ever. & Scott "Surfer Bob" Yurchison. Yurchison: it's not just a name, it's a way of life.
So apologies to those I've forgotten. If you know, comment and remind me.